- 1 Post
- 39 Comments
What?? How are you getting that I am threatening people?? I was clearly saying that META people do not seem to take no for an answer even when NO is meant. I said I would keep this in mind the next time I am downtown and come across anyone from their staff. I live in San Francisco and pass by both Twitter and Google for that matter on a daily basis so I see people that work there all the time, at coffee shops in the morning, at lunch etc. As in TO AVOID THEM. Good grief.
Yep. Obviously he can go ahead and claim now whatever he wants about this move being all about combating bots but it seems fairly obvious to me that this is not about that. Getting access to registered users payment info is just one more way to loop people into their system and keep track of who.what.where type of users they have. Charges and platform uses for buying marketed products on the platform is just a hop skip click away at that point.
Bots meanwhile will continue to do what they always do; $1 a year to register in is nothing. They will also most likely be able to do this via a one time only use type credit card where user info is irrelevant.
Some time ago, I basically relegated Amazon to nothing but a search engine.
Let’s say I want to buy a certain item; I do a general search online for what I want; inevitably the first 5-10 search results are a listing on Amazon. I go ahead and read reviews. I notice specs and branding info. That’s it.
From there, if the store isn’t near me physically (so I just go in person), I just go to the actual brand vendor and purchase directly from them instead.
- Prices are literally either the same or cheaper direct from the brand.
- the product is the real thing.
- returns if needed, and customer service is always easier/better.
- Amazon does not get my money… (actually maybe this should be number one)
May seem convoluted but I have been burned so many times with fake items, with used items when they were supposed to be new, with no real savings, constant shipping problems, etc. that Amazon as a vendor has become basically nothing but junk to me, compared to how they operated even 10 years ago.
Meantime, I spend some of my happy time back in brick and mortar bookstores, record shops, etc. and enjoy getting undamaged items to my heart’s desire. 😊
They also bought out ZeniMax in the same deal, which means they also have ESO under their rap sheet.
The only thing that effectively changed in ESO since the acquisition in 2020 is that they added the endeavor system to the game, so there was an excuse to sustain loot crates and give people a means to get the loot crate items in the game… though that system is frankly still BS since the amount of endeavor and gems needed for that fluff is in real world dollars ridiculous. As is, I dumped ESO completely after High Isle and went back to only playing GW2 (I have been in both games since beta), since the nonsense happening in ESO was enough for me to see that Microsoft running into the ground was not an issue - ZoS already managed that themselves…
I imagine it will be the same for WoW. Zero sum game.
Eirich and any firms like his doing this, along with “Ms Child” (as her surname Baird ironically means…) should take a decidedly long walk off a very short peer. This entire venture on both their parts is obviously motivated by nothing other than financial gain. It’s exploitative and harmful to everyone involved. They should be sued by all the families involved if you ask me.
- •
- www.youtube.com
- •
- 1Y
- •
Statements like this really need to be more clear
Not going to get into an argument about Hamas vs Isreali tactics, but you should be aware that it is far, far from the case that Palestinians inside of Israel let alone in OPT have the rights you think they do:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/
I can remember the first time I thought there was something seriously wrong with all the social media habits people were getting sucked into; that was probably like in 2008 or so, when some of my colleagues and I used to joke about how we could never get through any kind of interaction with another colleague of ours without her constantly scrolling her phone like 25 times a minute. It only got worse from there…
The biggest sigh of relief I have had in a long, long time was deleting my Google apps and account. I also deleted Facebook, Twitter, and lastly Reddit account over the summer. The only “social accounts” I have today are this one and my new e-mail account. I now use Startpage for searching if I need it, so no more “googling” things. I haven’t subbed to cable since 2010, but I do sub to HBO (er… “Max” now ffs… I am considering dumping that too…), and The Criterion Channel which is still awesome. Rest of the time, I work, game, hike, or swim.
Getting rid of Google is sort of like trying to get all the fish out of the sea. They are everywhere, hooked into everything, and they constantly nag you. I had to give them another e-mail address before I could even delete the one I had with them, which really annoyed me. None of their business where I got off to… except it is. According to them. So, I had to trash that email account too afterwards just so I could stop getting stupid Google spam.
Anyway, it is definitely possible to unplug just takes some effort. The internet is a lot more pleasant without all that nonsense. :)
There is no better example of this that I can think of than the clothes sold under the Ralph Lauren labels. If you browse through their website you will see a plethora of labels all meant to cater to a certain price point, from Collection level down to retail store. A former work colleague who has enough money to buy collection wear, told me this year that after dropping over 5K on a supposedly 100% cashmere sweater and vest set (labeled as such on the site) when they received it they discovered blended materials listed on the inner tag of the garments, let alone that they began to pill and unravel after one wear. One.
