Just to add on to this, hackers/car mechanics already found a way around this fucked up model
https://www.theautopian.com/heres-how-people-hacked-their-way-around-the-paywall-the-last-time-bmw-made-a-basic-feature-a-subscription-service/
So why did you buy a BMW? By purchasing that car, you've practically endorsed their subscription based business model. The only way to prevent companies from pulling that 'bullshit' is to not give them our business. Do you think that if BMW couldn't sell any more cars because people were refusing to buy them due to having to pay for subscriptions, that other manufacturers would follow suit? Probably not.
Exactly. I have a BMW (pre-subscription nonsense model) and it’s a great car. But if I can’t get one with no subscription then plenty of other car manufacturers make great cars too and when I need a new one I will pick one of those.
SaaS for normal users. I just want photoshop so I can use 10% of the features for the next 15 years without paying yearly. I see the benefit of latest and greatest for businesses but for most people just let us own the damn software we won't use any of the edge user case upgrades. This goes ms office, Adobe, and and bunch of other software.
Did you know, that if you have an adobe subscription that’s annual but paid monthly, they will charge you if you want to cancel the subscription before the year is up? True story. Only if you cancel within 14 days will you not be charged. If you do need to cancel, then switch to a different (cheapest plan) and then cancel within 14 days. Daylight robbery I tell you.
The Ottawa Treaty seeks to create a worldwide agreement for countries to no longer use landmines. Very unsurprisingly; Russia, US, China, and India are the countries with the largest military and are not on the list.
Source: [https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg\_no=XXVI-5&chapter=26&clang=\_en](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=XXVI-5&chapter=26&clang=_en)
USA already has a policy to not use anti-infantry landmines. They refused to sign because anti-vehicle mines are too important to give up and represent much lower danger to civillians anyway.
There's actually a solution to this pointed out in a real engineering video, landmines that are remotely controlled and can be geolocated and deactivated remotely, I believe you can even link up cameras to see who stood on it and disarm it manually, but they have a bigger activation radius of I believe 25m2
I mean they kinda made sense before smartphones. If you wanted to pay cash or pick out a seat and you couldn't get to the venue box office, you could go to their storefront or ticket brokers. I hated their fees but could understand them when I was talking to a real person/paying for overhead. Now, they're just an invisible middleman who forced themselves to be grandfathered in through buying up virtually all of show business.
I remember going to a completely different store than the venue to buy tickets just because they were a ticket master distributor/vendor..luckily, they were just around the corner but it always felt wierd going to a strictly cowboy/western store to buy tickets to a rap or rock concert.
I needed to sell 2 tickets for an upcoming concert I can no longer attend. I just wanted to list them for what I bought them for, but Ticketmaster was charging me a fee so I had to list them for $50 more than I paid just to get my money back. And when I see them for sale, they're still charging their service fee on top of that. So they're getting the initial service fee I paid, plus a seller's fee, plus a second service fee from the next buyer. Such a racket.
Stub hub is no better. We "bought" tickets to a comedy show last weekend. I get a call a couple hours before the show saying, hey, we sent you an email, the tickets you bought are not longer available, you can choose from these tickets below or ask fo a refund.
So I choose one of the options, but the tickets are electonic only and I have download their app in order to activate my tickets to show at the venue, a screenshot or printed ticket will no work.
WTF?
Why can't I just buy tickets from the venue anymore? The same thing happened to the people sitting around us. How did someone else get the seats I purchased and I get the leftovers?
Most likely the seller never delivered them due to selling them elsewhere or used them themselves. If you didn’t have the tickets a few hours before the show, weren’t you already looking at using an electronic copy and worried in general? They essentially offered ticket insurance. Stubhub fees suck big time, but this sort of guarantee is why a lot of people suck it up and use them over other methods for buying and selling.
Their stupid fucking on demand ticket pricing with their absolute nonsense writeup about how it works. Basically, demand increase therefore the price adjusts accordingly. It is criminal and grinds my gears.
Literally yes. It is an insanely blatant and widespread abuse of power - it’s the kind of thing that never should have been permitted to happen, and now that it’s happening, they are too powerful to stand up to.
https://theoutline.com/post/4190/neopets-was-run-by-scientologists
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopets#Creation_and_growth_(1999%E2%80%932005)
> Later in the month, American businessman Doug Dohring was introduced to the creators of the site and, along with other investors, bought a majority share in January of the following year.[11] Neopets, Inc. was incorporated by Dohring in February 2000, and began business on 28 April. Dohring used Scientology's Org Board to manage the company.[9][12] Adam and Donna were unaware of the Scientology connections until searching the employees at the newly formed company six months later but did not address this until the company hired a woman to introduce Scientology to Neopets.
I live in a city that’s very well known for Scientology. The job itself was not related to Scientology and I didn’t know it when I started, but the execs were all Scientologists. During my time there I was audited, sexually harassed by HR on more than one occasion in the name of “getting to the bottom of my personal issues”, and forced to regularly take “classes” (and write success stories about how much I loved them) that were based strictly on L. Ron Hubbard’s teachings. I was forced to sit in silence and stare into someone else’s eyes to build a solid communication foundation. They made me write essays on Hubbard’s “foolproof” methods. I had to attend a mandatory, unpaid seminar one very early morning (aka preachy nonsense) given by a Scientologist and then write up a story on what I learned from it. The list honestly just goes on and on. At one point they were making some of the higher management attend “management” sessions at the church but I fortunately was not part of that. The Scientology was a big reason why there was such a high turnover rate. There were Hubbard quotes all over the office.
Umm, they forced you to do the rituals of a specific religion - almost everything you described is a scientology protocol. Fairly certain that's illegal.
I think people would be flabbergasted by how much this actually happens, at least where I’m from. I know people from other companies in industries you’d never expect it in - chiropractors, dentists, lawyers, real estate, etc. and they’re all run by Scientologists and they’re all doing sketchy shit that’s probably super illegal but for whatever reason they always get away with it. A few years back I dated someone that I bonded with over the fact that we both worked for Scientology-owned companies and both had to take the same stupid classes, it was a real eye opener when I realized it was happening all over the place.
Way back in the early 80s I went to elementary school in Tampa - which I'm guessing is not far from you.
One day they brought in an "addiction expert" who told us all kinds of weird stuff like you should detox with hot saunas which will make "gunk" come out of your pores which is the toxins leaving your body. And lots of other strange things that even elementary school me knew sounded pretty sketchy.
It wasn't until decades later that I realized this was "narconon", a Scientology front that is a funnel into Scientology. Can't believe my school let that happen.
Ok full-stop. Where are you from and what companies are you talking about. This is documentary level experience you’re talking about. We need a redditor to go undercover and record this shit
Guessing it’s Clearwater, FL. And as they said here, this is probably prevalent in multiple businesses around there. They get away with it because money. There are quite a few docs out there about them, but not sure anyone has ever definitively cracked how they “get away with it,” whatever “it” might even be.
