Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.

[jbeng]

True, but in my experience the phrase had died out by the 90's. Then I started hearing "thanks for reaching out" from our Canadian friends and business contacts.

I remember hearing the "reach out" phrase used in TV shows in the late 90's, especially cop shows.  The cops would be  finishing questioning of a witness and they would say something like "Here's my card.  If you remember anything else, reach out..."

[Circlotron]

When people follow some “fashion” without thinking it through. For example, when I first got my licence in 1977 every young buck that drove a car that he thought was hot had to reposition the bonnet / hood hinges so that the rear of the bonnet was raised about 40mm or so to supposedly let the hot air out. This was to tell the world that their car had such a fire and brimstone fury of an engine that it needed extra cooling ventilation courtesy of this lateral slot. What never occurred to them though is the location of the slot at the base of the windscreen is a high pressure area and so air would be forced in there, not exiting, and as a consequence it would somewhat reduce the flow of air through the radiator when moving forward. And the fact that one never saw a full tilt race car with that setup didn’t occur to them.

[CatalinaWOW]

When people follow some “fashion” without thinking it through. For example, when I first got my licence in 1977 every young buck that drove a car that he thought was hot had to reposition the bonnet / hood hinges so that the rear of the bonnet was raised about 40mm or so to supposedly let the hot air out. This was to tell the world that their car had such a fire and brimstone fury of an engine that it needed extra cooling ventilation courtesy of this lateral slot. What never occurred to them though is the location of the slot at the base of the windscreen is a high pressure area and so air would be forced in there, not exiting, and as a consequence it would somewhat reduce the flow of air through the radiator when moving forward. And the fact that one never saw a full tilt race car with that setup didn’t occur to them.

There was a sci-fi book from the 50s or 60s titled "The Big Ball of Wax".  It envisioned this kind of stuff, deliberately conning morons with noisemakers, fake gauges, and most particularly doctored speedometers so the fools would think they were really flying.  The whole point was to market a bunch of junk to brainless dolts, while at the same time limiting their ability to hurt themselves or others. 

Viewed this way the only annoyance is the large market for such tomfoolery.  It would be nice to think that people were smarter than they repeatedly demonstrate themselves to be.

[AlbertL]

True, but in my experience the phrase had died out by the 90's. Then I started hearing "thanks for reaching out" from our Canadian friends and business contacts.

I remember hearing the "reach out" phrase used in TV shows in the late 90's, especially cop shows.  The cops would be  finishing questioning of a witness and they would say something like "Here's my card.  If you remember anything else, reach out..."

Yes, that's where I first heard the phrase.  Specifically, on NYPD Blue.  BTW, that's also where I first heard the now-ubiquitous "I'm sorry for your loss".

[james_s]

James, I must say, in reading your various posts, you really are a Jack-of-all-trades. I mean that in a good and respectful way. Great for you that you have such a broad range of abilities, in this world of specialists. I often times think about how I'd like to expand my abilities more, but never seem to find the time, and whenever I do have a bit of time, I always end up spending it on things closely related to my career.

I get it from my dad, he was a mechanical engineer and spent a large part of his career designing boilers and process equipment for the pulp & paper industry and later he was a supervisor of the engineering department at the airport. When I was a kid he did some extensive remodeling on our house and I was often recruited to help and from that I learned carpentry, plumbing, drywall, tile, etc. He was also an avid sailor and spent a lot of time working on his boat so I learned how to handle and maintain a sailboat with him and he always did all the work on the family cars too. One of my uncles was a master electrician and taught me most of the tricks of that trade as I helped him out with a lot of his projects at home when I was a kid. Another uncle was also an engineer of some sort, he designed stuff for power plants and nuclear submarines, another worked at a boat factory and taught me how to work with fiberglass. In a nutshell there are several engineers and a couple mechanically inclined blue collar types in my family so I had access to a lot of teachers. I also didn't have much money growing up so I had necessity as a motivator, I could either figure out a way to do something myself or I'd go without. Now I could afford to hire people to do stuff but I'm not in the habit of doing so.

[james_s]

When people follow some “fashion” without thinking it through. For example, when I first got my licence in 1977 every young buck that drove a car that he thought was hot had to reposition the bonnet / hood hinges so that the rear of the bonnet was raised about 40mm or so to supposedly let the hot air out. This was to tell the world that their car had such a fire and brimstone fury of an engine that it needed extra cooling ventilation courtesy of this lateral slot. What never occurred to them though is the location of the slot at the base of the windscreen is a high pressure area and so air would be forced in there, not exiting, and as a consequence it would somewhat reduce the flow of air through the radiator when moving forward. And the fact that one never saw a full tilt race car with that setup didn’t occur to them.

