Minor things that bother you

[wanderer2575]

When I accidentally hit the Num Lock key without realizing it, then keep punching away at the 10-key, doing who knows what till I look over at the monitor.

Me too.  Also:  Typing away without realizing that my cursor wasn't in the text entry box.

[kphoger]

Also:  Typing away without realizing that my cursor wasn't in the text entry box.

Or that the window you intend to type in isn't "on top".

[formulanone]

When I accidentally hit the Num Lock key without realizing it, then keep punching away at the 10-key, doing who knows what till I look over at the monitor.

Training someone who's just accidentally hit the Num Lock key while typing a VIN creates some pretty disastrous results and some finger-pointing at yours truly. The screen is a rage because there's now an S where Y/N is needed, the transmission is Type B, and the color of the vehicle is XG🔜\£9 [obscured by dialogue boxes]

"Let's just click Clear All and try again, just to make sure that's all it was, ok?"

[JayhawkCO]

Also:  Typing away without realizing that my cursor wasn't in the text entry box.

Or that the window you intend to type in isn't "on top".

That's my problem since I have a four monitor setup. I'll think what I'm looking at is active since the mouse pointer is over there, but if I haven't clicked yet, I end up typing into a completely different program.

[kphoger]

When caps lock flip-flops on the computer–or even in only one program–so that it's on when the light is off, off when the light is on.

That happens to me all the time when I'm porting from my laptop at home to my desktop at work, something I do three days a week these days.

I hope you guys didn't pay good money for that OS.

It's usually my work computer.  And actually, it's usually not the whole OS:  it's just one application within it, which is accessed via WVD.  For example, I can type in Notepad and it works just fine, then switch over to that application and it's flip-flopped, then switch over to Word and it works just fine.

I just had this happen–except my login had timed out, my username was auto-filled, and my password was hidden.  Therefore, I had no idea I was typing my password with lowercase and uppercase switched around.

[tchafe1978]

When entering Green Bay, they have signs saying no parking 3 am - 5 am.

The '2 to 5' thing is popular in munis in NE Wisconsin, its the law here in Appleton, too.  It's to keep vagrants away.

Mike

I was always under the impression it is for snow removal purposes, just like alternate side parking rules. By vagrants you mean those who don't "belong" in the neighborhood?

[J N Winkler]

I was always under the impression it is for snow removal purposes, just like alternate side parking rules. By vagrants you mean those who don't "belong" in the neighborhood?

In many cities in the upper Midwest, snow removal is the motivation, but this is by no means true for all.  The restriction in Milwaukee applies year-round.

The giveaway is usually calendar dates on the sign--if none are stated, that is usually a big clue the prohibition is not motivated entirely by snow.

[Scott5114]

When caps lock flip-flops on the computer–or even in only one program–so that it's on when the light is off, off when the light is on.

That happens to me all the time when I'm porting from my laptop at home to my desktop at work, something I do three days a week these days.

I hope you guys didn't pay good money for that OS.

It's usually my work computer.  And actually, it's usually not the whole OS:  it's just one application within it, which is accessed via WVD.  For example, I can type in Notepad and it works just fine, then switch over to that application and it's flip-flopped, then switch over to Word and it works just fine.

I just had this happen–except my login had timed out, my username was auto-filled, and my password was hidden.  Therefore, I had no idea I was typing my password with lowercase and uppercase switched around.

Your login screen doesn't say "Caps Lock is on" right under the password entry box when that's the case?

[1995hoo]

When entering Green Bay, they have signs saying no parking 3 am - 5 am.

The '2 to 5' thing is popular in munis in NE Wisconsin, its the law here in Appleton, too.  It's to keep vagrants away.

Mike

I was always under the impression it is for snow removal purposes, just like alternate side parking rules. By vagrants you mean those who don't "belong" in the neighborhood?

Alternate-side parking in New York is for street sweeping, not snow removal.

[kphoger]

I was always under the impression it is for snow removal purposes, just like alternate side parking rules. By vagrants you mean those who don't "belong" in the neighborhood?

Vagrants:  as in, homeless people who are living out of their car.

Your login screen doesn't say "Caps Lock is on" right under the password entry box when that's the case?

No, the program this happens in doesn't have such a warning.  The program I use that does have such a warning, on the other hand, displays it if Caps Lock was on when I logged in before getting subsequently timed out–meaning I can never trust it except the first login of the day.

[Scott5114]

No, the program this happens in doesn't have such a warning.  The program I use that does have such a warning, on the other hand, displays it if Caps Lock was on when I logged in before getting subsequently timed out–meaning I can never trust it except the first login of the day.

