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Tarale

2710
Affected by 'Princess Bitch-Face Syndrome' ++++!!
Persona non grata


 





Since: 11-17-05
From: Adelaide, Australia

Last post: 6304 days
Last view: 6304 days
Posted on 03-21-06 10:07 PM Link | Quote
What really ANNOYS you about computers?

My current biggest annoyance is a lack of documentation, particularly on websites. Websites for open-source projects that lack lists of features, so you have to play the mystery-meat game and download it to see Plugins that require other plugins, but forget to mention so on their site and make you delve through support forums to find the answer....

My second favorite annoyance is THIS BUG IN WINDOWS which pisses me off to no end, as I spend quite some time every day explaining it to clients, and explaining why we can't magically "fix" it as Microsoft themselves have only provided a workaround (the same one we provide on a many-times-a-day basis). Some clients also think that cause we're in the Help Desk we have some magic batphone to Microsoft to get this stuff fixed.... grrr.... (I once told a client that I'll talk to Bill Gates next time I meet up with him at a function and they genuinely thought I would....)

What's been annoying YOU lately?
emcee

Red Super Koopa


 





Since: 11-20-05

Last post: 6305 days
Last view: 6304 days
Posted on 03-22-06 02:48 AM Link | Quote
That bug in Windows that's been since 95, wherein tooltips for icons in the tray appear behind the taskbar. And other times they just refuse to come up at all. I hate that.

Also, when I'm on a website and I see a link, that looks completely normal, as if just to another web page, similar to the one I'm on, with no indication otherwise. I click it and my entire browser freezes up and for a few seconds I wondering whats going on, and I suddenly realise what I've done seconds before I see the Adobe Acrobat Reader splash screen appear. And by that time its too late, I might as well go make a sandwich or something while I wait for my browser to unfreeze and load a pdf that always seems to turn out to not be what I was looking for after all.
Tarale

2710
Affected by 'Princess Bitch-Face Syndrome' ++++!!
Persona non grata


 





Since: 11-17-05
From: Adelaide, Australia

Last post: 6304 days
Last view: 6304 days
Posted on 03-22-06 03:01 AM Link | Quote
OOOH... Adobe Reader's another of my annoyances.

Now, when it's just standardly loading a PDF it's fine. It's when Adobe Reader decides it needs an update that really REALLY annoys me, because not only will it freeze up the entire browser, but the whole OS. And you have no indication of WHY because it hides the fucking update screen BEHIND EVERY OTHER OPEN WINDOW.

After some struggling and Alt-Tabbing, you find it and your problem goes away, but I find it horrific that one application -- and a minor one at that -- can bring down a whole system.... and it's not even old boxes, it'll bring down anything from my 3Ghz machine at work to an old Pentium....
BMF54123
WARNING: MOOD LEVEL CRITICAL








Since: 11-18-05
From: MOOGLES

Last post: 6305 days
Last view: 6304 days
Posted on 03-22-06 05:04 AM Link | Quote
Adobe Reader has to be one of the most unstable pieces of trash ever written. It's not so bad in recent versions, but older ones (under the "Acrobat Reader" label) tended to lock up my browser almost every time I opened a PDF, or spew random errors if I scrolled too fast.

Related annoyance: files that are in PDF format, but really don't need to be (usually readme files and other documentation). I usually end up switching to my Athlon just to read PDFs because they're so infuriatingly slow on my K6-III.

I also despise Flash advertisements. Not only do they slow things to a crawl, they're also really, REALLY annoying, especially the ones that talk/make stupid sounds without even touching them. I remember one particular ad on mail.com that made a soft "click-click" sound, and it had me panicking for a few minutes because I thought it was a hard drive going bad! (The ad had a picture of a hand holding a prescription drug benefit card or something, and the hand would shake the card a couple of times every few seconds, making that "click-click" sound. Why the hell would a card make a CLICKING sound? )

!@#$%^&* arrrgh...
FreeDOS +

Giant Red Koopa
Legion: freedos = fritos








Since: 11-17-05
From: Seattle

Last post: 6304 days
Last view: 6304 days
Posted on 03-22-06 05:59 AM Link | Quote
People still use Adobe's PDF software? Man that stuff is so large, slow, unstable; I just use KPDF

Let's see. Nothing comes to mind in particular, but BMF reminded me that I hate any Web site that thinks Flash is cool and should be used.
Ailure

Mr. Shine
I just want peace...








