Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.

[IDEngineer]

To this day I still prefer analog VU meters. Probably my version of "tube sound"... not real but a "feel" thing. It just doesn't feel like a real mixing console without VU meters swinging their needles.

[Circlotron]

The term “first harmonic” aka fundamental.
A harmonic implies a multiple of the fundamental frequency.
Wikipedia contradicts itself here IMHO:

A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the fundamental frequency, the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the 1st harmonic,

[Nominal Animal]

The term “first harmonic” aka fundamental.
A harmonic implies a multiple of the fundamental frequency.
Wikipedia contradicts itself here IMHO:

A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the fundamental frequency, the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the 1st harmonic,

From a physics terminology perspective it is correct, because 1st multiple of the fundamental frequency is the fundamental frequency itself, as 'multiple' here is a noun, not an adjective (and only the adjective has the "more than one" sense).  Thus, "harmonic" does not actually exclude the fundamental itself.  Compare to e.g. harmonic oscillator.

Similarly, in mathematics, the smallest positive multiple of two is two.

Now, I do not know about the definitions and usage in say radio and radio-frequency electronics, as these terms are completely arbitrarily defined by us humans, and the definitions do vary between fields.  I am only pointing out that the usage of first harmonic being the fundamental frequency is completely in line with how physicists and mathematicians use the terms "harmonic" and "multiple".  So please don't bite my head off, if your experience in some other field says otherwise.

[IDEngineer]

I don't see a contradiction. One (1) is a "positive integer", and if you multiply the fundamental by this positive integer you get the original frequency. Calling the fundamental the "1st harmonic" is consistent with this.

I do love calling out linguistic errors, but I'm afraid I don't see a problem here.

[Simon]

I only found out recently for sure which the first is as I also confused first harmonic with the 2x, linguistically if a harmonic is a multiple then you would assume 2 but yes mathematically 1 makes sense.

[PlainName]

In music the fist harmonic is "an overtone accompanying a fundamental tone at a fixed interval", and I suspect most non-mathematicians might think that way. But it is hardly unique: programmers tend to count from 0 whereas everyone else counts from 1, and a UK 1st floor is the floor above the ground floor, whereas a US 1st floor is the floor level with the ground.

There should be standards for this kind of thing 

[Wallace Gasiewicz]

Plain:

It is even worse. Some buildings in the US have a Ground Floor and then a First Floor. Like in the UK and elsewhere.

Then there are the other buildings that have the First Floor on the ground level.

I think this is the Architect's creativity coming out.

[Circlotron]

'multiple' here is a noun, not an adjective (and only the adjective has the "more than one" sense). 

I'm a native English speaker and yet you know more about it than I do. LOL   

[james_s]

Plain:

It is even worse. Some buildings in the US have a Ground Floor and then a First Floor. Like in the UK and elsewhere.

Then there are the other buildings that have the First Floor on the ground level.

I think this is the Architect's creativity coming out.

The ones that bother me are tall buildings that don't have a 13th floor. It should be obvious that they do in fact have a 13th floor, and calling it 14 doesn't change that. The fact that it's 2022 and people in a developed nation still believe in the concept of an unlucky number just does not compute to me.

[Nominal Animal]

'multiple' here is a noun, not an adjective (and only the adjective has the "more than one" sense). 

I'm a native English speaker and yet you know more about it than I do. LOL   

You express yourself natively in it, whereas I have to do real work to try and express myself in it.  I don't actually "know" more, I just have to rely on the rules others have discovered about the language; the stuff that is written in dictionaries.  So, you're the fluent one, whereas I just point out stuff others have said, because I rely on them myself to be able to communicate.

Think of it more like someone walking with crutches telling a jogger to beware of rotating their ankle on slippery leaves on the road.

[CatalinaWOW]

People are weird beasts.  I know folks that would speak dismissively about skipping assignment of the number thirteen to a floor, but go on to talk about the importance of feng shui in a house. 

When you are designing a commercial building you are really unlikely to find someone who won't rent because the number 13 is missing from the floor set, but there is a very real possibility that someone won't rent on a floor numbered 13, and even some chance they will shun the building.  The decision to not include the 13 in the floor numbers is a sound business decision.   Just like the decision to include an astrology column in a newspaper.

