Minor rant thread. Post your rants o' the day here!

In reply to Toyman! :

That is simultaneously awesome and maddening to know... Thanks!

So they don't burn themselves up while they're frozen? (that sounds odd now that I say it, but I'm sure you can burn to death in an igloo)

We'll see how soon having them come out gets so tedious it's worth just swapping them out. I mean, right now I really want to make it their problem, but in making it their problem, just being here for the tech is a bigger pain than a 5-minute swap...

There's a "voluntary recall" on their site for icemakers, but it doesn't cover my model...

So what exactly was wrong with cash, aside from just being pieces of green cloth with imaginary value attached to it? 

If you needed to pay someone back or buy something, cash just worked 

You know what doesn't just work? The twenty million bullE36 M3 3rd party money sending apps full of security holes. 

But it's better because cashless and technology! berkeley right off. 

Actually, to further my tech rant. Why does sending videos through MMS take them from 4k60fps to potato quality? I get MMS is old tech, but networks are exponentially faster than ever. Why is it that I'm stuck using YouTube or faceache or some people use tikytoky to send a short video to someone if I want it to be remotely legible? 

I just want to shoot a 30 second video to send to a friend for advice, I don't want or need to put it out in the world, but when the video quality is so E36 M3 you can't tell what color smoke is coming out of an engine, for example, it really makes the whole thing pointless. 

In reply to RevRico :

Yeah, +1 to all of that.

In reply to RevRico :

If you are carrying more than $250, it's assumed that the money is for illegal purposes (only drug dealers need THAT much money) and the money is confiscated if discovered.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Oh I've been through that game. isn't it fun how everything in life gets more expensive, but the limits for police and the IRS getting involved keep getting lower and lower?

RevRico said:

Actually, to further my tech rant. Why does sending videos through MMS take them from 4k60fps to potato quality? I get MMS is old tech, but networks are exponentially faster than ever. Why is it that I'm stuck using YouTube or faceache or some people use tikytoky to send a short video to someone if I want it to be remotely legible? . 

I feel like I've only had this issue when crossing the android-iphone barrier. Maybe not?

In reply to iansane :

Android to Android has been churning out videos that remind me of my old Motorola Razr flip phone. Ok in thumbnail size, but you can count the pixels trying to go full screen on a phone, let alone a bigger screen. 

In reply to RevRico :

Try a different messaging app? Actually, just make sure you've both got RCS enabled in the current app...

When it was an Apple/Android thing, it was substantially Apple's fault because they forced any conversation with an Android phone (which they wouldn't let use Apple's protocols) to downgrade to MMS, at a point when Android phones should support RCS (an openly available protocol which supports among other things better media handling). It was part of that whole stupid thing where Apple was really just trying to force/embarass Android users into getting iPhones by degrading the experience for Apple users anytime an Android was involved (right down to changing the color of the text bubbles to make it clear someone wasn't on an iPhone). There was a hilarious-in-retrospect bit where a journalist who used an iPhone was annoyed about the experience they and their (android-using) mom had in sharing stuff, and Cook told the journalist to "buy your mom an iPhone."

But if it's two Android phones, at this point it should just be using RCS, and your media should be unmangled. It may just be a setting change for you and/or your friend.

https://www.android.com/articles/what-is-rcs-messaging/

EDIT: At this point, that should even be true of Apple/Android conversations, to wrap up that episode. Turns out that glib dig at Android may have helped turn Apple's malfeasance into a proper liability which resulted in iOS now supporting RCS and using it for iPhone/Android conversations.

Bonus stupid: I have an iPhone because reasons, but I often use Signal and WhatsApp because if you use a Windows PC, Apple doesn't let you use a desktop app or web page to do your messaging from your PC; you only get that on a Mac. Signal's... fine. I don't love using another Meta product in WhatsApp. I need to go make a cup of coffee and try to stop thinking about how much more effort has gone into trying to get users cordoned off on particular platforms than into making the Internet work better the way it's supposed to. You know, that underlying kernel of awesome which was the idea that if your device knew the basic protocols, it could be on the Internet, and those protocols were not proprietary.

In reply to Jesse Ransom :

I would also like to subscribe to your newsletter.

Furthermore - and this might be the point where I enter crazy town, but it's a hill I'm willing to defend - apps are mostly bad because the break the Internet.  HTML5 and a browser should take care of 90% of the apps that companies want you to install.  Because that's what HTML and the web browser were invented to do in the first place.

Now, get off my lawn, I've got clouds to yell at.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to RevRico :

If you are carrying more than $250, it's assumed that the money is for illegal purposes (only drug dealers need THAT much money) and the money is confiscated if discovered.

Reminds me of the Adam Carolla crack about, "If you have enough weed, it's considered 'intent to distribute'. Maybe you just really like weed. That's like arresting a guy with an erection for 'intent to rape'. Maybe he's just really excited to get home and see his wife."

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to RevRico :

If you are carrying more than $250, it's assumed that the money is for illegal purposes (only drug dealers need THAT much money) and the money is confiscated if discovered.

Then I must be a drug kingpin. I have $500-$1000 in my pocket at all times. At $250, I'm headed to the bank. 

