Life

[Badfinger]

Now I'm self conscious about my vision.

[N1njaSquirrel]

My work had a 'company review' over the last month, and now 4 people have been made redundant in less than a week, and people who have worked there for over 8 years are either gone or had their posts removed and they have to apply for the new roles, which they might not even get.

 

We are a very small company of about 20 people too, so we have effectively lost 1/3 of our work colleagues. There was no ceremony when they left either, just a sudden absence of people. All that means is that the workload is increased and the people who are gone have left their roles with all their knowledge and none of it emparted on us. This week is going to be grim, to say the least

[Henroid]

I finally got on board with the 21st century and got a smartphone. I feel old and awkward trying to figure out the intricacies of this tech. I know nothing about it. All I know is my job sells a ton of accessories for it.

[Vorlonesque]

I habitually go too long before replacing my glasses, and so still get the super disorienting day or two of adjusting to a new pair. 

I went maybe 3 years too long this last time or maybe even longer.  I didn't get the glasses replaced the time before either, so I had the same glasses for probably 7-8 years or more.  He (the eye doctor) said that it was even border line this last time whether I needed them or not since I'd only changed a little bit.  I still needed them because the old lenses were starting to wear out and were scratched all to hell, and the frames were falling apart.  This wasn't planned or anything; I just kept forgetting to make an appointment for years because its something I never actually think about.

 

Edit:

I finally got on board with the 21st century and got a smartphone. I feel old and awkward trying to figure out the intricacies of this tech. I know nothing about it. All I know is my job sells a ton of accessories for it.

I finally did the same thing about a year and a half ago (summer of 2013).  They finally let us have phones with cameras in them at work so it was an option and after a bit I found a provider that was nice and cheap (Republic).  I eventually upgraded to a Moto X (which is what I have now), though I may eventually switch to AT&T or Verizon because I end up roaming at work with Republic (they use Sprint's towers).  I'm waiting for either AT&T or Verizon to start offering voice over Wifi so that I can get phone calls to my cell phone at home (there isn't any cell reception of any kind at my house); when that happens I'll probably get an Xperia Z3 Compact since I like my Xperia Z2 Tablet (I actually have 4G service with it through AT&T so that I can check my personal email at work).

 

2nd Edit:

Here's a pic of the phone I took a while back when I was burning in my headphones I recently bought.

[Gormongous]

I finally did the same thing about a year and a half ago (summer of 2013).  They finally let us have phones with cameras in them at work so it was an option and after a bit I found a provider that was nice and cheap (Republic).  I eventually upgraded to a Moto X (which is what I have now), though I may eventually switch to AT&T or Verizon because I end up roaming at work with Republic (they use Sprint's towers).  I'm waiting for either AT&T or Verizon to start offering voice over Wifi so that I can get phone calls to my cell phone at home (there isn't any cell reception of any kind at my house); when that happens I'll probably get an Xperia Z3 Compact since I like my Xperia Z2 Tablet (I actually have 4G service with it through AT&T so that I can check my personal email at work).

 

A bit of a digression, but I'm fucking nuts about my Moto X. Its speed and battery life over the long term blows the previous two smartphones I had out of the water, both of which were Xperias, but maybe you'll be luckier than me.

[Ben X]

I woke up with not only the song "What Makes You Beautiful", but also the realisation that it's a shitty patriarchy song telling young girls that they have to be insecure to be attractive, stuck in my head. THE PATRIARCHY IS EVERYWHERE AND NOW I CAN'T STOP SEEING IT.

[Griddlelol]

I don't know whether to get a new phone or not. My current phone does everything I want (although it's a bit slow and google maps doesn't work) but has a cracked screen. I just feel like upgrading from my old Nokia to an iphone was revolutionary, but upgrading from a 4 year old iphone to a new one won't change much. I'll be excited, but after a day it'll just be the same phone, but I've thrown £X00 away to get it.

[osmosisch]

burning in my headphones

Huh, thanks for pointing me down a fascinating rabbit hole. What a crazy world.

http://www.wired.com/2013/11/tnhyui-earphone-burn-in/

[Bolegium]

Yeah the empirical audiophile in me winces every time I see the phrase "burn-in". That MDR-7506(?) should sound the same as any other 7506, if there's a difference after "burning in" it's most likely your own brain adjusting to the frequency response curve of the headphones.

 

At least 'burn in' isn't as ridiculous and offensive to me as $50+ HDMI cables, I have been really tempted in the past to just go into an electronics store and start arguing with a poor salesperson about how fucking wrong that is. Thankfully I don't.

