Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Quora

This is a post inspired by Cathy who mentioned Quora in a recent post.

I did once join Quora with an old identity. I received a daily email about something. I can't remember actually stopping the emails, but I guess I did.

For some reason with my newly created Google identity, I am receiving Quora notifications again, with a teaser headline and perhaps the first sentence. Click on the link to go to Quora to read the full post.

I clicked on one link to read the full post, something like 'Why do British people say sorry all the time?' The Quora algorithm decided I was interested in similar posts and keeps sending me emails about similar British matters.

I don't mind. Some can be quite amusing, interesting even. I guess there was quite a pile on for the last snip. 




I gotta answer this one - at least from a personal/consumer perspective.

My US bank in Texas offered phone app-based internet payment a couple of years back. I thought this is great - finally, like our UK ‘Faster Payments System’ I can pay/transfer money to someone in seconds. Nope. The app sent a signal (email?!) to someone in the bank’s office. They printed out a check in a day or a few, then MAILED it, snail mail, to the recipient. That’s the US banking technology c.2015.

We had fiber optic internet at our house in London in 2008 - i paid for 50MB/s and got it, solid and steady. We used AT&T in Houston, and got about 2mb/sec in 2015 over a cable modem. In the middle of the night, maybe 15.

Oh, and water boils in the kettle in the UK in about 30 seconds!




20 comments:

  1. Interesting - but I already spend far too much time down rabbit holes on the internet.

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  2. Replies
    1. Sandra, I hope I don't come across as being too critical of the US.

      Delete
  3. I hear you Quora, I had to terminate them. As EC rabbit holes I don't need with salacious clickbait headlines.
    I view the US as the most backward country in the developed world. and got into quite a feisty hissing match with a US stranger on the web the other day. Just an aside. I think I won.
    XO
    WWW

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. M, it is clickbait but quicker to get to the core than most clickbait. If you noted the last headline, perhaps you should be agitating to improve Canada's bad education system in comparison to the US, lol.

      Delete
  4. Interesting facts about these times. Now everything is catching up around the word I believe

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    Replies
    1. Roentare, that is quite true. Homogenisation? Not so bad in some ways, but probably not generally desirable.

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  5. The hackles on my neck rose and I started spitting like a cat. I don't think I need such unadulterated ignorance in my life. Grrr. It's too early for gin.

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    Replies
    1. As I reply Caro, it is not early for gin. Let it rip. But I did post it as humour, even if I missed adding the humour label.

      Delete
  6. I already receive too much email, including perfectly valid stuff, advertising and spam. I may take my name OFF some notifications.

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    Replies
    1. Same here Hels. I must stop the Amtrak emails, only coming because I wanted their network map.

      Delete
  7. Now I want to know the answers to all those questions! So hop to it sonny!
    just kidding, I'll forget about them as soon as I click to the next blog

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    Replies
    1. River, all a load of nonsense but it amuses me a little. Better I watch cat videos perhaps.

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  8. I don’t actually go looking through their site - the thing is - ‘sometimes’ the answer to your question (the one you asked Mr G) is actually on there in amongst all the other tommy rot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh and thanks for the mention Cathyx

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    2. Cathy, I think Quora could be used for the greater good but I've never searched for anything there. I can usually find what I want to know on the net, only occasionally asking a direct question.

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  9. Water boils faster in UK kettles because the voltage in the UK is twice as high as it is in the USA. There's a lot more electricity flowing into that kettle in London than in Boston. (I'm not even sure we have electric kettles in the states, probably because they'd take so long to heat up!)

    I agree with you about American banking. It's so convenient to be able to send money from one account to another in the UK. I don't know why American banks make it so hard. Probably something about security. (That may have changed now with payment systems like Zelle.)

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    Replies
    1. Steve, I've never known the practical effects of the different voltages. They aren't my words about American banking about which I know little except people still write cheques.

      Delete

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