I feel like every time there is a discussion about Amazon on the Internet, this point is brought up.
I spent about $9,000 on Amazon across 139 orders in 2018. I buy a lot on Amazon. I've never had a problem with receiving knockoff products. I don't understand how this can be such a prevalent issue when I've not run into it, given how much I use Amazon.
The only thing I can think is that, if I'm buying something expensive, I'll strictly only purchase items "Sold by: Amazon.com Services, Inc" or alternatively, I'll use a marketplace seller if the seller is the manufacturer of the item I'm buying.
> The only thing I can think is that, if I'm buying something expensive, I'll strictly only purchase items "Sold by: Amazon.com Services, Inc"
If you are trying to avoid counterfeits, that's not really helpful, since the problem with counterfeits is magnified by commingling, by which items sold by Amazon itself, and FBA sellers that do not opt-out of it are mixed and orders fulfilled with goods that may have been sourced by any of the sellers.
The fact that you haven't had it enabled for years is probably why you can't understand its usefulness. It's just not part of your workflow because its not available. It does in fact provide a lot of value. As an example, entering uppercase alphanumeric codes is annoying without capslock (switching from holding shift for uppercase letters to remembering to let go of shift to enter a number really slows down entry).
That's not really an example of why something in all caps is useful, though.
The only time I've seen anyone using caps lock is in a call center where people think it's the proper way of entering data into a form (my opinion is it's totally not).
This is like refraining from voting in an election because "my vote won't matter." If enough people "Report Spam" then even LinkedIn's email operation will start to be impacted.
There's a walmart near me that has been testing this. And it is essentially a drive thru. You place an order online (its for groceries, so yes you can order perishables), and have the option to either drive to the store park in a designated parking spot and push a button, an associate brings out your order, OR, they'll deliver it to your home.
This pretty well sums up my feelings on how children's movies approach profanity. Or in the article, how the musical avoided using the word "belly."
The curse word itself is only offensive because of the meaning, or what it implies. The proof of this: say the word to someone who does not know it (for example, someone who does not speak the language); they won't be offended.
So, when a kids movie says "What the freak!?" or "What the fudge!?" the meaning is the same as "What the fuck!?" Or when a loud noise drowns out the speaker, we know what was said. So, then, why is this okay? Because we didn't hear the sounds? If I carry an airhorn around with me, go up to people and say to them, "You're a fa<HOOOONNNNKKKKK>!" they will be upset (and not just by the loud noise).
I've felt before that I'm just not offended by profanity. But after reading this article, I've had to really reconsider that view. I'm not okay with using "the N-word." When people say it, I cringe. I don't even want to type it, because it is offensive. But when I say "the N-word," I know what word I mean. You know what word I mean. You're probably not offended though, because we're just talking about the word. Using the word "nigger" in a conversation about the evolution of profanity should not offend anyone.
The article talks about how many of the words we consider offensive today are used to slur groups of people. This is why it's not offensive for black people to use the word in place of "buddy." It's not a slur, it is an endearment. From this, I conclude that using any word as a slur is offensive. To slur is to "make damaging or insulting insinuations or allegations about." That action is offensive. It's not the sounds that are offensive.
In closing, I would just like to say that you're all a bunch of <HOOOONNNKKKKKKK>!
I actually think I'll be using this quite soon. I've also shown it to an excited PM, who thinks this could be useful for some clients that have been building reports from spreadsheets.
For me, I think there's a great use case for prototyping applications with a spreadsheet. I don't intend to build a service that exposes spreadsheet data as an external facing API.
I've found that automating my finances make a lot of those stresses go away.
I don't have to worry about accidentally overspending in my checking account and not being able to pay my bills because my bills are paid from a separate account, and they're all on auto-pay.
Likewise, my savings and retirement investments are automated and I just know that enough is going there. I have a checking account, which is labeled "Spending" and that's what I use to buy groceries, etc. It doesn't matter that it's literally dwindled down to almost $0 a couple times a month because my bills and investments are automatically managed.
My wife and I lived pretty poor for the first 3 years of our marriage, and only the last couple years have I been earning enough to be able to "set-it-and-forget-it" with my finances. The reduction in stress is HUGE, though. Earning more money definitely allows you to spend your time thinking about things that don't cause such stress.
Interesting perspective, but I feel like the stress comes from the idea that you can never have enough saved. Even if you schedule a certain percentage of your income to be saved automatically, what if you need that percentage + N in the future? You are ultimately limited by your income, but within those confines, if you squander a $1 now, you won't have that $1 to fall back on in the future.
My wife's family comes from the coastal islands off South Carolina.
They speak English, but I just could not understand anything the locals said. The dialect/culture is called Gullah: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah
Sigh, this is exactly backwards from where I want flagship Android phones going. It follows the typical tech trend of "bigger, better, faster", but I miss the small size of the Nexus One.
None of the Nexus devices fit in the pockets of the clothes of women I know. (First world problems, yes, but I wish I could recommend an Android device to them that they could carry around without having to use a purse. It doesn't help that Android is eating into the low-end market; barely anyone makes feature phones in the old candybar and flip form factors.)
There's plenty of smaller Android phones available too. But users clearly seem to like the bigger sizes, and frankly women seem to be a large driver. At least around here, most women I see have their phones - regardless of size - in their purse, and so they also seem to be very quick to adopt the large form factor phones. It's fairly common to see people with 6" phones here now.
But check out Aliexpress.com, and you will find lots of small form factors, if you're ok with ordering direct from China.
I completely agree. The N1 was a very ergonomic phone. I use my N4 one-handed; my wife uses hers like a small tablet (two hands). I don't have small hands, but I have to shift my grip to reach all four corners of the screen. Each shift is a chance to drop the phone, so it carries a higher cognitive load than a smaller 3.5" device. The narrow screen on the iPhone 5 is an almost perfect size for me.
If you're interested in good, smaller Android phones, keep an eye on Sony. The current rumor is that the mini-edition of their next flagship will keep the high-end specs of its larger sibling (except for the screen resolution, of course).
I spent about $9,000 on Amazon across 139 orders in 2018. I buy a lot on Amazon. I've never had a problem with receiving knockoff products. I don't understand how this can be such a prevalent issue when I've not run into it, given how much I use Amazon.
The only thing I can think is that, if I'm buying something expensive, I'll strictly only purchase items "Sold by: Amazon.com Services, Inc" or alternatively, I'll use a marketplace seller if the seller is the manufacturer of the item I'm buying.