Minor things that bother you

[Rothman]

Interviews where the questions are shown as text on the screen rather than by including when the interviewer asks the question.  This style seems to be popular for DVD/BluRay extras for some reason.

Why?

[ZLoth]

Interviews where the questions are shown as text on the screen rather than by including when the interviewer asks the question.  This style seems to be popular for DVD/BluRay extras for some reason.

They are called "Electronic Press Kits". They were sent to the local stations so that the local "entertainment reporter" could be seen "interviewing" the major celebrity for a local newscast.

The same thing occurred for radio. Here is an example:

[vdeane]

Interviews where the questions are shown as text on the screen rather than by including when the interviewer asks the question.  This style seems to be popular for DVD/BluRay extras for some reason.

Why?

Because then I have to watch the screen the whole time rather than have it on in the background while I do other things.

Interviews where the questions are shown as text on the screen rather than by including when the interviewer asks the question.  This style seems to be popular for DVD/BluRay extras for some reason.

They are called "Electronic Press Kits". They were sent to the local stations so that the local "entertainment reporter" could be seen "interviewing" the major celebrity for a local newscast.

The same thing occurred for radio. Here is an example:

Interesting, though it makes me wonder why they would need to do that for DVD/BluRay extras.

[ZLoth]

Interviews where the questions are shown as text on the screen rather than by including when the interviewer asks the question.  This style seems to be popular for DVD/BluRay extras for some reason.

They are called "Electronic Press Kits". They were sent to the local stations so that the local "entertainment reporter" could be seen "interviewing" the major celebrity for a local newscast.

The same thing occurred for radio. Here is an example:

Interesting, though it makes me wonder why they would need to do that for DVD/BluRay extras.

It depends on who licensed and released the DVD/BluRay release. It goes back to the laserdisc days when Criterion pioneered utilizing the secondary audio track for commentaries and also added additional "behind-the-scenes" footage including foreign and domestic trailers. Some of the best DVD/BluRay releases could be considered a "film school in a box". Unfortunately, the media market crashed in 2008, and the studios have been cutting back on the extra material, leaving it to third parties to come up with the premium releases.

[kkt]

Interviews where the questions are shown as text on the screen rather than by including when the interviewer asks the question.  This style seems to be popular for DVD/BluRay extras for some reason.

They are called "Electronic Press Kits". They were sent to the local stations so that the local "entertainment reporter" could be seen "interviewing" the major celebrity for a local newscast.

The same thing occurred for radio. Here is an example:

I have a friend who was a radio DJ that got to these fake interviews. You had the whole thing on CD from the EPK, and you'd "ask" the pre-determined question with the "answer" on the CD that you would play back. You can find some of them here and there on eBay. Lots of those Westwood One live performances that rock radio stations used to play had them.

Interesting.  I never knew about this practice, but I supposed I should have guessed.

[vdeane]

Interviews where the questions are shown as text on the screen rather than by including when the interviewer asks the question.  This style seems to be popular for DVD/BluRay extras for some reason.

They are called "Electronic Press Kits". They were sent to the local stations so that the local "entertainment reporter" could be seen "interviewing" the major celebrity for a local newscast.

The same thing occurred for radio. Here is an example:

Interesting, though it makes me wonder why they would need to do that for DVD/BluRay extras.

It depends on who licensed and released the DVD/BluRay release. It goes back to the laserdisc days when Criterion pioneered utilizing the secondary audio track for commentaries and also added additional "behind-the-scenes" footage including foreign and domestic trailers. Some of the best DVD/BluRay releases could be considered a "film school in a box". Unfortunately, the media market crashed in 2008, and the studios have been cutting back on the extra material, leaving it to third parties to come up with the premium releases.

The two sets I can think of that did this are Sailor Moon (Viz Media) and Avatar: The Last Airbender (Paramount/Nickelodeon).  Although language issues may have played a part (and render my issue somewhat moot when they come into play due to subtitles, though the silent title card and the talking answer is still jarring and it makes it harder to catch the question as my brain has to shift modes).  While most of the special features for the Sailor Moon BluRay are with the cast of the new dub, not all of them are, and the one ATLA feature that I saw do that was when they went to Korea to talk to the animation studio.  In the latter, it was probably to disguise the fact that the creators of the show probably weren't the ones actually asking the questions.

[Bruce]

The fact that sporting events broadcast on TV always run over the allotted time (especially if the game actually finished on time but the coverage runs over due to interviews or something).  Since the allotted time is clearly not enough, why don't stations allot more time to the game?  It would allow for proper post-game coverage unless the game really runs over and it would result in more predictable schedules for those of us who don't appreciate programming after the game getting preempted every single time.

Soccer broadcasts only go over allotted time in extraordinary circumstances (such as an injury or incident that eats up more than the normal 5 minutes of stoppage time) or in a knockout competition. The continuous clock with no pauses (except halftime) has its disadvantages, but at least I can properly plan out my day after the game, down to the minute for certain bus departures from the stadium.

[vdeane]

Soccer broadcasts only go over allotted time in extraordinary circumstances (such as an injury or incident that eats up more than the normal 5 minutes of stoppage time) or in a knockout competition. The continuous clock with no pauses (except halftime) has its disadvantages, but at least I can properly plan out my day after the game, down to the minute for certain bus departures from the stadium.

Interesting.  I had read that they just add time to the end, but I've only had soccer affect anything I was going to watch once, so something odd may have happened to produce the half-hour delay.

[wanderer2575]

Over-the-counter cold medications that first require age verification as though I'm purchasing a fifth of Jägermeister, and then are hermetically sealed so as to require a blowtorch and a Swiss Army knife to be able to open the bottle.  Now, in addition to the cold medication, I need two Excedrin and a tranquilizer.

