News thread

Can you believe this tripe?  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-21/forcing-shoppers-to-self-checkout-risks-consumer-backlash/6636702

Yeah, I soooo miss having to go through staffed checkouts in stores, with the insulting insincere and frankly intrusive "how are you?" every time, the cues that take forever, and the inevitable inane conversation starter.  Then there's the over filling bags to breaking point, mixing cold foods with hot foods, fresh foods with cleaning agents, and all that wonderful incompetence that for the longest time made me yearn for self-service.

I for one love self-serve, and the day they became the norm was the day I started actually not disliking shopping for groceries.  I honestly cannot fathom how someone can actually be so out of touch that they fail to realize the boon they provide, I'm sure the checkout staff were just as happy to not have to spend time checking out my 600ml daily drink as I was having to spend ten minutes in a cue to purchase it.


/inane news followed by more inane rant

As someone that works in a supermarket and told there the future, I hate them as half the time stuff doesn't scan, it's age restricted and for me to use my discount card. A person has to come sort it out, guess what would be easier actaully going to the person in the first place also there taking jobs away from people why have 10 checkout operators when you can have 1 person watching 10 self scans.

Also thefts through them that I think Morrisons have got rid of self scans due to how much they lose on thefts because of them.

In completely unrelated (but possibly equally inane) news, Ashley Madison hacked.

There's a link on that page to an article that attacks the hack as a gross invasion of privacy. This may be so, and maybe one in a thousand users are kept in a violent marriage that they can't get out of and use the site to escape. I'm still coming down on the side of "tee hee hee" here.

You just work in a crap supermarket mas :p
We have self service and I know they're much preferred by a lot of people. They also don't have much impact on planned theft. Old folks moaning about them do my head in; you want a till? We've still got them!

Bit on them at Morrisons, but I swear I saw something about thefts somewhere about them

You get a bit of opportunistic pinching, but big time the Ives still prefer old fashioned walk outs.

Of course, but I bet it adds up to a few pounds.

I don't really use them anywhere, but the worst has to be the bank it's all computers now with a few people stood by them. Why not just have those people behind a counter.

Might be because I live in old people central but I generally find myself wishing for more rather than less self service stuff.

To me it's taking jobs from people and if you read that article was it a 1000 jobs made, that's a fair few. So imagine if all got rid of them, how many people that are out of work then would at least have something.

Correct people want something than nothing and lots of people are fans with supermarkets because the stock or the people are amazing
They use technology and machines to make things instead of the human being scanning or making something it's disgusting generation
just because it's a lot easier and faster doesn't mean it should be replace for people who want a job, want to save and want to work.
All they care about is the money of being selfish for there company that all it is and the bankers being greedy every min of the day
the sooner people wake up to know this the better understanding we get our jobs back for our children and people who are born in this country
Do people deserve to work until they hit 70 years old drop die at work? NO! Everyone deserve to retire with a pension what workers deserve
I've seen lots of jobs been boarded up and gone even my local doctors is gone and that bloody important to have in your life?

masofdas wrote:

Of course, but I bet it adds up to a few pounds.

I don't really use them anywhere, but the worst has to be the bank it's all computers now with a few people stood by them. Why not just have those people behind a counter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stbxEDPwlTI

Balladeer wrote:

I addressed this in the news thread, in passing, so I don't really want to go into it in this thread.  In short, no I don't agree that all cheats are villainous; yes I'm happy to see the overwhelming majority of them get their comeuppance.

Speaking as someone who has been cheated on, and she's now married to him, I absolutely hate the narrative here or anywhere that cheaters are "wrong" or deserving of "comeuppance". Apart from those with extenuating circumstances, I'll admit that it's a betrayal of the partner in question but it's a personal affair. I also think the institution of marriage is still misused grievously around the world and I suspect the number of people on this website in unpleasant situations from which they feel there is no escape is a lot more than one in a thousand. People can't help who they fall in love with and nobody deserves the details of their personal life leaked.

I don't want to discuss this issue too much in this thread either. It's one that is as personal to me as it is to you, and painful still. However, I'll set my stall out, and all the words in the world won't change it, I'm afraid.


If somebody cheats on their partner and makes a conscious decision not to tell them, that's lying. The partner deserves to know.

I'm trying to think of circumstances in which it is acceptable to cheat, and the only one I can come up with is where the person not only feels trapped, but actually is trapped. They can't divorce or leave their partners because they're realistically afraid that if they try, they'll come to harm. In these cases, cheating may offer a new lease of life.

In other cases - you've got children? You're worried for your reputation? You just don't want to get in trouble? Don't cheat then. Talk to your partner if there's some way they aren't satisfying you. I'm an utter milksop, terribly afraid of confrontation, so if I can discuss my relationship issues, so can other people - before they shag someone else. That it's tough doesn't enter into it: it's the decent thing to do, so suck it up.

And if you've done it, and didn't talk about it with your partner (presumably having first closed down your Ashley Madison account), and it goes public, tough shit! It is wrong, it is vile, and yes, you deserve everything you get.

Assuming (MASSIVE CAVEAT) it's not domestic violence, of course. Nothing deserves that.


There's an entirely different stall to set out about those who have already come clean and talked about it with their partner, and it then goes viral. That's not fair. At that point, with everything out in the open between the two people (or more I guess, if you have an exclusive ménage a trois), it's between the two* people only.

And actually, now that I've done a bit of a Google, the hackers are claiming that they've accessed deleted accounts as well. There I have an issue.

And there's the issue of people who may have signed up on a whim, not done anything, and this might throw their relationships into disrepair. Signing up by itself ain't a crime. So yeah, it's more nuanced than I gave it credit for initially.


That said, fuck cheaters. Sorry Drunka, you may hate my narrative, but it is my firm view that cheating (and hiding it afterwards) is wrong and despicable in the majority of cases. It's a thing so disgusting that I'm shaking even typing about it.

Feel free to have the final word on this if you like, but I can't talk about it any further. Sorry, I just can't.

Balladeer wrote:

my firm view that cheating (and hiding it afterwards) is wrong and despicable in the majority of cases.  It's a thing so disgusting that I'm shaking even typing about it.

I don't disagree with you there, and now that you've expanded a bit I don't really disagree with you on anything. I just took offence at your earlier comments which came across pro-hacker and tarred everyone with one brush.

Quote :

Feel free to have the final word on this if you like, but I can't talk about it any further.  Sorry, I just can't.

Ooh I will, and the final word is this:

...Well played.

Some people will be pleased; others, less so.

tl;dc: Top Gear dudes working for Amazon in near future. I heard that it'll cost £4.4 million per episode.

I'd rather it was Netflix as I've already got that and I've no intention to go for Amazon Prime.

On the one hand, inevitable. On the other hand, why can't they just fade into obscurity?

I think they're tossers but I know people enjoy the #bantz so fair play to them. At least they won't be spreading xenophobia and climate change denial on the bbc any more, that's something.

I can't wait, shame it's not on Netflix though

Drunkalilly wrote:

I think they're tossers but I know people enjoy the #bantz so fair play to them. At least they won't be spreading xenophobia and climate change denial on the bbc any more, that's something.

I'm a little less agreeable to such #bantz being enjoyed or existing at all when it's racism for comic effect.

There's more to their schtick than just the jingoism, and I've never quite figured out if they're just characters or not.

If you're a "character" with those aspects, it probably ought to be made clear.

Octopus genome cracked. Turns out they're really clever. Almost... too clever.

I love watching and reading about octopus intelligence. They're amazing animals!