Minor things that bother you

[kphoger]

Last night I was making this cod recipe* that calls for five minced cloves of garlic. It gets mixed in with lemon juice, olive oil, and melted butter and then poured over the fish, so I didn't see any reason to spend the time mincing the cloves when I could just use the press and get smaller pieces of garlic in a lot less time.

Five cloves of garlic?  That's just a normal recipe for me.  Almost nothing I make gets less than three.  I'm no superstar with a knife, but I don't find cutting garlic to take very long to begin with.  ymmv

[J N Winkler]

I slivered five cloves of garlic (Goodfellas-style) yesterday for bean soup.  I can see that taking a bit longer than using a press, but the knife was dead easy to clean--I just rubbed the blade once on each side under running water.

[kphoger]

I slivered five cloves of garlic (Goodfellas-style) yesterday for bean soup.  I can see that taking a bit longer than using a press, but the knife was dead easy to clean--I just rubbed the blade once on each side under running water.

That's the thing.  Any time I gain over chopping is more than made up for in time spent cleaning the press.

[JayhawkCO]

I slivered five cloves of garlic (Goodfellas-style) yesterday for bean soup.  I can see that taking a bit longer than using a press, but the knife was dead easy to clean--I just rubbed the blade once on each side under running water.

That's the thing.  Any time I gain over chopping is more than made up for in time spent cleaning the press.

The press takes me about 15 seconds to clean or so. Maybe you guys just have crappy garlic presses.

[D-Dey65]

Once again, my PC is hindering my ability to scan, cut, copy, and paste.

It may be time for a new mouse.

[kkt]

Mouses are pretty cheap.

[ZLoth]

From RogerEbert.com:

Streaming Ads Are So Much Worse Than Traditional Ad Breaks

I have Spectrum Wi-Fi and cable service at home, and it offers "free" on-demand movies, so I called one of them up recently: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't seen this 15-year-old film: Towards the end, the beloved wizard Dumbledore is killed by his colleague Severus Snape while the hero looks on in horror. There's more to that bit of story than initially meets the eye, but what's important to know here is that it's one of the all-time mass culture downers, up there with the deaths of Bambi's mother, Simba's dad, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and half the population of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I was looking forward to wallowing in the doom-and-gloominess of Dumbledore tumbling into the abyss.

But it wasn't possible because as soon as he started falling, the movie cut to an ad for PetSmart.

I've seen this happen with increasing regularity while watching films and TV shows on streaming platforms, whether it's cable TV or Amazon's FreeVee (formerly IMDb TV). I first noticed how bad it had gotten while watching "Columbo" reruns on the latter service during the pandemic semi-lockdown of 2020. Ads would just appear, seemingly at random, often cutting off Columbo or his quarry in the middle of a monologue. Then I noticed it happening during on-demand content across platforms, including YouTube, and not just with visual content: Sometimes you'll be listening to a full album and ads will appear in the middle of songs. It even happens on the official YouTube channels of record labels.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

And often, it's the same ad... over.... and over....

[Scott5114]

Because, of course, having a human put an ad in a place where it wouldn't disrupt the flow of the story would cost, like, twenty bucks. Won't someone think of the poor, poor, defenseless, innocent dollars?!

[hotdogPi]

Because, of course, having a human put an ad in a place where it wouldn't disrupt the flow of the story would cost, like, twenty bucks. Won't someone think of the poor, poor, defenseless, innocent dollars?!

The uploader has the option to put ad breaks at specific points. For many videos, when listening to a classical piece with several movements, the ad breaks will be between movements. It's just that sometimes the uploader just doesn't care.

[Scott5114]

Because, of course, having a human put an ad in a place where it wouldn't disrupt the flow of the story would cost, like, twenty bucks. Won't someone think of the poor, poor, defenseless, innocent dollars?!

The uploader has the option to put ad breaks at specific points. For many videos, when listening to a classical piece with several movements, the ad breaks will be between movements. It's just that sometimes the uploader just doesn't care.

