Minor things that bother you

[thenetwork]

When Medicare Enrollment has two back to back ads on TV.  The first will be a voice over announcer going over the benefits followed by a real life citizen testifying that they've called. Then the second will be actor William Devane doing the same exact commercial as the previous one with the consumer testimonials also being redundant.

Joe Namath looks like his health and voice have really gone downhill compared to his commercials last year. And Jimmie JJ Walker is showing significent signs of slowing down as well just in the last year.

I'm amused that the advertisers assume everyone knows Joe Namath but they surround Jimmie Walker with Good Times memorabilia.

And I've noticed that "DYN-O-MIIITE" doesn't work anymore, so he has to go with the new catch-phrase, "MUN-KNEEEE".

[tmoore952]

Minor now, but gradually increasing.

Photoshopped images online.

Two very recent examples:
FB posts announcing Shohei Ohtani signing with the Dodgers -- showing Shohei Ohtani in action in a Dodgers uniform (he just signed there an hour ago -- to my knowledge no such picture exists for real yet, unless he was modeling uniforms but I find that very dubious).

Yesterday (anniversary of John Lennon's death), a 1950s-1960s era Peanuts cartoon (with Patty (not the same as Peppermint Patty) and Charlie Brown) with Charlie Brown's head down. Caption said something like "Missing Lennon". I had some arguments on FB with people about this -- didn't understand why I had a problem with it. To be clear, I agree with the sentiment, but the caption was clearly photoshopped in, since the cartoon is from way earlier than Lennon's death. If Schultz didn't draw it this way, I have a problem with it.

I know these two particular examples are unimportant. But it could happen with much more serious matters (it probably already has). So now, one has to look at every picture with a critical eye.

[GaryV]

^ It could have also been AI imaging. "Please give me a Peanuts cartoon with Charlie Brown mourning the death of Lennon."

My wife has been playing around with a free service (I know, you get what you pay for) to get some pictures for church presentations. She asked for a realistic picture of Jesus in a manger. The baby had a beard.   

[Big John]

Spelling whiskey without the "e".

[dlsterner]

Minor now, but gradually increasing.

Photoshopped images online.

Two very recent examples:
FB posts announcing Shohei Ohtani signing with the Dodgers -- showing Shohei Ohtani in action in a Dodgers uniform (he just signed there an hour ago -- to my knowledge no such picture exists for real yet, unless he was modeling uniforms but I find that very dubious).

Yesterday (anniversary of John Lennon's death), a 1950s-1960s era Peanuts cartoon (with Patty (not the same as Peppermint Patty) and Charlie Brown) with Charlie Brown's head down. Caption said something like "Missing Lennon". I had some arguments on FB with people about this -- didn't understand why I had a problem with it. To be clear, I agree with the sentiment, but the caption was clearly photoshopped in, since the cartoon is from way earlier than Lennon's death. If Schultz didn't draw it this way, I have a problem with it.

I know these two particular examples are unimportant. But it could happen with much more serious matters (it probably already has). So now, one has to look at every picture with a critical eye.

In the Ohtani case, this practice has been going on for years, even before Photoshop.  I remember in my youth seeing baseball cards of players (typically head shots) traded over the winter with their new team's logo on their hat, but you can tell that their jersey is of their old team.

For the latter case:
I too am bothered with people using old Peanuts cartoons and adding in their own message to suit their own point of view.  I see this way too often.  And it's not how Schultz draw them.

Along those lines, another mis-appropriation is where a young boy looking suspiciously identical to Calvin (from "Calvin and Hobbes") is pissing on a Ford (or Chevy) truck.  I'm sure that wasn't a Watterson creation.

[Big John]

Along those lines, another mis-appropriation is where a young boy looking suspiciously identical to Calvin (from "Calvin and Hobbes") is pissing on a Ford (or Chevy) truck.  I'm sure that wasn't a Watterson creation.

and the contrary one of a fake Calvin praying on a cross.

[kurumi]

Spelling whiskey without the "e".

It's complicated: https://www.foodandwine.com/whiskey-vs-whisky-7093133

[tmoore952]

Minor now, but gradually increasing.

Photoshopped images online.

Two very recent examples:
FB posts announcing Shohei Ohtani signing with the Dodgers -- showing Shohei Ohtani in action in a Dodgers uniform (he just signed there an hour ago -- to my knowledge no such picture exists for real yet, unless he was modeling uniforms but I find that very dubious).

