Youtube Shorts Have Ruined Youtube

Youtube Shorts were introduced last year and since, then they have slowly made Youtube worse. In the past, most Youtube videos were at least a few minutes long and creators would put effort into making them. Youtube Shorts on the other hand tend to be low effort videos that in my opinion usually are not even worth watching.

These days when I log in to see my subscriptions feed, about half of the videos are Shorts. I find myself skipping most of these as they are usually just clips from longer videos, or they are just something that is not worth even clicking on based on the title.

I get that Youtube introduced Shorts to compete with other streaming video companies, and I get that Shorts are geared towards mobile devices rather than computers. I can see how they might be easier for people to create and post using their phone.

The main issue is that they are mixed in with the regular Youtube videos. The Shorts should be separate or at least have an option to opt-out of seeing them or having them in your subscription feed.

There are a few reasons why I don't like Shorts. One, there is no time stamp to see how long they are. Two, you can't control the playback when they are playing such as going forward or back in the video. Three, they play on a loop. No one needs a video to replay immediately after it has finished. Four, the vertical video. I know its better for phones, but not for computers.

I say Youtube Shorts are ruining Youtube because it seems they are making creators lazy as well as making viewers lazy. Creators who are just going for views would probably rather just record a quick minute of themselves talking rather than take the time to sit down and record and edit a quality video that is several minutes long. Viewers may also start losing their attention span by getting in the habit of scrolling through these quick videos rather than watching the longer length videos.

Overall I think Youtube Shorts are ok as a separate format. I just think they should not be mixed in with traditional Youtube videos because they are bringing down the quality as a whole. What are your thoughts on Youtube Shorts? Are they the future of Youtube videos or are they the downfall of Youtube?

My Terrible Experience with CIT Bank 11 Month No Penalty CD

Over the past few months the interest rates for CDs have been going up so I started looking into some options for opening up a new account. I wanted a “No Penalty CD” which allows you to withdraw the money whenever you want as opposed to traditional CDs where you are expected to keep the money in the account for a certain period of time.

After researching the rates, one of the best I found was from CIT Bank so I decided to give them a try and open up a new account. Setting up and funding the account was ok. It wasn't until a few weeks later that there started to become some issues.

A few weeks after funding the account I began to look for the withdraw option just so I would know what to do if I wanted to take the money out. On the website, it has a “Transfer Money” section where supposedly you are able to transfer money. The problem is, it doesn't actually let you transfer money. Every time I clicked on it, it would just say I had to call them at their customer service number.

They have an option to send them a secure message on the website so I tried that first. I emailed them asking how to withdraw the money. Many days went by and I did not receive a reply so I decided to call them.

The first time I called, it said there was a 56 minute wait time. It had the option to call me back instead of waiting on hold, so I did that. When it finally called me back and said I was next in line, it disconnected the call before I even got to talk to someone.

I tried calling back the next day and waited about 25 minutes before I was connected to a representative. I told them I wanted to withdraw the money back to my account, but they said they could not do that by phone. They said I had to send a message to request it. I told them I did already and never got a reply. The representative said they would check on it. A few minutes later the call was disconnected.

I sent a 2nd email directly requesting the transfer. After 2 days I still did not receive a reply. At this point I was starting to get worried. I had money in this account and so far 3 different attempts to get it back had failed.

I looked into what other options I had at this point and one was to file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which is a government company that keeps an eye on financial institutions and helps with issues like this. So I filed a complaint with them and waited for a response.

2 weeks after sending my first message asking how to withdraw funds, they finally replied back and said I had to provide the routing numbers for the bank in order to do the transfer. I found this odd considering my account was already connected and on file, but I provided the information again anyway.

Another 2 weeks went by before I finally got a response saying that they would transfer the money back to my account.

In the end it took a full month to withdraw the money back to my account after first requesting it. Keep in mind, this was a no penalty CD which is supposed to allow you to withdraw the money at any time.

Overall it was a terrible experience and I am relieved to have been able to get my money out of that account.

My Experience Copying a Key: Minute Key vs KeyMe vs Key Hero

I needed to make a copy of a house key so I looked for a local place to get it done. I saw there were some self-serve kiosk options so I decided to try it out since I figured it would be pretty easy.

Minute Key:
First I tried Minute Key which was located in a Walmart. I started here because they seemed to have a lot of locations and I thought I might be able to use a promo code and maybe even get a free key.

So I find the machine in the Walmart and the screen is messed up. It was blurry so you couldn't read it. I tried to use it anyway but it ended up getting stuck halfway through the process. My key was stuck in the machine and nothing was working to cancel it.

I called over customer service but they were not much help. After about 5 minutes it was able to cancel and release the key so that was a relief, but overall bad experience and I was not able to make a copy of the key.

KeyMe:
There was a Menards nearby and I saw they have a kiosk called KeyMe so I decided to try it out. This one seemed to work ok, the only problem was it said my key was uncommon so they would have to ship it to me. This was really disappointing because my key was as basic as they get.

I needed the key that day so I was not going to wait around for it to be shipped. So far 0 for 2.

Key Hero:
I decided to try one more, a kiosk called Key Hero which was in Home Depot. I go to the machine to start and immediately it says I need to call over an employee to do it. Again very disappointing. The whole point of the kiosk is so you can do it yourself and you don't have to find someone to do it for you.

After about 5 minutes I was able to get someone to help. I gave them the key and they were able to copy it. It was not that quick but they got it done. Also it was confirmed that it was a common key so I'm not sure why the other machine at Menards said it wasn't.

