Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.

[HobGoblyn]

On an analog clock, you can instantly see "it's nearly 4" without thinking...  3:37 just isn't quite as fast.

On an analog clock, it makes sense to have 60 minutes in an hour.  On a digital clock...   we really need 100 minutes in an hour for it to make sense!

Agreed.  Especially if you have an idea what the expected reading is going to be, I find it easier to glance and see the hand (or pointer, in the case of a gauge) is where you know it should be, your brain can say 'close enough' in an instant.  “I need to leave at 3:55”  A glance at an analog clock at 3:38 shows you have time, and it’s roughly a quarter hour left.  Digital you need to parse that 38 is less than 55, then do the math to find it’s 17 minutes less, then compare that to the 60 minutes in an hour to find it’s about a quarter hour.  Having grown up with analog timepieces, and as one who still wears a watch, this is simply intuitive to me. 

Digital is great for absolute precision, but I find analog is usually better for quick interpretation and comparison.

-Pat

While personally I prefer analog, I have no problem at all looking at a digital clock and automatically know how long to whenever. 

If I need to leave at 3.55 (much prefer 24 hr format) and it read 3.38, I automatically think I’ve got 17 mins,  it’s instant.

Likewise if it’s 18:04 and my wife says dinner is in about 20 mins, dinners at 18:24.

I don’t get where looking at an analog clock is any quicker, I certainly don’t understand the previous comment where they say digital needs 100 minutes in an hour to make sense.

I have a grandfather clock in my hallway and two other analog clocks in my living room.  I still usually look at the digital time displays on my TV or whatever rather than glance at either of the two analog ones.

I do agree when it comes to gauges though, if I know what my gas cylinder pressure is normally, a non thinking glance tells me if it’s wrong, that’s only because the needle doesn’t usually move though.

[HobGoblyn]

I have always found it annoying when people go into some incredibly speculative rant about something and end with "...just saying" Am I to believe that there is no reason that those words came out of your mouth? Would the proper response be "...just hearing"?

It is right up there with "It is what it is".

“… just saying” - I despise the mass societal adoption of this supposed “disclaimer” that people tack onto the end of their often bigoted/highly inappropriate/uneducated/whatever “observations”/passive-aggressive insults. It’s childish and often used to deride or offend… but okay, that’s fine, since they’re “…just saying” 🤦🏻‍♂️

“It is what it is” - this is about the most empty, open-ended, airhead filler phrase one could ever not wish to hear. It’s not even classifiable as circular logic, it’s many exponents more idiotic than that.

Western society has truly become a logical,
moral and intellectual wasteland.

My biggest hate (probably said it in this thread already), “When it’s gone, it’s gone”.  I don’t know why I hate it so much, but every time I see it, another part of me dies.

[mfro]

Tiny, delicate items (like Micro-SD cards) that come armored in thick blister plastics that apparently were meant to let you see what you purchased, but firmly resist any sensible attempt to unpack.

You need heavy duty tools and brute force to open them and then either hurt yourself, or even worse, the item you wanted to get at.

[PlainName]

I think those packs are made thus to prevent easy pilfering when they are display in-store. You'd be amazed at some of the tricks shoplifters get up to, and what they consider worth nicking. Double-digit currency cards you can palm so easily would basically walk out of the store on their own without being encased in big unopenable packs.

I agree they're a right pain to open, though. And dangerous with it sometimes.

[mfro]

I think those packs are made thus to prevent easy pilfering when they are display in-store.

I'm well aware as to *why* these things are packed as they are. Stores are trading their very own store problems for customer problems that way, however. And the dumb honest customer even pays for it.

[mc172]

I've got so annoyed and cut open by those packages in the past that I will now only open them with a guillotine.

[Sal Ammoniac]

I certainly don’t understand the previous comment where they say digital needs 100 minutes in an hour to make sense.

Yeah, but you're from a country that once had money that had 12 pence per shilling and 20 shillings per pound (but guineas were 21 shillings!) 

[Sal Ammoniac]

Tiny, delicate items (like Micro-SD cards) that come armored in thick blister plastics that apparently were meant to let you see what you purchased, but firmly resist any sensible attempt to unpack.

You need heavy duty tools and brute force to open them and then either hurt yourself, or even worse, the item you wanted to get at.

Here's a packaging mistake I remember from childhood: I went to the local Woolworth's to buy a goldfish. The clerk dutifully netted the fish, put it in a plastic bag filled with water, put the plastic bag into a paper bag, rang up the sale, and then stapled the paper receipt to the bag. On the ride home in the back seat of Dad's car, I noticed the bag was leaking. Further investigation revealed that the clerk stapled the receipt through the plastic bag and the fish!

