Minor things that bother you

[ZLoth]

WinCo still doesn't accept credit cards, which is a little annoying but understandable for an employee-owned company.

As long as they accept Debit cards, I'm happy.

[kphoger]

Since I just posted in the music thread, I may as well vent this here:

I can't stand when some radio stations start playing 80% Christmas songs in November. Living near NYC my 2 favorite stations are 95.5 and 106.7, and these two unfortunately are the first to start reverting to all holiday music early. I can't complain about 95.5 because they are a Christian station, but I still like their normal songs way more than any Christmas ones.

I dislike it too–and, as a Christian myself, I'll complain about the Christian stations doing it too.  Christmastide begins on December 25, it doesn't end then, but you'd never know that from listening to the radio.  I get it that people look forward to Christmas, and that music is a part of that, but it doesn't need to go full bore the day after Thanksgiving (or, worse, the day after Halloween).  A good compromise is a tack I've heard a couple of stations take:  start peppering in the Christmas music after Thanksgiving, and then gradually increase the percentage as Christmas approaches.

[kkt]

I agree.  If the radio didn't starting playing Christmas music before Halloween, I wouldn't be sick to death of it by December 20th.

[JoePCool14]

Since I just posted in the music thread, I may as well vent this here:

I can't stand when some radio stations start playing 80% Christmas songs in November. Living near NYC my 2 favorite stations are 95.5 and 106.7, and these two unfortunately are the first to start reverting to all holiday music early. I can't complain about 95.5 because they are a Christian station, but I still like their normal songs way more than any Christmas ones.

I dislike it too–and, as a Christian myself, I'll complain about the Christian stations doing it too.  Christmastide begins on December 25, it doesn't end then, but you'd never know that from listening to the radio.  I get it that people look forward to Christmas, and that music is a part of that, but it doesn't need to go full bore the day after Thanksgiving (or, worse, the day after Halloween).  A good compromise is a tack I've heard a couple of stations take:  start peppering in the Christmas music after Thanksgiving, and then gradually increase the percentage as Christmas approaches.

You'd never know that based on a lot of society. Obviously, a big portion of that comes from the stores hyping up Christmas shopping before, which is also no different for other holidays/seasons. The bigger problem with the Christmas music stations remains the lack of variety. I was listening the other day while driving to Lake Geneva, and I heard a version of Last Christmas three times and I was only in the car for a total of about two hours.

[skluth]

Stores no longer having credit card stickers on there doors.

Is there much need for that to be shown these days? I've never been to a store where they haven't accepted my credit card.

Sure. Plenty of places don't take Amex, for example. Smith's grocery store went through a phase for a year or two where they didn't take Visa. I have a friend who every so often runs into a place that won't take his Discover card.

Amex and Discover acceptance is kind of patchy, but MasterCard and Visa acceptance is basically the bare minimum, unless you're doing a cash-only store. I'm surprised a grocery store toyed with Visa non-acceptance–I've been using my bank since I was six and they only issue Visa, so it's pretty funny that a grocery store thought I'm going to scrounge up some other method of payment or switch banks for them instead of just finding another store to shop at.

According to Smith's, Visa was charging higher processing fees than any of the other credit card companies. Their Visa ban lasted about six months and they never gave any particular reason why it was ending when it did. Obviously their sales took a hit.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/10/30/visa-now-accepted-all-kroger-stores-including-smiths-food-co/4097824002/

I seem to remember a similar situation at Sam's Club &/or Walmart a few years ago...

As far as businesses not accepting Discover,  it happened a lot up in Canada pre 9/11.  Is Discover accepted more outside of the US now?

Last time I was a member of Sam's was 2007. They only took Discover back then so I had to get a Discover card. When I switched to Costco in 2007 I dropped the Discover card because I otherwise never used it and the card had no real benefits compared to my other couple cards; Costco was also with AmEx back then (they're Citi Visa now) and I don't care to have more than three credit cards. (And that doesn't include the government credit card I needed for work because somewhere around 2007 my agency informed us that we would need to put all our travel on their card rather than any that might earn points/cash for us. I wasn't happy especially as I put a lot on that card during my trips to the Qatar and they weren't real timely on their reimbursement.) Never heard of Walmart not taking Visa or MC and I've had both since the 90's.

