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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday January 31 2018, @03:41PM   Printer-friendly
from the darwin-award-candidates dept.

Teenagers Are Still Eating Tide Pods, But Don't Expect A Product Redesign

If you've never seen it, a Tide Pod looks like a little rounded packet, white with two separate swirls of blue and orange liquid. To be clear, a Tide Pod is laundry detergent heavily concentrated into a single packet, meant to dissolve in water and clean a single load of laundry. But these days, it's a dare — an Internet meme, in which teenagers try to eat Tide Pods as a "challenge." The trend picked up in December, but the pace of poisonings is still getting worse. So far in January alone, poison control centers have received 134 reports of "intentional exposures" to laundry packets, Tide or others. That's compared with 53 cases the American Association of Poison Control Centers reported for all of 2017, mostly involving teenagers.

[...] Designs like this are never willy-nilly, says Chris Livaudais, executive director of the Industrial Designers Society of America. The process starts by studying the habits of a potential user to find ways to make their life better in some way. In this case, the condensed formula does away with a heavy jug and the need for measurement.

[...] The colors are already associated with liquid detergent, Livaudais says. And the swirls "might imply how active the ingredients are and how well it would do the washing job."

Jones says the swirls were indeed a design choice — indicating that the pod brings together three ingredients (cleaning, stain-fighting and brightening, he says). The pod is transparent because customers have told Tide they like to know what they're putting into the wash with their clothes.

Livaudais says industrial designers spend a lot of time mulling best and worst case scenarios for the use of products. But if someone knowingly chooses to misuse them? "That's completely out of our hands," he says.

National Poison Help hotline: 1-800-222-1222.


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  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday January 31 2018, @03:48PM (56 children)

    by Freeman (732) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @03:48PM (#630984) Journal

    The teenage years are full of kids doing dumb stuff, because their brains are all whacko. Not much else to say here, other than don't eat non-edible things. Hand soap isn't very good for you to ingest, highly concentrated laundry soap with extra chemicals, would be much much worse.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:14PM (29 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:14PM (#630990)

      TIDE has been poisoning babies for years with this HARD CANDY design. It why in their latest chimerical they are showing a redesigned pouch with a zip lock that takes to ahnds to push and pull to open. And how it saves a baby at mom's foot. Just like child proof tops on drugs that are hard for many to ise, the pouch will be opened once and left open or dumped into bowl for easier use. The HARD CANDY is out where it is available to all, and yes even stupid teens.

      Few articles:
      https://www.poison.org/articles/2012-feb/laundry-products [poison.org]
      https://www.womensvoices.org/2013/12/17/tide-pods-poisoned-my-grandson/ [womensvoices.org]
      http://www.wlwt.com/article/study-laundry-detergent-pods-poisoning-children-at-alarming-rate/3548637 [wlwt.com]
      https://www.today.com/health/never-seen-anything-more-children-harmed-ingesting-laundry-pods-t88036 [today.com]

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Freeman on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:50PM (9 children)

        by Freeman (732) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:50PM (#631014) Journal

        Apparently my 2 yr old knows how to open those "child proof" medicine bottles. Child proof, indeed. Best place for chemicals / medicines is out of reach. Next thing is to make sure your child knows they shouldn't get into it without mommy or daddy. Sure, accidents happen, but a 2 year old hasn't even had a chance to fully develop those reasoning powers the Teenagers are ignoring due to hormones. I'm still worried when Grandma gives kiddo the Dishwasher Soap cube, but at least she's learning it's not edible.

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
        • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:42PM (4 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:42PM (#631036)

          Remember child-proof drug bottles are tested by placing 100 kids in a room. If about 80% cannot open it in 5mins, it passes. So in the end, we are OK poisoning 20% of smartest or strongest kids.

          https://www.astm.org/COMMIT/D10Presentations/D10_-_5.pdf [astm.org]

          • (Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday February 01 2018, @02:56AM (2 children)

            by frojack (1554) on Thursday February 01 2018, @02:56AM (#631313) Journal

            we are OK poisoning 20% of smartest or strongest kids.

            The smartest kids come from the smartest parents, who can reach higher than their kid, and put the tide on a high shelf.
            If you can't figure out that much, we have some clues about your parents.

            --
            No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 01 2018, @03:38AM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 01 2018, @03:38AM (#631326)

              Kids can climb.

              • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday February 01 2018, @04:55PM

                by Freeman (732) on Thursday February 01 2018, @04:55PM (#631538) Journal

                That is very much true. My wife showed me a video of a kid using the handles on the refrigerator to climb on top of the refrigerator. Kids, natural free climbers.

                --
                Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
          • (Score: 2) by el_oscuro on Thursday February 01 2018, @03:28AM

            by el_oscuro (1711) on Thursday February 01 2018, @03:28AM (#631322)

            If you can figure out how to keep 80% of kids from getting into something, you are doing pretty well.

            --
            SoylentNews is Bacon! [nueskes.com]
        • (Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday February 01 2018, @03:00AM (2 children)

          by frojack (1554) on Thursday February 01 2018, @03:00AM (#631314) Journal

          Apparently my 2 yr old knows how to open those "child proof" medicine bottles.

          How stupid would you have to be to know that?

          I suggest tide needs to add a huge dose of ipecac to their pods, for parents like you.

          --
          No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
          • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Thursday February 01 2018, @10:14AM

            by TheRaven (270) on Thursday February 01 2018, @10:14AM (#631401) Journal
            Not sure about two-year-olds, but when I was about 7 my mother had me open these for her because she couldn't get into them but I could.
            --
            sudo mod me up
          • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday February 01 2018, @05:00PM

            by Freeman (732) on Thursday February 01 2018, @05:00PM (#631543) Journal

            #1 I work for a living. #2 Wife watches baby at home (Most of the time.) #3 Grandma's house isn't as baby proof as one would hope. #4 It likely was an empty medicine bottle. #5 I kinda glazed over when the Wife was telling me the details. Sometimes one is just tired at the end of the day.

            --
            Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 01 2018, @12:26PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 01 2018, @12:26PM (#631444)

          Sure, accidents happen, but a 2 year old hasn't even had a chance to fully develop those reasoning powers the Teenagers are ignoring due to hormones.

