Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[nenjin]

Re: Dating/Getting out there, I'd just like to recommend not trying to go after people like baristas, cashiers, bartenders and the like; unless you get to know them outside of their work environment.

In principle I agree with you; never hit on the help, it's uncomfortable for them. But it's also something you learn over time; the difference between nice and someone actually being attracted to you. Either way at the counter is never a good place to ask someone out. But friendly conversation is easy to have, and is what eventually leads to something outside of where they work. For example, I happened to chat at one barista who had just graduated and was looking for work and I mentioned all the software companies where I work. She ended up getting a job in the building and I saw more of her for months after that. It never went anywhere but....well, ya never know unless you try.

[delphonso]

My WTF: my ebook app updated and no longer launches, I downgraded it and still doesn't work. I guess time to just...get a different one.

[Flying Dice]

Which Japanese engineer thought it would be hilarious to stick an 8mm bolt riiiight up in the corner of the access panel, with less than a quarter-inch of clearance on two sides and less than an inch of vertical space above it? I had to go out and buy the world's smallest crescent wrench made for pixies to get leverage on it because none of my sockets would fit.

Dealing with that little bastard was honestly more annoying than almost electrocuting myself and I'm not sad it went on forever vacation to the bottom of the center console.

You probably know this, but it's something car manufacturers have done for decades in order to drive people to their dealerships or licensed shops for maintenance.

Nah, like others have said it's mostly just that a lot of car manufacturers (Japanese and German especially) value space efficiency over ease of access. Having to pull my battery to change the right headlights doesn't make me need a specialized tool, it's just easier to fit the battery in if you don't care about it being inconvenient to work around. The black-boxed proprietary bullshit is mostly tech companies that happen to make cars (like Tesla) and manufacturers of commercial vehicles (farmers will know).

Oh, and the idea she suggested, joining a library club to meet someone, wouldn't work for a lot of reasons. Not the least because the library in our town was torn down to the framework two years ago, and they only recently started rebuilding it. Also, joining a library to fish for women just sounds cringe as hell.

The only thing worse than that is when they decide that the right approach is to grope staff, or force unwanted flirting on someone who's in a role where they can't readily walk away. I might know a colleague or two that hasn't had unwanted physical contact from creeps, but it ain't me and it wouldn't be many. I know of at least one who received a deposit of bodily fluids on their back while they were distracted.

Also please tell your mom that anyone hitting on women at most ongoing library programs is either a pedophile or has a thing for GILFs, and that what few single 20/30-somethings do visit the library for anything other than a quick checkout or print/fax are damn sure not looking to mingle.

[Caz]

Editing things I already edited proving that I am a POTATO WITH EYES and 0 organisational skill. I need to actually date my drafts and stop switching between applications and just exporting stuff and not even saving the updated draft cause holy crap why.

[EuchreJack]

Which Japanese engineer thought it would be hilarious to stick an 8mm bolt riiiight up in the corner of the access panel, with less than a quarter-inch of clearance on two sides and less than an inch of vertical space above it? I had to go out and buy the world's smallest crescent wrench made for pixies to get leverage on it because none of my sockets would fit.

Dealing with that little bastard was honestly more annoying than almost electrocuting myself and I'm not sad it went on forever vacation to the bottom of the center console.

You probably know this, but it's something car manufacturers have done for decades in order to drive people to their dealerships or licensed shops for maintenance.

Nah, like others have said it's mostly just that a lot of car manufacturers (Japanese and German especially) value space efficiency over ease of access. Having to pull my battery to change the right headlights doesn't make me need a specialized tool, it's just easier to fit the battery in if you don't care about it being inconvenient to work around. The black-boxed proprietary bullshit is mostly tech companies that happen to make cars (like Tesla) and manufacturers of commercial vehicles (farmers will know).

Ah yes, my pet theory that John Deere is secretly behind Russia's invasion of Ukraine, to stop the flood of tractor brains that Ukraine was manufacturing so farmers could repair their own damn tractors.
Farmers and John Deere is the real love/hate relationship.

[King Zultan]

I was always under the impression that modern cars were difficult to repair and used rare expensive parts, was to make easier to replace the entire thing in the end, which makes the companies more money and as such they encourage such things because selling a new car makes them more money than repair parts.