Mind you I would never spend that kind of money on clothes so I don’t have too much sympathy, but share the story to say that Lauren is typical of a ton of “designer” labels now, throwing out tons of promotion for their supposedly high quality garments that are all just as crappy construction as Walmart clothes seem to be. It’s insane.
As a kid, my family always went to tailors for our clothes. We bought fabrics we liked, they measured us, made the garments, done deal. Same with knits. Suits always fit exactly, dressed were a snap, pants all flattered in all the right places. This was not considered “chique” or whatever. Everyone we knew did this. We did not pay a fortune. Buying clothes at department stores was considered far more expensive and a somewhat strange thing to do at the time.
I wish that the idea of supporting and nurturing real artisanship at the local level in all communities were more of a thing. Where I do find them, there seems to be way too much hipster/exploitation vibes around it which is completely counter to the idea of honing a craft and sharing that skill for not just a living but the betterment of people around you.
Maybe some effort at finding where these people still exist and supporting them would be a good way to turn some of the fast fashion (trash fashion) mindset and practices around.
Meh… I downloaded the actual paper from the link. There are so many holes in it I don’t have enough time to cite them all… not sure for who, why, or for what purpose this was written but I can think of a few high school students in our district (who I have had the pleasure of tutoring in other subjects…), who can write a better than this.
Wealth distribution factors and aging factors in EU, in Japan, and in the US are multi-factorial, each impacted by far broader and systemic issues than what this presents…🙄
I have categorically zero issues with spending (or knowing how much I can afford to spend), whether I use plastic or not. Using plastic doesn’t change my spending habits. I know how much money I have at all times, and it is simple to stay within a budget that way. My “plastic,” by the way, is actually cash. I use a debit card, not a credit card. I basically just don’t buy things for which I don’t have the money. When I want something expensive (like my computer system or a car) I save so I can buy it outright - or in the case of my car, pay it off as fast as possible and be done.
I have two credit cards; both just sit in a drawer here and never see the light of day except maybe once a year when I get a notice that the accounts will be closed for lack of use. I then make a purchased on each, and immediately pay the balance in full as soon as it’s billed to me.
I realize these are “old school” habits most people don’t engage in, but for me has it worked well and helped me to maintain maximum credit rating. The American credit system is one of the biggest rackets I have ever seen and the last thing you want to deal with is bad credit because it’s impact follows you everywhere. Applying for a job, finding an apartment, getting a car, etc.
I mean our computers and phones already do something like this while looking for available WiFi networks, so maybe it wouldn’t be that farfetched. On the other hand, I just got a flashback to Jim Carrey in Batman and… “the box” for some bizarre reason! 😂
Since I live in a small space and game a lot, I have invested in a gorgeous 4k monitor and honestly love how all my movies look as well as games, so I have zero issues. It would be nice to someday buy a large tv that didn’t constantly search, scan, and update crap I don’t want or need, but I am not holding my breath they will reverse course.
I mean, they are a bit late to the party covering this, but o.k. It’s been in major news outlets here for years. Anytime that land get snapped up people take notice. Including eyes at Travis, which they didn’t even get into in the article. Between the litigation around purchase costs, regulations which are in place already to protect the interests and security of Travis, to the general development regulations of the state, they are in for a rude awakening if they believe in any pipe dreams on the site. They likely won’t happen as they think they might anyway… There is enough red tape in California real estate development alone to wrap the planet. The only “company” that so far has managed to come even close to building “new city” type agreements has been Google - the only ones who, for obvious reasons, have not even batted an eye at coughing up to date $1B in land investment around the Bay Area with it’s vision for mixed use space within existing city limits in Mountain View and San Jose, and support of more housing development.
Have read the thread, since I am currently considering replacing my dinosaur Samsung S5. It still works like a charm and I have zero issue with it doing what I need it to do. I long ago unlocked and rooted it. I was starting to feel like replacing it may be wise before it should suddenly not work out of the blue since it’s so old.
My question is: should I be moving on to iPhone if these sort of issue with newer Androids are going to make them more difficult to use as I want? or do iPhones have the same problems? Forgive my ignorance since I know nothing about iPhones. I am just curious.
Last time I checked, the Democrats didn’t put forth a candidate for office who they were busy planning to hold a vote for in Congress to erase their prior impeachments, and none who received two federal indictments with a third pending criminal charges… SMH
Truly, it boggles the mind that there are people in this world who think this is someone who is going to do good for the country when aside from the above, there are literally decades of legal and personal disasters that continue to follow him around. He is the Midas touch in reverse.
