BRFR Cake Stop 'breaking news' miscellany

[briantrumpet]

Cheer up!

https://gileswilkes.substack.com/p/maybe-europe-is-winning-after-all?r=6isot

 

[Pblakeney]

Cheer up!

https://gileswilkes.substack.com/p/maybe-europe-is-winning-after-all?r=6isot

Too true. Quality of life cannot be measured in terms of GDP.

 

[briantrumpet]

On the minus side, I only learnt yesterday that 'voice notes' is, in effect, voicemail.

I'm glad to see that for a vast majority the UK at least has enough sense to recognise that they are a waste of the recipients' time. It's up to the person wanting to convey information to have the politeness to distil the message into a coherent written text. If the recipient wants to exchange an oral ramble, let them call back.

A YouGov survey of more than 2,300 British adults, published this month, found that while voice notes have become slightly more popular in the last year, still only 15% communicate via voice note regularly (i.e. a few times a week). Across men, women, and across every age group - including Gen Zs - voice notes were the least popular method of communication.

And in 2024, YouGov found that Britain was the most voice note-averse country of the 17 mostly rich nations it surveyed, with 83% of respondents saying they prefer text based messages to voice notes (and only 4% saying they prefer voice notes).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn7kpyye4y0o

 

[PurplePenguin]

On the minus side, I only learnt yesterday that 'voice notes' is, in effect, voicemail.

I'm glad to see that for a vast majority the UK at least has enough sense to recognise that they are a waste of the recipients' time. It's up to the person wanting to convey information to have the politeness to distil the message into a coherent written text. If the recipient wants to exchange an oral ramble, let them call back.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn7kpyye4y0o

They're different in the sense that people leaving a voice note are not trying to call you, they are just leaving a message. I think they're popular amongst people who are not so good at writing e.g. non native speakers. You're sounding like a snob.

 

[briantrumpet]

They're different in the sense that people leaving a voice note are not trying to call you, they are just leaving a message. I think they're popular amongst people who are not so good at writing e.g. non native speakers. You're sounding like a snob.

Might be because I'm a snob.

But, to be fair to me, I was deeply scarred (well, quite annoyed) by a colleague replying to an email with a voicemail (in itself a crime) which showed he'd done no mental preparation for what he was trying to say, a ramble of ums and ahs, going round in illogical circles with no conclusion for about ten minutes, which could have been done in a test of about four short sentences. I ended up sending him an email saying "Sorry, your voicemail reply to my email wasn't clear - would you mind sending a written summary please?"

I might also be quite intolerant.

 

[briantrumpet]

This is a pertinent update to a previous version of this graphic, with the message that however you frame the question, the answer is not cars, whatever their method of propulsion and who/whatever is driving them.

 

[PurplePenguin]

Might be because I'm a snob.

But, to be fair to me, I was deeply scarred (well, quite annoyed) by a colleague replying to an email with a voicemail (in itself a crime) which showed he'd done no mental preparation for what he was trying to say, a ramble of ums and ahs, going round in illogical circles with no conclusion for about ten minutes, which could have been done in a test of about four short sentences. I ended up sending him an email saying "Sorry, your voicemail reply to my email wasn't clear - would you mind sending a written summary please?"

I might also be quite intolerant.

It's quite possible to receive emails that don't make sense as well.

The larger point is that there are a chunk of people who had a poor education and do not write that well. They're often insecure about it, because there are judgemental snobs everywhere. For them voicenotes are a very helpful thing.

 

[Dorset Boy]

Sub 2 hours for a marathon is insane.
Really feel for the guy who came seconds, also breaking the 2 hour mark, but no one will ever remember him.

 

[AndyRM]

It's quite possible to receive emails that don't make sense as well.

The larger point is that there are a chunk of people who had a poor education and do not write that well. They're often insecure about it, because there are judgemental snobs everywhere. For them voicenotes are a very helpful thing.

Not just that, they're convenient if someone has their hands full, and it's quicker to leave a voice note than type.

As for rambly voicemails I'm the master of those, because I find it difficult to concentrate when I don't have a focus on a conversation.

 

[AndyRM]

Sub 2 hours for a marathon is insane.
Really feel for the guy who came seconds, also breaking the 2 hour mark, but no one will ever remember him.

Guaranteed to be a pub quiz question though, which guarantees immortality of a sort.

 

[Pblakeney]

Sub 2 hours for a marathon is insane.
Really feel for the guy who came seconds, also breaking the 2 hour mark, but no one will ever remember him.

Who? 😉😂

 

[briantrumpet]

It's quite possible to receive emails that don't make sense as well.

The larger point is that there are a chunk of people who had a poor education and do not write that well. They're often insecure about it, because there are judgemental snobs everywhere. For them voicenotes are a very helpful thing.

I hope I'd not be an insensitive snob though, for the reason you mention.

But it does annoy me when thoroughly literate people appear to think that their time is more important than yours and can't be arsed to marshal their thoughts into a text-based communication. One of the best unintended outcomes for me was then BT Openreach replaced my phone wire, and I didn't twig that the new line bypassed my landline answerphone. No more arriving back from a long day's work with a message I couldn't action then, and couldn't action the next day before I went out to work.

And that (along with a family matter) prompted me to turn off my mobile voice messaging. Obviously, if someone rang without answer, and then sent a text asking m to ring back, I would. I might be a snob, but I try not to be a total arsehole (even if I fail sometimes).

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

Almost everyone carries a mobile phone these days so a car manufacturer tracking movements is just another, lower, layer.
Yes, it is China but we are now at a stage where the US is more threatening.

I was in a shop last week, the guy working there (probably mid 50's) was chatting to a rep who had obviously come in for a visit. The conversation got on to teenagers and the pressure of social media and overuse of phones. The shop worker revealed he knew nothing about it as he had never owned a mobile phone. I know there will be people out there like him but it was quite a shock to actually stumble across someone who doesn't have one.

 

[briantrumpet]

I was in a shop last week, the guy working there (probably mid 50's) was chatting to a rep who had obviously come in for a visit. The conversation got on to teenagers and the pressure of social media and overuse of phones. The shop worker revealed he knew nothing about it as he had never owned a mobile phone. I know there will be people out there like him but it was quite a shock to actually stumble across someone who doesn't have one.

I guess that it would just about be feasible to navigate the modern world without one (though with access at home or elsewhere via laptop, iPad, etc., and the ability to print stuff out), but it would make life very clunky when dealing with most 2026 businesses and systems. It certainly would take a lot more preparation: during the pandemic, I'd not quite got my head round paperless travel (especially with all the extra documentation required), and ended up carrying quite the sheaf of paperwork. (It was partly also for speed at the border, having watched people trying to find all the necessary documents on their phones.)

 

[Pblakeney]

It's quite possible to receive emails that don't make sense as well.

The larger point is that there are a chunk of people who had a poor education and do not write that well. They're often insecure about it, because there are judgemental snobs everywhere. For them voicenotes are a very helpful thing.

I think the larger point is people sending voice notes instead of phoning simply don't want to speak to you directly.
Sod 'em.