[Laminar]

Originally Posted by reader50 

No forklift-related offers here. But fake replies and followups - fairly regular. Not every day, but a few per month.

I follow the usual advice - never reply to spam. It just confirms they've hit a live address. Replying might end the forklift offers, but will definitely draw new offers on more subjects.

The fact that the unsubscribe instructions aren't a link to click, but a reply kind of made me think it was fishing for a real email.

[Laminar]

Google is wild.

I want to go to "bilsteinlifts.com".

I start typing in the URL, and like usual, Google will NOT auto-complete the URL, but instead as I type, it wants to me do "Bilstein 5100" or "Bilstein made in" or "Bilstein shocks" so that I do a search and then go to the website from a search, proving how valuable they are and hopefully capturing some of that sweet, sweet link referral revenue.

I finally finish typing "bilsteinlifts.com" and hit enter but Google had auto-completed what I typed to "bilsteinlifts.com reviews" and fucking Google searches that instead of just going to the URL that I fully and completely typed out.

Wild.

[reader50]

I turned off most Search suggestions long ago - they tended to be useless for me too. Now it's only allowed to use my bookmarks and history for autocomplete suggestions. And I occasionally cleanup or clear my history when suggestions start going downhill. No, I don't want to revisit a news article from months ago.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

Google is wild.

I want to go to "bilsteinlifts.com".

I start typing in the URL, and like usual, Google will NOT auto-complete the URL, but instead as I type, it wants to me do "Bilstein 5100" or "Bilstein made in" or "Bilstein shocks" so that I do a search and then go to the website from a search, proving how valuable they are and hopefully capturing some of that sweet, sweet link referral revenue.

I finally finish typing "bilsteinlifts.com" and hit enter but Google had auto-completed what I typed to "bilsteinlifts.com reviews" and fucking Google searches that instead of just going to the URL that I fully and completely typed out.

Wild.

Yeah, this has become infuriating. There was a discussion about the end of the internet golden age, right?

Were you were the one that was OK with your data being collected and used to sell you better things?

I think that line of thinking may have missed the point that it was never only about what you wanted to see. It was always about what is most profitable to sell to you. Those are usually different things.

[subego]

I’m okay with that relatively speaking.

[subego]

Originally Posted by subego 

Google just effectively banned running Stable Diffusion on their AI GPU rentals.


Edit: now I’m not sure. I’m getting a warning I’ll get banned for using it, but there is some evidence they won’t.

Edit2: I’m just doing it and will see what happens.

I keep getting the warning, but if this was happening to everyone I imagine there would be tons of discussion about it by now, and there’s still nothing. Working theory is the “free/paid user” flag isn’t set properly on my account.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

Were you were the one that was OK with your data being collected and used to sell you better things?

Pretty sure that was subego.

The divide between mobile and desktop is also infuriating. I'm almost to the point where I don't bother looking up anything on my phone anymore. The search results are different, they're structured differently to give 95% of screen space to sponsored results, and the interface is slow and clunky compared to keyboard/mouse. After several different searches on my phone, I finally found this pdf, which had the exact info I was looking for. I tried to highlight "UltraCare Abrasive Surface Cleaner" so that I could search for that product directly, but Safari didn't want to offer the Copy menu after highlighting. Any taps after highlighting would just unhighlight. Ugh, fine, I'll type the whole thing in. So I Google it and find many many many results that aren't "UltraCare Abrasive Surface Cleaner." I click "Shopping" so that it will narrow down the results to where I can purchase UltraCare Abrasive Surface Cleaner. Again, lots of products that aren't what I want. I put "UltraCare Abrasive Surface Cleaner" in quotes in hopes that it will only show results with an exact match to that phrase. It doesn't. I found that Lowes and Floor & Decor carry Mapei products, so I searched each of their sites for UltraCare Abrasive Surface Cleaner. Lots of results, none of them UltraCare Abrasive Surface Cleaner.

I cannot remember the last time I had a search engine give me zero results. Just a "Sorry, that exact thing you're looking for isn't available here." It's just pages and pages of vaguely related (or not related) items that I have to shuffle through in hopes that the item I actually want is there. If I have to ctrl-f and search the page for my actual search inside of your search results, you've failed as a helpful search engine. You're probably doing well as a profitable search engine though.

I ended up searching for UltraCare Abrasive Surface Cleaner on my desktop this morning and it was clear right away that it's only available in Canada. Heck if I was going to actually figure that out on mobile, though.

BTW why is this banner ad so huge? I'm going to have to see if I can block these elements with my adblocker as well.

