GRIPES

[old man emu]

Ha! Ha!

It's good to see software developers falling victim to the very thing that we end-users have to endure. Glitzy, "look what I did" additions to software that have no other purpose but to baffle and bemuse the person who simply wants to use the software to facilitate meeting core business requirements.

[red750]

Forgotten most of what I knew (which wasn't much), but created a couple of relational databases with MS Access 20 odd years ago.

[Jerry_Atrick]

I still use MS Access today

[red750]

In addition to MS Access, I also maintained and rewrote an online reference system on the superannuation admin company intranet. The company handled all back office functions for 8 or 9 industry super funds, and call centre CSO's could handle up to 4 funds. The system allowed a CSO to call up what was essentially an online member guide for a fund, or reference to legal requirements, to answer member enquiries. Someone else developed the original system, and the guy maintaining it resigned. I was given one afternoon to learn how to made updates. I did not know HTML, so had a steep learning curve. The tool used to make the updates was MS FrontPage. I eventually rewrote the original system to make it simpler and more powerful. The company would not spend money on software or support, so I did not have access to such things as cascading style sheets, etc.

[old man emu]

I thought cascading style sheets described what happened when you tripped at the top of the stairs and spilled the armfull of documents you were carrying. 

[rgmwa]

I did one year of a post graduate course in computing years ago as I had thoughts of a career writing engineering software as there was virtually nothing available for desktop computers in those days.  Unfortunately I couldn't finish the course due to pressure of work and family. The peak of my achievement was adding some language extensions to a compiler and learning the difference between my self taught programming and how real programmers did things. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and spent some three thousand hours programming over the years. Even sold some software as well developing applications that our company used. Eventually, professionally developed applications outpaced what I could do on my own and the world moved on, but it was fun while it lasted.

 

[spenaroo]

so I'm officially old.

been having movement problems the last month or two.
had put it down to Vitamin D and B deficiencies in the blood work.
but wasn't recovering as fast as it should....

well X-rays came back today and I have arthritis in my hips.
not what I expected to hear at 31yrs old

[Old Koreelah]

3 hours ago, red750 said:

In addition to MS Access, I also maintained and rewrote an online reference system on the superannuation admin company intranet. The company handled all back office functions for 8 or 9 industry super funds, and call centre CSO's could handle up to 4 funds. The system allowed a CSO to call up what was essentially an online member guide for a fund, or reference to legal requirements, to answer member enquiries.

I’d like to see someone develop a safer way for us mere mortals to regularly check our bank accounts, in case some low-life has been stealing our money.

Currently, the only way to do so is log in, exposing all our security info. That makes us vulnerable to hackers. 

There’s a big security difference between looking at our money and getting our hands on it.

[spenaroo]

1 hour ago, Old Koreelah said:

I’d like to see someone develop a safer way for us mere mortals to regularly check our bank accounts, in case some low-life has been stealing our money.

Currently, the only way to do so is log in, exposing all our security info. That makes us vulnerable to hackers. 

There’s a big security difference between looking at our money and getting our hands on it.

My banks phone app lets me do this,

shows the balance on the home screen. But have to login to actually make any transactions

[red750]

I suppose I'm vulnerable. I log on to the Bank website 2 or 3 times a day sometimes. I also keep an Excel spreadsheet of all transactions, virtually a mirror of the bank statement. I can constantly monitor the balance to ensure it remains the same as the bank statement. I have a number of bills coming through by direct debit throughout the month, and can ensure there is sufficient in the account to cover them. If not, I can transfer money from a secure savings account which will only transfer to of from my regular day to day account.

[Old Koreelah]

10 minutes ago, red750 said:

I suppose I'm vulnerable. I log on to the Bank website 2 or 3 times a day…

That’s the sort of exposure to hackers that I want to reduce; even if I use a “secure” network, eventually the parasites are likely to find a way to “eavesdrop”.

[red750]

Back in the day, the CBAL used Burroughs computers programmed in COBOL. When we merged with BNSW, we had to switch to IBM computers and PL/1. I had the task of co-ordinating the programming using an English workflow management programme (can't remember the name of it), at a bureau. Gantt charts and all that, showing task dependencies. I was in Melbourne and the Senior Manager in the tech develoment area would come down from Sydney once a week, go over the charts and decide if reallocation of resources was required.

[spacesailor]

I must be Old ! .

If any withdrawal  is other than " Aldi " it is the bank .

If the bank authorises  'Any ' withdrawal I will dispute it as " unauthorised "  ( it was a letter statement  )

Please replenish my account. 

spacesailor

[red750]

Bloody Melbourne weather. A blue moon tonight - second full moon in a month. But typically, we won't be able to see it due to bloody clouds! Have to wait years for the next one.

[facthunter]

It's not an exam question. I nearly failed a blood test the other day. Better study harder. I'll drink more water next time.  Nev

[spacesailor]

I popped my head outside. ( last night  ) There , vertically above me was that  'small ' full moon .

In a clearing of the clouds.

