Ranty McRant Thread 2

[clakclak]

apparently, you can vape weed as well
someone's already perfected the "magic" potion..

You can, from all I heared it is the prefered intakte method for people who use it medically. But we already had a long discussion about weed in another topic and like I said this was the legal stuff we were smoking.

[Hank001]

Vaping? Well it might be better than damn cookies that taste like chewing sugar coated rope.

[mrbadger]

apparently, you can vape weed as well
someone's already perfected the "magic" potion..

You can, from all I heard it is the preferred intake method for people who use it medically. But we already had a long discussion about weed in another topic and like I said this was the legal stuff we were smoking.

Apparently I can have it for medical use (in some form or other), I haven't investigated or asked for it because I'm not all that interested in adding another drug to the mix I have to take.

I wasn't aware that cannabis in leaf form was legal in the UK for medical use, but apparently it is now.

Doesn't matter to me, don't want it, not from any 'drugs are bad' thing, I just don't.

[Chips]

Handed in my notice as I've received an offer to be a contractor (which means more money) in my sector. Current employer now threatening legal action over covenants in contract.

Update to how this went. Kinda as follows from the initial postingst:

1) Threats from company about legal action in letters, demanding I confirm things.

2) Legal letter from lawyers saying they're starting injunction proceedings to prevent me from working.

3) Seek legal advice from relative who turns out to be a barrister, and has dealt extensively with employment law.

4) Company part back down with action, but still make sounds like they "reserve the right" to take legal action at some point.

5) Other employees kick off massively over how I'm being treated by management, near (verbal) riots in workplace (and one quit!).

6) Company fully backs down, apologises, and wishes me well in new role.

7) ... Profit?

So from to

But what a massive balls up - they were mental. So while relieved all done and dusted, and safe - how it ever got to that point was just... insane.

[clakclak]

Handed in my notice as I've received an offer to be a contractor (which means more money) in my sector. Current employer now threatening legal action over covenants in contract.

Update to how this went. Kinda as follows from the initial postingst:

1) Threats from company about legal action in letters, demanding I confirm things.

2) Legal letter from lawyers saying they're starting injunction proceedings to prevent me from working.

3) Seek legal advice from relative who turns out to be a barrister, and has dealt extensively with employment law.

4) Company part back down with action, but still make sounds like they "reserve the right" to take legal action at some point.

5) Other employees kick off massively over how I'm being treated by management, near (verbal) riots in workplace (and one quit!).

6) Company fully backs down, apologises, and wishes me well in new role.

7) ... Profit?

So from to

But what a massive balls up - they were mental. So while relieved all done and dusted, and safe - how it ever got to that point was just... insane.

Sounds like a massive headache. Good to year that everything went all right.

[Morkonan]

...So from to

But what a massive balls up - they were mental. So while relieved all done and dusted, and safe - how it ever got to that point was just... insane.

Congrats! I'm glad it turned out well for you... so far.

This ticks me off, though - Why do people do bad things to other people just because they can?

I understand why certain employment laws exist. Those that seek to protect a company and its IP or corporate "secrets" help to attract businesses and to provide jobs. But, legally, in order to keep these laws as effective as possible, a company may have to "always defend its legal rights" less it may be in danger or having those weakened.

But, it's not like you woke up one day and decided "I'm gonna screw my employer, today, and ruin them by quitting my job and selling company secrets or using the training and knowledge I received to undercut the profitability of my former employer." (At least, that's what I hope didn't happen. )

I can certainly see why an employer would not want to lose employees to contractors. This dynamic of employees switching employers seems to be common in IT, more often in the other direction, with contractors hiring on with the business/entity that they're providing contracted services to. Often, they don't even end up leaving their darn desk. Their paycheck just has a different name on it, now.

Well, congrats and best wishes for many fat paychecks to come! And, future hopes for absolutely zero court appearances.

[Chips]

HRMC message:

"We've rejected the bank details that you gave us. This is because the name of the bank account is not the same as the VAT registration name." - I missed my middle name out. Blimey.

Anyway, it then says "You can correct this information online by ..." and it just gives you a name of a place to find and complete. No link.

But how many times do you go around the website clicking every link to try and find it? I sent them a complaint instead -- it's bloody retarded. Spent 10 minutes in circles, various sites.

Utterly retarded. How hard can it be to provide a flippin link to the location to go and alter it. Honestly.

[Alan Phipps]

Yes, they do tend to get quite difficult with people who get their official abbreviation mixed up though.