          Now that adolescence has been redefined to end at age 24, we can't use hormones as an excuse any more.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:02PM (17 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:02PM (#631018)

        With teens, they'll probably do something else stupid if they don't have the pods. Some lessons have to be learned directly. But it would be nice if they also sold "ugly" pods. There's no need to entice kids, especially babies and toddlers who really don't know better.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by insanumingenium on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:34PM (16 children)

          by insanumingenium (4824) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:34PM (#631033) Journal

          If you want the ugly ones, buy generic, they are much less visually appealing. Or don't use pods at all, liquid and powdered soap are still easily available.

          • (Score: 4, Insightful) by bob_super on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:02PM (14 children)

            by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:02PM (#631049)

            The pods are a marketing gimmick which allows prices and profits to keep rising (you can't use less than a pod if you have a small load).

            The problem with laudry detergent is that it's widely agreed to be "good enough", and has been for a couple decades at least (long before that, it was already washing clean, but a lot worse chemically for the sewers/rivers). But the shareholders want growth ...

            • (Score: 3, Insightful) by insanumingenium on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:10PM (13 children)

              by insanumingenium (4824) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:10PM (#631057) Journal

              I don't disagree, but my point was that if you wanted to not have the "attractive" product, there is no shortage of options on the market. It is almost like our entire system is run on an expectation of unlimited exponential growth. The day someone finds a way of breaking that expectation, they will have earned the title "savior of mankind" in my book.

              • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:17PM (12 children)

                by acid andy (1683) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:17PM (#631104) Homepage Journal

                It is almost like our entire system is run on an expectation of unlimited exponential growth. The day someone finds a way of breaking that expectation, they will have earned the title "savior of mankind" in my book.

                Is that where this buzz word trend of claiming your policies are "sustainable" [xkcd.com] comes from? Of course they stretch the meaning of the word to just mean whatever makes a profit or suits their political goals. Modern economics would have to be completely redesigned to not depend on infinite assumed future growth. Maybe it would have to reset completely. Although I suppose the gradual shift from physical manufacturing and mining of natural resources to businesses based on financial transactions, computer software and communications can mean that some of this growth can come from them instead. When they're imaginary, mental things making the money, they can grow as much as anyone wants so long as people don't lose confidence in them.

                --
                If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
                • (Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:18PM (2 children)

                  by captain normal (2205) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:18PM (#631144)

                  Actually it's caused by the exponential growth in people.

                  --
                  When life isn't going right, go left.
                  • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:23PM (1 child)

                    by acid andy (1683) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:23PM (#631149) Homepage Journal

                    Ah but is that the cause or the symptom? The bigger the debt and the profit projections, the more hard working tax payers need to be spawned to make up for it.

                    --
                    If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
                    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:41PM

                      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:41PM (#631165)

                      last time there were too many people, they killed a lot off in a war.

                      the baby boomers were a result of the people that came home, and the golden age of things because a lot of people were culled and did not consume resources.

                      true, good and bad died, but the takeaway is that you dont have growth limits if you aren't facing resource restrictions from too much growth.

                      most wars are related to people and growth. emotions cause problems. the stock market works similarly... there are plenty of good stocks that are not endlessly growing, but you have to dig to find them because its the easy gains from continued growth that people look for.

                      anyway before the tide pods, they added blue crystals to unlock enzyme power or something. cleaned mostly the same.

                      buying loose power in a box is the most economical way to do it, but even my dishwasher manual says it cleans best with cascade platinum pods. and that the loose powder is for poor losers and when your friends show up and see you are violating the social contract by not using the most expensive product, no woman will sleep with me and my children will refuse to pay for my retirement.

                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:19PM (8 children)

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:19PM (#631145) Journal

                  Is that where this buzz word trend of claiming your policies are "sustainable" comes from?

                  No, I think it comes from the same people who think that because growth can't go on forever, it has to stop right now.

                  Modern economics would have to be completely redesigned to not depend on infinite assumed future growth.

                  When would it have to be completely redesigned? After all, we're currently elevating a ton of people out of poverty currently and there's a lot of big goals that haven't been achieved (such as my favorites: end to aging, space travel, and shiny AI). There's a lot of room for growth. So what's the difference to us today between growth that lasts millennia versus growth that lasts forever? Not much.

                  Unless, for some reason, you don't think that much growth is... sustainable.

                  • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:40PM (7 children)

                    by acid andy (1683) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:40PM (#631164) Homepage Journal

                    such as my favorites: end to aging, space travel, and shiny AI

                    Ahh but those are the good kinds of growth. Unfortunately politics and big business aren't run by techie geeks. Bill Gates, Elon Musk... Oh wait! Not only run by techie geeks then and not necessarily benevolent ones.

                    Make sure you figure out what to do about running out of space and resources for unlimited population growth before you solve the aging problem though!

                    --
                    If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
                    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:50PM (2 children)

                      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:50PM (#631170)

                      Aging should NOT be solved. The moment we make people functionally immortal is the day humanity dies. It would turn into the worst dystopia and we have plenty of fictional stories about how that would turn out. I can't see any good outcome and can only predict a small group of immortals slowly gaining power of the entire planet, and their basic humanity gets worn out by seeing all the "little people" live and die.

                      I could be wrong, maybe the immortals would become very wise and compassionate after their first 100 years. Maybe they would work for the benefit of humanity once they realize short lived humans are more like children and most don't mature until they're almost on the death bed. At best we should have therapies that extend life a few decades.

                      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:19PM

                        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:19PM (#631244) Journal

                        Aging should NOT be solved. The moment we make people functionally immortal is the day humanity dies. It would turn into the worst dystopia and we have plenty of fictional stories about how that would turn out.

                        [...]

                        I could be wrong, maybe the immortals would become very wise and compassionate after their first 100 years.

                        Let me guess. You're probably complaining right now about short sighted, "got mine" people who don't give a damn about anything that happens after they die? They may never grow wise and compassionate, but they would at least live long enough to experience these problems. That gives them an interest in solving the problem that doesn't exist now.

                      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:34PM

                        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:34PM (#631254) Journal

                        I could be wrong

                        Credit given.

                        At best we should have therapies that extend life a few decades.

                        So we should settle for ineffective anti-aging therapies that don't fully address the problems of aging damage? Interesting.