I saw a picture of a car like that once and wondered why they didn't bother to fix the hood so it would close properly, didn't even occur to me that someone would do that intentionally. I also never thought about that being a high pressure zone, I'm kind of surprised that it is actually but now that I think about it, the air intake for the HVAC in my car is located there and when at speed I can turn off the fan and there is still a pretty good flow of air. I never even thought about it.

[armandine2]

My amazon review of the PR-3254 crimper got rejected - I assume I didn't use obscene or offensive words but perhaps mangle has become so? I mentioned another crimper so perhaps that wasn't wise? Though the review was run-of-the-mill stuff I doubt (yet) it could've been rejected for not adding anything new.

[SilverSolder]

My amazon review of the PR-3254 crimper got rejected - I assume I didn't use obscene or offensive words but perhaps mangle has become so? I mentioned another crimper so perhaps that wasn't wise? Though the review was run-of-the-mill stuff I doubt (yet) it could've been rejected for not adding anything new.

Searching on Amazon for PR-3254 returns a billion crimpers but not a PR-3254...

I hate Amazon search, nothing could possibly be more broken...

[armandine2]

Try Preciva

(precise value)

[PlainName]

I hate Amazon search, nothing could possibly be more broken...

Yesterday I was searching for 'chocolate pudding' (don't ask) and got this as part of the result:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B015O589JO

I am thinking that firstly Amazon goes slightly off-brand to present alternatives to the (possibly) limited desired object, but also something completely off-piste to promote a wider search and purchase of stuff that wasn't intended at the start. Instead of broken search, it could be really clever marketing.

[SilverSolder]

I hate Amazon search, nothing could possibly be more broken...

Yesterday I was searching for 'chocolate pudding' (don't ask) and got this as part of the result:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B015O589JO

I am thinking that firstly Amazon goes slightly off-brand to present alternatives to the (possibly) limited desired object, but also something completely off-piste to promote a wider search and purchase of stuff that wasn't intended at the start. Instead of broken search, it could be really clever marketing.

Well, I'd go with "broken search" and "clever marketing" being in effect at the same time! 

[Labrat101]

If only you had searched for pudding chocolate. It comes up correct.
Why ?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=pudding+chocolate&crid=25QJ25VPG4KXD&sprefix=pudding+&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_3_8

[PlainName]

That certainly makes a difference.

[Bassman59]

My amazon review of the PR-3254 crimper got rejected - I assume I didn't use obscene or offensive words but perhaps mangle has become so? I mentioned another crimper so perhaps that wasn't wise? Though the review was run-of-the-mill stuff I doubt (yet) it could've been rejected for not adding anything new.

Searching on Amazon for PR-3254 returns a billion crimpers but not a PR-3254...

I hate Amazon search, nothing could possibly be more broken...

Amazon's search engine points you to what they want you to buy, not what you want. We've all probably seen what happens when you enter an exact part number and manufacturer name. Suffice to say you rarely get a useful result.

It is truly unbelievably bad.

[Labrat101]

That certainly makes a difference.

I got this . the top line seems to be a sponsored by advert .
It as someone else mentioned its not what you think you want .
Its  "  What You Truly desire " that counts      .

[armandine2]

[Amazon] They're reluctant to lose an opportunity to sell - but I was so confused by an order notification that I cancelled and reordered from Mouser, saved a few pounds as well.

[Sal Ammoniac]

I guess this is why DIY is "worth it", you are getting quite a good hourly rate for your efforts in some cases.  For example, working on my own cars, I "save" $100 an hour or more, compared to letting the mechanics at it.  Sometimes I do let the mechanics have at it, if the job requires a lift or other equipment that I don't want to invest in.

DIY is very popular, but it's not for everyone. I used to do it when I was younger because I had more free time than money. As I've gotten older this has reversed and now I have more money than free time, and I value my free time so much that in nearly every case I just hire someone to do the job.

With cars, that hasn't even been an issue. I tend to drive a new car for 100,000 miles and then replace it with a new car. Modern cars are so reliable that they almost never need repairs. I can't even think of the last time any of my cars needed more than oil changes during the 100,000 miles I kept them.

What little DIY I do is all hobby related, particularly in electronics. I've designed and built a lot of things for around the house (weather station, water tank level sensors, security system, etc.) even though I could have bought all of these commercially, and sometimes for less money than I spent on them. But for stuff like painting, plumbing, HVAC, and other stuff around the house, I have absolutely no interest in doing any of that myself and consider the cost to have it professionally done a more than fair trade-off since it lets me devote my time to what I really want to do. I used to envy people who could do their own carpentry, car repairs, and other DIY stuff, but not anymore.