Tonight it was a little above the horizon & looked much  bigger..

spacesailor

 

[onetrack]

Clear skies and fine days here on the Left Coast - and the moon has been stunning in clear night skies, for the last few days.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Rub it in to the Melbournittes, fellas! Rub it in....

[facthunter]

We're full and the place is as bad as you reckon it is.  Nev

[nomadpete]

34 minutes ago, facthunter said:

We're full and the place is as bad as you reckon it is.  Nev

That's what I keep tellin  all my mainland rellies!

[onetrack]

Here's my gripe for the week .......

 

We've got a Rheem continuous-flow gas HWS. It's about 5 years old. It's the model with no pilot light, and no electric power connection. It contains a battery and a little hydro-generator to ignite the flame and recharge the Li-ion battery.

 

It started playing up a few weeks ago, getting slow to ignite and shutting down halfway through a shower if you cracked the cold water tap a little too much.

I replaced the battery, cleaned the inlet filter (it was pretty clean, anyway), cleaned up the igniter probes - but nothing much changed. So, then it was off try to find someone to service it.

 

I emailed Rheem and they told me to call their 1300 number to organise a service call. Now this thing has a 10 year warranty on components, so I thought I'd call Rheem, rather than any ordinary plumber.

I estimated the delay would be the same regardless of whether I got Rheem or a plumber. So I called their 1300 number.

I got a gent who ran me through a quick troubleshooting set of questions, and he decided it definitely needed a look at. So he says - "I can organise a serviceman to come out, it will be next Wednesday before we can attend" (it was Friday when I called). 

 

On that basis, I thought that was a pretty normal lag in servicing attention, so I agreed for them to call. Next thing the Rheem gent says, "The basic charge will be $261, and we require a $198 deposit before I can put you into the system for a service call. Any parts required will be extra." Oooff. So much for a 10 yr warranty, it obviously says "only the burner" or something like that, in the fine print.

 

So, Wednesday rolls around, the service bloke calls just before midday and says he'll be there in 25 minutes. And he is. He spends 3 minutes taking the cover panel off the HWS, asks me to turn a hot water tap on full and let it run - and he watches it crank up, and then shuts it off at the tap under the HWS.

 

He says, "It needs a new solenoid valve in the inlet line, and shows me the offending solenoid, a tiny little thing about 25mm in diameter. "This solenoid is the most common fault with these HWS's".

So he goes to his van, whips out a new solenoid, and installs it in less than 5 minutes, checks the operation by turning the tap on again, and says, "That's fixed it".

 

He takes another 3 minutes to replace the cover panel, and he's off. I thought, "I wonder how I see the final bill?". That didn't take long to happen, I went online half an hour later, and there's $312 been whipped out of the credit card!! No invoice, no thank you, no emails - nothing!! - just zz-z-i-i-ip!! - and your moneys been whipped out, without even a goodbye kiss!

 

I'm in the wrong game!! These HWS's only cost around $900 for a complete new unit! I reckon I'll be sorting out any faulty solenoids myself, next time!!

[rgmwa]

That'll be $12 for the part and $300 for knowing where to put it.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Aussie consumer law does need to catch up with the 21st century.. If such a restriction is in the fine print (i.e. all the literature gives you the impression it is 5 year warranty on everything and the fine print is tuicked away),  the restriction does not apply. And a time limited warranty doesn't always apply.. the consumer law has a reasonable expectation requirement for wrranties - if the item purchased would have a reasonable expectation to perform and does not meet it, the seller can be part or fully liable to provide a warranty regardless of any time limitation they put in their contract of sale.

 

Of course, sometimes getting them to cough up is difficult, but I have taken a seller to the county court (small claims court, effectively) and they were forced to replace the item (the court didn't trust them to fix it) and pay for my costs of bringing the action, plus a small amount for wasting my and the court's time.

[old man emu]

Give your State's consumer affairs mob a call and get their advice. Even if they tell you that you're on your own, at least you will have settled the gripe in your mind's eye.

[Old Koreelah]

Two gripes, both sparked by today’s drive home from Newcastle:

 

I almost ran over a disabled person being pushed across the street on a sort of wheelchair. Luckily I saw them move out onto the crossing and stopped in time, but hadn’t noticed the red light.

 

Why? I’d just driven around a corner and there they were, on the street.

As I approached, I should have seen the pedestrian crossing lights, but was distracted by traffic on the roundabout. (Perhaps an amber light might have caught my attention, but the red blended into the bachground.)

 

Closer to the crossing, the red lights were obscured by the car’s A-pillar and the rear-view mirror. Being taller than average, I sit well back, so my field of vision is much narrower than most drivers. That’s a design fault in cars that tall people have to put up with, but the thickness of the A-pillar is something that should be addressed.

That solid barrier is far wider than the distance between your eyes, in every car except the 1972 Holden. I’ve been cutting people out of crashed cars for over forty years and can’t recall that Holden being less safe.
There is no structural reason for such a dumb design. Often there’s rubber seals and trim either side of it; bluddy poor design that’s thick enough to obscure a bike or even car approaching from your RHS.