                        All diseases should be treated, preferably with the underlying problems addressed rather than symptom management, ie. cures should be found. If we've cured aging diseases effectively, then death should be postponed indefinitely. Any social implications of that should be addressed after it happens. If defeating death is actually possible with upcoming medical knowledge/technologies, it could be less expensive than you think (the ultimate preventative health care would prevent the need for lots of expensive hospital stays). If it does get done, good luck banning it (the War on Drugs is pretty futile, but the War on Anti-Aging would be laughable).

                        We don't see billionaires being taken out by an angry public today (for the most part? [theguardian.com]), even though their wealth already perpetuates itself through their descendants and income inequality is rising. Immortal billionaire vampires barely make a difference when it comes to the people at the bottom. Immortal billionaires could even have a positive impact if they inspire people to finally rise up and overthrow/kill the billionaires, or tax them appropriately (the compromise option). We may be living in the "worst dystopia" right now (endless bread and circuses, rising income inequality, with various threats to humanity looming) and immortality could be the cure.

                        --
                        [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
                    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:02PM (3 children)

                      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:02PM (#631231) Journal

                      Ahh but those are the good kinds of growth. Unfortunately politics and big business aren't run by techie geeks. Bill Gates, Elon Musk... Oh wait! Not only run by techie geeks then and not necessarily benevolent ones.

                      Perhaps, we didn't structure our regulation of business in such a way as to encourage the growth of big businesses?

                      Make sure you figure out what to do about running out of space and resources for unlimited population growth before you solve the aging problem though!

                      To the contrary, I think the running out problem will get solved only when we've solved the aging problem. When people will actually live through a future problem, then they start caring more about that future problem.

                      • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:14PM (2 children)

                        by acid andy (1683) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:14PM (#631238) Homepage Journal

                        Perhaps, we didn't structure our regulation of business in such a way as to encourage the growth of big businesses?

                        I don't understand what you mean. It seems to me western economies now favor big businesses over smaller ones. Are you saying to end aging, explore more of space and get strong AI the businesses need to get even bigger?

                        To the contrary, I think the running out problem will get solved only when we've solved the aging problem. When people will actually live through a future problem, then they start caring more about that future problem.

                        Good point, although average human lifespan is already much longer than it was a few hundred years ago. Are we more forward thinking? We have vastly more technical knowledge, so it's hard to compare.

                        --
                        If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
                        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:35PM

                          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:35PM (#631255) Journal

                          I don't understand what you mean. It seems to me western economies now favor big businesses over smaller ones. Are you saying to end aging, explore more of space and get strong AI the businesses need to get even bigger?

                          Regulation creates strong economies of scale. Figuring out how to run a business to be compatible with a particular rule set is roughly constant cost, meaning it's a lot cheaper per unit of economic activity to cover the regulatory needs of a large business than it is a small business. Similarly, it's a lot easier for the big company to figure out how to bend the rules more effectively to stay in compliance while eking out larger profits.

                          Good point, although average human lifespan is already much longer than it was a few hundred years ago. Are we more forward thinking? We have vastly more technical knowledge, so it's hard to compare.

                          Do you have to ask? How we handle risk is a great example. When people are almost all very poor and relatively short-lived, then people aren't very interested in safer working conditions or better environments. It's accepted that people will die in accidents and that pollution happens. But give people a long life and they care when that life is greatly shortened by a sloppy workplace or nasty pollution that could have easily been cleaned up.

                        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday February 01 2018, @04:28AM

                          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 01 2018, @04:28AM (#631342) Journal

                          I don't understand what you mean. It seems to me western economies now favor big businesses over smaller ones. Are you saying to end aging, explore more of space and get strong AI the businesses need to get even bigger?

                          In addition to my previous statements on regulation, consider this example. You want to build a new laser printer that's really good. Right away, you will run afoul of a variety of regulations in the US and elsewhere about building laser printers that a) leave identifying marks on the page, and b) detect when someone is trying to print any of a number of protected currencies (including the US dollar). So it's not enough to just build a better printer. Your printer also needs to pass various frivolous regulatory tests as well.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:04PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:04PM (#631098)

            If you want the ugly ones, buy generic, they are much less visually appealing. Or don't use pods at all, liquid and powdered soap are still easily available.

            I'm not sure how this is relevant to the ide pod challenge, since the idiots who want to partake will presumably just buy tide pods from the nearest store.

      • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:27PM

        by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:27PM (#631155) Journal

        So you are saying that the Tide pods are the civilian version of cluster bombs that disperse brightly colored bomblets that do not necessarily all explode and look just like a very fun toy to any children in the area?

    • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:47PM (3 children)

      by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:47PM (#631039)

      The problem with common sense, is it's not technically "informative", "insightful" nor "interesting". It's just common sense, so how to mod it?

      Can we get a "sadly we once again get to a point where it gets stated despite being blatantly obvious" mod ? It's not fundamentally "Redundant: -1".

      • (Score: 5, Insightful) by captain_nifty on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:53PM (2 children)

        by captain_nifty (4252) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:53PM (#631043)

        Where I work we write procedures for performing industrial processes, one of my co workers has a sign on their wall saying, "common sense is neither quantifiable or reproducible and thus will not be used around here"

        Trying to write idiot proof instructions, we always manage to find a bigger idiot. Common sense is all too often not very common.

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:52PM (2 children)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:52PM (#631042) Journal

      This is surprising.

      The teenagers are the very ones I would expect to have common sense to NOT eat tide pods. I would have expected this to be a "fraternity bro" problem either because common sense disappears, or the fraternity is a filter for those who didn't have it to begin with. Teenagers are not the ones who drink fatal amounts of alcohol, or force fatal amounts on others.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:24PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:24PM (#631070)

        I think that's because teenagers have a harder time getting alcohol than fraternity bros. Mostly since most teenagers are under 21.

      • (Score: 2) by Kromagv0 on Thursday February 01 2018, @02:32PM

        by Kromagv0 (1825) on Thursday February 01 2018, @02:32PM (#631482) Homepage

        I would have expected this to be a "fraternity bro" problem either because common sense disappears, or the fraternity is a filter for those who didn't have it to begin with.

        And now I am reminded of one of my buddies in college who while very drunk drank a cup of regular tide laundry detergent on a dare.