Since: 11-17-05
From: Sweden

Last post: 6305 days
Last view: 6304 days
Posted on 03-22-06 07:17 AM Link | Quote
Originally posted by Tarale
(I once told a client that I'll talk to Bill Gates next time I meet up with him at a function and they genuinely thought I would....)
ROFL

The network in Windows have been kind of buggy, and wierd. If there's an error, it dosen't outright tell you what the error is.
HyperHacker

Star Mario
Finally being paid to code in VB! If only I still enjoyed that. <_<
Wii #7182 6487 4198 1828


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Canada, w00t!
My computer's specs, if anyone gives a damn.
STOP TRUNCATING THIS >8^(

Last post: 6305 days
Last view: 6305 days
Posted on 03-22-06 02:42 PM Link | Quote
Ah yes, I do hate clicking a link not realizing it's a PDF. That damn reader comes up after about 5 minutes of loading, with like a banner ad or something on it (wtf), and leaves a bunch of processes hogging up memory long after you close it.

Lesee, computer things that annoy me...
  • When you use alpha translucency in WinXP, if the Start menu pops up over a translucent window, an image of it stays in that window for quite some time. Really annoying because I like to have my taskbar translucent. This doesn't happen if I make the Start menu translucent too, but then it stops updating the recent program menu for some reason.
  • If I accidentally click and drag on a taskbar button, it remains highlighted until I ctrl+double-click it.
  • C is right next to V; you select some text, go to press Ctrl+V to replace it with something you've copied, and end up copying it instead.
  • So many Windows themes fail at vertical taskbars. Some screw up completely (quick launch icons disappear), others just have HUGE buttons.
  • Every now and then my flash card reader stops working for no apparent reason and I have to remove and re-insert it. Similarly sometimes my wireless card I use for Nintendo DS development decides to just stop sending anything until I reboot.
  • God help you if you move a network card and want WinXP to ever connect to the Internet again. Move it back or be eternally offline.
  • Windows counts the same device being put into different USB ports as different devices. I have like 6 webcams and 5 joysticks, at least if you're to believe Windows, and the webcams all have their own sets of pictures. Also I have like 4 network cards that don't exist, even though I only moved it once.
  • Pressing Alt+some number to type extended ASCII doesn't work in Gaim. I often end up saying Pokmon, anim, and vv (as opposed to v¯v).
  • Windows doesn't appear to send a WM_SETTINGCHANGE message to programs when you resize the taskbar, so if your program needs to know when this happens, you're out of luck.
  • My sound drivers crash whenever I close the volume control program, and while it's open, no other program can adjust the volume.
  • Windows clearly has some sort of image conversion code in it capable of converting PNG, JPEG, GIF and probably others to BMP. However, it seems to be well-hidden.
  • Having a message box pop up while you're typing, and before you realize it, you've pressed a key that automatically responds as if you'd clicked one of the buttons.
  • Anything in which I have to code in javascript or a batch file.
  • Windows' error reporting gives no useful information and takes forever to launch. Would it be so hard to throw in 'stack overflow' or 'cannot write to 00000000' somewhere?
  • That lololol bug that makes it randomly crash when loading Gmail.
  • Programs that don't follow standars. Eg: lololol and Gaim's menus don't play sounds, Ctrl+W in Hex Workshop doesn't close the document, some programs use Linux-style command line parameters despite being made only for Windows, editors that put 'Save' under some other menu than 'File', etc.
  • WMV.
  • Free web hosts that shut down your account for some obscure TOS violation, without warning you and without bothering to notify you of the updated TOS that you're suddenly in violation of.
  • The 200-page legal agreement that comes with EVERY SINGLE PROGRAM EVER and forces you to comply with such ridiculous crap as "if you sue us you have to give us $50 and the most you can sue for is the price of the program which is nothing". Especially when THEY HAVE THOSE SECTIONS IN ALL CAPS THAT REALLY HURT YOUR EYES. Except in free (as in speech) programs. Thank God for those. Hell, I think this could be considered the #1 reason to use Linux.
  • Programs that obviously haven't been tested at all, and/or just plain don't work.
  • Programs with ridiculous bloat. Like a program we use for 5 seconds at a time needs a 3D animation with sound.
  • Accidentally pressing F1 instead of F2 in Windows Explorer. (And BTW that troubleshooter is totally useless.)
  • Programs whose file open/save boxes lack the "All Files (*.*)" option. Maybe the file is in a zip/rar/7z archive and I'd like to extract it from within the open box? Maybe I gave it some other extension? Also why can't I just drag files into the box from Explorer?
  • Programs that require registration and/or keys despite being free.
  • Websites/boards that require registration just to view the page. Why would I sign up if I have no idea what I'm going to see? That's like going up to someone and saying "hey, if you buy this, I'll tell you what it is".
  • Programs that fuck up your file extensions. Ahem, Winamp. It always took a lot of mucking around to get it not to say "Winamp Media File" for every single audio file type. (Actually, Windows' file extension system just plain sucks.)
  • Container formats such as AVI and OGG, that make file extensions practically useless.
  • Programs whose windows move around at random. Ahem, just about every emulator.
  • Programs that don't accept command line parameters but should, or that do a really shitty job of it. Ahem, Tile Layer Pro, No$GMB.
  • Crappy documentation, especially when it looks like it was done by a 6-year-old.
  • Windows' registry-related APIs.


