The Technology Vent and Rant Thread

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

If he's referring to regular 'American' coffee, he's spot on - it's awful.

Any coffee is awful.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Any coffee is awful.

The approximately one billion coffee drinkers worldwide would disagree. Interestingly, even in the UK, there's been a shift to coffee:

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...caffeine-drink

Can't say I blame them.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by issybird

The approximately one billion coffee drinkers worldwide would disagree. Interestingly, even in the UK, there's been a shift to coffee:

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...caffeine-drink

Can't say I blame them.

The reason tea became popular in the UK was because it had a lower import duty than coffee. Why was that? It advantaged the East India Company over their competitors; the EIC shareholders and the UK Establishment were/are one and the same

Lloyds, the Baltic Exchange, Temple Bar and many other 'cherished' UK institutions started life in London coffee houses ==>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englis...18th_centuries.

Here's a thought, the EIC and similar Dutch, French, Portuguese etc organisations were the forerunners of what are now known as Private Military Companies… i.e. Blackwater, Executive Outcomes… Wagner, etc.

BR

[John F]

So I (my son) purchased this ebook/etextbook for school:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R8FYF2M/

and a couple blurbs from the website/page:

Read with the free Kindle apps (available on iOS, Android, PC & Mac), Kindle E-readers and on Fire Tablet devices.

This title is not supported on Kindle E-readers.
On Android and Fire tablets, the latest version of the Kindle app is required.
On PC & Mac, the latest version of the Kindle app is required. Learn more

So I go to read the book, and every time (tried on 2 Windows 10 PCs), it tells me I need to update Kindle for PC. I do an update, and it tells me again. It just keeps telling me I need to update. Works fine on my Samsung tablet, but I would prefer to access it on a PC.

Tech support was no help. Their response was "The book doesn't work on Windows 10". And they didn't work very hard to solve the problem. I contact them, talk to someone, put me on hold for several minutes, and tell me to reinstall. Then uninstall/reinstall. Then they resend it to the PC. Same problem. At this point I need to go, but the rep says the next step is to return and repurchase the book. I contact them later, they have me reinstall. doesn't work. And they say it doesn't work with Windows 10 and there is nothing they can do. I tell the rep they previous said they could try returning and repurchasing the book. So they just resend the book, it doesn't work, and they say it isn't compatible with Windows 10. I also rebooted several times.

Nothing about escalating the problem. So I guess I need to read it on a tablet. It seems highly unlikely that it doesn't work on a PC and more likely it is due to a Kindle for PC bug/DRM issue.

I also tried finding other sources, and the only other option appears to be (for an ebook) is to rent it.

[ownedbycats]

I hate video tutorials.

(admittedly, there is a rare case when they actually are more helpful than a text one. but most of the time it isn't.)

[Renate]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I hate video tutorials.

Absolutely! They are the worst use of bandwidth.

[HLS]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Any coffee is awful.

There is few brands I like. I like starbucks blonde roasts but I still need a lot of cream and flavoring added. I prefer lattes tho given its more milk than coffee

[HLS]

Originally Posted by DNSB

So you like a little coffee in your creamer? I know a couple of people with the same habit. One of these days I will find out why ordering coffee black means with no cream or sugar. Even dissolving 6 tablespoons of sugar in an 8 ounce cup of coffee does not affect the colour.

3/4 coffee 1/4 creamer. So its still more coffee than creamer. It depends on the brand. The more bitter and shitty the coffee is the more creamer I need lol. Also the sweeter the coffee is the less creamer i need. I like starbucks vanilla syrup. Extremely sweet but hard to find in stores.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by HLS

3/4 coffee 1/4 creamer.

The advantage of using instant coffee and powdered non-fat dry milk is that you can basically make coffee flavored milk. I put 1/2 a (eating) spoonful of coffee and two heaping spoonfuls of milk powder in a bit of water, mix well then top to 12 ounces with boiling water.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I hate video tutorials.

But useful when one forgets how to unbox one's cornflakes.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

But useful when one forgets how to unbox one's cornflakes.

The box is easy enough, it is the !@#$ bag inside the box.

[DNSB]

Who am I and why am I staring at this cereal box? Am I a cereal killer?

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Who am I and why am I staring at this cereal box? Am I a cereal killer?

One of the Mass Effect novels (which was also full of baffling canonical errors to the point where people just ignore its existence except to snark, but that's another story) had a scene where an antagonist character snoops through someone's apartment, bugs it, and then... eats their cereal.

He later killed some other characters, so you can guess the jokes that came from that.

[HLS]

Originally Posted by Renate

The advantage of using instant coffee and powdered non-fat dry milk is that you can basically make coffee flavored milk. I put 1/2 a (eating) spoonful of coffee and two heaping spoonfuls of milk powder in a bit of water, mix well then top to 12 ounces with boiling water.

I do have some instant coffee made for iced coffee. I still add a ton of creamer lol

[ownedbycats]

Ugh. Unity (a very popular game engine) is implementing some ugly ugly licensing - charging the game devs per install.

Not only are will this disproportionately affect smaller devs, but there's also ways to spoof installs so that angry gamers can 'revenue-bomb' if the developer does something they don't like... like, y'know, having a visible minority or a woman in a game (yes, they have gotten angry about this).