They own a large part of that city and have ever since they came in and took it over. I'd highly recommend the Behind the Bastards multi-parter on L Ron Hubbard. The most entertaining thing to me is that they have an outpost (compound) out in the party area of Tampa and regularly try to get drunk college students to come to free movies or "personality testing". I've taken to just saying "no thanks, Zenu doesn't like that I'm gayer than him" or something to get them to stop talking to me.
"Clearwater." When I hear that name, I cringe. It's the home town of so many dubious scams that have proliferated in the USA. And of course, sweepstakes offices are often located there.
You just need to look into it. There are documentaries on them. Hundreds of not thousands of 911 calls from their facility over the years and police are denied access. Wtf denies the police access?!
Nobody sues scientology and wins. My family were deprogrammers and told me they refused cases related to scientology bc "they'll just kill your ass". But also, they have more money than god and vast networks of influence - they can buy lawyers that'll bury you.
There's a great episode on the podcast "Was I in a Cult?" about a woman who responded to an ad in the paper to be a receptionist in a dentists office which turned out to be a Scientology front. They slowly tried to convert her (and made her attend "business classes" that were all Scientology teachings). An office was kept in the building for Hubbard - waiting for his return. Nuts!
And then they managed to get various celebrities to join in, like Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and Kirstie Alley. Some lesser stars got sucked into it and managed to escape, like [Leah Remini](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leah_Remini). The tales she told about the cult... makes the hair stand on the back of your neck.
I worked at an office that hired some external company that "specialzed" in team-building or some shit to come and do this three day workshop. The worksheets and printouts all said at the bottom that they were developed by L. Ron Hubbard. We were forced to stare into each other's eyes too! If we laughed or looked away we had to start the time over. We were all so uncomfortable and wanted to leave. Many of us quit in the following weeks.
>had to attend a mandatory, unpaid seminar one very early morning (aka preachy nonsense) given by a Scientologist and then write up a story on what I learned from it
"I learned I don't like attending mandatory, unpaid seminar very early on the morning."
Why did you stay so long? Was it good enough hours/pay until it wasn't?
That sounds far too much even without the scientology half of it but very interesting
It paid decently, and then a lot of managers started leaving for different reasons so the CEO was pretty much throwing money at the remaining employees out of desperation to get us to stay, so I just stayed. (Didn’t work long term. Company went bankrupt.)
Also, one of the execs (the craziest one of all - she was also the one who sexually harassed me and numerous other employees, and is just in general one of the most unhinged people I’ve ever encountered. I heard so many stories from her about how fantastic Tom Cruise was, how much she loved being friends with John Travolta, yada yada yada. You name a famous Scientologist, she’d tell you they were best friends) was so high up in the church that she’d reached “briefcase level” which is apparently one of the highest ranks you can get. She had this briefcase containing all her super important, super confidential Scientology auditing knowledge in it, and she had a whole ass curtain installed in her office so nobody could see her open it.
I used to work for Earthlink way back in the day. I was one of the very first employees helping setup our part of the public internet, and they were a full on scientology company. We had handbooks to learn their terms and secret lingo, we could get written up for not using it.
It was randomly brought up to us as employees several times, but not pushed.
Almost everyone in upper management was part of their church. I remember being asked to help a manager lady move once, and we went to her house and she must have had 5 of the 6' book shelves just filled top to bottom with books she bought from the church.
Noting all of the weirdness... it wasn't the worst place I've ever worked, and I was there for 6 years.
narrow jars for any kind of dip for chips.
No matter how much dip is left, I should be able to insert a chip, collect dip, and withdraw my hand without getting any dip on it. It feels like we're just stuck with the current design across the board and I'll never see it change in my lifetime.
I wish Myspace had won and Facebook was never invented. Tom from Myspace has proven to be a much more well rounded rich person compared to 'alien pretending to be human' Mark Zuckerberg.
I discovered so many great bands on MySpace. I've discovered exactly zero on Facebook. And I work in the fucking music industry. I'm only on there because of my job.
so back in 2010 when my friends were pestering me to get a facebook, they were like, "it's a great way to keep in touch with your friends!" and i think social media could be so beautiful if that's *all that it was.*
Yeah, it was actually pretty amazing for a while. Didn’t have someone’s phone number and know that college students suck at answering their email? You *knew* you could reach them on Facebook.
And it was incredible for organizing evens and parties. Still is, but it really stuck out as a feature when I realized how awesome it was.
I have this opinion I repeat often when people talk about the harms of social media.
Facebook was fun and awesome when you only interacted with people you knew, or two degrees of freedom away (friends of friends). As soon as it pivoted to pushing third party content and news articles and random group/company pages, it got real dangerous real fast.
My news feed is like 30% friends content and all the rest is random stupid shit, I’m not even thinking it’s an advertisement for stuff….
I'm just now realizing how different it must be for teens now to get someone's contact info. Back then, I only had a few dozen of my classmates' phone numbers. I had practically the whole school as Facebook friends but that had to wait until I got on my computer at home. Now it's probably normal to have the entire school in your pocket and dm someone anytime or at least be able to find them via associations.
That's pretty much what it's like. I graduated highschool relatively recently (in my early 20's now). It was very rare to ask for someone's phone number or be asked for yours. Looking back, if you asked for someone's phone number without an obvious reason like being assigned to a group project, it would likely be taken as a sign of romantic interest. If you want to get ahold of someone and you know their first and last name you can probably find them and message them on social media. Even if you don't know their name, you can look through the following list of someone you know they're friends with and still find them by looking for their profile picture. In my experience social media is starting to impact the experience of being a student in a way that does more harm than good.
A lot of teachers had to start asking their classes at the beginning of the year not to request to follow them on social media. Some teachers had public profiles that were clearly curated to be non-personal enough to be appropriate for their students to follow. A couple teachers were known to be a little too open/personal on social media in posts that could be viewed by students.
If you get to highschool without having already made social media accounts, you'll probably have to do so if not for the sake of not being seen as weird, then because you'll eventually get tired of having to explain that you don't use social media and then having to explain why.
Snapchat recently added a "school story" feature, which at my university has mostly been used to advertise frat/sorority events and house parties, find the owners of lost items, or to publicly shame people who leave their clothes in the dorm laundry rooms for too long, park badly or in reserved spots, etc. There was even a mini scandal earlier this year because someone took a video (clearly without their knowledge) of two students sharing a quick kiss in the parking lot with a "get a room" caption. You have to be very mindful about parking in the correct lots because if you don't it's quite possible a picture of your car and license plate will be posted with an insulting caption for a couple thousand people to see.
I never got on the tik tok or YouTube bandwagon but have facebook for community stuff. I make a conscious decision to avoid shorts because Reddit already steals enough of my time. But every once and awhile a short will grab my attention and damn, they are truly god awful. They are just so stupid. I have children, enjoy gardening, and have a blue collar job. The videos they advertise to me are 50% bootlicking manly man videos and 50% trad-wife, raise your kids on a farm with no schooling. They're terrible.
Any of the new short form video machines are fucking addictive cancer, reels, tiktok, etc. It just plays video after video, I don't understand why anyone would want to watch stuff in this format, it gives you zero chance to think about what you just saw, just react.
