The Technology Vent and Rant Thread

[4691mls]

I read that VPN suggestion somewhere but can't find any such toggle in mine

[ownedbycats]

On an online survey, I was asked how often I purchased microwave ovens. One of the options was "every day."

Sheesh, that planned obsolescence is really getting out of hand.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

On an online survey, I was asked how often I purchased microwave ovens. One of the options was "every day."

Sheesh, that planned obsolescence is really getting out of hand.

Having worked in MR for decades, that sounds like a data QC check type of option. absurd options that get selected either by respondents not taking the time to read the questions properly or by those intending to submit nonsensical responses.

[ownedbycats]

Nah, there were also the standard attention check questions (e.g. "pick the animals from the list," "please select 'strongly disagree'").

I was asked the same question a few times, except they plugged in other things (e.g. books or ice cream) where microwave ovens was.

One of my favourite attention check questions I've ever seen was a y/n question for "I am skydiving right now."

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Nah, there were also the standard attention check questions (e.g. "pick the animals from the list," "please select 'strongly disagree'").

I was asked the same question a few times, except they plugged in other things (e.g. books or ice cream) where microwave ovens was.

One of my favourite attention check questions I've ever seen was a y/n question for "I am skydiving right now."

You're probably right, although I have seen surveys both as a respondent and in data collection where QC checks weren't flagged as such. "Surprise inspection" checks make more sense to me than the ones that say "this is a QC check"

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

Recently Opera Mini on my Android phone thinks I'm in Europe. Some sites work, some send me to EU versions, and a couple wouldn't open at all. I can't find anything in the Opera Mini settings about this. Reinstalling didn't fix it. Other browsers work normally. Weird.

One plus to having websites think I'm in Europe is that many sites now let me choose which kinds of cookies to accept

[PeterT]

Wow. For several years I've been using an Acer 15 Chromebook based on an Intel n3060 with 4GB Ram and 32GB flash storage. It had reached the EOL for updates from Google and was definitely not a speed demon.

I'd been looking at new offerings and saw this weekend that Best Buy had an HP Chromebook X360 14c on sale, based on an I3-1115G4, 8GB of RAM and 128GB SSD. I bit the bullet and picked one up.

What a difference! Snappy, can be used as a laptop, tablet or (not sure the term) a tent type display. Keyboard is not detachable but can be folded behind the screen. Also has a stylus.

I've been having fun today trying things out. Pinch too zoom on web pages is nice. Android apps work nicely, although it's a bit too heavy to hold and use as a reader. I've tried both the Libby app and Kobo on it; unfortunately the Toronto Library is having issues with their login server so couldn't borrow any content.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[PeterT]

Grrr. I'm trying of late to get some exercise in at home. I'd bought a cubii under the desk elliptical machine and have been using it while watching tv.

All of a sudden I was having problems on it; legs were giving out a lot sooner than they had been.

Just took a look at the resistance dial. Oops. Had managed to move it from 4 to 5! I think I'll go back down to 4 and work on increasing the duration and eventually head up to 5 and shorten the sessions

Here was me thinking my energy had dropped!

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[Hitch]

(I honestly dithered, over whether this should go to the Grandaddy V&R thread, or this one...if a mod disagrees, feel free to move it.)

So, as many of you know, my wee biz creates print interior book designs, cover designs and eBooks for folks. Now, despite the fact that I keep swearing I'm not going to accept any more poetry, I do. And in the "you get what you deserve" category:

An existing client of mine sends me his book of poetry today and all that. Huzzah. It's in .pages, which for some bizarro-world reason, comes through my email server-->Salesforce-->SF browser interface as .zip files. (It's not that bizarre, really; like docx it's actually a zipped package.)

It's not for ALL .pages files--it appears to be unique to this guy, or him and a very few others.

Then he says he wants to send me his "images" for yon book. I ask him to use my WeTransfer. (Nope, can't do it.) I give him my Hightail (nope!). I tell him very clearly that I would prefer that he not (do what he did last time--unsaid) and email them to me, one at a time. (yeah, right....)

So, he doesn't--he emails them all to me, in a single email. But wait, there's more. they're all ZIP files. I realize that he's put his images (from whatever damn format they were before) into .pages, saved the pages and then sent THOSE to me. Which, wait for it, all download as ZIP files.

Whereupon, I get to either a) extract the .pages files, as .zips, to get the jpgs, pngs, ec. or b) rename these suckers to .pages, so that one of my minions can open them, save them in a format that I can deal with (PC here!). Realistically, this means (wait for it), .pages to .docx, which, yes, before you say it, is STOOPID. For the love of heaven, send me the damn IMAGE FILES!