[andi*pandi]

My morning in 4 acts:

Me: writes ticket for coworker, sends an outlook invite for tuesday 1pm task to work on together (moving parts that need to happen near simultaneously so the website doesn't break)

him: pushes files to production monday 11am without any response to meeting or discussion of if time doesn't work for him

me: hey, what happened to tuesday? I have another meeting now!

him: sends a meeting: can we plan how to do deployments so that I know when to do them better, we have a process

me: glares death daggers at computer screen

[subego]

@Laminar

If I put in “mapei ultracare abrasive surface cleaner” into Google, not counting the shopping rows this place in Florida that sells it is the third hit. In stock.

https://jnsflooringandsupplies.com/I...ner_32_Oz._Jug

The first two hits are from mapei.com.

Are the random results you’re getting teenagers in skimpy dresses?

[Laminar]

That's a good find. Since I needed it today I was only looking for places I could get it locally, and there don't appear to be any.

[ghporter]

I only get “suggestions” for previously entered URLs, (if I’m typing a URL). And I’ve become suspicious, so I try to read what’s in the address bar before I hit enter.

My biggest Google gripe is that their search indexes use “not the term I’d ever think of” search words for a lot of things. Or just “wrong” terms, such as “bolt” when they really should call it a “machine screw” - a machine screw “looks like” a bolt but there are some real differences like “bolts typically have hex heads and machine screws have…screw heads (slotted, cross-point, allen key, etc.)”. So if I am looking for something particularly complex, Google just messes with me and offers “interesting” stuff. Looking for hardware to mount a keyboard on wire shelving shouldn’t really get me “adult” content, at least I don’t think so.

[subego]

Originally Posted by subego 

I keep getting the warning, but if this was happening to everyone I imagine there would be tons of discussion about it by now, and there’s still nothing. Working theory is the “free/paid user” flag isn’t set properly on my account.

Another bit of evidence for this theory is I’m running low enough on Google rubles they would normally be nagging me by now.

[Thorzdad]

That goddamn Jim Beam commercial with the bar full of hipsters singing Sweet Caroline. I hit the mute button every time it comes on. WTF is up with an entire generation latching onto this song? It’s an ok song, I guess, if a little creepy once you learn it was inspired by a picture of a pre-teen girl (Caroline Kennedy.)

The part that, for whatever reason, hits me like nails on a chalkboard is the repetition of “so good.” Why do they do that? It ain’t in the song. It’s annoying as hell.

[andi*pandi]

they play this song during the 7th inning stretch at red sox games. The crowd goes wild.

[ghporter]

I am an “original fan” of Sweet Caroline, and whatever folks have assumed about Neil Diamond’s inspiration and meaning, he has stated publicly that his inspiration was a picture of a young girl (who happened to be Caroline Kennedy) in riding clothes next to her horse. A happy little girl looking sweet. Way too many people just assume that anything involving an adult man and a picture of a young girl is automatically creepy. I think that assumption itself is the creepy part.

Anyway, again as an “original fan”, I have to say that any song can be overdone, overused, and overplayed. Having this song in a Jim Beam commercial (to me) doesn’t fit.

[Thorzdad]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Having this song in a Jim Beam commercial (to me) doesn’t fit.

I think Beam is using it because the hipster youth have adopted it as some sort of ironic singalong theme, and that’s their target audience these days.

[Laminar]

It was already a bar/wedding "singalong" song 20 years ago, so they're trying to hit the Gen X/Millennial nostalgia button.

Funnily enough, I have a Sweet Caroline/Confederate flag analogy I've never shared.

[subego]

To: All Site-47 personnel
From: Administrator Dietz
Re: Audible Cognitohazards

It has come to my attention instances of SCP-1412:30067, known as █████ ████████ have escaped containment. Please report to the nearest security officer for distribution of anti-memetic vaccine Oswald-63.

Thank you for your cooperation.

[Thorzdad]

An SCP drop wins the internet for the week.

[Brien]

SharePlay. Since iOS 17, apparently you cannot fully turn it off, so every time I happen to be watching a show while anyone in the household is on a FaceTime call, or I get in the car of anyone with CarPlay support, I get these highly annoying prompts to share.

Why Apple has not implemented an account level off switch is beyond me, but it is driving me crazy.

[andi*pandi]

Finally merged 2 old itunes libraries together in the hopes of a unified library to move to a new computer... podcasts became music, music became podcasts, and album art was shuffled (art grabbed from one song on the album not the album itself, or other weird images). Spent a few hours tidying and still google image search for the right album art since "get album art" did not work.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

iTunes libraries are not important when users can subscribe instead….

[subego]

I’m still stuck with a library, but this year I only bought 9 songs, up from 4 last year.

I’m not counting an album I wanted to add to my Christmas playlist, and the album I worked on.

[subego]

In case anyone needs confirmation of my shit taste in music.



“All For Us” is actually good, but kinda dissonant.

[Thorzdad]

Was looking to order a couple of shirts online. Available in either “regular” or “traditional” fits.

[reader50]

Hmm ... I suspect "traditional" means slim, before we all grew ... er, up. That would make "regular" the usual enlarged-in-middle shirts.

Did they dare to define the two sizes?

[subego]

I guessed the reverse for whatever reason.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by subego 

I guessed the reverse for whatever reason.

