Time Unknown (Entries tagged as consumers)

Picasa EULA

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:33:11 +0300

When Chrome came out, there was a huge outcry about the EULA. Now Picasa 3 has pretty much the same evilness in the EULA, but no outcry is happening. Bizarre. One would have expected people to care more about their own photos.

Brooches

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:05:29 +0300

I forgot to take a brooch along on my trip to the Netherlands and I desperately needed it to keep a wrap top from gaping. So I went to jewellery store to buy one. There was none. I tried couple of other ones, still none. One jewellery store clerk did not really even know what a brooch is. Eventually I found a pretty lizard brooch from an antique store. I felt ancient. My favourite whole category of jewellery has been buried.

The route to techtoy satisfaction

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:41:37 +0300

Most people probably buy a new computer in one go, new monitor, keyboard, components and all. But is this the route to the optimum techtoy satisfaction?

Let's think about the alternative and assume that the current computer is a somewhat old but still functioning laptop. First you might upgrade to a new and fine 24" monitor. It's a pleasurable new toy, though the laptop video card might not be modern enough to use it with the full range of colours. Next you maybe get a new keyboard and a better mouse and enjoy snappier typing and speedier response in gaming. Eventually you get the new main unit, with fancy new CPU, a modern video card and other components, except it has just 2G of memory compared to your planned 4G. The next month or so the rest of the memory gets inserted. At each step you experience some techtoy pleasure.

This gradual approach feels maybe less appealing than the "everything right now" way of getting all you want in one go, but I do think it's likely to provide greater amounts and longer time oftechtoy joy than the one-time joy of getting a totally new system.

Audible billing me despite my cancellation

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:11:08 +0200

Today there was an unpleasant surprise from the audiobook seller Audible in my inbox. They wanted to bill me for membership renewal despite the fact I had cancelled it online according to their instructions last year. I went to cancel it again, but the cancellation link was not there. Their support section said that if I have already cancelled, the link will no longer be there and in that case I should call them to some exotic foreign number during exotic foreign hours to sort it out.

Damn, that could easily cost more than the yearly membership! I emailed them instead through their customer service loops. Wish me luck.

I'm so disappointed in Audible turning evil this way. I liked them still before, despite the fact I could no longer listen to their products (no support for Linux or for my digital audioplayer).

Review: Sandra 70 Transparenze stockings

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sat, 05 May 2007 12:35:12 +0300

My, these are pretty and comfy. The texture is that of sandwashed silk and there is a strip of lacy weave near the top of the stocking. The stockings even smell good, which is not something I expected.

I got mine from StockingsHQ in size L because I wanted to see how far up my curvy thighs a larger size than my normal medium would reach. These are certainly tall enough. I could have possibly done with the medium after all but these are just absolutely comfortable.

Despite all the yumminess of these stockings I do hope weather will soon be warm enough for me to switch to thinner ones.

Music playback improvements

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 14:28:03 +0200

I might like a music system that recognises my voice and turns down the playback volume when I speak. After a bit of silence it could turn it up again.

Also, with music podcasts I would sometime want the system to skip the parts where the hosts just talk. Unfortunately some of the music I like contains talk too. I wonder if such system would get confused.

Gillette Fusion

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 00:13:40 +0200

I honestly thought Gillette Fusion was a joke or hoax the first time I heard about them. They seem such a bad idea, a typical implementation of "if X is good, even more X must be better". Just how many blades does one razor need?

Fleamarket security

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 21:26:00 +0200

I recently rented a shelf from the local self-service fleamarket. Even though the sales covered the rent, I'm not sure I would repeat the experience as the security was appalling.

The rent was paid beforehand. Nothing bad about that. There are cameras and a security guy, which is good. Unfortunately the process itself seems flawed.

The goods are marked with labels telling the price and the shelf number. The shelf number is used to tell which seller gets the money. The fleamarket has a policy of not allowing large bags into the area, however large bags come and go as the sellers restock their shelves. The sellers are expected to clean out their shelf by end of Saturday and I bet a person with enough nerve could easily empty any shelf on Saturday afternoon and not get caught unless the seller renting that particular spot happened by. After cleaning their shelves the nasty person could probably also get the cash from their sales, given that they knew which rental periods were ending. They did not even ask my name when I came to get my money, and as I restocked my shelf only couple of times during the week, I'd be surprised if they'd remembered me.

There are lesser problems with the shelf number being used to identify the seller of the goods. During the week many things from other shelves had drifted onto mine. Using just the shelf number causes a problem when items have been misplaced long enough that the seller is no longer renting the shelf. The item will then be sold on behalf the next seller instead of being identified as belonging to the previous seller.

Hyvä Espanja!

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:54:00 +0200

Reutersin mukaan Espanja on määrännyt että uusiin ja peruskorjattaviin taloihin on asennettava aurinkopaneelit. Järkevä veto sillä näin aurinkovoima yleistyy, eikä tämä ole kovin kivulias operaatio talonomistajillekaan, sillä paneeleista tuleva kustannus, The Timesin mukaan noin 1300 euroa, maksaa itseään ajan kanssa takaisin.

Talon materiaali

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 10:11:00 +0300

Voi kun asuntohaussa voisi määrittää myös talon materiaalin.

Huonekalujen kasaaminen

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 18:57:40 +0300

Voit säästää huonekalujen pintoja kasausvaiheessa helposti syntyviltä naarmuilta kasaamalle ne vanhalla pöytäliinalla tai viltillä.

Eipä Hullutella

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 09:09:52 +0300

Minulla ei ole teräsvahvisteisilla kärjillä varustettuja kenkiä, joten taitaa jäädä Hullut Päivät tällä kertaa kokonaan väliin.

Ecological footprint marking

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 16:01:24 +0300

Occasionally, when trying to choose between products I'm yearning for a ecological footprint marking to be mandatory on all products. That way consumers could easily compare the enviromental effects of e.g. locally produced but overpacked tomatos to tomatos shipped from Spain.