I thought about that as I was writing, I think I might do just that!
5,393 karma · joined September 16, 2016
I also have preferences between my cables by the quality and aesthetic, I prefer some over others because they look or feel nicer even if in testing they contain the same conductors, but that's just ... me.
I currently have 3 such cables connected to my work laptop each sending 4K/60Hz video to each of my 3 x 4k monitors, audio to my soundbar and one of them is powering the laptop at 90W and sending my keyboard, mouse and webcam inputs back.
Sometimes it even shows USB-C connectors that are only wired for one orientation!
There is some unfortunate crossover regarding where things belong because some USB are for power, some are for A/V etc, others or data...
What I realised, when going through these boxes was two things; it would cost a fortune to replace all of the cables in them, I wouldn't be surprised if replacement cost ran into the low thousands of £££ (should they be on my home insurance?!) and secondly; I'm no longer indecisive about what to do with a frayed or otherwise non-ideal cable, it goes straight in the bin; I used to retain the "nicer" ones and solder new connectors if the microUSB had worn out, or the cable was damaged near the end, that got much harder with USB-C unless I'm going for a simple +/-/D+/D-, so I just don't bother.
As for how often they're used; the USB box comes out almost daily, sometimes several times a day, if I'm charging things in my home office, or connecting something that isn't permanently plugged at my desk, I put the cables back away when I'm done. Power comes out every few weeks, and "networking" only when I need to reorganise things in the network cabinet/server rack.
For USB, the "final form" would be to create a labelling system so I can tell at a glance what each one supports, because as it stands I have to pull out my little LED cable tester thing and see how many light up to know if it'll do DP or high power charging etc.
I just find it an interesting thought experiment.
I wonder if this has anything to do with why a lot of companies convert your money into a variety of virtual currencies, "bells", "gold, "gems" etc.
I'll leave it there but nice chatting with you about it!
I'd argue, as I think you are, that the repost rule doesn't even really apply here cause as you say, it's not a dupe link, AND it adds commentary.
I totally agree with this point, but I don't see how the topic we're discussing would be seen that way.
From a "common sense" point of view (which I know, financial regulation is absolutely not), no matter what you call this act of giving someone extra credit (let's call it "interest") for your service based on the amount they've previously paid for your service (let's call it "deposited"), you're still just giving them monopoly money that serves a single purpose and that is to use more of your service.
If they can't turn it into cash, why should any financial authority care? It's got nothing to do with them.
That said, to take your side for a moment, what's to stop me depositing boat loads of cash up front to pay for your service using the "interest" you'll give me, rather than paying it regularly out of company earnings? Now it starts to sound like something a financial authority might take interest in (pun intended).
If the post is flagged, that does the job of solving that for us, but telling people not to start a discussion on a subject "because we've been there before" is S tier gatekeeping, and that's what I was opposing.
Yes, but I'm not convinced they mean what they're saying, I took that to mean they were trying to do this as _real_ interest.
> If paying interest on prepaid customer balances were legally trivial just because they’re called “credits” or have “no cash value,” companies could structure around those rules very easily
I still stand by my argument, I think it's only "interest" in name; from a banking or financial perspective it isn't. I don't see why it's any different to a company just setting a number in your account. Say I run a SaaS and give you £1000 credit, is that bound by the financial regulations? I don't think so.
If you put a single £10 credit on your balance and I offer to give you "10,000%" "interest" to top it up in credit for my service, I don't think that does either; the wording doesn't suddenly make it covered by financial regulation, it's whether it's _real_ money or not.
Credits on a service, whatever it is, isn't real money, and as long as the ToS doesn't let you turn it into real money, there's nothing complicated to worry about, but if the org _does_ let you turn it into real money, it suddenly becomes covered by financial regulation.
I'm just debating here, I'm not saying I know this to be true, I just think it make sense (to me).
That's not to say in the EU, or the UK (where I am) the case isn't different; but if it _were_ the same as the US, I can totally see why that's fine.
We have loyalty programs, a coffee shop gives you "credit" when you get stamps for your 6th coffee free etc, none of that seems to complicate matters... all because of the key point "it can't be turned back into cash".
EDIT: I would add, in the hope of further supporting my argument, that many places that offer loyalty and discount schemes, their ToS explicitly states that it's "not exchangeable" and "has no cash value", which would support my point (at least in the UK).
It didn't know there was a quota on discussions of any particular topic, perhaps we should give out tickets to the event in the future to ensure no-one misses their opportunity to join the discourse?
It's "ok" _because_ the credits can't be turned back into cash (thanks to their TOS).
If some business tried some clever scheme where they offer this "interest" on credits that _can_ be turned back into cash, they'd be breaking the law and would need a banking license, it's already covered.
EDIT: I use a "MagSafe" case.
What's the alternative to Google Wallet for tap to pay and loyalty cards?
I would love to de-Google, but I need my banking apps, tap-to-pay and Android Auto and a top-quality camera that just works flawlessly.
If Graphene can do all of those I'll move, but the friction is high, I have passkeys and apps that have to be "migrated" such as banking apps, and various other stuff that is nigh impossible without a second device.
Now I want rid of the pixel because they destroyed battery life with an update in march they've still not fixed.
OnePlus was on the decline and it was clear it wouldn't be a contender for much longer here in the UK, especially when they merged OSs with the OPPO (?) OS, and software quality went through the floor. I moved to Pixels and currently have a Pixel 9 Pro XL which I'm looking to change as they destroyed the battery life with the march update and it still hasn't been resolved. The Pixel has been solid otherwise and performance is still excellent, but I can't abide having my phone entering battery saver every day by late afternoon.
Nothing(TM) looks like it could be a decent choice, but they're generally weak hardware compared to a 9 Pro XL class device, and I'm not a fan of Samsung any more as a company, though it seems a S2X Ultra might be the only real option.
One of my favourite parts of my trip to Japan (only been once so far), the tide was out at the time so I stood under that Torii gate and have a few photos of it of my own that I use as wallpapers.
In the UK, they'll often put a plate in the wall with hdmi for easy connection, literally to make it easier for you to do.
That makes a lot of sense, and is kind of obvious when you think about it. They'd just be wasting energy.
I suppose the way we see it portrayed in film (for some reason it's always LoTR that comes to mind), is for dramatic effect, with scores of arrows flying through the sky at once. But I was always mildly irritated (though without knowing why) by the fact that despite so many arrows flying, the vast majority would miss any target.
Did cars get cheaper when they took all of those out? I certainly didn't notice.
I recently had the idea of taking the FireStick 4K Max that I bought ~1year ago for the living room smart OLED TV which is getting a little older, I had gotten ready to take it on a few trips I'm doing this year, thought I was being clever, unfortunately it died a literal week after the warranty, boot looping constantly.
I won't buy another Firestick again, it was atrociously add-riddled and often showing things inappropriate for the kids in the middle of the day, but if generic Android TV stick like that was available with good performance and all the necessary DRM levels, I'd probably use that.
For now, I will just carry an HDMI cable and use my laptop.
I know nothing about arrows except to identify the pointy end.
- Mario
There are e-readers that put a single word on the screen, this can fit plenty in a decent font size, you'll have to switch pages more often, but I haven't found that to be an issue, the button is very light to press and the page transition (with Crosspoint) is fast.
I booted up my old PS3 from my uni days (20 years ago?) and found all of the music I had on it because I used it for everything at the time. Some seriously nostalgic music I'd completely forgotten about.