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Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

en.community.dell.com

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Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#121

Post by ekianjo »

alan_cx wrote: post #117
ekianjo wrote: post #29

If it were on Apple boards they would have deleted the message I guess, and pretended nothing ever happened :) EDIT: in case people who downvote me don't understand the reference, see yesterday's news regarding Larry Lessig's complaint being censored on Apple forums, apparently for the interest of keeping the forums clean . Wouldn't that kind of "cat piss" complaint fall in the exact same "unhelpful comment" category…

Sad that you felt you had to explain the joke :(

Well, the first few people who saw my comment probably took it for simple, mindless Apple-bashing and downvoted me brutally.

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#122

Post by evincarofautumn »

Wingman4l7 wrote: post #103
csense wrote: post #77

Maybe this is something that's only smellable by a certain subset of the human population. I invited a family member to try Chipotle once. She complained of a soapy taste in the food. We both thought maybe a staff member had been careless about rinsing hands after washing with soap. I later learned that some people have a genetic predisposition to perceive cilantro, an herb common in Mexican food, as a soapy taste [1…

There's also the genetic predisposition to perceive brussels sprouts (and other foods) as too bitter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster IIRC this is one of the SNPs that personal-DNA-sequencing companies like 23andMe can test for.

Huh. I wasn’t aware that most supertasters dislike the strong foods. All of the things mentioned in the article taste extremely strong or bitter to me, but I find it pleasant in a way and regularly take them. Cilantro and cabbage are a bit much on their own, but they’re fine as part of a dish.

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#123

Post by epynonymous »

csense wrote: post #77

Maybe this is something that's only smellable by a certain subset of the human population. I invited a family member to try Chipotle once. She complained of a soapy taste in the food. We both thought maybe a staff member had been careless about rinsing hands after washing with soap. I later learned that some people have a genetic predisposition to perceive cilantro, an herb common in Mexican food, as a soapy taste [1…

you're onto something, maybe there's an emerging market for end user product QA via different genetic predisposition, people would get hired for their natural talents.

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#124

Post by huhtenberg »

andrewflnr wrote: post #55
whalesalad wrote: post #17

Reminds me of my sisters Volkswagen beetle. It's got some material under the leather that smells exactly like crayons. It's impossible to get rid of. Not as bad as cat piss but really strong. Gives me a feeling of nostalgia every time I'm in it haha. Google "Volkswagen smells like crayons" and you'll find a lot of VWs in the early 2000s have the same smell.

My Ford Escape's air conditioning smells like cat pee sometimes, when it's first waking up. Not too badly, but the resemblance is quite distinct.

It very well may be either a fungal or bacterial growth in the A/C, especially if the odour developed over time. Sometimes it smells bad, sometimes - not, e.g. like a musk. The service can flush and clean the A/C and it's not really expensive as it's a common-ish problem.

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#125

Post by mzl »

csense wrote: post #77

Maybe this is something that's only smellable by a certain subset of the human population. I invited a family member to try Chipotle once. She complained of a soapy taste in the food. We both thought maybe a staff member had been careless about rinsing hands after washing with soap. I later learned that some people have a genetic predisposition to perceive cilantro, an herb common in Mexican food, as a soapy taste [1…

Another one of these quirks is ground white pepper, which for some people (myself included) quite often smells strongly of fecal matter. The reason seems to be extra sensitivity to a compound aplty named Skatole. Naturally, this is quite an off-putting smell to have in food.

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#126

Post by djulius »

krenoten wrote: post #31

It's part of a hardening process that has been employed by weapon smiths for time immemorial, known as "quenching". After you form the laptop case / sword / rifle barrel, and it is still hot, it is to be submerged in urine. I'm surprised it's taken laptop manufacturers so long to catch up.

You are totally right sir !

In the history of quenching [PDF here http://bit.ly/1ad9Akv] the author states it was common to urine for quenching.

This property seems to have independently been discovered by chinese and europeans.

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#127

Post by xorgar831 »

gcb1 wrote: post #106
jval wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I have this too. I went 22 years thinking that people were dropping soap in my meals. I would think 'Damn, do people just accidentally grab the soap bottle instead of the sauce?'. Couldn't figure out how else such a strong taste of soap could be in my mouth. But yeah, turns out it was cilantro.

most people were i came from associate italian lime to cleaning products, but i think it is mostly because it was so heavily used in such. i love the taste but i cant drink anything with it. it is impossible after I've smelled it.

Rose water for a long time smelled like a cleaning product to me, Turkish Delight and Rose Lassi I thought had chemicals in them as a result. ;-)

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#128

Post by chrischen »

wizzard wrote: post #71
ekianjo wrote: post #29

If it were on Apple boards they would have deleted the message I guess, and pretended nothing ever happened :) EDIT: in case people who downvote me don't understand the reference, see yesterday's news regarding Larry Lessig's complaint being censored on Apple forums, apparently for the interest of keeping the forums clean . Wouldn't that kind of "cat piss" complaint fall in the exact same "unhelpful comment" category…

Anyone who downvotes you hasn't tried to use their forums. I hadn't seen yesterday's news though so here's a link for anyone else interested: http://lessig.tumblr.com/post/65338904338/wow-or-from-the-wh...

I know from personal experience that googling for issues related to my mac and ending up on an apple forum almost never resolves the issue, unless the issue is also referenced in apple's knowledge base.

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#129

Post by t__r »

smacktoward wrote: post #21

Fascinating. I was shopping for new sneakers the other day and was shocked at how many people over the last couple of years had reported new pairs of New Balance shoes having exactly the same "smells like cat urine" problem (see: http://ask.metafilter.com/182458/Something-peed-in-my-sneake... , http://reviews.newbalance.com/9328/M990/new-balance-new-bala... , http://www.zappos.com/product/review/7944390/page/1/start/…

Many years ago I had a pair of Nike sneakers smelling of cat pee. I remember the shoe store saying it was not uncommon. They said it was glue.

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#130

Post by Jgrubb »

drblast wrote: post #116
tempestn wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of cumin. I always thought it smelled like really bad BO, and my wife thought I was crazy. This made me check, and it turns out lots of people agree!

Right there with you. I'm baffled how anyone could not smell that.

I must be a complete effing weirdo because I totally agree with you _and_ I love cumin.
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