John Fischer's Philadelphia
Vol. 1 - Number 41 - 09/02/99
How often do we go through our lives and hear or read something that really ticks us off? How many times have you said to yourself that if I just had time I would sit down and send a letter to that person or organization complaining about this or that?
Well, time is no longer the problem!
I was sitting in the office yesterday reading USA Today and their Tech Extra section when I came across a recommended website called the automatic-complaint letter generator.
Seriously (he says with tongue in cheek) you can go to this site, type in the name of the person to whom you want to send your complaint letter and with a mere click of your mouse you will have a complaint letter generated for you. The letter itself is computer generated, but it reads as if it were written by a master of double talk and non-speak. If you don't like the complaint letter - no problem. Just click on reload and generate another one. You can choose from 1-10 paragraphs and the program will tailor the letter to the title of the person to whom you wish to write.
Once you letter is generated, it's a quick step to cut and paste it into an e-mail and send it off to the individuals's boss, newspaper, or the person themself. Who cares if it makes any sense? With this program you can send a letter a day or even a letter an hour if it tickles your fancy.
When you visit the site, be sure to check out the links to other articles written about the automatic-complaint letter generator including such publications as Newsweek.
It's not serious, but it's a heck of a lot of fun, so give it a try. Here's the link:
http://www-csag.cs.uiuc.edu/individual/pakin/complaint
Well, that's my spin on things. I'll catch you again soon. You can join me in our chat room almost every evening - Philly Chat - or drop me a note at philadelphia.guide@about.com. Also, be sure to check out our new Philadelphia Forum where you can share your comments and feelings, ask questions, post classifieds and much more
If you missed any of our recent columns you can still catch them:
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/16/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/18/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/20/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/23/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/27/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/30/99
