Ranty McRant's thread of rantworthy things

Post by **CBJ** » Tue, 16. May 17, 20:01

Only the dedicated shopping channels carry ads with those sort of "offers" here in the UK. I'm not sure whether they're actively not allowed in normal ads here or whether advertisers here are just a little less blatant by choice.

I know that ads originally made for the US market often stand out when aired among more specifically UK-targeted ads here, because they tend to play the advertising much straighter than we do. UK ads tend to be much more tongue-in-cheek.

Post by **Alan Phipps** » Tue, 16. May 17, 20:22

My daughter ordered an alphabet-learning play-mat from a Hong Kong addressed firm she has used for buying simple toddler toys online in the past (successfully and satisfactorily I should add). The advert picture showed an oriental toddler sitting in the middle of the mat and giving a big toothy smile.

The 'mat' arrived by post through the letterbox. It measured about 10 inches by 8 inches when unfolded. It matched the one in the advert picture, but without the incredibly tiny toddler of course!

Post by **X2-Illuminatus** » Tue, 16. May 17, 20:31

US advertising is horrible, especially those commercials were actors play real people who are asked on the street for their opinion about a certain product.

There's a youtuber called Zebra Corner, who makes great parodies of these commercials. Especially those about the Chevrolet commercials are spot on:
(Beware of some language)

If "Real People" Commercials Were Real Life - CHEVY Emoji Ad
If "Real People" Commercials Were Real Life - CHEVY Malibu Ad
If "Real People" Commercials Were Real Life - CHEVY Awards
If "Real People" Commercials Were Real Life - CHEVY Hatch

pjknibbs · Post by **pjknibbs** » Tue, 16. May 17, 22:09

CBJ wrote:Only the dedicated shopping channels carry ads with those sort of "offers" here in the UK. I'm not sure whether they're actively not allowed in normal ads here or whether advertisers here are just a little less blatant by choice.

There are definitely fairly strict rules for advertising in the UK. For a start, you can't have an advert here which basically just trashes a specific competitor, so Hoover can't run an ad saying "Dyson sucks, buy ours instead!". You also have to be able to prove the claims you're making, so saying your energy drink cures cancer would be a no-no unless you can point to the scientific study proving that. Dunno how US advertising rules compare to that, though.

Post by **Alan Phipps** » Tue, 16. May 17, 22:55

Hoover could prove that a Dyson sucks though - aren't they both meant to?

(j/k)

Morkonan · Post by **Morkonan** » Wed, 17. May 17, 08:21

@%@$% Xbox.. Overcommercialized crap.

Today, I had a conversation with a couple of friends, one an Xbox junky and another an Enlightened Citizen of the World, about how Xbox's entire storefront, search system, category list, and menus system is designed specifically so they can sell product placement and marketing programs to game devs/publishers. It's so damn blatant, it's nauseating. I actually feel insulted by it...

BUT, if that wasn't bad enough, I just saw an ad window for "Glad" friggin trashbags advertising something they're offering with a figurine for the upcoming Avatar movie...

Trashbag ads...

... on my friggin' Xbox One.

Legit karma, no doubt about it.

mrbadger · Post by **mrbadger** » Wed, 17. May 17, 12:42

It happens every year, so I know it shouldn't get to me, but.

Why is it that a student sho doesn't bother to attend 95% of arranged supervision meetings and ignores what little advise I do give him still finds it ok to blame me when he totally fails?

Then gets irritated with me when I decline to travel in to meet with him to discuss how he can correct a mistake that is entierly of his own creation when there are other resources avaliable to him that require him to actually make some effort to access.

Every year there's someone who does this to me. Often I can tell the one who's going to do it to me before it even happens too.

pjknibbs · Post by **pjknibbs** » Wed, 17. May 17, 12:50

Get a random group of people together and the odds are pretty good at least one will be an entitled a-hole, sounds like you just ran into him!

philip_hughes · Post by **philip_hughes** » Wed, 17. May 17, 13:25

One of my supervisors for my phd helped me with editing, experimental design and negotiated an amazing rate for the work i was doing with an agricultural company. His words are like gold.

His current student just submitted a lit review to examiners without consulting this guy once. Considering the wealth of experience this guy has it is one of the dumbest things i have heard of in recent times.

mrbadger · Post by **mrbadger** » Wed, 17. May 17, 14:32

His reason for not coming to one meeting was that he had someone *much* more important than me to meet.

Not that he felt he needed to let me know or anything.

Oh, and another time he missed the meeting was that his calender was out of sync with the UK, so it would be fine if I just changed the meeting time rather then him fixing his calender, yes?

Oh, and he could just interrupt the meeting I was obviously right in the middle of when he turned up two hours later, because he was oh so much more important.