Yesterday (anniversary of John Lennon's death), a 1950s-1960s era Peanuts cartoon (with Patty (not the same as Peppermint Patty) and Charlie Brown) with Charlie Brown's head down. Caption said something like "Missing Lennon". I had some arguments on FB with people about this -- didn't understand why I had a problem with it. To be clear, I agree with the sentiment, but the caption was clearly photoshopped in, since the cartoon is from way earlier than Lennon's death. If Schultz didn't draw it this way, I have a problem with it.

I know these two particular examples are unimportant. But it could happen with much more serious matters (it probably already has). So now, one has to look at every picture with a critical eye.

In the Ohtani case, this practice has been going on for years, even before Photoshop.  I remember in my youth seeing baseball cards of players (typically head shots) traded over the winter with their new team's logo on their hat, but you can tell that their jersey is of their old team.

For the latter case:
I too am bothered with people using old Peanuts cartoons and adding in their own message to suit their own point of view.  I see this way too often.  And it's not how Schultz draw them.

Along those lines, another mis-appropriation is where a young boy looking suspiciously identical to Calvin (from "Calvin and Hobbes") is pissing on a Ford (or Chevy) truck.  I'm sure that wasn't a Watterson creation.

You are old enough to remember '60s baseball cards that had hats with blacked out logos (in [articular, 1966 Braves cards as they had just moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta). Also, back then they often they took a hatless picture (in addition to one with a hat) to use in the case of a trade.

[Big John]

Minor now, but gradually increasing.

Photoshopped images online.

Two very recent examples:
FB posts announcing Shohei Ohtani signing with the Dodgers -- showing Shohei Ohtani in action in a Dodgers uniform (he just signed there an hour ago -- to my knowledge no such picture exists for real yet, unless he was modeling uniforms but I find that very dubious).

Yesterday (anniversary of John Lennon's death), a 1950s-1960s era Peanuts cartoon (with Patty (not the same as Peppermint Patty) and Charlie Brown) with Charlie Brown's head down. Caption said something like "Missing Lennon". I had some arguments on FB with people about this -- didn't understand why I had a problem with it. To be clear, I agree with the sentiment, but the caption was clearly photoshopped in, since the cartoon is from way earlier than Lennon's death. If Schultz didn't draw it this way, I have a problem with it.

I know these two particular examples are unimportant. But it could happen with much more serious matters (it probably already has). So now, one has to look at every picture with a critical eye.

In the Ohtani case, this practice has been going on for years, even before Photoshop.  I remember in my youth seeing baseball cards of players (typically head shots) traded over the winter with their new team's logo on their hat, but you can tell that their jersey is of their old team.

For the latter case:
I too am bothered with people using old Peanuts cartoons and adding in their own message to suit their own point of view.  I see this way too often.  And it's not how Schultz draw them.

Along those lines, another mis-appropriation is where a young boy looking suspiciously identical to Calvin (from "Calvin and Hobbes") is pissing on a Ford (or Chevy) truck.  I'm sure that wasn't a Watterson creation.

You are old enough to remember '60s baseball cards that had hats with blacked out logos (in [articular, 1966 Braves cards as they had just moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta). Also, back then they often they took a hatless picture (in addition to one with a hat) to use in the case of a trade.

I remember in the 1980s, cards for Packers players had the G logo brushed out for licensing issues.

[D-Dey65]

Once again, my PC is not only obstructing my ability to cut, copy, and paste stuff, but my browser keeps crashing.

[ZLoth]

It's 2023, and Plex still does not handle Audiobooks. While my go-to application for audiobooks is Audible (followed by GraphicAudio), in the past, I have picked up some audiobooks from Humble Bundle which consists of a series of MP3 files. From a playback perspective, they are just audio files. However, because of the length of the tracks (some can be over an hour long), you really want to pause in the middle of a track and pick up at the same point. There is a whole series of feature requests. I've ended up installing a Emby instance on my server for the Audiobook support, but alas, because I did not purchase a license (yet), all I can do is stream my books.

I'm also challenged because a 18TB External Hard drive which I had ordered on special on November 18, 2023 for backup purposes with the original delivery date of December 2nd is now expected December 22nd - 28th.

[D-Dey65]

I'm also challenged because a 18TB External Hard drive which I had ordered on special on November 18, 2023 for backup purposes with the original delivery date of December 2nd is now expected December 22nd - 28th.