[castorp]

Huh, thanks for pointing me down a fascinating rabbit hole. What a crazy world.

http://www.wired.com/2013/11/tnhyui-earphone-burn-in/

He, rabbit hole indeed. Thanks osmosisch, the first mention by Vorlonesque totally didn't register.

[Vorlonesque]

Yeah the empirical audiophile in me winces every time I see the phrase "burn-in". That MDR-7506(?) should sound the same as any other 7506, if there's a difference after "burning in" it's most likely your own brain adjusting to the frequency response curve of the headphones.

 

At least 'burn in' isn't as ridiculous and offensive to me as $50+ HDMI cables, I have been really tempted in the past to just go into an electronics store and start arguing with a poor salesperson about how fucking wrong that is. Thankfully I don't.

Yeah, I wasn't sure if it was bullshit or not...but I saw it recommended everywhere so I thought "hey, it couldn't hurt to run them for a few days before I use them again since I'm buying them for work (at the time it was Christmas and I'd taken Friday off so I thought a 4 day weekend would be a good time to do something stupid)."

 

They did seem to be less painful (as in not painful) on a couple songs that had a lot of treble in them, but that could just be psychological or more likely the tiny bit of EQ work I did to adjust them to my liking.  Burning them in was 90% just to placate my brother who swore up and down that it was a good idea to do so I could tell him "yeah I did that."

[JonCole]

I love those Sony headphones, I used them for a while and since switched to two different PC headsets that are infinitely less comfortable and sound worse. Considering I don't even use the mic that often, I'll probably switch back sooner or later.

 

I probably should update my vision prescription soon, though last time I went the optometrist told me that he didn't anticipate my vision changing much for several years (it had been 3-4 years since I had gone the last time, and the change was only minor that time). Plus, since I order my glasses online nobody seems to care my my prescription is super-old.

[dibs]

My astigmatism seems to slowly be revolving, but i think the overall strength of my prescription has stayed roughly the same since i was around 20. Handy to have a few spare pairs of glasses as backup!

[Badfinger]

I don't know whether to get a new phone or not. My current phone does everything I want (although it's a bit slow and google maps doesn't work) but has a cracked screen. I just feel like upgrading from my old Nokia to an iphone was revolutionary, but upgrading from a 4 year old iphone to a new one won't change much. I'll be excited, but after a day it'll just be the same phone, but I've thrown £X00 away to get it.

 

I feel similarly. I used to chase that electronic dragon. I had 4 phones in maybe less than 3 years. Then I got an iPhone, and the battery life made me content with my fancy pocket computer. That was two years ago, and it's starting to slide down the inevitable battery death slope that all my phones have had. I'd like nice battery life again, and Android phones have really improved in that regard, but I'm whiny and old now and don't want to put in the effort to find the best phone, and yet I don't really know that I just want to point at the newest iPhone and go "THAT ONE" like a child.

[JonCole]

I feel similarly. I used to chase that electronic dragon. I had 4 phones in maybe less than 3 years. Then I got an iPhone, and the battery life made me content with my fancy pocket computer. That was two years ago, and it's starting to slide down the inevitable battery death slope that all my phones have had. I'd like nice battery life again, and Android phones have really improved in that regard, but I'm whiny and old now and don't want to put in the effort to find the best phone, and yet I don't really know that I just want to point at the newest iPhone and go "THAT ONE" like a child.

 

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-android-phone/

[Vorlonesque]

I just ordered a replacement CRT for my 7-8 year old (well its older, but it was supposedly new when I got it...so I guess "used for 7-8 years" would be more accurate) GDM 5411. New monitor is the same model and supposed to be "new old stock" so hopefully its newish. I really like CRTs and the look of the picture they give (nice black levels and no input lag with the ability to run a number of different resolutions with minimal loss of image quality, though I run most things at 1920x1440 @ 75Hz anyway). The old one still looks good, but it takes far longer to warm up than it used to and that is a sign that its getting a little worn out.

As to headphones I should probably mention I'm the furthest thing from an audiophile. I'm not sure if I ever could be one given that I'm missing 1/3 to 2/3 of my right mastoid from a surgery I had in 4th grade (they said I didn't lose any hearing at the time, but I'd imagine quality of hearing probably suffered...and its been many years since I've had my hearing tested). The surgery removed a Cholesteatoma and its weird that I knew 2 or 3 other kids who had the same thing in a town of ~4000 people...wonder if there was some sort of environmental factor at play or if it was just a weird anomaly of chance.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholesteatoma

[SecretAsianMan]

I'm about ready for a new phone as well.  My current phone (the Nexus 4) is starting to behave strangely, doing things like randomly turning itself off or the battery heating up more than usual.  I love new tech but the practical part of me is strong enough to prevent me from getting a new one every year.  That and the fact that I'm broke.  Hopefully my phone will last until I can get another.

