Author Topic: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.  (Read 627218 times)

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Offline coppice

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3625 on: April 22, 2023, 02:12:25 pm »
It's all in the attitude. And 7 is better than 6!
I always think of this scene when people get all excited about the 5S stuff, which has now changed to 6S.
5S was always for losers. :)

More seriously I've watched interesting dynamics with the move from 5σ to 6σ to 7σ. Most people are on board, and feel good, getting to 5σ. Then it starts getting harder. There's push back. "We're pretty good now. Why do we need to keep pushing?". "Maybe because some of our customer integrate thousands of parts into their product, and to get a decent quality level there they need the components to be nearly perfect". "Sure, but its SOOOOO HARD".
 

Offline mendip_discovery

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3626 on: April 22, 2023, 02:59:32 pm »
It's all in the attitude. And 7 is better than 6!
I always think of this scene when people get all excited about the 5S stuff, which has now changed to 6S.
5S was always for losers. :)

More seriously I've watched interesting dynamics with the move from 5σ to 6σ to 7σ. Most people are on board, and feel good, getting to 5σ. Then it starts getting harder. There's push back. "We're pretty good now. Why do we need to keep pushing?". "Maybe because some of our customer integrate thousands of parts into their product, and to get a decent quality level there they need the components to be nearly perfect". "Sure, but its SOOOOO HARD".

I have always chuckled at the ones who stride around the place stating some 6 sigma blackbelt stuff like they are suddenly some religious deity to worshiped. It get funnier when the firm gets a slap on the wrist for a lack of keeping up with the basic internal audits and when the sigma deity is confronted they use every bit of teflon coating clothing they have to say they trained up several people to do auditing but they have all have thier normal job to do with no free time as the sigma lord has got rid all all the staff from that department.

I think any management system is good at the start but every new level up from there is harder due to the added paperwork. It's a bit like racing where to start with gains are fairly easy but the last 0.01s a lap is a big challenge.

I was chatting to a customer the other day as they have were talking about how covid etc highlighted a lot of problems with how lean some firms have been running. A global supply chain with a just in time delivery schedule is all well and good until someone throws a spanner in the works or a container ship into a narrow channel. The firm did well as they still hadn't upgraded and they still could do 90% of their work, only having slow down due to getting raw materials. They have a new MD and he is spending millions to scrap off the old stuff and move them to a shiny new building.
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Offline coppice

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3627 on: April 22, 2023, 03:05:12 pm »
I was chatting to a customer the other day as they have were talking about how covid etc highlighted a lot of problems with how lean some firms have been running. A global supply chain with a just in time delivery schedule is all well and good until someone throws a spanner in the works or a container ship into a narrow channel. The firm did well as they still hadn't upgraded and they still could do 90% of their work, only having slow down due to getting raw materials. They have a new MD and he is spending millions to scrap off the old stuff and move them to a shiny new building.
There is no one size fits all for these things. Some people are actually OK with the occasional supply issue. Either their savings in the smooth times outweigh their loses in the hiccups, or they have the flexibility to make something else while waiting for the missing bits. Other people need day by day flow with certainty, like a bakery.
 

Offline vk6zgo

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3628 on: April 23, 2023, 01:08:59 am »
I was chatting to a customer the other day as they have were talking about how covid etc highlighted a lot of problems with how lean some firms have been running. A global supply chain with a just in time delivery schedule is all well and good until someone throws a spanner in the works or a container ship into a narrow channel. The firm did well as they still hadn't upgraded and they still could do 90% of their work, only having slow down due to getting raw materials. They have a new MD and he is spending millions to scrap off the old stuff and move them to a shiny new building.
There is no one size fits all for these things. Some people are actually OK with the occasional supply issue. Either their savings in the smooth times outweigh their loses in the hiccups, or they have the flexibility to make something else while waiting for the missing bits.
Nice for them, not so nice for their customers.
Quote
Other people need day by day flow with certainty, like a bakery.
 

Online TimFox

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3629 on: April 23, 2023, 02:06:46 pm »
A pet peeve for today, which is Shakespeare's Birthday.
Some media outlets are pushing "Talk like Shakespeare" day, but couldn't find a copywriter that could actually conjugate verbs in the manner of the Bard.
What's so difficult about "thou hast" vs. "he hath"--you could look it up.
 

Offline coppice

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3630 on: April 23, 2023, 02:20:32 pm »
A pet peeve for today, which is Shakespeare's Birthday.
Some media outlets are pushing "Talk like Shakespeare" day, but couldn't find a copywriter that could actually conjugate verbs in the manner of the Bard.
What's so difficult about "thou hast" vs. "he hath"--you could look it up.
There is a whole sub-culture now performing Shakespeare in OP (original pronunciation, not original poster). The rhyming works much better like that.
 

Offline AndyBeez

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3631 on: April 23, 2023, 02:23:12 pm »
2BSA or not 2BSA, that is the transistor question?

