Minor things that bother you

[MNHighwayMan]

Naming winter storms

Agree 100 percent.

The practice began with The Weather Channel, and has now made its way into public discourse. Susan Buchanan, spokesperson for the NWS, states "The National Weather Service does not name winter storms because a winter storm's impact can vary from one location to another, and storms can weaken and redevelop, making it difficult to define where one ends and another begins."

AccuWeather president Joel Myers also stated, "The Weather Channel has confused media spin with science and public safety."

Source article: https://www.chicagotribune.com/weather/ct-wea-asktom-0304-20180302-column.html

If the NWS is calling your practice bullshit, you should probably stop.

[formulanone]

Naming winter storms

Agree 100 percent.

The practice began with The Weather Channel, and has now made its way into public discourse. Susan Buchanan, spokesperson for the NWS, states "The National Weather Service does not name winter storms because a winter storm's impact can vary from one location to another, and storms can weaken and redevelop, making it difficult to define where one ends and another begins."

AccuWeather president Joel Myers also stated, "The Weather Channel has confused media spin with science and public safety."

Source article: https://www.chicagotribune.com/weather/ct-wea-asktom-0304-20180302-column.html

If the NWS is calling your practice bullshit, you should probably stop.

...but, but...building awareness!    It makes memes with incredibly-short shelf lives, and provides the clueless with instant baby names.

It's winter, there's always gong to be something happening, about to happen, or potentially could happen to 75-90% of the population at any given time.

[kurumi]

More minor stuff:

Text-mode programs using backticks and apostrophes to mimic smart quotes like ``this''. It's uglier than using plain old "double quotes".

Buildings or shops with double-door entries where one of the doors is locked. Bonus if there's not even a "please use other door sign".

Truly minor: the "vi" in the overused I - V - vi - VI chord progression.

[DaBigE]

Naming winter storms

Agree 100 percent.

The practice began with The Weather Channel, and has now made its way into public discourse. Susan Buchanan, spokesperson for the NWS, states "The National Weather Service does not name winter storms because a winter storm's impact can vary from one location to another, and storms can weaken and redevelop, making it difficult to define where one ends and another begins."

AccuWeather president Joel Myers also stated, "The Weather Channel has confused media spin with science and public safety."

Source article: https://www.chicagotribune.com/weather/ct-wea-asktom-0304-20180302-column.html

If the NWS is calling your practice bullshit, you should probably stop.

...but, but...building awareness!    It makes memes with incredibly-short shelf lives, and provides the clueless with instant baby names.

It's winter, there's always gong to be something happening, about to happen, or potentially could happen to 75-90% of the population at any given time.

...but, but...bullshit. It's as bad as tv stations providing a weather impact scale a la the terror threat level. My '1' level impact may be your '10'; quit wasting all of our time.

People complaining about the use of the term 'winter storm' (as in advisory or warning) for snow/sleet in "fall" (they also seem to forget that most of December is in fall, too).
It's the best description for the type of weather, not the season, dumbasses. 

[vdeane]

...but, but...bullshit. It's as bad as tv stations providing a weather impact scale a la the terror threat level. My '1' level impact may be your '10'; quit wasting all of our time.

Reminds me of something I was reading about Sinclair stations being required to designate certain days "red alert days" in their forecasts.

[kphoger]

I am chuckling about your first footnote. I actually regard that as a compliment, backwards as it may sound! 

I intended it as a compliment.

segue into the substantive

Wow, seriously?  You're awfully young to be able to use that sort of phrase with such masterful irony.

Truly minor: the "vi" in the overused I - V - vi - VI chord progression.

Are you sure you wrote that correctly?  Or did you mean to type I - V - vi - IV⁶₃ instead?  Assuming that was a mistake, then you should remember that the chord of which you speak did in fact please the Lord.

[webny99]

segue into the substantive

Wow, seriously?  You're awfully young to be able to use that sort of phrase with such masterful irony.

OK, now I really can't tell if you're being serious or not, and I'm not sure what me being young has to do with it.

[kphoger]

 

[1995hoo]

Prompted by a radio ad I heard: People confusing "slash"  and "backslash."  A URL does not contain a backslash.

[hotdogPi]

Prompted by a radio ad I heard: People confusing "slash"  and "backslash."  A URL does not contain a backslash.

Stop & Shop claims that you can read the full rules of a contest at a website containing a backslash. Even worse, it's part of the disclaimer, and disclaimers are legally required to be accurate.

However, in my browser, typing a backslash automatically results in it changing to a forward slash, even for the legitimate URL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/\. (Replacing \ with %5C brings it to the correct article.)

[SSOWorld]

Naming winter storms

Agree 100 percent.

