How to get out of a contract you didn’t sign

Wait! Before you start…

Go back and Read Part One!

Where are things now?

The TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) version is this:

• Adobe support offered 2 months free on the account;
• Fee-Free Cancellation was only available AFTER one last fee which would be paid in November;
• The 2 months free offer was time-limited (i.e., Only Available Right Then);
• I refused the offer and said I’d consult with someone (i.e., ACCC);
• At which point they were very apologetic and could now cancel the account on the spot. And I have the email to prove it.

This took most of an hour on the support chat to resolve, and they REALLY DON’T WANT the issue publicised via the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC). …

How “obligation free” turns into cash.

I signed up for an ongoing account with Adobe Stock photos late last year for a web design project.

I took the “obligation free” 10 assets per month subscription listed on the Plans page:

The project has been over for a few months and so I thought I’d cancel the account which was pulling just under $40AUD/month.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this blast from the past.

An actual honest-to-god cancellation fee on an online account.

Why is this a dark pattern?

The cancellation fee panel says this:

As part of the original subscribed agreement, this fee will apply if you cancel now and end your annual commitment early. …

When is a checkbox not a checkbox?

Microsoft Teams is YACA (Yet Another Chat App) in a world completely stuffed with them.

It comes bundled with Microsoft Office for businesses, and you can download your very own copy for your computer.

Login is through your work account, which is pretty standard.

Then this happens.

What’s this do?

Allow my organization to manage my device creates an additional account on your computer, and links your device to your business.

All good, just untick it and you’re done!

Nope.

So what’s the problem?

The tickbox is a red herring. It doesn’t matter if it’s Checked or Unchecked (or in English, Ticked or Unticked).

The only way to stop your computer being linked to your work account, and work policies, etc is to click No, sign in to this app only. …

Lockdown jobs part two

I’ve largely completed the music tagging, and for the most part, Mp3tag worked the best.

Movie tagging is a little more fraught however.

I’ve tried out a few alternatives but none have worked out:

• plex — couldn’t even get this to start. Created an account, downloaded the plex server. It booted me out on login.
• metaX — looked ok until Acronis detected malware, so this was uninstalled very quickly.
• kodi — there’s an add-on tagger, BUT it puts the tags in an external file, not the file itself. This means it works great in Kodi but not anywhere else.

In the end, I kept using Mp3tag. …

I’ve found Mozilla app icons have disappeared when I open Thunderbird (email) and Firefox (web browser) in Windows 10.

The fix was quite simple in the end.

• Open the start menu programs folder

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

• RH-click the application shortcut and choose Properties > Shortcut > Change Icon.

• Select your icon and click OK > OK

It may take a couple of goes to get this right. I found two icons for Thunderbird, the first renders as a blank document in the Taskbar, but the second displays correctly.

And if that doesn’t work…

I also tried these instructions to fix the taskbar. They didn’t work in this case, but may help you.

Lockdown jobs

Melbourne’s in lockdown again, and I’ve got all the toilet paper I need.

So it’s time to fix my music library, the one that’s been butchered by iTunes, Groove Music and two decades of attempts to fix the metadata and cover art.

What about music subscriptions?

Why don’t I just subscribe to Spotify and Apple Music and get all the music I can eat for a small monthly fee? Well, there’s three reasons I’m not doing that:

• The services don’t include everything
• They monitor my activity like I’m a bug under a microscope
• They’re prone to disappearing without trace when the company grows bored, like Groove Music a couple of years ago, and now Google music which is being killed in December 2020. …

The one Bunnings Warehouse wouldn’t publish

I bought a cutting knife from Bunnings:

They asked for a review, so I gave one.

Should’ve bought the original retractable Stanley

The tool has two design issues. First is the packing which is locked under the center screw and leaves sharp edges when pulled off the knife as directed; it took five minutes with a pair of wire cutters to get it out. Second, the blade must be installed and removed by hand. It’s both unsafe to leave it in after use, and will damage other tools if left exposed in a box.

And I sent it off and thought nothing more of it until this morning, when this…

Adventures in ADHD

I use several methods to keep organized and on task:

• morning TO DO lists,
• a big blackboard (school sized),
• an app called “Avaza”,
• organize bank accounts,
• computer calendars,
• breaking information down.

Start of day TO DO list

I write a morning list on an A4 notebook. I have tried writing lists out on computer, but doesn’t seem to work as well for me. You may be different. The idea here is to give a full page to write additional notes, etc. I don’t like small notebooks, they seem too small to see the list. Bigger is better.

It’ll start with obvious things, for example:

• Sleep
• Breakfast
• Exercise…