Ah, okay, I didn't catch that you were referring to a program-specific login screen rather than the OS one, which I seem to remember also has that feature on Windows. (Though that is something that should be implemented on that kind of login screen as well. I wonder if there's a way to query caps lock status through the browser so that Internet-based logins can implement that. Potential thing to add when I work on my company's software next...)

On Unix, program-specific logins are rather rare, since the canonical way of handling such a thing is to piggyback off of the OS user account and permissions system where possible. So the program would simply track what permissions are associated with OS user kphoger has, then as long as you are logged into the OS as you, the program would know what you're allowed to do or not do. The lack of this practice on Windows has to do with Windows historically having no user account system at all prior to Windows 2000, and a relatively weak one up until about Windows 7 (and I think even now it's more porous than it really is supposed to be).

[mgk920]

When entering Green Bay, they have signs saying no parking 3 am - 5 am.

The '2 to 5' thing is popular in munis in NE Wisconsin, its the law here in Appleton, too.  It's to keep vagrants away.

Mike

I was always under the impression it is for snow removal purposes, just like alternate side parking rules. By vagrants you mean those who don't "belong" in the neighborhood?

Snow removal, people using the street instead of the driveways and garages on their own properties as their private parking areas, etc; But growing up herein Appleton, I always assumed that it was for street sweeping/cleaning, which in our neighborhood was always done every couple of weeks or so at night.

Mike

[mgk920]

When entering Green Bay, they have signs saying no parking 3 am - 5 am.

The '2 to 5' thing is popular in munis in NE Wisconsin, its the law here in Appleton, too.  It's to keep vagrants away.

Mike

I was always under the impression it is for snow removal purposes, just like alternate side parking rules. By vagrants you mean those who don't "belong" in the neighborhood?

Alternate-side parking in New York is for street sweeping, not snow removal.

A couple of decades ago I saw a piece on a network TV news show about the kindof wacko (to outsiders at least) on-street parking restrictions for street cleaning in NYC.  Yes, for a couple of hours alternating sides every couple of weeks to sweep the street.  At least the city DOES keep its streets somewhat cleaner than otherwise.



Mike

[1995hoo]

^^^^

Recall the episode of Seinfeld in which George took a job standing in for a guy who moved everyone's cars on alternate-side day (and made a complete mess of it).

[kphoger]

On Unix, program-specific logins are rather rare, since the canonical way of handling such a thing is to piggyback off of the OS user account and permissions system where possible. So the program would simply track what permissions are associated with OS user kphoger has, then as long as you are logged into the OS as you, the program would know what you're allowed to do or not do. The lack of this practice on Windows has to do with Windows historically having no user account system at all prior to Windows 2000, and a relatively weak one up until about Windows 7 (and I think even now it's more porous than it really is supposed to be).

I log on to two different MSO networks from my work computer.  One (the one I have this problem with) has its programs accessed via virtual desktop (Azure).  The other has its programs accessed via VPN client (GlobalProtect).  Theoretically, at least, I should be able to log in from any computer anywhere in the world, so long as I have access to the MFA token for each.  Therefore, piggybacking permissions from my OS login wouldn't really be ideal.

[J N Winkler]

Today's minor thing that bothers me, also computer-related, concerns a downloader I use to retrieve material from various state DOTs' BidX pages.  (Several, such as Alaska DOT&PF and Nebraska DOT, now use the public-facing portions of their BidX pages to distribute plans and proposals.)  Each agency has its own page on BidX with links to lettings; each letting has links to contracts; and each contract has file download links.

When I wrote the downloader many years ago, I decided that I would design it to visit each letting page only once after the letting date passed.  At the time, the states I was working with used letting IDs derived from the letting date, so I made the mistake of coding the downloader to parse the former to get the latter.  When I noticed last night that lettings still in the future (such as the one Maryland DOT plans for April 5) were appearing in blockout lists, I finally decided this problem needed to be fixed.  I also added code to address an unrelated issue where file download fails when Amazon Web Services, which BidX has used for file hosting for probably at least the last four or five years, fails to supply the file with a well-formed content-disposition header.

Today I was shocked when the revamped downloader pulled in about 10 GB worth of Nebraska DOT plans from 2019-2021 that I had never seen before, despite maintaining regular collection during that period.  These included:

*  A RCUT at the US 81/SR 91 intersection between Columbus and Norfolk

*  Lighting and signing upgrades to the I-80/US 34-281 interchange south of Grand Island

*  I-80 Brule-Ogallala reconstruction

*  Replacement of an overhead signbridge on I-480

*  US 75 Murray-Plattsmouth expansion

Don't get me wrong--I'm glad to have these.  But I wasn't expecting to get them, which makes me paranoid about what else I may be missing.