[james_s]

A lot of the DIY stuff is a hobby for me, it's like climbing a mountain I guess, a personal challenge, in some cases not because it's easy but because it's hard. I'm not really sure what else I'd do with myself if I didn't have anything to fix or build.

[RJSV]

OK, for a TECH oriented person to say:
   BIG TECH SUCKS.
...For consumers, we frequently getting the raw deal. I, (we) DON'T WANT Walmart ads that poke over the file lists.
   Right now, I'm looking at 'fixing' some changes, that just happen somewhat randomly. The current 'change' surprise, my EMAIL goes straight to INBOX and with no clue how to get anywhere else, now, on that email web site. Used to be, simply click on 'compose', but now, to save my life, I couldn't activate any other place, but INBOX.
   THAT sort of issue, by the way, I actively purchased the book: "SO AND SO FOR DUMMIES", but guess what folks:
   That book seems more like a 'marketing gimmick', rather than a helpful book, (I'm a consumer, trying to avoid 'passive' dynamic).
   So, for now, no email...haven't got a clue.
Pet peeves? Yeah, hey thanks for this thread !
We need more critical reviews, of BIG TECH monopoly power status...thanks

[Buk]

Search engines that throw in some other stuff because "There aren't many hits for ..."!

[Bassman59]

Search engines that throw in some other stuff because "There aren't many hits for ..."!

Or .. the Amazon search feature, which returns what AMZN wants to sell, not what you want to buy. (This may have already been mentioned in this thread.)

[Bassman59]

OK, for a TECH oriented person to say:
   BIG TECH SUCKS.
...For consumers, we frequently getting the raw deal. I, (we) DON'T WANT Walmart ads that poke over the file lists.
   Right now, I'm looking at 'fixing' some changes, that just happen somewhat randomly. The current 'change' surprise, my EMAIL goes straight to INBOX and with no clue how to get anywhere else, now, on that email web site. Used to be, simply click on 'compose', but now, to save my life, I couldn't activate any other place, but INBOX.
   THAT sort of issue, by the way, I actively purchased the book: "SO AND SO FOR DUMMIES", but guess what folks:
   That book seems more like a 'marketing gimmick', rather than a helpful book, (I'm a consumer, trying to avoid 'passive' dynamic).
   So, for now, no email...haven't got a clue.
Pet peeves? Yeah, hey thanks for this thread !
We need more critical reviews, of BIG TECH monopoly power status...thanks

What is called "Big Tech" by the financial community is not tech at all. It's an advertising and data-mining operation made efficient by the use of database technology.

[RJSV]

Yes, thanks for your response, RE: Big Tech (Social).
   I mean the irony, 'Berkeley EE Engineer' can't even buy (local stores) an AM RADIO: has to resort to parasite laden ' Andoid' monopoly-habits.
I just 'gave up' trying to correct / overcome the now useless radio listening feature (podcast website of broadcast company). YOU NEED TO INSTALL THEIR APP, that's all...just one more...
   Of course, smart-ass reaction, to all this frustrating, would be to REQUIRE my own APP!!
  Ok, people, the way this works...the way I work: You've got to sign up on my RICK APP, to get anywhere with me.  Open / unlock the door, (for you) ? Fine, get my RICK APP installed, then we can talk.

   Folks, we need a TECH STRIKE or boycott something.
  More positivity is possible, but we got to get a handle on this is a real problem.
  What's your think, there ?

[Nominal Animal]

What's your think, there?

The only extra app I've got installed on my Android phone is the 2FA for my banking, and Google Home to control a Chromecast (at my mom's house; I don't have one at home).  I used a flip phone (Samsung X460) until just a few years ago.  I don't play with it, only use it to call or text people, and to check public transport time tables, local map, or the weather radar.
I always leave my phone home when I go for a walk, or nearby grocery shopping.  I don't watch broadcast TV, don't even have one; only computer monitors.

You know from my output that I'm not an anti-techie at all.  I just refuse to be a slave to my tools and implements, even if other people expect me to be.  In particular, I refuse to be immediately contactable 24/7: my time is mine, and I choose when I'm available or not.

[Red Squirrel]

There seems to be a new trend where browsers decide that when you type in the address bar that you are wanting to do a search instead of going to a url so it just dumps the hostname of whatever you were trying to access into google, essentially leaking potentially confidential info to the internet.  No, I don't want to do a search, if I wanted to do a search I would have went to a search engine!  This is very annoying on mobile since you need to type out the whole http : // part which is annoying on a mobile keyboard.

It seems they are making it harder and harder to disable this feature too.  There used to be an easy way to do it but they keep hiding the option.   Even Firefox is doing this crap now, just got an update and I can't seem to find a way to disable it.   I'm at a point where I just want to set my home page to a custom internal website that has it's own address bar to act as a redirector.