Random randomness

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sun May 08, 2016 11:07 pm

Part of that is intentional. One customer every 20 years isn't as profitable as that same customer every 5.

Part of it is that we want stuff that does more things. More things = more complexity, more complexity = more points of failure. Our parents microwave (radar range?) that lasted 20 years probably had a dial that turned to roughly the correct the time, a bell that went off when it was done, and took twice as long to heat food.

Then again, part of it is our insistence that we not pay like we used to, too.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sun May 08, 2016 11:41 pm

radar range

Wow haven't heard that in a while. Still recall the commercials for the Amana radar range. Probably in avocado green

gilraen · Post by **gilraen** » Mon May 09, 2016 1:39 am

Blackhawk wrote: Part of it is that we want stuff that does more things. More things = more complexity, more complexity = more points of failure. Our parents microwave (radar range?) that lasted 20 years probably had a dial that turned to roughly the correct the time, a bell that went off when it was done, and took twice as long to heat food.

Not just our parents' - I still have the Samsung microwave that I bought back in 1998, it only has one dial and it's awesome, this model. The only reason I don't use it anymore is because we got a built-in microwave as part of kitchen remodel, so there's no need for another freestanding microwave. Otherwise I'd still be using it.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon May 09, 2016 1:46 am

Blackhawk wrote:Part of that is intentional. One customer every 20 years isn't as profitable as that same customer every 5.

Sure, but if your thing breaks in 5 years I'm going to buy a different brand next time. Of course, every brand is probably made in one factory in China, so you're hosed no matter what you buy.

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Mon May 09, 2016 2:14 am

Kraken wrote:
Blackhawk wrote:Part of that is intentional. One customer every 20 years isn't as profitable as that same customer every 5.
Sure, but if your thing breaks in 5 years I'm going to buy a different brand next time. Of course, every brand is probably made in one factory in China, so you're hosed no matter what you buy.

You're not even hosed as severely as you would be years ago, what with the shoddy hoses of today.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Mon May 09, 2016 3:14 am

If a giant meteorite made completely of a solid diamond lands on you property and for "reasons" doesn't destroy you or the earth, do you own it, or do the owners of the minerals rights to your land own it or does the US government?

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon May 09, 2016 3:19 am

After taxes you get a garnet.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon May 09, 2016 7:08 am

After the immediate collapse of the world diamond market you have a pretty rock.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Mon May 09, 2016 9:27 am

Holman wrote:After the immediate collapse of the world diamond market you have a pretty rock.

There is no diamond shortage and the way they keep the prices up is rather dark/evil. As such, they would just come out and convince everyone that Terrestrial Diamonds (TM) are the time honored way to show someone your love and anything else is clearly you being a cheapskate.

MindToyGames · Post by **MindToyGames** » Mon May 09, 2016 2:02 pm

stessier wrote:
Holman wrote:After the immediate collapse of the world diamond market you have a pretty rock.
There is no diamond shortage and the way they keep the prices up is rather dark/evil. As such, they would just come out and convince everyone that Terrestrial Diamonds (TM) are the time honored way to show someone your love and anything else is clearly you being a cheapskate.

Those Kay commercials...ever seen those? So blantantly manipulative, makes me ill.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon May 09, 2016 2:05 pm

~80 years of marketing

Every so often, an article comes along that makes you thoroughly rethink a rote practice. Edward Jay Epstein's "Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?" was one of them. In his 1982 Atlantic story, the investigative journalist deconstructed what he termed the "diamond invention"—the "creation of the idea that diamonds are rare and valuable, and are essential signs of esteem."

That invention is surprisingly recent: Epstein traces its origins to the discovery of massive diamond mines in South Africa in the late 19th century, which for the first time flooded world markets with diamonds. The British businessmen operating the South African mines recognized that only by maintaining the fiction that diamonds were scarce and inherently valuable could they protect their investments and buoy diamond prices. They did so by launching a South Africa–based cartel, De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. (now De Beers), in 1888, and meticulously extending the company's control over all facets of the diamond trade in the ensuing decades.

Most remarkably, De Beers manipulated not just supply but demand. In 1938, amid the ravages of the Depression and the rumblings of war, Harry Oppenheimer, the De Beers founder's son, recruited the New York–based ad agency N.W. Ayer to burnish the image of diamonds in the United States, where the practice of giving diamond engagement rings had been unevenly gaining traction for years, but where the diamonds sold were increasingly small and low-quality.