[Nominal Animal]

I've got so annoyed and cut open by those packages in the past that I will now only open them with a guillotine.

I have an angry immune system, and when I get papercuts (or similar on stamped metal edges or plastic packages, which I do quite often, being a bumbleduck; or, like just now, get infected hangnails because I don't grease my fingies often enough and it's really dry cold right now), they really hurt/itch a long time, and easily get infected.  The peeve: this stuff worked really well for such cuts for me,

but is no longer available in Finland by any manyfacturer.  Dammit!

The actual medical dressings are available, of course, but cost about 50× as much, and I really cannot justify that for myself.

[Siwastaja]

but is no longer available in Finland by any manyfacturer.  Dammit!

Completely as expected, because of this pet peeve:

Nasty and harmful stuff is forced down the throats of people for no reason whatsoever, for example adding biocides to detergents and cleaning supplies. Just buying a cleaning product not full of unwanted perfumes is a tedious task. Or, go to a doctor for any reason -> get prescription for antibiotics "just in case".

And when you actually need some of that shit, it's completely unavailable to you.

[TerraHertz]

but is no longer available in Finland by any manyfacturer.  Dammit!

So the anti-bacterial agent in those dressings is just silver?
You know you can easily make the same yourself, right? Look up 'making colloidal silver solutions.'
I have done it, and it's simple. Buy some pure silver wire (few mm thick) and make an electrolysis setup
with a jar and the wires as electrodes. Distilled water and power supply, adjust voltage for to get a small
current (I forget the actual range, can look it up it you like.) Once there are some silver ions in solution the
voltage required to push the current goes down.
Stop when the water turns a pale straw yellow. That's super-fine silver particles in solution.
You could soak dressings in it, use wet, or let them dry out first.


My pet peeve of the day:  'tactile grip rubber' that rapidly turns to revolting sticky goo.
Here's a relatively cheap current clamp meter I bought about a year ago. It went in a drawer, I forgot about it. Dug it out yesterday to check the battery and take it to another room to use.
Urrgh. The body outer layer and the selector wheel are molded of that 'tactile grip rubber.' Which is all going soft and sticky. Leaves a residue on the fingers, so 'cancer avoidance instinct' cuts in and I don't want to even touch it. The thing is now unusable, unrecoverable.

Even if I can find the receipt (unlikely) it's probably not claimable on warranty. Have never once actually used it.

Man I HATE that stuff.
Have a rule to never buy anything with that crap anywhere on it. But I think in this instance the thing was inside a blister pack and I didn't realize the black case was 'tactile rubber.'

The story continues: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/die-sticky-tactile-rubber-die!/

[Nominal Animal]

but is no longer available in Finland by any manyfacturer.  Dammit!

So the anti-bacterial agent in those dressings is just silver?

Yes.  Which makes the entire "let's not make everything antibacterial" reason for not selling them anymore doubly silly.

The main thing is that it is just on the surface of the pad.  Because the pad is dry, it helps keep the fingers clean.  Disinfecting with weak alcohol doesn't keep them clean, and dries out the skin even worse; and cremes and such always make a mess.

When I use normal bandaids or nothing, the skin around the papercut/scratch/hangnail in my fingers gets angry red (inflamed): like I said, I've got an angry immune system.  With the silvery bandaids, the cuts tend to stay calmer, and only have the mild healing itch, not the angry sensitive hurty itch, and even heal somewhat faster.

You know you can easily make the same yourself, right? Look up 'making colloidal silver solutions.'

Yup.  It would be cheaper to buy say Aquacel Ag Hydrofiber dressing (say, a 1cm by 45cm strip), and add it (piecewise) to the bandaid, though.

I do need to check out 'Hansaplast Universal' and 'Hansaplast Sensitive', in 1m long 6cm wide format, since I just found out the constituents of the pad are "cellulose viscose, polypropylene, polyethylene, aluminium, silver" (and that's not listed on the package; found it on ya.fi only, Finnish University Pharmacy pages).  Perhaps they simply stopped advertising it as antibacterial?  I can't find any images of the pads in those; must invest the 4€/5€ per pack to test, I guess!

My pet peeve of the day:  'tactile grip rubber' that rapidly turns to revolting sticky goo.

And stinky!  Reminds me of the residue left when a pipe or something is wrapped in electrichickens tape.  Sticky gooey mess.