[kphoger]

Hey, how about Diners Club?   

A few years ago, I got a call from a scam operation while I was doing something out in the back yard.  I enjoyed messing with scam operators back then, and I had some time to kill.  They told me I qualified for a 0% rate on my credit card.  (I don't have a credit card of any sort.)  I decided to play the part of a slightly confused elderly man for this particular act.  I made up some personal information, such as a bogus name and birthday, maybe an address, I don't remember exactly.  I asked the caller to repeat himself fairly often;  sometimes this tactic prompts the scammer to hang up, but not this time.  When he asked which credit card I use most often, I would answer "the blue one", and then there'd be some more back-and-forth while he tried to get me to figure out which agency the card was from.  He eventually asked me to get the card out so he could tell me where to look, and I told him I'd have to hunt for the card because my wife had used it last.  So I walked over to the shed, banged around a bunch, pretended to talk to my wife, dropped the phone a few times, etc.  And this guy was totally buying my whole schtick!  He waited patiently for me.

Probably ten minutes had passed by this point.  At least.  Finally I told him:  it was a Disney Diners Club card.  He was amazed!  He couldn't believe it!  But I confirmed, yes sir, it was indeed a Disney Diners Club credit card.  Boy oh boy, was he surprised, but he believed it.  So he transferred me to someone else, who wasn't having any of it and hung up on me in short order.

Ah, good times...

[MultiMillionMiler]

Since I just posted in the music thread, I may as well vent this here:

I can't stand when some radio stations start playing 80% Christmas songs in November. Living near NYC my 2 favorite stations are 95.5 and 106.7, and these two unfortunately are the first to start reverting to all holiday music early. I can't complain about 95.5 because they are a Christian station, but I still like their normal songs way more than any Christmas ones.

I dislike it too–and, as a Christian myself, I'll complain about the Christian stations doing it too.  Christmastide begins on December 25, it doesn't end then, but you'd never know that from listening to the radio.  I get it that people look forward to Christmas, and that music is a part of that, but it doesn't need to go full bore the day after Thanksgiving (or, worse, the day after Halloween).  A good compromise is a tack I've heard a couple of stations take:  start peppering in the Christmas music after Thanksgiving, and then gradually increase the percentage as Christmas approaches.

The thing is though I actually love their normal Christian Rock music, I just can't stand the holiday music.

[ZLoth]

Another one involving my senior mother... when I was younger, my parents would get on my case for leaving the lights on in a room I wasn't in, and also for leaving the television when I wasn't in the room. Yet, what does my mother do? Leave the light on in her bedroom and also the television on all day "for the noise". At least I use LED light bulbs and the flat screen TV is more energy efficient.

[kphoger]

The thing is though I actually love their normal Christian Rock music, I just can't stand the holiday music.

I totally get it.  I enjoy listening to the local Christian FM stations.  But I completely avoid them during December.

[kkt]

Hey, how about Diners Club?   

A few years ago, I got a call from a scam operation while I was doing something out in the back yard.  I enjoyed messing with scam operators back then, and I had some time to kill.  They told me I qualified for a 0% rate on my credit card.  (I don't have a credit card of any sort.)  I decided to play the part of a slightly confused elderly man for this particular act.  I made up some personal information, such as a bogus name and birthday, maybe an address, I don't remember exactly.  I asked the caller to repeat himself fairly often;  sometimes this tactic prompts the scammer to hang up, but not this time.  When he asked which credit card I use most often, I would answer "the blue one", and then there'd be some more back-and-forth while he tried to get me to figure out which agency the card was from.  He eventually asked me to get the card out so he could tell me where to look, and I told him I'd have to hunt for the card because my wife had used it last.  So I walked over to the shed, banged around a bunch, pretended to talk to my wife, dropped the phone a few times, etc.  And this guy was totally buying my whole schtick!  He waited patiently for me.

Probably ten minutes had passed by this point.  At least.  Finally I told him:  it was a Disney Diners Club card.  He was amazed!  He couldn't believe it!  But I confirmed, yes sir, it was indeed a Disney Diners Club credit card.  Boy oh boy, was he surprised, but he believed it.  So he transferred me to someone else, who wasn't having any of it and hung up on me in short order.

