Archive for the ‘Technology Humor’ Category

Elon’s Musky Madness (Limerick)

Tuesday, April 26th, 2022

There’s a new Social Media threat
Making fans of democracy fret:
Under Musk, Trumpy lies
And misinfo will rise;
A calamitous “Net” blow — net-net.

Feeling More Cyber-Secure Yet? (Limerick)

Thursday, April 20th, 2017

Remember when Trump promised to deliver a cyber-security plan by today? Well, apparently nothing’s been done.

Dear Donald, how’s Barron? The lad
(You have bragged) has computer skills rad.
So I simply must ask
How’s his over-due task:
Fixing cyber-secur’ty for dad.

Melania’s Plaint (Limerick)

Friday, November 4th, 2016

Cyberbullying’s bad,” said Trump’s spouse.
“Kids are mean with the click of a mouse.
As First Lady, I’ll fight
To battle this blight.”
Hey lady, first clean your own house.

Open Limerick to Lindsey Graham

Wednesday, March 11th, 2015

Senator Lindsey Graham actually bragged that he never uses email because he’s too busy thinking through problems.

Open Limerick to Lindsey Graham
By Madeleine Begun Kane

If you never use email, that’s great,
Lindsey Graham, but please don’t conflate
It with being a thinker.
You’re naught but an inker,
Sticking staff with the crap on your plate.

Wawa-Gate Reinterpreted (Limerick)

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

Was Mitt Romney’s amazement over the Wawa touch screen hoagie-ordering device further proof of his out-of-touchness? Or was it merely a small part of his comments on “federal bureaucracy and innovation in the private sector?”

I have a third interpretation:

Wawa-Gate Reinterpreted (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Dear Romney, that hoagie device
Seemed to stun you, amaze, and entice.
I’ll just bet you were thrilled
By the jobs that are killed
When touch screens put clerk jobs on ice.

Fighting Firewalls With Kindle Blogs

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

My humorist pal Rose Valenta recently created a Kindle version of her blog and inspired me to do the same. Why? Because many employers are getting strict about web access, blocking employees from reading their favorite blogs and sites — even while they’re on a break or at lunch.

But your boss can’t control what you read on your Kindle. And Amazon makes it easy for bloggers to create Kindle blog editions, allowing fans to bypass their bosses and keep up with their reading.

That brings me to my latest limerick:

Fighting Firewalls With Kindle Blogs
By Madeleine Begun Kane

You’re at work, but on break — want to read.
But your boss did a dastardly deed:
Your fav’rites are blocked.
Your net access is locked.
But he can’t stop a Kindle blog feed.

My News: I’ve created Kindle versions of both my blogs. So if you’d like to read this political satire blog on your Kindle device, you can subscribe right here. And if you’d like to read my other general humor blog on your Kindle reader you can subscribe right here.

Attention Fellow Bloggers: Want to know how to publish your own blog on Amazon Kindle? Amazon makes it pretty easy and has a helpful Kindle Blog FAQ here. You can also find some useful info over at Mashable and some Kindle badges and icons here.

Warning: Reading blogs on Kindle isn’t free, except for the 14-day free trial for each blog. Monthly Kindle blog subscription fees are controlled by Amazon and priced at either $0.99 per month or $1.99 per month. Moreover, only 30% of the revenue goes to the blogger.

And Now For The Sales Pitch: Each of my two blogs is priced at $0.99 per month.

So if you’re a Kindle owner, I hope you’ll give the Kindle versions of this political humor blog and/or my other general humor blog a try.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Texting?

Monday, August 31st, 2009

Brace yourself for a large dose of libertarian outrage: Texting while driving may soon be outlawed.

An organization of state highway safety officials on Monday plans to call for a ban on texting while driving, joining a growing chorus of legislators and safety advocates endorsing such a policy.

The group, the Governors Highway Safety Association, whose members are appointed by state governors to lead highway safety agencies, said it adopted the policy in light of a growing body of research showing the increased crash risk posed by texting motorists.

And that brings me to my latest limerick:

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Texting?
By Madeleine Begun Kane

If you text while you drive, you’re insane.
You’re a hazard like snow, ice, and rain.
And if govs have their way,
You will soon have to say:
“BRB, AFK, must refrain.”

(If my last line needs translating, here’s a chat and text message abbreviation dictionary.)

Related Posts: Multi-Task Madness; Pedestrian Plea; Multitasking Mania; and Contending With Time

Kindle Swindle? (Updated)

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

After a tough day at work you climb into bed, reach for a paperback book, and find that your nightstand reading material is gone, replaced with a credit for the purchase price. After some digging you learn that paperback copies of the novel you’re in the middle of reading have been repossessed by your local bookshop.

Inconceivable, right? Credit or no credit, invading the privacy of your home and taking a book without your permission would surely constitute one or more crimes.

Now imagine the same scenario, but with an e-book instead of a paperback — an e-book you purchased for your Kindle. That’s exactly what Amazon did to 1984 and Animal Farm buyers.

Repossession via electronic invasion of privacy. If it isn’t a crime, it sure as hell ought to be.

Kindle Swindle? (3 Verse Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Have you noticed your e-book list dwindle?
You’re probably using a Kindle.
A book that you bought
Has turned into naught —
Replaced with a refund. No swindle?

Yet the seller invaded your house.
And did it by clicking a mouse.
Something’s there. Then it’s not.
(An Orwellian plot?)
You’re surely entitled to grouse.

The fact that your money’s returned.
Doesn’t mean that you haven’t been burned.
Your privacy rights
Are gone with those bytes.
This vendor deserves to be spurned.