        --
        T-Shirts and bumper stickers [zazzle.com] to offend someone
    • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:08PM (18 children)

      by Grishnakh (2831) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:08PM (#631055)

      The teenage years are full of kids doing dumb stuff, because their brains are all whacko.

      That's not a good excuse. I was a teenager once, and I never did anything this stupid (eating obviously poisonous things), and none of my friends did either. Of course, none of us were dumb enough to get into drugs or drinking either (though at least one of them, though I'm not in contact with him now, I would not be surprised if he were a MJ user).

      • (Score: 2) by insanumingenium on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:20PM (2 children)

        by insanumingenium (4824) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:20PM (#631066) Journal

        There are levels of stupid, the fact that you ran in a crowd that were less stupid than average doesn't change that teenagers literally lack "adult" reasoning about risks and dangers. There is a reason that teens are disproportionately at risk for just about everything under the sun. Does that excuse stupid behavior as a whole, no, but you also can't disregard that risk vs reward isn't a concept that they can apply accurately either.

        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Grishnakh on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:21PM (1 child)

          by Grishnakh (2831) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:21PM (#631146)

          I really wonder, though: would society be better off if teenagers stupid enough to eat Tide pods just died out? Of course, we'd have to figure out how to make the transition with a large fraction of our youth offing themselves, but with only kids smart enough to not eat Tide pods surviving to adulthood and reproducing, perhaps we'd have a better society.

          I'm sorry, I just don't have that much sympathy for someone dumb enough to succumb to peer pressure to the extent that they willingly ingest toxic substances. I'm also highly curious: how many of these Tide pod eaters are female vs. male? I'd bet money the vast majority are male. Again, perhaps our society would be better off without people this idiotic and impulsive.

          • (Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Wednesday January 31 2018, @10:49PM

            by Magic Oddball (3847) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @10:49PM (#631224) Journal

            IMHO the best solution would be for Tide to have a scathingly snarky ad campaign showing teens of all kinds ridiculing (fictional) dumbasses who have eaten them and college-age adults encouraging idiots to "help Tide clean the gene pool" by imitating the victims. Most teens shrug off warnings that they'll get hurt, but most are leery of anything that might make them look bad to their peers...

      • (Score: 3, Touché) by tangomargarine on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:04PM

        by tangomargarine (667) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:04PM (#631100)

        I was a teenager once, and I never did anything this stupid (eating obviously poisonous things), and none of my friends did either. Of course, none of us were dumb enough to get into drugs or drinking either

        Which raises the question: how many friends did you have? ;)

        --
        "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
      • (Score: 2) by edIII on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:56PM (11 children)

        by edIII (791) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:56PM (#631172)

        Don't conflate eating Tide Pods with trying MJ. MJ has *never* killed anyone, you don't jump off buildings, and you don't suck dick in a bathroom stall to get it.

        The implied character deficiencies you put on drug users also has nothing to do with the complete lack of any common sense or self preservation that goes along with stupid stunts like this. Tide Pods are up there with the Russians filming themselves hanging from skyscrapers. There is only the barest chance you'll survive either activities. These kids are not already addicted to mind altering drugs before doing so, and Tide Pods are certainly not an addictive product, so you can't conflate those urges either.

        You are correct though, I don't think kids in my day would do anything remotely that stupid. Not eat chemicals like they're food. Maybe jumping off a bridge into the water, or some other alpha male stunt to get girls attention, but nothing so dramatically stupid.

        I don't know how to explain this latest extreme stupidity. Almost need SpongeBob Squarepants here warning us that this isn't stupidity, but *advanced* stupidity.

        Nobody was stupid enough to eat Tide Pods in my generation that hasn't been dead for a few decades already.

        --
        Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
        • (Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Wednesday January 31 2018, @09:38PM (6 children)

          by Aiwendil (531) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @09:38PM (#631187) Journal

          MJ has *never* killed anyone,

          It has - are lots of documented cases. I mean, bailing accidents has been known to crush people, and not to mention all those years it was used for hanging and all the poor sailors that got tangled in ropes when ships was sinking.

          Also are a few cases of suspected allergical reactions with fatal outcomes. (Allergies exists to pretty much everything)
          (A quick search seems to place cannabis as about as dangerous as some nuts)

          (Yes, I know what you intended with your post, but the "there is a magical plant that never has killed anyone despite this being a statistical unlikely even even if the plant wasn't psychoactive nor the main source of ropes for centuries" sets me off)

          you don't jump off buildings, and you don't suck dick in a bathroom stall to get it.

          Evidently you have less fun friends than I have. :)

          • (Score: 2) by edIII on Wednesday January 31 2018, @10:22PM (5 children)

            by edIII (791) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @10:22PM (#631213)

            It has - are lots of documented cases. I mean, bailing accidents has been known to crush people, and not to mention all those years it was used for hanging and all the poor sailors that got tangled in ropes when ships was sinking.

            Also are a few cases of suspected allergical reactions with fatal outcomes. (Allergies exists to pretty much everything)
            (A quick search seems to place cannabis as about as dangerous as some nuts)

            (Yes, I know what you intended with your post, but the "there is a magical plant that never has killed anyone despite this being a statistical unlikely even even if the plant wasn't psychoactive nor the main source of ropes for centuries" sets me off)

            Uhhhh, there is a big difference between dying from a a 100lb bag of salt being dropped on you, and eating 100lbs of salt within a few years. Not sure why you are set off because I claimed that the recreational use of weed has not killed anyone, but a bail of hemp has.

            You admit as the end it may be as dangerous as nuts to some people. That's true. I've never heard of a recreational MJ user die from it. Maybe some have died from industrial accidents while on MJ, but still, that is a different situation in of itself too. People drink on the job and have accidents to, but we don't equate alcohol usage with imminent death either.

            Where is the documented case that somebody died from MJ use? I would like to see it and evaluate it for myself. If it's a dumbass that jumped off the roof into the pool and died, I've seen people do things that stupid while sober. I need something where the MJ itself was the cause of death.

            --
            Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @10:51PM (2 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @10:51PM (#631225)

              i am getting emphysema from my habbit

              • (Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:19PM (1 child)

                by Aiwendil (531) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:19PM (#631245) Journal

                Dude - stop inhaling paper, use a hookah instead (while still harmful it is (rumoured to be) a lot less so, in any case it is less annoying).

                And if possible - stop using tobacco as well.