[Bjorn]

My nexus 4 has the same behavior with randomly shutting down, though it only happens about once a week or so.  I've never had a phone I liked more than it, so I'm loathe to upgrade. 

 

On phones, I'm super frustrated with carriers again.  We're on TMobile, which I love for their plan structure and pricing, but ultimately their network blows.  We get shit coverage at our house, they have terrible roaming agreements, and WiFi calling doesn't work with the Nexus series.  But I really don't want to see our bill double in order to go to one of the other big 3, particularly when so much of that fee is related to data service.  Collectively we use less than 1GB a month on three phones.   Sprint is cheaper/fairer than the other two, but still would have to get all new handsets for all of us. 

[Badfinger]

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-android-phone/

 

Believe it or not, I was reading that page right as I was writing the post. It's still not totally cut and dried, and they basically say the iPhone 6 is the best.

[SecretAsianMan]

My nexus 4 has the same behavior with randomly shutting down, though it only happens about once a week or so.  I've never had a phone I liked more than it, so I'm loathe to upgrade. 

 

On phones, I'm super frustrated with carriers again.  We're on TMobile, which I love for their plan structure and pricing, but ultimately their network blows.  We get shit coverage at our house, they have terrible roaming agreements, and WiFi calling doesn't work with the Nexus series.  But I really don't want to see our bill double in order to go to one of the other big 3, particularly when so much of that fee is related to data service.  Collectively we use less than 1GB a month on three phones.   Sprint is cheaper/fairer than the other two, but still would have to get all new handsets for all of us. 

 

I know what you mean.  I'm using AT&T because I don't really have another choice.  T-Mobile has terrible coverage at home and there's absolutely ZERO signal at work so it's simply not an option for me.  I'm not a fan of Sprint either because I've used them before and got terrible customer service (although no technical issues to speak of).

[JonCole]

I use Verizon pretty much only for coverage and bandwidth reasons. I seem to be on their LTE about 90% of the time and at almost all times I get crazy good download speeds (like, I can download a 30MB app update in about 5 seconds). I actually don't even use my work wi-fi, because in places like the bathroom I get faster/more consistent LTE. Verizon is relatively poor on pricing, phone selection, and international roaming but they do tend to at least sell all the major flagship devices and they come unlocked so you can dodge expensive roaming by getting a prepaid SIM while traveling.

 

At some point, if I'm going to be locked in for two years I might as well value the stuff that matters like coverage over the more transient stuff like switching phones too often or whatever.

[Apple Cider]

This is why I'm on Verizon - I got cell service in the middle of Death Valley. Like literally off-road in the desert.

[Architecture]

T-Mobile is fine in certain markets. Here in Austin, it's easily comparable to AT&T or Verizon, and since my parents and I consolidated our plans back in December, we're paying about $140 a month for three lines with unlimited everything, versus $270+ for capped data. I think even with my EIP for a new phone, it's about $170 a month for everything.

 

I went with the Sony Xperia Z3, and I like it thus far. I wasn't intending to replace my Nexus 5, but an errant drop back in October just shattered the display. Use cases, people!

[Nachimir]

I have a HTC One M8, but I might look at selling it and getting something else. It's a bit too big, the camera is awful, and it has this horrible dual camera gimmick that does a bad imitation of a Lytro, but won't fool anyone who's spent time staring through camera lenses.

[Bjorn]

If I switch, it will probably be back to Sprint.  Of all my phone services, I've never been happier with call quality, coverage or network stability than I was with Sprint.  I ran a remote business location off one of their 3G USB Sticks years before that was a thing you could do with any other carrier.  Oddly, I never even had the customer service issues other people did, but then, I think I only needed help from CS a couple of times over the course of a decade.  We only left because they were not handling the transition to smartphones well, plans were a nightmare, crazy expensive and there was no ability to mix n' match features between phones within one plan (so with my family plan my kid would have ended up with all the same bells, whistles and data rates that I needed on my work phone, needlessly driving up the price of the plan).  But all that seems to have become much more sane and reasonable in the last few years.

 

I'd rather stay with TMobile though, its still cheaper.  We just got a free wireless router from them, one that is supposed to be able to prioritize their WiFi calling better, thus improving call quality in the house for everyone but me with my Nexus.  I spent a chunk of this morning trying to set up wireless calling using my Google Voice number through pbxes.org.  I got outgoing calls working (which already worked through the GVoice app, so no gain there), but couldn't get them to ring in.  I'm sure there's some setting in the remote server or trunk setup I missed.