Yeah, computers can be pretty annoying. But the biggest annoyance is when things just plain refuse to work for no apparent reason whatsoever, especially when it happens at random. Yargh.
neotransotaku

Sledge Brother
Liberated from school...until MLK day








Since: 11-17-05
From: In Hearst Field Annex...

Last post: 6307 days
Last view: 6305 days
Posted on 03-22-06 03:31 PM Link | Quote
Accidentally pressing F1 instead of F2 in Windows Explorer. (And BTW that troubleshooter is totally useless.)

Disable the help service. Error message thought but at least help won't be loaded...

Anyways for me, documentation is one of my biggest annoyances, I want to use GTK, but there is a bunch of stuff that hasn't been documented

Windows has yet to piss me off but I find its lack of case sensitive names to be a drag

Win+E opening explorer with folder list displayed

That's it for now...
Tarale

2710
Affected by 'Princess Bitch-Face Syndrome' ++++!!
Persona non grata


 





Since: 11-17-05
From: Adelaide, Australia

Last post: 6304 days
Last view: 6304 days
Posted on 03-22-06 10:31 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by HyperMackerel
# Windows counts the same device being put into different USB ports as different devices. I have like 6 webcams and 5 joysticks, at least if you're to believe Windows, and the webcams all have their own sets of pictures. Also I have like 4 network cards that don't exist, even though I only moved it once.


Yep, this is one that gets me a lot cause it compounds my previously mentioned irritation with USB Removable Disks.

Most of the things that really REALLY annoy me are the things I find difficult to explain to clients when supporting. The stuff that really has no logical explanation when they go "why is it happening" or "what caused this problem?" My pet USB bug definitely falls into this category, and it's almost always followed up with the question "why is there no fix?"

The USB thing compounds my pet problem making it even harder to try to explain to a client who is already infuriated by the whole affair.

One thing that also annoys me and is work related is MICROSOFT ACCESS DATABASES. There are hundreds of thousands of them here, and everybody assumes that cause I'm in Help Desk, I know Access (and every stupid Access app out there) like the back of my hand. YOU WROTE IT!! YOU WORK IT OUT YOURSELF!
Boom.dk









Since: 11-18-05
From: Denmark

Last post: 6323 days
Last view: 6304 days
Skype
Posted on 03-23-06 08:31 AM Link | Quote
The thing with Windows counting same device numerous times has a function. For example, I have 2 joypads that are exactly the same. The only way Windows can see the difference is by which USB port they are inserted to.


