Minor things that bother you

[kphoger]

I think one of the first things I do is make columns in round numbers. Like 10.00 or 25.00 and size all the heights up to something like 20.00 because it looks nicer.

Depending on the application, I do this as well.  I especially do it when copying and pasting a table into, say, an e-mail.  This is because, if I shrink the column widths to fit the data, then pasting into another application somehow results in columns that are too narrow and therefore wraps the data onto a second line.  So I round up a couple of whole numbers for each column width to account for the variation.

It's measured in pixels of eight, which means it was probably devised by some pirate.

Very clever.

[vdeane]

The fact that Hulu can't be bothered to provide a uniform experience across devices.  Some use "My Stuff".  Others use "Watchlist".  It's not just a different term, they're two completely different lists that are mutually incompatible.  Apparently it doesn't store watch history in your account and sync across devices, either, at least from what I've read.  WTF?  I would have expected far better from one of the original streaming services.

Incidentally, it's only last week that I actually had a chance to try the Hulu app on my TV.  I ended up subscribing for The Orville and it's the first time I've watched it since they went pay-only.  The TV app only worked with Hulu Plus, so I was stuck with the computer for Hulu free, so I never noticed all this before.

[kphoger]

Microsoft Excel's default column width is the ridiculously not-round value of 8.43.  How has this been allowed to continue?

8.43 what?

LibreOffice defaults to 0.89" (with inches specified as the unit), which is similarly a not-round number. But it does at least correlate to 64 points, which is a power of two, so at least there's some squint-and-tilt-your-head logic to it.

Its width is apparently measured in "characters".  This is supposedly based on the "default font" used for "Normal" style, and I've further read that it represents how many 0s of that font will fit within the cell.  So I tried it:

With the default 8.43 column width and the default font of 11-point Calibri, I typed eight 0s, then double-clicked the left boundary of the column to autofit the column width.  And guess what?  It changed the width to 8.71 instead.  Well, I guess 8.43 is the wrong default width, then.

Oh, but OK, older versions of Excel used 10-point Arial for the default font.  So I tried that.  I formatted a cell to 10-point Arial and typed eight 0s, then double-clicked to autofit.  And that column also changed to 8.71 instead of 8.43.

So then I thought maybe it's an issue of padding (or whatever that's really called).  Maybe the 8.43 number doesn't account for any white space, even though autofit provides some white space padding.  Except... no.  When I changed the column width to exactly 8 and zoomed in to 400% resolution, both columns still had a tiny bit of white space padding.  Who knows, maybe it's a rounding error or something...

So now at least I know what the number is supposed to represent, but I'm not 100% convinced that it's what the number actually does represent.

In contrast row height appears to be fairly simple, at 1 = 1⅓ pixels.

For what it's worth, here are some sample units from Excel:

default column width = 8.43 (64 pixels)
  width 1 = 12 pixels
  width 10 = 75 pixels
  width 20 = 145 pixels
  width 100 = 705 pixels
  width 255 (max) = 1790 pixels

default column height = 15.00 (20 pixels)
  height 0.75 = 1 pixel
  height 1.50 = 2 pixels
  height 12.00 = 16 pixels
  height 24.00 = 32 pixels
  height 75.00 = 100 pixels

And, at this point, I guess I should probably state the obvious:  pixels are not actual (physical) pixels.  And, if someone could explain the relationship between resolution-independent pixels and twips, in language that a dummy like me can understand, then I'd appreciate it.

[Scott5114]

My guess is that Martholomew S. Excel programmed MS Excel 0.1 Beta to use some scale where each unit was "yay big" and doesn't have any actual intended correlation to any real-world unit. It's probably just convenient to calculate in whatever logical mess is going on under the hood there. And now they're afraid to change it to an actual useful unit because it will break compatibility with a church treasurer's spreadsheet that was created in 1987 and has been updated continuously ever since.

It's also entirely possible that the fake units were created by Lotus 1-2-3 of all things, and Excel merely emulates them as part of the all-too-successful attempt to usurp Lotus's position as the most popular spreadsheet program on the market. (It's weird thinking that that was the sort of thing companies did back in the days when people bought software.)

