You verses technology

[Duke87]

I really hate paper towel dispensers, since they are inevitably set to the size of towel that would only do an adequate job drying a grade schooler's hands. So you have to pull out multiple servings, and if it's one of the stupid automatic ones, wait three seconds each time so it thinks you're a different person.

Automatic sinks are also pretty shit, especially the ones that decide you get five seconds of water and then NO MORE, CITIZEN, YOUR HAND WASHING RATION HAS BEEN EXHAUSTED, GO WIPE OFF THE REMAINING SOAP ON YOUR SQUARE DECIMETER OF TOWEL RATION. I would like control over when to turn on and off the tap!

Automatic toilets and urinals aren't bothersome, since the worst they can do is flush excessively, and it's not my water bill. They should have a button to force a flush if it's having problems, though.

I will agree that paper towel dispensers can get annoying, although I find that about half the time I use a public restroom I will quickly wipe my hands dry on the sides of my pants rather than bothering with paper towels or an air dryer. I can do this while walking towards the door, so it saves time.

The sinks in the restrooms at work are automatic, and automatic sinks in public restrooms have become so common that sometimes if I'm not paying attention I find myself sticking my hands under a non-automatic faucet expecting it to start running, and then taking a second to realize I have to manually turn the tap. I fully prefer the automatic sinks, both because they are more sanitary and because they require less effort to use.

As for auto-flush toilets, false triggers are never a problem with urinals although when you have to take a dump it can be a fun game to see if you can make it out of there with the toilet only flushing once. I find I have about a 10% success rate.  If you prefer to wipe standing up this will prove difficult if you do not modify your behavior.
Women, meanwhile, have to play this game even when they just pee, which I imagine might make it more annoying.

FWIW, Some properties/rental agencies still require their mortgage/rent to be paid by check and to be mailed to their P.O. Box.   So even if one pays for everything else by phone, electronically or what have you; there's still a need to write out a paper check and mail it somewhere... contrary to popular belief.

Yep. I get an envelope slipped under my door towards the end of every month with a statement and return envelope in it. To pay my rent I have to write a paper check, put it in said return envelope along with the bottom portion of the statement, and provide my own stamp.

I use paper checks voluntarily for other purposes as well. It's old technology but it works and it's more secure than some of the alternatives. Direct withdrawal requires giving the entity you're paying direct access to your bank account and license to draw potentially any amount of money from it, which is bad and I really don't like doing it. Sending payment electronically requires setting up an online banking account, which I refuse to do since it's likewise a security vulnerability (potentially catastrophic if it is ever hacked into and little practical benefit to make it worth the risk). Paying by credit card is highly convenient and quite secure since you're not liable for any fraud damage, but some places will charge you a fee to do that.

[Scott5114]

We pay the rent by dropping off checks at the leasing office on the other side of town. I think we can theoretically mail them, but most of the time it's more cost-effective to combine it with a trip to the grocery store or something.

Online banking is a bit of a security vulnerability, but I find it quite useful to be able to check my balance and not have to maintain a check register anymore. It also makes handling transfers between accounts easier.

[ZLoth]

Add a new annoyance.... late last week, my Galaxy S3 upgraded from 4.3 to 4.4.2 (aka KitKat). The update changes how the phone addresses the 64GB microSD card (see this article), and I had to make some changes including moving the Audible audiobook files to another location. Google apparently prefers that you use the cloud over the internal memory.

[hbelkins]

Add a new annoyance.... late last week, my Galaxy S3 upgraded from 4.3 to 4.4.2 (aka KitKat).

Did the phone do it, or did you tell the phone to do it? 

My iPhone is nagging me to upgrade from 6.1.2 to 7.x, but I haven't given it the go-ahead yet, and hope to hold off for as long as I can, for two reasons. One is the need to re-jailbreak; the other is that I have 7.x on my work iPad and I hate the look and the interface.

[ZLoth]

Add a new annoyance.... late last week, my Galaxy S3 upgraded from 4.3 to 4.4.2 (aka KitKat).

Did the phone do it, or did you tell the phone to do it? 

My S3 isn't jailbroken, so it was a carrier provided upgrade.

[hbelkins]

Add a new annoyance.... late last week, my Galaxy S3 upgraded from 4.3 to 4.4.2 (aka KitKat).

Did the phone do it, or did you tell the phone to do it? 

My S3 isn't jailbroken, so it was a carrier provided upgrade.

So it was done automatically, and you didn't have the option not to upgrade?

[DaBigE]

Add a new annoyance.... late last week, my Galaxy S3 upgraded from 4.3 to 4.4.2 (aka KitKat).

Did the phone do it, or did you tell the phone to do it? 

My S3 isn't jailbroken, so it was a carrier provided upgrade.

So it was done automatically, and you didn't have the option not to upgrade?

Depending on the carrier, you may have the option to automatically allow updates to automatically download/install, similar to a PC. I know my S3 just had the 4.4.2 update released, but it's up to me whether or not to install it. I chose to, since in theory this update was supposed to address battery drain issues (which my phone randomly suffers from).

[freebrickproductions]

1.  The rise of the robocaller.

Same here. I keep getting calls on my cellphone from one every afternoon that are intended to go to a person whose name is Bryan (mine's David and there aren't any Bryans at my house). Something tells me that Bryan switched a couple of numbers in his number when he signed up for some kind of service and they are calling him for advertising or trying to get him to pay for that service. It's a local number surprisingly too (256 area code).

[ZLoth]

Add a new annoyance.... late last week, my Galaxy S3 upgraded from 4.3 to 4.4.2 (aka KitKat).

Did the phone do it, or did you tell the phone to do it? 

My S3 isn't jailbroken, so it was a carrier provided upgrade.

So it was done automatically, and you didn't have the option not to upgrade?

Depending on the carrier, you may have the option to automatically allow updates to automatically download/install, similar to a PC. I know my S3 just had the 4.4.2 update released, but it's up to me whether or not to install it. I chose to, since in theory this update was supposed to address battery drain issues (which my phone randomly suffers from).

I was prompted to install it. I did. KitKat also addresses several security vulnerabilities, including a broken certificate.

[doorknob60]

For my first bit of hate, I'm going to just let Randall do the talking:


For my second, I will add: websites which require the use of Javascript in order to display static text. WHY!?

Agreed. But worse, websites which require the use of Flash in order to display static text! WHY!!!??? Or when an entire website is in Flash, so if you open it without Flash installed, you see nothing.