Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.

[james_s]

From this thread 1 year ago...

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/your-pet-peeve-technical-or-otherwise/msg3252734/#msg3252734

 

Thought I must have mentioned it already but then I didn't find it when I searched. I just encountered more sticky goo again recently though which has freshly renewed my annoyance with the stuff.

[Nominal Animal]

"Because it did not happen to me, everyone claiming it happened to them must be wrong, lying, dumb, or most likely all three."

[TimFox]

And, "It happened in this way to me, therefore it always happens in this way to everyone."

[james_s]

"It won't work for my circumstances, therefore it is a dumb idea and will never work for anybody"

[Circlotron]

"I can't conceive / understand it, therefore it can't happen."

[Nominal Animal]

(Even though it is sad that so many others know exactly what I'm talking about, I do feel much better knowing it's not only me.)

[eti]

"Because it did not happen to me, everyone claiming it happened to them must be wrong, lying, dumb, or most likely all three."

^ Yes. This is possibly one of the most commonly seen responses from otherwise (seemingly) exceptionally intelligent people.  But then, were they truly, exceptionally intelligent, they'd be able to "think meta" and objectively remove themselves from the woods to stand back and look at the trees from an aerial view, and form an observation that concludes that they're able to only see their view as they're disinterested in any other (I know, I haven't articulated that very well)

[eti]

Ooooh I have one!:

Back in the days when Apple first released aluminium iMac models, which had ANODISED aluminium bodies, the entire "tech press" (cringe!) parroted that they were "brushed aluminium"🤦

It happened again and again, and again, and again. Had any single one of them stopped to consider what BRUSHING does to a surface, that would maybe have been corrected.

Here's one I've not thought about for a while ... supposed "experts" on YouTube stating the capacity of a cellphone battery, using "milliamps" where they meant "mAh" or "milliamp hours" - this one is an epidemic in that area of journalism, and one which seemingly no one even corrects. 

[Ed.Kloonk]

Ooooh I have one!:

Back in the days when Apple first released aluminium iMac models, which had ANODISED aluminium bodies, the entire "tech press" (cringe!) parroted that they were "brushed aluminium"🤦

It happened again and again, and again, and again. Had any single one of them stopped to consider what BRUSHING does to a surface, that would maybe have been corrected.

I wonder if it was a deliberate journalistic faux pas. 'Brushed' aluminium has connotations of a brush being used by an artist.

[CatalinaWOW]

I paid no attention to Apple products of the day so can't say if this applies, but there really is sich a thong as brushed aluminum surface finish.  It is aluminum slightly roughened with a wire brush.  There are variations in how deeply the surface is roughened and whether a pattern of striations is left by the brush(s).  The surface may be anodized after brushing.  And there are ways to simulate an actual brushed finish.  The intent of these finishes is either artistic or to reduce glare and reflections from the surface.  In some siruations they might improve heat transfer.

[Nominal Animal]

there really is sich a thong as brushed aluminum surface finish.

I use cast aluminium boxes for many of my electronics things, and I like the almost "stainless steel look" that I get if I sand the surface (320-400 grit).  I assume this is what others mean when they say "brushed aluminium surface finish" (based on web image searches, they match).  It does not seem to tarnish (oxidize) in normal use, not even from my sweaty and oily sausage fingers handling them.

I do also like anodized aluminium finishes with black, blue, red, or white dyes.  I find the anodized un-dyed look a bit dull; you see this often in all sorts of furniture.  In some ways color-anodized aluminium looks like paint, but the colors don't really fade and ordinary scratches don't have a different color, and it obviously doesn't peel off even with chemicals, so it at least feels more durable.

(And, as mentioned, anodizing does not hinder cooling properties at all, and can even help a little bit in some specific cases.)

I don't understand how anyone could mix the two.

