Minor things that bother you

[ZLoth]

Right now, the most irritating thing is the Air Quality alerts... which, from my perspective, is the most useless alerts. Yet, I cannot disable those Alexa notifications.

[SSOWorld]

Right now, the most irritating thing is the Air Quality alerts... which, from my perspective, is the most useless alerts. Yet, I cannot disable those Alexa notifications.

I did - by banning Alexa from my house

[wxfree]

Computer progress monitors

When a computer is installing or updating something, it's a rarity for the progress monitor to be anywhere near accurate.  For the most part, there are two kinds of progress monitors:

1: One kind goes 1% 2% 3% 100% and is done.
2: One kind goes 25% 80% 100% and then spends 30 minutes to 2 hours at 100% but still working.

I don't know much about computers, but I understand that maybe it's difficult to make these monitors accurate, but there's a huge range between perfection and the observed absurdity.  It's got to be possible to make them a little bit accurate, or representative of accuracy, or at least suggestive of a representation of accuracy.

[kkt]

I suppose they could make the install program spend 20 minutes measuring the transfer speed of your computer, web to disc, disc to memory, your CPU processing, and get significantly more accurate progress estimates.  What would you do with that 20 minutes?

[vdeane]

^ I think this is why many programs (like Chrome) have replaced the progress bar with the spinning circle.

[Scott5114]

It's got to be possible to make them a little bit accurate, or representative of accuracy, or at least suggestive of a representation of accuracy.

It isn't.

https://prog21.dadgum.com/227.html
https://askleo.com/why_are_progress_bars_so_awful/

There's more out there along those lines if you care to go looking.

[formulanone]

It's got to be possible to make them a little bit accurate, or representative of accuracy, or at least suggestive of a representation of accuracy.

It isn't.

https://prog21.dadgum.com/227.html
https://askleo.com/why_are_progress_bars_so_awful/

There's more out there along those lines if you care to go looking.

I think the alternative is keep it at 90% until it's absolutely ready so it's somewhere in the overlaps of "exciting cliffhanger" and "what the hell is wrong with my OS" and "software vendor is trying my patience".

[ZLoth]

Right now, the most irritating thing is the Air Quality alerts... which, from my perspective, is the most useless alerts. Yet, I cannot disable those Alexa notifications.

I did - by banning Alexa from my house

First off, I want to acknowledge that you have some well-founded security and/or privacy concerns in regards to utilizing Alexa. I use Alexa primarily for the following:

• Alarm clock - My routine is set up so that it turns on the lights in my bedroom when the alarm goes off.
• Amazon shipment notification
• House intercom
• Weather notifications
• Being able to control the lights remotely

I'm sure that Amazon would love for me to pay for some games that are useless to me.

[SSOWorld]

Windows Update:

Select "Update and Shut down"
- Restarting
- Updates to 30%
- restarts
- Updates to 100%
- Login Screen.

[Scott5114]

There are a few public art installations in the medians and such here in Las Vegas. I like most of them, but a few of them have sculptures of a saguaro cactus in them. Saguaro cactus grows in the Sonoran Desert, not the Mojave Desert. We have Joshua trees instead. (There are a few of these installations that contain Joshua tree sculptures, so I'm not sure why they didn't just make more of those instead of trying to steal Arizona's cactus.)

[snowc]

Right now, the most irritating thing is the Air Quality alerts... which, from my perspective, is the most useless alerts. Yet, I cannot disable those Alexa notifications.

I did - by banning Alexa from my house

Sorry! Something went wrong.
-Alexa from my tablet every time I disable it from a hotel wi-fi.

[snowc]

Windows Update:

Select "Update and Shut down"
- Restarting
- Updates to 30%
- restarts
- Updates to 100%
- Login Screen.

+1
Agreed, with especially those dreaded Patch Tuesday updates. Every other Tuesday. Why, Microsoft? Why?!

[J N Winkler]

I use the option of disabling updates for 35 days and apply them only at the end of the month, well after Patch Tuesday.  I prefer to leave the debugging to users who are far more tolerant of Microsoft-caused chaos than I am.

[snowc]

I use the option of disabling updates for 35 days and apply them only at the end of the month, well after Patch Tuesday.  I prefer to leave the debugging to users who are far more tolerant of Microsoft-caused chaos than I am.

Or you can permanently disable them for 365 days.

[Scott5114]

I use the option of disabling updates for 35 days and apply them only at the end of the month, well after Patch Tuesday.  I prefer to leave the debugging to users who are far more tolerant of Microsoft-caused chaos than I am.

