Akir's recent activity
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Comment on The Costco of housing is…Costco? in ~design
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Comment on The Costco of housing is…Costco? in ~design
Akir Link ParentEvery time I went to Costco, at least 75% of other people's baskets were filled with food. The appearance of quality is one of the big things that Costco does to give the impression of value. The...Every time I went to Costco, at least 75% of other people's baskets were filled with food.
The appearance of quality is one of the big things that Costco does to give the impression of value. The fact that they don't have "cheap" yogurt is a negative, not a positive. I've never heard of cream top yogurt before, but greek yogurt and yogurt with fruit is not a premium commodity and can be found with the same general quality in discount stores. The thing that makes that yogurt premium is nothing more than the brand name on it.
There isn't much coverage about these products because in reality it's probably a tiny fraction of the items they sell, and it's not newsworthy because just about every major retailer does the same thing. But if you want to learn more, just look for yourself!
How about printers, for instance? Right now you can buy this Brother printer from them. But if you go to Brother's website they don't have that model listed. There is an MFC-L2750DW, but there's no B in that model. If you compare the specs between the two, they look exactly the same, but it's pretty obvious that Costco's website doesn't have the full specs, so you really have no way of knowing what the difference is between the two except that one comes bundled with a ream of paper.
If Costco can't get a customized cost-reduced product for whatever, then a common tactic they will do is to bundle stuff together. Take for instance this keyboard, which you can also buy on Amazon for about $10 less. When you look at this you might immediately think to yourself that for $10 you get a bunch of extras, but when you dig into what you're actually getting, you might realize that you don't actually need any of it, and if you do, you probably want better versions of it. That stand in particular is literally the cheapest keyboard stand you can buy, and as an owner of one I can tell you it's a wobbly mess. Long ago I bought a camera kit from them that came with a telephoto lens and a camera bag, and I rarely used the lens because it was better suited for sports photography and the bag only got used to store my equipment because even though it was excellent quality (it was an official Canon accessory) it was too damn bulky.
Sometimes it's not even clear if it's a customized product or if it's the same thing in a bundle. here's a good TV from Costco, and here is presumably the same TV from Best Buy, currently on sale for $50 less. The thing you are paying $50 for is an extended warranty - the thing that they try to sell to chumps. But it's still not the same TV. This isn't just a number that Costco put on it to indicate the bundle, either - it's an actual LG SKU.
But to reiterate, my problem with Costco is not really a lack of quality or value. It's a lack of transparancy and the mind games that they play with you to make you think that the quality and value is much better than they actually are. They may not be scamming you, but they're doing a lot to get you to spend more than you need to.
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Comment on The Costco of housing is…Costco? in ~design
Akir Link ParentIt's mainly personal experience. I used hot tubs as an example because I actually work for a company in that industry and we have attempted repairs on their spas. To be fair, though, Costco...It's mainly personal experience. I used hot tubs as an example because I actually work for a company in that industry and we have attempted repairs on their spas. To be fair, though, Costco actually has gone through a handful of different manufacturers, so the ones they are selling now may not be as bad. I'd actually be surprised if they were still selling spas supported by EPS, since the company making them now is fairly reputable.
This store specific SKU thing isn't at all unique to Costco. A lot of "high tech" consumer stuff - TVs, computers, printers, etc. - tends to have these low cost SKUs that get sold at places like Amazon or Best Buy. The thing about it that bugs me about Costco is that they take it to extremes and add a number of other tricks to disorient you into thinking that you're getting a fabulous deal when you are arguably not. Other retailers do much of the same things, but none do it to the same scale as Costco. I'm not saying that good value doesn't exist there - their bakery is usually a pretty great example - but that they pull tricks to make people massively overestimate how good that value is.
Winco is absolutely not the same kind of thing as Costco. They don't sell eyeglasses, RVs, or vacation packages. But it's much more comparable within the things they do sell to Costco than Whole Foods is. I honestly don't understand why I keep seeing people saying things are cheap when compared to Whole Foods. Are people genuinely not aware that their products are wildly overpriced? In any case, Winco does indeed sell giant bags of grains (pretty much everything in their bulk bins are available in the original packaging if you ask, the most common of which are already on the floor). They also have a huge selection of cheese and produce; they actually have the best quality and price for produce in my area. I can't say how their spirits are though, since I don't drink.