But if you want to remove non-present devices:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment]
"DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES"="1"

...and View/Show/Whatever -> Show hidden devices in Device Manager

(edited by Boom.dk on 03-23-06 07:32 AM)
HyperHacker

Star Mario
Finally being paid to code in VB! If only I still enjoyed that. <_<
Wii #7182 6487 4198 1828


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Canada, w00t!
My computer's specs, if anyone gives a damn.
STOP TRUNCATING THIS >8^(

Last post: 6305 days
Last view: 6305 days
Posted on 03-23-06 10:57 AM Link | Quote
That makes sense, but if they're identical, it's really not even possible to try to detect whether the one that's plugged in is #1 or #2. Why not just consider both to be #1 unless they're both plugged in at the same time?

Oh yes and I forgot the biggest consitent thing about Windows that annoys me: Everything stops to wait for a program to access the hard disk.

Originally posted by neotransotaku
Accidentally pressing F1 instead of F2 in Windows Explorer. (And BTW that troubleshooter is totally useless.)

Disable the help service. Error message thought but at least help won't be loaded...

Ah, nice. I didn't realize that was a service.
Boom.dk









Since: 11-18-05
From: Denmark

Last post: 6323 days
Last view: 6304 days
Skype
Posted on 03-23-06 03:31 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by HyperMackerel
That makes sense, but if they're identical, it's really not even possible to try to detect whether the one that's plugged in is #1 or #2. Why not just consider both to be #1 unless they're both plugged in at the same time?

Well, if it registered a gamepad on both ports, it doesn't matter which port you plug it into. The first you plug in will always be #1... I think.
FreeDOS +

Giant Red Koopa
Legion: freedos = fritos








Since: 11-17-05
From: Seattle

Last post: 6304 days
Last view: 6304 days
Posted on 03-23-06 06:05 PM Link | Quote
USB ports are unique... but Windows' behavior does seem quite idiodic. Never had a problem with Linux... then again, it's an operating system that loads an unloads drivers automatically when needed, and only within a couple seconds (*cough* burn on Windows taking 10 minutes to recognise a freaking iPod *cough*).

Also I thought of a Windows annoyance: Want to install software? Go find it yourself, get it, run the setup application, Click Next, I Agree, Next, Next, Reconfigure some stupid defaults, Next, Next, I'm Sure, Next, Next, Finish, Reboot, Possibly another (few) step(s) and another (few) reboot(s)
And that's why I don't use Windows. (well among other reasons, including lack of stability and lack of security)

(edited by FreeDOS + on 03-23-06 05:05 PM)
neotransotaku

Sledge Brother
Liberated from school...until MLK day








Since: 11-17-05
From: In Hearst Field Annex...

Last post: 6307 days
Last view: 6305 days
Posted on 03-23-06 09:08 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by FreeDOS +
Also I thought of a Windows annoyance: Want to install software? Go find it yourself, get it, run the setup application, Click Next, I Agree, Next, Next, Reconfigure some stupid defaults, Next, Next, I'm Sure, Next, Next, Finish, Reboot, Possibly another (few) step(s) and another (few) reboot(s)
And that's why I don't use Windows. (well among other reasons, including lack of stability and lack of security)


that's a little bit exaggerating don't you think? most programs don't have such a detailed installation processes nor does it have to reset the computer it seems all the microsoft related ones like office and visual studio do...
Tarale

2710
Affected by 'Princess Bitch-Face Syndrome' ++++!!
Persona non grata


 





Since: 11-17-05
From: Adelaide, Australia

Last post: 6304 days
Last view: 6304 days
Posted on 03-23-06 09:19 PM Link | Quote
That said, you certainly don't seem to have to jump through as many hoops to install something on OS X (with the exception of some installations such as Microsoft Office).