[ZLoth]

Over-the-counter cold medications that first require age verification as though I'm purchasing a fifth of Jägermeister

This is because some contain pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient used to create methamphetamine. The results can be life-threatening when these medicines get into the wrong hands.

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-drug-class/legal-requirements-sale-and-purchase-drug-products-containing-pseudoephedrine-ephedrine-and

[SEWIGuy]

The problem is that the verification thing doesn't really work. It just makes it harder for people to get medicine they want.

And this isn't surprising. Trying to blunt the supply of drugs rarely works as a long-term strategy. Gotta work on demand, but that's hard, expensive, and doesn't make for a good photoshoot by the cops.

[mgk920]

Over-the-counter cold medications that first require age verification as though I'm purchasing a fifth of Jägermeister

This is because some contain pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient used to create methamphetamine. The results can be life-threatening when these medicines get into the wrong hands.

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-drug-class/legal-requirements-sale-and-purchase-drug-products-containing-pseudoephedrine-ephedrine-and

THANK YOU drug warhawks!

Mike

[Rothman]

<.<

People haven't seen Breaking Bad?

[J N Winkler]

I have seen Breaking Bad--Walt and Jesse use illegally diverted industrial chemicals.  At one point a kink appears in that pipeline and they consider, but reject, what they call a "pseud cook."

[SEWIGuy]

<.<

People haven't seen Breaking Bad?

I have not.

[JayhawkCO]

I have seen Breaking Bad--Walt and Jesse use illegally diverted industrial chemicals.  At one point a kink appears in that pipeline and they consider, but reject, what they call a "pseud cook."

Jesse actually went around all of New Mexico to get pseudo before they broke into the chemical warehouse, IIRC.

[Rothman]

I have seen Breaking Bad--Walt and Jesse use illegally diverted industrial chemicals.  At one point a kink appears in that pipeline and they consider, but reject, what they call a "pseud cook."

Jesse actually went around all of New Mexico to get pseudo before they broke into the chemical warehouse, IIRC.

They didn't roll the barrel...until Walt did...

[Bruce]

Soccer broadcasts only go over allotted time in extraordinary circumstances (such as an injury or incident that eats up more than the normal 5 minutes of stoppage time) or in a knockout competition. The continuous clock with no pauses (except halftime) has its disadvantages, but at least I can properly plan out my day after the game, down to the minute for certain bus departures from the stadium.

Interesting.  I had read that they just add time to the end, but I've only had soccer affect anything I was going to watch once, so something odd may have happened to produce the half-hour delay.

The standard procedure for knockout competitions is to add 30 minutes of extra time if the game is still tied after 90 minutes + stoppage time. That extra time has a short halftime of its own, and if still tied is followed by penalties that normally only take a few minutes (after 5 rounds it's sudden-death elimination).

[LilianaUwU]

I don't think there's any way to get through the self-checkout without calling the attendant over at least once.  There's a longer wait for that than just going through the checker line.

I very rarely need an attendant, but in the event I do (curiously, it happened today), it does take a while to get one.

I ended up needing an attendant for a newspaper yesterday, and surprisingly, they were there before I even asked for them.

[Rothman]

What's a newspaper?

[US 89]

Over-the-counter cold medications that first require age verification as though I'm purchasing a fifth of Jägermeister

This is because some contain pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient used to create methamphetamine. The results can be life-threatening when these medicines get into the wrong hands.

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-drug-class/legal-requirements-sale-and-purchase-drug-products-containing-pseudoephedrine-ephedrine-and

Pseudoephedrine requires your info to be entered into a centralized database, but that's not the only cold medicine that requires age verification. In a lot of states, you have to be 18 to buy cough syrup containing dextromethorphan because you can apparently get high off of it at a high enough dose. Part of why this is especially dangerous is it's often combined with acetaminophen in commonly available products. If you try to get high off that stuff, you will OD on acetaminophen, which is likely to actually kill you by causing serious liver failure.

[wxfree]

Half of a full moon is a quarter.  This makes no sense.

I get that the part you can see is a quarter of the moon, but then the full moon should be called a half.

Let's start calling the full moon a two-thirds moon, and half of it would be a one-third moon.  If we're going to mess with people's minds, we should have some fun with it.

[US 89]

Half of a full moon is a quarter.  This makes no sense.

I get that the part you can see is a quarter of the moon, but then the full moon should be called a half.

Let's start calling the full moon a two-thirds moon, and half of it would be a one-third moon.  If we're going to mess with people's minds, we should have some fun with it.

The "quarter" phases are called that because they're one and three quarters of the way through the lunar cycle. We ought to be calling the full moon second quarter...

[SEWIGuy]

Half of a full moon is a quarter.  This makes no sense.

I get that the part you can see is a quarter of the moon, but then the full moon should be called a half.

Let's start calling the full moon a two-thirds moon, and half of it would be a one-third moon.  If we're going to mess with people's minds, we should have some fun with it.

It's called that because it's a quarter way through the lunar month.

[wxfree]

Half of a full moon is a quarter.  This makes no sense.

I get that the part you can see is a quarter of the moon, but then the full moon should be called a half.

Let's start calling the full moon a two-thirds moon, and half of it would be a one-third moon.  If we're going to mess with people's minds, we should have some fun with it.

The "quarter" phases are called that because they're one and three quarters of the way through the lunar cycle. We ought to be calling the full moon second quarter...

That's the reasoning, but I don't buy it.  A phase of the moon could be named either by the size of the moon or the portion of the calendar.  It should be one or the other, not a combination.  The full moon should be called the second quarter and the new moon should be called the full moon (the completion of the cycle).  The next day is the kickoff moon.