Admit your ignorance - things you've only just realised/learned

[FishFright]

If you are buying a lot from Amazon, then effectively yes, as the free postage will more than cover the subscription cost.

But not actually free so my point still stands.

 

[Alex321]

But not actually free so my point still stands.

Only to the extent that every consumer is paying every retailer for the privilege of using their services.

 

[FishFright]

Only to the extent that every consumer is paying every retailer for the privilege of using their services.

The lengths people will go to deny paying is actualy

 

[Alex321]

The lengths people will go to deny paying is actualy

You really need to stop digging.

 

[ColinJ]

Aaargh!

I have spent 3 days trying to get my phone working with my sister's WiFi. The little card from the back of the router had this printed on it:

1 Select your wireless network:
PLUSNET-XXXXXX
2 Enter your wireless password/key:
3 Password

And finally I noticed what the problem was. The instructions on the card were actually:

1. Select your wireless network:
PLUSNET-XXXXXX
2. Enter your wireless password/key:
3rest-of-password

 

[Gillstay]

Wouldn't it have been easier just to move the seat ?

 

[matticus]

Aaargh!

I have spent 3 days trying to get my phone working with my sister's WiFi. The little card from the back of the router had this printed on it:

1 Select your wireless network:
PLUSNET-XXXXXX
2 Enter your wireless password/key:
3 Password

And finally I noticed what the problem was. The instructions on the card were actually:

1. Select your wireless network:
PLUSNET-XXXXXX
2. Enter your wireless password/key:
3rest-of-password

Hiding in plain sight!!!

 

[albion]

Well, whatever that says, my oniy vision for 'careful littering' is via ensuring that the banana skin is not visible, hidden in the bushes/undergrowth.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8x54yd07v8o.amp

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Aaargh!

I have spent 3 days trying to get my phone working with my sister's WiFi. The little card from the back of the router had this printed on it:

1 Select your wireless network:
PLUSNET-XXXXXX
2 Enter your wireless password/key:
3 Password

And finally I noticed what the problem was. The instructions on the card were actually:

1. Select your wireless network:
PLUSNET-XXXXXX
2. Enter your wireless password/key:
3rest-of-password

bit like "Speak Friend and Enter"

 

[Profpointy]

I believe that has shifted in the last 30 years, possibly even being flipped, with the growth of internet sales. I can't find any numbers to back me up! But the %age of sales coming from the "Long tail" has definitely grown enormously. If you're a less-known author (or musician, I suspect) this is a big plus compared to "the old days". It's also good for buyers/sellers of ferrules for 50yo bikes.

Here is the best text I can find describing this (more eloqeuently than I could), but sadly - as I said - no hard numbers:


"
The term “long tail” was popularised by Chris Anderson in his 2004 article and subsequent book, where he explained how the internet has shifted the economic model from mass markets to niche markets.

In traditional retail, shelf space is limited, so businesses focus on a smaller range of high-demand products. But in the digital world, that constraint doesn’t exist.

The long tail refers to the vast number of products that individually sell in small volumes but collectively account for a significant share of total sales. Imagine a graph: the short head represents your bestsellers, the ones with high demand. The long tail is everything that follows, the nich or unusual variations that only a small group of customers might be looking for. What makes the long tail so valuable in ecommerce is the fact that technology, warehousing, and digital marketing now make it easier and more cost-effective to cater to those niche needs. Platforms such as Amazon, Etsy, and eBay have built entire ecosystems that thrive on this model, allowing sellers to reach customers who are seeking products that were once too obscure or impractical to stock."

For things like secondhand books, or even obscure new books, it really is so much easier to track things down these days. Back in the day you'd just have to be lucky spotting one in a secondhand or specialist booksellers. Likewise said booksellers would have stock sitting around for years on the off-chance someone would happen to pick it out. Worse, obscure titles might simply be dumped for lack of space.

Couple of my own obscure purchases were Reed's "Our Ironclad Ships". Reed was head of construction for a key period of the Victorian navy. I got mine from South Africa for a comparatively reasonable £90. I could have spent years searching and / or had to pay silly money pre-internet. ( a month later a reprint came out for a tenner!).

Another was the book "Caves of Northwest Clare" which was hard to get hold of and quite expensive. Each year at the caving conference the few remaining copies were just a bit too expensive, then next year despite being slightly more prosperous, it was yet more expenensive. Eventually got a copy online from an Irish interest bookshop in Boston. It was ex-library (maybe Harvard?) without a single stamp in it so never borrowed and pristine.

 

[presta]

Hands up who thought the clock on the airport bus shows real time.

Nope, it only increments when the bus stops, so by the time the bus has gone 10 minutes without stopping, it's 10 minutes slow....

 

[albion]

Seems China has 'expanded' its hydrogen powered bicycle network. Unbeknown, it actually started last year and is now expanding 6 fold to 3,000 bikes.
https://dialogue.earth/en/digest/china-expands-hydrogen-bike-share-network/

A fair few China semi solid state battery cars, such as the MG4, also launch this year. Yet another announcement is from T&D, a Bafang China company specialising in pouch style semi solid state batteries for e-bikes. It makes for interesting times, China now mandating the worlds strictest safety standards.
New Chinese safety regulations means these batteries are a big thing in China, said to be launched now via a top tier bicycle brand.
https://www.cyclingelectric.com/new...first-mandating-that-packs-do-not-catch-fire?

I suspect China, currently must be the most catastrophic place on earth for ebike fires.

 

[ColinJ]

I have only just realised that it is apparently perfectly normal in the USA to shop for 'discreet' bullet-proof vests and backpacks with 'hidden' bullet-proofing. That is probably so the active shooter will think that you are dead and move on to his/her next victim?

(I was watching a YouTube video and the presenter cheerily delivered an advert for a bullet-proof kit company, who sponsored the video!)

 

[VinSumRox]

Key phrase "perfectly normal in the USA" 😬

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I have only just realised that it is apparently perfectly normal in the USA to shop for 'discreet' bullet-proof vests and backpacks with 'hidden' bullet-proofing. That is probably so the active shooter will think that you are dead and move on to his/her next victim?

(I was watching a YouTube video and the presenter cheerily delivered an advert for a bullet-proof kit company, who sponsored the video!)

You can get kids back packs that have a bullet proof back


when you start selling those then your country has gone badly wrong