[brabus]

Another pet peeve: pathetic car interior lighting.

Interior lighting should provide a function to FLOOD the interior with light (including under-seat lighting!), given that the vehicle is standing still.
Try finding that pacifier, thrown by the toddler in the backseat precisely in the slit between the seats and the central tunnel. Pitch dark, child screaming, wife screaming, and a light that would fit a stealth submarine, not a familiy van!

Another useful function, although only implemented in some SAABs in the early 2000's: complete shut off of the centre console and dashobard lighting, leaving only the speedometer visible to the driver. Ever tried a new Ford? That thing looks like a Christmas tree!

[rsjsouza]

Nominal Animal, we have here a colloidal silver in spray form - can you find it there? It may be a bit more practical than electrolise it.

There are a few brands, but this is the one we usually get.
https://www.sourcenaturals.com/products/GP1411/

[DrG]

I've got so annoyed and cut open by those packages in the past that I will now only open them with a guillotine.

My guillotine hasn't arrived yet, but I know the feeling. Finally, after years of problems, I have changed my strategy. Instead of saying/thinking I can just make a few precision cuts here and here and then pull it apart - or some such thing, I immediately go get some heavy duty shears and do a snip completely across the circumference and as far from the edge as is safe. I trained myself to resist stopping half way thinking...that should be enough. Those packages have beat me and I have surrendered...learned patience I suppose.

[DrG]

I went to the local Woolworth's .

*sigh* a 5 and 10

[MrMobodies]

My pet peeve of the day:  'tactile grip rubber' that rapidly turns to revolting sticky goo.
Here's a relatively cheap current clamp meter I bought about a year ago. It went in a drawer, I forgot about it. Dug it out yesterday to check the battery and take it to another room to use.
Urrgh. The body outer layer and the selector wheel are molded of that 'tactile grip rubber.' Which is all going soft and sticky. Leaves a residue on the fingers, so 'cancer avoidance instinct' cuts in and I don't want to even touch it. The thing is now unusable, unrecoverable.

Even if I can find the receipt (unlikely) it's probably not claimable on warranty. Have never once actually used it.

Man I HATE that stuff.'

I remembered when I was looking for mouse and keyboards over 10 years ago. I found it strange why many of the expensive £69+ Logitech keyboards/mice packages had all that rubber stuff over them and the cheaper EX110 £19.99 didn't. Now I chose the £19.99 EX110's not because it was the cheapest but it was because it didn't have that rubber stuff that would cause me problems in future getting dirty, sticky and swelling up. Not only that the Logitech EX110 plastic is just black and they paint the expensive fancy ones with silvery colours that I have often seen wear off and look awful which is another thing I didn't want to happen with anything I buy. I have still got my collection of EX110's all with USB and PS/2 receivers that I can join and unjoin if one developed a defect and many of them still work fine.

Maybe they believe for those who can afford to pay for their fancy range of mice/keyboards can also afford to replace them more often by gradually making it look and feel undesirable through wear and tear of the paint and rubber.

[james_s]

That rubbery coating does feel nice and luxurious at first, but it invariably turns to nasty sticky goo at some point.

[mfro]

...Finally, after years of problems, I have changed my strategy. Instead of saying/thinking I can just make a few precision cuts here and here and then pull it apart - or some such thing, I immediately go get some heavy duty shears and do a snip completely across the circumference and as far from the edge as is safe...

Industry has a nasty answer to that approach as well. I don't remember what it was, but with that same strategy, I recently found I've just cut the manual and warranty card for the item that was accurately folded and perfectly hidden behind into a nice cutout puzzle...

[DrG]

...Finally, after years of problems, I have changed my strategy. Instead of saying/thinking I can just make a few precision cuts here and here and then pull it apart - or some such thing, I immediately go get some heavy duty shears and do a snip completely across the circumference and as far from the edge as is safe...

Industry has a nasty answer to that approach as well. I don't remember what it was, but with that same strategy, I recently found I've just cut the manual and warranty card for the item that was accurately folded and perfectly hidden behind into a nice cutout puzzle...

I have not yet run into that situation; where they hide a manual or something like that....if/when I do, my screaming will probably heard in several countries.

[SilverSolder]

That rubbery coating does feel nice and luxurious at first, but it invariably turns to nasty sticky goo at some point.

I have a nice Lenovo laptop (company issued) that's been given the rubbery coating treatment all over...   It is sooner or later going to be a disaster...   will have to be dipped in flour to be usable lol!