Often, an install of a program on OS X may consist of dragging the application to your Applications folder, being prompted for an Administrator password, and waiting for the little progress bar to complete. No reboot required afterwards either.

That said, OS X annoys me too in its own ways. The Finder is stupid. At least, MY Finder is. It changes view on me. I don't like column view, but it KEEPS COMING BACK TO HAUNT ME and for the life of me I can't work out how to make it go away!!
Cellar Dweller +

Red Koopa









Since: 11-18-05
From: Arkansas

Last post: 6314 days
Last view: 6305 days
Posted on 03-24-06 12:14 AM Link | Quote
Originally posted by neotransotaku
Anyways for me, documentation is one of my biggest annoyances, I want to use GTK, but there is a bunch of stuff that hasn't been documented


Sadly, the best way to understand the less documented parts seems to be to refer to the GTK source code. At least that seems to be the only way I could understand the underdocumented stuff.

Here is a couple of annoyances:
  • If a network drive is mounted^H^H^H^H^H^H^H mapped from the command line in Windows, any explorer windows open at the time will report that the drive only supports 8.3 filenames and will not allow files with long names to be created. On XP Home Edition, using the command line is the only way to access a share that requires authentication.
  • The current lack of support for 64 and 32 bit libraries to be installed at the same time on Linux. The workaround is to create a chroot jail with the 32 bit libs in it and run the 32 bit app in it.
Ailure

Mr. Shine
I just want peace...








Since: 11-17-05
From: Sweden

Last post: 6305 days
Last view: 6304 days
Posted on 03-24-06 01:39 AM Link | Quote
Originally posted by HyperMackerel
Windows' registry-related APIs.
If I was you, I wouldn't even try to touch thoose but use something else that works as good. Worst thing with the registry is that moving programs from computer to computer get's much harder with programs dpeendant on stuff from there.
FreeDOS +

Giant Red Koopa
Legion: freedos = fritos








Since: 11-17-05
From: Seattle

Last post: 6304 days
Last view: 6304 days
Posted on 03-24-06 01:47 AM Link | Quote
Originally posted by Cellar Dweller +
The current lack of support for 64 and 32 bit libraries to be installed at the same time on Linux. The workaround is to create a chroot jail with the 32 bit libs in it and run the 32 bit app in it.

It's a hack in of itself; Linux wasn't made to run binaries from different architectures (in your case x86 on x86_64, I'm assuming unless you mean PPC32 on PPC64 or other archs). Generally the issue comes up with people expecting that IA32 (normal x86, to prevent confusion) proprietary binaries (eg, Macromedia Flash) would run on x86_64 since MS Windows provides such capability. In the Free Software world, it's either just recompile it on the other arch or fix the source if necessary; when you mix proprietary applications into the mix, it gets bad.
Cellar Dweller +

Red Koopa









Since: 11-18-05
From: Arkansas

Last post: 6314 days
Last view: 6305 days
Posted on 03-24-06 02:18 AM Link | Quote
Actually, it was a GPLd emulator that had so many hard coded assumptions about the sizes of data types (as well as a 32 bit only dynamic recompiler that proved difficult to remove) that I gave up trying to fix it and set up a chroot jail.

I don't miss Flash much. It is not worth wating 2 hours for a silly 15 minute animation, and almost all the other Flash files are ads.
HyperHacker

Star Mario
Finally being paid to code in VB! If only I still enjoyed that. <_<
Wii #7182 6487 4198 1828


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Canada, w00t!
My computer's specs, if anyone gives a damn.
STOP TRUNCATING THIS >8^(

Last post: 6305 days
Last view: 6305 days
Posted on 03-25-06 02:53 AM Link | Quote
Originally posted by Ailure
Originally posted by HyperMackerel
Windows' registry-related APIs.
If I was you, I wouldn't even try to touch thoose but use something else that works as good. Worst thing with the registry is that moving programs from computer to computer get's much harder with programs dpeendant on stuff from there.

Not much good when I need to read/write other settings that are already in the registry.
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