Is it possible Spotify support is run by some kind of millennial AI?

I recently noticed that the release date of an album on Spotify was incorrect (Ani DiFranco's Reckoning/Revelling came out in 2001 not 1997) so I let them know in their contact us page. I then got responses from Spotify support that sounds like battling machine learning algorithms trained on millennial's text messages (assuming millenials still send text messages, I don't know).

Hi there,
Thanks for getting in touch, and apologies for the confusion. No worries, we can explain how this goes.
We make content available in whatever form it’s given to us. Spotify is not responsible for information relating to a particular track, album, or artist.
If something isn’t right, we recommend contacting the relevant label/distributor who will be able to update the information from their end.
We hope that helps. Let us know if there’s anything else we can do 🙂
All the best,
Carina

So the first AI, CarinaBot, likely trained on a less targeted data set of text messages, maybe including people my age, is very deferential, overly apologetic and generally unhelpful.

I replied

Who is the "relevant label/distributor" that spotify received the information from for this album so I can contact them?

Then the second AI, VinceBot, jumps in, clearly trained on a very focused data set. It uses a similar structure for its response but wants to make sure I know that I both "rock" and have been and should continue to be "awesome"

Hello there,
Thanks for getting back to us.
Apologies for the confusion with our first response. No worries though! We'll take care of this for you.
We’ve checked it out and see what you mean, so we’ve passed it on to the Content team for review. Hopefully they’ll have this sorted for you soon. Please be aware this could take several weeks to be reflected in the app.
We greatly appreciate you getting in touch to help make Spotify better. You rock!
Let us know if there’s anything else we can help with.
Stay awesome!
Vince

So now that I had a sense I was talking to an AI, I figured I'd ask it/them why the two different stories

I'm unclear. Do I need to contact the label as Carina said to correct this mistake or is this a problem on Spotify's side like Vince said and Spotify will take care of it? It sounds like Vince and Carina are saying different things.

VinceBot clearly gets lost down some unfruitful decision tree branch. He's worried his last response was inappropriate but still can't actually answer the question.

Hey there,
Thanks for getting back to us.
We apologize if you found our recent reply inappropriate. No worries though! we got you covered.
We've already passed your issue to our Content Team for review. They'll take care of this for you.
Sorry again for any inconvenience caused, and please let us know if there is anything else we can do for you.
Stay cool 🙂

At this point my plan is to stay cool and awesome.

Workaround for “No new people were added to the group One person is already a member of the group. The provided email address might be a primary, secondary, or alternate email address of this person.”

If you encounter the Google Groups error

No new people were added to the group
One person is already a member of the group. The provided email address might be a primary, secondary, or alternate email address of this person.

when trying to Direct Add or Invite a user to a Google Group, but there are no users in the Group which could possibly have alternate, primary or secondary email addresses that conflict with the address you're trying to add, here's a workaround to this apparent bug in Google Groups.

Change the permissions on the Google Group manifesting this problem to allow people to apply to join the group :

"Manage"... "Permissions"... "Basic Permissions"... "Join the group" : "Anyone can ask"

Then have the user who you couldn't add or invite, go to the Google Group and click the "Apply for membership" link. Then approve their Join Request and they're in.

Afterwards, set the "Join the group" permissions back to "Only invited users" if that's what you had before. Here's where I reported this bug

I experienced this problem with two different Google Groups and three different users and was able to get them all added by this method.

How to make your own furniture safety straps

You can buy furniture safety strap kits for about $10 a kit which will secure one bookshelf. If you need to secure many bookshelves buying one kit per bookshelf becomes expensive. Here's how to make your own furniture safety straps and save money. With the process described below I spent about $50 and was able to secure 16 bookshelves with materials left over.

