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Minor things that bother you

Started by planxtymcgillicuddy, November 27, 2019, 12:15:11 AM

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1995hoo

#450
^^^^

I set Word so it'd only give me the copyright symbol if I type ((c)), as opposed to (c). The latter is something I need to use often enough that I don't want the software changing it.




Quote from: jeffandnicole on December 16, 2019, 08:42:07 AM
If the average person doesn't normally use it, chances are this symbol is becoming less known.  After all, it's a rare site to see it in most businesses and stores.  For travelers, .75 is probably easier to comprehend.

Is the cent sign even used outside the US?

See, this is why I wish they'd kept it–on a typewriter, the ¢ was typed with Shift-8 (the combination that yields * on a computer keyboard). The cent sign was well-known and used regularly until PCs took over from typewriters. (Edited to add: At least I think I remember it being Shift-8 on my parents' old Olivetti manual typewriter I had to use until the end of 8th grade.)

I have no idea whether people younger than about age 35 recognize the cent sign. I don't know anyone who wouldn't recognize it, but then most of the people I work with are older than their 20s.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.


mgk920

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 15, 2019, 11:37:11 PM
Quote from: Rothman on December 15, 2019, 08:56:38 PM
Dear heavens, anti-vaxxers are found even on this board.

Conspiracy theorists and ghost/UFO hunting types tend to be among the crowd that gets on my nerve the most.  Factual evidence no matter how strong is always a point of denial for those folks.  Worse yet they tend to try to indoctrinate others into whatever bat shit crazy "theory" they have.  I suppose the anti-vax crowd could be lumped into a similar grouping.

You mean that the 2001-09-11 attacks weren't caused by a bunch of hate-filled foreign zealots?

:-o

Yes, those sorts of sinister grand conspiracy kooks are more than just a 'minor' thing that bothers me.

:banghead:

Mike

texaskdog

Quote from: mgk920 on December 16, 2019, 09:56:31 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 15, 2019, 11:37:11 PM
Quote from: Rothman on December 15, 2019, 08:56:38 PM
Dear heavens, anti-vaxxers are found even on this board.

Conspiracy theorists and ghost/UFO hunting types tend to be among the crowd that gets on my nerve the most.  Factual evidence no matter how strong is always a point of denial for those folks.  Worse yet they tend to try to indoctrinate others into whatever bat shit crazy "theory" they have.  I suppose the anti-vax crowd could be lumped into a similar grouping.

You mean that the 2001-09-11 attacks weren't caused by a bunch of hate-filled foreign zealots?

:-o

Yes, those sorts of sinister grand conspiracy kooks are more than just a 'minor' thing that bothers me.

:banghead:

Mike

Great, now explain how building 7 imploded after debris fell on it, or that the BBC reported it came down while it was still up.  OOPS!

webny99

Quote from: kphoger on December 13, 2019, 03:05:43 PM
I just don't acknowledge it being December at all.

Also a good life strategy.

texaskdog


J N Winkler

Quote from: 1995hoo on December 16, 2019, 08:30:05 AMI wish the cent sign had been preserved on computer keyboards. It's largely disappeared because so few people know how to type it (I'm typing this on my iPhone, and on this keyboard you hold down on the dollar sign to get a choice of ¢, €, £, and a few others; on a PC, it's Alt-0162 on the ten-key).

The not-so-minor thing that bothers me is the lack of cross-platform facilities for easy entry of special characters at the keyboard.  What I can achieve with deadkey combinations on one keyboard often means tedious and time-consuming menu fishing on another.

Quote from: 1995hoo on December 16, 2019, 08:30:05 AMWhere I think it bugs me most are some CFX-posted BGSs in Florida. Their signs for exits with ramp tolls will say, for example, "Pay Toll .75" –what's so hard about omitting the decimal point and using the cent sign so it says "Pay Toll 75¢" ? I understand why the average person doesn't know how to type this symbol and so doesn't use it, but professional work like publishers and sign fabricators ought to be able to do better.

I don't care if the toll amount is given in dollars or cents if it is less than one dollar and is the only money amount given, though I would expect the cents symbol to be used on a sign (despite my own practice of using c as a substitute in informal writing).  What really bothers me is the failure to use a leading zero for a decimal amount less than unity.