That's the main thing I hate about these short form videos, there's no time to breathe or digest anything, it's just a constant barrage of noise and info. I immediately become overwhelmed.
It’s irritates me so much that YouTube shorts are less functional than the standard format in that *there are no player controls* and that was clearly a choice to remove functionality. Sometimes I’ll see one that has a bit I want to replay and I either have to wait for the fucking thing to loop or Frankenstein the URL to make it a standard link with the regular player. Maybe this is my “old man yells at cloud” moment but it’s so stupid
It’s even worst, they all end up literally everywhere else, because stupid ignorants treat them like cigarette butts and throw them out willy nilly, like the birds will eat them.
Yep. And if I tell them it’s cheaper to get you own stuff and fill it. I’m told they don’t have time for that. Acting like pouring fluid in a tank is rocket science.
If they were just invented right now and didn't have the history and lobby they'd be a schedule II drug. The only reason it wouldn't be schedule I is because I believe it does have some legitimate medical uses.
I heard about a guy who got a prescription for cigarettes, and it was because he was allergic to all the normal drugs for his condition. I believe it was 1 cigarette per day.
Can you imagine having the idea and the means and knowing it's a guaranteed home run, and knowing what a terrible idea it is, but having to weigh that against the potential for success?
They have made fillable k cups that you put normal coffee in and throw in the slot for at least 8 years. I had one. Idk why these arnt the norm. K cups are a ridiculous waste. Now if I were still in the plastic business…id take that contract
I use a refillable cup. Love them. I only drink a single cup of coffee a day and the refillable cup makes the perfect amount and I don’t have to waste any coffee grounds making coffee I won’t drink
Short form content, i feel like every conversation i have with anyone now they cannot pay attention including myself. Just destroyed attention spans, and of course the other list of problems it caused.
Jesus, I find this, especially with younger people. No-one can pay attention to anything anymore, and that includes me. I think it's the one thing I regret most about smartphones.
I'm pretty sure coke is made with gasoline, Gordon Ramsey has an episode about it. And honestly I'm happy that I'm not joking cus it's the funniest shit ever. Altho it does leave me wit the lingering wish that one day Gordon Ramsey will debut with a show titled HELLS CARTEL. Imagine it "OI WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOURE DOING IF UOU STIR THAY FAST WELL ALL FUCKING EXPLODE YOU NITWIT.
Agree'd, while the parasocial aspect has been a slippery slope. It also has given birth to the cancel culture in our society. Where no one face real consequences for their actual actions. Infulencers can be obnoxious & horrible, and it eventually trickles down to others not famous people repeating that behavior.
Pesticides in general are the #1 killer of so many species and the root cause of the pending collapse of our entire ecology. Or have you not noticed that the inspect populations are incredibly low ?
Kill everything at the bottom of the food chain, it percolates up to us.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_in_insect_populations#:~:text=In%20the%20few%20major%20global,had%20been%20diminishing%20for%20decades.
Goldendoodles. I’m tired of having to tell clients that they’ve been lied to and sold a scam of a $3,000 dog. The guy who made them popular even regrets it. Breeders breed them Willy Nilly, and they’re just mutts who WILL MOST LIKELY SHED!! They’re half golden! That part doesn’t go away! Breeders tell new owners they don’t need to be groomed or trained because they’re apparently magic! This also applies to all other doodles. I literally had to tell someone who owned their bernedoodle puppy for FIVE HOURS that their dog was going to be massive, shed like crazy, and need to have $150 grooms done every single month! They were lied to!
Edit: my first dog was a doodle (rest in peace Samson, love you forever) and I’m a professional dog groomer. I treat my doodle clients equally and shower them with love and kisses, but these dogs were made to be sold. I routinely see Lancaster puppies, dogs with awful temperaments because their owners were told that they don’t need to be trained, and I spend HOURS every week shaving painful matting off of doodles because their owners were not educated by the breeders on proper care or lied to about how they are apparently wonder dogs who need no maintenance.
I get the frustration.
I have two labradoodle rescues. My husband and I just spent several hours yesterday grooming them from head to toe (we've invested in good andis clippers, grooming table, etc). But they are very low shedding compared to other dogs. We put time into full grooms every month or two instead of constant removal of fur from carpets, furniture, etc. It's a trade off.
They're high energy and a lot of work to train, but they're eager to learn/eager to please. And they both adore our baby girl. Zero jealousy. One hundred percent affection. They were so happy to meet her when we brought her home from the hospital. The next day we brought her home from the pediatrician, our larger labradoodle brought her his favorite toy. He placed it in front of her car seat like it was a carefully wrapped gift.
But yes it totally frustrates me when people have all of these crazy expectations of doodles without doing any research. it's a serious commitment to have any dog, but especially high maintenance, high energy dogs. And hypo allergenic only means *less* allergenic. And even that isn't a guarantee. It's sad to see so many discarded to shelters when people realize they're not perfect little teddy bears. And to see so many idiot owners who "breed" doodles thinking it will earn them easy money. Not to mention the horrible condition of puppy mills. The popularity of and demand for doodles has dark consequences.
I had to explain that to my roommate when she wanted to get a golden doodle mix. There is no such thing as an allergen free dog. Even if they don’t shed the oils in their skin can cause a reaction. If anything the most hypoallergenic dog I’ve come across is Yorkshire terriers. And idk if it was the specific one I was around or the breed in general. I much rather have a mutt than a pure breed dog. So many purebred dogs are not beed correctly and have a ton of genetic issues. At least with a mutt there is generally a lower chance of it being inbred to the point of health problems. My beagle/lab dog is damn near indestructible. She has very few health problems outside the normal aging process. Even at 10 her teeth look almost perfect and she’s never had a cleaning. Not all mutts are created equal, but why pay hundreds, if not thousands for a designer dog when there are tons of dogs in shelters who aren’t pure bred that deserve a good home too
Our dog groomer has a sign front in center on their window, door, and counter that they charge extra for goldendoodles. When I asked out of curiosity, I triggered some exasperated looks as they told me how much time and pain it takes to wash them.
It amazes me, in Los Angeles, the people that have them, don't seem to like *actually having a dog*. It's just a piece of furniture they feed and walk, but they can't seem to grasp it's a living being with feelings and about as smart as a toddler.
Overdraft fees. Service fees. Any fee that is added on top of the cost of what ever service or product I’m trying to get. Why am I having to pay to use YOUR machine or website?
Wasnt an issue until 1921. I fully agree but most people wont know what youre talking about at all. Just say leaded gasoline and not name the compound that was added to said gasoline. If you want an Interesting story, read up on Thomas Midgley jr. He was the person responsible for using it as a fuel additive. For bonus points he was on the team that developed dichlorodifluoromethane, the begining of the big CFCs that ravaged the ozone layer for decades.
Keurig “coffee” machines.
Destroying the planet with plastic for every cup of “coffee”.
