Minor things that bother you

[wanderer2575]

An ad for an AI product that I see says to use it to find key points in contracts.
"Summarize real quick." Don't you think that software that purports to analyze contracts should use correct grammar? ("really quickly")

And make less errors! 

[Scott5114]

When people ask questions dependent on shipping costs without specifying the destination. "Can I get this for $X with shipping included?" I don't know, where do you live? The origin is downstate Illinois, so the answer is going to be: Chicago, sure; California, maybe; Slovakia, hell no.

[LilianaUwU]

AI in general is a major thing that bothers me. But that's for another iteration of that thread.

Why the fuck can't I, as the owner of a Discord server, time out my mods?

[D-Dey65]

Once again, My PC has been depriving me of the right to safely remove one of my external hard drives. I stayed up past 2 in the morning to try to do it last night, and then I just left it there and went to bed. It's still there as I'm writing this.

I tend to just unplug it anyway to show the computer which one of us is the boss.

No idea if this is how it works on Windows, because Windows likes to be as obtuse as possible in interactions with the user, but on Linux a "cannot disconnect drive" error only happens because some program has a file on that drive open. Usually it will even tell you which program it is. In the event that it can't, I tend to take that as a sign that a program is erroneously reporting it has a file open (probably because it didn't close properly) and just go ahead and yank the drive.

Windows is really bad about handling open files.  If one program has a file open, another can't.  If the program forgets to release the file, too bad.  Outlook is particularly horrible at this - if I need to download an attachment to a USB drive (or attach something that's on a USB drive) in Windows, that drive can't be safely ejected until Outlook is closed.

The thing is, none of the files from the external hard drive were open. And if there were, I had nothing to indicate which ones were supposed to be open.

[freebrickproductions]

Once again, My PC has been depriving me of the right to safely remove one of my external hard drives. I stayed up past 2 in the morning to try to do it last night, and then I just left it there and went to bed. It's still there as I'm writing this.

I tend to just unplug it anyway to show the computer which one of us is the boss.

No idea if this is how it works on Windows, because Windows likes to be as obtuse as possible in interactions with the user, but on Linux a "cannot disconnect drive" error only happens because some program has a file on that drive open. Usually it will even tell you which program it is. In the event that it can't, I tend to take that as a sign that a program is erroneously reporting it has a file open (probably because it didn't close properly) and just go ahead and yank the drive.

Windows is really bad about handling open files.  If one program has a file open, another can't.  If the program forgets to release the file, too bad.  Outlook is particularly horrible at this - if I need to download an attachment to a USB drive (or attach something that's on a USB drive) in Windows, that drive can't be safely ejected until Outlook is closed.

The thing is, none of the files from the external hard drive were open. And if there were, I had nothing to indicate which ones were supposed to be open.

Is it a true hard drive or is it a solid state drive? If the former, I've noticed Windows doesn't like to allow you to "safely remove" them, regardless of if anything is open on them or not. I suspect it might just simply be the nature of the hardware.

[vdeane]

Doesn't Windows like to use flash storage as additional RAM or something?

[D-Dey65]

Is it a true hard drive or is it a solid state drive? If the former, I've noticed Windows doesn't like to allow you to "safely remove" them, regardless of if anything is open on them or not. I suspect it might just simply be the nature of the hardware.

Are we talking about the external hard drive? Because it's not the solid state drive. I haven't seen any solid state drives that are 4 terabytes or more. Besides most times it'll let me remove it, but sometimes the PC decides it doesn't want to let go no matter what's happening.

[kalvado]

Once again, My PC has been depriving me of the right to safely remove one of my external hard drives. I stayed up past 2 in the morning to try to do it last night, and then I just left it there and went to bed. It's still there as I'm writing this.

I tend to just unplug it anyway to show the computer which one of us is the boss.

No idea if this is how it works on Windows, because Windows likes to be as obtuse as possible in interactions with the user, but on Linux a "cannot disconnect drive" error only happens because some program has a file on that drive open. Usually it will even tell you which program it is. In the event that it can't, I tend to take that as a sign that a program is erroneously reporting it has a file open (probably because it didn't close properly) and just go ahead and yank the drive.