Meanwhile, the price of diamonds was falling around the world. The folks at Ayer set out to persuade young men that diamonds (and only diamonds) were synonymous with romance, and that the measure of a man's love (and even his personal and professional success) was directly proportional to the size and quality of the diamond he purchased. Young women, in turn, had to be convinced that courtship concluded, invariably, in a diamond.

The diamond in my wife's ring came from my grandmother's ring, but I stell wound up paying over $2k for the ring itself, with lots of little ones in it, because it was the one she thought of as perfect.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon May 09, 2016 2:47 pm

Why was your department's ticket closed? Let's see. I requested a change request from the submitter on the day I got it. A week later, the system started throwing overdue notices. I again requested follow up. A week later, overdue notice. I then forwarded the information to you via direct e-mail requesting follow up. A week later, overdue notice. I closed the ticket.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Mon May 09, 2016 3:48 pm

Ladies and gentlemen, we now have a national mammal: the mighty bison.

Charge!

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Mon May 09, 2016 3:51 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:Why was your department's ticket closed? Let's see. I requested a change request from the submitter on the day I got it. A week later, the system started throwing overdue notices. I again requested follow up. A week later, overdue notice. I then forwarded the information to you via direct e-mail requesting follow up. A week later, overdue notice. I closed the ticket.

Also known as "user expressed a complete inability to give a s**t" - I love the people that ask for help and then refuse to let you help them.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon May 09, 2016 3:57 pm

AWS260 wrote:Ladies and gentlemen, we now have a national mammal: the mighty bison.

Charge!

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo!

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Mon May 09, 2016 4:09 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:Why was your department's ticket closed? Let's see. I requested a change request from the submitter on the day I got it. A week later, the system started throwing overdue notices. I again requested follow up. A week later, overdue notice. I then forwarded the information to you via direct e-mail requesting follow up. A week later, overdue notice. I closed the ticket.

Oh, I see, it was YOUR fault.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon May 09, 2016 5:11 pm

Luckily, my boss decided to play the heavy for me on this one.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Mon May 09, 2016 6:49 pm

My daughter got a call from Wells Fargo asking if she had used her credit card out of town to try and buy $300 worth of sporting goods. My daughter just laughed as the purchase was rejected anyway because her credit card was maxxed out.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon May 09, 2016 11:19 pm

Facebook wondered if I'd tried to log in from Brazil recently. I hadn't. Nice catch, Facebook.

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Tue May 10, 2016 2:52 pm

I seldom buy a lunch, but wandered over to a campus food court today for a change. There's a street preacher outside with some sign-carrying minions.

One of the signs says "Believe on the Lord...." Acts 16:31

"Believe on?" says me. "Yes, yes!" says them and thrust pamphlets in my general direction.

I hoofed it to buy my food and get back to my office to check the phrasing.

Apparently that is the more bible-y way of translating that passage? Interesting.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue May 10, 2016 2:58 pm

silverjon wrote:I seldom buy a lunch, but wandered over to a campus food court today for a change. There's a street preacher outside with some sign-carrying minions.

One of the signs says "Believe on the Lord...." Acts 16:31

"Believe on?" says me. "Yes, yes!" says them and thrust pamphlets in my general direction.

I hoofed it to buy my food and get back to my office to check the phrasing.

Apparently that is the more bible-y way of translating that passage? Interesting.

Wasn't that an Elton John song?

And he shall believe on
And he shall be a good man
And he shall believe on
In tradition with the family plan
And he shall believe on
And he shall be a good man
He shall believe on

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Tue May 10, 2016 6:07 pm

Guilty feet have got no rhythm

Words I have always tried to live by.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Tue May 10, 2016 6:14 pm

silverjon wrote:I seldom buy a lunch, but wandered over to a campus food court today for a change. There's a street preacher outside with some sign-carrying minions.

One of the signs says "Believe on the Lord...." Acts 16:31

"Believe on?" says me. "Yes, yes!" says them and thrust pamphlets in my general direction.

I hoofed it to buy my food and get back to my office to check the phrasing.

Apparently that is the more bible-y way of translating that passage? Interesting.

KJV uses "believe on" while modern translations are more likely to use "in."

Prepositions are linguistically unstable across time.

(And regionally, of course:
Americans say the store is "on Johnson Street," while Brits say it is "in Johnson Street."
Everyone knows how New Yorkers stand "on line" for tickets.
My mother tells you to drive "across Lincoln Road" where most non-Mississippians would say you're driving "down" or "along" it.)