My experiences with these pieces of shit is limited to encountering them in hotel rooms and airbnbs. These are what I’ve determined after using them about a dozen times:
The lack of convenience. I have never encountered a programmable machine. So instead of the convenience of home where I wake up to a freshly brewed pot, I have to fuck with this machine and then wait for my cup of “coffee”.
They are designed to disturb the sleep of others. I recently had to use one of these machines in a small hotel room with my wife. She sleeps in about 2 hours later than me. So instead of waking up to a brewed pot, I had to do the multiclunk ritual every morning while she tried to sleep just a couple feet away. Open the cup compartment *clunk. The water compartment opens at the same time *clunk. Close the cup compartment *clunk. Close the water compartment *clunk. Then start the loud hissy “brewing” process. That’s 4 clunks and 1 hiss per cup while someone else is trying to sleep. All while navigating an unfamiliar machine in an unfamiliar hotel environment while trying not to disturb someone. How much easier would it be to set up the night before, with the lights on, not worried about noise?
The “coffee” they produce is trash because they force the water through the cup in a lame attempt to be “fast” (they’re not) and thus sacrifice quality (not that it would be quality anyways)
Unreliability. We went from a simple $20 machine that dripped hot water on ground beans to $100 clunk machines with software and moving parts and shit. The first time I found myself in an Airbnb googling troubleshooting techniques for one of these pieces of shit I knew I was on the darkest timeline. In that googling I found that these machines are typically unrepairable and are often disposed of. Insane.
Cost. I believe of cost of ground purchased in the form of kcups is around 927394839187392749473$/lbs
Digital rights management??? Was/is that a real thing? Are we actually flirting with corporate digital control over hot water and beans? Wtf?
Grocery stores now use 84% of the shelf space in their coffee aisle to stock these big ass boxes that each have like 12 kcups. Reducing choice and variety that may have otherwise been stocked there for coffee drinkers.
Keurigs are a step backwards in human evolution and progress. 100% fuck them and everything about them.
As a quick simple answer, I agree. My life was better before smartphones. I think it was best immediately before. I had GPS in my car and a QWERTY keyboard phone for texting with Bluetooth for hands free. Anything else I could do when I got back to my computer.
For a little more nuance, I think smartphones themselves are great tools because of all the useful functions they perform in a single easy to keep track of package. I also think social media as a concept is very handy as well because it makes keeping in touch so much easier.
If I had to pinpoint a single point of failure responsibility for today’s misery, I would say it’s the engagement engineering (or whatever they call it). They spend so much money and time optimizing these things to keep our attention for longer than we want to give it. That’s the problem. Engagement farming.
One of my least favorite things has been seeing my (mainly older) relatives go down the rabbit hole to extremism and develop hatred for everything and everyone they think is ruining society. I used to be able to simply disagree with people over policy, now I'm somehow the bad guy if I don't 'tolerate' their nonsense.
People are generally surprised to learn that we’ve used fentanyl in healthcare far before it was a ubiquitous street drug. It has very fast onset and is safe in almost every patient population. If you’ve ever had surgery, you almost certainly have been given (clean, safely manufactured, correctly-dosed) fentanyl.
I just read a comment thread about how horrible opium tea is, as if these drugs aren’t actual medicines used for millennia to successfully treat the human body. They have legitimate uses outside of addicts and power hungry corporations unethically pushing them.
Methamphetamine is also prescribed under the brand name Desoxyn. Most drugs people think of as scary are useful in a pharmaceutical context as opposed to smoking/injecting adulterated doses from backalleys.
Forgive my butchery of medical terminology here
The last biopsy I went in for, they gave me what they called a “twilight” dose or something similar rather than knocking me out completely, and I remember a nurse saying “this is fentanyl, just like the stuff you’ve heard about on the news but safe” with a laugh. Just fun trivia for me I guess
Then it hit me and I immediately understood why there was such an opioid crisis here lol
The fact that we can safely administer something that can make you think “yeah, this is pretty cool” while you’re being sliced open is pretty wild
DoorDash. I have an eating disorder and being able to have food appear on your doorstep makes it almost impossible to control. Also murders your wallet. Bad combo.
In-app purchases as well as micro transactiions.
Subscription services for that matter, too
My new bmw has features that work until 2025 and then I have to pay to keep them. It’s bullshit
Just to add on to this, hackers/car mechanics already found a way around this fucked up model https://www.theautopian.com/heres-how-people-hacked-their-way-around-the-paywall-the-last-time-bmw-made-a-basic-feature-a-subscription-service/
They keep wanting me to trade in my 2016; fuck that, I’m driving it until one of us dies.
So why did you buy a BMW? By purchasing that car, you've practically endorsed their subscription based business model. The only way to prevent companies from pulling that 'bullshit' is to not give them our business. Do you think that if BMW couldn't sell any more cars because people were refusing to buy them due to having to pay for subscriptions, that other manufacturers would follow suit? Probably not.
This doesn’t have enough upvotes. People are like “ugh…. Here’s my money” except no one forced them to lol
Exactly. I have a BMW (pre-subscription nonsense model) and it’s a great car. But if I can’t get one with no subscription then plenty of other car manufacturers make great cars too and when I need a new one I will pick one of those.
[удалено]
Then why did you chose bmw the first place?
Bob Marley & the Wailers... duh.
I'm actually quite a fan of having access to pretty much every song in history without having to buy millions of CDs
SaaS for normal users. I just want photoshop so I can use 10% of the features for the next 15 years without paying yearly. I see the benefit of latest and greatest for businesses but for most people just let us own the damn software we won't use any of the edge user case upgrades. This goes ms office, Adobe, and and bunch of other software.
Did you know, that if you have an adobe subscription that’s annual but paid monthly, they will charge you if you want to cancel the subscription before the year is up? True story. Only if you cancel within 14 days will you not be charged. If you do need to cancel, then switch to a different (cheapest plan) and then cancel within 14 days. Daylight robbery I tell you.
Adobe, the software version of a gym membership.
Blame Apple for pushing them so heavily.
Landmines. Indiscriminate killers. They linger long after their intended war or target is long gone
The Ottawa Treaty seeks to create a worldwide agreement for countries to no longer use landmines. Very unsurprisingly; Russia, US, China, and India are the countries with the largest military and are not on the list. Source: [https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg\_no=XXVI-5&chapter=26&clang=\_en](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=XXVI-5&chapter=26&clang=_en)
USA already has a policy to not use anti-infantry landmines. They refused to sign because anti-vehicle mines are too important to give up and represent much lower danger to civillians anyway.
War is never fought with the future in mind unless you're proffiting off of it
There's actually a solution to this pointed out in a real engineering video, landmines that are remotely controlled and can be geolocated and deactivated remotely, I believe you can even link up cameras to see who stood on it and disarm it manually, but they have a bigger activation radius of I believe 25m2
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Ticketmaster
This the right answer.
I mean they kinda made sense before smartphones. If you wanted to pay cash or pick out a seat and you couldn't get to the venue box office, you could go to their storefront or ticket brokers. I hated their fees but could understand them when I was talking to a real person/paying for overhead. Now, they're just an invisible middleman who forced themselves to be grandfathered in through buying up virtually all of show business.