Ah, good times...

Good job.  Telemarketers deserve to have their time wasted.

[abefroman329]

Hey, how about Diners Club?   

A few years ago, I got a call from a scam operation while I was doing something out in the back yard.  I enjoyed messing with scam operators back then, and I had some time to kill.  They told me I qualified for a 0% rate on my credit card.  (I don't have a credit card of any sort.)  I decided to play the part of a slightly confused elderly man for this particular act.  I made up some personal information, such as a bogus name and birthday, maybe an address, I don't remember exactly.  I asked the caller to repeat himself fairly often;  sometimes this tactic prompts the scammer to hang up, but not this time.  When he asked which credit card I use most often, I would answer "the blue one", and then there'd be some more back-and-forth while he tried to get me to figure out which agency the card was from.  He eventually asked me to get the card out so he could tell me where to look, and I told him I'd have to hunt for the card because my wife had used it last.  So I walked over to the shed, banged around a bunch, pretended to talk to my wife, dropped the phone a few times, etc.  And this guy was totally buying my whole schtick!  He waited patiently for me.

Probably ten minutes had passed by this point.  At least.  Finally I told him:  it was a Disney Diners Club card.  He was amazed!  He couldn't believe it!  But I confirmed, yes sir, it was indeed a Disney Diners Club credit card.  Boy oh boy, was he surprised, but he believed it.  So he transferred me to someone else, who wasn't having any of it and hung up on me in short order.

Ah, good times...

I once did something similar, only I told them I had a Players Club card.  Good luck finding a credit card more obscure than that!

[bulldog1979]

Stores no longer having credit card stickers on there doors.

I believe that the credit card companies don't give them to merchants anymore, assuming that they are pretty much the norm now.

Mike

American Express gives them out for free along with the folders for restaurant bills in limited quantities along with various other signage. Discover also gives out free signage. Apple has a program to order Apple Pay signs. Visa and Mastercard had signage, and I think it was limited in what other logos they displayed, while Discover will include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Diner's Club, JCB and Union Pay on some signs. (Diner's Club, JCB and Union Pay are processed on the Discover Network in the US.)

[kphoger]

'Suggested for you' posts on Facebook.  I got Facebook to keep in touch with people I know, not to sift through a bunch of memes from pages I don't follow.

[Scott5114]

'Suggested for you' posts on Facebook.  I got Facebook to keep in touch with people I know, not to sift through a bunch of memes from pages I don't follow.

'Suggested for you' posts on any social media platform can be much more than a minor thing, depending on the user's tendencies. It can lead some people into a rabbit hole where they are shown progressively more kooky things until they become a conspiracy theorist and/or political radical.

[skluth]

'Suggested for you' posts on Facebook.  I got Facebook to keep in touch with people I know, not to sift through a bunch of memes from pages I don't follow.

'Suggested for you' posts on any social media platform can be much more than a minor thing, depending on the user's tendencies. It can lead some people into a rabbit hole where they are shown progressively more kooky things until they become a conspiracy theorist and/or political radical.

I think that's more a YouTube and Twitter problem (along with FB) than other social media but that may be more what I've heard from reporting than any real evidence

[J N Winkler]

'Suggested for you' posts on Facebook.  I got Facebook to keep in touch with people I know, not to sift through a bunch of memes from pages I don't follow.

FB Purity blocks them but requires a Windows browser.  I largely limit my Facebook usage to my laptop, not just because it runs Windows, but also because I can and do have an ad-blocking HOSTS file installed.

'Suggested for you' posts on any social media platform can be much more than a minor thing, depending on the user's tendencies. It can lead some people into a rabbit hole where they are shown progressively more kooky things until they become a conspiracy theorist and/or political radical.

The UI features that are designed to discourage the user from stepping out of the dopamine loop are evil, in and of themselves.  The endless feed is a classic example--Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and so on do not want you to leave their sites because you got to the end of something.

I think that's more a YouTube and Twitter problem (along with FB) than other social media but that may be more what I've heard from reporting than any real evidence

It's a problem with all of them.  YouTube's special menace is creepy autogenerated content for kids.

