Mastodawn

✧✦Catherine✦✧

my housemate was coughing a lot for no clear reason so i figured i'd buy an air purifier. i found one with a true HEPA filter and good score by that one autistic person who is obsessed with comparing filters of vacuum cleaners, by Levoit

Levoit includes a "Test Report" in their marketing materials by SGS and including their trademarked logo, referring to a specific "SGS ID" of a test, but no details

so obviously i emailed SGS and asked them to confirm whether such a test has been conducted.

i got a response from a Senior Sales Executive in Filtration and he Cc'd three other people in the lab that did the certification asking them to search their archives.

i wonder if i'm the first consumer who bought this device to go and ask this question, and if yes, whether i made their day

✧✦Catherine✦✧Mar 3

i have a skill that i developed during my many years working in open source, which is that instead of whining on irc on social media i go and file a bug report. this usually goes quite well and all of the parties are happier for it

a few years ago i started applying it to entities like "banks", "governments", and "certification labs", and i get the distinct impression that most of the people who complain about problems do not actually make any attempt to solve them by talking to those responsible

✧✦Catherine✦✧Mar 3

RE: [EXTERNAL] Re: Cert Question Catherine

this email chain has now crossed several corporate boundaries

Kurt Raschke Mar 3

@whitequark i once emailed a publisher about a DOI in a publication of theirs not working and it was incredibly evident that they had no idea how to handle such inquiries from outside the industry because i ended up being added to multiple internal email threads about the issue...

(it was eventually resolved in spite of considerable confusion)

Nicolás Alvarez Mar 4

@kgr @whitequark I once bought an ebook on Apple Books and hit a bug, so I reported it to Apple. Then I read the book and found an error in the translation, so I reported it to the publisher.

The publisher replied a week later thanking me and confirming it was indeed a translation error. It has been 10 years and my Apple ticket is still open.

Trammell Hudson Mar 4

@whitequark I had a FOIA that was passed between multiple agencies and one of them accidentally CC'd me on the "not for communication to the requester" hand over email. No juicy details, other than this wonderful cover image that "must be hand carried".

Empterdose Mar 4

@th @whitequark 🤔 FOIA'ing the internal FOIA stationery

✧✦Catherine✦✧Mar 4

i had SGS confirm that the certification is real :D

@whitequark similar, my worry is that in the outside world it's turned me into a busybody

prom™️Mar 3

@whitequark As a Latin student I’m often “detected” by administrators. They know I’ve been taught the rules: if standard processes don’t work, you can do anything as long as it’s compliant - and if it gets rid of cases/problems, most administrators will happily say “yes” to process alternatives.

This is, incidentally, how corps get their tax reduced…

Courier drone - 5276 ☿Mar 3

@whitequark In the last 12 months I've filed bug reports and gotten responses from my email provider, the app used for one of our contracts, and an app I'm helping beta test. It's nice to help fix things.

Jamie Gaskins Mar 3

@whitequark I've been trying to be more effective in my communication. Simply complaining can be cathartic, but is just noise in the age of social media.

Reaching someone at organizations like this who can do anything has been my most common blocker. It sounds like you've had more success. How do you discover who to contact at these organizations?

✧✦Catherine✦✧Mar 3

@jamie i start at the "contact us" form or the similar then work my way up

Anders Stenberg Mar 3

@whitequark As a parallel I'm also very bad at just mailing support and asking for help for things. Many times I've struggled and made weird workarounds and then finally I've asked what the correct way to do the thing is and gotten a quick and helpful answer.

Edit: Sorry didn't see at first that this post was a reply to the original post about mailing and asking. But yes, agree. I need to teach myself to actually do both of these things more.

✧✦Catherine✦✧Mar 3

@SonnyBonds yeah ^ it's an excellent set of skills

Anders Stenberg Mar 3

@whitequark Just a while ago I moaned on here about SDL doing a weird thing with clipboards and started making my own workaround but it turned out to interact strangely with the existing stuff. Ended up adding an issue on github and it was addressed, fixed and scheduled for next release in 24 hours. One of these days I'll learn to do that first.

luna the doggie

@whitequark I've had mixed experiences with this because half the time I get dismissed or even straight up gaslit in PR-speak.

But it's a useful thing to try, just for the times when it works.

✧✦Catherine✦✧Mar 3

@lunareclipse yeah, it's very much a hit-or-miss thing so risk aversion can make it seem not worth it. but also sending emails is pretty cheap all things considered

non-flirty & sorta-thriving Mar 3

@whitequark "most of the people who complain about problems do not actually make any attempt to solve them" ain't that the goddamn truth

@whitequark which purifier was it 👀

✧✦Catherine✦✧Mar 3

@arch https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CJ38JC8K

does seem good for the price and does appear to work, but i'm not set up like a certification lab

LEVOIT Air Purifier for Bedroom Home, 80m², CADR 187 m³/h, Ultra Efficient HEPA and Quiet for Several Needs like Pet/Toxin/Mould, Removes 99.97% Pollen/Dust/Odour, Core 300, White : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy LEVOIT Air Purifier for Bedroom Home, 80m², CADR 187 m³/h, Ultra Efficient HEPA and Quiet for Several Needs like Pet/Toxin/Mould, Removes 99.97% Pollen/Dust/Odour, Core 300, White at Amazon UK.

@whitequark ah! Nice - looks like the step up from the one I have in my bedroom and my bird's room. Levoit is solid - the filters are a bit expensive but hey, they work :3

@whitequark oh nice, looks like a newer iteration of the model we have (vista 200) which has been working well for over 5 years now.

James Just James Mar 3

@whitequark I was previously doing research into reverse osmosis filtration systems for personal drinking water use, and was particularly interested in devices that reduce PFOA, PFOS, and more. In the U.S. there is the NSF, but most devices don't seem to get tested there:

https://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?ProductFunction=053%7CPFOA+Reduction&ProductFunction=053%7CPFOS+Reduction&ProductType=&submit2=Search

A bunch of companies are using:

https://wqa.org/grow/product-certification/

But I haven't been able to find out how legit this org is or if it's just low budget certification seals for companies to look professional.

Tom Verbeure Mar 3

@whitequark That reminds me of my wife calling some state entity that certifies the quality of olive oil. The person on the other side was so eager and happy to explain all the finer details, as if she had been waiting her whole life for that call.

James Munns Mar 3

Nice, I have two of these, they seem to work (based on the gunk that accumulates on the filters), interested to see what the lab results actually look like :D

Royfireball Mar 3

@whitequark
Out there is some middle manager who is shouting "VINDICATION" and I am so happy for them.

@whitequark I think Senior Sales Executive in Filtration is a cool job title.