[nctnico]

I never have a version 13 of anything. Software or hardware 

[eti]

People are weird beasts.  I know folks that would speak dismissively about skipping assignment of the number thirteen to a floor, but go on to talk about the importance of feng shui in a house. 

When you are designing a commercial building you are really unlikely to find someone who won't rent because the number 13 is missing from the floor set, but there is a very real possibility that someone won't rent on a floor numbered 13, and even some chance they will shun the building.  The decision to not include the 13 in the floor numbers is a sound business decision.   Just like the decision to include an astrology column in a newspaper.

[Circlotron]

Let's see if there will be a Windows 13.  That's not too far away.

[RJSV]

   Actually, FENG SHUI is an established science, although I know only bits and pieces about it.  Some of it makes good sense, geometrically.  Like principals that say things like:
    'Keeping doorways clear of clutter, and leaving ample space, so door can open completely', (in my interpretation),  allows 'luck' and 'health' generally to flow and circulate.  Sounds comic book fiction, sure, but Feng Shui has some pleasingly APPROPRIATE fit, I've seen.
   My consultant used partial intuitive reading, and talked about a couple things (in my business office location) that were private / confidential, although she had no direct knowledge.  That's just a bit of mystery.

[eti]

   Actually, FENG SHUI is an established science, although I know only bits and pieces about it.  Some of it makes good sense, geometrically.  Like principals that say things like:
    'Keeping doorways clear of clutter, and leaving ample space, so door can open completely', (in my interpretation),  allows 'luck' and 'health' generally to flow and circulate.  Sounds comic book fiction, sure, but Feng Shui has some pleasingly APPROPRIATE fit, I've seen.
   My consultant used partial intuitive reading, and talked about a couple things (in my business office location) that were private / confidential, although she had no direct knowledge.  That's just a bit of mystery.

Utter nonsense.

Your "consultant" conned you.

[IDEngineer]

Let's see if there will be a Windows 13.  That's not too far away.

[Nominal Animal]

Lemmings are not actually suicidal; they're migratory, and can swim.  Some do drown if the patch of water is wide enough, so maybe that's the origin of the misconception.

The stories about lemmings exploding is probably from predatory birds happening on a migratory group and getting into a feeding frenzy.  (Least weasels, stoats, and foxes tend to eat them whole; birds of prey tend to rip them apart while dining.)

(Only reason I responded to this is because I happened to grow up where they live.)

[eti]

Lemmings are not actually suicidal; they're migratory, and can swim.  Some do drown if the patch of water is wide enough, so maybe that's the origin of the misconception.

The stories about lemmings exploding is probably from predatory birds happening on a migratory group and getting into a feeding frenzy.  (Least weasels, stoats, and foxes tend to eat them whole; birds of prey tend to rip them apart while dining.)

(Only reason I responded to this is because I happened to grow up where they live.)

 In a twist of irony, it’s probably lemmings like me who propagated the myth 😁

[james_s]

People are weird beasts.  I know folks that would speak dismissively about skipping assignment of the number thirteen to a floor, but go on to talk about the importance of feng shui in a house. 

When you are designing a commercial building you are really unlikely to find someone who won't rent because the number 13 is missing from the floor set, but there is a very real possibility that someone won't rent on a floor numbered 13, and even some chance they will shun the building.  The decision to not include the 13 in the floor numbers is a sound business decision.   Just like the decision to include an astrology column in a newspaper.

Feng shui is bullshit too of course, it's said to be a science, but talk to 5 different feng shui consultants and you'll get 5 different answers on how to organize the furniture in your bedroom. While I'm not going to personally avoid a building that lacks a 13th floor, I shake my head at the utter absurdity of it all. It should be obvious that there is in fact a 13th floor, even if it's called something else. Then again, there is a large number of people who think that changing the name of something will somehow change what it is, witness the euphemism treadmill.

