Rat Poker

Did you honestly think from my comment that I didn’t know who Yoko Ono was?

I was saying that whatever noises she makes, she isn’t a singer. Therefore she doesn’t qualify for a mention in the “worst band or singer” category.

Is there a band called Yoko Ono? I ask, because I’m fairly sure there isn’t a singer.

I was a mad Opera user about 25 years ago, it was the best browser by miles at the time. One feature it had was mouse gestures. Mouse gestures and uBlock origin are the only two extensions I can’t love without, but these lists never mention them so I feel like the only one who uses them.

It’s hard to explain how cool and quick it is to be able to control your browser with the mouse. Open/close tabs, navigate tabs, back/forward etc. It doesn’t sound useful, I’m usually a mad keyboard shortcut fiend. But with web browsing in particular, your hand is already on the mouse, scrolling.

The specific extension I use is Gesturefy, I encourage people to install it and give mouse gestures a go.

Elle McPherson, obviously.

It’s been over 20 years since I did phones, but I don’t imagine it has changed that much. The “techie” callers fall into two categories: Those who actually know what they’re doing and those who think they know what they’re doing. The latter group are the worst of all callers. I’d rather be on the phone to an 80-year-old who has trouble finding the start menu than with a caller who thinks they know more than they actually do.

If you honestly do know what you are talking about, the way to get this to tech support is to tell them what prompted you to call. An actual competent caller will open the call with something like:

“Hi, this is Cile. I’m calling from ______. My UserID/AccountNo etc is _______. I’m having a problem with ___________. The error message is [EXACT MESSAGE]. I have done a, b, c, but that resolved it.”

For your example where it’s an access matter, adapt the above accordingly. Something like “I need to do ________, but I lack the access to [steps you would take if you did have access]”.

Finally:
Unless you are experiencing something super weird, the tech support people have probably seen this problem before and know how to solve it. Follow their instructions even if it’s something you wouldn’t have done. Even if their way seems less efficient. There will be a reason why they’re doing it that way, and it won’t always be apparent to you.

Hahaha great question. It’s funny how I thought it was a silly question when asked the other way. In a way, my response is the same for both phones: ‘The main thing stopping me is that I am not considering switching’.

That said, I carried both for years, so I can probably provide some insight. I switched from Windows Mobile to iOS in 2008. I had one phone until 2012. My “main” phone was iOS from 2008-2017. The biggest factor was (and still is somewhat) who had the best camera. Pixel 1 had a better camera, so I switched to Android as my main in 2017. These days, both have great cameras and it wouldn’t be a reason to switch.

My current job doesn’t need me to have two phones, but I still carry an iPad mini, so I remain in both ecosystems.

I prefer Android on my phone for lots of little reasons, but they all basically boil down to the same thing: Android lets me do what I want with my phone.

It’s difficult to explain if you haven’t been an Android user. If you don’t know what a launcher is, it’s the interface between you and your apps. I’ve never much liked Google’s launcher. I don’t like Google’s keyboard, so I use my own. I like to change the default number of rows/columns of my app icons. I like switching between two bottom-row docks. Then there’s stuff like default apps, and way better widgets, of course. Plus I can arrange my apps how I like.

Now - if you are on iOS and have never had this stuff, you won’t miss it. If you want your phone to “just work” and never think about personalizing it, you have no reason to even value the personalisation that Android offers. But, if you’ve gotten used to your personal phone layout, being forced into the Apple way is restrictive.

That’s going to be a tough one to call. Nokia Communicator had diary (calendar), web browsing and email features in the 90s. You could also tether off it, but it was dialup and most phones could do that.

That was pretty much the definition of a smart phone at the time.

It may depend on your culture, but Blackberry and Windows Mobile phones were both fairly common in business circles years before iPhones.

The iPhone was an incremental advancement, not a major invention out of nowhere. The first iPhone was actually pretty crap compared to some models on the market. It wasn’t until the 3G model that iPhones took off.

The whole start to Graceland by Paul Simon is pretty vivid:

The Mississippi Delta Was shining like a national guitar.
I am following the river down the highway through the cradle of the Civil War.
I’m going to Graceland, Graceland - Memphis, Tennessee
I’m going to Graceland

Poor boys and pilgrims with families and we are going to Graceland
My traveling companion is nine years old he is the child of my first marriage
But I’ve reason to believe we both will be received in Graceland

I have never been to Tennessee. But this intro really conjures up some vivid imagery of driving down a highway through some historic country, along a river in the company of a child - and being among many others going to the same place.

It’s pure poetry.

I think this one was surpassed by X-Wing Alliance.

I kiss my sons and will continue to do so for as long as they let me. I can’t think of any other male friends/family that I kiss.

I don’t think I’d have a problem with being kissed, but it simply isn’t done. Hugs, yes. Kisses, no. I don’t feel a need to kiss any of them, which is pretty hypocritical since I readily kiss most of my female friends/family.

Interesting question. I can’t say I particularly wish that kissing my male friends/family was more socially normalised. But I’d probably embrace the societal change if it came along.

Accidentally shutting down a Windows server is impressive. They have that “why are you shutting down?” dialogue to prevent this scenario.

Surely opinions on this are going to vary wildly? Lemmy is full of people installing graphene and de-googling, while I’m happy with stock Android on Pixels with a custom launcher. Samsung, Sony and Asus all have serious devotees as well.

There’s also different responses depending on what you want in a phone. Some people want smaller than 6", others must have a 3.5mm jack. Some want SD storage. The camera is vital for me, but most of my colleagues don’t really care about the camera.

How would you sift through all that for a “best” one size fits all phone?

Monty Python.
I can’t believe people have semi serious responses to such an absurd turn of phrase. Spike Milligan would also be a reasonable response.

Oh wow. I can’t imagine going into Endgame completely blind. Had you read the comics at least? Or was it just an ensemble of weird characters with powers fighting each other and travelling through time?

What would have even been the point in the fight?

I knew them (Sam & Zoe’s characters), but I watched the sequel only last year. I probably couldn’t have told you had you asked me in 2022.

I don’t remember any other character names from either movie.

I’ve contributed plenty to OSM, but not so much as a creative thing. I rarely upload photos to it. The question was about creative things we do.

While I agree my contributions help Google, I don’t do it for them. I do it for the community. And frankly, they’re mostly using Google maps.

I populate Google Maps. Fill in business names, opening hours, take photos etc. At the start, I was vociferous about it, putting thousands of photos on there. These days, just about everything is there and I only correct stuff and add/remove businesses as they come and go. Oh, and food/menu photos.

Some of my photos have tens of millions of views. Which means people have to see them many times I think. Otherwise every single Australian would have seen the most popular ones, which doesn’t make sense.

I’m used to Google just trusting me and immediately doing what I say. But I really had to convince them that Toys R Us really were closing down. That one took three attempts. The more prominent a place, the higher the rank you need to do major edits to it.

Would you kindly?

And the realisation that I not only have no choice if I want to progress the plot, but that at no point to now could I have progressed the plot had I not ‘kindly’ done as requested.

It was such a clever device to put in the story. Innocuous or obvious requests at first until it reached a point where you are forced to kill a guy. Or stop playing. It’s the most original and mind-blowing concept I’ve seen put into a game. I still think of it whenever someone asks me to ‘kindly’ do something.

(In case anyone doesn’t know, though I probably just spoiled one of its biggest moments if you don’t)