Just kidding.

I agree that many authoritative public bodies seem very unhelpful to their clients. I would guess that rather than risk giving incorrect or outdated information that could be used as an excuse for delayed client submission or to seek redress, they would rather leave the total responsibility with the client in finding the correct department and method for correcting their submissions within the time limits.

The other possible issue is that "for security reasons" there are some things that they just don't let you do online without prior verification by other means.

[Morkonan]

...I agree that many authoritative public bodies seem very unhelpful to their clients....

I had an issue with a government agency. I went to their office and got no help. I called various departments and got no help. I finally got on a conference call and got to some back-office "We're the problem fixing department" person. And, the result?

"So, how do I get this fixed?"

"I don't know," was the reply.

"But, you're supposed to know."

"Yes, you called the right place for this."

"But-"

"Right," she said. "We don't know how to fix that. Sorry."

"So, what do I do?"

"I don't know," she replied.

"Is there anyone else I can call?"

"No."

True story.

[Hank001]

So I get a letter from the state DMV saying I had to turn my drivers license in due to blindness. Went to DMV and and they told me that they couldn't accept it because the letter violated state laws as it was based on "illegally obtained medical data". Second letter came in warning me the police would be notified if I didn't turn in my license in 30 days. Went to DMV and this time they called the state capital. The call got heated as I was across the counter as it went on and on. Finally when over she looked at me and said Catch-22. They didn't take my license, but later I got a letter from the DMV saying basically to ignore previous letters. Glad didn't turn it in. There's a big problem with the state requiring drivers license numbers but not accepting state ID numbers. Par for course I'd guess.

Edit: Forgot to add that I was notified I could renew my drivers licence my mail next year due to my safe driving record. (I haven't driven since September 2007).

[CBJ]

HRMC message:

...

Utterly retarded. How hard can it be to provide a flippin link to the location to go and alter it. Honestly.

Did you not see the bit where it said "A link isn't included for security reasons."? The HMRC is a very high-value target and as a result they do not send out any emails containing links to login pages. That way you know that if you do receive one, it's a phishing mail and not to be trusted. I am actually very pleased that they have put this measure in place.

[Chips]

HRMC message:

...

Utterly retarded. How hard can it be to provide a flippin link to the location to go and alter it. Honestly.

Did you not see the bit where it said "A link isn't included for security reasons."? The HMRC is a very high-value target and as a result they do not send out any emails containing links to login pages. That way you know that if you do receive one, it's a phishing mail and not to be trusted. I am actually very pleased that they have put this measure in place.

No, because it's in their online (as in already signed in, authenticated) messaging service within my HMRC business account - not an email.

The usability of their entire service is terrible. It is riddled with naming inconsistencies - hence why I can't find the link they're talking about. It gives zero indication as to where I need to be to make the change. This is the third time I've gotten seriously annoyed at HMRC and their online system over naming inconsistencies (or just plain garbage).

A great example is unique tax reference or "UTR" - which isn't called UTR on my letter - it's a reference. Two paragraphs in it then says "the last 10 digits of the reference above are your UTR".
Use of the reference number? none so far. Use of the UTR? Can't do anything without it... Completely logical way to refer to it then <_<
There are plenty of ways to improve it, and if you need a reference for the letter - print another reference on top. Just bafflingly bad.

It was probably a company like ATOS who created it though - so hardly surprising

[CBJ]

I guess the "don't include a link for security reasons" thing is so ingrained that they forget that in some circumstances they can actually provide one. I'd still rather it was that way around than the other!

If you can't find what you want then maybe try their support line; in my experience they are pretty helpful. I once went through a similar experience to the one described by Morkonen, right up to the last bit. The difference was that although their second line support people didn't initially know what to do about the situation I was facing, they were keen to help and did eventually solve the problem.

Edit: Typo.

[Hank001]

This isn't really a rant about the site, but is anybody else continually getting a 20+ hour old notification on the Trump thread that pops up with any other egosoft email post notification. I've deleted about 10 of them today. Is it the site or is it a goof by my email provider?

[Morkonan]

This isn't really a rant about the site, but is anybody else continually getting a 20+ hour old notification on the Trump thread that pops up with any other egosoft email post notification. I've deleted about 10 of them today. Is it the site or is it a goof by my email provider?

Not me, but I don't have my email notify of anything unless I login and check it. I get enough BS phonecalls, why the heck do I want "teh internetz" bugging me, too? AND, on that note... friggin internetz..