[hbelkins]

I don't know if this qualifies, but it's an observation I've had for quite some time.

Every morning when I drive in to work, the drive-through line at the local McDonald's -- visible at https://goo.gl/maps/J4jBUyFyUSRRcrED6 -- the line extends out to the edge of the restaurant property near the adjacent Marathon gas station. Often, it extends farther out, closer to the entrance off KY 30.

Why in the world would anyone wait in a drive-through line that long at a McDonald's? I don't have the patience for it. If I go for lunch and there are more than a couple of cars in line at the drive-through, I'll pass that place up and go somewhere else. I'll starve before I wait that long in a drive-through line.

[JayhawkCO]

Similarly, if I see a line that long, I just park and go in. It's quicker.

[7/8]

Several AutoCAD/Civil3D ones:
- When I get a random "fatal error" and have to restart the program
- When I go to edit a pipe network and the menu option for "pipes only/structures only/pipes and structures" is greyed out (unselectable). Only solution I've found is to close the drawing and re-open
- When I try to change the annotative scale in model space or a viewport and the program freezes. Lesson learned: unload all xrefs before doing that. Still a pain though since I have to reload the xrefs after
- When I start opening a drawing and realize it's the wrong one, or change my mind. I haven't found a way to abort the process, so I just have to wait it out
- When the same pipe (data referenced) is showing as different diameters in separate drawing files. I've figured out that this relates to the pipe catalogue. What worries is me is what if I miss the error elsewhere?
- When I update sheet set information, but the table with revision number, date, etc. doesn't want to update with regen. It's specifically one table that has this issue. I have to click in the table and do "update field" for each piece of text. Then I have to copy that table into each sheet to make sure each sheet is properly updated.
- When I start working on a project partway done and have to figure out what's going on. Why are there multiple existing surfaces and multiple proposed storm pipe networks, which one should I use?
- When the client changes the scope of the project which requires changing the sheet layouts/viewports. Similarly, when they decide to break up a single project into multiple contracts, which means dividing the drawings into separate project subfolders which adds more complications.

[zzcarp]

Similarly, if I see a line that long, I just park and go in. It's quicker.

I see that at Starbucks all the time-cars backed up from the Drive-Through through the parking lot and sometimes onto the street. I always drive around them, park, and get in and out in a jif while those in their cars are still waiting for their drinks.

[CtrlAltDel]

Similarly, if I see a line that long, I just park and go in. It's quicker.

I see that at Starbucks all the time-cars backed up from the Drive-Through through the parking lot and sometimes onto the street. I always drive around them, park, and get in and out in a jif while those in their cars are still waiting for their drinks.

I've had mixed results with this. Sometimes, there's really no one inside to take my order, and then it can take longer.

[Big John]

In the case of McDonald's, their lobby is frequently closed.

[ZLoth]

Whenever possible, I end up using Curbside Pickup. That option isn't available for Burger King.

[J N Winkler]

- When I start opening a drawing and realize it's the wrong one, or change my mind. I haven't found a way to abort the process, so I just have to wait it out

This one especially resonates.

A related one is opening a drawing from a compressed archive I don't want to unpack fully (packages of what I increasingly see called "editables" can run into the tens of gigabytes even without orthophotos), and then having TrueView cry about all the missing references.

I've had mixed results with this. Sometimes, there's really no one inside to take my order, and then it can take longer.

In the case of McDonald's, their lobby is frequently closed.

It does vary a great deal by restaurant chain and sometimes even location.  At the Taco Shop (local-to-Wichita chain) near me, going in and ordering takeaway at the counter always works.  The Popeyes across the street has online ordering, but I have never known them to make up the order until I arrive and announce myself, and the wait time can be less than five minutes on one visit and as long as half an hour on the next.

Since I nearly always have a book with me to read, my concern is less about the time sink and more about having to pay attention (which takes mental and emotional energy) so I don't miss my order when it is ready.  While I understand the social policy concerns about replacing fast-food workers with robots, I see process automation as potentially making life easier for customers by allowing them to monitor order progress, giving them greater certainty as to when the order will be ready while reducing the likelihood that it will be taken by someone else (which has happened to me a couple of times).

[kphoger]

All these YouTube ads that use a robo-voice to tell you how eating or drinking this one product daily will make you lose 100 pounds, cure your cancer, increase your IQ, give you eternal life, and make your spouse love you more.  Seriously, how are these ads even legal in this day and age?