Random randomness

[Blackhawk]

It's an issue with the make/model. The heater doesn't work, the defroster doesn't work, the radio doesn't work, the dash lights don't work, the gas gauge doesn't work, the power windows don't work, the power sunroof doesn't work. The repair would be almost as much as the car is worth, and far more than I have.

Both left windows are also off their tracks, but that's a different issue.

[Isgrimnur]

When they reopen submissions, you could put in for Free Charity Cars.

[Daehawk]

Im guessing Google Maps in the browser got changed in an update. But Im wondering if two old features can be returned somehow by me or what.

1. I used to double click on a street to zoom down into street view. Now it no longer works. If I click fast 3 or so times a little box pops up at the bottom wit ha tiny pic and I click that then Im at street view like normal. Anyway to go back to the double click autozoom to street view?

2. My own home street view used to have different timed photos..like 2007 and such and I could go back to see them. Now there are none there top go to. Its this year and thats it. Did Google simply get rid of them?

[Kasey Chang]

And Amazon's response is contact the seller since the return window is closed.

I get ripped off by criminals, and their response is to ask the criminals for help. Why the fuck are they even still selling once this has been reported?

Yeah, I wish Amazon's AI would pick up on something like this... If pictures and descriptions change substantially and/or the category of item changed drastically, flag or hide the item until it can be reviewed. This way, simple edits won't trigger it, but substantial changes or wholesale replacements will trigger a review.

I've been victim of this before. I used to want a car dock for a phone, except it's like $30 and I don't want to pay the price. Finally I found one Amazon vendor who has it for $12. When it came, it was a completely different model. I went back to the order, and sure enough, my order references this "new" car dock that's not what I ordered, but without a screenshot of what I ordered what's there to say?

[Kasey Chang]

1. I used to double click on a street to zoom down into street view. Now it no longer works. If I click fast 3 or so times a little box pops up at the bottom wit ha tiny pic and I click that then Im at street view like normal. Anyway to go back to the double click autozoom to street view?

Is this in browser, or on mobile?

If this is from within Google Maps, you need to first enable the "street view" layer with the layer icon (upper right). THEN when you double-click, it'll go into street view.

If you mean browser, I'd say just zoom in (with the mouse wheel)

2. My own home street view used to have different timed photos..like 2007 and such and I could go back to see them. Now there are none there top go to. Its this year and thats it. Did Google simply get rid of them?

I think you have to wait a second or two until there's a little "clock icon" that show in street view, which will bring up the "historical views", if available.

[Daehawk]

Browser. Always has been browser.

The clock is in Google Earth and its only ever worked in sky view. If you wanted street view time changes you had to use Google Maps.

[Blackhawk]

Yeah, I wish Amazon's AI would pick up on something like this... If pictures and descriptions change substantially and/or the category of item changed drastically, flag or hide the item until it can be reviewed. This way, simple edits won't trigger it, but substantial changes or wholesale replacements will trigger a review.

Or just lock any entry that has been unused for, say, 45 days. The way they do this is find something that's still listed, has positive reviews, but is no longer being sold by any vendor, so that nobody notices when they change the product.

[Daehawk]

And now I cant log into Google Earth. I can use it but when I try to sign in it just sits there at 'one moment please'...bah stupid ass oversized Google company.

[Daehawk]

Acting your age

In 1979, psychologist Ellen Langer and her students carefully refurbished an old monastery in Peterborough, New Hampshire, to resemble a place that would have existed two decades earlier. They invited a group of elderly men in their late 70s and early 80s to spend a week with them and live as they did in 1959, “a time when an IBM computer filled a whole room and panty hose had just been introduced to U.S. women,” Langer wrote. Her idea was to return the men, at least in their minds, to a time when they were younger and healthier—and to see if it had physiological consequences.

When Langer studied the men after a week of such sensory and mindful immersion in the past, she found that their memory, vision, hearing, and even physical strength had improved. She compared the traits to those of a control group of men, who had also spent a week in a retreat. The control group, however, had been told the experiment was about reminiscing. They were not told to live as if it were 1959. The first group, in a very objective sense, seemed younger. The team took photographs of the men before and after the experiment, and people who knew nothing about the study said the men looked younger in the after-pictures, says Langer, who today is a professor of psychology at Harvard University.

[LawBeefaroni]

And Amazon's response is contact the seller since the return window is closed.

I get ripped off by criminals, and their response is to ask the criminals for help. Why the fuck are they even still selling once this has been reported?

Be sure to leave a review stating what you ordered/received and stating that the listing was for a different product than the majority of reviews.

Amazon won't protect other consumers but you can try.

[gilraen]

Dispute the charge with the credit card. Depending on the credit card, they will sometimes issue credit on the spot if it's under a certain amount (like $50) - it's not even worth their time to investigate.