I compared Costco to Winco because I think that for a lot of people Costco is basically a grocery store. But that's something I don't think that Costco is good at. They work well for foodservice companies, but I think that people end up eating really poorly when they shop at club stores like Costco because they are forced by time to consume their food quickly. Yes, you can freeze stuff, but my grandfather is the only person I know who shopped for food at one of them (Sam's Club in his case) and also owned a chest freezer to deal with the excess. And when you go shopping there, they do a lot to try to get you to buy unhealthy processed food; the fresh food is all the way in the opposite corner of the store, so you have to pass through what feels like half a mile of processed foods, of which they are constantly cooking and giving samples to entice you.
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Comment on Ten myths about hunger in ~science
Akir LinkOn a tangent, I wish that people talking about food insecurity would stop using the term “hunger” for it. I was expecting an interesting article about the sensation of hunger. That term is not...On a tangent, I wish that people talking about food insecurity would stop using the term “hunger” for it. I was expecting an interesting article about the sensation of hunger. That term is not only ambiguous but it undersells the trouble of people who have problems getting enough food. Hunger is just a part of their predicament; it’s the physical and mental tolls that starvation brings that are the more pressing issue.
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Comment on The Costco of housing is…Costco? in ~design
Akir Link ParentTo be clear, hot tubs are just a particularly bad example. I have a Waterpik branded shower head that I bought from Costco, and to my knowledge the only differences are that the Costco version...To be clear, hot tubs are just a particularly bad example. I have a Waterpik branded shower head that I bought from Costco, and to my knowledge the only differences are that the Costco version doesn't have a reducer that would make the pressure higher and the packaging is slightly different (you'll notice most of their hard goods have Costco SKU numbers written on them, the same ones that are on the price signs). They do similar things for a number of their goods. TVs will have fewer inputs, computers might have slower RAM, expensive things might have shorter warranties, and things like that.
To be perfectly clear, I'm not saying that Costco's products are a worse value by necessity, just that they make it very difficult to compare that value. That shower head was a great buy because I honestly hate those super high pressure modes; they're really uncomfortable on my skin. But other products can be extremely murky. Have you ever tried to get into the weeds about the actual value of toilet paper? Shoppers will compare within a brand and the number of rolls in a pack and stop there, but rolls can be made with rolls of varying number of sheets, the sheets can be varying lengths, and even the widths of the rolls vary - and that's within the same named product!
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Comment on The Costco of housing is…Costco? in ~design
Akir Link ParentCostco is not really that great of a company. In my experience they tend to make you overspend by presenting the illusion of value. The products on the shelves tend to not be the same as products...Costco is not really that great of a company. In my experience they tend to make you overspend by presenting the illusion of value. The products on the shelves tend to not be the same as products you can find elsewhere. Even if they have a major brand name on it it’s going to be a Costco-exclusive SKU where the product has been altered. If it’s complex like an appliance, it means that it’s been simplified to lower the cost, and if it is something simple like a food or paper product they group them in different sizes so it’s harder to compare. For instance, boxed breakfast cereals will be sold with multiple bags in them and their unit price will be “each” - completely ignoring that the amount of food in each bag could be entirely different from the ones they sell in grocery stores. The quality of their fresh foods can vary, but for me they have always been mid at best, but the fact that you can only buy them at bulk meant that they were out of reach for me because it was impossible to eat all of it before it spoiled without sacrificing the quality of my diet.
The one product I think best demonstrates the quality illusion of Costco is their hot tubs. Their execs want to sell hot tubs but they want them as cheap as possible. So they go to the manufacturers and tell them we will buy a hot tub with Y specs for X dollars. The only way to do that is to cut out features that are not on that spec sheet, so you get the lowest quality parts and things like replacing support structures made of pressure treated wood with blocks of polystyrene foam. The manufacturers make a new brand name because it would otherwise ruin their reputation. The kicker is that they are so low quality they are illegal to sell in my state - you have to buy them online and have them freight it to you. You think you are getting a great deal but you are getting something that is much lower quality that will not last as long. It’s like choosing the plastic spoon over the steel spoon.