                • (Score: 2) by t-3 on Thursday February 01 2018, @12:41PM

                  by t-3 (4907) on Thursday February 01 2018, @12:41PM (#631447)

                  Hookah is nice, but if you have a few hundred to drop, a quality vaporizer will do you good. Taking a break once in a while is good too - tolerance isn't a race to the highest, it's something to be managed. I've always preferred smoking blunts myself though. A grenadier will burn for nearly an hour with a gram in it.

            • (Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:12PM (1 child)

              by Aiwendil (531) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:12PM (#631237) Journal

              (:aside: Hmm.. *ponders* 100lbs is ~45kg. 45 / 365 ~ .13, or about 130g. Let's assume "a few" means "five" 26g... Yeah, I'd say the difference is that having the salt dropped on you is a more pleasant way to die (if "a few" means "ten" you'd probably survive unless your death was caused by lousy genetic facitilated by salt and lifestyle) (would be better to take 200lbs or 100kg if using that rhetoric again) :end aside:)

              It sets me off since "MJ" or "Marijuana" refers to the plant itself (Marijuana originally only referred to the plant, or possibly the seeds if we want to go back to pre-mexican), and many people has died from the plant (only a small fraction of that being from the smoke of the plant)

              (None-rope or bailing below)
              All cases of death or hospitalization I've read about has been due to eating food with hemp in them (well, excepting for having arteries clogged due to bad injections - but I tend to categorize that as improper preparation of injection rather than substance) (usually hempseed, but cannabis oil [ie "cannabis butter"] has occured as well)

              I would need a pubmed account to dig up documentation of actual deaths but to take a close call (as in - would have been dead without treatment) that was fairly easy to google up http://medind.nic.in/daa/t14/i1/daat14i1p192.pdf [medind.nic.in]

              I'd equate alchol usage with imminent death - with the notable exception of ethanol in non-insane doses (also - not that uncommon for people being drunk choking on their own vomit or falling asleep in positions that causes asphyxia or decide to sleep naked in the snow). (And yes, usage. One friend killed himself intentionally by drinking a non-ethanol, another friend tried but ended up in intensive care and then a psychiatric ward)

        • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday January 31 2018, @10:08PM

          by Grishnakh (2831) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @10:08PM (#631204)

          Don't conflate eating Tide Pods with trying MJ.

          I'm sorry that wasn't more obvious, but I wasn't conflating these at all, I was just commenting that none of my friends (AFAICT) were drug users, and years later, I'd guess that one of them is probably a MJ user, which is (as you said) relatively harmless, and not at all like other street drugs that are very destructive.

          You are correct though, I don't think kids in my day would do anything remotely that stupid. Not eat chemicals like they're food. Maybe jumping off a bridge into the water, or some other alpha male stunt to get girls attention, but nothing so dramatically stupid.

          Yep, me too. The stupidest thing kids in my generation and social class did that I remember was mainly driving poorly.

          I don't know how to explain this latest extreme stupidity.

          I don't either, but it's pretty apparent to me that kids these days just aren't like kids when I was that age. There's huge differences, such as how I was able to wander around outside for miles with no supervision at under 10 years of age, whereas now that would result in police action, child neglect charges, etc. I have a friend with an 8yo boy and I wouldn't trust that kid to get in out of the rain, much less bike for miles around the neighborhood alone, or go to school by himself, but I was doing just that at his age when my single mother was away at work.

        • (Score: 2) by Mykl on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:23PM (2 children)

          by Mykl (1112) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:23PM (#631248)

          MJ has *never* killed anyone

          Where I live, drug-driving now kills more people per year than drink-driving (3rd year in a row). The drug mix has been shifting from cannabis to amphetamines, however a significant proportion of road fatalities involved people with MJ in their system.

          Drivers with THC in their system show a strong over-representation in fatalities against the percentage of use in the community:
          https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14642878 [nih.gov]

          • (Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday February 01 2018, @02:10AM

            by edIII (791) on Thursday February 01 2018, @02:10AM (#631295)

            Although regrettable, that doesn't mean MJ kills anymore that alcohol kills drunk drivers. What killed them both was the sudden stop. MJ intrinsically is not fatal, nor does it cause fatalities on its own. Stupid behavior always kills though, and altered states and driving have never mixed. I'm not condoning operating heavy machinery or vehicles while under the influence.

            For that matter, I'm all for restricting driving to AI machines (after a few more generations and failures) since humans have demonstrated that they cannot BOTH be addicted to a smart phone and actually concentrate on driving a car. The smart phone wins, and kills more than any MJ users do. Smart phone users under the influence are even worse.

            So while I don't see a huge increase in fatalities from MJ use where I live (most people figured out what they can handle apparently), I do see a huge upsurge in bullshit related to people looking at their damn phones while driving.

            --
            Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
          • (Score: 2) by dry on Friday February 02 2018, @04:03AM

            by dry (223) on Friday February 02 2018, @04:03AM (#631864) Journal

            Where I am, the leading cause of motor vehicle accidents is distracted driving, aka cell phone usage. Drunk driving deaths are at a historical low and don't hear too much about drug caused accidents besides a campaign from the government discouraging teens from driving while high and reminders that the cops will come down on you hard if they suspect any kind of impairment while driving.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:21PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:21PM (#631247)

        >That's not a good excuse. I was a teenager once, and I never did anything this stupid (eating obviously poisonous things), and none of my friends did either.

        This is why you're here. Survivorship bias.

        The dumb things we did as kids were not so dumb, I agree with you. They were risky only if the reward was high enough. Eating soap was not.

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by TheRaven on Thursday February 01 2018, @10:58AM

        by TheRaven (270) on Thursday February 01 2018, @10:58AM (#631417) Journal
        If you reach adulthood without being able to recognise anything that you did as a teenager as being stupid, then that strongly implies that you didn't learn anything since then.
        --
        sudo mod me up
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by acid andy on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:03PM (6 children)

    by acid andy (1683) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:03PM (#630986) Homepage Journal

    Is this the updated form of that favored parental retort "If they told you to jump off a cliff..."?

    "If they made an internet meme daring you to eat xxxxxxx would you do it?"

