Sign Here. And Here. And Here. And Here.

Jul 11, 2006 by

In Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s outstanding novel Inferno they present a modernized version of Dante’s hell. There is one particular scene where the protagonists are attempting to enter the City of Dis and encounter nightmarish beuracracy and paperwork. The forms are the thickness of phone books, must be filled out in triplicate, and the blanks are in different places on each copy.

New Orleanians are now the reigning experts on Death By Paperwork. FEMA, the insurance companies and our own depleted local governmenthave had us filling out enough forms to account for an entire rain forest of trees. Now, it seems, the efficiency we have come to expect is being mirrored on the city’s own website. Thanks to Jack Ware at New Orleans Metroblogging for his post about the City of NO >>>

Metroblogging New Orleans- The City of NO

Ironically, the name of the New Orleans City Website. I believe it’s a pun. See, somehow, the Mayor’s Office of Technology (techtards) have designed a site that accurately duplicates the frustration and fury of going to a government office in Orleans Parish and talking to someone who has no idea who they are, what their job is, and is indignantly hostile toward you for showing up expecting service; all with out leaving your home. It’s like a big, Virtual fuck you. Part of the beauty of the site is it’s slowness. I once accused the department of transportation of single-handedly bringing valium to popularity in the work place. Being at any local government office forces the question ‘who drives these people to work?’ into your mind against your will. The website has compensated for that by making it so you can only use Microsoft Internet Explorer – so those of you that clicked that link and are still waiting for it to load: it won’t. Actually it will load every 32nd attempt made using a non IE browser – just to keep things irrational – but after loading, none of the links work so it’s really just a picture at that point.

I advise reading this in its entirety.

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