Nobody Cares: Technology-only Edition

Noodles

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Thinking of identical locks/keys.

My parents go camping a fair bit, and my dad discovered that basically all campers, use the same key for their little side hatches. I want to say it's also a common gas cap key.

Also, semi-related, most Riding Lawn mowers use the same key, you can buy a replacement at Walmart for like $3.
 

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Make sure you have have a land line in times of emergency? Um, uh hrm...

AT&T and Frontier have let their copper phone networks deteriorate through neglect since 2010, resulting in poor service quality and many lengthy outages, a report commissioned by the California state government found. Customers in low-income areas and areas without substantial competition have fared the worst, the report found. AT&T in particular was found to have neglected low-income communities and to have imposed severe price increases adding up to 152.6 percent over a decade.
 

Govi

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The same video "footage" again, but with extensive commentary from the technical staff directly involved in the making of this successful landing:

I positioned the start of the YouTube video so that it begins just before Al Chen's talk about the supersonic parachute deployment. The whole long video is fascinating, but it is a pleasure to have someone explaining in detail what can be seen in the EDL (Entry, Descent, and Landing) videos.
 

Casey Pelous

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Thinking of identical locks/keys.

My parents go camping a fair bit, and my dad discovered that basically all campers, use the same key for their little side hatches. I want to say it's also a common gas cap key.

Also, semi-related, most Riding Lawn mowers use the same key, you can buy a replacement at Walmart for like $3.
Campers? Gas caps? Riding lawn mowers? Small potatoes.

Fancy operating some common heavy machinery?


Or if you want to go for the REALLY big stuff ....

 
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Veritable Quandry

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When we wanted to make something secure for museum exhibits, we used Philips head screws. And filled the slots with epoxy. Takes a screw puller to remove it, and that's hard to do quietly.
 

Clara D.

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When we wanted to make something secure for museum exhibits, we used Philips head screws. And filled the slots with epoxy. Takes a screw puller to remove it, and that's hard to do quietly.
One-way screws are pretty effective too, but can be annoying AF.
 

Argent Stonecutter

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The guy who installed my security door with one-way screws installed it wrong, and was kinda sweary when I pointed it out. I don't know how he got it off and on again but it took a while.
 
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Clara D.

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When we wanted to make something secure for museum exhibits, we used Philips head screws. And filled the slots with epoxy. Takes a screw puller to remove it, and that's hard to do quietly.
Another option is to use Torx (star) or socket-headed screws and strip them with a drill.

The guy who installed my security door with one-way screws installed it wrong, and was kinda sweary when I pointed it out. I don't know how he got it off and on again but it took a while.
The ones on security doors are big enough to get vice-grips on. Even then...usually end up having to grind/drill the head off.

Strong language is mandantory.
 
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Caete

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After nearly 36 years in business as the one-stop-shop and online resource for high-tech professionals across nine states and 31 stores, Fry’s Electronics, Inc. (“Fry’s” or “Company”), has made the difficult decision to shut down its operations and close its business permanently as a result of changes in the retail industry and the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Company will implement the shut down through an orderly wind down process that it believes will be in the best interests of the Company, its creditors, and other stakeholders.


https://www.frys.com/
 
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Clara D.

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After nearly 36 years in business as the one-stop-shop and online resource for high-tech professionals across nine states and 31 stores, Fry’s Electronics, Inc. (“Fry’s” or “Company”), has made the difficult decision to shut down its operations and close its business permanently as a result of changes in the retail industry and the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Company will implement the shut down through an orderly wind down process that it believes will be in the best interests of the Company, its creditors, and other stakeholders.


https://www.frys.com/
Surprised they lasted this long.

1/3 of the stuff I got there had to be returned and they were completely incompetent about keeping shelves stocked.
 
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Caete

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Surprised they lasted this long.

1/3 of the stuff I got there had to be returned and they were completely incompetent about keeping shelves stocked.
I only had to rsturn 2 things over the years. A Linksys router that refused to connect to my ISP despite being labeled as compatible and a dvd that refused to be read no matter what optical drive I put it into.
The stock levels were due to their love of consignment. Tech changes quickly and no company wants to just put $5 K of video cards on a shelf and hope to be paid before they become "obsolete" and they have to take the loss instead of the store. I suspect if they had gone with smaller stores instead of 100K sq ft monsters, they might have lasted longer as rent had to astronomical for each store. Then again each store was unique in design and a smaller store would have hampered that resulting in less foot traffic and maybe a shorter life.

Then again, 36 years is almost as long as Best Products Company who also had one of a kind store designs (1957-1997).
 

Rose Karuna

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When drive in restaurants start using license plate scanning and facial recognition at the drive through windows, I'll quit buying from them. I am SO sick of being surveilled and tracked by corporate assholes. :shakefist:
 
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Robot drive-through: May I take your order?

Customer: Hmm...What's good today?

Robot drive-through: Do you want fries with that?
 
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Maggy Hazelnut

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There's a new program called Deep Nostalgia put out by Family Search.org for enhancing, colorizing & facial animation for old photos. I find it fascinating & I'm surprised at how well it seems to work.


This is the half hour long video explaining it on Family Search.org -

 

Govi

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The AI has shortish fingers, which is not how I imagined Rachmaninoff's hands.
 
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Caete

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Robot drive-through: May I take your order?

Customer: Hmm...What's good today?

Robot drive-through: Do you want fries with that?
It is already close to that. Back before Taco Bell revamped their menu, you'd hear a pleasant voice welcome you at the drive thru but then you'd get the dulcet tones of the actual employee for order confirmation and total.