I see posts talking about good BIFL items but I don’t hear much about the other side of products that are bad or products you bought but don’t even use.
I read somewhere that GoPros and other action cameras are one of the least used purchases, so I figured “that should mean there’s plenty on eBay”. So grabbed up second hand bargain, played around with it for a couple of weeks, bought some extra batteries and other accessories, and since then it’s sat in the cupboard except for a single occasion.
Turns out you don’t need an action cam if you’re not getting any action.
Oh damn I totally forgot about that one. My dad bought a go pro and I could’ve used it to film my scuba diving event but we couldn’t figure out where to mount it.
Dick mount.
Do people actually use those to—erm—document the proceedings?
I’ve seen it done!
Bose Quiet Comfort II true wireless headphones.
I’d been toying with the idea forever. My earbuds are old, a little bulky, have some connectivity issues when one disconnects and it takes a lot of fussing to get them reconnected. So I decided to spend the money.
I get them from B&H. I get home, put them in, one of them has some sound issues—but other than that, the sound and fit were perfect. Like, they were my glass slipper. They fit perfectly, the seal was perfect, they wouldn’t ever hurt my ears after extended use…I was shocked.
But.
Having issues with one, I started messing with them, seeing if could get support or troubleshoot. Of course the first thing in the box is a QR for their app. Now, I never fuck with physical products apps. If I need an app, chances are I won’t use your shit. But I really wanted these to work, so I go to the app, and dig through the privacy policy.
Two addenda later, they’re trying to get me to sign the most obscene privacy policy ever. Listen to/record everything I play, collect a profile on me, listen to any ambient noise around the microphone, and weirdly, “map my head shape and movements?”
I deleted that app as quickly as I could. So I go to their support page on their site. Get into a chat with their customer service bot. It says, “replying to this message is agreement to our privacy policy.” So I open the link, read it…it kinda seems reasonable. Just talking about using my chat responses for training, standard. But then THREE layers of addenda deep I find here trying to get me to sign THE EXACT SAME FUCKIN POLICY.
I ran those fuckers back to the store. But not before trying to get someone on the phone about the legal matters. Yeah, nah. They wouldn’t connect me to someone in their legal dept. In fact, the very request seemed to puzzle them to no end.
FUCK BOSE. READ YOUR PRIVACY POLICIES.
Holy shit, was never aware of this. Will stay far away from this brand!
Fuck yeah! Enjoy your lunch!
Well, crap, I love my Bose QC II, but…I didn’t read the PP and now I don’t want to use them…
Is it possible to accept to those terms but disconnect the app from internet access completely so that prevents any calling back to the server? I believe you should be able to run it without internet.
Still a shame that there exists such an invasive privacy policy. I use IEMs when I’m on the go and wired akg k371 when I’m at home.
Well, that’s actually what I was trying to find out. I tried getting their legal dept on the phone because I wanted to be 100% sure I could use those earbuds without ever agreeing to the policy. When they wouldn’t or couldn’t give me an answer, I said fuck them.
They were great headphones. But I didn’t even want to chance that kind of invasion. And I doubt there’d be any way I could be sure of a company clearly willing to violate my privacy so hard would not be collecting that data without my consent. Using their fuckin site was a minefield in itself because they were trying really fuckin hard to get me to sign that policy—not even sign it, just tacitly agree to it by responding to one message in order to get help. Too dicey for my liking.
I would try denying it network permissions (if you’re on android) or just simply putting it on airplane mode and disconnecting all network to it.
We live in fucked up times. I don’t have the patience to read through privacy policies, so I basically have to avoid buying anything that has any kind of sensor on it.
Whoa.
You did not miss much don’t worry. I have them as well, their NC capability sucks, and they run a master slave setup meaning the right unit must be present to operate, you can’t only use the left unit. I regret buying mine
A gaming chair, one of those that look like racer chairs. It basically destroyed my back, worst purchase of my life
Best advice Ive heard on chairs "Fuck gamer and racer style chairs. Look for something that screams “Im going to fire 3000 people over Zoom in this shit”
Yes! Puffy gloss leather boss chairs ftw! I don’t have one right now only because there’s no space for another proper workplace in our apartmentsm
Probably because in a real racing seat there’s a harness to keep you from slouching. I used to have terrible lower back issues with a Recaro bucket seat I converted for a desk chair. Never had a problem with it driving for hours when it was in my car (may it rest in pieces). Then it dawned on me that the seatbelt was maintaining my posture. Added a lap belt and the back problems abated.
