Minor things that bother you

[ZLoth]

Not surprised NYS is on some old tech.  They were still using Windows XP when I started in 2014.  Our timesheet software was on an 80s mainframe, too, and only switched to a webapp a few years ago.

I manage a tiny-but-mighty team that provides support to government entities for a Software-as-a-Service product. In most cases, the actual IT team that we work with is pretty easy to work with, but are often constrained by decisions made at higher levels. Sometimes, those decisions are made because of the actual end users who are using the computers and/or policies to protect data security. Some days, it makes me double-check how long before I can afford to throw up my hands and retire. Of course, I'm still hoping to win the lottery, but until then, it's work hard, pay off the mortgage, and save like crazy.

[Scott5114]

Heh. I once worked with a system where the only way to change the password was to wait for the automatic 90-day mandatory password refresh interval to pass. If you wanted to change the password in between, there simply was no option in the GUI for it.

I also worked with a system coded in Visual Basic that would allow you to set a password containing *, but its salting mechanism was broken, so if you did that you could never actually log in.

Also, despite the capitalization, every time I see KeePass I read it as KeepAss.

[kurumi]

I submitted a bug to Verizon's web team: the site would silently truncate a new or changed password to 16 characters -- but not when you were logging in. (It might still do this.)

For example, if you change your password to 12345678901234567 (17 chars, though having all digits is not possible), the operation would succeed, but your new password would actually be 1234567890123456.

The next time you tried to log in with 12345678901234567, which is not truncated in that flow: incorrect password.

That was tricky to figure out.

[Bruce]

I pulled away from LastPass when they started charging for mobile devices. Dodged a bullet there, but I am pretty tired of having to juggle password managers. Chrome has a decent enough one for throwaway accounts.

[abefroman329]

I submitted a bug to Verizon's web team: the site would silently truncate a new or changed password to 16 characters -- but not when you were logging in. (It might still do this.)

For example, if you change your password to 12345678901234567 (17 chars, though having all digits is not possible), the operation would succeed, but your new password would actually be 1234567890123456.

The next time you tried to log in with 12345678901234567, which is not truncated in that flow: incorrect password.

That was tricky to figure out.

Yeah, I made the mistake of setting my password for one of the systems I use at work to a 99-character password, since there was no specified limit on password length, and it caused all kinds of login problems.  Now, if the site doesn't specify a limit on the length of the password, then I don't create anything with more than 20 characters.

[JoePCool14]

I pulled away from LastPass when they started charging for mobile devices. Dodged a bullet there, but I am pretty tired of having to juggle password managers. Chrome has a decent enough one for throwaway accounts.

Same here. I switched over to BitWarden, and have been satisfied ever since. They also have a mobile app (which you can indeed use for free).

[Scott5114]

My solution is to just hoof it to my office anytime I need to log into anything. If I'm out and about...I wait to log into whatever until I get home.

[jakeroot]

My solution is to just hoof it to my office anytime I need to log into anything. If I'm out and about...I wait to log into whatever until I get home.

Do you have a duplicate somewhere, just in case?

I use Keeper for my passwords. It integrates into most apps and keyboards. Seems pretty secure.

[Dirt Roads]

Heh. I once worked with a system where the only way to change the password was to wait for the automatic 90-day mandatory password refresh interval to pass. If you wanted to change the password in between, there simply was no option in the GUI for it.

I worked on a similar system, and this capability completely disappeared when the Admin got overruled and turned off the 90-day mandatory refresh.  Once it was set, you were stuck. 

In a similar vein, when CenturyLink was first strung together, their WebMail server didn't have a means to set new passwords and you had to call an get a tech to change it over the phone.  That lasted for more than 10 years (except I'm sure that nobody dared letting the techs in the Philippines mess with their password).  Anyhow, in November 2022 their new WebMail server (designed to support existing customers as well those like us that got spun off to Brightspeed and others) now supports password changes once again.

[1995hoo]

Earlier today, my colleagues and I passed this well-known landmark (see photo of me). Our boss was baffled as to why we were all adamant about stopping to take pictures and why we were passing our phones around to make sure we all had photos. Turns out somehow he has never seen a single episode of Seinfeld.

[jakeroot]

My girlfriend and I's favorite show is Curb Your Enthusiasm, but I'm not sure we've combined watched more than three episodes of Seinfeld.

We know the show, and the characters (season 7 of Curb is entirely about Seinfeld, after all), just no interest in multi-camera laugh-track sitcoms in general, Fraser being an exception.

[Max Rockatansky]

I enjoy Seinfeld because it is mean spirited humor, and all the characters are awful people. 

[J N Winkler]

Turns out somehow he has never seen a single episode of Seinfeld.

I am in the same boat, though I recognize the Soup Nazi and a few other references.

[Scott5114]

It would probably be pretty hard to get into Seinfeld in the present day, given how many tropes it invented that have been done to death a thousand times since then.

[1995hoo]

But you guys at least know of it, even if you've barely seen it. He had never even heard of it, which is really borderline inconceivable to me for someone who was in his 30s during the 1990s.

