Your Most Absurd Pet Peeves
-
The modern usage is CE (Common Era) and BCE (Before Common Era) with CS starting at the same point as AD did. It's been in limited use since the 17th Century, but is gaining traction in the modern Woke / Inclusive society we are (slowly) transitioning to: The Origin & History of the BCE/CE Dating System - World History Encyclopedia[^]
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
Does CE/BCE recognize the number zero? Or does 1 follow immediately after -1 on the number line? As far as I can see from easily accessible sources, it appears as if the 'pagan' CE/BCE notation still does not recognize zero. So it is nothing but a relabeling of the Christian, religion based, calendar - not, as Wikipedia claims, "BCE and CE are religiously neutral terms". Astronomers are scientists. They seem to be able to cope with the number 0: Astronomical year numbering[^]. If we are to replace AC/DC with anything non-religious, this would be a far better choice (considering that Unix epoch doesn't span the entire time range that we want to cover :-))
-
Re the traffic, I don't doubt the truth of it, it's just that every single radio traffic reporter, on every station appears to use the same wording "... sheer weight of traffic." Nobody ever says simply "Weight of traffic" or "Heavy traffic" or even "Rush hour." Makes me wonder if they all go to Traffic Reporting school where they are drilled in the mandatory phraseology. And whilst I'm on it, here's another that is becoming very prevalent around this area. Drivers now seem to think it is too much trouble to turn the wheel on their power steering car to turn right properly. Almost every day, if I'm waiting to turn right at a Give Way, and someone is approaching from my left, wanting to turn into the street I am exiting, they stop and usher me out so they can turn into my street on the wrong side of the road rather than apply the few extra degrees of steering wheel rotation. On a wide junction I've even had someone turn in on the wrong side of me over the Give Way sign. And the Royal Mail can have some too. Important documents arrive Friday apparently having just about survived what appears to be an attempt to put them through a shredder before they dunked them in a puddle. I now have paperwork scattered around the house to dry. Meanwhile, friendly Postie is ringing the bell to ask if I have a package he's mislaid. I know the guy it was meant for and he lives on the other side of the road at the far end of the street, so, even if he was out, why would I have the package when there are 50 houses closer by he could have left it with? But no, the machine says I have it, so that's that. Probably get billed for it soon ... :(
Rich Leyshon wrote:
And whilst I'm on it, here's another that is becoming very prevalent around this area. Drivers now seem to think it is too much trouble to turn the wheel on their power steering car to turn right properly.
Oh, yes, this to the n'th power. Also, people driving micro cars who think they're 12 feet wide and have to drive 3 feet from the kerb straddling the centre line. Don't get me started on drivers who simply pull a U-turn when there is traffic approaching from both directions, expecting everyone else to stop to accommodate them.
-
"off of" Often when reading a novel, if I come across this grammatical turd, I dump the book and never go near that author again. I can say no more, I could explode with anger just seeing the words in my own post.
So old that I did my first coding in octal via switches on a DEC PDP 8
Clumpco wrote:
"off of"
Also the closely related misuse of "should of" or "could of" as in "I should of gone home early".
-
Does CE/BCE recognize the number zero? Or does 1 follow immediately after -1 on the number line? As far as I can see from easily accessible sources, it appears as if the 'pagan' CE/BCE notation still does not recognize zero. So it is nothing but a relabeling of the Christian, religion based, calendar - not, as Wikipedia claims, "BCE and CE are religiously neutral terms". Astronomers are scientists. They seem to be able to cope with the number 0: Astronomical year numbering[^]. If we are to replace AC/DC with anything non-religious, this would be a far better choice (considering that Unix epoch doesn't span the entire time range that we want to cover :-))
trønderen wrote:
If we are to replace AC/DC with anything
In the beginning ... :-D A much better system.
-
Does CE/BCE recognize the number zero? Or does 1 follow immediately after -1 on the number line? As far as I can see from easily accessible sources, it appears as if the 'pagan' CE/BCE notation still does not recognize zero. So it is nothing but a relabeling of the Christian, religion based, calendar - not, as Wikipedia claims, "BCE and CE are religiously neutral terms". Astronomers are scientists. They seem to be able to cope with the number 0: Astronomical year numbering[^]. If we are to replace AC/DC with anything non-religious, this would be a far better choice (considering that Unix epoch doesn't span the entire time range that we want to cover :-))
"Year zero" doesn't exist in CE/BCE - it follows the numbering convention of BC/AD exactly because that is common usage, and way too much confusion would result if you had to change "2023" to "2022" to fit in a year zero! And if it change the BCE numbers, that would cause confusion as well because all the textbooks would be a digit out as well. Personally, I'd adopt the Federation Stardate system (if I understood it, which I don't) :D
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
-
I just had to correct someone that claimed they "researched" something online. I told them they consumed content online.
