This Week

It's been a good week. A really good week. At least for me it has been. And for all my Obama-supporting friends.

I listened to President-Elect Obama's first press conference today. It was vague, but I thought it was good. He answered the question of the presidential puppy with the same serious tone as questions about the economy and Iran, which I found humorous.

Of course, the press conference interrupted Talk of The Nation: Science Friday, one of my favorite NPR programs. Late in the show, callers were asked what they thought President-Elect Obama should focus on (in terms of science) in his first term.

That's when something occurred that, without fail, annoys the crap out of me. Some guy called in to recommend a particular individual for the role of science adviser within the Obama administration.

I don't even remember who the person "recommended," so that's not what I found annoying. What I found annoying was addressing a topic via an unrelated channel. A better example of this is whocallsme.com, where people log unsolicited commercial phone calls. And then people complain.

While many of the entries on that site are helpful descriptions of the nature of the phone calls (and sometimes, even a company name), there are always a few where people write, "I want my name off your list," "stop calling me!" or something similar, in which the author of the post will address the company making the phone calls.

Do you see where I'm headed with this?

Complaining about something on some random website isn't going to change anything. If you're on a government no call list, there are forms to fill out to report unwanted phone calls. And I guaran-damn-tee you that posting on the aforementioned website will not result in action by your attorney general's office (they're the ones who act on no call list complaints) and it's even less likely that your comment will actually accomplish anything with the company.

So, really people, if you're going to complain about something, do it so it means something. If you're going to suggest someone to be President Obama's science adviser, tell his transition team. If you want someone to stop calling you, talk to your state's attorney general. For Pete's sake, folks, make sure there's some sort of logical connection in place when you make a suggestion or complain about something. A good general rule for this -- the ease of making a complaint or suggestion via a particular medium is inversely relative to the effectiveness of that medium's ability to make sure the right people are hearing your voice.

Complaining on a random website about telemarketers calling you is easy, but it won't get results. Complaining to the attorney general will require that you fill out forms with detailed information, but it is more likely to yield actual results.

That's all I've got.

Oh, by the way, I still can't entirely believe that this campaign is over, and Barack Obama won the election.

Sarah Palin, I'll miss you the most.