[kphoger]

My guess is that Martholomew S. Excel programmed MS Excel 0.1 Beta to use some scale where each unit was "yay big" and doesn't have any actual intended correlation to any real-world unit. It's probably just convenient to calculate in whatever logical mess is going on under the hood there. And now they're afraid to change it to an actual useful unit because it will break compatibility with a church treasurer's spreadsheet that was created in 1987 and has been updated continuously ever since.

It's also entirely possible that the fake units were created by Lotus 1-2-3 of all things, and Excel merely emulates them as part of the all-too-successful attempt to usurp Lotus's position as the most popular spreadsheet program on the market. (It's weird thinking that that was the sort of thing companies did back in the days when people bought software.)

I know that church treasurer.  She's actually using Lotus 1-2-3.

[Scott5114]

My guess is that Martholomew S. Excel programmed MS Excel 0.1 Beta to use some scale where each unit was "yay big" and doesn't have any actual intended correlation to any real-world unit. It's probably just convenient to calculate in whatever logical mess is going on under the hood there. And now they're afraid to change it to an actual useful unit because it will break compatibility with a church treasurer's spreadsheet that was created in 1987 and has been updated continuously ever since.

It's also entirely possible that the fake units were created by Lotus 1-2-3 of all things, and Excel merely emulates them as part of the all-too-successful attempt to usurp Lotus's position as the most popular spreadsheet program on the market. (It's weird thinking that that was the sort of thing companies did back in the days when people bought software.)

I know that church treasurer.  She's actually using Lotus 1-2-3.

She must be related to the 87-year-old computer teacher I had sophomore year of high school who still kept track of grades on an Apple II in 2007.

[vdeane]

People (usually boomers and older) who say "well, it must not have been important" whenever I mention having forgot something.  I forget important things all the time (especially lately, it seems like I've gotten a lot more forgetful in the last few months).

People who compare the price of gas to what it was in the middle of 2020 to complain about how high it is now.  Yes, it's high, but comparing to that epic low is being VERY disingenuous.  Mid-2020 was the middle of COVID and people were not traveling, so of course the price of gas was low.  In fact, oil prices even went negative for a brief time, that's how little demand there was!  That actually feeds into the current high prices, since extraction and refining capacity was lowered a lot to bring the price back up, and now that people are traveling again (and with an attitude unusually resistant to price increases, with an attitude of "I wasn't traveling for the past two years, I'm not missing out this year even if I go broke") it's gone way up (the Russia/Ukraine situation on top of this does not help at all).  In short, it's a whole different ballgame now.

[formulanone]

People who compare the price of gas to what it was in the middle of 2020 to complain about how high it is now.  Yes, it's high, but comparing to that epic low is being VERY disingenuous.  Mid-2020 was the middle of COVID and people were not traveling, so of course the price of gas was low.

Just for fun, I'm going to look at my old expense reports...I can go back to mid-2014. Unfortunately, my prices are literally all over the map:

12/2019 - 2.45 (Austin, TX)
12/2019 - 2.45 (Buda, TX)
12/2019 - 2.60 (San Angelo, TX)
1/2020 - 2.66 (Medina, OH)
1/2020 - 2.40 (Hot Springs, SD)
1/2020 - 2.29 (Rapid City, SD)
2/2020 - 2.74 (Clinton, PA...right by the Pittsburgh airport)
2/2020 - 2.30 (Appleton, WI)
2/2020 - 2.50 (Rochester, NY)
2/2020 - 2.68 (Fairport, NY)

3/2020 - 2.15 (Scott City, MO)
3/2020 - 1.90 (St. Joseph, MO)
3/2020 - 1.99 (Decatur, AL)
5/2020 - 1.60 (Wycliffe, KY)
5/2020 - 1.60 (Ardmore, TN)
10/2020 - 2.20 (Odessa, TX)
10/2020 - 1.98 (Kansas City, MO)
10/2020 - 2.20 (Romulus, MI)
10/2020 - 2.04 (Angola, IN)
10/2020 - 2.00 (Glendale, WI)

Looking way back...