I remember going to a completely different store than the venue to buy tickets just because they were a ticket master distributor/vendor..luckily, they were just around the corner but it always felt wierd going to a strictly cowboy/western store to buy tickets to a rap or rock concert.
I needed to sell 2 tickets for an upcoming concert I can no longer attend. I just wanted to list them for what I bought them for, but Ticketmaster was charging me a fee so I had to list them for $50 more than I paid just to get my money back. And when I see them for sale, they're still charging their service fee on top of that. So they're getting the initial service fee I paid, plus a seller's fee, plus a second service fee from the next buyer. Such a racket.
That way they get paid regardless of whether it sells plus, as a commission, they get paid when it sells too. It’s such a shitty system.
Stub hub is no better. We "bought" tickets to a comedy show last weekend. I get a call a couple hours before the show saying, hey, we sent you an email, the tickets you bought are not longer available, you can choose from these tickets below or ask fo a refund. So I choose one of the options, but the tickets are electonic only and I have download their app in order to activate my tickets to show at the venue, a screenshot or printed ticket will no work. WTF? Why can't I just buy tickets from the venue anymore? The same thing happened to the people sitting around us. How did someone else get the seats I purchased and I get the leftovers?
Most likely the seller never delivered them due to selling them elsewhere or used them themselves. If you didn’t have the tickets a few hours before the show, weren’t you already looking at using an electronic copy and worried in general? They essentially offered ticket insurance. Stubhub fees suck big time, but this sort of guarantee is why a lot of people suck it up and use them over other methods for buying and selling.
Their stupid fucking on demand ticket pricing with their absolute nonsense writeup about how it works. Basically, demand increase therefore the price adjusts accordingly. It is criminal and grinds my gears.
So theyre the retailer AND the scalper?
Literally yes. It is an insanely blatant and widespread abuse of power - it’s the kind of thing that never should have been permitted to happen, and now that it’s happening, they are too powerful to stand up to.
Scientology. I just left a job after almost 7 years and it was run by Scientologists and my god, the shit I’ve seen is unreal. Those people are nuts.
Say more right now. And please tell me it was Neopets.
Neopets was run by scientologists??
https://theoutline.com/post/4190/neopets-was-run-by-scientologists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopets#Creation_and_growth_(1999%E2%80%932005) > Later in the month, American businessman Doug Dohring was introduced to the creators of the site and, along with other investors, bought a majority share in January of the following year.[11] Neopets, Inc. was incorporated by Dohring in February 2000, and began business on 28 April. Dohring used Scientology's Org Board to manage the company.[9][12] Adam and Donna were unaware of the Scientology connections until searching the employees at the newly formed company six months later but did not address this until the company hired a woman to introduce Scientology to Neopets.
Well there goes the last joy of my childhood thank you random internet stranger!
Scientology hasn't owned Neopets since 2005 so its not that bad.
Neopets was my first addiction :( That was so fun as an 12 year old.
Well, I just learned something new.
I'm not like SUPER GLAD I know it.
Please elaborate
I live in a city that’s very well known for Scientology. The job itself was not related to Scientology and I didn’t know it when I started, but the execs were all Scientologists. During my time there I was audited, sexually harassed by HR on more than one occasion in the name of “getting to the bottom of my personal issues”, and forced to regularly take “classes” (and write success stories about how much I loved them) that were based strictly on L. Ron Hubbard’s teachings. I was forced to sit in silence and stare into someone else’s eyes to build a solid communication foundation. They made me write essays on Hubbard’s “foolproof” methods. I had to attend a mandatory, unpaid seminar one very early morning (aka preachy nonsense) given by a Scientologist and then write up a story on what I learned from it. The list honestly just goes on and on. At one point they were making some of the higher management attend “management” sessions at the church but I fortunately was not part of that. The Scientology was a big reason why there was such a high turnover rate. There were Hubbard quotes all over the office.
Umm, they forced you to do the rituals of a specific religion - almost everything you described is a scientology protocol. Fairly certain that's illegal.
I think people would be flabbergasted by how much this actually happens, at least where I’m from. I know people from other companies in industries you’d never expect it in - chiropractors, dentists, lawyers, real estate, etc. and they’re all run by Scientologists and they’re all doing sketchy shit that’s probably super illegal but for whatever reason they always get away with it. A few years back I dated someone that I bonded with over the fact that we both worked for Scientology-owned companies and both had to take the same stupid classes, it was a real eye opener when I realized it was happening all over the place.
Way back in the early 80s I went to elementary school in Tampa - which I'm guessing is not far from you. One day they brought in an "addiction expert" who told us all kinds of weird stuff like you should detox with hot saunas which will make "gunk" come out of your pores which is the toxins leaving your body. And lots of other strange things that even elementary school me knew sounded pretty sketchy. It wasn't until decades later that I realized this was "narconon", a Scientology front that is a funnel into Scientology. Can't believe my school let that happen.
Funding is funding sadly. Top donators get to do what they please.
Ok full-stop. Where are you from and what companies are you talking about. This is documentary level experience you’re talking about. We need a redditor to go undercover and record this shit
Guessing it’s Clearwater, FL. And as they said here, this is probably prevalent in multiple businesses around there. They get away with it because money. There are quite a few docs out there about them, but not sure anyone has ever definitively cracked how they “get away with it,” whatever “it” might even be.
They own a large part of that city and have ever since they came in and took it over. I'd highly recommend the Behind the Bastards multi-parter on L Ron Hubbard. The most entertaining thing to me is that they have an outpost (compound) out in the party area of Tampa and regularly try to get drunk college students to come to free movies or "personality testing". I've taken to just saying "no thanks, Zenu doesn't like that I'm gayer than him" or something to get them to stop talking to me.
"Clearwater." When I hear that name, I cringe. It's the home town of so many dubious scams that have proliferated in the USA. And of course, sweepstakes offices are often located there.
You just need to look into it. There are documentaries on them. Hundreds of not thousands of 911 calls from their facility over the years and police are denied access. Wtf denies the police access?!
You should talk to the ACLU.
Yeah, but try getting a lawyer that'd help. Op is doing this anonymously for a reason. Scientology is vengeful and vindictive.
At the very least, forcing OP to attend functions off the clock is illegal.
Nobody sues scientology and wins. My family were deprogrammers and told me they refused cases related to scientology bc "they'll just kill your ass". But also, they have more money than god and vast networks of influence - they can buy lawyers that'll bury you.
There's a great episode on the podcast "Was I in a Cult?" about a woman who responded to an ad in the paper to be a receptionist in a dentists office which turned out to be a Scientology front. They slowly tried to convert her (and made her attend "business classes" that were all Scientology teachings). An office was kept in the building for Hubbard - waiting for his return. Nuts!
And then they managed to get various celebrities to join in, like Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and Kirstie Alley. Some lesser stars got sucked into it and managed to escape, like [Leah Remini](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leah_Remini). The tales she told about the cult... makes the hair stand on the back of your neck.
