The "Things that annoy me" thread

[DanRoM]

I entered a drawing to win a guitar. Like any of these, you are automatically signed up for a company's email newsletters/promo emails.

You guys really need an equivalent to the EU's GDPA.

 

[NooDle]

^true, but the same happens here. I have a few throwaway old email adresses I only use for stuff like that, and the amount of spam that gets through despite it being on the most aggressive setting, is insane.

Any app that requires your email adress usually has a "i have read and agreed to all rules" thingy, aswell as a "please spam me" tickbox automatically checked... so it's impossible to avoid

 

[Dr_Grip]

You guys really need an equivalent to the EU's GDPA.

GDPR does not help here since this is not different companies selling the data on, but one company that has a very badly configured CRM system that when triggering a sequence (i.e. a series of mails to someone who has given marketing consent) does not check how many other sequences are active, or if a cap of amount of mails per timeframe has already been reached.
So after you signed up you are getting bombarded with all sequences currently active, plus in @NecroJoe 's case a "transactional" mail for the raffle he took part in on top.
A clean setup would limit to X (hopefully 1) mail per day and Y (no more than three) per week, plus transactional mails on top. There is ample data that shows:
a) user perception somehow resets on Monday, so calendar weeks are relevant
b) 50% of sales come from the first mail per week, the other 50% are spread out across the rest, no matter how many you send
c) Unsubscribe rates stays constant with each mail, i.e. with three mails three times as many people unsubscribe

There are very few areas that have been a/b tested to death in the same degree as e-mail marketing, which is why it's so depressing when people get it wrong.

 

[DanRoM]

aswell as a "please spam me" tickbox automatically checked...

No, on a legally proper setup that one is opt-in, not opt-out. That's the key difference brought forth by the EU regulations.

 

[Dr_Grip]

No, on a legally proper setup that one is opt-in, not opt-out. That's the key difference brought forth by the EU regulations.

Correct, eventhough I think if you enter a raffle then giving marketing consent is a fair part of the deal.

EDIT: Also since my wife does e-mail marketing and started to enforce GDPR-compliant double-opt-in at her new employer, several people have sent angry e-mails as to why they would not receive the newsletter (they never signed up to) - "but Jussi has my address".

 

[calvinhobbes]

I asked for CranApple cocktail on the plane. In the dark cabin, the F/A grabbed a can of Bloody Mary mix instead and I didn’t notice until I took the first sip.

 

[NecroJoe]

Scotch tape dispensers that aren't heavy enough to resist the tape's grip on itself when attempting to dispense said tape, leading the dispenser to slide all over the desk, table when trying to pull the tape, leaving the user to do a weird contortion with their hands where you try to hold the dispenser in place, while you're also pulling on the tape, and then pulling it down across the tape-cutting blade.

I miss my old Black + Blum dispenser at work. It seems they don't make this anymore. A shame...it was a convenient little beast, though pricey.

Maybe I just neet SendCutSend to cut out a heavy steel plate i can glue to the bottom of my current dispenser...

 

[93Flareside]

The use of the word “kacka” in German. What, are we three years old? Is there literally no other word for going for a shit or describing something as not good?

 

[Matt2000]

Scotch tape dispensers that aren't heavy enough to resist the tape's grip on itself when attempting to dispense said tape, leading the dispenser to slide all over the desk, table when trying to pull the tape, leaving the user to do a weird contortion with their hands where you try to hold the dispenser in place, while you're also pulling on the tape, and then pulling it down across the tape-cutting blade.

The one we used to have at work was full of cement but it broke up and every time you used it there would be cement dust everywhere. It did originally work for keeping the thing planted, and is where I got the idea to fill my 3D printed Stream Deck stand with cement.

All that being said, it's clear that the answer is to mount the tape dispenser to a mag-drill base.

The use of the word “kacka” in German.

Fun fact: "Cack" is also used in British English to mean shit, usually when someone is joking. It doesn't work in an American accent at all.

 

[93Flareside]

Hair spray and cigarette smell….

 

[Matt2000]

Hair spray and cigarette smell….

At the same time? Sounds like an explosive combination.

Hair spray is definitely awful but cigarette smell is completely dependent on brand for me. Lambert & Butler reminds me of my grandma but it was a rare whiff even when smoking was more popular. There's another I like the smell of but I don't know what it is, might be Marlboro. Most smell awful though. For context, I really like the smell of smoke when you blow candles out so I'm probably just faulty.

I wonder if Penny still sells the 'Turbo' cigarillos that we bought for MWF many years ago. They were apparently awful.

 

[NecroJoe]

I dont entirely mind "fresh" cigarette smoke unless it's blown right at me. But once it's had time to "linger" and go "stale", it's nearly gag-inducing.

 

[93Flareside]

At the same time? Sounds like an explosive combination.