To my understanding, the only stuff is really thought were worth buying were the stuff that are well known loss leaders - the hot dog combo, the roast chicken, and the gas. But because of the cult of Costco it always felt like a fight to get to any of it. You want the food? Fight through the crowds to get to it and check out. You want the gas? You are going to sacrifice a gallon of it driving out of your way to their station and idling your engine waiting in the long lines.
If you happen to be in the western US, check out Winco. Their stores are about the size of Costco, but they sell food almost exclusively, their food is in reasonable sizes, they have bulk bins so you can get exactly what you need, and have an insane variety of food. Better yet they are employee owned, so their workers are likely treated even better.
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Comment on Where do you find community? in ~talk
Akir Link ParentYes and no. Some of the main dreams are ghost towns but others are pretty popular. Sadly Olde Town - the adults only socializing hub - has been largely abandoned in favor of Furcadian Nights - the...Yes and no. Some of the main dreams are ghost towns but others are pretty popular. Sadly Olde Town - the adults only socializing hub - has been largely abandoned in favor of Furcadian Nights - the adults only "anything goes" hub. Bramblebean's dream, Bramblebrook, is one of the biggest socializing spots, and although I haven't seen any evidence of anyone doing any hanky panky there, it is located in Furcadian Nights.
Right now there's a bit fewer than 500 active players.
If it's been a while, Furcadia has gone through some major improvements over the year. It now has full color and dreams can have MP3 music. There has been improvements to DragonSpeak, the programming language that lets you make your dreams dynamic. One of the main dreams now has a roller coaster! All of them have been redone to an extent, but FurN has been given the most dramatic upgrade. There are also a lot more digo shop items - the paid cosmetic DLC that finances the game. Though the game still remains entirely accessable without purchasing any of them.
Join us, join us, join us, join us.... :P
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Comment on Microsoft postpones Windows Recall after major backlash in ~tech
Akir Link ParentI actually like this a lot for security reasons, but I wish there was a better way to deal with giving them permissions than the popups that happen when you want something to happen. There's also...I actually like this a lot for security reasons, but I wish there was a better way to deal with giving them permissions than the popups that happen when you want something to happen. There's also a lot of developers who do not do best practices. I have a logitech mouse and the software to customize it is constantly updating. That's not a bad thing, but every time it happens I get an annoying notification that tells me that a new app has been granted accessibility permissions.
On the other hand, the way Apple handles unsigned applications is downright user hostile. "I see the people who made this app didn't pay the Apple Tax. Why don't I just delete it for you?"
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Comment on Where do you find community? in ~talk
Akir LinkI feel a bit embarrassed to admit this, but Furcadia. I don't consider myself a furry, but I am a fan of the furry fandom, and on Furcadia I'm playing a furry character just like anyone else....I feel a bit embarrassed to admit this, but Furcadia.
I don't consider myself a furry, but I am a fan of the furry fandom, and on Furcadia I'm playing a furry character just like anyone else. There is a human option (creatively called, uh, Hyooman), but there aren't too many people playing those characters so it would make you stand out like a sore thumb.
The thing about furries is that they're an endlessly supportive group. If you hang around any group long enough it's inevitable that you'll find people dealing with heavy stuff, and in these crowds they are surrounded with very supportive people who have a good chance of having experienced those things themselves. I've never seen anyone act intentionally hurtful. And they're also in some of the deepest niches since they tend to be invested in arts - I've come across countless artists and musicians, and two of the three people I've met in my life with my particular tastes in music have come from there.
I'm both introverted and have social anxiety; combine that with a job that deals with talking to people a lot and by the end of the day I'm not feeling like going out and dealing with real people. As with most online spaces, it's perfectly acceptable to just sit around and not interact with others for a while. It takes a lot for me to get attached to a social thing and actually have a desire to go; the last time that happened in real life was when I was just out of high school. Having a crowd that doesn't expect one to be there regularly helped me to generate that desire. On the downside it means that I can't expect people to be there regularly - even though many do. But even then, I wouldn't consider myself to be one to stay there regularly or for long periods of time.
