Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.

[Nominal Animal]

Whoo boy, the state of graphical user interfaces (schematic capture, symbol creation) for spice-compatible circuit simulation on Linux, is bad.

This is interesting. One would think, due to the open source origins of SPICE, that there would be also good graphical programs available for Linux. On the contrary, there are only a few. Supposedly also e.g. KiCAD works with ngspice, but I haven't tried.

Qucs-S, Qucs with SPICE, turns out to work relatively satisfactorily.

It is straightforward to use a 'SpiceLibComp' file component to represent any SPICE subcircuit.  Everything except creating a new visual symbol to use for the subcircuit in the GUI to wire to, is easy and doable in the GUI.  I did need to create new visual symbols to describe PNP and NPN transistors, since there is no symbol editor yet, and the SPICE-compatible symbol list is woefully empty (you will need to create one for each type of subcircuit you want to use).

I tested with Nexperia BC847C and BC857C SPICE subcircuit models, and compared them to the built-in BC847C and BC857C components.  I replicated the base-emitter voltage (Vbe) curve as a function of collector current (Ic) available in the datasheets; including at different temperatures.  After I understood how the GUI and ngspice interact, it was a simple matter of a (transient simulation) to sweep the base-emitter voltage from 0 to 1 V (negative for the PNP).  The built-in components do not model temperature, but the Nexperia SPICE subcircuits do.  The differences are all such that the SPICE subcircuits nicely replicate the datasheet, with differences as expected between a generic and a specific model.  The Nexperia BC857C SPICE subcircuit does consistently seem to have about 0.25V closer to ground Vbe than the generic component, at all valid collector currents, at +25°C.

But hoo boy is ngspice fast.  A 100,001 step transient simulation of those two transistors in separate subcircuits (generating 1,300,144 lines, and 24,702,654 bytes of data), takes less than a second.  It's more annoying to have to separately click "Exit" (to switch to the result diagrams file).

Thus, as usual, it is a GUI / User interface / User experience problem, not a matter of not having efficient number crunching tools, really.
It does show that most Linux developers are technically oriented, more comfortable with Unix tools, than creating graphical user interfaces.

[rdl]

All y'all was actually a bit of a joke. Having been born in Kentucky and living most of my adult life in North Carolina and the last 20 years in Mississippi means I can safely say the actual usage varies a lot.

[CatalinaWOW]

It may have been a joke, but I have both heard and used that construct.  Language (at least English) is a malleable tool, often adjusted on the spot for convenience or nuance.

[armandine2]

my amazon-prime-day shopping spree ended with a wordy math book 

a book with a ***** mode score and very small naysayer contingent

[Zeyneb]

So a major annoyance for me is online shops with product pages that lacks even the most basic information to judge whether the product is suitable for me needs. Seen this over and over.

[free_electron]

Dutch:
Parent: Stop met de kat te martelen.   (Can also use: Zit de kat niet te kwellen.)
Kid: Ik ben de kat niet aan het martelen. (Ik ben de kat niet aan het kwellen)

you need to try it in flemish

ouders: skeet uit me die katte t'ambeteren e
kinders : ma k'benne kik die katte nie aan t'ambetern e!

or
depending on the region ( and this can literally be the next town over) that word coudl be
- ambeteren
- kloten
- koeionneren
- lastig the vallen
- pesten
- vermassekreren

stopping could be
- skeet uit
- stopt
- stoppet

or they could use completely different expressions or even make it as a question
est nuy gedaan me die katte t'ambeteren ?  (are you done annoyting the cat ? but in a commanding tone so it is not a question ..)

there are also other weird things from region to region.
doe nekee den televiesie dood , of de lucht dood.
literally : kill the tv or kill the air..  but it means switch off and that 'air' is actually the 'light'. the correct word is "licht" (light) but it is pronounced 'u' like in "butt"

And then there is the french ....

"le lecteur DC utilise du courant CD ..."
the CD player uses DC current

DC = disque compacte instead of compact disc
CD = courant directe  : current direct instead of direct current

On utilise l'ordinateur pour acceser la toile.
We use an ordner to access the web

because l'academie francaise want to keep the language pure.

They tried computer courses in flemish.... hilarious. windows 98 : ruute achtnegentuh  (a "ruit" is a window. in flemish it is pronounced ruute.)