This "journalist" person should be fired: :

Huffpost: Everything you know about obesity is wrong

The journalist's name is Michael Hobbes. (That's so Google can email him so he'll know that some idgit calling himself "Morkonan" thinks he should no longer be employed as a "journalist.")

The Huffington Post is a slightly left-wing organization... Well, "slightly" if you're a one-armed guy that isn't named "Lefty." (Or is, but called that by people who don't like you.) I don't think that the organization's political leanings have anything to do with this content, except for the overtly militant stance regarding forced social values and a demand that they meet a completely arbitrary standard created by some guy that is upset because his mom is fat and happiness and joy didn't follow either of them their entire lives... (I got my "Free Ride to Happiness" card when I was 14, so I don't know what could have happened to theirs.)

First of all, the journalist should be fired because:

1) They're stupid. I am not saying that they are, but it's an option. There are a guaranteed number of stupid people in any appropriately sized population being studied. Guaranteed. Don't think there are? Well, if you can't find any, you are probably stupid. It's OK. It's natural and, as we all know, nature is always good. Unless your a rabbit. Or a sardine. Or, in this case, obese.

2) They're a liar. If the journalist isn't stupid, it's very likely they're a liar. Why? Because they would have purposefully misrepresented the study(ies) they linked to make it seem as if they supported their argument, which they don't. At least, not this one:

...A 2016 study that followed participants for an average of 19 years found that unfit skinny people were twice as likely to get diabetes as fit fat people. Habits, no matter your size, are what really matter. Dozens of indicators, from vegetable consumption to regular exercise to grip strength, provide a better snapshot of someone’s health than looking at her from across a room.

"Healthy Fat People" were generally "healthy" and "sick skinny people" were generally... "sick."

That means absolutely @$%$-all to someone who is pronounced "fat-as-@%%$-just-stop-eating." What's the friggin' conclusion?

If you measure's someone's actual health, that seems to be a pretty good indicator of how healthy they are.... Friggin morans.

3) They're so distraught about their current overpowering concern for obese people that they have lost the ability to see straight, so just start typing @#$% and hope it makes sense when they're done.

So, which one is it? Let's find out.

For decades, the medical community has ignored mountains of evidence to wage a cruel and futile war on fat people, poisoning public perception and ruining millions of lives. It’s time for a new paradigm.

HOLY CARP! Someone dragged out the "paradigm" word. I thought we dug a grave for that in the friggin' 90's? Obviously, either this guy is a heavy-hitting journalist that isn't afraid to write where angels fear to type or he just thinks it sounds cooool, especially if it's in it's prominently in its own paragraph. (By the way, there's no mention of this new paradigm other than him bitching about how terribly fat people are treated. Is that the "new paradigm" in the title?)

Examine the opening. The medical community has ignored mountains of evidence, likely hidden behind an obese person, and has waged a cruel and futile war, because fat people never get unfat, saying meanie things about fat people and ruining millions of lives and killing kittens for goodness sake!

There are times when I am sure that we will not survive the next postage-stamp price increase, much less the next natural disaster.

I need to get this disclaimer out, right here: I have nothing against fat people. They're fat. Some people are stupid, too, and I don't have anything against them being stupid, either. (Unless they demand I recognize them as not being stupid. Then, we have a problem..) I have excellent fat friends who are good people and reasonably healthy and are happy to be my friend. I have also been, at various times, overweight or, perhaps, "pudgy." I'm not quite sure, really, since my measurements don't seem to change too much, just my weight. Hey, if you have a good tool, you build a shed over it, amiright? Anyway, the point is that I haven't ever been obese, so I don't know what it's like, but I have and have had obese friends, likely because I keep buying them dinner or something.

So, Mr. Ihaveacausenow has decided that scurvy, seatbelts, and asbestos are reasonably comparable incidents in our history of discovering stuffs to be directly likened to his premise, that everyone hates fat people, and we should accept his conclusion that, because we were wrong about these things we must be wrong about obesity being a personal problem that could lead to dangerous illness. In scientific terminology that describes when a false conclusion may have been reached, scientists use the phrase "not even wrong." Well, this dude isn't even wrong. He could have crapped in his hat and made a better argument.

And the medical community’s primary response to this shift has been to blame fat people for being fat. Obesity, we are told, is a personal failing that strains our health care system, shrinks our GDP and saps our military strength.