 

Online TimFox

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3632 on: April 23, 2023, 02:45:41 pm »
A pet peeve for today, which is Shakespeare's Birthday.
Some media outlets are pushing "Talk like Shakespeare" day, but couldn't find a copywriter that could actually conjugate verbs in the manner of the Bard.
What's so difficult about "thou hast" vs. "he hath"--you could look it up.
There is a whole sub-culture now performing Shakespeare in OP (original pronunciation, not original poster). The rhyming works much better like that.

Another curmudgeon was mocking a suburban high-school English teacher who was proud of teaching "Shakespeare in the Old English".
The mocker suggested that such a feat required a genius on the order of J R R Tolkien.

Actually, Chicago not only has a dedicated Shakespeare theater, but many of the smaller theaters will do Shakespeare in interesting stagings, including a Hamlet with Ophelia and Laertes playing video games, but they are careful to keep to the original pronunciation and grammar.
 

Offline themadhippy

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3633 on: April 23, 2023, 03:30:06 pm »
Ah shakspeare,the  famous literary agent and plagiarist,although his later works like west side story and search for the forbidden planet are ok
 

Online CirclotronTopic starter

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3634 on: April 24, 2023, 02:01:51 am »
Clergymen making public prayers in Shakespeare era English as if that was more appropriate than what is currently, but respectfully, spoken.
 

Online TimFox

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3635 on: April 24, 2023, 11:14:40 pm »
Shakespeare was alive when the King James version was translated.
It is not difficult to understand the "Early Modern English" used in both, with some tweaking of the spelling.
As one literary critic said, "The King James Bible has ceased to be the almost universally used translation as readers have been encouraged to read more ‘accessible’ versions, which also happen to be stylistically inferior in virtually all respects."
Do you think the text of Handel's Messiah would sound better or be better understood using a more modern translation?

Amusing conspiracy theory:  Shakespeare is not credited as having been involved in the King James translation.
However, language play and codes were common in that era.
Check Psalm 46:  (ignoring "Selah" which is a direction, not part of the text).
The 46th word from the start is "shake".
The 46th word from the end is "spear".
Shakespeare was 46 years old in 1610.
Two problems:  the King James translation was published in 1611.
Also, Coverdale's translation of the psalms (still used in the Book of Common Prayer) is virtually the same (46 and 48th position for the two words).
Could have happened, but not proven.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2023, 11:39:57 pm by TimFox »
 

Offline coppice

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3636 on: April 25, 2023, 12:36:53 am »
Clergymen making public prayers in Shakespeare era English as if that was more appropriate than what is currently, but respectfully, spoken.
When the King James bible was produced it used already archaic language. This was partly due to laziness, reusing a translation produced nearly a century before, by William Tyndale who wrote in the style of his time. Tyndale couldn't complete the execution, because he was executed. Book burners have nothing on the rulers in the good old days. Direct reuse was also because when they tried to modernise the language people found it a lot less authoritative. It seems to be broadly true, in multiple languages, that a somewhat antique style adds gravitas to anything.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2023, 12:39:53 am by coppice »
 

Online TimFox

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3637 on: April 25, 2023, 12:51:27 am »
At that time, the language used in the King James translation was perhaps more formal, but no more archaic than that of Shakespeare, living at the same time.
Both use Elizabethan English:  Shakespeare's career overlapped the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I; the latter commissioned the Bible translation.
You can find occasional archaisms in Shakespeare, such as the odd "yclept", but they are not common in the King James.
The total size of the vocabulary in Shakespeare's plays is substantially larger (31,000 words) than that used in the King James translation (12,000 words).
(Authorities differ on the exact numbers, depending on how they are counted, but the ratio seems to be constant.)
 

Offline paulca

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3638 on: April 25, 2023, 03:33:16 pm »
Being called a "Consultant".
Being called a "Java developer"
The company I work for not understanding why the former is offensive and insulting.
"What could possibly go wrong?"
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Online TimFox

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3639 on: April 25, 2023, 05:56:34 pm »
If the job description is, in fact, "consulting", why is "consultant" offensive or insulting?
One standard dictionary definition of "consultant" is "a person who provides expert advice professionally".
 
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Offline helius

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3640 on: April 25, 2023, 07:28:31 pm »
In practice consultants are contracted to provide a service to a company but not as employees, so the financial relationship is quite different.
If you "work for a company" or receive a salary you cannot technically be a consultant.
 

Offline coppice

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3641 on: April 25, 2023, 07:54:47 pm »
If the job description is, in fact, "consulting", why is "consultant" offensive or insulting?
One standard dictionary definition of "consultant" is "a person who provides expert advice professionally".
The job title "consultant" has been so devalued, its widely considered a dirty word when its a complete job title. If the word consultant is not immediately followed in a job title by a specific area of expertise, the person's role is usually parasitic. Their only expertise may be in getting and keeping lucrative contracts which produce nothing of value. Genuine consultants are usually proud of their expertise, and very much want that in their job title.
 