So, they have 18TB external hard drives now? Let me guess; You can't just go and pick them up at your local Best Buy store.

The biggest ones I've seen so far are 12TB (FreewayJim boasted about having a 16TB one at one time), and it's not the size of a WD My Passport.

[ZLoth]

I'm also challenged because a 18TB External Hard drive which I had ordered on special on November 18, 2023 for backup purposes with the original delivery date of December 2nd is now expected December 22nd - 28th.

So, they have 18TB external hard drives now? Let me guess; You can't just go and pick them up at your local Best Buy store.

Actually, yes, you can. And at sizes up to 22TB.

The biggest ones I've seen so far are 12TB (FreewayJim boasted about having a 16TB one at one time), and it's not the size of a WD My Passport.

Sorry, no, that would requires the drive size being 3½". These are 5¼" drives.

[Big John]

The biggest ones I've seen so far are 12TB (FreewayJim boasted about having a 16TB one at one time), and it's not the size of a WD My Passport.

Tom Brady has retired.

[J N Winkler]

It doesn't surprise me that consumer-grade drives with ~20 TB capacity are now available, given that people in my local area complain about our cable ISP's 1.25 TB monthly bandwidth cap making it difficult for them to download games from Steam without incurring additional charges for excessive usage.

My current archive disk has a nominal capacity of 12 TB.  I tend to buy at the size that translates into the lowest "street price" per TB, which I think is about $10 now.

[DTComposer]

Along those lines, another mis-appropriation is where a young boy looking suspiciously identical to Calvin (from "Calvin and Hobbes") is pissing on a Ford (or Chevy) truck.  I'm sure that wasn't a Watterson creation.

and the contrary one of a fake Calvin praying on a cross.

Watterson was unique among cartoonists in that he refused to license his creations for merchandising (other than the books), stating that he wanted the legacy of "Calvin and Hobbes" to just be the strips themselves. I just saw an interview that talked about the licensing person at Watterson's syndicate - saying Watterson could have made millions more if he even just allowed a plush Hobbes. This is compared to Peanuts, who were selling everything from snack cakes to insurance and had TV specials, movies, theme park characters, and stage shows extending their presence well beyond the strip's end in 2000 (and arguably decades beyond the strip's peak of creativity and influence in the medium).

On the flip side, the interview also said Watterson did not care to go after people who used those characters illegally, so you saw t-shirts, posters, and yes, the car decals all happening without consequence.

I think the (unintended) consequence will be that Peanuts has, and will remain part of the cultural zeitgeist for some time to come (even if just as marketing shills), while Calvin & Hobbes, once Gen X starts to pass, will almost solely be remembered for the kid pissing on the back windows of people's cars.

[Scott5114]

I don't know about that. Calvin & Hobbes has a reputation for being a good comic strip beyond just the nostalgia trip. (Though I've never sat down and read the entire run, I enjoy it despite having little nostalgia for it; it ceased production a year or two after I learned to read.)  I see Gen Z folks posting strips they enjoyed on social media from time to time.

[DTComposer]

I don't know about that. Calvin & Hobbes has a reputation for being a good comic strip beyond just the nostalgia trip. (Though I've never sat down and read the entire run, I enjoy it despite having little nostalgia for it; it ceased production a year or two after I learned to read.)  I see Gen Z folks posting strips they enjoyed on social media from time to time.

Don't get me wrong, I think Calvin & Hobbes is one of the greatest newspaper comic strips ever produced - I grew up in a mini-Golden Age, reading that, The Far Side, and Bloom County in their original runs - but its relatively short (10 year) run, plus its lack of merchandise to keep it in the public eye - makes me fear that it will, within a couple of generations, become something like Pogo - hailed for its creativity and innovations, but largely unread by the general populace of future generations. I would love to be wrong about that.

[1995hoo]

I'm prompted to remember my junior year of high school. Everybody read Calvin and Hobbes. You might recall there was a storyline where Calvin had to write a report for school and he wrote his about bats and decided to put it in a "professional clear plastic binder" because it would ensure him a good grade when Miss Wormwood saw how good it looked.

Well, I had a paper due in English class when that storyline was running, so I naturally couldn't resist using one of those covers. When we handed in our papers, I waited until the room was quiet and called out, "Mrs. Turley, I want to make sure you note I used a professional clear plastic binder." Everyone started laughing and she must have enjoyed the joke as well because she replied, "I hope your paper is better than Calvin's!" 