Check out my IoT graphics library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx And my IoT UI/User Experience library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
You were probably wrong. RESEARCH: NOUN the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions: "we are fighting meningitis by raising money for medical research" VERB investigate systematically: "she has spent the last five years researching her people's history" "the team has been researching into flora and fauna" When one reads a web page and directly uses the information found, that is consumption. When one reads numerous pages, especially when not all agree, and forms logical conclusions based upon what was read, that is research.
-
"Year zero" doesn't exist in CE/BCE - it follows the numbering convention of BC/AD exactly because that is common usage, and way too much confusion would result if you had to change "2023" to "2022" to fit in a year zero! And if it change the BCE numbers, that would cause confusion as well because all the textbooks would be a digit out as well. Personally, I'd adopt the Federation Stardate system (if I understood it, which I don't) :D
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
OriginalGriff wrote:
if you had to change "2023" to "2022" to fit in a year zero
Astronomers never suggested that. They treat 1 BC as year 0 by their scale, and BC 4, say, as their year 3. Very few of our everyday time stamps refer to years BC with single-year precision, and are unaffected by the adjustment of n BC being adjusted to n-1 BC. There are not very many textbooks making exact time references 2000 years back in time. Probably the most significant ones are those contradicting the religious scriptures, e.g. pointing out that Herod died 4 BC - it doesn't matter if we call that year -3 - they don't fit the Jesus myths anyway. On the other side of the line: Quirinius became a Legate of Syria AD 6, but that was before Jesus was born. So Jesus was born both (at least) 4 year BC (or year -3), but also at least 6 years into the AD era. I know that this does not affect believers, but to me it just strengthens the idea that the birth of one specific religious preacher should not control our calendar, especially when it provably couldn't have had happened the suggested time.
-
trønderen wrote:
If we are to replace AC/DC with anything
In the beginning ... :-D A much better system.
-
You were probably wrong. RESEARCH: NOUN the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions: "we are fighting meningitis by raising money for medical research" VERB investigate systematically: "she has spent the last five years researching her people's history" "the team has been researching into flora and fauna" When one reads a web page and directly uses the information found, that is consumption. When one reads numerous pages, especially when not all agree, and forms logical conclusions based upon what was read, that is research.
It was an article from thedailybeast.com I wasn't wrong.
Check out my IoT graphics library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx And my IoT UI/User Experience library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
-
The usual pet peeves that we all have in common are pretty straightforward. But, what about pet peeves that you have that others don't? What's something that drives only you up the wall, while other people are just fine with it? I have a few absurd pet peeves. Whenever I think of miniature golf, my inner dialogue explodes into a vulgarity-laden tirade. I don't know anyone else who shares the same experience. Even just driving past a miniature golf course is enough to compel my thoughts into darkness. Don't get me started on that stupid windmill thing! Every miniature golf course has one. Just thinking about it makes me want to set it on fire. I get this image in my head seeing it engulfed in flames while its windmill continues to rotate, as though it's still taunting me. And then there's the putter they give you. That thing is nothing but a device of torture. It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. By the time I get to the last hole, my blood pressure is through the roof and I hate the entire world. Upon completing the last hole, what's your reward? They take away your golf ball! Once it falls into the hole, it disappears, and that's it. It's like you can hear them whisper into your ear. "You're done now. Give us back our golf ball and go away!". I don't understand. I need to return the golf club to the front desk anyway. I might as well return the golf ball, too. Do they think I'm going to steal their golf ball? Do they think I'll inadvertently forget to return it and mistakenly bring it home with me? If they're going to take my golf ball away, why not rip the golf club from my hands and punch me in the face?
Well, I'll have to think hard about that. Living in Texas (and prior to that, Mexico City) I have a lot of logical pet peeves...so much so that I have found many kindred spirits among the Germans. At the moment I can only think of airports. I know they're necessary for trans-oceanic commute and maybe some transcontinental routes (Houston to Vancouver as an example), but I'll avoid the hours and frustrations of security at all costs if I can find a train or drive to my destination.