Windows is really bad about handling open files.  If one program has a file open, another can't.  If the program forgets to release the file, too bad.  Outlook is particularly horrible at this - if I need to download an attachment to a USB drive (or attach something that's on a USB drive) in Windows, that drive can't be safely ejected until Outlook is closed.

The thing is, none of the files from the external hard drive were open. And if there were, I had nothing to indicate which ones were supposed to be open.

Is it a true hard drive or is it a solid state drive? If the former, I've noticed Windows doesn't like to allow you to "safely remove" them, regardless of if anything is open on them or not. I suspect it might just simply be the nature of the hardware.

1. There is a concept of "current directory for the program. Windows may hold the disk if there is a program looking at that folder. In the Outlook case, saving something to the main disk would release the hold
2. There are 2 modes how drives are mounted in Windows. Optimized for removal, aka caches are flushed ASAP, and optimized for performance, write back cache can persist and prevent eject.

[Max Rockatansky]

Recently I've dropped out of a couple local history oriented Facebook groups.  The reason I did this was due to several of them adopting rules about not sharing posts from external pages.  Given I don't have the time to keep track of what groups have this particular rule I usually clear them from my list when I catch wind of one adopting such a stance. 

None of the above bothers me, people can limit their groups however they like.  However, one of the local county history group admins hit me up today and asked why I left.  I explained that I just wasn't going to remember his group had adopted a no-page sharing rule. 

The dude wouldn't leave me alone about how I didn't have to share from my page.  While I "could" do that it seems to me like the effort I put into our page would go to benefit someone else.  I suppose the obliviousness about hitting me up and being persistent regarding a stance that just doesn't work for me gets on my nerves.

FWIW I'm not aware of any significant dedicated Facebook road groups that limit external post shares.   I really don't think a roadgeek oriented group could thrive without use of external links and sources.  A lot of the non-numbered road stuff we do blurs the line as being more history oriented rather than road fan/roadgeek.

[Rothman]

Recently I've dropped out of a couple local history oriented Facebook groups.  The reason I did this was due to several of them adopting rules about not sharing posts from external pages.  Given I don't have the time to keep track of what groups have this particular rule I usually clear them from my list when I catch wind of one adopting such a stance. 

None of the above bothers me, people can limit their groups however they like.  However, one of the local county history group admins hit me up today and asked why I left.  I explained that I just wasn't going to remember his group had adopted a no-page sharing rule. 

The dude wouldn't leave me alone about how I didn't have to share from my page.  While I "could" do that it seems to me like the effort I put into our page would go to benefit someone else.  I suppose the obliviousness about hitting me up and being persistent regarding a stance that just doesn't work me gets on my nerves.

His persistence is greater than a minor thing that would bother me.

[D-Dey65]

Tonight, I saw a commercial for an AI program, where the computer was trying to kill the user, and the narrator was saying that your PC wants that program.


Yeah, you had to be there.

Okay, something else that's bothering me. I missed the chance to watch a certain movie on DVD for Halloween.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426584/mediaviewer/rm186621184/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

[bugo]

FWIW I'm not aware of any significant dedicated Facebook road groups that limit external post shares.   I really don't think a roadgeek oriented group could thrive without use of external links and sources.  A lot of the non-numbered road stuff we do blurs the line as being more history oriented rather than road fan/roadgeek.

None of the groups I created have silly limits like this. There are only a few rules, and they are reasonable. No stupid bullshit like your example.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

FWIW I'm not aware of any significant dedicated Facebook road groups that limit external post shares.   I really don't think a roadgeek oriented group could thrive without use of external links and sources.  A lot of the non-numbered road stuff we do blurs the line as being more history oriented rather than road fan/roadgeek.

None of the groups I created have silly limits like this. There are only a few rules, and they are reasonable. No stupid bullshit like your example.

"Don't report old signs, and don't be like Dwayne Pounds."

[D-Dey65]

I was just checking out the Wikipedia article for Virginia State Route 207, and one thing I noticed about it was that the shield for the previous 1924 route number (Old VA 613) is in the Major intersections chapter, when it really should be in the History chapter. But no matter how many times or ways I try to edit the thing, I can't get it into the history chapter. I've been having the same problem with an image on the article on West Sayville, New York, but that's not a road-related article.