Not only that. A racing chairs is not intended to be good for your back. It has a very different use, it protects you in the case of a crash. So unless you often get into car accidents while gaming, better to buy a chair that is specialised at ergonomics, not impact protection .
And it holds you against lateral G force with the gussets, which isn’t necessary sitting still.
To be fair, the gaming chair also holds you against lateral GeForce
My race seat is super comfortable and it’s a fixed back.
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I learned about the companies selling refurbished Aerons on eBay and picked one up a couple years ago for $400. Love it!
Chairs are one of those things that you need to drop serious money on if you sit more than a few hours a day. Focus on chairs for office work and expect to pay over $1k.
I remember going to the Tokyo Game Show some years ago. They had some to try out. I was so excited. I expected to sit in it and feel “you are home.” Instead I felt “get the fuck off me.”
Same but a gaming mouse. I came from a cheap office mouse that was amazing but ended its (long) lifespan. Replaced it and wow this mouse sucks. Yes it has RGB but every single time I scroll with it, it causes my finger to hurt like crazy, which is a REAL problem in this era.
Yep, same. Worst chairs you can buy by a wide margin. Cheapest IKEA chairs is worlds better than the priciest gamer chair.
It’s funny that I hear this a lot but I’ve been using my dx racer since 2017. I am quite skinny though so that might help. I’m wearing through the fake leather now though, looking to get something new by the end of this year. But the damage is mostly my fault for sitting half crossed legged, sometimes while wearing shoes.
I have a “gaming chair” and I hate it. Still use it though until I can get enough money to get another one.
I had the same experience and ended up donating it to a friend. What I found that was actually comfortable is a $1,400 office chair that I got a good deal on.
My Steam Deck and other game consoles, I have the money to buy them as an adult but I found that I have a fleeting interest at best in actually playing video games these days. At least my kids get some use out of them.
I find a lot of things as an adult arent that I dont have the interest anymore, its that I dont have whole days to pour myself into them anymore.
Thats why a lot of dads I know got super into their yard, grilling and camping.
If I have to do this shit for the family anyway, I might as well make this stuff my hobby
Online gaming used to be fun for me in college. Now with kids I have much less time, so getting good at online games is much harder, making loading up Apex legends for 45 minutes and getting curb stomped a waste of my time.
Yep. I get maybe an hour a week at max to game and it’s usually interrupted constantly so … I just don’t. And I hate that. But the family is worth it. I do a lot more news and Lemmy reading now since I can stop that easily to engage in whatever is going on.
Turn based single player tactical/strategy games became my go-to for when I can game.
I left my pc mid turn once and came back 2 days later.
I’ve also noticed that I’m losing interest in gaming recently. Whenever I get notified by steam that something on my wishlist is on sale I just look at it and move on. I started playing chess again for the first time since I was I kid and it’s been keeping me satisfied.
Most recently, Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies. I used to love the things and they were a nostalgic part of growing up, so I randomly decided to buy a box a few weeks back.
Took two bits of one and threw the whole box away. They were nasty. Chemically tasting, dry, full of little hard bits from poorly milled oats, etc. pure garbage. And this is not a matter of my tastes changing. I remember exactly how those are supposed to be, and the modern version is crap.
I swear hot pockets used to taste better when I was a kid too, but I’m not convinced that it isn’t just my changing tastes. Does anyone know? Did they actually change their recipe?
I agree, along with pizza rolls. They all have a chemical taste to them nowadays.
Wow! My sister got me a pack at Christmas 2 years ago since she remembered me loving them as a kid, and they were just as I remembered. I wonder what changed in 2 years, or if you just got a bad batch.
That sounds awful!
Just like Cadbury cream eggs. Back in the day, every now and then you’d get one where the chocolate didn’t form a seal properly and it ruined the interior because the goo dried out. Today, that’s just how they make them.
For anyone younger than like 25, who never got a chance to try the good version, it used to be a goo that would run, like you could use your teeth to open up the top of the egg and then drink some of the goo from there (it was very thick, so it would stick to the sides instead of all coming out).