That went down real well that did....

I wanted to pass him, but only so I'd be shot of him. But I couldn't, because I have standards.

philip_hughes · Post by **philip_hughes** » Wed, 17. May 17, 15:38

I like people like that. They make me look good.

Morkonan · Post by **Morkonan** » Wed, 17. May 17, 17:28

mrbadger wrote:...Every year there's someone who does this to me. Often I can tell the one who's going to do it to me before it even happens too.

For everyone, there comes a time when they get a "wake up call" that their past adolescent thinking and experiences do not match up with the reality of the adult world.

As a professor, you're right smack in the middle of the time that most people are normally experiencing this harsh reality shift.

So, will he engage in this behavior again? At this point, it's what is called a "character building moment" - As a result of this experience, either he refines his character and his view of the adult world appropriately, or not...

Morkonan · Post by **Morkonan** » Sun, 4. Jun 17, 06:09

Synopsis only - Won't give any more specific details, sorry.

Rant on:

Have been in extreme pain for two weeks. Pain, shmain, "I can take it" amiright?

Derp..

Finally can't take pain any more. Go to Emergency Room, tell them what I think is wrong with me. Give them the symptoms, reiterate my amateur diagnosis, but one that any medical doctor would be able to recognize if they were presented. (I didn't think it was this particular issue, at first, but as symptoms worsened, I realized it might be that particular problem, so that prompted me to go to the E.R.)

Doc sees me, examines me for less than 10 seconds. LESS than 10 seconds. I, once again, tell him my symptoms and the medical issue that I believe it is.

He shrugs that off, tells me it's not that issue, tells me it's something really basic that presents with only a few of the symptoms that I have given him, gives me pain meds and sends me on my way.

Two days later, I can't stand it anymorex2. Drive to the E.R. (Ambulances are only for really sick or injured people.. . right?) Walk in, staff looks at me like I just stumbled out of the smoke and rubble of the Somme, gets me into a room, a PA (Physician Assistant) examines me immediately, orders a CT scan, people freak out and I'm rushed into surgery....

.. because it was exactly the darn dire medical problem I thought it was.

Got discharged this afternoon, after over-night recovery and monitoring, since, in the words of my surgeon "The only reason to stay here any longer is if you like the food" and am now at home. Feeling much better, still in pain, but much needed surgery was done and recovery expected to be good, but will take several weeks. Likely a followup minor surgery, if necessary, but should be fine.

The purpose of this rant:

A true, knowledgeable, ready-to-win, E.R. doctor does not dress like they're about to meet their girlfriend's parents. They do not wear $300 slacks, long-sleeve needlepoint oxford and a silk tie with high-end shoes. No! Instead, they either wear scrubs, clothes that look like they came out of a Good-Will bin from 1970 or at least cover up with a lab coat and stuff their tie in their shirt-pocket.

If you're ever faced with an E.R. physician that dresses better than a cable news anchor, demand to see a different physician. Pick the ugliest, most shabbily dressed, worn-out arch-support-shoe'd doctor you can find!

PS - This is the first time I have heard a physician, one who examined me yesterday, call another physician, the one who examined me two days ago or so, "incompetent", and then go on a Morkonan-Worthy Tirade about how easy it would have been to diagnose the real problem if only they had actually taken the time to properly examine me and to listen to what I had to say.

/Rant off

Recovering, tired, in pain, but can still type (Sorry about that

), and I have expanded my already significant appreciation for what nurses and truly dedicated nursing assistants and techs do for their patients. My nurses and techs went above-and-beyond to help me out and make sure that my needs were met. It helps that this particular hospital enforces, strictly, no more than six patients per nurse/tech team. It makes a difference, that's for sure.

OH, by the way, the food was good, even though I didn't eat much of it.

I just wanted to go home...

Post by **Alan Phipps** » Sun, 11. Jun 17, 16:21

I had a couple of scam phone calls pretending to be from British Telecom (BT) and trying to get me to download something.

The first was from an Asian lady and told me that BT were investigating internet issues in my area. When I questioned her about my BT account she hung up. Half an hour later the same number rang and this time an Asian gent said that he was from BT and that I needed to download something to make my BT hub proof from the recent style of cyber attack. This time I hung up. Those calls are not what this rant is about.

As the scammers were using the same number for multiple calls, I decided to let the real BT know right away. I contacted their customer support desk via online chat and gave them all the details of the false BT scams and my actions plus the calling number and that it might still be active at that point. The advice given was that I could contact the police if I had lost any money to them and, while they had me, did I want to review my package of BT products.

Interest (even if feigned) in the BT scams seemed totally lacking.