The practice began with The Weather Channel, and has now made its way into public discourse. Susan Buchanan, spokesperson for the NWS, states "The National Weather Service does not name winter storms because a winter storm's impact can vary from one location to another, and storms can weaken and redevelop, making it difficult to define where one ends and another begins."

AccuWeather president Joel Myers also stated, "The Weather Channel has confused media spin with science and public safety."

Source article: https://www.chicagotribune.com/weather/ct-wea-asktom-0304-20180302-column.html

If the NWS is calling your practice bullshit, you should probably stop.

...but, but...building awareness!    It makes memes with incredibly-short shelf lives, and provides the clueless with instant baby names.

It's winter, there's always gong to be something happening, about to happen, or potentially could happen to 75-90% of the population at any given time.

...but, but...bullshit. It's as bad as tv stations providing a weather impact scale a la the terror threat level. My '1' level impact may be your '10'; quit wasting all of our time.

People complaining about the use of the term 'winter storm' (as in advisory or warning) for snow/sleet in "fall" (they also seem to forget that most of December is in fall, too).
It's the best description for the type of weather, not the season, dumbasses. 

December Solstice is not the first day of winter (same is true for the other sun crossing points).  The fact that people pin a schedule on seasons which can vary by year makes me sick.

also I agree on the naming of winter storms.  The Weather Channel, like any private weather company, is in it for the entertainment and sales more than they are for health and safety.

[kurumi]

Truly minor: the "vi" in the overused I - V - vi - VI chord progression.

Are you sure you wrote that correctly?  Or did you mean to type I - V - vi - IV⁶₃ instead?  Assuming that was a mistake, then you should remember that the chord of which you speak did in fact please the Lord.

Good catch, it's a typo. Fourth chord should indeed be IV. Ending at VI is an odd sort of Picardy Third cadence. Since the Picardy hymn ("Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence") doesn't end on a Picardy Third, the degree to which this might please the Lord is found wanting.

[bulldog1979]

As it stands right now, *nothing* created before 1924 is under any form of USA copyright protection.

Actually, this statement is not correct. Nothing published before 1924 is under copyright protection in the US, and anything published in 1923 fell into the public domain at the first of this year. Barring a change in the law, on New Year's Day every year, another year's worth of published materials will fall into the public domain. Copyrights on newer published works may have expired for other reasons already, or never applied in the first place.

The rules for unpublished works are different. To be considered published, the work has to be distributed to the public. For an unpublished work, copyright attaches for the life of the author plus 70 years. So a photograph taken by my grandmother that was never published will remain under copyright until January 1, 2074. (She passed away on in 2003, so the rights will lapse at the end of the year 70 years later.) Any rights to her creative works passed on to her heirs. For unpublished works with known authorship, if the said author died in 1949, those works will fall into the public domain on January 1, 2020. If there are multiple authors, the copyright is based on the date of death of the last living author.

If the identity of the author or the death date of the author are unknown, or if a work was created by a corporate body, then copyright persists for 120 years after creation. So unpublished corporate works (think internal memos not distributed to the public) that were created in 1899 are still under copyright until the end of the month. They'll fall into the public domain on January 1, 2020, along with any published works from 1924.

It's pretty straight forward for previously unpublished works that are later published. Copyright in those cases would be based on the publication date and last for 95 years.

[bulldog1979]

Naming winter storms

Agree 100 percent.

The practice began with The Weather Channel, and has now made its way into public discourse. Susan Buchanan, spokesperson for the NWS, states "The National Weather Service does not name winter storms because a winter storm's impact can vary from one location to another, and storms can weaken and redevelop, making it difficult to define where one ends and another begins."

AccuWeather president Joel Myers also stated, "The Weather Channel has confused media spin with science and public safety."

Source article: https://www.chicagotribune.com/weather/ct-wea-asktom-0304-20180302-column.html

If the NWS is calling your practice bullshit, you should probably stop.

...but, but...building awareness!    It makes memes with incredibly-short shelf lives, and provides the clueless with instant baby names.

It's winter, there's always gong to be something happening, about to happen, or potentially could happen to 75-90% of the population at any given time.

...but, but...bullshit. It's as bad as tv stations providing a weather impact scale a la the terror threat level. My '1' level impact may be your '10'; quit wasting all of our time.

People complaining about the use of the term 'winter storm' (as in advisory or warning) for snow/sleet in "fall" (they also seem to forget that most of December is in fall, too).
It's the best description for the type of weather, not the season, dumbasses. 

December Solstice is not the first day of winter (same is true for the other sun crossing points).  The fact that people pin a schedule on seasons which can vary by year makes me sick.

also I agree on the naming of winter storms.  The Weather Channel, like any private weather company, is in it for the entertainment and sales more than they are for health and safety.

Meteorological seasons start at the beginning of the month containing the equinox or solstice. So meteorologically speaking, winter starts on December 1 and end on March 1. It's the astronomical seasons that start on the equinox or solstice.