Please know there are many of us out here that do not feel like that.
It took me until I was in my late 40s to pay off all my loans from grad school. I am still not where I want to be in terms of having proper retirement savings, a home of my own, and more financial stability because I spent decades just tying to climb out of debt. I did not have support throughout my youth from family, so loans were my only way to get the education I needed. I would not wish my own struggles to get where I am now on anyone.
Politicizing this issue, like so many others, has obviously failed to address it but I hold hope that through other systems within education and social justice programs it may still possible. Changing the way in which higher education gate-keeps access through cost to begin with is just so wrong in the first place, it’s criminal. Unless you go into massive debt or have means already, it is almost totally out of reach for the people that need it the most. I know these are all complex issues and there are no simple fixes, but we can’t give up on trying to find them.
I have a lifetime account at LoTRO. Whenever stories about games based on LoTR come up, I am always hoping it will become something awesome, but they all just seem to flop. The ownership rights of the IP are also so fractured and convoluted, it’s kind of a miracle anything actually gets made let alone made well. Maybe someone will actually step up at some point to make a game that really embraces the magic in Tolkien’s universe, instead of trying to change it and them calling it lightning in a bottle.
Currently investing some time back in ESO for a bit to check out the newly released Archanist class… not super impressed so far tbh. I mostly play GW2 these days so coming back into ESO again everything feels super clunky and slow for some reason, yikes. On single player titles, I have been dipping into The Witcher 3 a bit since I recently got a new rig that can run it at top settings, which is nice.
Hi. No worries, it’s nice to be asked. 🙂
I mean, I have only been singed up there a week so I am not an expert on what is happening; I don’t have anything against Kbin per say? but I just get this sense that maybe the real goal of the space is a little too much leaning towards a recreation of Reddit practices and features. I also noticed some threads encouraging people to move on to other instances already, which seemed sort of odd to me since again, they are just getting going.
Meanwhile here, things feel more relaxed. I really appreciate the transparency with the vision for Beehaw, and feel that it is well reflected in practice by the mods/admins posts and their interactions, not just posted on the sidebar. The posts from community members also seem way more friendly and positive, so it just seems a much better fit for my comfort zone.
I used Shreddit to delete all my posts at Reddit, cancelled my premium sub there, and deleted my account. I was there for over 8 years - paying the entire time, as I believed in trying to support the space.
Walking away did not make me feel “powerless” but rather glad to take my time, support, and interests somewhere else that is (hopefully…) healthier. I know of at least 15 people who have done the same, so if you multiply my story by many others I am pretty sure that such walkouts will be felt eventually - especially from those of us who were paying monthly.
When I left, I landed on Kbin first, something I now am kind of not too sure I will continue for reasons I won’t get into…
but thankfully, I discovered Beehaw here is just more my speed, which makes me happy 🐝☺️
Until I see an actual “Khajiit Like to Sneak” remake based on this, I am withholding judgement… 😂
This looks amazing! I remember modding my Oblivion copy to death, so I wonder if that will also be an option with this once it’s released. Maybe this will not even need to be, outside of maybe combat mods.
I don’t know that looking at games as a release is necessarily a great vantage point, but they can certainly be seen as a haven for fun if you approach them with an open mind.
For me it was more of a switch from how I played vs what I played. I got into online MMOs some years ago and (like a lot of things I do in my life…) I threw myself into them for a while like a loony. I found I was investing far too much time and energy organizing events, raids, builds, spreadsheets, people, personalities, drama, ugh. It was like going to work for heaven’s sake! 😂
Eventually I got burned out and stopped completely. When COVID hit, of course going out wasn’t an option so I got back into playing more again but realized that I could still have fun without the whole hardcore approach. I became, for lack of a better description, part of the “filthy casuals” lol - something I have never for a minute regretted. My time is my own, I chase what I like, meet others in game, and just plain have fun now.
That is NOT what I said and NOT what I meant. The Mod removed this comment due to everyone saying I was somehow threatening everyone. They did not publish my response to the message they sent me, so this needs to be cleared up.
What I am saying is that clearly these people do not take NO for an answer, even when it’s clear NO means NO. They ignored it and did what they wanted anyway. I said I would keep this behaviour in mind whenever I am downtown because I live in SF and go by their headquarters literally every day and have already see a lot of their people, and in fact some awful behaviour from some that work there. Interacting with them is something a **WANT TO AVOID. ** I was not implying in ANY WAY that I intended to harm or threaten them.