pet peeve thread

[broze]

Ooh, another one of mine: people who tap cans of soda before they open them. I mean really, do they think it achieves anything?

[barmar]

There's apparently a common myth that tapping the can keeps it from spraying when you open it.

 

http://www.snopes.com/science/sodacan.asp

[broze]

There's apparently a common myth that tapping the can keeps it from spraying when you open it.

 

http://www.snopes.com/science/sodacan.asp

 

Yeah, drives me nuts. I feel like shaking it and then handing it back.

[kenberg]

I work as a TA this term. This guy wrote a solution full of unnecessary solution and finished in 4-5 pages of integrals and identities, seemingly arriving at the right answer. I was just about to write 'next time, look at the hint we gave you and you can do it in 5 lines!' when I realised that he actually wrote that version on the next page headed by 'alternative solution:'. So why hand in the long, ugly one??? Just to take up 30 minutes of my time? If he sends in two solutions, one correct and one incorrect, I will grade the incorrect one.

 

 

I can suggest an explanation. Maybe he didn't at first see the hint, or didn't understand the hint. He worked it out on his own and then saw or understood the hint, but wanted to submit the solution that he did completely on his own. He might have mentioned this of course, but I'm sort of his side on this.

 

As a general rule I never liked problems with hints. Call it a pet peeve so that it qualifies for this thread. I felt that it intruded on my autonomy. The general consensus was that I was nuts.

[PassedOut]

I can suggest an explanation. Maybe he didn't at first see the hint, or didn't understand the hint. He worked it out on his own and then saw or understood the hint, but wanted to submit the solution that he did completely on his own. He might have mentioned this of course, but I'm sort of his side on this.

 

As a general rule I never liked problems with hints. Call it a pet peeve so that it qualifies for this thread. I felt that it intruded on my autonomy. The general consensus was that I was nuts.

I can remember a couple of times as a math student when I thought that my solution was too long and inelegant, but was all I could see. So when I did later see the trick, I really appreciated it.

[helene_t]

I can see this issue from both sides.

 

As a student I hated it when I had put lots of time into solving a problem in a way I invented myself, only to have the teacher put me down with a "sorry I can't follow your reasoning", while fellow students who took the easy route (using the hint or copying a solution to a similar problem given in the textbook) got top grades.

 

But as a teacher who is payed for spending no more than 10 minutes per test form evaluation, I didn't always have the patience to try to follow the complicated reasonings of the more independent students.

 

But maybe it is a good thing that the wanna-be Einsteins learn the hard way that they have to be very careful to present their original thoughts in a way that is digestible to a stupid/impatient audience such as for example teachers. Because it won't help you much in your future life (post school) to be a genius if nobody understands your ideas.

[gwnn]

But his "original way" of doing things was not clever at all. It amounted to a long unnecessary calculation, essentially proving a lot of known formulas (the hint was just quoting some equations from the textbook).

[y66]

I think I can understand that. While it's not noise, the constant gesticulating can still be distracting. If you're trying to sleep I don't suppose it would bother you, but if you're trying to read it could.

 

Come to think of it, it bugs me when seat mates on airplanes, trains and buses are constantly fidgeting. I'll tell her I empathize now.

[gwnn]

Youtube ads.

[BunnyGo]

Youtube ads.

 

My pet peeve is people thinking all creative content should be free. And that everything on the internet in particular should be free. All that data and hosting, no money. WEEEE.

 

*this is not to say, I'm not a frequent user of sites that offer such content illegally for free, simply that I don't think I'm owed it and don't mind when these sites get shut down or try to go legit with ads.

[gwnn]

Can't I be peeved by something and recognise its necessity at the same time? At least a little bit? :(

[BunnyGo]

Can't I be peeved by something and recognise its necessity at the same time? At least a little bit? :(

 

absolutely...I was being honest, you'd just reminded me of a pet peeve of mine. I really do hate when people complain that megavideo is gone and youtube has ads, and all that.

[broze]

Youtube ads.