-
The usual pet peeves that we all have in common are pretty straightforward. But, what about pet peeves that you have that others don't? What's something that drives only you up the wall, while other people are just fine with it? I have a few absurd pet peeves. Whenever I think of miniature golf, my inner dialogue explodes into a vulgarity-laden tirade. I don't know anyone else who shares the same experience. Even just driving past a miniature golf course is enough to compel my thoughts into darkness. Don't get me started on that stupid windmill thing! Every miniature golf course has one. Just thinking about it makes me want to set it on fire. I get this image in my head seeing it engulfed in flames while its windmill continues to rotate, as though it's still taunting me. And then there's the putter they give you. That thing is nothing but a device of torture. It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. By the time I get to the last hole, my blood pressure is through the roof and I hate the entire world. Upon completing the last hole, what's your reward? They take away your golf ball! Once it falls into the hole, it disappears, and that's it. It's like you can hear them whisper into your ear. "You're done now. Give us back our golf ball and go away!". I don't understand. I need to return the golf club to the front desk anyway. I might as well return the golf ball, too. Do they think I'm going to steal their golf ball? Do they think I'll inadvertently forget to return it and mistakenly bring it home with me? If they're going to take my golf ball away, why not rip the golf club from my hands and punch me in the face?
Lately, some morning news shows are turning into the Home Shopping Network toward the end of the show. And the hosts, who are usually very experienced news anchors, have to feign wonder and interest in all the 'fantastic' products - which are all 1/2 off!! Incredibly annoying!
-
The usual pet peeves that we all have in common are pretty straightforward. But, what about pet peeves that you have that others don't? What's something that drives only you up the wall, while other people are just fine with it? I have a few absurd pet peeves. Whenever I think of miniature golf, my inner dialogue explodes into a vulgarity-laden tirade. I don't know anyone else who shares the same experience. Even just driving past a miniature golf course is enough to compel my thoughts into darkness. Don't get me started on that stupid windmill thing! Every miniature golf course has one. Just thinking about it makes me want to set it on fire. I get this image in my head seeing it engulfed in flames while its windmill continues to rotate, as though it's still taunting me. And then there's the putter they give you. That thing is nothing but a device of torture. It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. By the time I get to the last hole, my blood pressure is through the roof and I hate the entire world. Upon completing the last hole, what's your reward? They take away your golf ball! Once it falls into the hole, it disappears, and that's it. It's like you can hear them whisper into your ear. "You're done now. Give us back our golf ball and go away!". I don't understand. I need to return the golf club to the front desk anyway. I might as well return the golf ball, too. Do they think I'm going to steal their golf ball? Do they think I'll inadvertently forget to return it and mistakenly bring it home with me? If they're going to take my golf ball away, why not rip the golf club from my hands and punch me in the face?
-
The usual pet peeves that we all have in common are pretty straightforward. But, what about pet peeves that you have that others don't? What's something that drives only you up the wall, while other people are just fine with it? I have a few absurd pet peeves. Whenever I think of miniature golf, my inner dialogue explodes into a vulgarity-laden tirade. I don't know anyone else who shares the same experience. Even just driving past a miniature golf course is enough to compel my thoughts into darkness. Don't get me started on that stupid windmill thing! Every miniature golf course has one. Just thinking about it makes me want to set it on fire. I get this image in my head seeing it engulfed in flames while its windmill continues to rotate, as though it's still taunting me. And then there's the putter they give you. That thing is nothing but a device of torture. It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. By the time I get to the last hole, my blood pressure is through the roof and I hate the entire world. Upon completing the last hole, what's your reward? They take away your golf ball! Once it falls into the hole, it disappears, and that's it. It's like you can hear them whisper into your ear. "You're done now. Give us back our golf ball and go away!". I don't understand. I need to return the golf club to the front desk anyway. I might as well return the golf ball, too. Do they think I'm going to steal their golf ball? Do they think I'll inadvertently forget to return it and mistakenly bring it home with me? If they're going to take my golf ball away, why not rip the golf club from my hands and punch me in the face?
