Life

[Garple]

A couple of years ago mine said, with apparent seriousness, that he was going to vote communist. Things may well have changed since then, though.

You're from England though, which seems to be quite different from the US, politically (if I'm wrong I'm sorry for my ignorance). I imagine you've never heard Glen Beck and the like. They are truly enormous fuckjobs who have no business pretending to have anything to do with the news. I have no problem with conservatives (I see myself as a moderate, in between the two parties) but Beck, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Coulter and others are simply complicit propaganda pushers and I take issue with anyone who thinks differently.

[Squid Division]

I don't disagree with anything you said, but to play devil's advocate, it's not any different on the other side in the US.

Also, [to be clear, no one in this thread has indicated anything like this, but many in America have] people act like politics are any different now than they have ever been, and that it's categorically worse. No Country For Old Men syndrome if you will. Politics in this country, and from what I've heard/studied, have always been in just about every country. The most famous example is the Congressman beating the living shit out of another one with his cane while the second man was still sitting in his chair.

[James]

You're from England though, which seems to be quite different from the US, politically (if I'm wrong I'm sorry for my ignorance).

It probably is, but the communist party is barely existent, so it's not exactly a common choice. I don't know about how conservative people are in general. The Daily Mail is popular, which is pretty conservative. It's not the same thing, though, sure. I was just making a passing comment.

I imagine you've never heard Glen Beck and the like.

Actually, Charlie Brooker

. Other than Beck, the whole Internet probably knows about O'Reilly, and half of it Coulter. Other than that I'm pretty ignorant though, yes.

[syntheticgerbil]

Hooray! Someone just now somehow stole my credit card number and decided to spend $800+ at Neiman Marcus!

The shipping address the Neiman Marcus representatives gave me (which was not at all in Texas, where I live) was to a house in a developing neighborhood in Mcdonough, Georgia that no on lives at or has not been moved into yet if Google street Maps and Florida real estates have anything to go by.

I've had this happen before, and I know I shouldn't have a credit card, but I'm not interested in fully paying it off yet, since it comes in handy when buying things overseas. Last time the person weirdly only spent $15 at emusic.com and then rented me 8 Netflix DVDs which were sent to me at my apartment complex.

Anyways, enjoy your expensive shoes and handbag, you cunt!

Edited March 19, 2010 by syntheticgerbil

[brkl]

Yikes! That suuuucks... Can you do anything about that? :(

The Netflix story is somehow awesome... were the movies any good?

[syntheticgerbil]

Yikes! That suuuucks... Can you do anything about that? :(

The Netflix story is somehow awesome... were the movies any good?

Yeah, I'm protected, I'm not held responsible for any of the money (at least a maximum of $50 according to fraud laws). It just makes me mad either way.

I forgot what all of the movies were besides Son of Mask. They were basically all new releases from the summer of 2008, so I either saw them or wasn't interested in watching any of them.

I actually found out about that particular fraud because the guy renting the Netflix videos for me also used the e-mail attached to my credit card account, in which I was promptly notified that my movies were being shipped to me. Considering I check my e-mail way more often than I do my credit card balance, this was really bizarre. I called Netflix soon after and explained what was going on and then had my Credit Card company cancel the number. Netflix instructed me to ship them back.

Two weeks later, I received a threatening call from Netflix where the guy was telling me to send the eight movies back or I'd have to pay $20 for each of them. I told him I had already sent them back, but that he should be nice to me since there's no way for him to charge me the $20 per DVD as the credit card they have on file for me no longer works.

[elmuerte]

I just love how they can create a payment system around 16 magic digits.

[toblix]

I just love how they can create a payment system around 16 magic digits.

What would you propose instead? I mean, it's not a perfect system, but it's not completely crazy as it is.

[SignorSuperdouche]

Biometrics! They're infallyable I tells ya!

[OssK]

Yeah, so you go to a store, have your body scanned, or maybe you'd like to do it remotely ? So something scans something and sends it… WAIT data transfer, can be faked…

[Roderick]

I prefer the good ol' leather pouch with silver coins in there. Worked for Judas, works for me.

[Armchair General]

We should only trade in gold coins and goats.

[brkl]

I propose 256 magic digits.

[syntheticgerbil]

256 digits would make me want to spend less.

Having a bunch of goats around would make me want to spend more.

