Posting "RIP" on Facebook in reference to a celebrity is the lofty way of saying "FIRST!"

We all felt the sting of the news that Robin Williams had passed away, and none of us had to say anything to anyone to know that the news sucked ass.

I haven't been on Facebook in 2 months, but because I know the psychology of Facebook users (self included), I know that on that day millions of people posted "RIP Robin Williams."  There is no denying it, you saw it (or worse, you posted it).    It follows in the footsteps of "RIP Paul Walker", and "RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman."  If you or your friends are extra special, you might have even seen or posted "RIP Vin Diesel," or "RIP Jim Carrey" this year, despite the fact that they are both alive and well.

The impact of your friend's posts on the subject matter cannot be overstated enough.  Their earth shattering insight into the meaning of the loss of a celebrities life using only three simple letters defies all research on the capacity of the human mind.

So when you've recovered from this dramatic discovery, let me tell you what your friends really meant when they said "RIP Robin Williams."

They said, plain and simple: "FIRST!"  They didn't say the implied "RIP Robin Williams, I will miss your comedy as will the world."  They didn't say "RIP Robin Williams, this message is written in tribute to you out of pure respect and love for an incredible human being."

What your friends (and maybe you) said was "RIP Robin Williams, I am writing this because although I loved your comedy and acting, more importantly I'm hoping my friends will hear this from me first, because being the first to know that you've died and relaying that information to others is one of the greatest satisfactions I can gain by using Facebook.  Given that I haven't seen any of my other friends post about this yet, I can safely assume that I am the first among the 1000 people on my friends list, and that makes me special/cool."

I don't mean to take away your feelings about the deaths of actors and actresses, I'm sure they exist in you as they do in me.  But we all know that the "RIP" post isn't about sharing our feelings or paying respect.  We know this because it is so much a shallow and plain remark, and that posting anything on Facebook is typically such a shallow and plain action, that the sentiment couldn't even begin to express our actual feelings or our gratitude for the impact someone has had on our lives.  It isn't a profound statement and it won't lead to any epiphanies.  It is "First", and I'm just glad that the assistant who found his body called the paramedics before taking to Facebook or Twitter to post "RIP".

So do yourself and the rest of us a favor and.... oh crap, RIP Tom Cruise!

The Verizon Smart Rewards is actually the dumbest rewards program ever created: Here's Why

                The other day after logging onto verizon wireless, I noticed that over 20,000 points had been added to my account and that there was now a program on Verizon's website entitled "Verizon Smart Rewards".  I immediately signed up, as I am a member of numerous rewards programs through credit cards, retailers, hotel and airline chains.  I accepted terms and conditions, figuring that releasing my information would be worth what I could redeem from the rewards program.
                I have never been more wrong.
                To begin with, this program markets that members receive 10,000 points for every year they have been with Verizon.  However, I have been with Verizon since late 2008, and was only given credit for 2 years.
                Second, every single travel deal I searched for on their website I found would still cost me more money after I used points than booking via other websites:  Cruise Fare, Hotel Fare, Car Rental fare.  I have several vacations planned in the near future, and I figured my points would help me save money, but after researching different vacations to Hawaii, Los Angeles, and the Caribbean I found that is definitely not the case.  
                When it comes to booking hotels, Verizon is asking people to sacrifice any points they may earn via hotel loyalty (most hotel’s policy), they are only offering a discount off their standard rates, whereas many times hotels have better promotional rates. And in the rare event someone should find a better standard rate than shown on their website, they don’t even offer to beat the rate, but simply offer a refund/credit.
                The gift card sales sent my hopes skyrocketing.  Every rewards program I am a part of gives a value of at least 1 cent per point.  With 20,000 points on my Verizon account, that would be an easy $200.  Verizon's gift card sales seem to affirm the value of 1 cent per point (as well as their travel discount program), but it is absolutely insulting that you cannot redeem more than 10% of a gift card via points.  No other rewards program I am part of has this limitation.
                Yet, for all the above flops, their auction system is the worst offender of the program, in my opinion.  I would easily have to spend an hour on the site to win a gift card via the extended play option, and it seems like a snowballs chance in hell that I could win an auction that doesn’t have the extended play.  In the few times I bid, I felt like I was fighting for tickets to a popular event (IE. Superbowl) when in fact I was bidding on a $100 gift card.
                Even Verizon's daily deal feels like a kick in the face at times.  A $5 gift card for 500 points seemed to be the best offering yet, again affirming the 1 cent per point value.  But 15 minutes past the time when it was offered I was unable to obtain the item, as every one of them was already in other peoples carts.
                In my sincere and educated opinion, this program is more of an insult than if they had never implemented one to begin with.  Verizon is rewarding years of brand loyalty by asking people to sacrifice more of their privacy in exchange for 10% off coupons, extensively time-consuming or near impossible to win auctions, travel deals that are for suckers, and the chance to win a single galaxy note tablet in a sweepstakes that could potentially involve an entry for each of their 100 million+ customers.

Update 9/17/15: I have left Verizon, happy to no longer think about this ridiculous program that wasted 2-3 hours of my life.  My account balance is over 103,000 points, which Verizon can take, and shove up their butts. (For reference, I recently used 70,000 points from a different program and redeemed for a $7K business class flight overseas, so to be willing to give up 103,000 points IMO is a great example of how worthless this program is.)