So true. And, it's also why vacuum cleaner still makes vacuum tracks in the carpet when I know that, if it wasn't for fat people, the vacuum would leave behind a clean carpet in a pristine state... How many things can you think of that you can blame fat people for? I can think of at least two more! We need more things to pad his paragraph and make it sound much more dire than just the sapping of our "military strength." This guy has obviously never heard of the "fat-boy program."

. It is also an excuse to bully fat people in one sentence and then inform them in the next that you are doing it for their own good.

PREACH IT PREACHER-MAN! How much longer must my people languish in the freezing rain or endure the heat with death-defying stoicism just so they can have a few quick puffs of their innocent cigarette! PREACH! Wee shaaaall overrrrcooo-uh-om, wee shalll overrrcooommme suuuhmdaaaayayayaaaaay[/ir]...

Forty-five percent of adults say they’re preoccupied with their weight some or all of the time—an 11-point rise since 1990.

Forty-six, or closer to it now, you bartard, since you've been going on about it... So, yeah, now I'm a bit more preoccupied with it.

Nearly half of 3- to 6- year old girls say they worry about being fat

I know someone who's five-year old thought he was a bat for a whole day. That was especially true if you asked him. "Are you a furry, flying, bat that swooshes around in the air?" "I'M A BAT! SWOOOSH!" Nice kid, not too bright, though.

The emotional costs are incalculable.

Aren't they, always? I have yet to see a price-tag on the "Greyway Farms Bag of Depression" I must have bought a few decades ago. Great value, keeps fresh forever.

But my mother’s story, like Sam’s, like everyone’s, didn’t have to turn out like this.

Yeah... If his own family hadn't been such jerks to her, maybe she would have been happier?

For 60 years, doctors and researchers have known two things that could have improved, or even saved, millions of lives. The first is that diets do not work. Not just paleo or Atkins or Weight Watchers or Goop, but all diets. Since 1959, research has shown that 95 to 98 percent of attempts to lose weight fail and that two-thirds of dieters gain back more than they lost.

Holy carp... "Diets do not work!" No friggin kiddin'? This is news? Doctors don't prescribe friggin Paleo or Atkins. They tell their patients to see an obesity specialist. We've known diets "don't work" for friggin' ever. What works? Lifestyle changes. Stop eating so much. Get some exercise to keep you feeling better. Change your attitude. Get some counseling. Stop spending most of your time feeding your face...

The reasons are biological and irreversible.

A lie.

He's a liar.

He's a "journalist."

At the very least, he's being outrageously disingenuous with "piano falling on someone's head" subtlety. Sure, there are going to be some metabolic changes, but to make it sound as if "once fat, always fat" is just plain lying. There are legions of "used to be fat" people out there. Teh Internetz tells us so with every set of selfies.

But individuals are not averages: Studies have found that anywhere from one-third to three-quarters of people classified as obese are metabolically healthy.

But, that's not what the study was about, nor was that its conclusion. "...Overall, MHO prevalence ranged between 6% and 75%. In the studies, studied <sic>...The heterogeneity of MHO prevalence estimates described in this paper strengthens calls for the urgent need for a commonly established metabolic health definition..."

IOW - We need to figure out what it is that we are intending to measure, first.

Dozens of indicators, from vegetable consumption to regular exercise to grip strength, provide a better snapshot of someone’s health than looking at her from across a room.

If I see a cadaver where a person used to be sitting, I am reasonably sure I can accurately predict their state of health. I'm pretty sure most people can tell when other people are likely "sick," too. And, being a cadaver is being really, really, sick. Like, the sickest. Further testing isn't likely needed, so that's his claim falsified on live internets.

And so it’s time for a paradigm shift. We’re not going to become a skinnier country. But we still have a chance to become a healthier one.

Ah, the "paradigm." And, there it is, if one can call what we have a "chance to do." That's a paradigm in his opinion, so correct your notes. I have a chance of becoming a rocket-surgeon or a lunar-orbiter pinstripe applicator if anyone invents those jobs. So, I have that going for me...


The rest of the article is feel-good case studies of happy fat people. Or, fat people that would have been happy if they weren't fat. Or, fat people who'd be happy if everyone else liked them being fat? Or, didn't care if they were fat or not? Or, maybe it's really just about people who have suffered some unfortunate social interactions with arseholes who aren't the sort of people one should pay much attention to, anyway?

..This phenomenon is not merely anecdotal. Doctors have shorter appointments with fat patients and show less emotional rapport in the minutes they do have. ..