My favorite bit is the 18th hole abduction pearl clutching. I don't hate mini golf, but I did always have a sort of :( about that whole take my ball thing too. I have not always been so zen but thinking on this topic, I'm more monk-like than I would have guessed. These little things? I have near no capacity to care for even when totally reasonable. I was buying something and dealing with a salesman on a call and he could hear the ticking of my very old oven clock. He said it would drive him nuts. In the distant past I had considered cleaving the internals apart until I could excise anything clock like in the hopes of leaving any heating bits in tact. For years though, I hadn't much noticed it or thought of it until he said something. But I have thought of what is definitely my most absurd pet peeve. People with narrow eating preferences and a stubborn reluctance to try anything new. It's absurd. Why should I care what they want? It's an annoyance borne of frustrated love really. You just want to share with someone "hey this stuff is easy to love huh?" Maybe it isn't so absurd. Stuffing something in your mouth is just so easy. It's almost literally all we do for like our whole second year of life. The annoyance, I think, is the implicit "no, if it risks connecting with you on any sort of level I will not consume even a bite of anything you deem tasty". This hasn't crossed their mind, generally... probably. Somewhere deep in the folds it was rolling around my dome though.
-
Quote:
People spending an eternity attempting to eat food using only a fork when a perfectly serviceable knife is in front of them. If I asked you to dig a hole, would you eschew for proffered shovel and look instead for a pair of tweezers?
I'd amend that to "people using the nearest tool to do a job rather then the actual, appropriate tool that is designed for the job and is just over there". Herself is in this group, which explains a set of cheap and nasty basic tools at the front of my tool cupboard where she can see it first ... I then hover them up from anywhere she might have used a tool because they never go back where she got them. Which is another peeve of mine! :mad:
Quote:
Any traffic jam with no obvious cause being described on the radio as “due to sheer wight of traffic.”
Trouble is, it';s pretty much accurate: the higher the traffic density, the more likely a jam is, because one set of brake lights going on, slows X cars down in response, and they slow a further Y, and "slowness wave" propagates back through the traffic getting slower and slower until some traffic does stop, even momentarily. Which makes more people stop, and you rapidly build a jam for no reason other than the amount of traffic. It's weirdly beautiful to watch in models, but frustrating if you are driving!
Rich Leyshon wrote:
TV announcers who for reasons I cannot begin to imagine, feel the need to tell you what is about to happen in the programme that you are about to watch.
On W, we watch Masterchef Australia. And just before the program starts, and sometimes during the advert breaks they show an advert for the program we would be watching if it wasn't for your stupid advert!
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
Quote:
Trouble is, it';s pretty much accurate: the higher the traffic density, the more likely a jam is, because one set of brake lights going on, slows X cars down in response, and they slow a further Y, and "slowness wave" propagates back through the traffic getting slower and slower until some traffic does stop, even momentarily. Which makes more people stop, and you rapidly build a jam for no reason other than the amount of traffic. It's weirdly beautiful to watch in models, but frustrating if you are driving!
I don’t know if this happens in the UK but here in the states I’ve frequently been in traffic jams where it turns out the actual accident was on the other side of the median (otherwise known as traffic going in the opposite direction) and the only reason you’ve had to sit in an hour long backup is because of all the rubberneckers who come to a complete stop so
-
Quote:
People spending an eternity attempting to eat food using only a fork when a perfectly serviceable knife is in front of them. If I asked you to dig a hole, would you eschew for proffered shovel and look instead for a pair of tweezers?
I'd amend that to "people using the nearest tool to do a job rather then the actual, appropriate tool that is designed for the job and is just over there". Herself is in this group, which explains a set of cheap and nasty basic tools at the front of my tool cupboard where she can see it first ... I then hover them up from anywhere she might have used a tool because they never go back where she got them. Which is another peeve of mine! :mad:
Quote:
Any traffic jam with no obvious cause being described on the radio as “due to sheer wight of traffic.”
Trouble is, it';s pretty much accurate: the higher the traffic density, the more likely a jam is, because one set of brake lights going on, slows X cars down in response, and they slow a further Y, and "slowness wave" propagates back through the traffic getting slower and slower until some traffic does stop, even momentarily. Which makes more people stop, and you rapidly build a jam for no reason other than the amount of traffic. It's weirdly beautiful to watch in models, but frustrating if you are driving!
Rich Leyshon wrote:
TV announcers who for reasons I cannot begin to imagine, feel the need to tell you what is about to happen in the programme that you are about to watch.
On W, we watch Masterchef Australia. And just before the program starts, and sometimes during the advert breaks they show an advert for the program we would be watching if it wasn't for your stupid advert!
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
I don’t know if this happens in the UK but here in the states I’ve frequently been in traffic jams where it turns out the actual accident was on the other side of the median (otherwise known as traffic going in the opposite direction) and the only reason you’ve had to sit in an hour long backup is because of all the rubberneckers who come to a complete stop so
-
The essence of science is the evolution of "proof-based facts". Around 1900, Rutherford spoke of the "death of physics"--that it had all been pretty much figured out. Soon afterwards, Einstein showed up. There is often a general consensus based on what is currently "known", but even that is subject to manipulation. Unfortunately, more and more areas are getting politicized.