[ZLoth]

I haven't watched Seinfeld, and I've heard of it partially because it aired before Quantum Leap. Considering that the show ran from 1989 until 1998, it was practically a different era of television compared to 2023.

[1995hoo]

Minor hassle that happens every damn morning with Windows 10: I want to click through a folder tree to a subfolder. Invariably, as I'm trying to expand it, Windows yanks the folder display down so the folder I want moves to the bottom of the screen and the subfolders get pushed off the bottom. You'd think the programmers could make the system understand that when the user clicks to expand a particular folder, it's usually because he wants to use that particular folder or subfolders within it (though, to be fair, sometimes the click will be a misclick).

[ethanhopkin14]

It would probably be pretty hard to get into Seinfeld in the present day, given how many tropes it invented that have been done to death a thousand times since then.

I agree, but at the same time, there are so many other (and in my opinion better) jokes that I think if you can hold on past all the cultural references it can still engage you.  I do agree when something has been copied or parodied so many times for so long and it's something you have never seen, yes, it is hard to watch when you actually do see it because it seems like a parody itself. 

I mean you still have George knowing exactly where all the best public toilets are, the time Jerry, Kramer and George went into an open house and acted like they were interested in buying the condo, but they only wanted to use the bathroom and when George got locked out of his office because everyone thought he was faking being handicapped (of course this was after the disaster following the Summer of George) just so he could have the handicapped bathroom.....come to think of it, all my favorite jokes from the show involve the bathroom somehow.  Larry David has serious issues with the bathroom.

[J N Winkler]

Minor hassle that happens every damn morning with Windows 10: I want to click through a folder tree to a subfolder. Invariably, as I'm trying to expand it, Windows yanks the folder display down so the folder I want moves to the bottom of the screen and the subfolders get pushed off the bottom. You'd think the programmers could make the system understand that when the user clicks to expand a particular folder, it's usually because he wants to use that particular folder or subfolders within it (though, to be fair, sometimes the click will be a misclick).

I've tried to replicate this behavior in Windows Explorer (also on Windows 10) and not been able to do it, except in one specific situation.  Here is what happens in an Explorer window that has been open for some time:

*  Folder close enough to bottom of pane that full list of subfolders won't be visible if folder stays in current position:  Folder moves up so that full list of subfolders will display with last subfolder at bottom of pane (if full list is shorter than pane height) or to top of pane (if full list is longer than pane height).

*  Folder far enough from bottom of pane that full list of subfolders will be visible if folder stays in current position:  Folder does not move; subfolders display beneath.

Are you trying to navigate to a subfolder right after opening a new Explorer window?  That is the only time I see behavior like what you are describing, and I think it results from Explorer being programmed to return the data object listing in the folder pane (Quick Access, Downloads, Documents, etc.) to a neutral position once it finds the drives, even if this means whipping the folder listing out from under a user who is trying to click through to a specific subfolder.  This is annoying enough that I usually open a window first thing after restarting and keep it open until I need to close it, which typically happens when a session goes stale and stops clearing file handles promptly.

[abefroman329]

Earlier today, my colleagues and I passed this well-known landmark (see photo of me). Our boss was baffled as to why we were all adamant about stopping to take pictures and why we were passing our phones around to make sure we all had photos. Turns out somehow he has never seen a single episode of Seinfeld.

Yeah, well, I'm disappointed that no one photographed it because it's also the inspiration for "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega.

[Bruce]

I have watched more minutes of AI-generated Seinfeld than the actual show.

https://www.theverge.com/23581186/ai-seinfeld-twitch-stream-chatgpt

[formulanone]

Earlier today, my colleagues and I passed this well-known landmark (see photo of me). Our boss was baffled as to why we were all adamant about stopping to take pictures and why we were passing our phones around to make sure we all had photos. Turns out somehow he has never seen a single episode of Seinfeld.

Yeah, well, I'm disappointed that no one photographed it because it's also the inspiration for "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega.

Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo

[hbelkins]

As I've often said, "Seinfeld" was a show that I didn't particularly care for.

Same with "Friends."

[royo6022]

As I've often said, "Seinfeld" was a show that I didn't particularly care for.

Same with "Friends."

This is interesting because I always found Seinfeld to be what Friends was trying to go for, but I always liked Seinfeld and never liked Friends. I see so many similarities but I only enjoyed the former.

[vdeane]

So now my dishwasher latch is broken.  No idea how it broke, but it won't close, the thing seems to be jammed into the closed position such that I can't even push it shut.  I have a full load of dishes that I now can't wash, some of which I don't even know how to wash, and am stuck in a lurch where I won't be able to even make certain meals until it's fixed (probably will have to throw out some perishable food I won't be able to use in time as a result), and knowing my apartment's maintenance, it will probably be several days before it's usable again, if not more than a week.

Guess I've learned my lesson - never make a meal that REQUIRES that the dishwasher be used.  Ever.  Bye bye tacos and hamburgers (and cooking for any meal except breakfast, period, since those are the only things other than pasta and eggs I can make, the latter not well, and the former retired years ago due to food spoilage concerns with respect to sauce).