[eti]

I paid no attention to Apple products of the day so can't say if this applies, but there really is sich a thong as brushed aluminum surface finish.  It is aluminum slightly roughened with a wire brush.  There are variations in how deeply the surface is roughened and whether a pattern of striations is left by the brush(s).  The surface may be anodized after brushing.  And there are ways to simulate an actual brushed finish.  The intent of these finishes is either artistic or to reduce glare and reflections from the surface.  In some siruations they might improve heat transfer.

Yes, I know, and these products didn't have that finish.

[SiliconWizard]

but there really is sich a thong as brushed aluminum surface finish.

I've never seen thongs with a brushed aluminum finish. 

[eti]

but there really is sich a thong as brushed aluminum surface finish.

I've never seen thongs with a brushed aluminum finish. 

I refrained from replying with that - well all make typos 

[Bassman59]

Here's one I've not thought about for a while ... supposed "experts" on YouTube stating the capacity of a cellphone battery, using "milliamps" where they meant "mAh" or "milliamp hours" - this one is an epidemic in that area of journalism, and one which seemingly no one even corrects.

Never use "YouTube" and "journalism" in the same paragraph, or forum post, or ... anywhere.

[james_s]

There's no fundamental reason that quality journalism can't exist on youtube. It just usually doesn't. Actually I'm not even so sure about that, there is some really high quality content on youtube, there's just a lot of garbage too.

[m98]

The highest quality journalism is usually found on YouTube or independent blogs. Sure there also is a overwhelming lot of garbage, but for the reasonably well educated, it should be quite obvious. You don't find yourself accidentally listening to Alex Jones...

[Ed.Kloonk]

TV's dumb and smart that won't let you select video and audio from different sources. Am I the only one who wants to do this?

[SilverSolder]

TV's dumb and smart that won't let you select video and audio from different sources. Am I the only one who wants to do this?

As in, overdubbing a news cast with AC/DC "TNT" ?

[Ed.Kloonk]

TV's dumb and smart that won't let you select video and audio from different sources. Am I the only one who wants to do this?

As in, overdubbing a news cast with AC/DC "TNT" ?

Of course not!

Classical music over Swedish Pron.

[james_s]

I never even use the audio on my TV, the built in speakers are junk due to the obsession with thin-ness.

[DrG]

Phone menus that do not EVER give you an option to talk to a human when NONE of the options you are presented with are what you need to do. Either this is getting worse or I have recently run into a bunch of these. Today, I actually had to use Google to see how to get to a human being for this particular place (and it was basically just saying to select an option that I did not want).

Then, to add insult to being a PITA, at the end, you get transferred to a "request" that you provide feedback on their service - and of course, there are only the usual few forced choice options...

There is no end to the injustice that I must endure 

[IDEngineer]

My solution is to choose the option that says "I want to buy new service" or "add features" or whatever else implies you want to give them more money. That almost always switches you to a human because they can try to upsell you. Instead, I start describing my technical problem and they immediately offer to switch me to someone internal who handles that because time spent with me is not generating new revenue and thus detracts from their sales goals. I always get their name and extension before they switch me, so they know I can call back and ask for them again if "somehow" my call gets dropped.

[rsjsouza]

My latest pet peeve is the Cookies settings now present in every new page you visit. 100% of the time you need to spend clicks (and time) to go the Cookies settings and scroll through all the options to be sure that only the "necessary", or "functional" or whatever minimum setting is enabled. Ah, to add insult to injury, usually only the button "Accept All Cookies" looks active, while the other real button "Enable only selected" or something else is greyed out, looking inactive.

These guys turned the weasel level to 11!

[Ed.Kloonk]

My latest pet peeve is the Cookies settings now present in every new page you visit. 100% of the time you need to spend clicks (and time) to go the Cookies settings and scroll through all the options to be sure that only the "necessary", or "functional" or whatever minimum setting is enabled. Ah, to add insult to injury, usually only the button "Accept All Cookies" looks active, while the other real button "Enable only selected" or something else is greyed out, looking inactive.

These guys turned the weasel level to 11!

"Sign in with Google."