Same. People are getting bigger, but the trend ever since the JNCO and bell bottom epidemic of the 90s has been slimmer, trimmer fits. So a word that implies "old" makes me think it's going to be a looser fit.

[subego]

I had more or less the same thought process. Traditional is from a time before “same shirt but slim fit”.

[Thorzdad]

Originally Posted by reader50 

Did they dare to define the two sizes?

oh, heck, no.

[andi*pandi]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

iTunes libraries are not important when users can subscribe instead….

I'm not paying again for music I already own and have bought several times over. 54GB.
But that would make sense that from a business perspective they care less about customers like me and would rather I become a subscriber.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

What is this “own” and “buy” you speak of?

[Spheric Harlot]

It's an antiquated concept where the purchase of a physical object or bundle of data included the license to play the content of that object for personal use in perpetuity. In the case of physical objects, it was even possible to transfer that license to another individual by selling them the object.

[subego]

Just bought three more songs.

[andi*pandi]

Which ones? I recently got some Hannukah tunes, but I am also buying some Angels of Libra for myself for christmas, definitely.

[subego]

Let’s see

“Could’ve Just Left Me Alone” by Alexa Capelli. Not the best song, but she does fun stuff with her vocal cadence to make it match the beat.

“Frank Sinatra” by Miss Kittin & The Hacker. NSFW unless people at work say “lick my ass” a lot.

“Rue’s I’m Tired” by Labrinth & Zendaya. Similar to “All For Us”, but feels like only half a song. I guess both are from the show Euphoria, so this was the year of HBO music for me.


The Christmas album I didn’t count was the Peanuts Christmas special one.

[Brien]

Originally Posted by subego 

I had more or less the same thought process. Traditional is from a time before “same shirt but slim fit”.

If recent subjective looks outside is anything, baggier clothes are back in vogue…

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

It's an antiquated concept where the purchase of a physical object or bundle of data included the license to play the content of that object for personal use in perpetuity. In the case of physical objects, it was even possible to transfer that license to another individual by selling them the object.

So I sell you something once, and it’s yours to do with as you want? That makes zero sense — there’s no way for me to continue to get money from you over an extended period….

[subego]

So, I tried Apple Music for 10 minutes and hated it. Is Spotify better? I want Pandora-like options.

This is for my dad, who right now uses Sirius.

[Laminar]

I haven't used Pandora since they jumped their price up from $36/year. What are the options? Create a station based on an artist?

[subego]

I doubt it’s changed much.

Stations are still made up of “seeds”, which can be songs or artists. No limit to the number of seeds making up an individual station. Apple Music only allows one. Instant deal-breaker.

Still has thumbs up/down, a “tired of this song” flag, and an option to skip.

Bonus if it has “tuning” options like “Deep Cuts”, or “Discovery”. This might be new to you.

[andi*pandi]

spotify you can make and share playlists.
pandora and amazon music have "stations"

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by subego 

Bonus if it has “tuning” options like “Deep Cuts”, or “Discovery”. This might be new to you.

Apple Music has a Discovery playlist it occasionally updates. They have "[so and so] and Similar Artists" stations. I think they even have simulated radio stations where they have a DJ talking, which is horrible because my least favorite part of the radio is listening to people talk.

One feature that I'd really appreciate is a "Cancelled Artists" list where I could filter out music from anyone I don't want to hear - Chris Brown, every country artist ever, etc. If I could just ban them from playing at all that would save me the hassle of skipping.

[subego]

This discussion is making me feel like less of a chump paying for Pandora. It’s never played me country music.

I looked at Prime, and their custom stations seemed similar to the Apple model, but maybe that’s because the web player is gimped.

[subego]

It’s taking 12 minutes for the Google server I’m renting to write 100MB worth of PNGs to my Google drive.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by subego 

This discussion is making me feel like less of a chump paying for Pandora. It’s never played me country music.

The kids listened to Kane Brown's Ain't Life Grand a bunch last summer so they keep trying to float Morgan Wallen or one of those other similar horrible artists.

Ain't Life Grand is probably more Hick Hop than country, but the connection stuck.

[subego]

You could kill that with Pandora, which I just realized has songs on demand now with the premium tier.

The only advantage I can see to Apple Music is the integration.

[subego]

I mean, I’m still sorely tempted to make Apple Music work somehow just so I can set up a HomePod Mini as an interface.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by subego 

You could kill that with Pandora, which I just realized has songs on demand now with the premium tier.

All I can do in AM is "Suggest Less Like This" and it continues to suggest more like that.

The only advantage I can see to Apple Music is the integration.

It's everything. Everyone in the family got HomePod Minis for Christmas, once I get enough bulbs we're going all HomeKit and bye bye Alexa.

[subego]

Yeah. Those are undeniably slick. I got a few to play background music at work.

Honestly, this is the first Apple product I’ve been excited about in years.