    --
    If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
    • (Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:30PM (3 children)

      by Aiwendil (531) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:30PM (#631000) Journal

      Fun part is - if enough people pressure them then the vast majority of people would do it. The fear of being the oddball loner is greater than the fear of death with most people.
      (Yeah, that expression never made sense to me).

      But I guess the interim version is "If enough ads told you to buy something would you?"

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:15PM

        by Grishnakh (2831) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:15PM (#631060)

        If our species is really that stupid, maybe it's better that we go extinct from eating Tide pods.

      • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday January 31 2018, @09:05PM

        by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @09:05PM (#631176) Homepage Journal

        Advertising can be VERY EXPENSIVE. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on my Presidential Campaign. So I did something very smart. I got the Fake News Media to cover me. And they gave me a lot of NEGATIVE COVERAGE. But my name was out there. I got my name out there. And so many people voted for me, I won OVERWHELMINGLY.

        And Procter & Gamble -- the Tide folks -- are doing the same thing. People aren't saying, "oh, don't eat the detergent pods." They're saying "don't eat the TIDE pods." And Procter & Gamble put out their ad, they say "use Tide pods for washing, not eating." And the Fake News Media show it FOR FREE. USA Today, Esquire, and so many more. Very smart! pic.twitter.com/0JnFdhnsWZ [t.co]

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:23PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:23PM (#631249)

        > The fear of being the oddball loner

        wait, what?

        -- the oddball loner

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:32PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:32PM (#631079)
    • (Score: 2) by dry on Friday February 02 2018, @04:07AM

      by dry (223) on Friday February 02 2018, @04:07AM (#631867) Journal

      You never jumped off cliffs as a teenager? It was fun, at least until one kid found the rock barely covered with water and really fucked up his arm.

  • (Score: 5, Funny) by Snow on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:05PM (21 children)

    by Snow (1601) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:05PM (#630987) Journal

    When I was a kid, all the cool edgy kids would snort pixie stix. It was a terribly unpleasant experience that would leave your nose burning and a terrible lingering taste that would run down the back of your throat. Eating glue was another popular pastime. I had a particular fondness for gluesticks. The texture was just more enjoyable than the Elmer's white glue or the yellowy-clear glue with the nipple on top.

    Now, with the Vines and the Snapchats and the Instagrams, the kids are no longer competing with the other kids in their desk pod, but rather with all kids in the world. Eating a small bit of glue is no longer cool enough to get the likes. Now you, need to eat a whole stick, or maybe a couple sticks. Maybe even the purple gluesticks (which, while still pretty good, aren't as tasty as the white glue sticks). This increased competition for likes leads the kids to do stupider and stupider things for likes. In my day, we were happy with one like, but the kids now need many, many more.

    • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:16PM (3 children)

      by acid andy (1683) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:16PM (#630993) Homepage Journal

      Yeah but generally the ones with half a clue would check for "Non Toxic" labeling before beginning their stunt. I'll accept though, sadly, that many teenagers and a great many adults possess considerably smaller fractions of a clue than half! I think it doesn't help that the gullible or those that haven't fully developed critical thinking skills readily accept their peers and the internet subcultures they embrace as a sort of authoritative source of guidance and information.

      --
      If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Freeman on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:52PM (2 children)

        by Freeman (732) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:52PM (#631015) Journal

        Exhibit A: YouTube.

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
        • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:02PM (1 child)

          by tangomargarine (667) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:02PM (#631097)

          The videos there, or the comments? YouTube comments are a rotting cesspool, too.

          --
          "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
          • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday February 01 2018, @04:52PM

            by Freeman (732) on Thursday February 01 2018, @04:52PM (#631534) Journal

            Yeah, anytime I look at the comments, I remember why I don't bother. The YouTube reference was in regards to the stupid things that people do and then post on YouTube. For their 60 seconds of Fame.

            --
            Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:11PM (9 children)

      by Snotnose (1623) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:11PM (#631024)

      When I was a kid, all the cool edgy kids would snort pixie stix.

      When I was a kid the trendy thing was to hold your breath until you passed out. None of my friends did it, we laughed at the idiots who did it.

      A classmate, Alex Popko, died from it. He passed out standing up, hit his head on the concrete when he passed out. I was happy as hell. He was a year older than me, twice my size, and the biggest bully in the school.

      --
      Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
      • (Score: 2) by Snow on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:26PM (8 children)

        by Snow (1601) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:26PM (#631029) Journal

        That's really sad.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:00PM (7 children)

          by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:00PM (#631048) Journal

          Sad about the death, yes or maybe.

          Sad about the reaction, no. I can see it as a natural instinctual reaction if one has repeatedly been a victim of a bully. Yes, seriously. Bullies are bad enough that they cause people to either kill themselves, or bring guns to school to kill others, or both but in reverse order. Nothing wrong with being honest about feelings about bullies. People honestly express rage and desire to kill certain foreign enemies -- especially ones who are monsters. I don't remember anyone shedding tears for Osama bin Laden. And I'm not too inclined to shed tears for bullies. Yes, there may be reasons why they became what they are. And THAT is the sad part. But the result of what they become is still what it is. Just an opinion.

          --
          People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:02PM (6 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:02PM (#631096)

            I don't remember anyone shedding tears forOsama

            That said I thought the scenes of jubilant laughter, grinning and ecstatic cheering were in poor taste. The guy instigated some terrible events but no-one's death should ever be cause for joyous celebration like that. A sombre end to a sad story. People who had felt fear would feel relief, sure, but if you rejoice openly like that, don't you lose any moral high ground? In the case of the bullies, I understand what you're saying about the feelings being a natural reaction for someone that was actually bullied by them and you're probably right.

            • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:26PM

              by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:26PM (#631154) Journal

              I remember what I read in Newsweek when Romania fell on 22 December 1989. As I recall, all of the people who swarmed the palace to lawfully arrest Nicolae Ceausescu couldn't resist the urge to unload all their bullets into him. There was singing and cheering in the streets. They were playing Christmas music over the town's public address system. Christmas music had been outlawed for over 40 years.

              I'm not so sure you lose any moral high ground to be happy about the passing of people who deliberately and with joy, caused tremendous amounts of suffering of other people. I'll take the biblical example of the death of Jezebel. [biblegateway.com] (while they were celebrating her death, the dogs came and ate almost all of her remains -- as had been foretold.)