[kphoger]

'Suggested for you' posts on any social media platform can be much more than a minor thing, depending on the user's tendencies. It can lead some people into a rabbit hole where they are shown progressively more kooky things until they become a conspiracy theorist and/or political radical.

I think that's more a YouTube and Twitter problem (along with FB) than other social media but that may be more what I've heard from reporting than any real evidence

YouTube's suggested videos are what got me into politics shortly before the COVID outbreak began, and it carried me through the first year of the pandemic.  I respect a couple of the hosts whose videos I watched, but there were definitely some that I didn't dare clock on.

I didn't like the person I was becoming, and that's part of the reason I got rid of my smartphone.

[Scott5114]

'Suggested for you' posts on any social media platform can be much more than a minor thing, depending on the user's tendencies. It can lead some people into a rabbit hole where they are shown progressively more kooky things until they become a conspiracy theorist and/or political radical.

I think that's more a YouTube and Twitter problem (along with FB) than other social media but that may be more what I've heard from reporting than any real evidence

YouTube's suggested videos are what got me into politics shortly before the COVID outbreak began, and it carried me through the first year of the pandemic.  I respect a couple of the hosts whose videos I watched, but there were definitely some that I didn't dare clock on.

I didn't like the person I was becoming, and that's part of the reason I got rid of my smartphone.

Your experience is definitely something a lot of people have run into. Most don't have the self-awareness to take the steps you did to break the cycle before it's too late.

I have a strict policy of not consuming any algorithm-curated content for that reason. (However, Facebook's algorithm in particular has a history of its guesses about what kind of person I am being laughably wrong anyway, so I've never really been tempted to click on anything it recommends me.)

[Max Rockatansky]

'Suggested for you' posts on any social media platform can be much more than a minor thing, depending on the user's tendencies. It can lead some people into a rabbit hole where they are shown progressively more kooky things until they become a conspiracy theorist and/or political radical.

I think that's more a YouTube and Twitter problem (along with FB) than other social media but that may be more what I've heard from reporting than any real evidence

YouTube's suggested videos are what got me into politics shortly before the COVID outbreak began, and it carried me through the first year of the pandemic.  I respect a couple of the hosts whose videos I watched, but there were definitely some that I didn't dare clock on.

I didn't like the person I was becoming, and that's part of the reason I got rid of my smartphone.

Your experience is definitely something a lot of people have run into. Most don't have the self-awareness to take the steps you did to break the cycle before it's too late.

I have a strict policy of not consuming any algorithm-curated content for that reason. (However, Facebook's algorithm in particular has a history of its guesses about what kind of person I am being laughably wrong anyway, so I've never really been tempted to click on anything it recommends me.)

Facebook for some reason thinks I'm into Urbanist mass transit pages.  I don't really engage in mass transit talk and especially not Urbanism.  I think the algorithm mistakes an interest in roads for all forms of transportation.  I do follow some rail history pages, but those are basically all freight lines.

[formulanone]

'Suggested for you' posts on any social media platform can be much more than a minor thing, depending on the user's tendencies. It can lead some people into a rabbit hole where they are shown progressively more kooky things until they become a conspiracy theorist and/or political radical.

I think that's more a YouTube and Twitter problem (along with FB) than other social media but that may be more what I've heard from reporting than any real evidence

YouTube's suggested videos are what got me into politics shortly before the COVID outbreak began, and it carried me through the first year of the pandemic.  I respect a couple of the hosts whose videos I watched, but there were definitely some that I didn't dare clock on.

I didn't like the person I was becoming, and that's part of the reason I got rid of my smartphone.

Your experience is definitely something a lot of people have run into. Most don't have the self-awareness to take the steps you did to break the cycle before it's too late.

I have a strict policy of not consuming any algorithm-curated content for that reason. (However, Facebook's algorithm in particular has a history of its guesses about what kind of person I am being laughably wrong anyway, so I've never really been tempted to click on anything it recommends me.)

I've clicked on a few random-ass YouTube videos that have actually been interesting, to be honest. Usually I search directly what I'm looking for.

Not exactly going for crazy ideas and views; mostly home improvement or how-to stuff, where I don't know much about the subject at hand to begin with. But if the video isn't cutting to the chase in the first 15-30 seconds, or it just seems like a big ad for a product/service, I just block it out or down vote it. That's really the only defense.

