Technological/practical "backward steps" we all just accept now

ugh it was bad enough when the meters here recently switched to card payment only.

Yeah, we switched to card payment only a few years ago, which was annoying enough. Maybe they just decided it was too expensive to maintain the machines?

“i seem to remember this here sawbuck was legal tender for all debts public and private”

try leaving a dollar bill on top of your car

Its weird that on the one hand you have cities like NYC banning credit-card only establishments because they are discriminatory, but on the other hand you have cities requiring possession of an up-to-date smartphone with cell data service and a linked credit card in order to park. Maybe they think if you can afford to drive you can afford to have all that other stuff?

NGL, anything that discourages driving is great afaic, tho I also hate these apps. Much of Philadelphia operates off them, though you can still get a paper ticket and put it on your dash.

I think making driving harder for people without making other alternatives easier is not the best way to go, especially if its making driving harder only for the least advantaged people.

Oh, totally.

o. nate otm. I think discouraging driving is indeed a noble and good goal, but it's only good if there are other accommodations and transit options provided.

They're not so much discouraging driving as they are discouraging parking!

I joked that there should be a service that when you can't find parking, you pay someone to keep driving your car in circles for hours (and park it later if a spot becomes available), but I dont' wanna say it out loud because someone will implement it.

Uber Cruise

Baby we can drive your car

Its weird that on the one hand you have cities like NYC banning credit-card only establishments because they are discriminatory, but on the other hand you have cities requiring possession of an up-to-date smartphone with cell data service and a linked credit card in order to park. Maybe they think if you can afford to drive you can afford to have all that other stuff?

― o. nate, Monday, August 30, 2021 11:24 AM (seven hours ago)

do the cities with these ridic app-only systems also have bans on credit-card only establishments? Seriously though, both things are discriminatory as fuck.

I wasn't going to mention the little old man who pushes the coin cart around town on weekday mornings, manually collecting all the nickels, dimes and quarters from the meters. I feel like I try paint my town with a Mayberry brush too often.

But then I saw him this morning!

https://i.imgur.com/MsC7WDN.jpg

That's right before I hit him over the head and stole his coin cart.

the perfect crime!

Oh I don't know if it's been adressed already but I just thought of a tiny one that is a bit annoying :
Until recently I had an old iphone which you could "open" with fingerprints recognition and it was fine.
Now I have a 12 which replaced the digital recognition with face ID.
And I found out that during summer, when you have your sunglasses on, of course, it doesn't work... So you have to remove your sunglasses each time.
And to make things worse, facial recognition is a slight problem in the covid era when you wear a mask all the time !
So now I'm back having to dial my password a million times a day...

(first 1 problem, I know...)

world

https://media.giphy.com/media/fj0E2HCKO1HEqLNFf7/giphy.gif

The update that allowed you to unlock your iPhone if are wearing an Apple Watch has been a godsend in the face mask era.

Apple are rumoured to be bringing in-screen TouchID back but doesn’t look like they got it in production in time for the iPhone 13.

FaceID works fine for me when I'm wearing sunglasses.

You need to get the special Apple sunglasses. They're $300 and can't get wet.

ahah. Surprising that it can work with sunglasses on. Mine just won't unlock if it can't see my eyes.
And to add to the issue : it's even worse because the password used to be 4 digits but now it's 6 !

i heard today that iPhone 13 might have the ability to make satellite calls? as a backup when 4G/5G coverage isn't there??

I would be surprised by that. I think the rumor was just "Apple is using a QCOM chip that has support for this network therefore they must support it." Those chips also have FM radio receivers in them.

But that would be rad for camping/hiking.

"I don't have a signal" seems like one of those things that should've already been a thing of the past

I dont even own a signal

my android phone scanned my face both with and without glasses on, and still only unlocks maybe 25% of the time, and never if I have sunglasses or mask on.

y'all seriously can't type in four #s? ... I don't want any face recognition or fingerprint ID on my phone -- like, the fingerprint thing especially seems kinda classist

I like the biometric stuff because it is truly unique. Not sure if my using it has negative effects on other people though.

Guess we don't have to "accept" this, but wireless phone charging. We just bought our first one - an Anker thing with two charging pads. First, it's not really "wireless" (duh) because there's still a wire to the charger, and then the charging pad takes up way more desk/counter space than just a phone with a charger. You have to take the phone out of the case to make it charge at all (maybe because I have a magnet on the back of my case for attaching to a car phone holder), and you have to place it exactly right or it doesn't charge, plus it's slow.

it's just that sometimes you have stuff on your hands and fingers, and ... honestly, I have not tested it to see if various materials or amounts of materials would prevent the touch recognition from working (or the whole thing of ... I have to take gloves off to use the phone .... uh, that's kinda annoying) ... though tbrr, the whole thing makes me think of all those movies and tv shows that involve cutting off the person's finger to access the vault.

I do like my wireless stand charger because it does double duty propping the phone up as well, but yes, it is annoying that it's slower than wired

I still think cutting off my thumb would be more difficult than swiping my PIN

I guess it depends what is stored on your phone and how damaging the consequences of theft would be? ... I'd rather have to deal with apologizing to people for spam messages from my gmail due to phone theft than getting a thumb reattached but ... idk ... I don't want to shame anyone for their security precautions or storing stuff on their phones

Do you not have the dot pattern thing option? I find that the easiest to swipe quickly.

I still think cutting off my thumb would be more difficult than swiping my PIN

And cutting someone's face off? Still more difficult.

I don't swipe ... I type with my fingernails (if my fingers are dirty) or just with my fingers -- the buttons are big! It takes 5-10 seconds idk. It takes more time to find the phone in my bag.

xp But what if someone fucked up your face so that you couldn't access your phone, and you needed to call someone to report being assaulted (or let friends/family know) ... I think the likelihood of injury resulting in screwing up facial recognition is probably more likely than someone cutting off your thumb (or losing it in an accident)

swipe pattern is good but they've put the emergency call button right underneath the grid and if your pattern starts at the bottom, which mine does, then it's a fiddle.

When you submitted your last post, weren't you relived to see the big window come up that said, "Are you sure?" It gave you one last chance to make sure everything in your post was on the up-and-up.

And then, when you did click "YES", another window popped up announcing "Post submitted!", freezing your screen until you clicked the "OK" button.

Wait, this didn't happen for you on ILX? And you hope it never does happen? Why, I thought you all were concerned about online safety!

I truly don't understand why people have a problem with typing in a pin to open their phones. Never will use the biometric stuff.

I dont even own a fingerprint

True. Apple/Google does.

I truly don't understand why people have a problem with typing in a pin to open their phones. Never will use the biometric stuff.

― Kind regards, Anus (the table is the table), Sunday, September 5, 2021 2:01 PM (yesterday

High Five!

I truly don't understand why people have a problem with typing in a pin to open their phones. Never will use the biometric stuff.

Agreed.