Journalist that just write a short intro paragraph followed by 30 random tweets.
- I get that sometimes something noteworthy happens on Twitter and showing those specific tweets by specific people involved is relevant.
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Stuff That Really āGrinds My Gearsā¦ā
manual transmissions
11 Likes
Would that be the transmission? Or the operator?
{ducks}
4 Likes
With people drowning in Texas maybe the rest of us are not supposed to complain about the weather, but here in Oregon we have six days of āwidespread smokeā to look forward to:
$ forecast HEAT ADVISORY RED FLAG WARNING FIRE WEATHER WATCH FRIDAY: Sunny, with a high near 89. North northwest wind 6 to 9 mph. SATURDAY: Widespread smoke. Sunny, with a high near 95. Northwest wind 3 to 5 mph. SUNDAY: Widespread smoke. Sunny, with a high near 93. LABOR DAY: Widespread smoke. Sunny, with a high near 95. TUESDAY: Widespread smoke. Sunny and hot, with a high near 98. WEDNESDAY: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Widespread smoke. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. THURSDAY: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Widespread smoke. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89.
3 Likes
Total displacement of my feelings about how fucked up the world is, but I just remembered that they killed Picardās brotherās family off-screen in First Contact and I am LIVID.
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I was just told that my work was āwrong and needs to be done againā because the spreasheet was sorted by a column other than the one they prefer.
When I mentioned that it was a matter of sorting, and I could definitely sort on any column they prefer, and that they could also sort by any column they prefer, they laughed at me, like I was the one whose grip on spreadsheets is lacking. OK, whatever, as long as the checks clear I donāt care. But, it grinds my gears to be told that my work is poor because they fundamentally misunderstand what they are asking me for.
15 Likes
If they are that dumb then Iād tack on an extra 8 hours to āfixā the issue.
11 Likes
For extra fun, update in front of them and then have them tell you that youāre ātoo technicalā.
(Last week someone missed some of my comments on a spreadsheet because they were visually looking for the little red triangles, and not just clicking the ānext commentā button. If you donāt know how to do something, cool[ish], but donāt make me the bad guy for knowing it, especially when itās right on the damn toolbar.)
12 Likes
Meatwall in progress. Yet again.
3 Likes
There are times Iāve put $2 or $5 in an accessible pocket, promising it to the first non-aggressive panhandler I see. There are times I just go tunnel vision and refuse to acknowledge anyone. There are times Iām two blocks down the street and the plight of someone I passed fills me with enough emotion to go back.
I donāt care if people are using some small amount of cash to buy alcohol or marijuana. They could be self-medicating something the local community hasnāt been able to provide better help for, and entertainment options for the poor are limited. If Iām not currently actively working to provide healthier options for them, a few bucks is at least something.
When I needed it, I was still too proud to beg for cash but sometimes people gave me something anyway. Bought a cheap hot burger that was a welcome relief from my diet at the time, and a cheap pair of gloves that might have saved my fingers from frostbite. I was a transient and in some denial about the seriousness of my situation so no local charity could have helped me.
FWIW those small acts during my time of need have made me a much more generous person when I became re-established. The small amount of cash and time I received has multiplied significantly. Maybe not everyone in a bad situation will be able to get out of it, but for those who can the rewards might be huge. Beats buying lottery tickets, anyway.
11 Likes
When I lived in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, there was always a row of 6-10 panhandlers along the wall of the building Iād pass on my way to the bus every day. They were low-key, just āspare change?ā kinda people. I got in the habit of keeping a pocketful of change, dimes or quarters, and giving one to each on most mornings when Iād remember. It was a very crappy neighborhood and after a few weeks of doing that, the panhandlers physically stopped me from being mugged several times. It was a pretty good investment, turned out.
The panhandlers where I live now are almost all either obvious college students or guys āsellingā the Spare Change News, and I donāt give them anything beyond buying the paper here and there.
8 Likes
Thought they were dead by generations?
1 Like
Yes - I got the movie wrong! Still pissed.
3 Likes
Well you should go to paramount and tell them,
The line must be drawn herre this far no further.
1 Like
The first thing we do, letās kill all theā¦ no, not the lawyers. Iām willing to give them a free pass today.
Iām after:
- Webinar software where you have to sign up ahead of time, because limited spaces
- Said software claims it is multi-platform, but only mentions WIndoze and Mac. Except before I read that I click on the link on my Android phone, and oh look! it works there too.
- Despite claiming to be platform-independent, does not let me log in from Ubuntu.
- Once logged out (of my phone), does not let me log back in again.
And most importantly: does not have a test āroomā where I can find out all this crap before the webinar starts.
It was free, so I suppose I should stop whining soon, but I booked time in my work calendar to make sure I could attend, dammit. There might be a recording later, but fuck.
And the thing is, I would say this is true for at least 50% of webinar software out there. So people are supposed to just sign up and cross their fingers? Fuck that. Make it fucking work.
The funny bit: this particular service (Webinarninja) brags about how theyāre easier to use than Google Hangouts. You know, Hangouts ā which really is platform-independent.
ETA: I received a link to the recorded version of the webinar. Apparently 500 people signed up for 100 spaces. Which begs the question: why not set a limit on signing up? Why did I have to sign up two weeks early only to find out it was really about who could afford to book time off work early enough to sign up to the webinar?
10 Likes
Taking a class in something mind-stretching. The best thing I ever did was to take some writersā classes. Met a great bunch of people. Thank you, George, wherever you are.
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And also the question why limit the virtual āspacesā, given that itās the internet. Surely that didnāt come from the fire marshal measuring the size and exits of their web venueā¦ There are technical limits on group video chat (everyone in simultaneous all-way video/audio streams) but webinars are just one stream broadcasting to everyone else.
Why even have signups? Or webinar software? Why not just use scheduled live streams with the streamer picking questions from the scrolling side chat the way they do on Twitch and Youtube? They can handle thousands of viewers with no software to install and no nonsense about signups and limits.
6 Likes
Because thatās how you collect the emails.
In e-biz, they say if you have 5000 emails on your list, you can make a million dollars.
Once you have the emails, you can advertise directly to people who have expressed an interest, over and over again, virtually free.
4 Likes
Agreed ā in fact, I know from the replay that was part of the webinar!
Iād argue that for this case it backfired. The webinar was informative, but also a promotion for a paid course.
After fighting with the webinar site only to discover that āattendee already in meetingā is also the error message for āmeeting fullā, Iām not so interested in paying money to be frustrated.
Iāve been burned once before ā I signed up for a course where the Linux version of the courseware didnāt work. So I would Skype in for the audio only, while everyone else got to share screens etc. No system requirements were available for me to check ahead of time. The other attendees were conference call newbies and, well, kinda ableist (given that for the purposes of the course I was working blind).
I actually really love on-line learning, so I guess it bothers me a lot when people donāt plan or test thoroughly.
6 Likes
Get $200 from each of them?
I donāt buy that, especially because their spending patterns will be a scale free distribution. The bulk will buy nothing. In order to make your million, you will need a few big spenders spending in the tens of thousands. Not even sure how youād pull that off unless youāre selling something really expensive
2 Likes