It's annoying when people hover around you when you're trying to use the computer. I like to be isolated when using the computer, able to be in my own world and concentrate on what I'm doing. Instead when I'm at Dad's house I get bothered by nosy relatives and the like.

Then, when I'm about to settle into a nice, relaxing online routine, I put on launchcast for some music, and their stupid commericals come on. This new one is annoying the crap out of me, it's by some internet watchdog group warning people about online predators. It wouldn't be so bad, except the commercials NEVER CHANGE. You hear the same frikin BS commercial after every 3 songs, and this commerical seems so self righteous it's not even funny. "Don't talk to strangers online or bad people will come and hurt you". Then they come out with all these amazing "numbers" about how 1 in 5 teen girls are apparently solicited sexually online. What they don't tell you is that poll numbers are so easy to fake it's ridiculous.

My point is, I've heard these types of things over and over and over and over again from every friggin source imaginable, and I'm tired of it. Now instead of being able to listen to some nice music, I have to put up with these BS ads that are pounding the same message in my ear. So here's what I have to say to all of you agencies who force this message down peoples throats. GET A LIFE. You've been poking and prodding me with this message for years, and I'm tired of it. I just want to surf my internet in peace. I know the risks, and I'm willing to safeguard myself enough but also take enough risks to have an enjoyable time. I don't want to end up like one of my parents, afraid to put their credit card number online because the big bad credit frauders will steal their number, and yelling at me to not say anything about myself to online people.

I'm not about to reveal my address, school, GPA, SS number, hell, I don't even give out my name. I'm not the type of person to go into a chatroom of people I don't know and start cybering or showing off my picture. In fact, I really doubt there are as many people who would do that as people think. So I don't need to be scared off the internet. But what I do want to do is to enjoy my time talking to people from all around the planet, learning about their ideas and opinions, and hopefully expanding my knowledge of the global community. We're at a great time on this planet, when it's easy to connect to the entire globe, and we should use that to bring ourselves together, not to push each other apart. And trying to make us scared of the internet is just what that does.

So I'm going to stop listening to Launchcast for a while, at least until this ad disappears. Because I want to enjoy my time on the internet, not be reminded every second of the minute chance it could kill me. If the internet watch groups want us to listen to them, don't shove it down our throats with annoying ads.

~Nighthawk Moonshadow, citizen of the global community~