Hair spray is definitely awful but cigarette smell is completely dependent on brand for me. Lambert & Butler reminds me of my grandma but it was a rare whiff even when smoking was more popular. There's another I like the smell of but I don't know what it is, might be Marlboro. Most smell awful though. For context, I really like the smell of smoke when you blow candles out so I'm probably just faulty.

I wonder if Penny still sells the 'Turbo' cigarillos that we bought for MWF many years ago. They were apparently awful.

Yeah it’s a common mix I can remember from hair stylists in the US. seemed they all smoked. I got a whiff of it tonight walking to get a kebab.

I dont entirely mind "fresh" cigarette smoke unless it's blown right at me. But once it's had time to "linger" and go "stale", it's nearly gag-inducing.

For me I can’t stand it and feel like I’m forced to deal with it. The culture I’m finding in Germany is, if you’re working with heating or industrial equipment, you smoke. Doesn’t matter. You just do. It’s been my experience that I’m the weird one for not smoking. I don’t say anything because the last time I did, I got reemed out and then fired for „not being a good fit.“ so I’m extra tense about that and I just deal with it.

 

[NecroJoe]

I hate how the home pages of fast food places have all become showcases for their career opportunities, their philanthropic programs, and some bullshit like how there's a new "Favorites!" feature in their app.

Damnit, I don't want to have to manually browse through your menu pages to find that you have an LTO (Limited Time Offer) called the "Loaded Nacho Cheeseburger", or a "Ghost Pepper Ranch Crispy Chicken Sandwich". They sounds awesome. Why aren't these mentioned on your home page? That's all I care about. Why isn't the "Honey Mustard BK Royal Crispy Chicken" right at the top of the home page, rather than a button that brags about how there's 200,000 ways to configure a Whopper (Ooh, with or without mayo AND with or without ketchup!?!?! That's already 4 combinations! How exciting!)?

Carl's Jr and Popeyes are the only ones that have an LTO and get this right (McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Burger King, and Jack in the Box get it wrong). Smacks you in the face first thing when the page loads.

 

[calvinhobbes]

A salted caramel pretzel shake? Is it April 1st already?

 

[DanRoM]

It's just past 4am, I am awake and can't get to sleep again.

 

[NecroJoe]

Apparently, I don't understand time zones, and I've been banging my head around this for the past, like, 40 minutes. I feel dumb. I feel like I'm right, but I feel really fucking dumb because I keep being given an answers that say I'm wrong.


This was in an assignment. We were to mark all options that were correct, and I left the top one unchecked mostly because it says that 2 am is "afternoon", not "morning."

At the bottom, it says I was incorrect, and then spells out why I should also include the first line. But...it doesn't make sense to me.

If I got in a helicopter in Detroit at 12 pm on Thursday, and hovered around for 14 hours, then landed right back in Detroit, we'd be landing at 2 am Friday morning. Then, if I called my friend in Tokyo and asked them what time it was there, they would tell me 3PM (or maybe 2 or 4pm...not sure how daylight savings works and I'm too tired to figure it out exactly right now...but decidedly PM, not AM).

So if my 14 Helicopter ride lands at 2 am in Detroit, how could a 14 hour plane ride also land at 2 am in Tokyo?

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I was pretty sure I'm right, and will bring it up to the teacher in office hours tomorrow, but then I went to ChatGPT.

I don't know why I keep expecting this to work for me. It's rare that it spits out anything correct...though I admit I'm just using the "free" one...but I feel like even the "free" one should be able to figure this out in any of the billion ways I've tried to re-word my questions... instead, it just keeps repeating 2:00AM...and when I question it, it just keeps spitting out "because time zones" bullshit.

 

[eizbaer]

So if my 14 Helicopter ride lands at 2 am in Detroit, how could a 14 hour plane ride also land at 2 am in Tokyo?

My guess would be that the "am" part of the first answer is just a typo and it's supposed to be pm. Since it says "afternoon" right before that.

also chatgpt is clearly an idiot.
also also: 24h format anyone?

 

[NecroJoe]

My guess would be that the "am" part of the first answer is just a typo and it's supposed to be pm. Since it says "afternoon" right before that.

That's what I assumed too. But then it reiterated 2AM in the explainer box below it, and then no matter how many ways I asked ChatGPT, it also only ever gave me "2 am".

 

[eizbaer]

That's what I assumed too. But then it reiterated 2AM in the explainer box below it, and then no matter how many ways I asked ChatGPT, it also only ever gave me "2 am".

yeah, which is clearly wrong and it states so itself before. it says further up that thursday noon is already 2am in japan... it's too dumb to do it right.

another one: maybe the question wants to know what time you arrive in tokyo BUT MAKE IT DETROIT TIME FOR SOME ARBITRARY REASON.

whoever puts these tests together clearly either isn't paid enough to pay attention... or doesn't give a shit. didn't you have issues with this kind of thing before?