[D-Dey65]

I'm also challenged because a 18TB External Hard drive which I had ordered on special on November 18, 2023 for backup purposes with the original delivery date of December 2nd is now expected December 22nd - 28th.

So, they have 18TB external hard drives now? Let me guess; You can't just go and pick them up at your local Best Buy store.

Actually, yes, you can. And at sizes up to 22TB.

Okay, I see that. But, damn those things are expensive!

The biggest ones I've seen so far are 12TB (FreewayJim boasted about having a 16TB one at one time), and it's not the size of a WD My Passport.

Sorry, no, that would requires the drive size being 3½". These are 5¼" drives.

My first external hard drive was a 1.5TB, and it's bigger than the two 4TB My Passports I use.

[kkt]

I'm also challenged because a 18TB External Hard drive which I had ordered on special on November 18, 2023 for backup purposes with the original delivery date of December 2nd is now expected December 22nd - 28th.

So, they have 18TB external hard drives now? Let me guess; You can't just go and pick them up at your local Best Buy store.

Actually, yes, you can. And at sizes up to 22TB.

Okay, I see that. But, damn those things are expensive!

The biggest ones I've seen so far are 12TB (FreewayJim boasted about having a 16TB one at one time), and it's not the size of a WD My Passport.

Sorry, no, that would requires the drive size being 3½". These are 5¼" drives.

My first external hard drive was a 1.5TB, and it's bigger than the two 4TB My Passports I use.

Remember that thread we had about "things that make you feel old"?
Yeah.

[D-Dey65]

Remember that thread we had about "things that make you feel old"?
Yeah.

I just saw that recently.

[ZLoth]

I'm also challenged because a 18TB External Hard drive which I had ordered on special on November 18, 2023 for backup purposes with the original delivery date of December 2nd is now expected December 22nd - 28th.

So, they have 18TB external hard drives now? Let me guess; You can't just go and pick them up at your local Best Buy store.

Actually, yes, you can. And at sizes up to 22TB.

Okay, I see that. But, damn those things are expensive!

Right. The 18TB drive was $230 when I ordered it through Amazon, and that was a special price. The current price is $280... which is five dollars cheaper than it's 16GB cousin. This is to replace a 12TB external drive which is almost full, and even that 12TB drive will repurposed as a backup drive for a 8TB drive in use.

Now, is this the point where I mention the TRS-80 Model III drives which technically were external hard drives, but only stored 5 MB of data? This was the early 1980s, and at $2,000, cost more than the computer itself.



No, I didn't have one of these. My first HDD was a 105MB IDE drive in 1989. And, three years later, I purchased a 305 MB drive as a replacement for $300.

[zachary_amaryllis]

I'm also challenged because a 18TB External Hard drive which I had ordered on special on November 18, 2023 for backup purposes with the original delivery date of December 2nd is now expected December 22nd - 28th.

So, they have 18TB external hard drives now? Let me guess; You can't just go and pick them up at your local Best Buy store.

Actually, yes, you can. And at sizes up to 22TB.

Okay, I see that. But, damn those things are expensive!

Right. The 18TB drive was $230 when I ordered it through Amazon, and that was a special price. The current price is $280... which is five dollars cheaper than it's 16GB cousin. This is to replace a 12TB external drive which is almost full, and even that 12TB drive will repurposed as a backup drive for a 8TB drive in use.

Now, is this the point where I mention the TRS-80 Model III drives which technically were external hard drives, but only stored 5 MB of data? This was the early 1980s, and at $2,000, cost more than the computer itself.



No, I didn't have one of these. My first HDD was a 105MB IDE drive in 1989. And, three years later, I purchased a 305 MB drive as a replacement for $300.

My father had that for his Model 4. I'm fairly sure I remember the lights 'bonking' for a sec when he would power it on.

[mgk920]

I don't know about that. Calvin & Hobbes has a reputation for being a good comic strip beyond just the nostalgia trip. (Though I've never sat down and read the entire run, I enjoy it despite having little nostalgia for it; it ceased production a year or two after I learned to read.)  I see Gen Z folks posting strips they enjoyed on social media from time to time.
[/quote]

I loved C&H in its first run!  One of the standouts, and copies of it are still standard on the walls of planning offices everywhere, starts with Calvin and Hobbs angrily arguing old western TV show style "This town just ain't big enough fer the both of us!", "Yea, I reckon we'll have to annex part o' the county!".

Mike