Offline IDEngineer

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3642 on: April 25, 2023, 08:08:45 pm »
Now if we could only get the word "counselor" (as in "lawyer") similiarly disparaged.
 

Online TimFox

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3643 on: April 25, 2023, 11:00:33 pm »
Once again, "counselor" is a valid legal term.
This is analogous to a non-engineer complaining that a bipolar transistor is manic-depressive.

The US Constitution, Amendment 6:
"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense."  [emphasis added]
If you watch the old Perry Mason TV series, the District Attorney always addresses Mr Mason as "counselor".

Degraded terms:  in some circles "engineer" has been degraded, but that should not stop you from so describing yourself.
"Sanitation engineer" is a bad euphemism for trash collector.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2023, 11:13:02 pm by TimFox »
 

Online SiliconWizard

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3644 on: April 25, 2023, 11:26:39 pm »
If you "work for a company" or receive a salary you cannot technically be a consultant.

Yep. Some employees, past a certain point in their careers and if the company hasn't found a management position for them/or they didn't want one, sometimes end up in some 'expert' position. That kind of title often means that the employee has stopped being a direct productive value to the company for whatever reason, but the company doesn't want to/can't get rid of them. So, they become an "expert" and get invited in meetings, and occasionally as "firemen". ;D
 

Online TimFox

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3645 on: April 25, 2023, 11:42:46 pm »
External consultants, normally paid through a 1099 form rather than by salary, are common.
However, that is not the only meaning of that noun.
 

Offline IDEngineer

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3646 on: April 25, 2023, 11:59:15 pm »
"Counselor" can be simultaneously a valid legal term and a term of disparagement.

Like "convict", for example.

Also, "elected official".
« Last Edit: April 26, 2023, 12:02:52 am by IDEngineer »
 

Offline vk6zgo

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3647 on: April 26, 2023, 01:48:38 am »
"Google Groups" are a current pet peeve.

Signing onto the ham radio group I am a member of, I see a category called  "Recent Groups".
Clicking on it, I find a few sites which are ham radio or similar, but a plethora of other crap, including such delights as:

"Foto fantasia"---- "For the discerning voyeur".

"married housewives in singapore"

"nudist photograph"
The last one might be quite legitimate pictures of Naturists trundling around having "nice family holidays", but the first two definitely send out very obvious signals. Probably the lady in the first one & the ladies from Singapore are quite "voyeur worthy", but I have never had occasion, or the need to look at that group.

A bit further down we have (evidently referring some esoteric computer networking stuff, or whatever.): -
"Salt users"

Going lower, it gets a bit dark, with:-
"alt.assassination.jfk"

& a few others.

The point of this is they don't offer any way for ordinary users to remove these groups, unless you are an owner/administrator of a Group.
I can understand Google working out that I am interested in ham radio & electronics from the nature of the group, but what tells them I am an old pervy conspiracy theorist? ;D
 

Online TimFox

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3648 on: April 26, 2023, 03:43:26 am »
"Counselor" can be simultaneously a valid legal term and a term of disparagement.

Like "convict", for example.

Also, "elected official".

So you want to disparage lawyers, counselors, and attorneys.
Those are still the terms used for them.
 

Offline mendip_discovery

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Re: Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.
« Reply #3649 on: April 26, 2023, 05:26:41 am »
"Google Groups" are a current pet peeve.

Signing onto the ham radio group I am a member of, I see a category called  "Recent Groups".
Clicking on it, I find a few sites which are ham radio or similar, but a plethora of other crap, including such delights as:

"Foto fantasia"---- "For the discerning voyeur".

"married housewives in singapore"

"nudist photograph"
The last one might be quite legitimate pictures of Naturists trundling around having "nice family holidays", but the first two definitely send out very obvious signals. Probably the lady in the first one & the ladies from Singapore are quite "voyeur worthy", but I have never had occasion, or the need to look at that group.

A bit further down we have (evidently referring some esoteric computer networking stuff, or whatever.): -
"Salt users"

Going lower, it gets a bit dark, with:-
"alt.assassination.jfk"

& a few others.

The point of this is they don't offer any way for ordinary users to remove these groups, unless you are an owner/administrator of a Group.
I can understand Google working out that I am interested in ham radio & electronics from the nature of the group, but what tells them I am an old pervy conspiracy theorist? ;D

The issue it's not just you but the other members of the group that happen to also frequent those other places. Being a ham operator isn't really pulling in the ladies as we all thought it would.
Motorcyclist, Nerd, and I work in a Calibration Lab :-)
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So everyone is clear, Calibration = Taking Measurement against a known source, Verification = Checking Calibration against Specification, Adjustment = Adjusting the unit to be within specifications.
 


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