Dyson Airwrap. There’s a reason you never see professional salons using them… it’s because they’re just not as good as a traditional hair dryer and other curling methods. I tried everything to get that thing to work and give me a nice style but it just didn’t. I’d use the airwrap attachments to curl my hair and by the time I’d finished, the curls I’d started on would already have dropped out. I couldn’t manage to get a nice smooth blow-dry like I can with a normal hairdryer either.
It’s like a jack-of-all-trades hairstyler. If you’re thinking of getting one I’d seriously recommend investing in a pro hairdryer instead and save your money. I can do my hair faster and my style lasts a lot longer with a hair dryer and curling with straighteners or rollers. I believe they do work for some people, but you have to have a specific type of hair (quite thick, with a natural wave or curl already) and it didn’t work for me. I’ve also had friends say the same thing.
This woman had the same experience as me with it:
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/reviews/trying-450-dyson-airwrap-hold-22564616.amp
The spousal unit has one and loves it. Does not have naturally curvy or thick hair. It was purchased at a Dyson store where they do all the monogram nonsense and such but they also spent almost 45 minutes with her demoing it and showing her exactly how to do it which she absolutely needed judging from all the corrections the staff kept making to her technique.
So if you have one, go down to the Dyson store where they have the salon built in and get them to demo it on you.
I think even if it gave amazing long lasting results every time, I would probably still think it’s not worth the price. To me anyway, it feels like a clumsy device that doesn’t feel natural to hold or use. Plus it takes forever to do a whole head. I feel like Dyson gaslight customers saying “oh you’re not using it right” or “your hair isn’t right” when in actual fact if you’re paying close to £500 for a supposedly “complete” product then you expect it to at least take some responsibility for how your hair looks at the end of styling it. I’m not expecting it to be like a magic wand and just transform my hair by just existing near my head but surely I shouldn’t need training to properly use it?
But hey, everyone is different and so is everyone’s hair. And if you like it, great! If you buy it and you find you don’t like it then you can always return it.
I use my hair dryer daily so does my wife. Dropped a little more than I was comfortable with on a Parlux and I’ve never looked back. There is a reason they have rules this game since the 70s. Also: they are serviceable (I don’t know for sure but I doubt the Dyson stuff is) so you can get a good long lifespan out of one.
Yep! Had my 3200 compact for about 12 years now. It’s as good as the day it was bought and used nearly every day. Well worth the money.
I got a friend who wants a shark flex style. Any opinions on that?
None, sorry, I’ve never tried one. It does look marginally better though from what I’ve seen. I think the Dysons downfall is ironically one of its selling points - it doesn’t get hot enough. It’s hot enough to dry your hair without damage, but not enough to make it hold a curl. And apparently the shark one does use more heat. So I’d say give it a go! If your friend is looking for something to curl with I’d highly recommend getting a Parlux hairdryer to get a good smooth blow dry and then a Remington straightener like the Shine Therapy advanced. My last set of Remington straighteners lasted about 15 years. I got new ones last year and they’re the same excellent quality. I’ve tried all sorts of more expensive ones and those are just as good if not better. I can get a full head of lovely bouncy curls that lasts until I next wash my hair with very minimal heat damage. None if I use a good heat protectant (shout out to the tres emme one) You can seriously achieve any style with those 2 tools. Straight and smooth, beachy waves, curls, bouncy blow out. No need for faddy trendy products.
Games on Steam sales.
I bought so many games on sale after I got my first grown-up job, that just ended up sitting in my library while I played the same 3 games. I bought a Steam Deck 6 months ago and it’s been great for clearing out my backlog. I love being able to play games sitting in the recliner instead of at a desk.
Using the Steam refund system more actively has helped me a lot in this regard. At this point I refund about 80% of my purchases - simply because a lot of the games do not engage me after the first 40 minutes.
Bought myself a wireless charger but I never use it because I just plug in my phone anyways cause it’s faster.
My last 2 phones stopped charging through the ports. Keep that wireless charger, it may come in handy. Saved me from buying a new phone for at least a year.
Make sure there’s no lint and dust compacted in the bottom of the port if you haven’t already. It isn’t always entirely obvious but it can affect both lightning and USB-C and you can usually get it out with some careful use of a sewing needle.