img_20160920_204202600

Buying Materials

  1. Nylon webbing : Search ebay for Black 10 Yards Nylon Heavy Webbing Strap 1 inch. This should return a number of sellers that will ship direct from China. I got mine for $6.50 with free shipping. Look for a cheap and trustworthy Chinese seller. The requirements are that the webbing be 1 inch wide or greater and that it's a long enough roll to produce the number of straps that you need. Each strap is about 9" long, each bookshelf takes 2 straps so 10 yards will make straps for 20 bookshelves.
  2. Grommets : Search ebay for #1 Grommets Solid Brass 5/16" 100 Pack. I got mine from a seller that doesn't appear to carry these anymore for $10.99 with free shipping. Specifically I got Tandy Leather brand grommets product number 1285-11. The requirements are that the grommets are #1 5/16" grommets, where 5/16" is the inner diameter and that it be a pack of enough grommets to do the number of bookshelves that you need. Each strap uses 3 grommets, each bookshelf uses 2 straps for a total of 6 grommets per bookshelf. A pack of 100 grommets will do 16 bookshelves.
  3. Grommet setter with anvil : You'll need a grommet setter to attach the grommets to the nylon webbing. I got a 5/16" Tandy Leather brand grommet setter product number 8097-03. I got this setter on ebay for $11.99 plus $2.13 shipping from ebay gwaynecraft2009 and you can see his listing for this with this advanced search. The only requirement of this setter is that it be designed for 5/16" #1 grommets.
  4. Lag bolts : You'll need one lag bolt for each strap or 2 lag bolts for each bookshelf. The lag bolts you'll need are 1/4" x 2" full thread lag bolts, ideally with a hex head, ideally 3/8" hex head. I used Spax Powerlags 1/4 x 2" which I bought at Home Depot. You might be able to get away with a non-full-thread lag bolt if needed and you could go with 2.5" long if needed. Looking online I should have ordered a box of lag bolts instead of buying them quantity 1 at Home Depot. Go to ebay and search for 1/4" x 2" lag bolt 50 and it looks like you can get a box of 50 for $10. You can also get lag bolts with washers which I didn't do but might be beneficial. 50 lag bolts will do 25 bookshelves.
  5. Modified Truss Screw : The modified truss screw is what attaches the strap to the bookshelf. It's a truss screw so that the had is large enough to cover the grommet opening. I used #8 x 3/4" Zinc #2 Phillips Modified Truss Screw. The screw size is #8 with a thread count of 15 or 18 (#8-15 or #8-18). The length of the screw is 3/4" but this should be based on the thickness of the tops of your bookshelves so that the screw doesn't penetrate all the way through but comes as close as possible. For me 3/4" was a good length. The "#2 Phillips" is the size of phillips head that fits with the screw. You need 2 screws per strap and 2 straps per bookshelf for 4 screws per bookshelf. You can get a 100 pack for about $10 on ebay. Search ebay for modified truss #8 x 3/4"

Creating Straps

  1. From the spool of nylon webbing cut enough straps for your bookshelves. Cut each strap to be about 9" long. The straps that come in the commercial packages are 15" long but I find you don't need that much length. If your bookshelves sit far from the wall or there is thick molding keeping them away from the wall you might need longer than 9". In all of my cases 9" was perfect.
  2. Take one of the straps and identify 3 points on the 9" strap. One about an inch away from one end, one an inch away from the other end and one in the middle. At each of these 3 points, take a razor blade and cut/puncture a small x in the strap. The x should be in the center of the 1" strap width. The lines of the x should be about 5/16".
  3. Take the male part of the grommet and push it through the first x you've cut. If it doesn't fit, cut the x lines longer so it will fit. Once it's pushed through use your razor blade to cut around the outside of the barrel of the male grommet piece to get rid of some of the nylon webbing material. It will come off as black fuzz. Once you've removed enough nylon webbing so you can see most of the barrel of the male grommet piece use the grommet setter and a female grommet piece and a hammer to set the grommet in the nylon webbing. If you've not cut away enough nylon webbing you'll see some of it sticking out of the grommet (which isn't the end of the world). If you've cut away too much nylon webbing the grommet won't be secure in the nylon webbing and may come loose. Repeat this for all 3 x holes.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have enough straps

Installing The Straps

  1. With the bookshelf against the wall mark where the top of the bookshelf comes to on the wall
  2. Move the bookshelf away from the wall
  3. Using a studfinder find studs that line up somewhere behind the bookshelf, you'll need to find 2
  4. Make two marks on the wall for each stud that you found and make them an inch or two below where the top of the bookshelf came to on the wall.
  5. Drill a pilot hole in the two marks with a 3/16" drill bit of about 2" in length
  6. Place one of the straps on the wall so that the grommet hole on one end of the strap is centered over the pilot hole. Using a 3/8" hex bit in your drill or electric screwdriver, and one of the 1/4" x 2" lag bolts, attach the strap to the wall with the lag bolt. As you get near to sinking the lag bolt flush against the strap and wall, turn the strap so instead of hanging down below where you're screwing the bolt in, it's sticking straight up above the lag bolt. Finish securing the lag bolt to the wall. Do the same for the other pilot hole. You now have two straps attached to studs with lag bolts drooping down over your lag bolts.
  7. Move the bookshelf back into place. As you do this either with your hand or a ruler or something, flip the drooping strap up so that it rests on top of the bookshelf.
  8. Get up on a stool or chair so you can get to the top of the bookshelf. You should see the two straps laying on top of the bookshelf. Ensure the bookshelf is in the correct lateral (side to side) position against the wall and that it is the correct distance from the wall that you want. Take the first strap and with it taught against the top of the bookshelf, using a #2 phillips bit and a screwdriver or drill, drill a modified truss screw through one of the two grommets visible on the strap on top of the bookshelf. Do the same thing with the second grommet. Repeat this with the second strap's two grommets.
  9. Test your work by pulling on the bookshelf to see how much play it has, if it twists side to side at all when you pull it and how much force it can stand.