I didn't have any particular direction or topic, but an egg mcmuffin popped into my head. I went to google and did a quick search on "the joys of breakfast sandwiches". The oh-so-helpful suggestion popped back with, "DID you mean: the joints of breakfast sandwiches?" Well, no, I didn't mean that, but it was enough to kick me in a direction for writing.
Did you know (according to answers.com) that... "A breakfast sandwich is a sandwich served at breakfast. Breakfast sandwiches typically are made using breakfast meats, breads, eggs and cheese. These sandwiches were typically regional specialties until fast food restaurants began serving breakfast. Because the types of bread common, such as biscuits, bagels, and English muffins were similar in size to a fast food hamburger buns, they made an obvious choice for fast food restaurants. Unlike other breakfast items, they were perfect for the innovation of the drive-through. These sandwiches have also become a staple of many convenience stores, who serve them as take-away items."
Damn. What would I do without such an invaluable resource? I knew Wikipedia would have more to say on the topic, so I sauntered over there.
"A breakfast sandwich is a sandwich served at breakfast. Breakfast sandwiches typically are made using breakfast meats, breads, eggs and cheese. These sandwiches were typically regional specialties until fast food restaurants began serving breakfast. Because the types of bread common, such as biscuits, bagels, and English muffins were similar in size to a fast food hamburger buns, they made an obvious choice for fast food restaurants. Unlike other breakfast items, they were perfect for the innovation of the drive-through. These sandwiches have also become a staple of many convenience stores, who serve them as take-away items."
Ummmm.
Yes, even the pictures were the same. (I used the same pic here to illustrate a point, clever, right?)
Is this a chicken or an egg thing? Sausage or Scrapple? No pun intended. But it does illustrate something a little frustrating that I've been running into lately - the duplication of content, sometimes BLATANTLY on sites, blogs <ahem...I always cite where I BLATANTLY copy from> and every site you come across on a daily basis. I work as a web 'developer.' I should use the term 'guy who works with websites and crap like that' because I'm not exactly a 'developer' so to speak. I cobble things together and get other people to do the heavy lifting. Every once in a while I delve into things I have absolutely NO knowledge about simply because I feel like beating myself up with technical manuals and tech forums attempting to 'get it'. I can usually keep my head above water - although why I do it is a mystery, as it causes me to become quite bitchy and miserable while it's happening.
I digress.
So this past weekend, while in one of those moods that keeps me awake all night as I try this, reconfigure that, recompile, start over, etc. I noticed something that finally made me scream - I kept reading the same 'words of wisdom' over and over again. No, they weren't on the same page, in the same manual, or even on the same site or forum. (And no, this wasn't the first time I've ever noticed this particular phenomenon.) They were showing up, verbatim across all kinds of sites. It's fine. Really. No, what I mean to say is: "If you don't have anything NEW to contribute, please don't just COPY and PASTE something that may or may not be helpful to someone else... because generally if people have found it on your site using a search engine they've found it on someone else's too. And if you really DO have something interesting to say about your particular configuration or setup, then DO SO, but ..... wait, maybe I'm on to something here.
It's sad, but apparently the internet has fallen so low as to be 'water-coolerized' in terms of the flow of information. (duh with a capital 'D', right?) So while being an invaluable source of all kinds of information, there is also an increasing level of excrement that needs to be waded through, even on the TECHNICAL side of things. Yes folks, even geeks regurgitate shit when given the chance. Mountains and mountains of it. <gasp>
Let's not pretend anything here. This piece is nothing but me ranting and spewing shit anyways, but at the bottom of it all, aren't we really just seeing the AJAX programmer going to the internet drive-thru to order a couple of egg mcmuffins and an extra-extra large coffee (which may or may not be spilled in his lap as he pulls out of the parking lot)? Metaphors-R-Us, sorry.
So back to the breakfast sandwiches - Dunkin' Donuts has my vote, I could live off those damn things. Sourceforge and Hotscripts.com eat your heart out.