For consistency, I would expect all money values in a given context (such as a sign specifying toll rates) to be quoted in dollars if there is at least one equal to or greater than one dollar, with any amounts that are vertically stacked to be aligned along the decimal point.




Another thing that bothers me:  redundant usage of the dollar sign and the word "dollars" in the same expression--e.g., "$600 million dollars."
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

DaBigE

Quote from: 1995hoo on December 16, 2019, 08:30:05 AMWhere I think it bugs me most are some CFX-posted BGSs in Florida. Their signs for exits with ramp tolls will say, for example, "Pay Toll .75" –what's so hard about omitting the decimal point and using the cent sign so it says "Pay Toll 75¢" ? I understand why the average person doesn't know how to type this symbol and so doesn't use it, but professional work like publishers and sign fabricators ought to be able to do better.

Do they leave extra space left of the decimal? If so, it might be easier for when they raise the toll over $1.
"We gotta find this road, it's like Bob's road!" - Rabbit, Twister

1995hoo

Quote from: DaBigE on December 16, 2019, 12:09:42 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 16, 2019, 08:30:05 AMWhere I think it bugs me most are some CFX-posted BGSs in Florida. Their signs for exits with ramp tolls will say, for example, "Pay Toll .75" –what's so hard about omitting the decimal point and using the cent sign so it says "Pay Toll 75¢" ? I understand why the average person doesn't know how to type this symbol and so doesn't use it, but professional work like publishers and sign fabricators ought to be able to do better.

Do they leave extra space left of the decimal? If so, it might be easier for when they raise the toll over $1.

Not that I've noticed.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

roadman

Quote from: 1995hoo on December 16, 2019, 08:30:05 AM
Where I think it bugs me most are some CFX-posted BGSs in Florida. Their signs for exits with ramp tolls will say, for example, “Pay Toll .75”—what’s so hard about omitting the decimal point and using the cent sign so it says “Pay Toll 75¢”? I understand why the average person doesn’t know how to type this symbol and so doesn’t use it, but professional work like publishers and sign fabricators ought to be able to do better.

The MUTCD 'Exact Change Only' symbol uses the cent sign - see Figures 2F-8 and 2F-9.
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

jeffandnicole

Quote from: 1995hoo on December 16, 2019, 09:17:14 AM
See, this is why I wish they’d kept it—on a typewriter, the ¢ was typed with Shift-8 (the combination that yields * on a computer keyboard). The cent sign was well-known and used regularly until PCs took over from typewriters. (Edited to add: At least I think I remember it being Shift-8 on my parents’ old Olivetti manual typewriter I had to use until the end of 8th grade.)

That was also at a time when many common day products were under $1 as well.  Most anything at a supermarket could be had for under $1.  Most of the products at a fast food restaurant were under $1 as well.  Woolworth 5 & 10 was basically all below $1 stuff.  The cent sign was becoming antiquated as computer keyboards became an everyday household stable, with many general products at $1 or above, so I guess the teams at IBM and Apple figured there wasn't much functionality for it.  Of course, it can be argued that that is true for ^, ~, ` and a few other symbols as well.  The ~ was important at one point for personal websites, but very few people have those anymore.

Quote from: 1995hoo on December 16, 2019, 12:28:17 PM
Quote from: DaBigE on December 16, 2019, 12:09:42 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 16, 2019, 08:30:05 AMWhere I think it bugs me most are some CFX-posted BGSs in Florida. Their signs for exits with ramp tolls will say, for example, “Pay Toll .75”—what’s so hard about omitting the decimal point and using the cent sign so it says “Pay Toll 75¢”? I understand why the average person doesn’t know how to type this symbol and so doesn’t use it, but professional work like publishers and sign fabricators ought to be able to do better.

Do they leave extra space left of the decimal? If so, it might be easier for when they raise the toll over $1.

Not that I’ve noticed.

Then again, it may not matter.  The DRBA recently raised their toll from $4.00 to $5.00.  They could've just placed a 5 over the 4, or $5.00 over the $4.00.  Nah, they fully replaced each and every sign with an identical sign, just with the different amount.

