I tried logging on to my account, both on my computer and on the Verizon app on my phone. No such option to claim a credit as far as I can tell.

I'm 65 1/2, and so well recall the TV series from when I was a kid. My friend Nick and I were both big fans of Batman: being about six (and Nick seven) years old, neither one of us had a clue that the show was kind of a parody. We took it extremely seriously, and would play Batman and Robin by using safety pins to tie dish towels around our necks as capes. We would plink on the piano to simulate Commissioner Gordon calling, then pick up the microphone of my Dad’s reel to reel Dictaphone to talk to him. And then we would run out the back door, down the slope, and slide down the clothes line pole, all of a foot and a half down into our imagined Bat-Cave. And then go rocketing off down the alley on our tricycles. The interesting thing is that we took the show so seriously as kids, whereas for adults the show was/is pure campy humor. Kind of unique: any other shows that have managed that?

Actually, speaking as a Costco customer, it is not that way at all. They have quite nice produce and meats, and one does not have to buy in mass quantities. Sure, you buy a pack of, say, four strip steaks instead of a single one, but it is not focused on stocking up for the next month or two. And, yes, you have to buy a 36-pack of, say, Dr. Pepper instead of just a six pack, but it works quite well for our needs (a couple whose two children are grown and living independently).

I agree with what most are saying here. As an old guy (age 65), I noticed quite some time ago that software, generally, rather peaked about 20 years ago. That is, for general things like web browsers, e-mail applications, word processing, accounting, spreadsheets, and the like, we got to the point that there was no real reason to pony up money for Version 18.7 of software when Version 11, which you installed five years ago, was still doing just fine. The problem with software (and intangible technology in general) is that, unlike tangible property (clothes, furniture, houses, etc.) it does not deteriorate. It's code, that stays the same. We don't need to buy new software on a regular basis. Software companies, as an example, figured out a while back that the only way to maintain an income stream was to convince people to switch to a subscription and/or online model. And the problem with *that* is that, to us oldsters, we wonder how exactly going from software we bought years ago that still works great to something that offers no significant improvements is something worth paying for indefinitely. AI is interesting, and fun to play around with. Perhaps it really is the Holy Grail for the overall software industry, where everyone will be paying subscription fees for the rest of their lives because they will rely on AI to tell them when their next appointment is. But I tend to see it as driven more by the need for revenue than actual innovation which will advance society.

Um... back when I went to law school, I lived in a grad student section of a dorm at the University of Texas. A physics grad student gave a talk about nuclear fusion, and told us that twenty years previously people thought we would have fusion power in 20 years. He gave a nice talk about the technology involved, and the progress people were making, and concluded that he thought we really *would* have fusion power in another 20 years. That was back in 1981, so I'm fairly sure it was not something derived from Fox News.

My high school had a computer room I spent a lot of time in my junior and senior years. I graduated in 1977. Still have a program on paper tape from junior year, and an 8.5" floppy disk from senior year.

Actually, (speaking as one who has been practicing law for 40 years) I have rather fond memories of working at a pizza restaurant when I was in my teens, mainly because of the interaction with customers. I also did some construction work during summers, and liked the fact that I could go home and not have any work problems hanging over my head. There is a certain satisfaction in getting something tangible accomplished. Even menial jobs can be engaging, provided that the managers/officers appreciate the employees and provide a decent work environment.

Ah; since I prefer to buy something and own it rather than rent things for a monthly fee I'm akin to those who supported slavery. Thanks for demonstrating why I am less and less likely to enter into any discussions online, especially on sites like Slashdot. My mistake.

That's the problem right there: Software As A Service. I suspect you're quite a bit younger than I am, and may not remember the old days where one would actually purchase a piece of software for a set cost, and use it indefinitely. Often new versions would come out, which might offer improvements, and you could pay for those (for what it's worth, that is at the *beginning*, not the end). This software would be installed on and reside in your own computer. Unfortunately, some years ago software providers realized that they had pretty much reached peak optimization of their products, and there were no significcant improvements they could charge for, so came up with the idea of basing everything on an Internet-verified connection that had to be paid for monthly or annually. Now, I'm perfectly okay with paying for an *actual* ongoing service, like Internet access, telephone services, power services, and the like. That is ongoing. But, in my experience, I am still happily using billing software, accounting software, and word processing software that I purchased years ago and still works. I would be glad to pay for an improved version, if it enhanced my productivity, but nowadays the only option is to transition to a subscription model. Many years ago, my wife and I bought our house, and we paid off the loan a while back. Sure, I still need to pay real estate taxes, but I like actually owning my house versus having to rent something that can be pulled from me at any time by the person renting it to me. Same deal with lots of things, including software that I rely on.

foobar2000 with the Facets extension, in my opinion, has always been far superior to Winamp. And, although VLC has its uses, I've always found Media Player Classic the easiest for playing videos. YMMV.

That's a much more manageable number, being the amount of energy exerted by an Irish dance troupe per second.

I've never figured out why aspect ratios for screens need to be so weird. 16:9 is a major standard, but for this one it's a widescreen 21:10. Why exactly can't we just settle on a simple 2:1 ratio? That would seem so much simpler and allow for more cross compatibility. (I guess one answer to this is common attempts at vendor lock in, something Apple has been very successful at, but one would think *someone* would have gone this route.)

I think a lot of people just do not consider the implications, or are not concerned about them. For me, the turning point was a couple of years ago when I was chatting with a friend on their porch. He said he had bought a certain brand of western boots and really liked them: they were comfortable and reasonably priced. The very next day an ad for those exact boots appeared on my Facebook page. I dismissed that as a coincidence until I mentioned it to my son, who works in digital marketing. He said, matter of factly, of course, that is how the system works. Google Assistant on my phone picked up on the keyword. Sure, Alexa, Siri, Bixby, and Google Assistant are (probably) not storing your conversations and spying on you. But they *are* constantly listening for not only triggers ("Alexa", "Siri", "OK Google") but keywords to market to advertisers. If that does not bother you, that's okay. But I disabled Google Assistant on my phone after that, and do not want anything like it monitoring me in my home, even though there's really nothing untoward or unusual going on. I might consider something like Alexa if it demonstrably processed keyword monitoring locally, only going online on request, but who would make something like that? No particular profit potential.

I am quite aware that the Earth is an oblate spheroid. And, per my physician's recommendation, I have been fully vaccinated.Yet I still find it troubling that the response to people "spreading misinformation" is no longer "I believe you are wrong, and here is why: please refer to these peer-reviewed studies [include citations here]." We have lost an essential element of civilized discourse, that being the premise that those who disagree with you still deserve respect. I'd say about 80% of the population thinks those who disagree with their worldview are either (a) bad, horrible people and/or (b) utter idiots who do not deserve any respect. And it goes both ways.

For the record, I had COVID in January. Since then, I have been fully vaccinated with both injections of the Pfizer vaccine. I did not say ANYTHING for or against vaccination issues: I was just commenting on the general nature of discourse.