10/2014 - 3.20 (Kalamazoo, MI)
10/2014 - 3.20 (Grand Rapids, MI)
11/2014 - 2.41 (Prarieville, LA)
12/2014 - 2.67 (Denver, CO - right by airport)
1/2015 - 1.74 (Joliet, IL)
3/2015 - 2.47 (Euless, TX)
3/2015 - 2.14 (Houston, TX)

[1995hoo]

The lowest price I ever remember paying for gas was 73¢ a gallon for 87 octane in Roanoke in July 1998 the day after the bar exam. When I first got my driver's license in 1989 gas was generally around a dollar a gallon.

Highest I've paid in the USA so far was $5.19 for 93 octane the weekend before last (that is, Memorial Day Weekend).

I suppose this issue could be a thread unto itself.

[stlukeyo7]

Certain American customs that bother me are too major for this thread.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, huh?

went to a crab shack yesterday with a bunch of kids and they had ran out of pbj. was funny but also kind of bothersome.

[kphoger]

Certain American customs that bother me are too major for this thread.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, huh?

went to a crab shack yesterday with a bunch of kids and they had ran out of pbj. was funny but also kind of bothersome.

In March 2010, I stopped at a Subway south of Nuevo Laredo with a group of like twelve people or so.  And they were out of BREAD.  At SUBWAY.  Before NOON.

[kkt]

The lowest price I ever remember paying for gas was 73¢ a gallon for 87 octane in Roanoke in July 1998 the day after the bar exam. When I first got my driver's license in 1989 gas was generally around a dollar a gallon.

Highest I've paid in the USA so far was $5.19 for 93 octane the weekend before last (that is, Memorial Day Weekend).

I suppose this issue could be a thread unto itself.

I was a small child in the mid 1960s in the back seat when my parents were paying 25 cents a gallon during a price war.  That was 1/4 of an hour's pay at minimum wage.

[hotdogPi]

I was a small child in the mid 1960s in the back seat when my parents were paying 25 cents a gallon during a price war.  That was 1/4 of an hour's pay at minimum wage.

In Massachusetts, 1/4 of an hour's pay at minimum wage could buy a gallon of gas as recently as earlier this year, immediately before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Massachusetts has a high minimum wage compared to other states, though.

[abefroman329]

I was a small child in the mid 1960s in the back seat when my parents were paying 25 cents a gallon during a price war.  That was 1/4 of an hour's pay at minimum wage.

In Massachusetts, 1/4 of an hour's pay at minimum wage could buy a gallon of gas as recently as earlier this year, immediately before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Massachusetts has a high minimum wage compared to other states, though.

Same in Illinois, where the minimum wage is $15 an hour.

[jeffandnicole]

The lowest price I ever remember paying for gas was 73¢ a gallon for 87 octane in Roanoke in July 1998 the day after the bar exam. When I first got my driver's license in 1989 gas was generally around a dollar a gallon.

Highest I've paid in the USA so far was $5.19 for 93 octane the weekend before last (that is, Memorial Day Weekend).

I suppose this issue could be a thread unto itself.

I was a small child in the mid 1960s in the back seat when my parents were paying 25 cents a gallon during a price war.  That was 1/4 of an hour's pay at minimum wage.

69 cents/gallon after the Wawa opened off Exit 16 of NJ's I-195 near Great Adventure, most likely in 1999 or 2000.

I joined a carpool when prices shot up to an expensive $1.35 in 2001.

[webny99]

I suppose this issue could be a thread unto itself.

I'd say it already is.

[kphoger]

NEW minor thing that bothers me:  Apparently, the VPN that I use to access Charter Communication's database blocks Flickr.  It means I can't see Flickr images posted on this forum, nor can I upload my own photo to the site.  I don't think it used to be a problem, so maybe it was recently added to their list.

Related...  Also when I'm on Charter's VPN, my computer cannot connect to the network printer, which I can literally see from my desk.  Grr..

[1995hoo]

NEW minor thing that bothers me:  Apparently, the VPN that I use to access Charter Communication's database blocks Flickr.  It means I can't see Flickr images posted on this forum, nor can I upload my own photo to the site.  I don't think it used to be a problem, so maybe it was recently added to their list.

Related...  Also when I'm on Charter's VPN, my computer cannot connect to the network printer, which I can literally see from my desk.  Grr..