Update: Some updated information from the New York Times:

An Amazon spokesman, Drew Herdener, said in an e-mail message that the books were added to the Kindle store by a company that did not have rights to them, using a self-service function. “When we were notified of this by the rights holder, we removed the illegal copies from our systems and from customers’ devices, and refunded customers,” he said.

Amazon effectively acknowledged that the deletions were a bad idea. “We are changing our systems so that in the future we will not remove books from customers’ devices in these circumstances,” Mr. Herdener said.

Update 2: If you would like to read this political satire blog on your Kindle device, you can subscribe right here.

If you would like to read my other general humor blog on your Kindle reader you can subscribe right here.

And my limerick about firewalls, blogging and Kindles is here.

Political Twittersphere Words of Wisdom

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

Mystified about Twitter? Wondering what the tweet fuss is all about? Desperate to find out what words of wisdom you’ve missed by ignoring the Political Twittersphere?

Well, your worries are over. Because I’m launching (as a public service) the Political Twittersphere Words of Wisdom. Here’s my first selection of recent, genuine, and attributed tweet quotes:

“trying to explain to junior white house staffers that mickey rourke was once young handsome and supercool.” @jaketapper

“tweeting about twitter no longer meta, now oafish. starting…..NOW.” @jaketapper

“My intvu with Gov. Huntsman. He says GOP needs ‘bold solutions’ instead of ‘gratuitous political griping.'” @NorahODonnell

“I’m at Chef Geoff’s eating the most delicious meal ever of bucatini and veal meatballs. Can u say garlic?” @NorahODonnell

“So @algore makes cut w/ 12 tweets since Nov? And I didn’t even know @chuckgrassley existed. But we’re talking so @thepolitico wins.” @williambeutler

“Bombay. It should be called Bombay, dammit. #oscars” @williambeutler

“you would think that our largest affiliate could actually put us on the air before the 1st segment ends. grrrrr.” @Radioblogger (Senior producer of the Hugh Hewitt Show)

“All GOP governors will take most of the money. Otherwise, they’re taxing their residents for states that didn’t control spending.” @KarlRove

“query: once all the newspapers are gone, what happens during an internet outage?” @craig_crawford

“Why is Gibbs tie distracting me? Perhaps that’s the point since he’s having to talk about cutting entitlements.” @craig_crawford

“Choreography at White House fiscal event is interesting: Obama calls on McCain, Cantor, etc Maybe he’s serious abt this bipartisanship stuff.” @TerryMoran

“Feeling kind of defeated in my shabby attempts to pretend to cover the WH. Do I need to sip from the Potomac more? Or less?” @anamariecox

“Cosi across the street from the WH is like an annex. Two other journos here, Secret Service guy just got a chicken salad to go.” @anamariecox

Well, that’s it for the first edition of Political Twittersphere Words of Wisdom. Please let me know if I should make this a regular feature. Oh … and if you’d like to follow me on Twitter I’m @MadKane.

Facebook’s Onerous TOS Change

Monday, February 16th, 2009

If you ever republish your posts on Facebook, you may want to reconsider because of Facebook’s new, perpetual rights-grabbing TOS change.

I have information about this on my other blog plus … of course … a Facebook Face Off limerick.

Ode To Ron Kuby (Limerick)

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

Ron Kuby is known on the street
As a lawyer who rarely is beat.
And his show Doing Time
Is quite simply sublime.
Now Ron Kuby has learned how to Tweet.

And speaking of Twitter, you can follow me on Twitter here.

Some Friendly Advice For McCain’s Veep Vetting Team

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

I was shocked to learn that John McCain is computer illiterate. Well, I have just the ticket:

Some Friendly Advice For McCain’s Veep Vetting Team
By Madeleine Begun Kane

McCain doesn’t use a PC
Or a Mac, so he needs a VP
Who can act as his tutor
In using a ‘puter
And help with the phone and TV.[tags]McCain’s Campaign, Computer Illiteracy, Campaign Satire, Computer Literacy, Election Humor, Mac Or PC, VP Vetting[/tags]

Mad Kane’s Gone Mobile and So Can You

Wednesday, September 12th, 2007

There’s good news for the on-the-run multitasker: Mad Kane’s gone mobile, so both of my blogs can be read on cell phones.

And there’s even more good news  — it’s easy to set up.  How?  I’ll tell you where to go … but first, a limerick: 

Ode To The Mobile Web
By Madeleine Begun Kane

My blog has gone mobile — how cool!
You can surf on a cellular tool
While on foot, in your car,
Or wherever you are.
Mobile web browsing — cellulars rule!

If you’d like to subscribe to my Political Madness mobile feed, click on the mobile icon just under my photo on the right sidebar. And don’t forget to subscribe to my non-political humor blog’s mobile feed too.

Oh — I almost forgot — if you’d like to turn your own blog into a mobile site, here’s how to do it. [tags]Mobile Browser, Mobile Web, FeedM8, Mobile Device, Feed-Enabled Websites, Mobile Blogs, Mobile Phone, Cellular, Cell Phone, Mobilize, Mobile Verse, Mobile Web Humor, Mobile Blog Feeds, Mobile Satire [/tags]

Hack This Limerick (E-Voting Verse)

Wednesday, November 15th, 2006

Avedon Carol says that winning doesn’t settle it, and I certainly agree. Just because Democrats won this year, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do something about the integrity of our voting process and ensure fair elections. And that brings me to my latest limerick:

Hack This Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane 

A ballot should faithfully note
Each candidate getting a vote.
But election machines
Can be hacked and that means
Voters don’t have a trustworthy tote.

Update: To keep up to date with e-voting issues, The Brad Blog is the place to be.

(You can find lots of my technology, computer, and SEO humor columns, song parodies and verse here.) [tags]E-Voting, Electronic Voting Humor, Voting Machines, Election Humor, Software Hacking[/tags]