[SilverSolder]

My pet peeve of the day:  'tactile grip rubber' that rapidly turns to revolting sticky goo.
Here's a relatively cheap current clamp meter I bought about a year ago. It went in a drawer, I forgot about it. Dug it out yesterday to check the battery and take it to another room to use.
Urrgh. The body outer layer and the selector wheel are molded of that 'tactile grip rubber.' Which is all going soft and sticky. Leaves a residue on the fingers, so 'cancer avoidance instinct' cuts in and I don't want to even touch it. The thing is now unusable, unrecoverable.

Even if I can find the receipt (unlikely) it's probably not claimable on warranty. Have never once actually used it.

Man I HATE that stuff.'

I remembered when I was looking for mouse and keyboards over 10 years ago. I found it strange why many of the expensive £69+ Logitech keyboards/mice packages had all that rubber stuff over them and the cheaper EX110 £19.99 didn't. Now I chose the £19.99 EX110's not because it was the cheapest but it was because it didn't have that rubber stuff that would cause me problems in future getting dirty, sticky and swelling up. Not only that the Logitech EX110 plastic is just black and they paint the expensive fancy ones with silvery colours that I have often seen wear off and look awful which is another thing I didn't want to happen with anything I buy. I have still got my collection of EX110's all with USB and PS/2 receivers that I can join and unjoin if one developed a defect and many of them still work fine.

Maybe they believe for those who can afford to pay for their fancy range of mice/keyboards can also afford to replace them more often by gradually making it look and feel undesirable through wear and tear of the paint and rubber.

They just made them too well, back in the day!  -  I have several Logitech MX310 in daily use, they have to be approaching 20 years old...

My kids had one of those on their gaming computer.  They put millions of miles on it, the feet wore off, and then the entire underside became polished smooth, at least 1mm shaved off, with no discernible features.  It still works today lol!

[jonovid]

On an analog clock, you can instantly see "it's nearly 4" without thinking...  3:37 just isn't quite as fast.

On an analog clock, it makes sense to have 60 minutes in an hour.  On a digital clock...   we really need 100 minutes in an hour for it to make sense!

Agreed.  Especially if you have an idea what the expected reading is going to be, I find it easier to glance and see the hand (or pointer, in the case of a gauge) is where you know it should be, your brain can say 'close enough' in an instant.  “I need to leave at 3:55”  A glance at an analog clock at 3:38 shows you have time, and it’s roughly a quarter hour left.  Digital you need to parse that 38 is less than 55, then do the math to find it’s 17 minutes less, then compare that to the 60 minutes in an hour to find it’s about a quarter hour.  Having grown up with analog timepieces, and as one who still wears a watch, this is simply intuitive to me. 

Digital is great for absolute precision, but I find analog is usually better for quick interpretation and comparison.

-Pat

While personally I prefer analog, I have no problem at all looking at a digital clock and automatically know how long to whenever. 

If I need to leave at 3.55 (much prefer 24 hr format) and it read 3.38, I automatically think I’ve got 17 mins,  it’s instant.

Likewise if it’s 18:04 and my wife says dinner is in about 20 mins, dinners at 18:24.

I don’t get where looking at an analog clock is any quicker, I certainly don’t understand the previous comment where they say digital needs 100 minutes in an hour to make sense.

I have a grandfather clock in my hallway and two other analog clocks in my living room.  I still usually look at the digital time displays on my TV or whatever rather than glance at either of the two analog ones.

I do agree when it comes to gauges though, if I know what my gas cylinder pressure is normally, a non thinking glance tells me if it’s wrong, that’s only because the needle doesn’t usually move though.

why is it that bed side clocks are AM-PM 12-hour clocks but most others are 24-hour military time
how hard is it to put an AM-PM 12-hour or 24-hour clock mode switch in most appliances or even show a analog clock if the user interface screen can do so.

[IDEngineer]

how hard is it to put an AM-PM 12-hour or 24-hour clock mode switch in most appliances

It doesn't even require a separate switch. I just recently set the time on something that, while you scroll through the hours, toggled between 12 and 24 hour mode as part of the rotation. First I'd seen it but I immediately realized it was a graceful solution to this entire question. Zero extra cost and gives everyone their preference.

[IDEngineer]

I have a nice Lenovo laptop (company issued) that's been given the rubbery coating treatment all over...   It is sooner or later going to be a disaster...   will have to be dipped in flour to be usable lol!

This season we discovered our ski helmets have devolved into a sticky mess. And they didn't even have the usual rubbery coating! Just some sort of hard surface treatment. Totally useless now. Grrrrrr.