Conclusion:
After trying Minute Key, KeyMe, and Key Hero, I was let down by all of them. I'm surprised that this seems to be such a difficult task. Maybe I just had some bad luck with the machines, but overall the experience was difficult and I had to go to 3 different stores just to make 1 copy of a basic house key.

If you are looking to make a duplicate of a key, you can try them out if you want to, but you might be better off just asking someone at the local hardware store to make a copy for you.

The Undateables - Show Recommendation

The Undateables is a documentary style show about people with disabilities and their search for finding love. These individuals usually have a condition that makes it difficult for them to find dates or get into relationships so this show helps them by matching them with others who may be compatible.

I am a fan of these kinds of shows, for example “Love on the Spectrum” and “Born This Way” so I was definitely look forward to watching The Undateables because it is very similar. The show is based in the UK and is currently available for streaming on Discovery+.

There are 11 seasons, each with about 5 episodes. I just finished the series and I loved it! There is a wide variety of participants and they very likable and memorable. It's great when there is a good match and they really hit it off and develop a long term relationship. I like how they also feature many of the cast members over several episodes and seasons as they continue their quest for love.

After finishing the series and looking for updates on what there are up to now, I was pleased to see many of them are still in relationships with the people they met on the show. Overall I highly recommend The Undateables. I hope they continue to make more seasons! 

TI-83 Missing Pixels Line - How To Fix?

It's hard to believe I've had my TI-83 calculator for about 25 years and I still use it quite often. It has been super reliable until today when I turned it on, I noticed it was missing a vertical line of pixels. It was low on battery so I figured that might be the issue.

I opened up the battery case and noticed there was some corrosion on one of the batteries. I took them out and cleaned it up as well as I could. Then I put in the new batteries. Unfortunately it still had the missing line.

So I did some research and found a video here showing how to do a display test on the calculator.

Here are the basic steps:

Press MODE

Press ALPHA

Press S

Press Enter

Press ON

Press Enter to cycle through the screen tests. 

Press ON a few more times to get back to the home screen.

 

I'm not sure if this will work for all screen issues, but somehow it worked for me and it fixed the missing line of pixels.

 

There are some tutorials out there instructing to open up the calculator to fix the internal components, but they looks pretty technical. If you are having screen issues, I recommend trying this method first to see if it fixes the problem. 

Beauty and the Geek Australia 2022 Review (No Spoilers)

Beauty and the Geek is one of my all time favorite shows. I've watched all the seasons from the US version as well as many of the international versions such as Beauty and the Geek Australia. The show had been off air for a while but then the Australian version came back last year and this year. 

Last year's season was amazing. It had everything you could ask for in a show from great casting to humor, to emotion. It's one of those feel good shows were even though it is a competition, everyone is supportive of each other. 

Having loved last season, of course I was looking forward to this new season, but also thinking that it would be pretty hard to top last year. So how did it turn out? I'm happy to report that it was very much on par with the same elements that made the previous season so great!

This season we have Sophie Monk back as host which is great because she is perfect for the show. There are also 10 new Beauties and 10 new Geeks. Each week they have challenges and one couple leaves the competition.

The challenges are usually pretty fun and have a theme that often involves dressing up in some sort of style. I thought this season's challenges were easier than last year, but there were definitely some difficult challenges this year as well. 

At the end of each episode, the two lowest scoring couple face an elimination quiz. My one critique of the show would be the format where it is first to buzz in. Many times couples would buzz in before the question was finished and then would get the point. I think it would be better if they each wrote down answers and then showed them. This way it would be a little more based on knowledge rather than first to buzz in. 

There is also the geek makeovers which is always one of the most exciting parts of the show. It's fun to see what a difference a new haircut and style can do to help them build confidence. 

Overall I thought they did a great job on casting. The thing that makes this show stand out is how kind and loving the contestants are to each other. The pairs support each other, but they also support other couples. Even in the short time of filming the show, you can see how strong the friendships become. This season there were even several romantic connections. 

Like last year, there were plenty of emotional moments throughout the show. I'm usually not too emotional but I cried several times throughout the series especially in the finale. 

If you have enjoyed any previous seasons of Beauty and the Geek, definitely check out this season. Even if you haven't seen it before, check it out if you can because it is a great show!

State Farm Review - Some gripes on this insurance company

I have had State Farm insurance for my car as well as my home for several years. Overall it has been ok and I think the costs have been reasonable which is why I have stayed with them, but I do have some issues with them as well.  

One thing that bothers me is they change my policy limits without permission. Every time they send the renewal, they bump up the coverage limits. I have asked them about this in the past and they said they do it automatically from what I remember, to cover things like inflation. That is fine, but it should be an option, not automatic. I don't want my coverage changed so every year they change it and every year I have to tell them to put it back how it was. 

Coverage information is hard to find. I just looked all over the website and it seems there is no way to see the actual coverage details. They tell you your coverage amounts, but it seems if you want to know the details or declarations of what is actually covered you have to request that they send it to you by mail. I have a copy of this from when they first sent it, but I would like to be able to see it online or at least be able to download a digital copy. This should not be that hard. 

Also when viewing your coverage on the website, some of the basic information is missing for descriptions of things like “Loss Assessment”, “Damage of Property to Others”, “Medical Payments to Others”. When you click on them to learn more about what it means, it just says “Sorry a description has not been created for that.” These are just the basic items and there are not that many of them. Someone needs to get on this.

Lastly, and this is just nitpicking, but every year they send me a bunch of address stickers with my name and address on them. It was ok the first time, but they keep sending them. I don't need hundreds of stickers with my name and address on them. It's a nice gesture, but there should be an opt out for something like this as well.

I know some of these may be minor issues, but they are things that could be easily fixed and would greatly improve the customer experience. Hopefully they can address some of these issues soon.