Or you can permanently disable them for 365 days.

permanent (comparative more permanent, superlative most permanent)
1. Without end, eternal.
2. Lasting for an indefinitely long time. The countries are now locked in a permanent state of conflict.

indefinitely (not comparable)
1. In a manner that is not definite.
2. For a long time, with no defined end.
3. Forever.

[elsmere241]

When the soda price in the machines at work (or anywhere else) is two dollars or more and the machine doesn't take fives.  (I wound up asking the receptionist/customer service rep for change.  I wouldn't feel so bad about it if it hadn't come out of her purse.)

It's not like I haven't seen machines that do take fives.

[ZLoth]

When the soda price in the machines at work (or anywhere else) is two dollars or more and the machine doesn't take fives. (I wound up asking the receptionist/customer service rep for change. I wouldn't feel so bad about it if it hadn't come out of her purse.)

The machines that are at my workplace have readers which can read NFC credit cards as well as Android/Apple Pay. There was a ten cent surcharge though. I really wish there was wider adoption of the dollar coin as well as the elimination of the dollar bill. Instead, I carry a roll of quarters in my work backpack, along with a water bottle for water. I know, I know, and I'm work from home... go figure.

[mgk920]

When the soda price in the machines at work (or anywhere else) is two dollars or more and the machine doesn't take fives. (I wound up asking the receptionist/customer service rep for change. I wouldn't feel so bad about it if it hadn't come out of her purse.)

The machines that are at my workplace have readers which can read NFC credit cards as well as Android/Apple Pay. There was a ten cent surcharge though. I really wish there was wider adoption of the dollar coin as well as the elimination of the dollar bill. Instead, I carry a roll of quarters in my work backpack, along with a water bottle for water. I know, I know, and I'm work from home... go figure.

IMHO, and I have said this before, the USA needs to 1) get the current inflation under control, and 2) replace the $1, $2 and $5 banknotes with coins and withdraw 1¢, 5¢ and 10¢ coins from circulation.

Mike

[jeffandnicole]

When the soda price in the machines at work (or anywhere else) is two dollars or more and the machine doesn't take fives. (I wound up asking the receptionist/customer service rep for change. I wouldn't feel so bad about it if it hadn't come out of her purse.)

The machines that are at my workplace have readers which can read NFC credit cards as well as Android/Apple Pay. There was a ten cent surcharge though. I really wish there was wider adoption of the dollar coin as well as the elimination of the dollar bill. Instead, I carry a roll of quarters in my work backpack, along with a water bottle for water. I know, I know, and I'm work from home... go figure.

IMHO, and I have said this before, the USA needs to 1) get the current inflation under control, and 2) replace the $1, $2 and $5 banknotes with coins and withdraw 1¢, 5¢ and 10¢ coins from circulation.

Mike

In an era where people are complaining there's too many stores wanting to go credit card only, eliminating small demonoation paper money isn't going to help their cause.

And people may be willing to forgot a few pennies, but they're not going to forgo 12 cents change

[Max Rockatansky]

Just remember, inflation was predicted to be way worse by now back during the late 1980s:

[SSOWorld]

@Max Rockatansky but Americans only think 1 year in front of their faces - many times less.

[SEWIGuy]

By and large inflation is under control. Or at least getting under control. 3.27% isn't terrible by any means.

I think people are somehow expecting prices to drop to what they were. But that's not how inflation works.  And wages have by and large kept up, but I think people view inflation as something that happens *to* them, and wage increases are something they *deserve.* They don't realize they're linked.

[ZLoth]

In an era where people are complaining there's too many stores wanting to go credit card only, eliminating small demonoation paper money isn't going to help their cause.

Going "cashless", yes. Going "credit card only"... I don't think so. While I place everything but my mortgage payment on my credit card and pay it off every month to earn cash back, I also believe that people should be able to pay with a debit card as well. Going "cashless" also reduces theft risk.

Of course, I'm the one who also believes that payment processing machines should be brought to the table instead of my card leaving my hand. Scanning a QR code on a receipt to process payment is a good substitute.

[Max Rockatansky]

The theory with going cashless isn't so much theft based but payroll.  If you don't accept cash, then you don't have to pay someone to reconcile it. For some businesses that probably offsets the cost of merchant credit use fees.

[SEWIGuy]

The theory with going cashless isn't so much theft based but payroll.  If you don't accept cash, then you don't have to pay someone to reconcile it. For some businesses that probably offsets the cost of merchant credit use fees.

You also don't have to transport anything to the bank.