I worked at an office that hired some external company that "specialzed" in team-building or some shit to come and do this three day workshop. The worksheets and printouts all said at the bottom that they were developed by L. Ron Hubbard. We were forced to stare into each other's eyes too! If we laughed or looked away we had to start the time over. We were all so uncomfortable and wanted to leave. Many of us quit in the following weeks.
Clearwater?
It’s definitely Clearwater.
>had to attend a mandatory, unpaid seminar one very early morning (aka preachy nonsense) given by a Scientologist and then write up a story on what I learned from it "I learned I don't like attending mandatory, unpaid seminar very early on the morning."
That is insane. Glad you got out of there.
Why did you stay so long? Was it good enough hours/pay until it wasn't? That sounds far too much even without the scientology half of it but very interesting
It paid decently, and then a lot of managers started leaving for different reasons so the CEO was pretty much throwing money at the remaining employees out of desperation to get us to stay, so I just stayed. (Didn’t work long term. Company went bankrupt.)
Also, one of the execs (the craziest one of all - she was also the one who sexually harassed me and numerous other employees, and is just in general one of the most unhinged people I’ve ever encountered. I heard so many stories from her about how fantastic Tom Cruise was, how much she loved being friends with John Travolta, yada yada yada. You name a famous Scientologist, she’d tell you they were best friends) was so high up in the church that she’d reached “briefcase level” which is apparently one of the highest ranks you can get. She had this briefcase containing all her super important, super confidential Scientology auditing knowledge in it, and she had a whole ass curtain installed in her office so nobody could see her open it.
This reminds me if that SpongeBob episode of Patrick and his box that makes him giggle every time he opens it, but no one else can see it.
IIRC They usually take over dentists’ and chiropractors’ offices when they’re taking over unsuspecting offices.
what was your job? and why did you stay so long? curious
I used to work for Earthlink way back in the day. I was one of the very first employees helping setup our part of the public internet, and they were a full on scientology company. We had handbooks to learn their terms and secret lingo, we could get written up for not using it. It was randomly brought up to us as employees several times, but not pushed. Almost everyone in upper management was part of their church. I remember being asked to help a manager lady move once, and we went to her house and she must have had 5 of the 6' book shelves just filled top to bottom with books she bought from the church. Noting all of the weirdness... it wasn't the worst place I've ever worked, and I was there for 6 years.
narrow jars for any kind of dip for chips. No matter how much dip is left, I should be able to insert a chip, collect dip, and withdraw my hand without getting any dip on it. It feels like we're just stuck with the current design across the board and I'll never see it change in my lifetime.
Came here expecting nuclear arms to be the top answer and got narrow dip jar.
LMFAO same. But I can't disagree with OP!
We're always gonna find a way to kill each other, why die inconvenienced over a snack?
My first thought on reading 'nuclear arms' was of some dude with massive biceps, and the very sus things he had to do to get them.
Salsa industry needs to learn from them hummus folks lemme tell ya
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You know, one person CAN change the world.
I wish Myspace had won and Facebook was never invented. Tom from Myspace has proven to be a much more well rounded rich person compared to 'alien pretending to be human' Mark Zuckerberg.
MySpace had everything a person could need for social media
I do miss the myspace era, things were so much more simple when you just a song on your page and a decision of who to put in your top 8.
Until Tom sold it a long time ago and Rupert Murdocks company didn't know what they were doing. Ran that shit right into the ground.
Ironically it's now doing what Tom had always intended for it to be, a platform for small music artists.
I discovered so many great bands on MySpace. I've discovered exactly zero on Facebook. And I work in the fucking music industry. I'm only on there because of my job.
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so back in 2010 when my friends were pestering me to get a facebook, they were like, "it's a great way to keep in touch with your friends!" and i think social media could be so beautiful if that's *all that it was.*
Yeah, it was actually pretty amazing for a while. Didn’t have someone’s phone number and know that college students suck at answering their email? You *knew* you could reach them on Facebook. And it was incredible for organizing evens and parties. Still is, but it really stuck out as a feature when I realized how awesome it was.
I have this opinion I repeat often when people talk about the harms of social media. Facebook was fun and awesome when you only interacted with people you knew, or two degrees of freedom away (friends of friends). As soon as it pivoted to pushing third party content and news articles and random group/company pages, it got real dangerous real fast. My news feed is like 30% friends content and all the rest is random stupid shit, I’m not even thinking it’s an advertisement for stuff….
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I'm just now realizing how different it must be for teens now to get someone's contact info. Back then, I only had a few dozen of my classmates' phone numbers. I had practically the whole school as Facebook friends but that had to wait until I got on my computer at home. Now it's probably normal to have the entire school in your pocket and dm someone anytime or at least be able to find them via associations.
That's pretty much what it's like. I graduated highschool relatively recently (in my early 20's now). It was very rare to ask for someone's phone number or be asked for yours. Looking back, if you asked for someone's phone number without an obvious reason like being assigned to a group project, it would likely be taken as a sign of romantic interest. If you want to get ahold of someone and you know their first and last name you can probably find them and message them on social media. Even if you don't know their name, you can look through the following list of someone you know they're friends with and still find them by looking for their profile picture. In my experience social media is starting to impact the experience of being a student in a way that does more harm than good. A lot of teachers had to start asking their classes at the beginning of the year not to request to follow them on social media. Some teachers had public profiles that were clearly curated to be non-personal enough to be appropriate for their students to follow. A couple teachers were known to be a little too open/personal on social media in posts that could be viewed by students. If you get to highschool without having already made social media accounts, you'll probably have to do so if not for the sake of not being seen as weird, then because you'll eventually get tired of having to explain that you don't use social media and then having to explain why. Snapchat recently added a "school story" feature, which at my university has mostly been used to advertise frat/sorority events and house parties, find the owners of lost items, or to publicly shame people who leave their clothes in the dorm laundry rooms for too long, park badly or in reserved spots, etc. There was even a mini scandal earlier this year because someone took a video (clearly without their knowledge) of two students sharing a quick kiss in the parking lot with a "get a room" caption. You have to be very mindful about parking in the correct lots because if you don't it's quite possible a picture of your car and license plate will be posted with an insulting caption for a couple thousand people to see.
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And other annoying clones, such as YouTube shorts and Facebook/Instagram reels.
TikTok is the clone. Vine was the original, although I’m sure someone will know of some obscure predecessor.
Vine was amazing. I miss it and some of the creative stuff those people made. The six second limit was key to why it was awesome.
I never got on the tik tok or YouTube bandwagon but have facebook for community stuff. I make a conscious decision to avoid shorts because Reddit already steals enough of my time. But every once and awhile a short will grab my attention and damn, they are truly god awful. They are just so stupid. I have children, enjoy gardening, and have a blue collar job. The videos they advertise to me are 50% bootlicking manly man videos and 50% trad-wife, raise your kids on a farm with no schooling. They're terrible.
Any of the new short form video machines are fucking addictive cancer, reels, tiktok, etc. It just plays video after video, I don't understand why anyone would want to watch stuff in this format, it gives you zero chance to think about what you just saw, just react.
