u/codefyre

I deleted my Meta accounts about a month and a half ago. IG and FB. They weren't banned, or restricted, or anything. I just deleted them. Didn't need that stress in my life.

Yesterday I decided to start over again with new accounts. I was able to create an IG account just fine, but two different attempts to create new Facebook accounts were immediately shut down for "Account Integrity". One used the same email as my old Facebook account, and the second used my newer address. Did the photo and video selfies and filed the appeals, but both were rejected.

Today I tried a third time, attempting to create the FB using my IG/Meta account instead so they'd be linked. Rejected again.

Am I missing something, or does Meta just not want new users on Facebook? There doesn't seem to be any way around this.

My feathers are ruffled. A few weeks ago I posted a question about acceptable ETV's on porch geese, and some of you all convinced me that a $100 ETV on a plaster/concrete porch goose is a good deal...so I went for it. The item title said it was "plaster", and the description described it as concrete, very clearly.

Welp, my porch goose showed up today. It's plastic, not plaster. The item description has been updated to list it as "hollow resin". And as it happens, you can find this same cheap plastic porch goose from other sellers on Amazon for half the price.

This seller and goose are going to get absolutely roasted in the review, as they should be since this was essentially a bait and switch. If it were an option, their star rating would be a big fat goose egg. Why would they expect anything different? Why would a seller even waste their time doing this to someone they KNOW is a reviewer, knowing what the response is going to be? What a dumb thing for a seller to do.

And as an aside, I'm also really not thrilled with Amazon ditching the item descriptions in the order confirmation emails. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't just "misremembering" the description, but since it's been removed from the emails, theres no longer an independent way to retroactively verify the item title at order time. You can only view the current item title. Makes it a lot easier for sellers to hide information changes to items.

Our troop is back from summer camp, and of course, the camp used Blackpug. The Blackpug file format isn't supported on Scoutbook Plus, and it appears that the old menu items for importing them into Scoutbook Legacy were removed at some point. All I see in Legacy are the patrol assignments now.

As a 25+ YOE Silicon Valley software engineer, the solution to this problem seems simple. I want to write a format converter to transform the Blackpug CSV file into the correct format for Scoutbook Plus. Simple, free, desktop oriented, zero security risks. I'll post it on GitHub for anyone who wants to use it. All I need is a sample of an advancement import file to see its expected data structure. Anyone have access to an application that does functional advancement exports to SB+ who would be willing to post an anonymized sample?

Not spamming or selling anything. Just a 20 year Scouter and current Scoutmaster trying to make life a little bit easier on any of my fellow Scouters who, like me, might currently be staring down the possibility of manually entering more than a thousand completed requirements.

Last week I had a "Rechargeable Shower Light" show up in my RFY. One of those little multicolored lights that projects calming waves on the ceiling. This one was advertised as a "shower light," clearly said it was for bathroom use, and indicated that it was safe to use in wet areas.

When I opened it up to begin writing my reviews, there were already SEVENTEEN reviews on the item from other Viners. Seventeen people didn't notice that the USB-C port was wide open for water ingress. Seventeen people didn't say a word about the huge, open cooling vent holes in the bottom that would allow water to flow right in. Seventeen people didn't notice that the top clear dome has a twist lock attachment with no waterproofing, allowing it to be disassembled one-handedly. Seventeen people didn't bother to twist it and open it up, where they'd have noticed that none of the internal parts, electronics, motor, or the lithium-ion battery had any kind of waterproofing on them. At all. Nobody mentioned that, if this thing falls in the water, it's basically going to short instantly, and that lithium-ion batteries have a nasty tendency to burst into flames when submerged.

I can see a handful of Vine reviewers overlooking this kind of stuff because they may not have any experience dealing with electronics safety issues, but seventeen?!?! Not one of them stopped and thought, "Hey, this is supposed to be water-resistant, so why are there big open holes in the bottom?"

I'm not usually the type to complain about other people's reviews, but c'mon!

I've seen the Porch Goose jokes. I've seen the Porch Goose costumes. I even saw the Porch Goose poem that someone wrote. But until today, I'd never actually seen Porch Goose in my RFY before. I laughed and nearly ordered it until I saw that ETV. $100 for a plaster goose? Did all of you goose owners really pay taxes on that ETV?

I ordered a large, heavy item from Amazon during Prime Days last month. A piece of fitness gear that I've been wanting and the price was too low to pass up. The trip between the distribution center and my front porch, however, has been a bit of an adventure.

After initially shipping, via Amazon shipping, from halfway across the country, the package vanished for a few days without tracking info and the site told me it might have been lost. I didn't opt for the refund, and it finally showed up the next day at another distribution center a few hundred miles away. The following day it was received at my local distribution center, but instead of sending it to me, it was sent out again to ANOTHER distribution center about 50 miles away. A day later, it was shipped back to our local distribution center again. This time it went on a delivery truck and got all the way to the "You're the next stop", when the truck vanished from the tracking site and the delivery time went back to "unavailable". A new status showed up saying the package was being processed at the local distribution center again. The next day it was received by the more distant distribution center 50 miles away AGAIN. And THEY put it on a delivery truck. That truck actually got all the way to my city and all the way to the "You're the next stop" AGAIN before switching back to "Package is being processed at carrier facility", at the warehouse 50 miles away. There haven't been any additional updates since Sunday.

Here's the thing...I really want that item at that price. I can cancel the order and get my money back, but I'll pay twice as much for it if I reorder it again. I also order from Amazon several times a week and never have these kinds of delivery problems. I don't live in a rural area, and a quick look at my Orders page shows that I've had about 150 successful deliveries in the last 3 months. I'm not sure why this package would get all the way to the "You're the next stop" phase TWICE and then have the deliveries aborted.

Is there any real chance that I'll still get this package? Any way to find out what's actually happening with it? Or should I just cut my losses and take my refund?

I recently picked up a Mini 4K from Amz on a lightning deal for $175 and was shocked when it showed up looking like it had been run over by a truck. Amz just stuck the DJI box in a big bubble wrap envelope and the whole thing was visibly smashed when it showed up at my door. When I pulled it out of the box, the camera gimbal and one of the motor mounts were visibly snapped off.

Amz overnighted me a new one, properly packed in a cardboard box, and I was surprised when they told me that I did not have to send the original back. So now I have two Mini 4K's, with zero dollars invested into the broken one.

Which brings me to my question. This is my first DJI drone, and a bit of searching located parts that would fit and DIY videos showing how to repair this kind of damage. But is it worth trying to fix something like this myself, or would I be better off sending it in to DJI for service and just pay them to fix it? How hard are these to repair, really?