Minor things that bother you

[Bruce]

This is both somewhat annoying and weird: Whenever I use Google Maps to get walking directions, the software zooms the map way the heck out before I can put in the location for the other end of the directions. I was just looking at it to figure out the walking distance from the hotel for a business trip I'm taking to Seattle. I put in the work location and then clicked the icon for walking. Before I could click on the origin point or type in the address, it zoomed so far out that the area on the far side of the SR-520 bridge was visible on the map (it showed that as being an 8.4-mile walk, for whatever it's worth). What idiot programmer thought that made sense? Shouldn't the map zoom in closer if you click the icon for walking directions under the theory that most people will only want walking directions for shorter distances?

I suppose in this case it wasn't a major annoyance because I had the hotel's address written down and could type it in. It's more of a nuisance when you don't know the specific address and you just want to click in the general vicinity or on a location's map icon because then you have to zoom right back in to where it was before.

Just tested it out and after putting in an origin and switching to walking, my desktop version of Google Maps didn't zoom in or out.

Anyways, Google's walking directions are a bit funky. They don't seem to account for hilly terrain, congested sidewalks, or long waits at signals, so I usually pad out the time a bit in my head.

[JayhawkCO]

This is both somewhat annoying and weird: Whenever I use Google Maps to get walking directions, the software zooms the map way the heck out before I can put in the location for the other end of the directions. I was just looking at it to figure out the walking distance from the hotel for a business trip I'm taking to Seattle. I put in the work location and then clicked the icon for walking. Before I could click on the origin point or type in the address, it zoomed so far out that the area on the far side of the SR-520 bridge was visible on the map (it showed that as being an 8.4-mile walk, for whatever it's worth). What idiot programmer thought that made sense? Shouldn't the map zoom in closer if you click the icon for walking directions under the theory that most people will only want walking directions for shorter distances?

I suppose in this case it wasn't a major annoyance because I had the hotel's address written down and could type it in. It's more of a nuisance when you don't know the specific address and you just want to click in the general vicinity or on a location's map icon because then you have to zoom right back in to where it was before.

Just tested it out and after putting in an origin and switching to walking, my desktop version of Google Maps didn't zoom in or out.

Anyways, Google's walking directions are a bit funky. They don't seem to account for hilly terrain, congested sidewalks, or long waits at signals, so I usually pad out the time a bit in my head.

Funnily enough, I do the opposite. I'm 6'4" and walk quickly. I never take as long to walk somewhere as GMaps says.

[bm7]

This is both somewhat annoying and weird: Whenever I use Google Maps to get walking directions, the software zooms the map way the heck out before I can put in the location for the other end of the directions. I was just looking at it to figure out the walking distance from the hotel for a business trip I'm taking to Seattle. I put in the work location and then clicked the icon for walking. Before I could click on the origin point or type in the address, it zoomed so far out that the area on the far side of the SR-520 bridge was visible on the map (it showed that as being an 8.4-mile walk, for whatever it's worth). What idiot programmer thought that made sense? Shouldn't the map zoom in closer if you click the icon for walking directions under the theory that most people will only want walking directions for shorter distances?

I suppose in this case it wasn't a major annoyance because I had the hotel's address written down and could type it in. It's more of a nuisance when you don't know the specific address and you just want to click in the general vicinity or on a location's map icon because then you have to zoom right back in to where it was before.

Just tested it out and after putting in an origin and switching to walking, my desktop version of Google Maps didn't zoom in or out.

Anyways, Google's walking directions are a bit funky. They don't seem to account for hilly terrain, congested sidewalks, or long waits at signals, so I usually pad out the time a bit in my head.

It's been happening to me for a while in the browser, but I tried it just now and it didn't zoom out. Maybe they've fixed it, at least for some users?

[ZLoth]

Just tested it out and after putting in an origin and switching to walking, my desktop version of Google Maps didn't zoom in or out.

Anyways, Google's walking directions are a bit funky. They don't seem to account for hilly terrain, congested sidewalks, or long waits at signals, so I usually pad out the time a bit in my head.

I checked Google's walking directions from my home to my workplace. Despite it being a 1 mile journey, Google's suggested route has me crossing a very busy boulevard at a non-signalized "intersection". Sorry, but I'm not playing dodge-em's with the traffic.

