Gary from OPA Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 To use the self checkout, pay monthly now https://www.boredpanda.com/walmart-target-testing-subscription-self-checkout/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Gary from OPA said: To use the self checkout, pay monthly now https://www.boredpanda.com/walmart-target-testing-subscription-self-checkout/ I don't use self checkout, anywhere, except the gas station. Edited March 16 by RickyDean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mizapf Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 2 hours ago, Gary from OPA said: VMware backlash https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/broadcom-ceo-admits-vmware-changes-have-brought-unease-to-customers-partners/ In fact, our university is now forced to look for alternatives to VMware / vSphere. Our faculty (computer science) had to pay annually €25k for the licenses over all the years. With the new licensing, we would have to pay €130k (more than 5 times as much). Our budget is limited at about €90k/a, so without a yearly bank robbery, we can't pay that. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 1 hour ago, Gary from OPA said: VMware backlash https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/broadcom-ceo-admits-vmware-changes-have-brought-unease-to-customers-partners/ Wow, I wasn't even aware VMware had been sold. I use VMware Fusion on macOS. I'm getting so sick of companies getting extraordinarily greedy in the name of profits, while trying to mask it as good for the customer. First paragraph in the above article, "Broadcom CEO and President Hock Tan has acknowledged the discomfort VMware customers and partners have experienced after the sweeping changes that Broadcom has instituted since it acquired the virtualization company 114 days ago." Also tired of companies using weasel words to try and soften what they are doing, in this case, "discomfort". Give me a break. 2 hours ago, Gary from OPA said: To use the self checkout, pay monthly now https://www.boredpanda.com/walmart-target-testing-subscription-self-checkout/ Another reason to avoid Walmart, and Target as well if they start this. I was in a Target yesterday, and the self-checkout area, which was six registers, had a line, and they had a SINGLE regular register open staffed by a human, and there was a line for that as well. I'm flabbergasted that they want to institute fees to use the self-checkout, while they are already saving tons of money by not having to have an employee at each register. Again, corporate greed is rampant and out of control. Just disgusting. ..Al 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary from OPA Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 AI is replacing black hat hackers now: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2418201-gpt-4-developer-tool-can-hack-websites-without-human-help/ And a new LLM one can do R/E for you on binaries: We should fed a bunch of ti99 binaries get it all screwed up trying to disassemble it. I wonder if it could even understand GPL opcodes. Haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 21 hours ago, Albert said: I'm flabbergasted that they want to institute fees to use the self-checkout, while they are already saving tons of money by not having to have an employee at each register. Walmart, in particular, is losing money on its self-checkouts, due to its investment in the AI that runs it. It has put, conservatively estimated last year, about $500m into its checkout AI which it obviously hopes to license or sell at some point. A financial article I read breaking down its filings indicated Walmart has spent more on self-checkouts and AI than it would have to man the same number of lanes. As well, the promise of self-checkout is not coming to fruition of shorter waits, more convenience, greater reliability, &c. People, on the whole, hate it. But when you go into a store where the only available lanes are self-checkout and one or no manned lanes are available... what are you going to do? Then, they use these traffic numbers to show, look, self-checkout is amazingly popular, to the point in some stores that is all people use! Whenever you read polls or studies like that, e.g. the safety savings of red light cameras, always look deeper into the methodology. You will often find the questions asked of the data, or the methods in collecting the data, are not exactly without bias. To wit, the red light camera safety studies. Several of these touted by the camera monitoring and ticketing companies took legitimate violation data before installation, then compared contrived observations after installation in test municipalities. They would have observers mark down incidents which they perceived could have been a violation: a car came to an abrupt stop at the stop line, or rolled just past, &c. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveB Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 3 hours ago, OLD CS1 said: As well, the promise of self-checkout is not coming to fruition of shorter waits, more convenience, greater reliability, &c. People, on the whole, hate it. There was an interesting article on a BBC website from the UK: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20240111-it-hasnt-delivered-the-spectacular-failure-of-self-checkout-technology 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 15 minutes ago, SteveB said: There was an interesting article on a BBC website from the UK: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20240111-it-hasnt-delivered-the-spectacular-failure-of-self-checkout-technology One thing missed by a lot of these is that I am not a five year-old who feels excited when I do things for myself. Sure, we all had the Fisher Price register and check-out lanes, right? Not my idea of adulting. Dollar General knows what-up: Quote "We should be using self-checkout as a secondary checkout vehicle, not a primary." Aaaaand, social engineering fails, agian: Quote "It was part of a larger experiment in retail in trying to socialise people into using it," he says. Simply, "customers hate it". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 4 hours ago, OLD CS1 said: Walmart, in particular, is losing money on its self-checkouts, due to its investment in the AI that runs it. It has put, conservatively estimated last year, about $500m into its checkout AI which it obviously hopes to license or sell at some point. Well, that's their own stupidity. There's nothing in the task that requires any kind of AI. Though I'd be happy if the fucking thing would stop telling me to take my groceries over and over again while I'm loading the bags. If the scale is sensitive enough to detect an extra paper bag on it, it can certainly tell that the scale is getting lighter as I remove items. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 53 minutes ago, Tursi said: There's nothing in the task that requires any kind of AI. There are a couple a few legitimate uses for it. It could, for instance, recognize the product as you run it past without the need for the bar code. Right now, it does a good job recognizing past users, and is mostly used, so far as I have seen, to detect skip-scanning and other methods of theft. Of course, the target for all that ability, aside from trying to cut down on shrink, will be marketing, and being able to do things like, "Hey, TursiLion, good to see you again. Would you like to bill all this to your PayPal? Did you forget that you had canned peas on your shopping list? We can send someone out to grab that for you while you check out!" A lot of these marketing types who do not understand technology, or humans, for that matter, think all this shit actually humanizes the experience. Which, I realize, a lot of people are going along with for the convenience, and lack of responsibility, IMNSHO. But what it really does is creeps a lot of people out. Many of us do not like behind-the-scenes machinations which know so much about us, and sense it as an inherent hazard. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 On 3/16/2024 at 5:45 PM, RickyDean said: I don't use self checkout, anywhere, except the gas station. Self checkout is great when the alternative is to be stuck in a queue where the customer at the front is a relative or friend of the cashier, and they are having a good old chat while the cashier very occassionally scans an item and the customer very occassionally packs an item into a bag. As well as "fewer than 10 items" checkouts, there ought to be "no conversation" checkouts and "I know where my credit card is" checkouts. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 18 minutes ago, Stuart said: As well as "fewer than 10 items" checkouts, there ought to be "no conversation" checkouts and "I know where my credit card is" checkouts I was in the "checkers and baggers know what they are doing" lane today; it was a welcome experience. Last week I had the misfortune of entering the, "I will keep trying the same card and PIN for 10 minutes and hope it magically works" lane; alas, that was of course after the person in front of her asked to buy a personal item that required the checker to saunter 5 lanes over to locate said item, return 5 minutes later to inform the customer there are none in stock, at which time the customer asked for a different brand that was either out of stock or not available at the location. 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDMike Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 (edited) Nevermind All that, I'll keep using the self-check out in the restrooms though, I surely don't need AI in there. Edited March 18 by GDMike 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOME AUTOMATION Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 (edited) Walmart: I can see that you are headed in the direction of the lavatories.🚽 Isle 6 is on your way there. Perhaps you'd be interested in some designer toilet paper... ...or if you prefer a more economical choice: Just don't try and flush these in our toilets ...We'll know it was you! ...🎥 ...Could a Walmart associate please report to stall 7, a customer may need assistance! 