              --
              People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
            • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:27PM (3 children)

              by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:27PM (#631156) Journal

              I was in Park Slope, Brooklyn on 9/11. My street is near the top of the glacial moraine across the western end of Long Island and overlooks downtown Manhattan across the East River. The prevailing wind goes straight from where the twin towers were, and on that day little bits of burning paper were falling all around us like snow. When the towers fell I saw them and felt the ground shake. People were leaning out their apartment windows and screaming.

              So, I wanted Osama bin Laden dead. I'm a progressive but I had no patience with the surrender monkeys who wanted to dissuade us from tearing Afghanistan apart. It was unbelievably frustrating to watch 8 years of Bush and Cheney fail to get the guy.

              When Obama finally did get him, i felt no joy. It was more like...grim satisfaction. It was the same with the demise of Saddam Hussein and Qadafi.

              No, we should not rejoice at killing mass murderers and tyrants, but we must put them to death. Justice demands it.

              --
              Washington DC delenda est.
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:47PM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:47PM (#631169)

                i thought an eye for an eye made the world blind.

                maybe you can't really see that view though.

                too bad the dictators in your example seemed to have managed to at least set expectations. the people in those countries now can't even go to a market or wedding without a fear of randomly being blown to bits by someone they don't know. the dictator's at least had rules, and if you followed them no matter how shitty they were, you wouldn't be blown up for being near someone with different religious beliefs and become collateral damage.

                dictators at least want control along with the power. random violence isn't control, but anyway, the eye for eye thing has no place in a justice system. justice is already blind; you are merely repeating tribal rhetoric

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @09:09PM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @09:09PM (#631177)

                  Phoenix666 has noticeably changed to a more conservative tone post-trump. The emotional desire for retribution can be overpowering, it is built into our DNA.

                  Perhaps it had to do with Obama being so awesome on the face of things while secretly continuing the nastiest US practices. Just the drone program was a pretty terrifying thing. So Phoenix goes from President Uber Democrat to Precedent Krusty the Klown, I can totally see that causing a break in some people's psyche.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 01 2018, @08:40AM

                by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 01 2018, @08:40AM (#631377)

                No, we should not rejoice at killing mass murderers and tyrants, but we must put them to death. Justice demands it.

                Your version of "justice" completely fails when all we are doing are replacing them with worse mass murderers and tyrants (ii.e. ISIS).

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 01 2018, @08:36AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 01 2018, @08:36AM (#631375)

              The guy instigated some terrible events

              The guy *allegedly* instigated some terrible events.

              He should still be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. *Especially* when he is prevented from ever prevented from appearing in court by the very people who want you to believe he is guilty.

              If the powers that be are unhappy about that, they only have themselves to blame.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:30PM (6 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:30PM (#631078)

      When I was a kid in seventh grade, my best friend and I came up with a plan to make money.

      All the cool kids were always talking about getting laid. And we both went to the big city every week for youth group on Wednesday’s. My mom had aerobics and the store sold condoms in 36 packs. Way cheaper than the local store. We made so much money that year. Off of braggarts.

      However this insight didn’t mean I was super smart. In 9th grade all the rage was red wings. And I got mine.

      The taste was so horrible I am pretty sure they were all lying like in 7th grade. But how I missed this insight with two years more wisdom under my belt? You got me.

      Fails on youtube probably explain they stupidity of humans in full.

      Pretty sure we are only smart enough to kill ourselves long term. Tide pods proves it!

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by HiThere on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:50PM (5 children)

        by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:50PM (#631088) Journal

        Red wings? I don't understand. You mean you ate boots? Certainly wearing them has noting to do with their taste.

        --
        Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:19PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:19PM (#631106)

          You dont want to know, but if you must, google earning them.

          • (Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:53PM

            by Aiwendil (531) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:53PM (#631128) Journal

            1) I know people with that as a kink
            2) EEW TMI
            3) This will make NHL news bearable for the next couple of months, thanks for the expression

        • (Score: 5, Informative) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:08PM (2 children)

          by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:08PM (#631138) Homepage Journal

          I'll tell you, it's when a lady is bleeding from her whatever, and she wants you to lick THAT. The blood. Don't do it. Because there are so many diseases. Vaginas, these days, are potential landmines. There’s some real danger there. You have to have a roving doctor, his office has to be in your briefcase. He has to be your best friend. He has to go with you at all times. He has to do onsite tests. Dating is like being in Vietnam. You’re the equivalent of a soldier going over to Vietnam, it's just as bloody. And just as dangerous!

          • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:31PM (1 child)

            by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:31PM (#631160) Journal

            The best way to get young boys to learn to stay away from vaginas is to calmly sit down with them and explain that women's vaginas are lined with razor sharp teeth that can bite off a child's hand.

            --
            People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
            • (Score: 4, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:46PM

              by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:46PM (#631168) Homepage Journal

              I think you're joking, maybe you're joking. Because if you just put your hand in there it's OK. For me it's always been OK. But when you start sticking your whatever in vaginas, then it gets VERY EXPENSIVE. Some guys spend too much. I never spend more than I have to. Because I have terrific lawyers. I always, always get the prenup. And it's been worth every penny!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:13PM (11 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:13PM (#630989)

    You used to be able to buy compressed solid packs of detergent, until everything went to liquid. Bring those back, and maybe teens will just go back to rather eating a pack of crackers instead.

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:15PM (8 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:15PM (#630992) Journal

      Bring back the powder and they'll just snort them.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2) by rleigh on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:49PM (7 children)

        by rleigh (4887) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:49PM (#631041) Homepage

        Am I the only luddite here still buying big boxes of powder? I doubt you could snort much, the agony of your mucus membranes dissolving would likely stop you quite quickly!

        • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:04PM (4 children)

          by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:04PM (#631052) Journal

          The pods are just too convenient. Grab one, throw it in the machine. Can you imagine back in the olden days when people would pour powder into a little cup and then pour the cup into the machine? Horrors!

          And don't get your fingers stuck in the rollers that squeeze the clothes dry.

          --
          People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
          • (Score: 4, Funny) by takyon on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:01PM (1 child)

            by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday January 31 2018, @07:01PM (#631095) Journal

            Do you know how long it takes to cook a decent meal around here? Fucking hours. But now I can just throw a Tide pod in my mouth 3 times a day and I'm good to go. Very convenient.