On YouTube, yeah. (One YouTuber I watch regularly does his viewers the kindness of manually placing his ad breaks at 0:00 and at the very end of the video, and I've noticed Road Guy Rob places his in sensible locations where they don't interrupt the flow of the video more than necessary.) But the article author was streaming full-length movies on an on-demand service operated by his cable provider. Presumably anyone uploading a film to such a service would be a paid employee of whichever company uploads it, and we should expect better out of them than someone uploading free to watch Let's Plays to YouTube.

[wanderer2575]

From RogerEbert.com:

Streaming Ads Are So Much Worse Than Traditional Ad Breaks

I have Spectrum Wi-Fi and cable service at home, and it offers "free" on-demand movies, so I called one of them up recently: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't seen this 15-year-old film: Towards the end, the beloved wizard Dumbledore is killed by his colleague Severus Snape while the hero looks on in horror. There's more to that bit of story than initially meets the eye, but what's important to know here is that it's one of the all-time mass culture downers, up there with the deaths of Bambi's mother, Simba's dad, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and half the population of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I was looking forward to wallowing in the doom-and-gloominess of Dumbledore tumbling into the abyss.

But it wasn't possible because as soon as he started falling, the movie cut to an ad for PetSmart.

I've seen this happen with increasing regularity while watching films and TV shows on streaming platforms, whether it's cable TV or Amazon's FreeVee (formerly IMDb TV). I first noticed how bad it had gotten while watching "Columbo" reruns on the latter service during the pandemic semi-lockdown of 2020. Ads would just appear, seemingly at random, often cutting off Columbo or his quarry in the middle of a monologue. Then I noticed it happening during on-demand content across platforms, including YouTube, and not just with visual content: Sometimes you'll be listening to a full album and ads will appear in the middle of songs. It even happens on the official YouTube channels of record labels.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

It's not only streaming services (into which I have not yet taken the plunge).  H&I cable notoriously shoves in an additional commercial break near the end of the last act of a show, often ruining any viewer reaction to a climactic event.  They do it with every Star Trek episode they air (that's all I watch on H&I; I can only assume they do the same with other shows).  Even MeTV, generally the least offensive with regard to chopping up older TV shows to add more commercial time, adds additional breaks in the middle of acts.

The uploader has the option to put ad breaks at specific points. For many videos, when listening to a classical piece with several movements, the ad breaks will be between movements. It's just that sometimes the uploader just doesn't care.

Or:  They know the middle of a climactic moment is when the viewer is most likely to stay glued to the screen and not leave to go pee or rummage through the refrigerator during the break.  I wouldn't be surprised if cable and streaming charge a premium for those ad slots.

[ZLoth]

Because, of course, having a human put an ad in a place where it wouldn't disrupt the flow of the story would cost, like, twenty bucks. Won't someone think of the poor, poor, defenseless, innocent dollars?!

I am reminded of the fact that if you aren't paying for a service, then you are the product for advertisers. Given the human mentality for wanting "somethin' for nothin'..."

It's not only streaming services (into which I have not yet taken the plunge).  H&I cable notoriously shoves in an additional commercial break near the end of the last act of a show, often ruining any viewer reaction to a climactic event.  They do it with every Star Trek episode they air (that's all I watch on H&I; I can only assume they do the same with other shows).  Even MeTV, generally the least offensive with regard to chopping up older TV shows to add more commercial time, adds additional breaks in the middle of acts.

Once again, a case for owning the physical media rather than relying on streaming services or syndication. Especially syndication where they remove content from shows and movies in favor of more commercials.

[Scott5114]

Because, of course, having a human put an ad in a place where it wouldn't disrupt the flow of the story would cost, like, twenty bucks. Won't someone think of the poor, poor, defenseless, innocent dollars?!

I am reminded of the fact that if you aren't paying for a service, then you are the product for advertisers. Given the human mentality for wanting "somethin' for nothin'..."

But the guy in the article is paying for the service. They're just double dipping on him with ads on top of that.

[kphoger]

But the guy in the article is paying for the service. They're just double dipping on him with ads on top of that.

Sounds like what cable TV has been like my entire life.  You pay for the service, and you also get ads.

[Scott5114]

But the guy in the article is paying for the service. They're just double dipping on him with ads on top of that.