Yup this is definitely the first thing to check. Unfortunately I think it was my need for bulky un-destructible cases, that bent my charging ports.
My last phone had the same issue, actually relatively cheap to get the port replaced at one of those tech repair places
Depends on the phone. On some phones, it is on a separate tiny board which is cheap to replace. If it’s on the motherboard, it requires soldering, and it can be fucked if the copper pads get torn.
I looked into this, but the closest to me was about 1 hour away. When I looked up the streetview, it was a guy’s garage with small shady sign infront lol
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Give my phone to some guy in his garage to fix or just use the wireless charger. Thats an easy choice every time haha
Slower is usually better for the battery, use it if you charge at night. It also decreases the wear on the usb port.
this never happens to me because I’m poor
I’ve done it with paying for dental insurance but not going to the dentist because I can’t afford it.
nice
A cellphone in like 1995. Had if for a few days before realizing I didn’t have anyone to call. Returned it not long after.
My mom won the lottery, small amount but enough to buy some big gifts for xmas for us. She got me a Peleton, and while I love the gym / staying active I hate that damn thing.
That might just be that you don’t like stationary bikes? I have a cheap stationary bike that I use multiple times a week, a peleton just seems like an expensive version.
I have one that I use 4 days a week. What don’t you like?
I bought a Wii U. Nintendo only made like ten games for it.
And almost all of them were ported to the Switch. Except Xenoblade X, which is the only WiiU exclusive I actually want to play.
Play it on an emulator like Cemu
That’s my plan.
Good plan.
Back in the early 10’s I paid $200 for a year subscription license to Adobe Flash Pro, as I had convinced myself I was gonna learn to use it to produce sprite animations like the ones I grew up enjoying on Newgrounds. Never booted it once.
If you’re still up for some animation practice, Blender’s grease pencil is fantastic, free, and integrates with the rest of Blender very well
Blender has got to be one of the most hilariously vertically integrated apps I’ve ever seen. Next thing I’ll hear is it can file my taxes.
I’m confident there’s an addon for making motion graphics out of your taxes
Flash as an embedded media platform was a blight on browser security. But strictly as an animation tool, it was pretty nifty. You can even use tools like Swivel to render Flash animations to video.
In the year of our lord 2024 there are probably way better tools than Flash ever was to do this sort of thing. But back in circa 2011 it was the best tool of its kind I knew of.
I’ve still yet to find a vector tool that works as well and easily as the one in flash. It was amazing. Ignoring the security, it was really way ahead of its time.
My apple watch. So much on that watch either doesn’t work as it should or I was straight lied to by an apple employee of how it worked. Will never buy one again.
I also, am interested in your expectations of its functionality, as I have been pondering one for some time.
this is for you and @[email protected] since you both asked the same question.
this is a long comment so bear with me.
When I bought the watch I specifically asked how the step counter works. Not just a cover/generic question. I asked does it count if you are just moving your arms or how does it now if you are actually walking/taking steps? I explained that at my job I stand all day and my arms are moving a lot but I’m not actually walking and I wanted to know if the counter was even close to accurate.
What they told me (at an Apple Store) was that it uses a GPS to figure out if you are moving. (that is a Lie, no it doesn’t). As my hands and arms are going back and forth across the desk. It is counting steps. If i move my hands from right to left (for example) from one pile of papers to another on my left, it might count that as a step. It might count it as a step as my hands go from right to left AND then from left to right(might be counted as a step). It might count the round trip as 1 step, or 2 steps or maybe 5 steps.
It should not be counting it at all.
I can have thousands of extra steps counted. If the step counter is wrong, then the calorie counter is wrong. That also means the apple movement app is worthless. Think of all the health things it can monitor but are tied to the movement/calorie counter/step counter… they are all worthless because the base section isn’t working as I need it to.
I assumed what would happen if you got on a treadmill was you would have to hit something on the watch because it would need to know that you are walking in place, or maybe it counted the bounce/movement of your body as you were actually walking.
Apple music is another thing that doesn’t work as it really should. Now this could be a design choice by the maker or maybe it just doesn’t work as intended… I’m not sure.
I will have my iphone connected via bluetooth to a speaker. My watch is connected to my phone. If I grab my phone and start a playlist everything looks and sounds like it should. The phone will show the song playing and the watch will show the song playing. I can skip to the next song by tapping my watch and hitting skip… so far so good.