[Blackhawk]

Nope. I pushed the Amazon support guy enough that he escalated, and then focused on the fact that this was a criminal exploiting a loophole that was well-known to Amazon. The representative said they'd never heard of it. I responded with links to articles in Business Insider, Buzzfeed, and Forbes from 2018 reporting on it, including official responses from Amazon. They gave me a full refund plus a credit for my 'trouble.'

It was likely just to shut me up, but so be it.

The truth is that between this and two different times I've received counterfeit merchandise, I've become very cautious of Amazon. Until they decide that a policy of caveat emptor is costing them business, it's the wild west.

[coopasonic]

I avoid marketplace purchases as much as possible. Only using it when there is no other reasonable option and vendor feedback is deep and perfect... and even then I don't have much faith.

[Daehawk]

Its been almost a year of being alone. It still feels weird and not right. Its like when you grow up and leave home for the first time out on your own but instead of being exciting its sad. I never did the out on my own. I went from home to family of my own. I was never one to make decisions. I either talked them out with D or let her make the tough ones while I stayed out of them. Now I make them all, even the life changing ones. Its scary and weird. But I am doing. Im on the path. I just dont care for it all even though I seem to be able to do it. Something I never thought I could. I still miss so much of us. This time of year is now so different. Lost many over the years in these year end holidays and times. Wont be long until its 1 full year since D passed on. Kinda be glad when Jan 3 is gone on behind me and warm weather comes back.

[Daehawk]

Ahh the old days. This is Johnson City TN around Christmas time in the 1950s.

[dbt1949]

I love those old pictures like that.

[Daehawk]

I just watched 'Live In Front of a Studio Audience' with Archie Bunker and Good Times. Being born in 69 I grew up on Good Times, All In the Family, and The Jeffersons as a kid in the 70s. I missed the live shows from earlier this year with All in the Family and The Jeffersons so wanted to be sure to see them this time. Good Times was ok and it was great seeing John Amos again. But the Archie Bunker one was really good. Woody was excellent. And I love Marisa Tomei and my wife did too. Also cool seeing how they rebuilt the old sets.

Even cool were the commercials. Some of them had a graphic filter on them and a 70's style narrator just like the 70s. So cool and took me back.

[Smoove_B]

So cool and took me back.

[Archinerd]

Ahh the old days. This is Johnson City TN around Christmas time in the 1950s.

Woah, where did they get all those old cars from?!

[Kasey Chang]

I am digging my "EDITH Glasses".



In case you forgot where that came from...

Spoiler:

[LordMortis]

So cool and took me back.

....

Miss you Scott H

[Z-Corn]

I just watched 'Live In Front of a Studio Audience' with Archie Bunker and Good Times.

I enjoyed the one from earlier this year and was looking forward to watching this one but the local ABC station decided to air the entirety of Trump's rally in Battle Creek instead. I was TiVoing and didn't notice until about 15 minutes left so I wasn't able to switch to another channel that was showing it.

I'm so pissed. They better rerun it. They did the last one...

[gilraen]

Ahh the old days. This is Johnson City TN around Christmas time in the 1950s.

And they said traffic didn't suck back then!

[Isgrimnur]

I just watched 'Live In Front of a Studio Audience' with Archie Bunker and Good Times.

I enjoyed the one from earlier this year and was looking forward to watching this one but the local ABC station decided to air the entirety of Trump's rally in Battle Creek instead. I was TiVoing and didn't notice until about 15 minutes left so I wasn't able to switch to another channel that was showing it.

I'm so pissed. They better rerun it. They did the last one...

ABC.com

[Daehawk]

I am digging my "EDITH Glasses".

So thats where Elvis got to...San Fran.

[Z-Corn]

I just watched 'Live In Front of a Studio Audience' with Archie Bunker and Good Times.

I enjoyed the one from earlier this year and was looking forward to watching this one but the local ABC station decided to air the entirety of Trump's rally in Battle Creek instead. I was TiVoing and didn't notice until about 15 minutes left so I wasn't able to switch to another channel that was showing it.

I'm so pissed. They better rerun it. They did the last one...

ABC.com

What am I, some fucking peasant who watches streaming television? On a computer!? Oh, or even better, on my phone while I commute on public transportation? Eh, no.

[Daehawk]

Some of you know me and my wife had to buy a new car battery last Nov or Dec. Well the new one has been cranking a little slow for a couple months.....the cold days. Today it almost wouldn't start at all . So I had to go by the battery place after just 1 year. He connected a tester, said nothing, and went and got me a new battery of a different brand. Cranking great again. Said if I have any problem at all I still have 2 years to return and get it right. Sweet. Said most are made in China.

Also the food place gave me a handful of hand warmers from HotHands. Id wondered for years what these things were like. These heat up on air contact. Pretty spiffy.

Lastly 3 well known facts were reaffirmed by me today on my town visit.

1. A large percentage of Walmart customers are just plain trashy. From dirty and smelling, to wearing their pajamas to shop, or worse simply wearing their butt crack with pride.