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue May 10, 2016 6:39 pm

Comme ci, comme ça.

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Tue May 10, 2016 7:02 pm

Holman wrote:
silverjon wrote:I seldom buy a lunch, but wandered over to a campus food court today for a change. There's a street preacher outside with some sign-carrying minions.

One of the signs says "Believe on the Lord...." Acts 16:31

"Believe on?" says me. "Yes, yes!" says them and thrust pamphlets in my general direction.

I hoofed it to buy my food and get back to my office to check the phrasing.

Apparently that is the more bible-y way of translating that passage? Interesting.
KJV uses "believe on" while modern translations are more likely to use "in."

Prepositions are linguistically unstable across time.

(And regionally, of course:
Americans say the store is "on Johnson Street," while Brits say it is "in Johnson Street."
Everyone knows how New Yorkers stand "on line" for tickets.
My mother tells you to drive "across Lincoln Road" where most non-Mississippians would say you're driving "down" or "along" it.)

I was sort of thinking of it in terms of expressing a deeper way of thinking about faith, as opposed to casually identifying as Christian just because that's how you were brought up and you never questioned it. Believing in the Lord like believing in the Easter Bunny, believing on the Lord being very philosophical, kind of a thing.

Not that I expect someone standing on a box and shouting hellfire to be a really deep thinker, necessarily, but that's how I want it to be defined.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Tue May 10, 2016 7:45 pm

Posting isolated verses like bumper stickers doesn't do the biblical text any favors.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed May 11, 2016 11:03 am

Thank you for letting me know that the tax forms are due. Yesterday.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed May 11, 2016 3:51 pm

Oh hey, lets look at the possible side effects for a new 2x daily medication I'm trying...

Rare:
Chest tightness
feeling of warmth, redness of the face, neck, arms and occasionally, upper chest
large, hive-like swelling on face, eyelids, lips, tongue, throat, hands, legs, feet, or sex organs
shortness of breath, difficult or labored breathing

Ok, good to know. I'll be mindful.

Spoiler:

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed May 11, 2016 3:57 pm

One of those is a selling point.

tjg_marantz · Post by **tjg_marantz** » Wed May 11, 2016 11:36 pm

A piece of American history you say?

What as piece of shit.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Thu May 12, 2016 12:17 am

tjg_marantz wrote:A piece of American history you say?

What as piece of shit.

Lol. Desperate times.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Thu May 12, 2016 1:38 pm

tjg_marantz wrote:A piece of American history you say?

What as piece of shit.

The headline from the New York Daily News aptly summed it up:

tjg_marantz · Post by **tjg_marantz** » Thu May 12, 2016 1:38 pm

Awesome

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Fri May 13, 2016 12:08 am

Anyone recognize the 'photo' used by the Russian (UK) embassy in this twitter post?

Default · Post by **Default** » Fri May 13, 2016 6:03 am

Eldercare is kicking my ass. I've been up since 4am and about every two hours before that. It's gotten to the point that coffee does nothing. It takes a 24 Oz can of Monster at lunch just to get me through the day.

Congestive heart failure is a bitch.

Toe · Post by **Toe** » Fri May 13, 2016 7:16 am

Isgrimnur wrote:Why was your department's ticket closed? Let's see. I requested a change request from the submitter on the day I got it. A week later, the system started throwing overdue notices. I again requested follow up. A week later, overdue notice. I then forwarded the information to you via direct e-mail requesting follow up. A week later, overdue notice. I closed the ticket.

I get those from time to time. Sometimes I get the awesome response of "I don't check my email that often as it's not productive, you should have called. Don't bother leaving voicemail though as I don't check that often either."

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri May 13, 2016 8:17 am

El Guapo wrote:Anyone recognize the 'photo' used by the Russian (UK) embassy in this twitter post?

NO BLOOD FOR TIBERIUM!!

Default · Post by **Default** » Fri May 13, 2016 11:31 pm

"that moment when you, in your extreme fatigue, refer to your ex as "hon".

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri May 13, 2016 11:49 pm

Default wrote:"that moment when you, in your extreme fatigue, refer to your ex as "hon".

Bless your heart.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Sat May 14, 2016 11:25 pm

When I'm having trouble doing something I get pissed. I'm pissed that I cannot fix my problem.
The dogs know this and scatter and keep their distance.
Why can't my wife understand this too?
Don't ask me what's wrong.
Don't ask me if you can help.
And for God's sake don't tell me to call one of your children for help!