I also hate the fact that I'm WFH-ing because I'm an adult caregiver.

[Rothman]

I also hate the fact that I'm WFH-ing because I'm an adult caregiver.

So, you care for someone in your own home.

[GaryV]

I also hate the fact that I'm WFH-ing because I'm an adult caregiver.

So, you care for someone in your own home.

I first read it as he was an adult caregiver, somehow doing it remotely while staying at home.

[ZLoth]

I also hate the fact that I'm WFH-ing because I'm an adult caregiver.

So, you care for someone in your own home.

I first read it as he was an adult caregiver, somehow doing it remotely while staying at home.

Looks like I have to clarify here. When I was job relocated at the beginning of 2019, one of my top goals was to purchase a decent home within walking distance of my workplace so that I did not have to deal with the DFW traffic, and it just happened that I am also close by a fire station, a major medical center, and a short drive (5 minutes) to a DART Light Rail station. My now-82yo mother decided to move in with me so that "I wouldn't have to worry about her". Last year, she had health issues, and they are at a point where I do not feel comfortable leaving her alone at home for extended periods of time. Thankfully, I have excellent Internet connectivity, and through a VPN, I can 100% do my job at home. It just bothers me every time I have to drive to work (2-3 minutes) when it could have been a nice healthy walk, but I want to keep my mother happy even though she hates Texas. Unfortunately, moving anywhere is not an option, and moving back to California is completely off the table.

Not fun as it has meant multiple sacrifices in my own life. Road trips? Maybe, someday....

[Rothman]

I also hate the fact that I'm WFH-ing because I'm an adult caregiver.

So, you care for someone in your own home.

I first read it as he was an adult caregiver, somehow doing it remotely while staying at home.

Looks like I have to clarify here. When I was job relocated at the beginning of 2019, one of my top goals was to purchase a decent home within walking distance of my workplace so that I did not have to deal with the DFW traffic, and it just happened that I am also close by a fire station, a major medical center, and a short drive (5 minutes) to a DART Light Rail station. My now-82yo mother decided to move in with me so that "I wouldn't have to worry about her". Last year, she had health issues, and they are at a point where I do not feel comfortable leaving her alone at home for extended periods of time. Thankfully, I have excellent Internet connectivity, and through a VPN, I can 100% do my job at home. It just bothers me every time I have to drive to work (2-3 minutes) when it could have been a nice healthy walk, but I want to keep my mother happy even though she hates Texas. Unfortunately, moving anywhere is not an option, and moving back to California is completely off the table.

Not fun as it has meant multiple sacrifices in my own life. Road trips? Maybe, someday....

But you said you hated WFH, which is what is enabling you to take care of your mother?

[ZLoth]

But you said you hated WFH, which is what is enabling you to take care of your mother?

Yes, I do. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I like to have that hard barrier between "work life" and "home life". I converted one of the bedrooms to a home office/computer room (complete with EIGHT network ports) with the intention of only occasionally working from home. But, I want to be the dutiful and well-caring son especially since I have no other family in the area either in Dallas or in Sacramento.

[vdeane]

The fact that is is not possible, for some reason, to switch to the Disney Duo Premium bundle with a Hulu-originated account.  Instead I have to cancel my Hulu account so that I can sign up for the bundle via Disney+ next week when the cancellation takes effect.

[ZLoth]

Sigh... The fight between myself and my frugal mother.

We have one of those Keurig coffee makers which I had originally purchased in 2014-2015. It's one of those infamous "Keurig 2.0" coffee makers that had that coffee DRM that only accepted the coffee pods that was "blessed" by Keurig. It was put back into service at the beginning of the year after being in storage to make things easier for my mother. However, because of the coffee DRM, I could not utilize the refillable K-cups. I elected to wait until the Black Friday deals, and it turned out that WalMart had a Keurig K-Express Essentials maker for $35 (normally $60, and it's more expensive at Amazon). This was a easy purchase to make, plus the coffee maker takes up less counter space and I can reuse the water filter system.

My frugal mother, however, looks at me at replacing a "perfectly good" coffee maker, and then wants to put the old coffee maker into storage. I can tell from a mile away how this turns out... it'll end up spending a decade collecting dust as it is forgotten. Nope, it went out with Friday's trash. I really have to be frugal with the stuff I place into storage. I understand storing the Holiday decorations, but not old televisions, monitors, or coffee makers.