Sounds like what cable TV has been like my entire life.  You pay for the service, and you also get ads.

Which is part of the reason why cable TV has never been appealing to me.

[JayhawkCO]

But the guy in the article is paying for the service. They're just double dipping on him with ads on top of that.

Sounds like what cable TV has been like my entire life.  You pay for the service, and you also get ads.

Early, early on, cable was billed as ad-free TV. By the time I remember watching it -- 1985-86, there were commercials for sure.

[elsmere241]

Early, early on, cable was billed as ad-free TV. By the time I remember watching it -- 1985-86, there were commercials for sure.

And my local cable company was not only inserting its own commercials, but occasionally muting commercials that came in.

[mgk920]

Mouses are pretty cheap.

A few years ago, I wasn't able to find any good usable hard-wired mice locally and had to special order one.

GRRrrr r r . . .

Mike

[wanderer2575]

It's not only streaming services (into which I have not yet taken the plunge).  H&I cable notoriously shoves in an additional commercial break near the end of the last act of a show, often ruining any viewer reaction to a climactic event.  They do it with every Star Trek episode they air (that's all I watch on H&I; I can only assume they do the same with other shows).  Even MeTV, generally the least offensive with regard to chopping up older TV shows to add more commercial time, adds additional breaks in the middle of acts.

Once again, a case for owning the physical media rather than relying on streaming services or syndication. Especially syndication where they remove content from shows and movies in favor of more commercials.

Ya know...  After I posted that, I was thinking I should post my own "minor thing that bothers me" and it's something I do to myself:  I own so many of these old shows and movies on DVD and yet I often watch them on TV with the cuts and the commercials.  It's just my own laziness that, if I'm flipping through the channels and see something I like, I can't be bothered to stand up and get the DVD and put it into the machine.  It's not so bad when I haven't seen the uncut original so I don't know what I'm missing.  But, for example, I know my Twilight Zones and I shout at the TV when stuff gets cut, and yet there I still sit.  (I do have my limits; I won't watch the New Year's marathons on SyFy because that's where they get butchered the most and I would pop a neck vein.)

[kkt]

Because, of course, having a human put an ad in a place where it wouldn't disrupt the flow of the story would cost, like, twenty bucks. Won't someone think of the poor, poor, defenseless, innocent dollars?!

I am reminded of the fact that if you aren't paying for a service, then you are the product for advertisers. Given the human mentality for wanting "somethin' for nothin'..."

It's not only streaming services (into which I have not yet taken the plunge).  H&I cable notoriously shoves in an additional commercial break near the end of the last act of a show, often ruining any viewer reaction to a climactic event.  They do it with every Star Trek episode they air (that's all I watch on H&I; I can only assume they do the same with other shows).  Even MeTV, generally the least offensive with regard to chopping up older TV shows to add more commercial time, adds additional breaks in the middle of acts.

Once again, a case for owning the physical media rather than relying on streaming services or syndication. Especially syndication where they remove content from shows and movies in favor of more commercials.

Most of the disc producers are still putting their ads at the very beginning and not preventing fast forwarding them.  So far, fingers crossed.

[ZLoth]

Once again, a case for owning the physical media rather than relying on streaming services or syndication. Especially syndication where they remove content from shows and movies in favor of more commercials.

Ya know...  After I posted that, I was thinking I should post my own "minor thing that bothers me" and it's something I do to myself:  I own so many of these old shows and movies on DVD and yet I often watch them on TV with the cuts and the commercials.

Which is why I ended up ripping my physical media collection and putting them on a media server... to make it easier to watch those shows and movies, albeit in a two-channel sound.

[CtrlAltDel]

Mouses

That doesn't sound right.

mice

That doesn't sound right, either.

[Scott5114]

Mouses

That doesn't sound right.

mice

That doesn't sound right, either.

meese

[Rothman]

Mouses

That doesn't sound right.

mice

That doesn't sound right, either.

meese

Vermin

[wanderer2575]

Mouses

That doesn't sound right.

mice

That doesn't sound right, either.

meese

Vermin

Mousi