And, do you know why? I'm not a physician, so I am particularly qualified to render an opinion here: Doctors get upset when they see a medical problem that they know can be treated, but is not being treated.

Earlier today, I had a conversation with someone about this same thing. A patient presented with complex fistulae caused by habitual intravenous drug use. They literally had holes in their arms. Holes you could stuff a golf-ball into. (This is the common unit of measurement in medicine.) And, the patient complained that the doctor was brusque, a little standoffish, not very attentive to her needs. No @$@$? What about what the physician is seeing right in the examining room and knowing, without a doubt, that there is not a darn thing they can say, do, or prescribe that is going to keep this person from finally succeeding in turning themselves into a medical student's next project? And, the patient OD'd the next day... They didn't die, but they tried real hard.

This journalist is obviously emotionally involved with this article. That's good. But, I'm also emotionally involved when I read a slew of bullcrap that is being presented as "fact" and is obviously not going to benefit the "greater good" but could, given enough exposure, convince someone that their obesity will not kill them because they're one of the oh-so-very-many "healthy obese" that this moron keeps on harping about.

No, being fat won't usually kill you. It's all the other crap that has a greater chance of killing you after being encouraged by your obesity. There are probably only a few human beings in the history of the world that actually died because of the interaction of their personal mass and gravity. (Not counting the ones that experienced this when at a fair distance from the ground.)

But, this guy... This guy comparing seat-belts, asbestos, and ceiling wax mistakes to medicine's attitude towards obesity is just plain wrong, self-serving, and dangerous.

Remember the little discussion that was had about "social justice warriors?"

This guy is a prime example of the damage that such a person can do when they strap on the passionate blinders of a crusader. This is what happens when stupid people go on a sociocultural crusade - People get hurt. And we are letting them do this thing because it's easier to let them hurt people than it is to try to stop them from hurting people by telling them what they need to hear - "You're @$%$@% wrong."

Huffington Post should act. So, when I figure out how to find out which editor is responsible for signing this guy's paycheck, I'll email them. Maybe. OK, I'll have another vanilla loaf cake slice THEN I'll email them.

[CBJ]

While I agree entirely with your rant about both the "journalism" and the topic it is covering in this instance, I'm not sure that you can lay the blame with one particular part of the political spectrum. Those on the right are just as guilty as those on the left of insisting on exercising their personal freedom to do what they want, and then demanding that nobody criticise them when their bad decisions lead to bad outcomes.

The real issue is the increasing shift away from acknowledging that opinion can and does sway a person's interpretation of facts, and trying to minimise the effect of that, towards valuing and promoting opinion even when it contradicts the facts. While journalism is obviously complicit in this, social media is probably a bigger contributor because it allows anyone, however poor their grasp of the facts, to spout an opinion and gain a worldwide audience, where previously they would have been limited to the small group of people willing to listen to them holding forth in the local pub.

And that's not even touching on the issue of people deliberately using both traditional and social media to disseminate misinformation and contradictory messages. The use of misinformation is a long-standing tradition, but the use of a constant stream of contradictory messages to drown out any intelligent debate is a newer phenomenon.

[BugMeister]

How many more secrets are they going to find in ancient Egypt..?
I'm getting bored with all these so-called unexplained mysteries.. and the mumbo-jumbo that accompanies the reports..

- it's becoming an industry all of its own - conspiracy theories all over the place....

[Chips]

Conspiracy theories are only conspiracy until proven true. For example, once they find the last resting place of the Almighty King of the Potato People - I will take Mr Flibble, grab the Masher of Righteousness, and photosynthesise the Ki energy allowing me to unveil the evil great Leader of the Orange Lizard People - freeing the world from tyranny.

Or we wait until the term is up for the twit in too much fake tan.

Which is better?

[Hank001]

Well when "Conspiracy Theories" start impinging on and becoming an actual danger to those that the theories say are "keeping secrets" and "speading cover stories" then I believe (as do most of the scientific community) they have gone too far. Look no farther than what happened at the Solar Observatory at Sunspot NM to see that adherents to the wildest theories are also more apt to become dangerous. This has really came to a head with every wild theory imaginable having a YouTube channel, websight and Facebook page. A large and vociferous group even raving the moon, sun and stars are HOLOGRAMS. Try and adhere to science when forums are continually packed with "Flat Earthers" of various sorts, but seem to travel in packs.

[BugMeister]

maybe Google/Bing etc. should have a "no bull" filter..

..on second thoughts, wait a minute - half the internet would shut down..