I also looked at the AARoads Wiki version to see if anybody fixed that problem there. They didn't.

[Scott5114]

I was just checking out the Wikipedia article for Virginia State Route 207, and one thing I noticed about it was that the shield for the previous 1924 route number (Old VA 613) is in the Major intersections chapter, when it really should be in the History chapter. But no matter how many times or ways I try to edit the thing, I can't get it into the history chapter. I've been having the same problem with an image on the article on West Sayville, New York, but that's not a road-related article.

I also looked at the AARoads Wiki version to see if anybody fixed that problem there. They didn't.

It's because it has too many images and not enough text, so the browser is flailing trying to find a place to put all of the images that satisfies the left and right float commands on each image and infobox. Notice how if you reduce the width of your browser window, everything eventually pops into place like it should be.

[D-Dey65]

I was just checking out the Wikipedia article for Virginia State Route 207, and one thing I noticed about it was that the shield for the previous 1924 route number (Old VA 613) is in the Major intersections chapter, when it really should be in the History chapter. But no matter how many times or ways I try to edit the thing, I can't get it into the history chapter. I've been having the same problem with an image on the article on West Sayville, New York, but that's not a road-related article.

I also looked at the AARoads Wiki version to see if anybody fixed that problem there. They didn't.

It's because it has too many images and not enough text, so the browser is flailing trying to find a place to put all of the images that satisfies the left and right float commands on each image and infobox. Notice how if you reduce the width of your browser window, everything eventually pops into place like it should be.

The browser didn't change anything. Moving one of the images did on the VA 207 article, and moving one of the boxes for the population did it on the West Sayville article.

[kkt]

Black plastic electric devices that have the switches labeled in the same black plastic in tiny letters so they are invisible without strong light and reading glasses.  Designers, please remember that the things you design are primarily supposed to be useful, not objects of art.

[Scott5114]

Black plastic electric devices that have the switches labeled in the same black plastic in tiny letters so they are invisible without strong light and reading glasses.  Designers, please remember that the things you design are primarily supposed to be useful, not objects of art.

The labor and materials cost of inking a label in a contrasting color costs a cent. Just injection molding it along with everything else is free. The people selling things don't care about you, just money.

[kkt]

Black plastic electric devices that have the switches labeled in the same black plastic in tiny letters so they are invisible without strong light and reading glasses.  Designers, please remember that the things you design are primarily supposed to be useful, not objects of art.

The labor and materials cost of inking a label in a contrasting color costs a cent. Just injection molding it along with everything else is free. The people selling things don't care about you, just money.

I know, I know.  It's a reminder to take a close look at the back of an item before buying.

[kphoger]

I know, I know.  It's a reminder to take a close look at the back of an item before buying.

But that doesn't help if I'm trying to figure out which port is which on the back of a television that's been in the same spot for four years.  Even if I had taken a close look at the back of the TV when I first got it, there's no way I'll have the ports memorized four years later.  So I squeeze back there to get an eyeball on it, with a flashlight, only to find that they're labeled in tiny black-on-black abbreviations.  Arghh!

[kkt]

I know, I know.  It's a reminder to take a close look at the back of an item before buying.

But that doesn't help if I'm trying to figure out which port is which on the back of a television that's been in the same spot for four years.  Even if I had taken a close look at the back of the TV when I first got it, there's no way I'll have the ports memorized four years later.  So I squeeze back there to get an eyeball on it, with a flashlight, only to find that they're labeled in tiny black-on-black abbreviations.  Arghh!

Before buying, take a close look at it and buy a different model if it isn't readable.

[kphoger]

But that doesn't help if I'm trying to figure out which port is which on the back of a television that's been in the same spot for four years.  Even if I had taken a close look at the back of the TV when I first got it, there's no way I'll have the ports memorized four years later.  So I squeeze back there to get an eyeball on it, with a flashlight, only to find that they're labeled in tiny black-on-black abbreviations.  Arghh!

Before buying, take a close look at it and buy a different model if it isn't readable.