[delphonso]

I think there's a feedback loop there. Cars have more and more computers handling things, which can* only be fixed by licensed mechanics, which means the other parts should also only be fixed there.

* Where there's a will, there is a way.

[McTraveller]

The computers in cars aren't "repaired" though, they are simply replaced. Maybe after the computers are shipped back to some depot they may get repaired or resold as aftermarket, if there was some simple physical defect, but mostly they are just scrapped.

Most "repairs" for ECUs are going to be clearing the NVM or re-flashing the image; it's not really a repair, and it's not really something that couldn't be done at any time by an end-user that knows how to click a "download and reset" button.  The only thing preventing that basic kind of repair is artificial constraints like proprietary tools and restrictive pairing procedures requiring "permission", nothing based on physics.

This is not like having to replace a head gasket, which at least requires having appropriate tools, knowledge of why you replace bolts and don't re-use them, general machinery hygiene (workplace cleanliness, avoidance of dust & debris, etc).

[Lord Shonus]

I was always under the impression that modern cars were difficult to repair and used rare expensive parts, was to make easier to replace the entire thing in the end, which makes the companies more money and as such they encourage such things because selling a new car makes them more money than repair parts.

That's a common belief, but the average lifespan of modern cars is significantly higher than the cars of yesterday. As recently as 20 years ago, 100k miles was when cars became junkers - something you drove only if you had no other choice. Nowadays, you usually don't even have to start using the good oil yet.

Repairs are also usually pretty economical compared to the cost of the car - unless you blow the engine/transmission (either of which has always been a "is this worth fixing?" point), you aren't going to spend more than 10% of the replacement cost. It is now a lot harder to save money by fixing things yourself, but if you take ot to a garage the relative costs haven't changed much.

[MaxTheFox]

Hey Caz! Long time no see.

[nenjin]

I think there's a feedback loop there. Cars have more and more computers handling things, which can* only be fixed by licensed mechanics, which means the other parts should also only be fixed there.

* Where there's a will, there is a way.

A big part of it is just the computer. You can replace whatever you want but the onboard computer needs to be calibrated after the changes. And that's proprietary. Some of that is exposed to the user. For example, when my tires are low and need refilled, I have to calibrate the onboard PC myself from the dashboard interface so the car knows that the problem has been addressed. That's an exceptionally minor example.

The "Right To Repair" is actually a movement in many industries, but particularly farming. When you've got an $400,000 combine, as a farmer, if you can fix something yourself for less you're going to. And farmers have that capability. But then they have to contact the manufacturer to send a tech out with a computer to recalibrate it, and that costs the farmers money to have a tech drive out to their farm for ~20 minutes of work.

[Akura]

Saw the entire Kingdom Hearts series on sale for the Switch for a... well it's 10 games, plus DLCs and extra stuff, so it seemed pretty reasonable. However, what caught my eye was multiple notices saying "Internet required to play this game." In addition, the install size was unusually small.

I look it up why, and find out my assumption of the worst was justified. The game doesn't install to your console, it streams all data from Square's servers, and therefore needs constant internet connection. Who the hell thought that was good idea? Especially for the Switch, a mobile console. It's not even good copy-protection since, as most DRM does, punishes legitimate users instead of stopping pirates.

[Lord Shonus]

The current version of KH is not only very large (a Problem for the switch, because the inbuilt storage is very small), but very technically demanding (also a Problem, because the Switch isn't exactly a powerhouse). The streaming setup is basically the only way to get it on the Switch at all absent an entirely new (and expensive) downport.

[Mathel]

So, I had a massive toothache this weekend and had to go to a detistry emergency.
The dentist did a patch-up, but told me I need to get it fixed properly within 2 weeks.

So far, I checked 3 towns worth of dentists. Most of them do not take new patients at all. 1 offered to take me, in half a year. And the rest have false phone numbers posted.

Apparently, there is a way insufficient number of dentists in Czech Republic.

[King Zultan]

As recently as 20 years ago, 100k miles was when cars became junkers - something you drove only if you had no other choice.

I've been in several cars of that age with over 100k miles and they still work fine, but I'm assuming they still work because of proper maintenance.