Post by **CBJ** » Sun, 11. Jun 17, 16:39

Talking of BT, I have on my desk what must be at least the 10th set of advertising material sent to me this year alone, trying to get me to buy their BT TV package. I've never expressed the slightest interest in their TV services, yet they seem to think that if they send it to me often enough I will suddenly develop a burning need for yet more TV channels full of rubbish to not watch. Nothing unusual there, right? Well, no. What actually annoys me about this the most is that on every sheet of this junk mail, they print a trite message reminding me to recycle paper because "together we can reduce paper consumption". Here's a clue, you numpties: the best way to reduce paper consumption is for you not to bombard me with junk mail in the first place!

As a side-note, and when I contacted them to ask them to stop sending me this stuff, they directed me to my account settings page, which despite their assertions doesn't contain any option to stop them sending me junk mail. After giving the poor call-centre-in-India guy a bit of a hard time, he finally claimed to have changed the setting for me, though it remains to be seen whether it has any effect.

Usenko · Post by **Usenko** » Sun, 11. Jun 17, 16:43

I had a win with scammers. My eldest daughter picked up the phone for what turned out to be a scammer.

I heard her say, in an affronted voice, "My parents?! I'll have you know I AM the parent in this house! Now, what exactly are you calling about?!"

At this point, daughter number 2, who can really think quite quickly, started saying loudly in her most babyish voice "Mum! I'm hungry!"

Daughter #1 was getting into her element, and said in a harried voice "That's my daughter, and it's dinner time. Now, what are you calling about?"

The dude hung up on them.

It was better than ANY TV show.

felter · Post by **felter** » Sun, 11. Jun 17, 20:14

I love some of those scam callers.
Had the Microsoft one the other week there. He wanted me to click on the start button, he said click on the icon in the bottom left of the window.
I said you mean the start button.
Yeah that's it.
I said, mines isn't there, it's in the top left corner of my screen, which it is as I moved the taskbar to the left of the screen.
He was adamant that it wasn't, he goes, it can't be it's always in the bottom left.
I mean come-on he is supposed to be scamming me about computers and he doesn't even know you can move the taskbar. I threw in that my desktop didn't even look like a normal desktop, as I used a program called rainmeter which allowed me to totally change the desktop.
At this point he started calling me a liar, saying things like why would you lie to me, would you lie to your family.
and I'm like, of course I would. He was getting so worked up and agitated and all I could do was laugh at him, it was so funny, like most of them he ended up hanging up on me.

I even had another one call me a liar when I told her I had a degree in computer security and forensics, and that I knew she didn't work for Microsoft and that she was just trying to scam me. Any sensible person trying on a scam would hang up at this point, but she stayed on the phone to argue with me telling me I was lying to her. I just keep them going as I know if they are talking to me they are not scamming someone who doesn't know better.

Had another one a few weeks back, can't remember what he was trying to sell me as I didn't let him get a chance to do so. I even managed to keep him on the phone for about 15 minutes, and every time he tried to do his pre prepared speech, I would start talking about the weather, his name, kids or anything that came to mind. My old dear was pissing herself laughing by the time he hung up on me. I just love messing with them, but I would prefer it if they didn't phone me in the first place.

exogenesis · Post by **exogenesis** » Sun, 11. Jun 17, 20:35

Something possibly useful (anti-rant?)

For the past few years I estimate I used to get 2 or 3 cold or scam calls a day,
until a year ago when I got one of those BT 'call guardian' phones,
which amongst other things forces the caller to give a name & wait for possible pickup, or wait a bit to record.

Then there were absolutely no cold calls getting though.

About a month ago I needed to turn the 'guardian' off (for work internat. web conference calls),
and it's been off since - and have had just one cold call recorded message.

I reckon if you become 'off line' to them for a while, your number gets listed or something, & they stop trying,
I hope it lasts...

Post by **CBJ** » Sun, 11. Jun 17, 20:55

Since we're on the subject, it's probably a good moment for me to remind UK-based people about the TPS. It doesn't help with scam calls, but it is pretty effective against cold-calling since companies can be fined quite significant amounts of money for calling people who have registered.

Post by **Alan Phipps** » Sun, 11. Jun 17, 21:32

I have found that some cold-callers think they reduce their risk of a fine through contacting TPS registrations if they call their cold-call a 'survey'. "Just a few minutes of your time on questions about how good .. "

.. the water quality in your area is (water softeners or filter systems)

.. the insulation in your house should be (loft lagging, cavity insulation, triple glazing, cladding, etc)

.. the council is at keeping the pavements clear in your area (garden, tree and hedge services)

.. the phone and broadband coverage in your area is (telephone, satellite or cable services)

..you think the foreign aid or domestic health budget management to be (charity subscription or legacy promoters)

etc.

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

Ranty McRant's thread of rantworthy things