Note that I didn't say I bought the television.  I'm not sure I've ever bought a TV.  I think every single set I've ever had was either a hand-me-down or a gift.  The one we use in the living room right now was a gift from my in-laws, who drove it to us from out of state;  I hope, in a similar situation, you wouldn't refuse the gift because the ports on the back are hard to distinguish.

[Scott5114]

If I had the foresight to think about it, I'd probably just use my label maker to make more readable labels before I set the thing up.

Problem is I never have that foresight.

[vdeane]

My apartment has been dealing with ongoing maintenance issues for months now.  Or rather, it's been dealing with the same issue over and over again.  There's a very intermittent water leak in the bathroom ceiling that keeps causing damage and which I've been trying to get them to fix; each time, they repair the ceiling, but do nothing about the leak.  After this happened twice, I resolved not to call again unless it was actually dripping; it did on Columbus Day, so I called (big mistake), but it took them hours to show up, and by that time, it was dry again.  They claimed they'd be back to fix the ceiling and I decided to hold off cleaning up the mess they made looking at it (along with the regular monthly cleaning of my shower floor that had become necessary) until after they did.  They never came back.  Now I've been calling and emailing them repeatedly, and if I can even get through at all, it's the same old empty promises that maintenance will come fix it and they never do.  It feels like I'm being punished for not leaving that 5 star review on Google Maps the intern asked for last year.  This was never a problem before my complex was bought out by a corporate landlord last year.  As for the landlord, they don't seem to care that people are moving out in droves.  I think they even welcome it.  The previous landlord targeting middle class/upper middle class people and went for quality over quantity.  The current landlord seems to prefer people with a lower standard of living (many of which are from downstate and moving up here because it's cheaper).

I'm thinking I need to move, but I'm not sure to where.  My required amenities are in-unit laundry (I don't think I can go back to the hassle of dragging myself to a laundry room), central heating and air (I've been in an apartment without such and could never keep it a comfortable temperature; it was sweltering in the summer and freezing in the winter, as the heat was inefficient and the AC only cooled the living room), and vinyl flooring (vacuuming at my old apartment was a PITA that took an hour or two; in contrast, I can run the Swiffer through my whole apartment in 15 minutes).  I also want to stay in a relatively central area with good access to the interstates, and keep my commute from getting longer (it's only 15 minutes normally, 20 if traffic is horrible; when I get pissed off about traffic, it's more due to my routine being disrupted and having to go a different way than getting home late).  The problem is, I don't know if I'll be able to find anything like that with good reviews.  I found a couple complexes I was interested in, but one never replied to my message at all, and the other ghosted me after I asked for clarification on what a "smart intercom" is (as I have security/privacy concerns related to all "smart" devices; I even ruled out a complex just one exit down because their units are filled with the things), but before they did, noted that they don't know their availability until 60 days in advance - the same time by which I'll need to either tell my landlord I'm moving out or have signed a new lease by.  As such, I have no hope for being able to leave my current situation, even though I despise my landlord and my apartment now causes 85% of the stress in my life because of them. 

More in the usual spirit of this thread, any move would have me giving up being able to grab DiBella's on the way home from every roadtrip, not having Stewart's on the way to/from everywhere (and thus, requiring that I make separate errands to get gas when I need to, and find other arrangements for grabbing a quick lunch when going to Rochester), and tend not to have the mail right at the entrance to the apartments like I have now (making getting it a hassle).  It's hard to find a new apartment when you're already set in your ways and used to living in a nice place.

[formulanone]

I know, I know.  It's a reminder to take a close look at the back of an item before buying.

But that doesn't help if I'm trying to figure out which port is which on the back of a television that's been in the same spot for four years.  Even if I had taken a close look at the back of the TV when I first got it, there's no way I'll have the ports memorized four years later.  So I squeeze back there to get an eyeball on it, with a flashlight, only to find that they're labeled in tiny black-on-black abbreviations.  Arghh!

There's not a good "work by Braille" method for our largest TV; it's against a wall and there's not a lot of space to move it and see what you're doing. As with devices I only play around with once or twice a year, it's not something I've committed to memory.

So I've resorted to the tried-and-true method our parents employed when they wanted the channel changed or the vertical hold resolved...have the skinny kid get up and look back there and get to play the hero.