[Garple]

Ugh...just read my earlier posts in this thread. Sorry for my quasi-political rantings, guys. I must remember not to combine the Idle Thumbs forums and beer.

[Armchair General]

Ugh...just read my earlier posts in this thread. Sorry for my quasi-political rantings, guys. I must remember not to combine the Idle Thumbs forums and beer.

Nonsense! I am always interested in what others have to say about their country and it's politics, health service, culture, whatever really. Better to have some kind of opinion than be a total dullard. More I say, more!

[elmuerte]

What would you propose instead? I mean, it's not a perfect system, but it's not completely crazy as it is.

Challenge/response using a one time pad. (and an account number + PIN)

[toblix]

Challenge/response using a one time pad. (and an account number + PIN)

Oh, but that's what I'm currently using. I guess it hasn't been implemented everywhere yet, but I do have the choice of having to confirm each payment with a generated pin and a password.

[Nachimir]

Yeah, there are quite a few banks over here that have implemented little calculator-like PIN generators that you put your credit card into.

[Sombre]

Okay, so. Last night(?), I slept from 10am-1pm, after an incrediibly successful night of Spelunking (Opened up second shortcut after 2 weeks, heck yes). So, I wake up at 1, annoyed, tired and irritable. I think to myself, "I'll just check my fucking animal crossing mail" then. "Oh Hey, Matoya!! You're just in time for today's fishing tournament... See More!!"

My heart jumps up into my throat, as I forgot all about it. Booked it top speed to the beach, caught 2 sea bass, and got to town hall. "Oh hey buddy, sea bass only day". Things were already in my favour. I rode into town on my fucking trusty steed, threw the fish at the beaver judge. "Oh Sorry, this is 33inches, and the record held by Goldie so far is 36.4, better luck next time, nyuk nyuk nyuk"

I gave him my second one. 48 inches. Excuse me while I sip my victory coke, boys!

[Scrobbs]

That sounds like foreign language.

[ThunderPeel2001]

We should only trade in gold coins and goats.

Or WOW Gold!

[Armchair General]

Okay, so. Last night(?), I slept from 10am-1pm, after an incrediibly successful night of Spelunking (Opened up second shortcut after 2 weeks, heck yes). So, I wake up at 1, annoyed, tired and irritable. I think to myself, "I'll just check my fucking animal crossing mail" then. "Oh Hey, Matoya!! You're just in time for today's fishing tournament... See More!!"

My heart jumps up into my throat, as I forgot all about it. Booked it top speed to the beach, caught 2 sea bass, and got to town hall. "Oh hey buddy, sea bass only day". Things were already in my favour. I rode into town on my fucking trusty steed, threw the fish at the beaver judge. "Oh Sorry, this is 33inches, and the record held by Goldie so far is 36.4, better luck next time, nyuk nyuk nyuk"

I gave him my second one. 48 inches. Excuse me while I sip my victory coke, boys!

Too much Meow Meow?!

[Garple]

I didn't know people still played Animal Crossing.

Also: Guys I'm trying to quit drinking, or at least drinking alone and then being a dork on the internet. I've posted here many times under the influence over the past few months, so I apologize if I've been dumb, obnoxious or annoying at any point. I need to find a more constructive way to deal with my loneliness. Does anyone else have experience with this issue?

Also: Also: A couple weeks ago I bought New Super Mario Bros. Wii as a birthday present for my 57 year old father. He's not "a gamer" per se, but I've gotten him interested since the Wii has come out (he actually bought one after much heated competition between us in Wii Sports). We've had a blast with Wii Sports, Sports Resort and also Boom Blox: Bash Party and I was thinking back on when I was a tiny Groucho and my dad and I had so much fun playing through Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country, plus I saw him eyeing the game when we were in Best Buy once. It dawned on me that this would be an awesome way for us to spend some quality time together now that co-op mario bros. was a reality. He was really excited to recieve that gift and we've been having tons of fun so far. Does anyone else have any stories about gaming with their parents?

[miffy495]

I used to play a lot of Lemmings with my mom, but that was about the last time she really liked a game. We played a bit of the original Mario Kart back in the day too, but mode 7 graphics quickly made her motion sick. That was about the last time. My dad was already 52 when I was born, so despite being surprisingly tech-savvy for a man born in the '30s (always had to have the latest shiny thing) he had kind of missed the boat on video gaming. That said, he always watched and took an interest, which was appreciated.