Seven Things

01 - Why are phones so huge? Recently, the battery in my old phone (old model that is quite small) is having a slow death so I had to get a replacement and the choices are large phones. Why? Why do we need such large screens on a phone? I'm a simple person. I don't use a phone for anything but calls and texting. I also don't need a 1,000 options and apps to customize it to the point of extreme personalizing. And it's so damm heavy. I guess I can use it as a weapon when necessary.

02 - Why do MacDonald's (and maybe other fast food places) now have restaurant-like services? Recently, I went into a MacDonald's (after almost a decade) and they now have machines you can place your order (which is fine) and then you take one of those plastic thingie with a number and sit at a table and wait for the food to come to you. This is a fast food place where you eat with your hands and not some fancy restaurant so I felt stupid sitting and waiting and the service isn't fast because I could have gotten the food while waiting for them to bring it to me. Why can't a fast food place stay a stay food place?

03 - Why products I used are now lower in quality? So yes, nothing last forever but some things are made to last longer just a year. I guess with everything being more expensive, they lower the quality to save money but at the same time, they up the prices so how is that justifiable? I suppose I should be grateful they are still making the products I use but I'm sad by this because everything will eventually not be produced or will be produced in low quality or be sold at double or triple the price and in even lower quality. What can one do aside from using alternatives?

04 - Why are some Wordpress commenting option hidden? Example 1 is what I sometimes sees on a wordpress blog. Readers must sign into wordpress or facebook to comment, there is no other option. I no longer have a wordpress account and I definitely never had a facebook page so no way will I be able to sign in to comment. So yes, I can open a wordpress account but I really don't want to. 

example 1

Example 2 is where you have the option of signing into wordpress or facebook but you can leave a comment without having to sign in at all. If you don't sign in, you don't get to leave your blog link which is not a good thing because then the blogger won't know where to return a visit. Yes, you can leave a url link (the whole address written out) with your comment but I find that a bit ill-mannered as if you're begging for a return visit and also, your comment might be marked as spam.

example 2

    And then there is the third option (from example 2) - the email icon option - I had not tried it because I thought this is where you give your email which doesn't seem useful but it turns out, if you click on it, it shows the hidden options to enter your blog's link/website (and email and name) but I never knew that.

example 2B

    Maybe everyone knew about this but I just found out recently but I'm sharing this just case somebody didn't know. Of course, I haven't tested out every wordpress blog so who knows, such options might not existed at all depending on a blogger's settings and preferences. 

05 - Lately, I've noticed these AI generated thumbnails at youtube and they seemed fine other than overly perfectly people looking like each other but also, these are fake people who are not in the video so there's that. But while they looked normal at a glance, they are not. Notice the hands - extra fingers, extra hands & arms, deformed hands and holding hands or when fingers intertwined or overlapped, the fingers are scrambled together or somehow merged. I don't know if I should be horrified or amused by these thumbnails. So here are some thumbnails for you to judge.

06 - The whole amazon issue about not allowing customers to download their purchased ebooks is something I would not make a fuss over. Anything we buy digitally (books, movies, shows, apps, etc), we are purchasing licenses to use them so no real ownership. But I get why it's a bit infuriating. People should be allowed to download their purchased ebooks, convert them to other formats and use them on any devices they want but I guess I'm too lazy because I don't like to waste time downloading, converting, moving files around when I could be reading.

07 - I no longer buy ebooks and will only read borrowed library books. Last year, I brought a kobo clara bw and I had been using it to read library books and hadn't purchased a single ebook since. Honestly, I would have given up my kindle (maybe sell it or something) if I sometimes don't need it to read library books. Even with kobo's overdrive function, there are times I can't get the books onto the kobo without having to download/upload them onto the device which is a bit of work so instead, I'll read the kindle format. But even with two ereaders, there are still books I cannot read on either devices because there are books that can only be read right on the website (library's or the overdrive's website) so that's one downside. I'm used to living the frugal life so having two ereaders is a bit excessive but it's totally justified because I saved a lot by not purchasing books or so I tell myself. I suppose if I give up reading books that can't be read on a kobo, I might be able to give up my kindle.

What's on your mind these days?