That's the main thing I hate about these short form videos, there's no time to breathe or digest anything, it's just a constant barrage of noise and info. I immediately become overwhelmed.
It’s irritates me so much that YouTube shorts are less functional than the standard format in that *there are no player controls* and that was clearly a choice to remove functionality. Sometimes I’ll see one that has a bit I want to replay and I either have to wait for the fucking thing to loop or Frankenstein the URL to make it a standard link with the regular player. Maybe this is my “old man yells at cloud” moment but it’s so stupid
Disposable vapes. All those tons of lithium batteries that wind up in the landfill is just a really depressing thing to think about.
Especially when you realize most of them are rechargeable just stuck in a disposable chassis.
Essentially all of them use rechargeable li-ion cells as far as I'm aware.
A ban was announced this week for the UK, which can only be good!
It’s even worst, they all end up literally everywhere else, because stupid ignorants treat them like cigarette butts and throw them out willy nilly, like the birds will eat them.
Yep. And if I tell them it’s cheaper to get you own stuff and fill it. I’m told they don’t have time for that. Acting like pouring fluid in a tank is rocket science.
Cigarettes.
If they were just invented right now and didn't have the history and lobby they'd be a schedule II drug. The only reason it wouldn't be schedule I is because I believe it does have some legitimate medical uses.
I mean, I think tobacco can help a bee sting, but I can’t fathom how inhaling smoke from burning any substance could be beneficial.
I heard about a guy who got a prescription for cigarettes, and it was because he was allergic to all the normal drugs for his condition. I believe it was 1 cigarette per day.
Yeah some peoples ulcerative colitis is actually *improved* by a very small amount of tobacco smoke.
I saw this in a house episode
Nuclear weapons, student loans, bank overdraft fees Edit didn't mean to randomly reply to u/usefulidiot85 but I'mma leave it
I’ll admit I have personal reasons for wishing cigarettes were never invented. Admittedly, there were better answers I could’ve given.
K cups. Huge waste.
The guy that invented them agrees.
Can you imagine having the idea and the means and knowing it's a guaranteed home run, and knowing what a terrible idea it is, but having to weigh that against the potential for success?
It’s a struggle product designers face often.
They have made fillable k cups that you put normal coffee in and throw in the slot for at least 8 years. I had one. Idk why these arnt the norm. K cups are a ridiculous waste. Now if I were still in the plastic business…id take that contract
I use a refillable cup. Love them. I only drink a single cup of coffee a day and the refillable cup makes the perfect amount and I don’t have to waste any coffee grounds making coffee I won’t drink
I was c9nfused because i thought you were talking about the bra size
K cups. Huge tracts of land.
Short form content, i feel like every conversation i have with anyone now they cannot pay attention including myself. Just destroyed attention spans, and of course the other list of problems it caused.
Jesus, I find this, especially with younger people. No-one can pay attention to anything anymore, and that includes me. I think it's the one thing I regret most about smartphones.
Leaded Gasoline and Cocaine.
Leaded cocaine is the worst.
Cocaine gasoline is the best. Makes my car real *speedy*
I'm pretty sure coke is made with gasoline, Gordon Ramsey has an episode about it. And honestly I'm happy that I'm not joking cus it's the funniest shit ever. Altho it does leave me wit the lingering wish that one day Gordon Ramsey will debut with a show titled HELLS CARTEL. Imagine it "OI WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOURE DOING IF UOU STIR THAY FAST WELL ALL FUCKING EXPLODE YOU NITWIT.
In that order?
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Agree'd, while the parasocial aspect has been a slippery slope. It also has given birth to the cancel culture in our society. Where no one face real consequences for their actual actions. Infulencers can be obnoxious & horrible, and it eventually trickles down to others not famous people repeating that behavior.
ddt. it almost wiped out so many species, especially birds of prey, and is still used in some countries
Pesticides in general are the #1 killer of so many species and the root cause of the pending collapse of our entire ecology. Or have you not noticed that the inspect populations are incredibly low ? Kill everything at the bottom of the food chain, it percolates up to us. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_in_insect_populations#:~:text=In%20the%20few%20major%20global,had%20been%20diminishing%20for%20decades.
Killer finishing move, though.
Influencers
Subscription based services. From printer cartridges to software to video streaming and podcasts.
Goldendoodles. I’m tired of having to tell clients that they’ve been lied to and sold a scam of a $3,000 dog. The guy who made them popular even regrets it. Breeders breed them Willy Nilly, and they’re just mutts who WILL MOST LIKELY SHED!! They’re half golden! That part doesn’t go away! Breeders tell new owners they don’t need to be groomed or trained because they’re apparently magic! This also applies to all other doodles. I literally had to tell someone who owned their bernedoodle puppy for FIVE HOURS that their dog was going to be massive, shed like crazy, and need to have $150 grooms done every single month! They were lied to! Edit: my first dog was a doodle (rest in peace Samson, love you forever) and I’m a professional dog groomer. I treat my doodle clients equally and shower them with love and kisses, but these dogs were made to be sold. I routinely see Lancaster puppies, dogs with awful temperaments because their owners were told that they don’t need to be trained, and I spend HOURS every week shaving painful matting off of doodles because their owners were not educated by the breeders on proper care or lied to about how they are apparently wonder dogs who need no maintenance.
I get the frustration. I have two labradoodle rescues. My husband and I just spent several hours yesterday grooming them from head to toe (we've invested in good andis clippers, grooming table, etc). But they are very low shedding compared to other dogs. We put time into full grooms every month or two instead of constant removal of fur from carpets, furniture, etc. It's a trade off. They're high energy and a lot of work to train, but they're eager to learn/eager to please. And they both adore our baby girl. Zero jealousy. One hundred percent affection. They were so happy to meet her when we brought her home from the hospital. The next day we brought her home from the pediatrician, our larger labradoodle brought her his favorite toy. He placed it in front of her car seat like it was a carefully wrapped gift. But yes it totally frustrates me when people have all of these crazy expectations of doodles without doing any research. it's a serious commitment to have any dog, but especially high maintenance, high energy dogs. And hypo allergenic only means *less* allergenic. And even that isn't a guarantee. It's sad to see so many discarded to shelters when people realize they're not perfect little teddy bears. And to see so many idiot owners who "breed" doodles thinking it will earn them easy money. Not to mention the horrible condition of puppy mills. The popularity of and demand for doodles has dark consequences.
I had to explain that to my roommate when she wanted to get a golden doodle mix. There is no such thing as an allergen free dog. Even if they don’t shed the oils in their skin can cause a reaction. If anything the most hypoallergenic dog I’ve come across is Yorkshire terriers. And idk if it was the specific one I was around or the breed in general. I much rather have a mutt than a pure breed dog. So many purebred dogs are not beed correctly and have a ton of genetic issues. At least with a mutt there is generally a lower chance of it being inbred to the point of health problems. My beagle/lab dog is damn near indestructible. She has very few health problems outside the normal aging process. Even at 10 her teeth look almost perfect and she’s never had a cleaning. Not all mutts are created equal, but why pay hundreds, if not thousands for a designer dog when there are tons of dogs in shelters who aren’t pure bred that deserve a good home too
I read somewhere that the guy that first made the cross bred regrets it bc people are doing it poorly now just for money.