There is one word borrowed from the maldivian language that found its way in every language of the world : atol  (atolhu). Simply because that is how you describe that type of island structure.

[SeanB]

Atol is also a test equipment language......funny enough the original manuals were in French, but the minicomputer that ran the racks of ATE was made by HP, and there the manuals were English, with US measurements. The ATE itself was metric, with the US measurements to 3 decimal points in the conversion in all the diagrams and drawings. We had English and French paper tapes for the programs, and also English translations of the french manuals, and French translations of the HP manuals.

Most popular book in there was the English French dictionary, as the translations were often rather lacking in accuracy, especially for the technical side. Half the dictionary was English and French translation, and the other half vice versa. None of us spoke french..... But we made do with the technical translations, and lots of little bits of masking tape with writing on it, for the engraved labels on some test equipment.

[pcprogrammer]

How about the banking nazi's and there mindless corporate drones

The last month they have been pestering me with their privacy invading questions about how much money I make, how much I can spend and why I'm using a dutch mobile phone number when I live in France?

None of their f....ing business. Verifying my identity, ok. Questioning suspicious transactions, to some extend ok.

And what do the bastards do, they start threatening with blocking and closing your account.

 

[PlainName]

That's probably not the banks but the government making them do that. Anti-laundering legislation, and the banks just have to suck it up. There have been large fines for them when they've been a bit lax:

https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/uk-anti-money-laundering-fines-hit-record-as-watchdog-seeks-criminal-convictions-68630335

[pcprogrammer]

I know about these laws, they are not just for anti-laundering, they also take funding terrorism in account. I have investigated them 14 years ago when we bought the house in France. Money paid to a foreign notary and the bank came with the question what the money was for. Same reply from me, none of their business.

A little bit of thinking and some easy investigation would have showed them it was for buying a house and thus legit. Don't bother your customer when not needed.

At that time, the arrangements of the law where that the bank had to ask the question, and in case of non compliance, they, the bank, could report this to a government agency. No blocking of accounts enforced by the government before the agency taking action. Just the bank being a bully.

Sure laundering or funding terorism is the biggest crime you can commit nowadays, but allowing banks to do this, starts to look a lot like a police state.

But that is just me. I don't like to role over and play dead.

[IDEngineer]

allowing banks to do this, starts to look a lot like a police state.

Things have looked a lot like a police state for a long time now, particularly since 9/11/2001 and the USA's "Patriot" Act whose tendrils reached out and bullied lots of other nations to do the USA's bidding.

To be fair, I honestly believe there are plenty of good-intentioned people in government who truly wish to protect their respective nations and citizens. But it's hyper-dangerous to create sweeping systems with excessive authority, because with a couple of elections they can migrate into the hands of people with very different intentions. Such systems are also hard to eradicate once established. It is safer to never create the environment in which such ill intentions can flourish, but that requires voters to accept a certain degree of risk - and waving one's arms shouting about "safety" has elected a lot of politicians.

[Ed.Kloonk]

I love the smell of TIP2955 in the morning.

[pcprogrammer]

I love the smell of TIP2955 in the morning.

A new one or one that just blew up 

[Ed.Kloonk]

I love the smell of TIP2955 in the morning.

A new one or one that just blew up 

Ancient homebuilt lab switching power supply.

Note to self: lab psu doesn't play nice charging a car battery.

To the beginners sub forum, Robin!

 

[SiliconWizard]

That's probably not the banks but the government making them do that. Anti-laundering legislation, and the banks just have to suck it up. There have been large fines for them when they've been a bit lax:

https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/uk-anti-money-laundering-fines-hit-record-as-watchdog-seeks-criminal-convictions-68630335

That's getting too far though. And this is happening pretty much all over the world, indeed.

Has it helped curb laundering in any way though?

[IDEngineer]

Has it helped curb laundering in any way though?

Only some of the laundering they don't like.

Remember the old adage: "Don't do bad things. Governments hate competition."

And its corollary: "Politicians want either less corruption, or more participation in it."

[rsjsouza]

I hear your frstration, pcprogrammer... Many years ago we went through similar transactions and information sharing to avoid "money laundering and evasion". Pure BS, since the economic scandals at the time were in the order of tens of millions - much higher than what was being transfered to use as a downpayment for a middle class house. Bastards.

