The Royce Files

More commentary on online ads that seem to be on every website. You can't use the internets for any amount of time and not come across these ads. Our first ad at the left has been around for a while. The moving hamster image must be a huge draw to homeowners. Not sure "9/10" means anything to readers. Most likely it is to suggest that 9 out of 10 homeowners fail etc. Not very effective program apparently. I suppose the organization who put this one out thought "Hey, nobody is using the government's program let's try and draw them to our services with a hamster like animal?" To which his or her superiors responded- "Brilliant!" They then all clanked bottles of PBR together and texted the intern to make a viral video of a hamster. I think the intern then probably just looked for a copy of screensaver which makes it appear you have a hamster in the monitor and captured the video. Our next advert uses a man again but this time breaks the traditio...

Last time I discussed or ranted or raved about Ugly Online adverts. I found a few more that are well, kind of strange. They don't rank up there as ugly but the are the type which makes you go- "What in the world!" The walking women ad is its own genre I believe. I've seen other animated ad like it. And what are they hawking by walking- some kind of insurance. Not sure whether how fully dressed strolling women are any enticement to click. Plus they are not particularly good looking - just kind of just above average. Maybe they have great personalities. Oh, and this ad  also falls in the Obamavertment genre too. It uses an Obama endorsement to entice the viewer. Bush could never do so well. His name doesn't suggest cool jazz. Next, we look at another odd picture shilling unrelated services-Smilling dog and home refinancing. This one is made to appear like a video clip with the dog smiling every few seconds. Also, this is another Obamavertment. The strategy of...

From General Photos From General Photos Now another infrequent entry into the the What Sucks series. This time I take a jab at ugly onlone adverts. And are they ugly! If you are an active Internet user, and who isn't these days, you've probably seen these guys. Those ugly mugs have been hawking services online for sometime. I am not entirely sure who they are or why those faces appear in the adverts. Neither suggests a connection to the service. A bearded guy with the annoucement "Moms Urged to go Back to School." Duh, that's a guy in the picture folks! This happens to be one of the latest interactions of the "Obama Wants Moms..." line of ads. I didn't like those ads either. It sounded like Obama was dictating an order to American mothers. Any clue who the bearded guy is? Charles Manson impersonator? Mike Meyers as the Love Doctor? Steve Carroll from Evan Almighty?  The one below is equally disturbing. It comes from the LowerMyBills ped...

From The Royce Files Though I've known about the White House vegetable garden for some time, it made some news and trumpeted pleas to eat healthy and local. The article  describes how the garden has been made a good return on a $200 investment. Apparently the garden is even known to foreign dignitaries who visit the President and provide plenty of fresh food for the White House kitchen staff to make delicious and healthy meals for the First Family. Like the Obamas, I was gardening this past year. Not sure if I got as good a return on my investment but it was fun and refreshing. I am planning on doing it again and hope to get a good return from the investment.

This morning I was surprised to hear that President Barack Obama would be holding a seder at the White House. This is certainly a first and especially unique considering Obama is neither Jewish and had just returned from a trip which included an olive branch to Muslims. It appears inclusivity continues to be an administration value. I needed to search for validation of the White House seder tonight because HLN reported pizza would be served at tonight. That would be a no-no unless it was some matzo crust cheese pizza. In Kosher cooking dairy and meat do not mingle and during the solemn holiday yeast (or leavening agents) need to be removed from everything. Therefore no bread, at least as most stateside citizens know it, can be served. Well folks, pizza night for the Obamas will be Friday and therfore does not conflict with the seder. In finding a reference for the seder I discovered this . Israel beckons to US youth.

As expected, the debate started on the topic of the economy. Both Obama and McCain reiterated the superiority of their plan. I checked out to do a little research on each candidate's stance on poverty. They both agreed combating HIV/AIDS worldwide should receive more government attention. Obama specifically wants to double annual funding of such projects. McCain supports the President's Plan for AIDS Relief program. So what's the connection of HIV/AIDS to poverty? To answer I will take a quote from an United Nations document. Globally, the highest HIV prevalence rates are found in poor countries, but within regions such as Africa, it is not necessarily the poorest countries that have the highest prevalence rates. Nevertheless, poverty increases vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and exacerbates the devastation of the epidemic. Poverty deprives individuals of the means to cope with HIV/AIDS. The poor often lack the knowledge and awareness that would enable them to protect themselves ...

It's rare when a candidate is making a stump for themselves and they never compare or mention his or her opponent. Every soundbite I hear has some comments about the other candidate. I cringe when I hear them. Or even better, bash the President. The Democrats seemed to fare well with that strategy in the mid-term elections. Not to say the Republicans haven't used the same rhetoric before, but Bill Clinton came out pretty unscathed. If you can create certain perceptions about a candidate close enough to an election you may lead the public to uncritically assume these are reality. Most of the time its a half truth painted nicely. Right now a prevalent strategy is portraying someone guilty by association. Dems do it by associating Republicans as being in bed with George Bush. Enough people perceived this to be true last election and swept in lots of Democrats into office. It probably was a bit uncritical because there were no doubt some Dems who voted or agreed with Bush policy, ...