            --
            [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
            • (Score: 4, Funny) by DannyB on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:05PM

              by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:05PM (#631135) Journal

              I prefer to microwave them before eating.

              --
              People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
          • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Thursday February 01 2018, @11:57AM (1 child)

            by TheRaven (270) on Thursday February 01 2018, @11:57AM (#631434) Journal
            Pour? We scoop the powder up with the measuring scoop and then pour it into the box. It takes less time than anything that you need to unwrap and doesn't leave any residue in low-water washes (unlike the plastic bag of liquid tablets that we've tried). Oh, and it means that it's easy (just adjust the amount you scoop) to put in more or less depending on how soiled or large the load is.
            --
            sudo mod me up
            • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday February 01 2018, @04:18PM

              by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 01 2018, @04:18PM (#631517) Journal

              Brawndo it's what plants need. It's got electrolytes.

              --
              People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
        • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:53PM

          by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:53PM (#631091) Journal

          Nope. I still use laundry powder in a box. All I can say about snorting it is "Nobody around here has ever tried it, and I don't intend to suggest it.".

          --
          Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
        • (Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:44PM

          by captain normal (2205) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:44PM (#631167)

          Powdered laundry detergent doesn't work very well in modern hi-efficiency washers. It doesn't dissolve very well and you wind up with detergent clumps on your laundry.
           

          --
          When life isn't going right, go left.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:33PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:33PM (#631002)

      The tabs are mostly powder. The liquid part is in its own chamber. Dishwasher tabs are the same way.

    • (Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Thursday February 01 2018, @06:12PM

      by nobu_the_bard (6373) on Thursday February 01 2018, @06:12PM (#631597)

      How about instead they keep selling the liquid, but stop watering it down so much. They'd be able to sell smaller lighter bottles.

      If course they won't. The reason they do that is because it means they sell bigger bottles, which customers like.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Aiwendil on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:25PM (10 children)

    by Aiwendil (531) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:25PM (#630997) Journal

    And in this case I'm not sure if it is the industrial designers or the people who are the worst.

    To fix the "candy look" - just use an opaque plastic, or a partially opaque one.

    To fix the "people are too stupid to measure things", how about just adding an integrated measure in the slot where you put the detergent - kinda like what has been common in large parts of the world for decades. Heck, my laundry-machine even has a flippable tab with the measurements for if you want to use powder or liquid.
    (Or maybe just ship an oversized syringe (think turkey baster for sense of scale) with measurements on it, as is common in most industries that need humans to dose liquid chemicals)
    (Also, how the fsck are you intended to properly measure those pods? If I do a 2kg laundry in soft water I want a different measure than if I do a 8kg in hard water)

    And "heavy jugs"? Are you trying to tell me that the _jug_ is the major weight item when buying detergent? Just how small jugs do you get, or are they made out of steel? (ok, that would be cool).

    As an aside, how well do these pods deal with programs with a pre-soak at the start?

    • (Score: 2) by Snow on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:30PM (6 children)

      by Snow (1601) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:30PM (#630999) Journal

      Why doesn't laundry detergent auto-dispense just like Tim Taylor did in Home Improvement in the 90's. I think that was his only project that actually worked, and it was quite brilliant.

      • (Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:34PM

        by Aiwendil (531) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:34PM (#631004) Journal

        Can't recall that episode (love the show, but mainly watched it for the awesome neighbour).

        But yeah, just getting one of those soap handpumps and add a "press X times for laundy" would be enough. Or just oversize to "a squirt per kg/2lbs".

        (I actually do that with my shampoo and conditioner, no more fiddling with slippery bottles, just reach and press and you don't even have to look to know what amount you get)

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by Freeman on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:59PM (1 child)

        by Freeman (732) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:59PM (#631017) Journal

        One of them worked?!?!? I must have missed that episode.

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:37PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:37PM (#631034)

          While I couldn't find the exact episode, you can compare the washing machine at the beginning of this clip to the one at 1:03 in to the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j0MLelIjkI [youtube.com]

      • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:55PM

        by LoRdTAW (3755) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @05:55PM (#631045) Journal

        I just fixed a simplehuman automatic hand soap dispenser and after seeing how much of a pita it was to clean out the little gear pump i'd hate to have to do it on a washer. Honestly, the bottled liquid is all you need and roughly gauge the amount poured by eye. And I use less than the suggested amount and it still does the job with less soap odor and waste. KISS principal always wins.

        And here, I love automation and had a bunch of fun ideas for automation projects around the house. But every time I get halfway through the paper napkin stage I realize the amount of complexity behind the design is no where near worth the time or effort.

      • (Score: 2) by schad on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:07PM (1 child)

        by schad (2398) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:07PM (#631137)

        Because they make their money when people use too much detergent. The packaging is literally designed to make it as difficult as possible to use the correct amount, while still being just barely usable enough not to lose a lawsuit about it. Making it so that the container dispenses the right amount would be contrary to their purpose.

        They came up with pods specifically because more people started using the correct amount of detergent. That was reducing their sales and cutting into their profits. But with pods, when you do a small load of, for example, just your gym clothes, you still have to use 1 full pod even though it's way too much. But that doesn't mean that a large load only needs one pod. No, you need two or even three pods for large loads. Of course, even if you go out of your way to make sure you've got exactly the right amount of laundry in each load, each individual pod is still considerably more expensive.

        This isn't even a conspiracy theory. They're quite open about it. Well, I say "they" even though I think pretty much all laundry detergent is actually made by the same company, just under different brands.

        • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:40PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @08:40PM (#631163)

          If I have a small load, I just eat half the pod.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:55PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 31 2018, @04:55PM (#631016)

      How about a large "skull and crossbones" on the packet? Arrgh!!

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Zinho on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:16PM

      by Zinho (759) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @06:16PM (#631061)

      To fix the "people are too stupid to measure things", how about just adding an integrated measure in the slot where you put the detergent - kinda like what has been common in large parts of the world for decades. Heck, my laundry-machine even has a flippable tab with the measurements for if you want to use powder or liquid.

      The detergent manufacturer doesn't want you to properly measure your detergent. It's better for them if you use more than you need on each load, then buy more when you run out. Their goal isn't to get your clothes clean, it's to get more money; helping you minimize soap use isn't in their interests.

      --
      "Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
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