In reply to wae :

You know what they say about knowing just enough to be dangerous? I've got an old Ammonia HVAC unit that I need to empty. I have a couple of 55 gallon drums filled with water to dilute the Ammonia in and I was reading up to see if my refrigerant reclaimer unit was rated for Ammonia. I ask Google, and the AI tells me:

"Yes, the MR45 is designed to capture ammonia. It's a refrigerant recovery machine specifically designed to recover and store refrigerants like ammonia, according to Fieldpiece. "

But I'm wary. Ammonia will burn through various types of rubber and such, so I click on "Dive deeper" and get this result: 

• "Not for Ammonia: Ammonia (NH3) is a different type of refrigerant with specific handling requirements and is not listed among the compatible refrigerants for the MR45. "

 Well berkeley me. I may as well ask at the bar. It's not like the stuff could kill me or anything. What get's me is the complete confidence with which it returned the wrong answer. Like a 12-year-old boy explaining how to pleasure a woman to his friends.

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

Ammonia will attack brass, you need a steel gauge manifold to handle it safely.   The company I was working for 25 or so years ago had pulled a small Servel ammonia absorption chiller with an air cooled condenser for disposal and we needed to get the ammonia out before it headed to the scrap yard, I remember helping the truck driver out so he wouldn't get hurt in the process.  Mind you these are old memories and I'm assuming that you're working on an absorption unit:  You won't need a reclaimer, the ammonia will be in liquid form and you should be able to drain it out into the water. Use some old hoses that you can throw away when you're done, they should survive the process without worry.  We used a 5 gallon bucket to dilute into and when it started to stink we stopped and put fresh water in.  When you're reasonable sure you've gotten most of the ammonia out, hook up the hose and flush out the system to be sure you've gotten all the residue. Do this outdoors and away from anything you care about.  Have a pressurized hose handy to dilute any splash, wear gloves, protective clothing and eye protection.  If in doubt, stop draining.

EDIT: If you're working on an ammonia refrigeration system vs. the absorption system described above the low side of the system will have ammonia as a pressurized gas and the high side should have liquid ammonia also under pressure.   The procedure is the same, vent the pressure off into a drum of water to dilute the ammonia gas.  Continue this until the pressure drops to zero and then flush out the system to be sure you've gotten it all.  There's no need to evacuate into a vacuum as with CFC / HCFC / HFC refrigerants EPA procedure.  

Fun anecdotal background information: Absorption refrigeration is messed up (I've worked on several absorption chillers and I still think it's messed up.) You add heat to the process to make cold water.  As with many things in thermodynamics the magic is the phase changes.  In an absorption cycle the water is the refrigerant, the ammonia or lithium bromide depending on the type of machine is extremely hygroscopic.  That in combination with pressure change (the chiller side of the machine operates in a deep vacuum) provides the cooling effect, adding heat drives the water back out of the absorbant.

The local gas company around here was pushing the Servel equipment in the early 90's as a way to sell more gas in the summer and they were hot garbage, most got scrapped inside of 10 years. Servel is an old name in the absorption refrigeration business, they made propane fired refrigerators back in the 40's and 50's that are still very much in demand in the "off grid" cabin market. Those were built like battleships, the "new" stuff, not so much. 

In reply to Toyman! :

*Kid at our church was running a bitcoin cash station in the NYC area. Insert cash and get some small fraction of a bitcoin.  

They picked him up (where???) with $10,000 cash from his business and confiscated it.  When he proved it was legit he got it back.  However had to pay a lawyer to straighten it out so it cost him $1500?  

*kid was 30 years old

In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :

The sleazy thing is that they can charge the money with a crime, and money doesn't have any rights.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Which leads to bizarre cases like "State of New York vs. $10,000 in U.S. Currency." Wtf?!

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

This example of "AI" providing an answer that turns out to be wrong is very common.  Many behave much like a person who doesn't know the answer but wants to project the appearance of knowledge (or one might argue that it is trying to please the questioner).   These tools can't be trusted and always need to be double checked.  I'd argue it's more work because real data is being flooded with untrustworthy noise. 

On a related note, one of my co-workers alerted me to something interesting an "AI based code assistant" built into our IDE was doing.  It would write a database query method with a couple keystrokes, but was consistently also including a delete method at the end.  That would be a fun oopsie if you just blindly accepted the output and included it in your code.

Interesting times we live in.

I have come to the conclusion that either the average buyer of men's jeans has skinny chicken legs, or I have spectacular thunder thighs. Or both. 
 

Relaxed fit jeans. I can easily button and zip a 36, I could probably even suck it in a bit and fit in a 34. But I can't move in them. So I have to wear 38s and cinch the belt up. 
 

I need to start a campaign to make overalls business appropriate. 

yesterday I got a donut at the quiktrip, I thought for sure it was a cream filled long john, but it was actually just a long, rectangular, unfilled donut.

In reply to mtn :

they don't make jeans for people that have any muscle on their thighs. I'm not even particularly big, but I have to try on so many jeans to find some that have enough room in the thighs to actually be able to put things in the pockets. Dress pants are even worse in my experience

In reply to gixxeropa :

Weird, Dress pants are way better in my experience. I wear them (or Khakis) every day even though we're allowed to and most people wear jeans.

And I am a big fan of the comeback of pleats. 

Going through a background check for my new job.  Nothing special like a security clearance or anything, just your average corporate pre-hire background check.  They want me to send them copies of my high school diploma and/or transcript.  From 1992.

I guess I'm going to have to go digging through caves looking for scrolls or something....

In reply to mtn :

They're fine for me until I have anything in my pockets, then they're basically tights

In reply to mtn :

Old Navy?  They make an "athletic taper" which is alleged to be fuller through seat and thighs.

Im also partial to their "built in flex" which has like 2% spandex. That little bit of stretch helps them not stress as much.