[D-Dey65]

Microsoft silently un-supporting certain hotkeys.

For example, in Word, I used to be able to insert a column break by hitting Alt+I (insert), then B (break), then C (column), then Enter.  Easty to remember, no need to even use the mouse.  Now Alt+I doesn't do anything at all.  So I have to hunt through the menus to try and figure out how to add a column break.

What would have been the problem with continuing to support the hotkeys?

What I hate is that once again, they're making it more difficult than it has to be to cut, copy and paste stuff.

[zachary_amaryllis]

Microsoft silently un-supporting certain hotkeys.

For example, in Word, I used to be able to insert a column break by hitting Alt+I (insert), then B (break), then C (column), then Enter.  Easty to remember, no need to even use the mouse.  Now Alt+I doesn't do anything at all.  So I have to hunt through the menus to try and figure out how to add a column break.

What would have been the problem with continuing to support the hotkeys?

What I hate is that once again, they're making it more difficult than it has to be to cut, copy and paste stuff.

THANK you.
When I go to select some text, Microsoft always 'helpfully' assumes I want the whole word. Maybe I don't. If I'd wanted the whole word, I'd have double-clicked it. Maybe it's a single character that's a flying pain in the katuckas to type, and is a lot easier to paste where needed.

[vdeane]

Microsoft silently un-supporting certain hotkeys.

For example, in Word, I used to be able to insert a column break by hitting Alt+I (insert), then B (break), then C (column), then Enter.  Easty to remember, no need to even use the mouse.  Now Alt+I doesn't do anything at all.  So I have to hunt through the menus to try and figure out how to add a column break.

What would have been the problem with continuing to support the hotkeys?

What I hate is that once again, they're making it more difficult than it has to be to cut, copy and paste stuff.

THANK you.
When I go to select some text, Microsoft always 'helpfully' assumes I want the whole word. Maybe I don't. If I'd wanted the whole word, I'd have double-clicked it. Maybe it's a single character that's a flying pain in the katuckas to type, and is a lot easier to paste where needed.

Or when it tries to select spaces or new lines when I don't want them.  I end up having to fix it afterwards because of that.  Computers need to stop trying to be "helpful" and just do what they're told.

[kkt]

Microsoft silently un-supporting certain hotkeys.

For example, in Word, I used to be able to insert a column break by hitting Alt+I (insert), then B (break), then C (column), then Enter.  Easty to remember, no need to even use the mouse.  Now Alt+I doesn't do anything at all.  So I have to hunt through the menus to try and figure out how to add a column break.

What would have been the problem with continuing to support the hotkeys?

What I hate is that once again, they're making it more difficult than it has to be to cut, copy and paste stuff.

THANK you.
When I go to select some text, Microsoft always 'helpfully' assumes I want the whole word. Maybe I don't. If I'd wanted the whole word, I'd have double-clicked it. Maybe it's a single character that's a flying pain in the katuckas to type, and is a lot easier to paste where needed.

Or when it tries to select spaces or new lines when I don't want them.  I end up having to fix it afterwards because of that.  Computers need to stop trying to be "helpful" and just do what they're told.

I hate when autocomplete fills in the same search I tried a few minutes ago and didn't get useful results and I'm trying to do a more general search with fewer words.  No, I really don't need to repeat exactly the same search!

[vdeane]

I honestly hate how it's impossible to find things like TVs and cars that aren't listening to every word you say and giving all your data to corporations these days.  People say "well you phone does, so why do you care?" as if they don't know that the extent that phones do this can be strictly limited.  I don't use social media apps (which are the main culprits in the first place).  I turn off "OK Google".  I don't navigate by Google Maps turn by turn directions.  During COVID I even had location services turned off except for the rare occasion when I explicitly need them (and now that I know they impact battery life, might go back to that).  My use of a smartphone is like someone from 10-15 years ago, where it's a convenience for when I'm out and need to quickly look something up or read something while bored, but the vast majority of my interaction with the internet is still with a "real computer".  I honestly don't understand why more people aren't like this.

