October 11, 2020

Newby smartphone question: Scanning QR codes

I just went into a local restaurant where they wanted me to scan one of those square-pixeled "bar" codes (QR code I think) to bring up their menu on my smartphone.

I don't have a smartphone so I asked for a paper menu instead. They eventually produced one, but seemed a bit shirty about it.

Was it just because I put them through the hassle of having to find a paper menu, or is there some advantage to the restaurant for making me do this? Does it give away personal information and put me on their mailing list or something? Do they get kickbacks when customers scan the code? Is it a URL that my browser goes to?

Just curious, as I seemed to be the only one not able (or wanting) to bring up the menu this way. I suspect this will probably become more common and it will be yet another way I'll get left behind without a smartphone. Not that it'll make me get one, mind.

October 10, 2020

The Terminator Theme (1984) Live Cover

Found while wandering around on 'tinternet this morning. I rather enjoyed it.

September 24, 2020

"Good lawd, what kind of country are we that an 89 y.o. has to work to make ends meet"

God, exactly! That's exactly what I think when I read stories like this which are almost uniformly presented as feel-good stories.

I'm sure most elderly people would prefer to stay home and visit their grandkids rather than deliver pizzas, work at McDonalds, or be Walmart Greeters. Those are NOT feel-good stories; they're an indictment of our society.

September 14, 2020

Just got a scam call purporting to be from Amazon

The call was from an 1-888 number. A recording told me of suspicious activity on my Amazon account -- a $795 order of a new iPhone. In order to dispute this charge, I was to stay on the line to talk to a representative and ....

That's when I hung up.

I do have an Amazon account which I use a fair bit, but I checked and there are no alerts or suspicious activities and no iPhones have been ordered, nor were any emails sent.

A scam, obviously, and my second of the day but this was a new one.

September 14, 2020

There will be a $75 non-refundable deposit for your dog...

If it's not refundable it's not a bloody deposit, is it? It's a fee!

Stop abusing the English language, dammit!

August 22, 2020

If your dog does a poo, please put it in a litter bin.

August 3, 2020

Covid-19

May 25, 2020

Baptism in the time of Covid-19

May 8, 2020

The Guardian has an article with their top 30

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/07/kraftwerk-their-30-greatest-songs-ranked

Don't really agree with their top 30, as I don't think any of their post Computer World stuff is all that great, but it's an interesting read nonetheless, especially the comments.

Back in the early 70's, I certainly couldn't have foreseen an article like that. Only myself and one other friend loved Kraftwerk (as well as Tangerine Dream, Ashra Tempel, Klaus Schulze, etc), while everybody else didn't merely dislike them, but positively loathed them.

Last Sunday I had a discussion with that friend (with whom I've recently reconnected), and we talked about Kraftwerk and how everybody now appreciates them and their influence on music.

I said, "you know, it turns out we actually had really good taste in music after all", and we both laughed.

May 6, 2020

Kraftwerk - Autobahn (2009 remaster) and my introduction to sceptical thinking.

I used to have a freeway commute which lasted exactly as long as this track (about 22mins). I was amazed that the last few dying notes would almost always play when I pulled into the parking lot.

Then I realised I would subconsciously slow down or speed up along the way as required to make that happen. I also learnt about Confirmation Bias (remembering the hits and forgetting the misses).

Maybe I overthink things.