The Technology Vent and Rant Thread

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by issybird

For jar lids, I stick a butter knife between the lid and the jar to break the seal. For bottle caps, I put a rubber band around the cap to make them grippier. This also works on champagne corks.

Silicone oven mitts here.

[PeterT]

What I've used in the past is a Lee Valley Jar Opener; see https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop...ley-jar-opener

Basically just levers the lid up slightly and breaks the vacuum seal.

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

fwiw, a lot of those seen-on-TV gadgets that are seemingly pointless are useful for disabled people. Its believed, though possibly urban legend, that they were designed for disabled people but marketed towards the broader public and that's why you see incompetent ableds on the commercial throwing eggs on the floor or whatever.

I'm not sure it's an urban legend. There's a guy on YouTube who tests kitchen gadgets, and one of the things he will always test is using the gadget with an oiled, non-dominant hand to simulate how well the gadget might work for someone with disabilities:

[Graham44]

Rant time; I was using a fantastic mobile phone up to a couple of months ago, it was a CAT B26 rugged mobile phone, drop proof, water proof, easy to use keys, works in the pouring rain, ideal for someone like me who works outside.

I then get a message from my provider saying 3g is being switched off in the UK and your mobile phone is not 4g compatible (it's a 2g phone) so you need to upgrade. I ignored it at first but I kept getting the message so thought I better upgrade. Bought a cheap Nokia 4g phone, and it's c%*& to say the least, battery life is terrible, tiny screen, tiny keys and flimsy, worst of all we have an 'emergency broadcast system' in the UK and the Nokia won't let you opt out of receiving the government emergency alerts, they are permanently set to on. Now I personally don't need a government alert to tell me if theirs an emergency, if it effects me I'm sure I will know about it, but worse the government keep testing the system every year or so and you have to put up with your phone screaming at you just for a test - uh no thanks.

So I dig a little deeper and it turns out yes 3g is being switched off but what my provider didn't tell me is 2g - which my old rugged phone uses - isn't being switched off yet and probably won't be for quite some time!!! (turns out 4g and 5g aren't all that good for actual voice calls, coverage isn't great apparently hence the need to keep 2g)

So the new phone has it's battery removed and I've gone back to the old - better - phone!

Cherry on top - 2g phones won't receive the 'emergency broadcast system', excellent.

Rant over

[Solitaire1]

Why is it so difficult to classify Classical Music? I've done a bit of research and it all becomes so confusing. Should it be by era (Classical, Baroque, Romantic, and so on), by type (Concerto, Symphony, Orchestra, and so on) or some other way (Composer). The problem with the above is that if it is by era it doesn't really tell me much about the music itself.

As an example, the album Bach Meets The Beatles by John Bayless is an album of Beatles songs done in the style of Johann Sebastian Bach. So should it be considered Baroque (the era of Bach) or Pop (the style of some of The Beatles' music) or Rock (the style of some of the later Beatles' music)?

In the end, I divided my classical music into four genres: Solo Instrument, Small Group (like a concerto), Large Group (like an orchestra or symphony) and Vocal (for operas). As far as where each classical piece goes, it depends on the music itself, independent of composer, type of music, and the era it was written. It's not perfect, but at least it tells me something about the music. Still, why should this be so difficult?

[Gardenman]

Originally Posted by issybird

For jar lids, I stick a butter knife between the lid and the jar to break the seal. For bottle caps, I put a rubber band around the cap to make them grippier. This also works on champagne corks.

Why add more gadgets to the junk drawer when something you’ve got on hand works just as well?

I would worry the glass would break

[j.p.s]

Streaming services that put spoilers in splash screens and thumbnails.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Streaming services that put spoilers in splash screens and thumbnails.

And in trailers.

[ownedbycats]

So many people were trying to buy a game that just released that they managed to overload the servers of several game platforms, lol.

Not bad for a $20 indie game!

[BetterRed]

My newish printer (HP Laserjet M207-212) wants a new toner cartridge, the only place I can find to order one is HP - none of the specialists stock 134A/X cartridge.

IngramMicro - HP's "digital experience platform ecosystem" provider won't ship anything to a PO Box or a Pickup locker… not even a letter one suspects. Which means I have to bother my neighbour, because parcels don't last long when they're left by my gate.

[BetterRed]

Apple scammed me for $69.

I used their Ask-Crew whatsit, as usual the bot was useless. So, providing I agreed to give it a dollar via PayPal I could have a chat with a person

"Alex" was helpful and told me what I wanted to know.

After leaving Ask-Crew I checked my email, as expected there was the PayPal receipt for $1.00 for using Ask-Crew. And another one for $69.00 - for one months subscription to Ask-Crew… WTF!

Now I have to make sure the refund they say they've sent ends up in my bank account.

I'm contemplating using their so-called "Genius Bar" service -->> https://www.apple.com/au/retail/geniusbar/

I wonder if they charge for that too. Reading that web page gives me little hope that their staff will have any depth of knowledge regarding the Airpod 2 Pro's Hearing Aid feature.

BR

[Quoth]

I'd not buy HP printers or Apple now. The laserjet IV was OK (with good paper) and the iPhone 6 till Apple blocked installs. The Apple II I bought was over-hyped. Ended up with 80 column card, 8" floppies and Z80 card. I guess it would have been OK for Visicalc and King's Quest?

The HP printers in the supermarket now have warning stickers about the ink!

[John F]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Apple scammed me for $69.

I used their Ask-Crew whatsit, as usual the bot was useless. So, providing I agreed to give it a dollar via PayPal I could have a chat with a person

...

Isn't Ask-Crew independent from Apple?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by John F

Isn't Ask-Crew independent from Apple?

No idea - I got to it via the Apple Support site.

First time I ever wanted any support from Apple, wasn't tech support but pre-sales support… which led me to their "Genius Bar" service. I want to 'try' using AirPod2 Pro as hearing aids.

BR

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I'd not buy HP printers or Apple now. The laserjet IV was OK (with good paper) and the iPhone 6 till Apple blocked installs. The Apple II I bought was over-hyped. Ended up with 80 column card, 8" floppies and Z80 card. I guess it would have been OK for Visicalc and King's Quest?

The HP printers in the supermarket now have warning stickers about the ink!

What is the warning on HP ink?

We have an Epson printer with the ink tanks and we are still using the ink hat came with the printer. We've had the printer for some time. HP makes printers with ink tanks.

With a regular cartridge based inkjet printer, we'd have gone through a number of cartridges.