[jakeroot]

Meteorological seasons start at the beginning of the month containing the equinox or solstice. So meteorologically speaking, winter starts on December 1 and end on March 1. It's the astronomical seasons that start on the equinox or solstice.

indeed. It's all how you want to look at it. That said, if you went around telling everyone that winter starts on the 1st of December, people will reply "oh yeah, it sure feels like it...but I think it starts on the 21st?"

[bulldog1979]

Meteorological seasons start at the beginning of the month containing the equinox or solstice. So meteorologically speaking, winter starts on December 1 and end on March 1. It's the astronomical seasons that start on the equinox or solstice.

indeed. It's all how you want to look at it. That said, if you went around telling everyone that winter starts on the 1st of December, people will reply "oh yeah, it sure feels like it...but I think it starts on the 21st?"

The chief meteorologist at our local TV station makes a point to talk about the start and end dates of the meteorological seasons. Of course, there's the Celtic definition where winter starts on Samhain (November 1) and ends on Imbolc (February 1 or 2). Those definitions follow the midpoints between equinoxes and solstices.

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

Younger people who can't speak without saying "like" every third word.

It happens to everyone! Have you ever watched some video-recorded conference and the speaker is "Um, Uh, Like, And"? These are filler words in speaking, indicative of a not very confident speaker or someone who doesn't have their thoughts in order, but nothing that can't be overcome through practice. But, I do understand what you are saying.

[formulanone]

Naming winter storms

Agree 100 percent.

The practice began with The Weather Channel, and has now made its way into public discourse. Susan Buchanan, spokesperson for the NWS, states "The National Weather Service does not name winter storms because a winter storm's impact can vary from one location to another, and storms can weaken and redevelop, making it difficult to define where one ends and another begins."

AccuWeather president Joel Myers also stated, "The Weather Channel has confused media spin with science and public safety."

Source article: https://www.chicagotribune.com/weather/ct-wea-asktom-0304-20180302-column.html

If the NWS is calling your practice bullshit, you should probably stop.

...but, but...building awareness!    It makes memes with incredibly-short shelf lives, and provides the clueless with instant baby names.

It's winter, there's always gong to be something happening, about to happen, or potentially could happen to 75-90% of the population at any given time.

...but, but...bullshit. It's as bad as tv stations providing a weather impact scale a la the terror threat level. My '1' level impact may be your '10'; quit wasting all of our time.

People complaining about the use of the term 'winter storm' (as in advisory or warning) for snow/sleet in "fall" (they also seem to forget that most of December is in fall, too).
It's the best description for the type of weather, not the season, dumbasses. 

Please be advised that use of smileys/emoji in my posts denotes sarcasm or a lack of serious content.

Also, we can argue about "fall weather", but let's face it: most places get two weeks of genuine fall weather interspersed with an Indian summer and Jack Frost's visits.

[DaBigE]

Naming winter storms

Agree 100 percent.

The practice began with The Weather Channel, and has now made its way into public discourse. Susan Buchanan, spokesperson for the NWS, states "The National Weather Service does not name winter storms because a winter storm's impact can vary from one location to another, and storms can weaken and redevelop, making it difficult to define where one ends and another begins."

AccuWeather president Joel Myers also stated, "The Weather Channel has confused media spin with science and public safety."

Source article: https://www.chicagotribune.com/weather/ct-wea-asktom-0304-20180302-column.html

If the NWS is calling your practice bullshit, you should probably stop.

...but, but...building awareness!    It makes memes with incredibly-short shelf lives, and provides the clueless with instant baby names.

It's winter, there's always gong to be something happening, about to happen, or potentially could happen to 75-90% of the population at any given time.

...but, but...bullshit. It's as bad as tv stations providing a weather impact scale a la the terror threat level. My '1' level impact may be your '10'; quit wasting all of our time.

People complaining about the use of the term 'winter storm' (as in advisory or warning) for snow/sleet in "fall" (they also seem to forget that most of December is in fall, too).
It's the best description for the type of weather, not the season, dumbasses. 

Please be advised that use of smileys/emoji in my posts denotes sarcasm or a lack of serious content.

Also, we can argue about "fall weather", but let's face it: most places get two weeks of genuine fall weather interspersed with an Indian summer and Jack Frost's visits.

My response was targeted at the notion of the statement, and not at your stance on the matter. I picked up on the sarcasm.

[DaBigE]

Naming winter storms

Agree 100 percent.

The practice began with The Weather Channel, and has now made its way into public discourse. Susan Buchanan, spokesperson for the NWS, states "The National Weather Service does not name winter storms because a winter storm's impact can vary from one location to another, and storms can weaken and redevelop, making it difficult to define where one ends and another begins."

AccuWeather president Joel Myers also stated, "The Weather Channel has confused media spin with science and public safety."