At least you know what the first day's increased toll funded.

texaskdog


DaBigE

#461
Quote from: jeffandnicole on December 16, 2019, 02:09:54 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 16, 2019, 09:17:14 AM
See, this is why I wish they'd kept it–on a typewriter, the ¢ was typed with Shift-8 (the combination that yields * on a computer keyboard). The cent sign was well-known and used regularly until PCs took over from typewriters. (Edited to add: At least I think I remember it being Shift-8 on my parents' old Olivetti manual typewriter I had to use until the end of 8th grade.)

That was also at a time when many common day products were under $1 as well.  Most anything at a supermarket could be had for under $1.  Most of the products at a fast food restaurant were under $1 as well.  Woolworth 5 & 10 was basically all below $1 stuff.  The cent sign was becoming antiquated as computer keyboards became an everyday household stable, with many general products at $1 or above, so I guess the teams at IBM and Apple figured there wasn't much functionality for it.  Of course, it can be argued that that is true for ^, ~, ` and a few other symbols as well.  The ~ was important at one point for personal websites, but very few people have those anymore.

The ~ is still alive and well as a poor-man's alternative to "about" or "approximately". (Likely also a minor bother to some.)

I do wish the "not equal to" and "degree" symbols were available on the standard keyboard.
"We gotta find this road, it's like Bob's road!" - Rabbit, Twister

J N Winkler

Quote from: DaBigE on December 16, 2019, 02:37:18 PMThe ~ is still alive and well as a poor-man's alternative to "about" or "approximately". (Likely also a minor bother to some.)

I'd rather have the tilde for that than the plus/minus sign, which seems to be far more commonly used but really grates against my scientific training because its actual purpose is to specify the bounds of error, rather than the approximate amount itself.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

wxfree

#463
Incorrect automotive terminology

Roads and cars go together, and I'm interested in both.

A hubcap is a small cap that covers the hub.  This might be a grease cap that's removed to grease the wheel bearing.  A lot of modern vehicles don't have them, because they use permanently sealed hub and bearing assemblies, which are much easier to replace.  The decorative disk that covers the entire face of the wheel is a wheel cover.  The wheel is the metal part that the tire goes on, including the rim and the part that connects it to the holes for the wheel studs.  The rim is the ring that matches to the tire so that the assembly can hold pressure.  The rim is the outer ring of the wheel, the part that touches the tire.  Bicycle wheels have spokes that connect the rim to the hub (that would probably be called a wheel and hub assembly).  I've seen a tire on a rim, nothing but a metal ring to hold pressure, hollow in the middle.  I don't know how it was installed or what kind of vehicle it was meant for.

It's not exactly automotive (usually), but it's a two-stroke engine, not a two-cycle engine.  The oil for it is two-stroke engine oil.  This term is misused so much that a lot of oil bottles are mislabeled.  All of these engines have one cycle.  In automotive engines, a cycle is made up of four strokes and two revolutions.  Two-stroke engines have a cycle made up of two strokes and one revolution.  I don't know of any engine that has two cycles.  Engines have one cycle that repeats.

On a related note, traffic signals don't have a green cycle and a red cycle.  The cycle is the whole process.  I'd call a red, yellow, or green term a phase.  To me, the real meaning of a cycle is the whole process, with all of the signals going through their progressions.  The green/yellow/red progression of one signal could be thought of as a cycle, because all of the other green/yellow/red progressions on other sides will happen during the red phase.
I'd like to buy a vowel, Alex.  What is E?

Rothman

Doesn't matter.  Watching hubcaps fly or roll off cars in the 1970s and 1980s action movies was a joy.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

wxfree

Quote from: Rothman on December 16, 2019, 03:16:53 PM
Doesn't matter.  Watching hubcaps fly or roll off cars in the 1970s and 1980s action movies was a joy.

This reminds me of something.  Supposedly, hubcaps were a way to spot an undercover police car.  Because they might be involved in pursuits, police cars didn't have full wheel covers, because if that comes off, it might tear off the valve stem and cause the tire to go flat.  They used a smaller cover that I think covered the hub and wheel nuts.  Wheel covers that go under the nuts solve the problem of them flying off.  That doesn't require any kind of advanced technology.  I don't know why they didn't use those, or why they aren't more common now.
I'd like to buy a vowel, Alex.  What is E?

texaskdog

Usually cars without hubcaps are just ghetto cars (or cop cars). 