📢 ...Might be best to hold-off 'till later. Edited March 18 by HOME AUTOMATION 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 (edited) 7 hours ago, OLD CS1 said: There are a couple a few legitimate uses for it. It could, for instance, recognize the product as you run it past without the need for the bar code. Right now, it does a good job recognizing past users, and is mostly used, so far as I have seen, to detect skip-scanning and other methods of theft. Of course, the target for all that ability, aside from trying to cut down on shrink, will be marketing, and being able to do things like, "Hey, TursiLion, good to see you again. Would you like to bill all this to your PayPal? Did you forget that you had canned peas on your shopping list? We can send someone out to grab that for you while you check out!" I suspect my local store is already starting to recognize me as "that scruffy guy who swears at the computer checkout". They really don't need it trying to have a conversation with me. Edited March 18 by Tursi 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 1 hour ago, Tursi said: I suspect my local store is already starting to recognize me as "that scruffy guy who swears at the computer checkout". They really don't need it trying to have a conversation with me. With you. I am always grumpy when I have to go through self-checkout, I give a one-star rating, and I always fill out the surveys and give feedback like, "I don't like being forced to work for you," or "I don't appreciate that no employee was willing to take my money." I might have mentioned this before, but one of the hardest parts I have found about getting older is trying to make people understand I have always been like this. 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 13 hours ago, OLD CS1 said: With you. I am always grumpy when I have to go through self-checkout, I give a one-star rating, and I always fill out the surveys and give feedback like, "I don't like being forced to work for you," or "I don't appreciate that no employee was willing to take my money." I might have mentioned this before, but one of the hardest parts I have found about getting older is trying to make people understand I have always been like this. My question there is: Since when did I agree to be your employee and why aren't you paying me for the "privilege" of performing said checkout work for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 5 minutes ago, Ksarul said: My question there is: Since when did I agree to be your employee and why aren't you paying me for the "privilege" of performing said checkout work for you? There is a joke floating around in various forms about this. One of which is a guy who says he was banned from WalMart for getting caught in the break room. When confronted, the guy said he must work there since he has rung himself out several times. I remember somewhere some pundit said the discount we get from checking ourselves out is the continued low prices. Yeah... about that. At least my Target Debit Red Card gives me 5%, whether I check myself out (which I only do in the mirrors in household goods) or not. But, I have been watching Target service falling to typical Walmart levels over the past couple of years. That is fine. As customer service becomes a lost art, as a free market entrepreneur I see the opportunity for a new experience to arise from the ashes: a place where you can shop which has courteous and helpful employees. The kind of employees who give way when you come down the aisle; the kind who will reach up to shelves for you; the kind who do not have their cell phones in their hands when they see you; the kind who do not have personal conversations with each other while you stand there waiting to "butt in" for assistance; the kind who do no wear their pants below their ass cracks. Oh, what a glorious future we have before us! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteE Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 1 hour ago, OLD CS1 said: That is fine. As customer service becomes a lost art, as a free market entrepreneur I see the opportunity for a new experience to arise from the ashes: a place where you can shop which has courteous and helpful employees. The kind of employees who give way when you come down the aisle; the kind who will reach up to shelves for you; the kind who do not have their cell phones in their hands when they see you; the kind who do not have personal conversations with each other while you stand there waiting to "butt in" for assistance; the kind who do no wear their pants below their ass cracks. Oh, what a glorious future we have before us! Tell me more, Mr. Harry Gordon Selfridge! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrhodes Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOME AUTOMATION Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 ...YOU ANIMAL! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 On 3/18/2024 at 5:49 PM, PeteE said: Selfridge Easier to pronounce than my last name. On 3/18/2024 at 6:05 PM, jrhodes said: The voices in my head speak French. I do not. Therefore, everyone is safe until I complete my Rosetta Stone courses. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 No lies detected. 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveB Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 While moving some old stuff to my new NAS System I found a Bookmark-File from May 2002 ... @Tursi's page at http://tursi.yiffco.com/games/classic99/ isn't online anymore... but still in the archive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOME AUTOMATION Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 Some odd things came up on the yiffy redirect... Last night I was searching the Archive for an old site, and recognized something I first learned of here on AtariAge... P.S. I'm guessing, something got hacked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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