Source article: https://www.chicagotribune.com/weather/ct-wea-asktom-0304-20180302-column.html

If the NWS is calling your practice bullshit, you should probably stop.

...but, but...building awareness!    It makes memes with incredibly-short shelf lives, and provides the clueless with instant baby names.

It's winter, there's always gong to be something happening, about to happen, or potentially could happen to 75-90% of the population at any given time.

...but, but...bullshit. It's as bad as tv stations providing a weather impact scale a la the terror threat level. My '1' level impact may be your '10'; quit wasting all of our time.

People complaining about the use of the term 'winter storm' (as in advisory or warning) for snow/sleet in "fall" (they also seem to forget that most of December is in fall, too).
It's the best description for the type of weather, not the season, dumbasses. 

December Solstice is not the first day of winter (same is true for the other sun crossing points).  The fact that people pin a schedule on seasons which can vary by year makes me sick.

Take it up with the calendar makers. (But for the record, I agree.)

[TravelingBethelite]

Naming winter storms

AccuWeather president Joel Myers also stated, "The Weather Channel has confused media spin with science and public safety."

That said, AccuWeather has no room to call others' practices bullshit...I consider them low down and no good.

[Verlanka]

As it stands right now, *nothing* created before 1924 is under any form of USA copyright protection.

Actually, this statement is not correct. Nothing published before 1924 is under copyright protection in the US, and anything published in 1923 fell into the public domain at the first of this year. Barring a change in the law, on New Year's Day every year, another year's worth of published materials will fall into the public domain. Copyrights on newer published works may have expired for other reasons already, or never applied in the first place.

So basically, if I'm reading this correctly, works published this year will be copyrighted until 2115, then fall under the public domain.

[mgk920]

As it stands right now, *nothing* created before 1924 is under any form of USA copyright protection.

Actually, this statement is not correct. Nothing published before 1924 is under copyright protection in the US, and anything published in 1923 fell into the public domain at the first of this year. Barring a change in the law, on New Year's Day every year, another year's worth of published materials will fall into the public domain. Copyrights on newer published works may have expired for other reasons already, or never applied in the first place.

So basically, if I'm reading this correctly, works published this year will be copyrighted until 2115, then fall under the public domain.

Which, IMHO, is absurdly too long.   If there is nobody alive who remembers a work in its 'first release', there is no reason whatsoever why it should not be in the public domain.

I would also include a 'use it or lose it' provision to declare works to be PD after a certain fairly short amount of time of being out-of-print, sort of like with the 'abandonware' thing WRT computer software.

Mike

[formulanone]

As it stands right now, *nothing* created before 1924 is under any form of USA copyright protection.

Actually, this statement is not correct. Nothing published before 1924 is under copyright protection in the US, and anything published in 1923 fell into the public domain at the first of this year. Barring a change in the law, on New Year's Day every year, another year's worth of published materials will fall into the public domain. Copyrights on newer published works may have expired for other reasons already, or never applied in the first place.

So basically, if I'm reading this correctly, works published this year will be copyrighted until 2115, then fall under the public domain.

Which, IMHO, is absurdly too long.   If there is nobody alive who remembers a work in its 'first release', there is no reason whatsoever why it should not be in the public domain.

I would also include a 'use it or lose it' provision to declare works to be PD after a certain fairly short amount of time of being out-of-print, sort of like with the 'abandonware' thing WRT computer software.

Mike

I've long thought that too...it's also odd that a patent is good for 17 years and a copyright is for 120+ years (depending on situation). Should be somewhere in the middle, though with the ability to copy a short-lived fad very quickly, the ability to sue copycats is really tricky, expensive, and time-consuming for anything other than really large corporations with deep pockets.

I think putting a 20-25 year copyright might be harmful in rare cases where there was a dispute over original authorship; for example, a prolonged legal dispute. And yet a parody can copy nearly anything without any barrier, so as long as it is unique in its own creation without disparaging the originating author.

Video games and software is another kettle of fish; I'd argue that if there's no way to purchase a new-and-operational emulator to use for the original code after a certain number of years, it should fall into the public domain.

[mgk920]

Video games and software is another kettle of fish; I'd argue that if there's no way to purchase a new-and-operational emulator to use for the original code after a certain number of years, it should fall into the public domain.

ISTR that several years ago, the (and I'm not sure what it is officially called) Copyright Tribunal at the Library of Congress did issue a ruling that essentially made 'abandonware' (software that is no longer being manufactured nor supported by its manufacturer, such as old versions of operating systems) public domain in that they OKed the use of third-party emulators, cracked keys and dongles, etc, whatever is needed in order to get them to run.

For several years during the late 1990s and into the 00s, my favorite computer shop would always update my Mac to the newest version of MacOS that was no longer being supported whenever I would bring it in for service.

Mike