 

People complaining about Youtube ads also greatly peeves me but for different reasons. Why aren't they using Adblock if it bothers them so much?

[gwnn]

People complaining about Youtube ads also greatly peeves me but for different reasons. Why aren't they using Adblock if it bothers them so much?

laziness? :)

 

I'm not sure, though, whether adblock can actually block the little film ads from before the videos? Are we talking about the same ads?

[broze]

laziness? :)

 

I'm not sure, though, whether adblock can actually block the little film ads from before the videos? Are we talking about the same ads?

 

Yes we are, and yes it can! :)

 

I've been using chrome and firefox with Adblock for years now and I've never seen a pre-video ad.

[gwnn]

Thanks. I need to maintain plausible deniability on the issue, though, because BunnyGo probably also hates people who block ads because it means they make the lives of honest, non-blocking people even more difficult. :P

[BunnyGo]

Thanks. I need to maintain plausible deniability on the issue, though, because BunnyGo probably also hates people who block ads because it means they make the lives of honest, non-blocking people even more difficult. :P

 

:)

[mycroft]

I like Adblock's new policy of whitelisting "inoffensive" ads, and I wish it would go further. My rule is "anything that moves, dies." - and "anything that could infect me, dies." Right now, that means that I'm going overbroad, which is bad and I feel uncomfortable about it.

 

(but, on the gripping hand, I run linux, so most things that would infect me, don't. It's so much fun to see the "windows virus checker" running its little heart out).

[Statto]

please enter a password between 8 and 12 characters long but which includes at least three of the following four groups:

(...)

please do not use intelligible words, any variations thereof, date of birth, passwords from other sites, anything that has anything to do with you.

 

DO NOT WRITE DOWN YOUR PASSWORD ANYWHERE.

 

isn't this getting out of control?

http://xkcd.com/936/

[mgoetze]

Yes we are, and yes it can! :)

 

I've been using chrome and firefox with Adblock for years now and I've never seen a pre-video ad.

 

I don't think those years of data count, I've only been seeing pre-video ads for about a month.

[PassedOut]

please enter a password between 8 and 12 characters long but which includes at least three of the following four groups:

(...)

please do not use intelligible words, any variations thereof, date of birth, passwords from other sites, anything that has anything to do with you.

 

DO NOT WRITE DOWN YOUR PASSWORD ANYWHERE.

 

isn't this getting out of control?

 

anyway, what is your pet peeve?

My middle son told me I needed to download and use KeePass. He was right.

<_<

[Vampyr]

Bridge peeve:

 

Last night at the club the server wasn't working, so we had to use travellers (anyone remember those?) Anyway, we used the kind where you have to write on the line corresponding to the NS pair (and write in the pair number at the bottom for the arrow-switch).

 

Since matchpointing is rarely done by hand these days, why are these travellers still printed and used? It seems like a recipe for disaster -- it makes a lot more sense to use the kind where you write the score and both pair numbers on the first available line.

[ggwhiz]

Often when the clock changes I'll tell my wife you better hurry and she says "Oh no. I set it 4 minutes fast".

 

I'm used to it and it's fine but this year it was 12 minutes fast and I rushed out to a REALLY boring job much earlier than necessary. All I want is a heads up and each clock has its own time zone.

[gordontd]

Bridge peeve:

 

Last night at the club the server wasn't working, so we had to use travellers (anyone remember those?) Anyway, we used the kind where you have to write on the line corresponding to the NS pair (and write in the pair number at the bottom for the arrow-switch).

 

Since matchpointing is rarely done by hand these days, why are these travellers still printed and used? It seems like a recipe for disaster -- it makes a lot more sense to use the kind where you write the score and both pair numbers on the first available line.

The advantage comes when you are playing a movement with shared boards.

[Finch]

We apologise for the late running of this service. This was caused by the late arrival of the incoming train.

 

- so this train is late because the previous train was late. Very helpful.

 

We apologise for the late running of this service. This was caused by congestion at Clapham Junction.

 

- congestion? What, trains turning up unexpectedly? I thought there was something called a timetable.