2. Target customers seem to be the exact opposite. I had not been to Target in years but the people there were clean, well dressed, and cute. If only the stores could switch shoppers.

3. Both stores never have any damn checkouts even when theres a ton of shoppers waiting. At a guess Walmart has 30 checkouts and Target has 15 and neither will have more than 2 open with people working them.

EDIT: My back is killing me.

[Daehawk]

Heres a new one.

https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/41476395/u ... -his-death

Woman dies and they find the body of her dead husband in the freezer with a notarized letter saying she didn't do it. He'd been dead about 10 years.

[Anonymous Bosch]

3. Both stores never have any damn checkouts even when theres a ton of shoppers waiting. At a guess Walmart has 30 checkouts and Target has 15 and neither will have more than 2 open with people working them.

Do they not provide automated self-checkouts in your locale?

[Daehawk]

You sound like my online friend. Ill repeat what I told him. I dont get paid to check myself out but they get paid so I let them earn it hehe.

He says Im just old. True.

[Anonymous Bosch]

You sound like my online friend. Ill repeat what I told him. I dont get paid to check myself out but they get paid so I let them earn it hehe.

He says Im just old. True.

But if you're able to check out quicker and easier via an automated self-checkout, queuing up in a line with "tons of shoppers waiting" merely because a clerk has been paid to do so equates to cutting off your nose to spite your face. Given the choice, I much prefer using a self-checkout as it's hardly rocket science, and the time saved by not having to stand around like a chuff-wit is also valuable.

[Kasey Chang]

Today, I learned that Kim Kardashian West is NOT BLACK. She's an exotic mix of races, but the "majority" is Armenian.

[Paingod]

A week ago I finally got around to hooking up a second monitor to my computer. For some reason I had never prioritized this.

I'm now able to watch Netflix while playing XCOM2, Pillars of Eternity, and BattleTech. It totally fits as something to fill the numerous tiny gaps in games where I have to wait for the AI to do whatever, and works best in games where it doesn't matter if I don't react right away.

I feel like a slow, foolish old man for not bothering for so long.

[Smoove_B]

Watching a movie while playing a video game? I don't understand that level of focus. Are you trying to punish your brain or just minimize any chance at all that there's a 3 second window where you're confronted with your mortality or the nature of being a carbon-based life form in a seemingly empty universe?

[Paingod]

minimize any chance at all that there's a 3 second window where you're confronted with your mortality or the nature of being a carbon-based life form in a seemingly empty universe?

It might be this one. I've been pretty down lately and it's nice to have my brain 100% occupied.

[Daehawk]

You sound like my online friend. Ill repeat what I told him. I dont get paid to check myself out but they get paid so I let them earn it hehe.

He says Im just old. True.

But if you're able to check out quicker and easier via an automated self-checkout, queuing up in a line with "tons of shoppers waiting" merely because a clerk has been paid to do so equates to cutting off your nose to spite your face. Given the choice, I much prefer using a self-checkout as it's hardly rocket science, and the time saved by not having to stand around like a chuff-wit is also valuable.

In reality something always goes wrong with the auto check out and you need the clerk to help anyways. The only trouble is they are never there so you stand there waving at employees who sometimes simply wave back.

[Anonymous Bosch]

But if you're able to check out quicker and easier via an automated self-checkout, queuing up in a line with "tons of shoppers waiting" merely because a clerk has been paid to do so equates to cutting off your nose to spite your face. Given the choice, I much prefer using a self-checkout as it's hardly rocket science, and the time saved by not having to stand around like a chuff-wit is also valuable.

In reality something always goes wrong with the auto check out and you need the clerk to help anyways. The only trouble is they are never there so you stand there waving at employees who sometimes simply wave back.

If you say so. But that sounds more akin to a rationalization for...

You sound like my online friend. Ill repeat what I told him. I dont get paid to check myself out but they get paid so I let them earn it hehe.

He says Im just old. True.

[Blackhawk]

The only reason I avoid them is that I usually do my shopping for seven days worth of food for four people. With that much stuff in the cart, the regular checkout where I can just pile it all on the belt and go (and not worry about weighing each item, etc) is faster. But if I'm just getting a few things? Self checkout is so much faster than waiting for Grandma Jones to figure out why checks work differently now.

[Anonymous Bosch]

The only store I don't mind queuing up for is Costco, as they've honed their check out process down to a fine art and are typically among the quickest around. Otherwise, if I can possibly avoid the vacuous small talk of interacting with a chatty check out clerk, I almost always jump at the chance.

[Daehawk]

Ive learned to be picky when I find clerks working. I avoid the older or elderly'ish ones. On the flip side I also avoid the very young. I stay in the middle age range and also try to find a male clerk. Its not a sexist thing really..more part of that chatty thing. They usually wont chat me up and simply check me out. Then I assess who is in line. Again avoiding older folk and fuller buggies. Then do they have children with them? This again is a no no line.