If you want to check it out come by the coffee shop in Naia Green; I'll be the bear making bad jokes.
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Comment on Powerful climate change deniers knowingly committed heinous crimes, and they should be put on Nuremberg style trials in ~enviro
Akir LinkHey, there's something important I forgot to mention to you before - be very careful with heat. Heat fatigue is cumulative; the longer you are dealing with heat the more it builds up. Do...Hey, there's something important I forgot to mention to you before - be very careful with heat. Heat fatigue is cumulative; the longer you are dealing with heat the more it builds up. Do everything you can to stay cool.
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Comment on Pride Month at Tildes: #5 - Ask almost anything in ~lgbt
Akir Link ParentNope, not at all. When I was a teenager I was very deep in the closet and wouldn’t even admit being gay to myself. I would try looking at straight porn and it did kind of work for a bit but over...Nope, not at all.
When I was a teenager I was very deep in the closet and wouldn’t even admit being gay to myself. I would try looking at straight porn and it did kind of work for a bit but over time the effect wore off on me. In my sophomore year at high school I had a girlfriend - she asked me out - but I couldn’t be bothered to touch her. A few years later I had the opportunity to be in the (empty) girls locker room of the school and realized that the scent was having an effect on the other two boys who were in there with me, who were saying that it smelled good. To me it smelled repulsive. If I had any lingering curiosity then, that is probably the thing that got rid of it.
I don’t like that term, gold star gay. It does have a lot of toxicity associated with it, but even without that it implies that people who have had straight sex before are somehow lesser, so don’t think that that’s ok. If anything, the experience makes them wiser.
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Comment on Powerful climate change deniers knowingly committed heinous crimes, and they should be put on Nuremberg style trials in ~enviro
Akir Link ParentI really did not mean to one-up you. I'm sorry that my words have come across that way. I merely meant to point out that there is a history of corporations not being fully held accountable for the...I really did not mean to one-up you. I'm sorry that my words have come across that way. I merely meant to point out that there is a history of corporations not being fully held accountable for the damages they have caused. I share in your frustration, having been through the same kind of experience you have had, multiple times.
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Comment on Powerful climate change deniers knowingly committed heinous crimes, and they should be put on Nuremberg style trials in ~enviro
Akir Link ParentI honestly feel that to get that kind of impression you would have to ignore practically everything else I wrote. The paragraph I wrote immediately preceding that was me wholeheartedly agreeing...I honestly feel that to get that kind of impression you would have to ignore practically everything else I wrote. The paragraph I wrote immediately preceding that was me wholeheartedly agreeing with them and validating their feelings. I'm not saying that there are unrelated injustices happening that eclipse their concern; I'm saying that they are all related. I'm trying to amplify their points, not overwrite them.
If they had taken offense at my choice of words, I would apologize immediately. But they are not the ones who are upset about it. You are. Do I need to apologize to you because you chose to take the worst possible interpretation of my words?
I think this conversation has been counterproductive since it has gone so far off course for the topic, so I'm going to choose to leave this where it is now. I'll try to be more careful about my wording, so in the future please refrain from assuming I'm trying to talk down to people.
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Comment on Powerful climate change deniers knowingly committed heinous crimes, and they should be put on Nuremberg style trials in ~enviro
Akir Link ParentI'm honestly not seeing why you're having a hard time understanding that the thing I find sad is that the scale of tragedy and injustice is dramatically larger than what OP was upset about. Are...I'm honestly not seeing why you're having a hard time understanding that the thing I find sad is that the scale of tragedy and injustice is dramatically larger than what OP was upset about. Are you saying that this wording makes it seem like I'm upset or looking to put blame on OP? That was clearly not the intention and I do not know why you are reading it that way.
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Comment on Powerful climate change deniers knowingly committed heinous crimes, and they should be put on Nuremberg style trials in ~enviro
Akir Link ParentYou're not understanding my point. My point is that the the lack of appropriate retribution for this particular thing is part of a larger problem - the lack of appropriate retribution for anything...You're not understanding my point. My point is that the the lack of appropriate retribution for this particular thing is part of a larger problem - the lack of appropriate retribution for anything corporations do.