Robust Services Core | Software Techniques for Lemmings | Articles
The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.I cannot find a reference for Rutherford speaking about "death of physics", so I cannot know in what context to put it. He should have been however quite aware of the Ultraviolet catastrophe[^] and expect it to be solved somehow. More recently, I know of someone else who proclaimed the "end of history", so maybe we can generalize, paraphrasing Mark Twain: news of any domain death are greatly exaggerated :)
Greg Utas wrote:
Unfortunately, more and more areas are getting politicized.
I don't think it's so much politicization as flooding with information we ("we" as society, not "we" as individuals) cannot handle. If you have time to spare, you can see my ideas in more detail here: The Third Cultural Revolution[^].
Mircea
-
DerekT-P wrote:
the other cat will throw up to command by feeding it a tiny, tiny bit of brie
Yep. Most adult cats are lactose intolerant, but love cheese. (They lose the enzyme to digest lactose as part of the weaning process as they shift to an obligate carnivore metabolism, but the memory of milk takes them back to a "kitten comfort" state, I think).
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
You all have my sympathies... We have a 20 year old cat and two 18 year olds. We know the drill but we feel we have been doing something wrong here... :)
Steve Naidamast Sr. Software Engineer Black Falcon Software, Inc. blackfalconsoftware@outlook.com
-
The usual pet peeves that we all have in common are pretty straightforward. But, what about pet peeves that you have that others don't? What's something that drives only you up the wall, while other people are just fine with it? I have a few absurd pet peeves. Whenever I think of miniature golf, my inner dialogue explodes into a vulgarity-laden tirade. I don't know anyone else who shares the same experience. Even just driving past a miniature golf course is enough to compel my thoughts into darkness. Don't get me started on that stupid windmill thing! Every miniature golf course has one. Just thinking about it makes me want to set it on fire. I get this image in my head seeing it engulfed in flames while its windmill continues to rotate, as though it's still taunting me. And then there's the putter they give you. That thing is nothing but a device of torture. It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. By the time I get to the last hole, my blood pressure is through the roof and I hate the entire world. Upon completing the last hole, what's your reward? They take away your golf ball! Once it falls into the hole, it disappears, and that's it. It's like you can hear them whisper into your ear. "You're done now. Give us back our golf ball and go away!". I don't understand. I need to return the golf club to the front desk anyway. I might as well return the golf ball, too. Do they think I'm going to steal their golf ball? Do they think I'll inadvertently forget to return it and mistakenly bring it home with me? If they're going to take my golf ball away, why not rip the golf club from my hands and punch me in the face?
Humans that obey the automated any system even when it is clearly wrong, broken, unusable. At a new doctor's office, speaking face-to-face with admin assistant: Asst: "I can't set up a personalized account for you. You need to call our help desk" Me: "for some reason your office phone system has my number listed as an advertising site and won't allow it to continue." Asst: "Oh then just go call on your home phone and you can set it up from there." Me: "Are they in the same building? Can I just go see them in person?" Asst: "They're on the next floor. But they go home at 3:00 so they're not there." Me: [ looking dumbfounded at the sincerely eager-to-help person in front of me who hadn't connected the dots, and realizing that she only had the job because there were no better applicants. ] Um, I'll try tomorrow.
-
RM can have some more as well: Amazon tracking shows where the parcel is, and a window for delivery: when it gets close switches to exactly where the truck is, and how many deliveries between there and you. The Royal Mail Track system says "we've picked it up it" and "we'll update this status when we have delivered it". :doh:
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
Heh, I'm waiting for a package being shipped via UPS. Here's the tracking info they provide: Friday, October 20 12:25 AM Package left the carrier facility. Thursday, October 19 10:15 PM Package arrived at a carrier facility. 9:26 PM Package left the carrier facility. 9:08 PM Package arrived at a carrier facility. 5:11 PM Package left the carrier facility. 4:04 PM Package arrived at a carrier facility. Carrier picked up the package. Talk about totally useless information.
-
In the beginning there was the Big Bang. After 10E-33 seconds were the Age of Inflation. And so on. And so on. I guess that we should shift to a coarser time scale if we want to get through it before the Gnab Gib.
Of course, according to the AC/DC time scale "In the beginning" was in 1955. Because man didn't know about a rock'n'roll show. And all that jive.
