The Vent and Rant Thread

[issybird]

I wish that a random touch on a tablet or phone wasn't enough to commit you to some action without a failsafe "Are you sure?"

I've one-touch purchased more than one Kindle book that you'd have to pay me to read, sometimes not realizing it until I got the confirmation email. Yes, it can be undone without too much effort, but I'd rather avoid it altogether.

This morning I was mortified to see that my Facebook friend request was accepted by one of my nephew's roommates. I never! I've met her and she's very nice (obviously, since she didn't block me), but now I feel all creepy stalkerish old auntie. I'm embarrassed, but there's no fix that wouldn't make things worse. Sigh. But couldn't FB verify that I actually meant it, first? They created the situation by all those suggested "friends" near the top of my feed.

[4691mls]

Fortunately no store I shop regularly has one-click buying (or if they do, I don't have it turned on). Thankfully Ebay's "buy it now" requires additional clicks to complete a purchase so there's a chance to stop it. I have Google Play on my phone set to require me to enter my password to complete a purchase.

Why is it that the thing I accidentally add to my cart while trying to scroll the screen is always something I would never in a million years want to buy? It's always the weirdest, ugliest thing on the page. And if I've searched for a video on youtube and I'm scrolling through the results, I accidentally tap on something that's crude or borderline pornographic....

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

I wish that a random touch on a tablet or phone wasn't enough to commit you to some action without a failsafe "Are you sure?"

I've one-touch purchased more than one Kindle book that you'd have to pay me to read, sometimes not realizing it until I got the confirmation email. Yes, it can be undone without too much effort, but I'd rather avoid it altogether.

This morning I was mortified to see that my Facebook friend request was accepted by one of my nephew's roommates. I never! I've met her and she's very nice (obviously, since she didn't block me), but now I feel all creepy stalkerish old auntie. I'm embarrassed, but there's no fix that wouldn't make things worse. Sigh. But couldn't FB verify that I actually meant it, first? They created the situation by all those suggested "friends" near the top of my feed.

I feel your pain! As much as I love 1-Click when I'm sitting at a computer, I have made more than one eBook purchase from my tablet that was not intentional! And you're right, it's fairly easy to roll that back. But annoying.

[badgoodDeb]

Agreed. And I also have at least one FaceBook friend that was unintentional. Sigh.

[poohbear_nc]

Unintentional touch selections on tablets are indeed a menace ... I purchased an Asus tablet and began the (I thought) routine business of choosing all the settings ... forgetting that Asus was international, not American, the first screen for selection of language did NOT have USA at the top of the list ... so I had to scroll down and down and down and down .... to eventually find United States just below Ukraine - and came within a finger's width of having an (to me) unusable tablet ...

[Rumpelteazer]

Yesterday a public transport strike in three cities was announced for the 28th. Which means that there will be no trains around those cities and there will be no public transport within the city. One of the cities is Amsterdam.

And for that date I got a ticket to see the No Such Thing As A Fish podcast in Amsterdam. And I'm not going to not go.

I had initially planned to work until 2pm that day and then leave for Amsterdam. Visit a couple of my favourite stores, have dinner and make my way to the theater. But that isn't an option now. My father offered to pick me up after the show, but he can't drop me off. So now I'm looking for a hotel walking distance from the theater, so I can go on Monday. Then on Tuesday I'll have to spend my time in the area (no public transport). Luckily, there's a small shopping center (with a market on Tuesday) and a big park. So I hope the weather will be good enough to spend my afternoon in the park.

I can understand why there's a strike (pensions), but this is very inconvenient.

[Hemmi]

Hey checkout person. The coupon saying "not to be combined with other coupons" means coupons for the same product when I'm only buying one. It does not mean I can't use any other coupons on other products I'm buying. No, scanning it for the fifth time is not going to make your scanner read it any more than the other four times you tried.

[cc_in_oh]

Yesterday I was nonplussed to see yet another instance of the apparently now acceptable opposite usage of the word.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

Yesterday I was nonplussed to see yet another instance of the apparently now acceptable opposite usage of the word.

In what way? How can you possibly use "nonplussed" as anything other than it is? I am, in fact, nonplussed by the suggestion....

Hitch

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by Hitch

In what way? How can you possibly use "nonplussed" as anything other than it is? I am, in fact, nonplussed by the suggestion....

Hitch

After reporting incorrect usage as an error on my Kindle half a dozen times, I found this at the Merriam-Webster site:

One of the things that most vexes language purists … is when the meaning of a word changes over time. For example, it appears that the traditional sense of the word nonplussed, "bewildered and at a loss as to what to think," is slowly giving way to a new (and opposite) sense: "unfazed." Even experienced writers are using the new sense.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

QUOTE]

After reporting incorrect usage as an error on my Kindle half a dozen times, I found this at the Merriam-Webster site:

OH, NO NO NO NO NO. That's just effing wrong. I don't mind the somewhat normal evolution of language, but this constant bull with words suddenly meaning something completely opposite, as in "I could care less" is just wrong, wrong, wrong. WRONG. I will never use nonplussed to mean, unfazed. NOPE, NO NO.

Hitch

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by Hitch

OH, NO NO NO NO NO. That's just effing wrong. I don't mind the somewhat normal evolution of language, but this constant bull with words suddenly meaning something completely opposite, as in "I could care less" is just wrong, wrong, wrong. WRONG. I will never use nonplussed to mean, unfazed. NOPE, NO NO.

Hitch

As I say, I've reported the "error" several times. I don't see why any respectable author would knowingly contribute to unnecessary confusion.

To be fair, some of the instances I've reported are translations, e.g. in Adler-Olsen's Dept, Q series, so more likely attributable to the translator than to the author.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

After reporting incorrect usage as an error on my Kindle half a dozen times, I found this at the Merriam-Webster site:

Oh dear. I know that one can't stop people doing silly things with words, and if enough people do it, then it becomes the new meaning.

But that's just not right.


Mind you, it's certainly not a word that I use anyway.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Oh dear. I know that one can't stop people doing silly things with words, and if enough people do it, then it becomes the new meaning.

But that's just not right.


Mind you, it's certainly not a word that I use anyway.

It's like rewarding people for being ill-educated. Every time I hear "begs the question" used to mean "asks the question" it makes me bonkers. It's one thing to disembowel and abuse a phrase that can be replaced by myriad others--but begs the question has a very specific and unique meaning. Now when you use it, people don't understand (any longer) what the hades you MEAN.

Frustrating as hell. And, of course, you can hardly say, "well, that's because you're an illiterate *&^%$#@," now, can you?

Hitch

[CRussel]

Well, now that I'm retired, I _can_ just say it. With feeling. Though the one that really gets me is the misuse of "moot".

Charlie.