Really, I hate the way technology is going in general.  There are reasons why I abandoned Windows for Linux and Chrome for Vivaldi.  I'm considering abandoning Android for the rare real Linux phone too, for the same reason.  Too bad one can't do so with cars (not sure about TVs).  I feel like my ability to embrace new ways of interacting with technology fossilized around 2010.

[Scott5114]

I'm the same way—sometimes I worry that it may be a sign I'm getting old and set in my ways. But in many ways 2010 was the start of many of the trends now recognized as enshittification. (Is it really being an old person if it really was objectively better in our day?)

[Rothman]

I'm the same way—sometimes I worry that it may be a sign I'm getting old and set in my ways. But in many ways 2010 was the start of many of the trends now recognized as enshittification. (Is it really being an old person if it really was objectively better in our day?)

I have a new favorite term now.

[roadman65]

Pay walls on news websites.

[wanderer2575]

I'm the same way—sometimes I worry that it may be a sign I'm getting old and set in my ways. But in many ways 2010 was the start of many of the trends now recognized as enshittification. (Is it really being an old person if it really was objectively better in our day?)

I agree to a point.  I paid for the phone, the TV, and the car, and when those transactions are completed then so also should be all contact.  The websites and social media platforms, maybe not so much.  As has been said for a long time -- if you're not paying for the product then YOU are the product.  These outfits have employees and tons of physical tech equipment, and they don't owe it to anyone so that the massed millions can send memes and cat videos.  Someone's paying for it, and the someones are doing so by purchasing your personal info.

Pay walls on news websites.

Because they owe you the content, right?  See above.

[GaryV]

SiriusXM sent me a "This Is Your Last Call" email about paying for the service now that my free intro is over. We'll see. I still expect regular emails from them. At least I could block their phone spam.

[ZLoth]

SiriusXM sent me a "This Is Your Last Call" email about paying for the service now that my free intro is over. We'll see. I still expect regular emails from them. At least I could block their phone spam.

I cancelled SiriusXM once I got unlimited data on my mobile. I have plenty of music available through my media server via PlexAmp, Apple Music (though my mobile plan), Amazon Music, and Radio Garden. Plus Audible downloads. The inability to do road trips due to adult caregiver role does not help.

[1995hoo]

Microsoft silently un-supporting certain hotkeys.

For example, in Word, I used to be able to insert a column break by hitting Alt+I (insert), then B (break), then C (column), then Enter.  Easty to remember, no need to even use the mouse.  Now Alt+I doesn't do anything at all.  So I have to hunt through the menus to try and figure out how to add a column break.

What would have been the problem with continuing to support the hotkeys?

What I hate is that once again, they're making it more difficult than it has to be to cut, copy and paste stuff.

THANK you.
When I go to select some text, Microsoft always 'helpfully' assumes I want the whole word. Maybe I don't. If I'd wanted the whole word, I'd have double-clicked it. Maybe it's a single character that's a flying pain in the katuckas to type, and is a lot easier to paste where needed.

You can turn off "whole word selection" in MS Word. Click Options > Advanced > uncheck the second box from the top, "When selecting, automatically select entire word."

The feature I find annoying is the one that anonymizes all redlines and comment bubbles when a document is saved. We make extensive use of both tracked changes and comment bubbles and it is really important to know who made a particular edit or left a particular comment. I disabled the "anonymize on save" feature by default, but there are still some documents where Word attempts to do it and I have to remember to check the setting every time I go to save something. (Speaking of comment bubbles, Microsoft changed the way they work in the newest version of Word, but you can change that back by unchecking the box for "Enable modern comments" in Options > General. I unchecked that box because I found the new style very distracting and because I'm used to hitting Alt-I, then M to leave a comment. Turning off "modern comments" re-enabled that keyboard shortcut.)

[hbelkins]

^^^
Thank  you for reminding me to investigate how to turn off superscripting of ordinals. I hate when I want to type 2nd or 3rd and Outlook turns it into 2^nd and 3^rd.

[Big John]

^^^
Thank  you for reminding me to investigate how to turn off superscripting of ordinals. I hate when I want to type 2nd or 3rd and Outlook turns it into 2^nd and 3^rd.

What bothers me of ordinals is if I see a space between the number and the ordinal and/or there is a period after the ordinal.  I have seen those too often, more so the space being used on highway signs.