[srb1954]

That's probably not the banks but the government making them do that. Anti-laundering legislation, and the banks just have to suck it up. There have been large fines for them when they've been a bit lax:

https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/uk-anti-money-laundering-fines-hit-record-as-watchdog-seeks-criminal-convictions-68630335

That's getting too far though. And this is happening pretty much all over the world, indeed.

Has it helped curb laundering in any way though?

No. It just adds extra cost and delays for legitimate business operations.

In our anti-money laundering legislation one of the requirements is that you have to provide details of official identity papers and proof of address to any financial institution, lawyer or real estate agent you deal with. If you can't provide the original documents in person you have to provide a certified copy instead. Certification involves getting the copies sighted and attested as a true copy by some prominent or trusted professional person.

Included in the list of so-called trusted professional people are lawyers and accountants, who are more likely than any other sector of the population to be involved in actual money laundering! 

However, professional engineers are not classed as being sufficiently trustworthy to attest to document veracity. 

[pcprogrammer]

I don't mind the verification of my identity or my address when applying for a new account. It is the once in a while update they want, as if my identity changes over time just because my passport went out of date.

Also the non relevant additional questions they ask involving the "know your customer" act, that to me are privacy sensitive, and to which I say none of your business.

And then you have to deal with the "low" level staff that can't deviate from the script they have in front of them. Think for your self is not allowed here, hence the "mindless corporate drones"

And for sure it only drives up cost, but that seems to be the way society works nowadays, where no one seems to give an f... and just run a long as a willing herd of sheep's.

And terrorist know about the 10000 euro/dollar limit that raises the red flag in the automated systems, so they just transfer less

Edit: Come to think of it the money for the house thing is idiocy anyway. If I had told them it is for buying a house and they just take my word for it, they could have bothered to just not ask. If on the other hand they do some research to verify my answer, they could have done the research in the first place so they did not have to ask me.

[pcprogrammer]

I love the smell of TIP2955 in the morning.

A new one or one that just blew up 

Ancient homebuilt lab switching power supply.

Note to self: lab psu doesn't play nice charging a car battery.

To the beginners sub forum, Robin!

 

Well that explains. I was thinking of the transistor

[SilverSolder]

Pet peeve of today...   user interface "engineering" in some new cars.   Renting a new VW Golf currently - a nice car in most respects...   but e.g. to turn up the heater or a/c fan, you have to (1) Touch the "Climate Control" button for what feels like an eternity before it accepts that it has been "touched", which then causes a screen to pop up on the display.  (2) On that new screen, you can then slide your finger to adjust the fan speed.   

OMG, seriously VW??  This all just takes too long, and you have to pay way too much attention to something you can do blindfolded in most other cars.   This particular design is so irritating that it's a reason to avoid renting a Golf, let alone buy one!

[Cubdriver]

Touch screen interfaces that the driver must interact with have no business being in cars.  They should have physical controls, easily identifiable by touch without the need to look directly at them.   

-Pat

[Ed.Kloonk]

Touch screen interfaces that the driver must interact with have no business being in cars.  They should have physical controls, easily identifiable by touch without the need to look directly at them.   

-Pat

Marine GPS navigators are the worst when you've got wet, salty hands. And using a cloth to clean or dry the screen sends the system into complete shock.

 

[Ed.Kloonk]

OMG, seriously VW??  This all just takes too long, and you have to pay way too much attention to something you can do blindfolded in most other cars.   This particular design is so irritating that it's a reason to avoid renting a Golf, let alone buy one!

Having rented a Golf in England, yes. A terrible car.

They once made positive-ground (?) 6V Beetles. Good fun trying to fit a car radio. Not.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=403205

[pcprogrammer]

Pet peeve of today...   user interface "engineering" in some new cars.   Renting a new VW Golf currently - a nice car in most respects...   but e.g. to turn up the heater or a/c fan, you have to (1) Touch the "Climate Control" button for what feels like an eternity before it accepts that it has been "touched", which then causes a screen to pop up on the display.  (2) On that new screen, you can then slide your finger to adjust the fan speed.   

OMG, seriously VW??  This all just takes too long, and you have to pay way too much attention to something you can do blindfolded in most other cars.   This particular design is so irritating that it's a reason to avoid renting a Golf, let alone buy one!

And law forbids you from using a phone in your hand because it is to distracting. What you described seems also very distracting and having you to take your eyes of the road. They should not try to fix what ain't broken. An old fashioned dashboard work's perfectly fine