[TimFox]

In music the fist harmonic is "an overtone accompanying a fundamental tone at a fixed interval", and I suspect most non-mathematicians might think that way. But it is hardly unique: programmers tend to count from 0 whereas everyone else counts from 1, and a UK 1st floor is the floor above the ground floor, whereas a US 1st floor is the floor level with the ground.

There should be standards for this kind of thing 

In music, an "overtone" is not necessarily a "harmonic".
In physics, for a perfect one-dimensional resonator, such as a vibrating string or organ pipe, the overtones (mis-translation of German "Oberton", Helmholtz' contraction of "Oberpartialton") are harmonics (integer multiples of the fundamental frequency), but for other systems (such as kettle drums and non-perfect one-dimensional systems), the overtones are not harmonic multiples of the fundamental.

[Bud]

Crystal resonators overtones are not multiples of the fundamental.

[CatalinaWOW]

People are weird beasts.  I know folks that would speak dismissively about skipping assignment of the number thirteen to a floor, but go on to talk about the importance of feng shui in a house. 

When you are designing a commercial building you are really unlikely to find someone who won't rent because the number 13 is missing from the floor set, but there is a very real possibility that someone won't rent on a floor numbered 13, and even some chance they will shun the building.  The decision to not include the 13 in the floor numbers is a sound business decision.   Just like the decision to include an astrology column in a newspaper.

Feng shui is bullshit too of course, it's said to be a science, but talk to 5 different feng shui consultants and you'll get 5 different answers on how to organize the furniture in your bedroom. While I'm not going to personally avoid a building that lacks a 13th floor, I shake my head at the utter absurdity of it all. It should be obvious that there is in fact a 13th floor, even if it's called something else. Then again, there is a large number of people who think that changing the name of something will somehow change what it is, witness the euphemism treadmill.

So you have validated the business decision.  Skipping a floor named 13 did not lose any business due to an irrational belief.  While you are stipulating that there is a significant (your term was large) number of people who would avoid a floor labeled 13.  So it is an easy decision.  One choice leads to no loss of business.  The other does.  That the reason for the business drop is irrational is irrelevant.  Reality overwhelms theory every time. 

Feng Shui is in an even stronger position.  As prior posters have pointed out, some part of it is actually good design.  The ensemble, BS and rational parts together sells houses and business designs.  So it is rational to operate a feng shui business.  And while there is some part of the rational community that will throw up their hands in disgust and walk away when feng shui is mentioned, the majority of people will just ignore it and buy the property or accept the design anyway.  And it is rational for agents to not waste time showing properties with "bad" feng shui" to clients known to be proponents of the discipline.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Skipping a floor named 13 did not lose any business due to an irrational belief.  While you are stipulating that there is a significant (your term was large) number of people who would avoid a floor labeled 13.  So it is an easy decision.  One choice leads to no loss of business.  The other does.  That the reason for the business drop is irrational is irrelevant.  Reality overwhelms theory every time. 

Remember that fellow that wanted to bungee jump of the side of a building? So, off he went. Whump! He made a hole in the dirt at deep as he was wide. When they did the investigation, the guy counted 15 floors or something and so many feet per floor. Didn't know that there was no floor 13. Bungee cord was exactly 1 floor too long.

[james_s]

So you have validated the business decision.  Skipping a floor named 13 did not lose any business due to an irrational belief.  While you are stipulating that there is a significant (your term was large) number of people who would avoid a floor labeled 13.  So it is an easy decision.  One choice leads to no loss of business.  The other does.  That the reason for the business drop is irrational is irrelevant.  Reality overwhelms theory every time. 

It's just the principal of the matter, I would like to see society become less stupid and irrational, so given a choice between two buildings, one that had a 13th floor and one that did not, I'd choose the one that did every time, all else being equal. If I could work on the 13th floor that would even be preferable as it might help filter out the number of irrational idiots in my vicinity. I get why developers do it, I just think it's stupid and I roll my eyes whenever I see it, and point out that floor 14 is the 13th floor at every opportunity. Seriously, this superstition is the sort of thing a toddler might believe, it has absolutely no place in modern society.

And yes it's rational to operate a feng shui business in the same sense that it's rational to operate a psychic or palm reading business, it's profitable to scam gullible people out of their money.