When was the last time you heard of someone getting pulled over by the police for illegally texting or talking on their smartphone while driving?
Have you ever heard of a telemarketer being fined for calling a phone number that is listed on the "Do-Not-Call" registry?
What about employment laws? Does anyone know of a single instance where an business was fined by the government for age discrimination?
None of these laws have enough teeth in them. They are violated thousands of times a day, right out in the open, and yet there is no enforcement anywhere to be seen.
All of these laws were created because there is a need for them. The acts are not frivolous or rare. Texting while driving kills innocent people. Laying off an employee or not interviewing a job candidate based on age destroys lives and impacts the economy.
So the question is, why aren't laws enforced? Do we not have enough resources to police these things? Does big business have the lobbying power to prevent enforcement of these laws? Or were the laws simply created to appease the public, with no real intention of following through on them? Maybe it's all of the above.
I suspect we have too many useless laws in this country, which in turn causes many worthwhile laws to be ignored by various agencies and courts. Until we clear out all the antiquated laws, I doubt we'll see much enforcement of newer, more relevant laws.
Meet the "pixel painter." He was 97 years old at the time this video was made. While the story of this artist is inspiring for all the obvious reasons, I have to admit that I am also moved by his use of technology.
Hal Lasko uses technology the way I think it should be used, to improve his life, not to place further burdens on himself.
Too often, we want the latest-and-greatness gadget or software, thinking it will somehow make us happier or inspire us to do great things. Most of the time, we end up in such a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with new technology that we forget why we acquired it in the first place.
Mr. Lasko uses Microsoft Paint -- software so old and clumsy by today's standards that it's probably unthinkable to the boys over at Pixar or Apple. Microsoft Paint is what a Polaroid film camera is to photography these days.
Because of a sight problem, Mr. Lasko uses a technology, not a paint brush and canvas, to express his creative passion. The quest for newer, better, faster software isn't his concern. He uses what works for him. It allows him to focus on the art, not on the technology. There are no manuals to read. No steep learning curves to distract. Just pixels.
There is a simplicity to his approach. An elegance, if you will. Mr. Lasko doesn't want to learn Adobe Photoshop, Flash or Illustrator. He doesn't need the fancy filters and other features of high-end graphics applications. His art isn't about the technology, it's about the joy and purity of each dot.
I believe pursuing creative passions in the simplest ways possible, without over abundance or complication, is one of the secrets to a long life. If you can share those creative endeavors and enthusiasm with others, all the better.