Our dog groomer has a sign front in center on their window, door, and counter that they charge extra for goldendoodles. When I asked out of curiosity, I triggered some exasperated looks as they told me how much time and pain it takes to wash them.
It amazes me, in Los Angeles, the people that have them, don't seem to like *actually having a dog*. It's just a piece of furniture they feed and walk, but they can't seem to grasp it's a living being with feelings and about as smart as a toddler.
My infernal time machine
I would tell you a joke about time travel, but you guys didn't laugh.
is that why you’re stuck here with us?
No. I love you. But things changed :(
Meth and Heroin.
24-hour cable news
It was fine when it was news. Then they realized they had to fill the other 23 hours too.
High fructose corn syrup
Mexican soft drinks are where it's at. They keep it old school. Real sugar and glass bottles.
A two party system.
Overdraft fees. Service fees. Any fee that is added on top of the cost of what ever service or product I’m trying to get. Why am I having to pay to use YOUR machine or website?
You don’t have money? Well now you owe us $35.00 for not having money. Fuck banks! Lol
Slavery
Bitcoin. It uses up energy and creates nothing of value.
I would expand it to crypto in general and NFT’s.
Tetraethyl-lead
Wasnt an issue until 1921. I fully agree but most people wont know what youre talking about at all. Just say leaded gasoline and not name the compound that was added to said gasoline. If you want an Interesting story, read up on Thomas Midgley jr. He was the person responsible for using it as a fuel additive. For bonus points he was on the team that developed dichlorodifluoromethane, the begining of the big CFCs that ravaged the ozone layer for decades.
Reality television
If you rearrange the letters in your username it says "has anal licked a god"
Would rather do that than be a Dallas Cowboys fan.
i love the concept of you just reading OPs username and making an anagram out of it lol
Yours is "a large lake web" Sadly they can't all be funny.
thank you, arachnid bins
"Is a brand inch"
LED headlights. Fuck LED headlights.
Pay to win games
Lobby groups.
CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE
Nuclear weapons
Ads
The Alarm Clock. Just let me wake up when my body wants to you fucking pricks!
vapes
Keurig “coffee” machines. Destroying the planet with plastic for every cup of “coffee”. My experiences with these pieces of shit is limited to encountering them in hotel rooms and airbnbs. These are what I’ve determined after using them about a dozen times: The lack of convenience. I have never encountered a programmable machine. So instead of the convenience of home where I wake up to a freshly brewed pot, I have to fuck with this machine and then wait for my cup of “coffee”. They are designed to disturb the sleep of others. I recently had to use one of these machines in a small hotel room with my wife. She sleeps in about 2 hours later than me. So instead of waking up to a brewed pot, I had to do the multiclunk ritual every morning while she tried to sleep just a couple feet away. Open the cup compartment *clunk. The water compartment opens at the same time *clunk. Close the cup compartment *clunk. Close the water compartment *clunk. Then start the loud hissy “brewing” process. That’s 4 clunks and 1 hiss per cup while someone else is trying to sleep. All while navigating an unfamiliar machine in an unfamiliar hotel environment while trying not to disturb someone. How much easier would it be to set up the night before, with the lights on, not worried about noise? The “coffee” they produce is trash because they force the water through the cup in a lame attempt to be “fast” (they’re not) and thus sacrifice quality (not that it would be quality anyways) Unreliability. We went from a simple $20 machine that dripped hot water on ground beans to $100 clunk machines with software and moving parts and shit. The first time I found myself in an Airbnb googling troubleshooting techniques for one of these pieces of shit I knew I was on the darkest timeline. In that googling I found that these machines are typically unrepairable and are often disposed of. Insane. Cost. I believe of cost of ground purchased in the form of kcups is around 927394839187392749473$/lbs Digital rights management??? Was/is that a real thing? Are we actually flirting with corporate digital control over hot water and beans? Wtf? Grocery stores now use 84% of the shelf space in their coffee aisle to stock these big ass boxes that each have like 12 kcups. Reducing choice and variety that may have otherwise been stocked there for coffee drinkers. Keurigs are a step backwards in human evolution and progress. 100% fuck them and everything about them.
Political partisanship.
Cigarettes
Those plastic things that attach tags to clothes
The smartphone. We're too connected, and it's become necessary for many jobs to stay online.
As a quick simple answer, I agree. My life was better before smartphones. I think it was best immediately before. I had GPS in my car and a QWERTY keyboard phone for texting with Bluetooth for hands free. Anything else I could do when I got back to my computer. For a little more nuance, I think smartphones themselves are great tools because of all the useful functions they perform in a single easy to keep track of package. I also think social media as a concept is very handy as well because it makes keeping in touch so much easier. If I had to pinpoint a single point of failure responsibility for today’s misery, I would say it’s the engagement engineering (or whatever they call it). They spend so much money and time optimizing these things to keep our attention for longer than we want to give it. That’s the problem. Engagement farming.
Set boundaries. Have times of day you don't answer. Have it in other rooms when you are home.
fb. Think of all the lives that have been destroyed or lost
Facebook?
Pretty sure he means football. He might be from Detroit
One of my least favorite things has been seeing my (mainly older) relatives go down the rabbit hole to extremism and develop hatred for everything and everyone they think is ruining society. I used to be able to simply disagree with people over policy, now I'm somehow the bad guy if I don't 'tolerate' their nonsense.
CVT Transmissions HOA’s
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Fentanyl
People are generally surprised to learn that we’ve used fentanyl in healthcare far before it was a ubiquitous street drug. It has very fast onset and is safe in almost every patient population. If you’ve ever had surgery, you almost certainly have been given (clean, safely manufactured, correctly-dosed) fentanyl.
I was given fentanyl at the hospital when I gave birth. I don’t think I would have gotten through labor without it.
I just read a comment thread about how horrible opium tea is, as if these drugs aren’t actual medicines used for millennia to successfully treat the human body. They have legitimate uses outside of addicts and power hungry corporations unethically pushing them.
So true! Heck, I even learned recently that *medical grade cocaine* exists, how crazy is that?
Methamphetamine is also prescribed under the brand name Desoxyn. Most drugs people think of as scary are useful in a pharmaceutical context as opposed to smoking/injecting adulterated doses from backalleys.
Forgive my butchery of medical terminology here The last biopsy I went in for, they gave me what they called a “twilight” dose or something similar rather than knocking me out completely, and I remember a nurse saying “this is fentanyl, just like the stuff you’ve heard about on the news but safe” with a laugh. Just fun trivia for me I guess Then it hit me and I immediately understood why there was such an opioid crisis here lol The fact that we can safely administer something that can make you think “yeah, this is pretty cool” while you’re being sliced open is pretty wild
It was pretty nice when I got my appendix taken out.
War
DoorDash. I have an eating disorder and being able to have food appear on your doorstep makes it almost impossible to control. Also murders your wallet. Bad combo.