Here’s where things go side ways. If I use my watch to go back to the playlists and try to choose a different playlist, the watch will say I’m sorry but your watch isn’t connected to anything(the speaker). to which I say… bull shit. yes it is. The watch is connected to the phone and the phone is connected to the speaker. Everything is connected. I was told the watch would act as a remote control for the phone. So why is it saying the watch isn’t connected to a speaker? It should access the playlists on the phone and let me choose a new playlist and start playing a new playlist. (this is just logical that it would work that way.) I shouldn’t have to walk over to my phone and choose a new playlist.
If I don’t use the phone to start a playlist and just tap the watch and try to start a playlist that won’t work because it will tell me the watch isn’t connected to any devices. Umm yes it is. It’s connected to the phone.
When I purchased the phone I specifically said i think I have a sleeping problem and I need a device that will help to monitor (or at least give me an idea if there is an issue).
Middle of the night it will check one of my vitals (that’s good) but it will vibrate and wake me up. WTF?! Who would design a device that would wake a person up in the middle of the night after checking one of the vitals? The watch should be able to figure out via blood pressure and oxygen levels that “huh this guy is probably asleep” so it shouldn’t vibrate. It should look at what I have set as my normal sleep schedule combine that with my vitals and figure out I am asleep and not vibrate after checking a vital. This is either a broken system or just plain bad design.
Sometimes it will go for days and not check anything. Again what is the point?
I’m the exact opposite. Didn’t wear a watch for years after getting my first cellphone. Didn’t see the need for a watch when the smart watches started coming out. Can’t remember why I ultimately got an Apple Watch, but I’ve really liked it.
I’ve bought every single generation of an Apple Watch, and I returned it every time.
I wanted to love it so much, but I couldn’t.
It’s just a glorified notification system.
Anytime I got a notification on it, or wanted to use it for something, it was faster and far more convenient to just pull out my phone and do whatever I needed to.
The only thing I found it good for was controlling music from a distance, but that’s not an important use case for me and definitely not worth the price tag, plus the recurring data plan. It’s a money and attention hog, just like any other smartphone.
Yea, I had a series 3, hated it coming from a galaxy watch. Daily charging, dies on 24h shifts tons of useless features that I never use, looks weird for a watch, no always on display (granted not a problem for newer ones I gather). And the goddamn screen got scratched so fast, even more so when I started bouldering.
I was a actually kinda glad I busted the screen and could justify getting a Garmin Instinct 2 Solar. I was a bit apprehensive about how it would play with an Iphone, but it is pretty damn good.
Best watch I have owned, even the galaxy watch pales in comparison. I can actually track sleep because the battery lasts 2 weeks with nightly pulseox (should be 3 without), potentially a lot longer but the sun is a foreign concept this time of year. It gives me what I need and nothing more (although it is a bit off the mark on a few things. The fitness tracking is great, it is actually a lot better for bouldering. No annoying touch stuff, actual physical buttons, that while take a bit of adjusting to, are perfectly adequate for reaching all the functions quickly. Seems sturdy as hell too.
The only feature I miss a little is answering calls on it. Was useful 3 times a year or so when I used it while I was busy but could have a conversation on loudspeaker. Besides this I cant get it to track additional sleep episodes properly (say on my 24h shifts when I get multiple short bursts of sleep or just general naps). The sleep tracking is semi auto - you set a sleep time, the watch only tracks sleep in sleep mode. Theres no automatic workout tracking (I guess there is a weird half tracking thing), although I hated auto tracking on the galaxy watch, I was fine with apple but never used it. Now granted all of the above is a mild annoyance at best, for me.
Basically as a grown man… Warhammer.
I love Games Workshop games and the universes, but assembling, painting, putting together an army and finding time for a game is just beyond me. So I have more than a few boxes of good intentions in the cupboard.
I love Games Workshop
It just struck me that I’ve never heard a fan say that before. It’s always “I love the games, but hate GW’s cash gouging/trigger-happy legal team/handling of new editions”. Have they gotten better in recent years?
No the company is still as money grubbing and manipulative as ever. But I read the novels, I play the videogames and I love their creative works.
They make a great product and then be evil.
I had a starter set as a kid and only glued them together, never actually played with anyone. Glad it stopped there.