[J N Winkler]

Not exactly going for crazy ideas and views; mostly home improvement or how-to stuff, where I don't know much about the subject at hand to begin with. But if the video isn't cutting to the chase in the first 15-30 seconds, or it just seems like a big ad for a product/service, I just block it out or down vote it. That's really the only defense.

These and road videos are pretty much all I use YouTube for.  I get my exposure to crazy ideas and views through textual means.

[kphoger]

I've clicked on a few random-ass YouTube videos that have actually been interesting, to be honest. Usually I search directly what I'm looking for.

As someone who leans to the political right, I found some good conservative YouTube hosts by clicking on suggested videos.  However, the real danger is this:  YouTube assumes that, if you like Mr Reasonable's political videos, then you might also enjoy Mr Nutjob's political videos–and, if you watch more than a couple of Mr Nutjob's videos, then who knows what will be suggested next.

[thenetwork]

Hey, how about Diners Club?   

A few years ago, I got a call from a scam operation while I was doing something out in the back yard.  I enjoyed messing with scam operators back then, and I had some time to kill.  They told me I qualified for a 0% rate on my credit card.  (I don't have a credit card of any sort.)  I decided to play the part of a slightly confused elderly man for this particular act.  I made up some personal information, such as a bogus name and birthday, maybe an address, I don't remember exactly.  I asked the caller to repeat himself fairly often;  sometimes this tactic prompts the scammer to hang up, but not this time.  When he asked which credit card I use most often, I would answer "the blue one", and then there'd be some more back-and-forth while he tried to get me to figure out which agency the card was from.  He eventually asked me to get the card out so he could tell me where to look, and I told him I'd have to hunt for the card because my wife had used it last.  So I walked over to the shed, banged around a bunch, pretended to talk to my wife, dropped the phone a few times, etc.  And this guy was totally buying my whole schtick!  He waited patiently for me.

Probably ten minutes had passed by this point.  At least.  Finally I told him:  it was a Disney Diners Club card.  He was amazed!  He couldn't believe it!  But I confirmed, yes sir, it was indeed a Disney Diners Club credit card.  Boy oh boy, was he surprised, but he believed it.  So he transferred me to someone else, who wasn't having any of it and hung up on me in short order.

Ah, good times...

I once did something similar, only I told them I had a Players Club card.  Good luck finding a credit card more obscure than that!

I think the only person who used it was this guy:
https://youtu.be/HJZdiAThXLI

[kkt]

Yeah Youtube bugs me too, on multiple levels.  I really only look at it to follow a link a real person has suggested to me.  It always starts out with the volume turned up to eardrum-splitting level, and the volume control is at a different place on the screen every time, and it's all covered with ads.  By the time I close enough ads to find the damn volume contol most of the time the video is over and I am NOT interested in whatever followups Youtube suggests.

[formulanone]

I've clicked on a few random-ass YouTube videos that have actually been interesting, to be honest. Usually I search directly what I'm looking for.

As someone who leans to the political right, I found some good conservative YouTube hosts by clicking on suggested videos.  However, the real danger is this:  YouTube assumes that, if you like Mr Reasonable's political videos, then you might also enjoy Mr Nutjob's political videos–and, if you watch more than a couple of Mr Nutjob's videos, then who knows what will be suggested next.

The older I get, I just don't care about the opinion stuff because I mostly feel like I'm just a open vessel to fight everyone else's battles or causes. My BS detector just keeps going off and that back-and-forth is ultimately unrewarding. I've got my own agendas and interests way up to my gills! So it's mostly easy enough for me to ignore; I figure one gets the helpful to the absurd in really any field of interest and that's kind of to be expected. After all, for any given amount of views, someone has to take it to another set of extremes or fill a niche or interest, et cetera.

Also, it's nice to just find a song directly or discover a new artist. Or some comedian. It's not all terrible, but it's also not somewhere where I average more than 5-10 minutes a day. That's because there's also a point where it's overload...do I really need to spend 5-10 minutes of my day hearing another content-creator's fresh new take on ground that's been repeatedly treaded? The answer is usually no.