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Comment on Powerful climate change deniers knowingly committed heinous crimes, and they should be put on Nuremberg style trials in ~enviro
Akir LinkOh yeah. I think that these companies should be dissolved and sold off in small pieces with the proceeds going towards things that will correct the problems they caused, and any executive involved...Oh yeah. I think that these companies should be dissolved and sold off in small pieces with the proceeds going towards things that will correct the problems they caused, and any executive involved should be tried as the criminals they are. The fact that we do not do this kind of thing to corporations is a crime against the public.
The sad thing is that you're only upset about the climate change related stuff. There are corporations who are involved in much more directly worse things. Heck. the oil companies are responsible for huge ecological damages that have killed immeasurable numbers of creatures; just look at the deepwater horizon oil spill for an example. Or heck, read the wikipedia article on Union Carbide; between things like the Hawk's Nest Tunnel Disaster and the Bhopal incident, they have perhaps the greatest human death count of any corporation out there. But it gets worse - they were bought by Dow Chemical a while back, so now you can just add those atrocities together! And speaking of Dow Chemical, just about every major chemical company - 3M and DuPont come to mind, but there are certainly others - is guilty of literally poisoning the water supply.
It's astonishing that people are OK with the slaps on the wrist these companies get for killing so many people. Sure, it's forgivable because most people aren't aware of these things, but isn't that actually worse?
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
Akir Link ParentSmiling Friends the cartoon, right? I saw some of an episode for a while and I can't say that I saw the appeal. What is it that attracts you to it?Smiling Friends the cartoon, right? I saw some of an episode for a while and I can't say that I saw the appeal. What is it that attracts you to it?
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
Akir LinkI've been taking something of a hiatus on TV recently, but I finally remembered that The Big Door Prize is going through it's second season so I quickly binged it. I really love it. There's not...I've been taking something of a hiatus on TV recently, but I finally remembered that The Big Door Prize is going through it's second season so I quickly binged it. I really love it. There's not one single thing that is good about it; it just kind of does everything evenly well, though perhaps not spectacularly well.
Well, that's not really true; the acting is fantastic. Not fantastic as in "These people are making me feel intense emotions", but as in "these people actually seem to be having genuine interactions together" - which is amazing because it's so common for the characters to be so charismatic they aren't necessarily realistic. I absolutely love the characters; even Giorgio's really annoying style of speech and personality has become incredibly charming after a bit. It's somewhat frustrating to me that there's no single guiding message behind the show, but it's obviously on purpose and the lack of such a strong message is a message in and of itself, and I can't help but appreciate it. Granted I know that it's something that will put off a lot of other people.
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Comment on Your favorite deeply unpopular music in ~music
Akir Link ParentOh man, don't threaten me with a good time!Oh man, don't threaten me with a good time!
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Comment on Your favorite deeply unpopular music in ~music
Akir LinkI just wanted to thank everyone who responded. You all have impeccable tastes (except for the one who liked Nickleback ;-P), and it has been a blast listening to some of the stuff you mentioned. I...I just wanted to thank everyone who responded. You all have impeccable tastes (except for the one who liked Nickleback ;-P), and it has been a blast listening to some of the stuff you mentioned. I am legitimately having more fun listening to this than I have had with any music for a very long time. While I haven't listened to everything yet - there's just not enough time in the day - I look forward to doing so in the future.
Please note that I never said that Costco's SKUs were inferior, I merely stated that they were altered. Some of them are inferior.
I don't know how much more clearly I can communicate this, but the amount of misdirection and psychological trickery that Costco does is unrivaled. The closest analogue to them is Sam's Club, and they basically just copy what Costco does verbatim (except the part where they treat their workers well, notably). Yes, they are using tricks that other retailers use, but nobody else does all of them. Even the membership fee is part of it; they are currently on track to make $5bn a year on membership fees alone, before they even sell any goods. Their practices quite literally change people. Heck, just try saying something negative about them on the internet and see how quickly people will come to tell you you're wrong.
And sure, feel free to chop this up to a general dislike of marketing. Why is that a bad thing? Isn't it worse that we normalize corporations taking advantage of people just because it's common?