DaBigE

Quote from: wxfree on December 16, 2019, 03:15:28 PM
On a related note, traffic signals don't have a green cycle and a red cycle.  The cycle is the whole process.  I'd call a red, yellow, or green term a phase.  To me, the real meaning of a cycle is the whole process, with all of the signals going through their progressions.  The green/yellow/red progression of one signal could be thought of as a cycle, because all of the other green/yellow/red progressions on other sides will happen during the red phase.

What you describe is the proper terminology. See Signal Timing Manual, Appendix A-1 (pg 304)
"We gotta find this road, it's like Bob's road!" - Rabbit, Twister

MNHighwayMan

Quote from: texaskdog on December 16, 2019, 07:05:09 AM
Why do you think people who get the flu shot always get the flu?

That is straight up false.

Vaccines are safe for most people, besides those who are allergic to one of the components, or those who are immunocompromised. Anything else is fear-mongering or stupidity. Or both.

US71

Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

texaskdog

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on December 16, 2019, 05:55:32 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on December 16, 2019, 07:05:09 AM
Why do you think people who get the flu shot always get the flu?

That is straight up false.

Vaccines are safe for most people, besides those who are allergic to one of the components, or those who are immunocompromised. Anything else is fear-mongering or stupidity. Or both.

Go ahead and name call all you want.  That's always a good way to get your point across.  By the way my friend Tina almost died from being vaccinated but I bet you think she is stupid too.

Rothman

Well, no one gets the flu from the vaccine, anyway.  They can still get the flu from a strain that is not covered by the vaccine, which I believe includes four currently.

I get the shot because vaccines are superpowers.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

US71

Quote from: texaskdog on December 16, 2019, 09:31:18 PM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on December 16, 2019, 05:55:32 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on December 16, 2019, 07:05:09 AM
Why do you think people who get the flu shot always get the flu?

That is straight up false.

Vaccines are safe for most people, besides those who are allergic to one of the components, or those who are immunocompromised. Anything else is fear-mongering or stupidity. Or both.

Go ahead and name call all you want.  That's always a good way to get your point across.  By the way my friend Tina almost died from being vaccinated but I bet you think she is stupid too.

It's possible she was allergic to one of the ingredients. Eggs are a common allergy. Clinics are supposed to ask, but don't always.

Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: texaskdog on December 16, 2019, 09:31:18 PM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on December 16, 2019, 05:55:32 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on December 16, 2019, 07:05:09 AM
Why do you think people who get the flu shot always get the flu?

That is straight up false.

Vaccines are safe for most people, besides those who are allergic to one of the components, or those who are immunocompromised. Anything else is fear-mongering or stupidity. Or both.

Go ahead and name call all you want.  That's always a good way to get your point across.  By the way my friend Tina almost died from being vaccinated but I bet you think she is stupid too.

Ergo aren't you kind of proving the point I was trying to make?  You're basically dismissing all evidence that contradicts what you believe, but you don't present any valid evidence of your own to back your points up.  For all you know your friend had an allergic reaction to whatever the vaccine was made of. 

Hell as skeptical as I am about ghosts and alien visitation I would welcome some compelling evidence that both were true.  In the case of vaccinations it's hard to see how a logical person could draw the conclusion with all the available facts that they somehow cause a blanket level harm.  Allergic reactions don't surprised me in the least, I'm allergic to certain compounds which made it difficult for me to be vaccinated.  None the less, I'm glad some viable solutions were found because Polio really sounds like a shitty disease to catch.

US71

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 16, 2019, 09:49:38 PM

Hell as skeptical as I am about ghosts and alien visitation I would welcome some compelling evidence that both were true.  In the case of vaccinations it's hard to see how a logical person could draw the conclusion with all the available facts that they somehow cause a blanket level harm.  Allergic reactions don't surprised me in the least, I'm allergic to certain compounds which made it difficult for me to be vaccinated.  None the less, I'm glad some viable solutions were found because Polio really sounds like a shitty disease to catch.

Or we can go back to the Middle Ages where you were lucky to live past 40 ;)
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast



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