That happens to me at home when I use my employer's VPN. The solution is to run a printer cable from the printer to the PC (in my case, a USB cable).

[kphoger]

That happens to me at home when I use my employer's VPN. The solution is to run a printer cable from the printer to the PC (in my case, a USB cable).

Yeah, that's... not an option.

[GaryV]

That happens to me at home when I use my employer's VPN. The solution is to run a printer cable from the printer to the PC (in my case, a USB cable).

I recently retired, but while I was working from home, we were not allowed to print from our work computer on our home network, for "security". The solution was to email the doc to your personal email and print it from your home computer.

[J N Winkler]

I don't think, as a general rule, that it is possible to access a LAN printer while a VPN is active, because the VPN "tunnel" passes through the LAN directly to the client running VPN--indeed, I suspect any solution that allowed the client to escape the tunnel to access a LAN resource (such as a printer) would be considered a security flaw in the VPN.



My latest tech annoyance surfaced yesterday as I was testing a new downloader for ConnDOT plans and proposals.  (I had lost access when the State of Connecticut retired its old Biznet system in favor of WebProcure, a contracting platform solution from Perfect, itself a subsidiary of Proactis, which runs several tendering platforms in Europe.)  I wrote the downloader with the ability to pull project numbers and filenames for the documents attached to each project.  Naively, I had wget save each file locally as "ck," at which point "ck" would be changed to the actual name and it would be moved to a folder with the project number as its name.

It turns out that occasionally uploads are fumbled, so the same project has multiple project numbers differentiated only by punctuation--e.g., "0015-0382" and "0015-0382." (note trailing period).  If you instruct Windows to move a file to folder "X.", it will move it to folder "X".  If the target folder's name ends in a space followed by a period--e.g., "0015-0382 ."--then the move operation will fail and the next wget download will overwrite ck.

I discovered this last quirk when I was trying to figure out why the download log showed 1702 files while the download tarball had only 1677 files.  Just one project--"0015-0382 ."--accounted for the entirety of the 25-file difference.

The WebProcure server also stores project-related dates and times as Unix epochs rather than ISO 8601 date/time expressions.  So when I was looking to populate a blockout list to prevent projects being pulled a second time after their closing dates, I converted current date/time to Unix epoch and did date comparisons thusly:

Code Select Expand

IF 1646010800000 LSS 1656010800000 echo Yes

This resulted in nothing.

However:

Code Select Expand

IF "1646010800000" LSS "1656010800000" echo Yes

output

Code Select Expand

Yes

Knowing that batch has limitations in how it handles large numbers, I was sort of prepared to make this change.

[Scott5114]

Is there any reason you use DOS batch for your scripts other than familiarity? I would think you would be well-served by a general-purpose scripting language like Perl or Python, which could probably do the sorts of things you're doing more cleanly and with standard functions, and thus would be less troublesome.

Even with the comparatively more powerful bash shell at my disposal, I find that there's a fairly low bar of complexity that, when met, makes it far easier to shift all of the logic code to Perl and just use system() calls whenever I actually need the shell to do something.

[J N Winkler]

Is there any reason you use DOS batch for your scripts other than familiarity? I would think you would be well-served by a general-purpose scripting language like Perl or Python, which could probably do the sorts of things you're doing more cleanly and with standard functions, and thus would be less troublesome.

Even with the comparatively more powerful bash shell at my disposal, I find that there's a fairly low bar of complexity that, when met, makes it far easier to shift all of the logic code to Perl and just use system() calls whenever I actually need the shell to do something.

To answer your question--not really.  I haven't taught myself Perl (or indeed any other programming language other than Pascal) and pick up Unix commands as I go along.  As I use GnuWin32 ports of common Unix commands like sed, tr, grep, and awk heavily, I might be writing shell scripts if I were starting completely from scratch.  Although few of my batch files are complicated, there are many of them and thus a fair amount of legacy code to port over.

[DenverBrian]

People who call me and don't leave a voicemail.  If I have a missed call from you, and I don't know who you are, then I'm not calling you back.

99.9% of people who call you and don't leave a voicemail are people you don't want to talk to - e.g., scammers. Be grateful they don't clog up your voice mailbox.

[hbelkins]

Use of "smol" for "small." Most often seen on social media.