Urgh. And he emails me and says "I know you don't LIKE it when..." and I'm like, it's not what I LIKE. It's what I can use, for....blanking blank blank!


There are really days....

Hitch

[PeterT]

Customer Support for Apps

I know that agents are normally following a script as to the steps to take in solving an issue but....

For several months I've had no luck connecting my OneTouch meter via Bluetooth to my preferred device (Pixel 4a on Android 12 (and as of yesterday Android 13)). Using the Reveal app it initiates the scan, detects the unpaired device, prompts me to pair. Android asks me for the PIN code (why on earth does OneTouch use such a small font on the meter for the pairing code compared to the large font they use for all other text on the device), successfully pairs the device at the Android level, and then the Reveal app says pairing failed.

I carefully explained all this to the CSR and then.... we proceeded to uninstall the app multiple times, change Android to use light mode from my default of dark mode, reinstall, try the pairing, have it fail, rinse and repeat.

The initial call last week ended with let me escalate this. Had a call back yesterday from the same CSR where we yet again did the exact same steps and guess what... No change.

I also had to uninstall the app from another device that I have been using to manage my readings even though I had ensured that Bluetooth was disabled on that particular device.



Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[PeterT]

More customer support vents

Another example of poor support; this time by email.

Using my cubii I was trying to change the resistance setting in the app. You click on the resistance value, adjust the displayed value and then there was no apparent way out of the dialog. I just hit the back arrow only to see no change.

After some experimentation I found if I changed the phone back to normal size display that an OK button magically appears!

I opened a ticket with cubii, described the issue and was flabbergasted when the reply was "oh.. just change text size to regular".

My reply was basically that this is not acceptable.

The CSR then said she'd pass the feedback onto development. I don't expect I'll see a resolution.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[BetterRed]

I've been using a long since abandoned circa 1998 duplicate image finder for decades (Prismatic's Dup Detector). Functionally it's fine, but it's user interface has gradually deteriorated to the point where its unusable.

A couple of important buttons (Next and Previous) are now almost inaccessible (there's a 1 pixel sliver at the right edge), and it lacks any keyboard shortcuts. One of DD's 'features' is that runs in one of two fixed window sizes, the smaller size on my monitor nigh on useless and the larger size won't fit the monitor. I've tried all the Properties->Compatibility tweaks to no avail. Adjusting display settings to have the display emulate Windows 98 appearance is a non-starter.

I've attached a couple of screenshots, the first is the main screen of DD, the second shows the tweaks provided by DD.

I don't need to find duplicate images often enough to warrant any significant expenditure, and I don't want some all-on-one image processing suite - I want to replace what I have.

So, I'm looking for a replacement, I've looked at several - none of which appeal to me, they have too much automation and lack user control.

BR

[gmw]

I use a File Explorer replacement called xplorer2 from Zabkat. It has a simple (primitive?) duplicate checker. You can find a link to a Youtube demo on this page (it's about halfway down). It's not a feature I had used until just now. There's not much control of the filtering, but there is a lot you can do with the results of your search.

It may not be a good match ... but it can run in portable mode which I find useful for programs you don't use that often.

Offered FWIW

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I've been using a long since abandoned circa 1998 duplicate image finder for decades (Prismatic's Dup Detector). Functionally it's fine, but it's user interface has gradually deteriorated to the point where its unusable.

<...>

So, I'm looking for a replacement, I've looked at several - none of which appeal to me, they have too much automation and lack user control.

What I've used for many years is a program called Double Killer, from Big Bang Enterprises.

https://www.bigbangenterprises.de/en/doublekiller/

I use the freeware version. There's a payware version supposedly faster, but I don't use it enough to justify the payware version.

It's not specifically a duplicate image finder. It's a duplicate file finder By default it uses 32bit CRCs of files found in searches, and if the CRCs match, it's a dupe, regardless of file name differences.

Give is a spec of kinds of files to find, and the directory to start from and look recursively under. Deepening on the volumes of files to search, it can take a while. I just put it in the background and let it run.

The output will be a list of files seen as duplicates, and you can do things like delete the first file or the last file in the list. You can export dupes to another directory instead of permanent deletion.

I do recall encountering a duplicate image finder that attempted to find duplicate images where the image was the same but the file size might differ. It was experimental technology and I passed. I do still have duplicate image files with different sizes, but dealing with those is a separate manual process, where I want to preserve the largest file.
______
Dennis

[ownedbycats]

I've used VisiPics and AntiDupl in the past. I don't think either has been updated in years, so the UI might be similarly unusable.

AlternativeTo might be worth a look at.