# Oh, so THAT'S what that button's for! Your "Duh" techno moments **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 22, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600 "2011-08-22T01:41:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/81 "2011-08-30T11:50:35Z")
> [@ErinPuff](#): > > Oh look, I have one of those too. :smack: A lot of people aren’t aware of the SD-card readers on their laptops or netbooks, Often there’s a little plastic placeholder in them. ---
**Author:** ![Vita\_Beata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@Vita\_Beata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vita_Beata)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/82 "2011-08-30T12:46:32Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Satellite radio? Yes, Kayaker: Thanks, I’m going to go with the answer that this is the antenna for Satellite radio. :o Beam me up, Scottie. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/83 "2011-09-06T22:45:38Z")
About 45 minutes ago I _finally_ realized I can search my Yahoo e-mail! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/84 "2011-09-07T16:14:04Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > God I hate that. I travel and must rent a lot of cars and it bugs the shiite out of me that I can’t just _assume_ the damned gas tank is on one side or the other. I had a rental car once, that when I pulled into the gas station, I got out and said, “WHOOPS! the tank is on the otehr side!” got back into the car, drove around in a big loop, pulled back in, turned the ignition off and realized… “The OTHER SIDE, dumbass!” Yep, I had just pulled the car in on the same side, twice…I almost wanted to go to a different station. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/85 "2011-09-07T16:44:30Z")
For the last 15-odd years I have driven vehicles with every gadget known at the time. We’re talking sensors that turn on the windshield wipers and set them to the optimal speed for the driving conditions, automatic seats that adjust in 17 directions and warm your behind - that sort of thing. Two months ago I bought a (mostly) new car with very few extras. It doesn’t even have cruise control. It does have electric windows and locks, and a remote unlock function, but there’s not even a button to open the trunk on the remote. Which was the only thing I really missed. (Well, also the lights staying on for a minute after I get out and then turning themselves off . . . but I digress.) So every time I needed to put something in the trunk (which is fairly often) I would have to open the driver’s side door, and flick the little lever to open the trunk. This is particularly annoying because it requires bending over (I have a bad back, it’s quite painful) and because it almost always opens the gas cap which is controlled by the same lever. Just last weekend I was putting something into the trunk and Cetlling pointed at a little circle on the trunk lid. She asked me what it was. I giggled a bit, because it was the lock. She never sees me use a key to enter the car you see, because we’ve always had a remote; so she didn’t know that little metal circle was the place where I could insert the key . to . open . the . trunk. . . :smack: D’Oh! ! ! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/86 "2011-09-07T16:59:02Z")
The vacuum cleaner thing just blew my mind, too. Shall have to try it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/87 "2011-09-07T16:59:41Z")
Ref **TruCelt** : On my fairly fancy car there’s a hidden switch on the trunk lid which unlatches the trunk. It’s recessed near the license plate lights. But which works only when all the doors are unlocked. So you may find that you don’t need the trunk key if you first unlock all the doors with the remote, then lift up on the trunk lid at the secret spot. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/88 "2011-09-07T18:09:16Z")
Potty-training my two-year-old, and filled with dread every time I put her in those new-fangled “training pants.” They’re such a bloody nuisance if she happens to poop in them. I mean, just try to slide those things off her with a proper load in them without making a terrible mess. Jesus, what stupid things. _Months_ went by before I noticed the perforations at the hips. :o ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/89 "2011-09-07T20:36:52Z")
A smallish kid at school explained what those funny train-track things on the side of the mousepad actually mean… just when I was bemoaning the lack of a scroll wheel. I once had quite a high-spec Astra - walnut trim, foglights, electric windows and mirrors. By the side of the mirror controls was a little button. If you pressed it a little green light glowed for about five minutes and then went out by itself. Didn’t seem to do anything much… About a month before I sold the car (after about 6 years!) I found out it was the mirror demister. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/90 "2011-09-07T21:40:18Z")
We rented a Suburban for a trip up to MN for the 4th of July. After arriving at my brother’s, my wife took it to get some coffee and figured she’d fill up the tank. She calls me and asks where the the fuel cover release is. Never having owned a Suburban, I couldn’t direct her to it remotely, so she comes back. We spend a good 15 minutes searching the huge driver space, looking for anything that could be the opener (the cover is flush to the car). I was hoping for an owner’s manual, but the that wasn’t there (I’d guess the rental company was tired of people stealing/losing them). We’re just about to hit the Onstar button (which I figured would work expensively), when my brother comes out. We explain the problem. He thinks a couple of seconds, and pushes on the cover, which pops open. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/91 "2011-09-08T03:23:04Z")
We have a manual can opener, one of those that opens up the side of the can top, instead of cutting it. I love it. It leaves that nice smooth edge so nobody gets hurt and makes it easy to recycle cans. The only problem is that sometimes the top is really hard to get off. I’ve been prying them off with the little hook on the side of the can opener. It works, but it’s a pain. Until I happened to read the instructions one day. That mentioned the little grabber thing on the side, just made for grabbing the can top to pull it off. Gee, let me try that…oh. ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/92 "2011-09-08T04:42:19Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > Maybe not on the 95 model but if you look at your gas guage, there will be a little arrow beside the picture of the fuel pump. If it points left, it is on the left, right it is on the right. Worked in every rental car I have ever gotten but it could just be late model years. The CarTalk radio show posed a “puzzler” related to which side the gas cap can be found on, and it involved figuring it out just by looking at the rear of the car, without being able to actually see the gas cap. According to Tom & Ray, the gas cap is almost _always_ on the opposite side of the car to the exhaust, barring circumstances like twin exhausts. Enough for it to be a very reliable heuristic. ---
**Author:** ![FoundWaldo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@FoundWaldo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoundWaldo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/93 "2011-09-08T05:45:05Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > We’re just about to hit the Onstar button (which I figured would work expensively), when my brother comes out. We explain the problem. He thinks a couple of seconds, and pushes on the cover, which pops open. I had the same problem with a brand new car I bought. I pulled into the gas station, and couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to open the gas door. I finally had to pull out the manual and look it up. In my defense, I previously had another car of the same make, which did have a button inside the car to open the gas door. ---
**Author:** ![BowlOfDucks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BowlOfDucks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BowlOfDucks)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/94 "2011-09-08T05:54:32Z")
I had one of these moments fairly recently with my computer monitor. On the front of my monitor there’s a “menu” button, an “up/down” button and a “left/right” button. I’d figured out that if I want to change the brightness of my monitor, I press menu, I press the down button till the menu bar goes to brightness, then I press left/right to adjust the brightness setting. A little long winded, but it works. Then two weeks ago, I found out that just pressing the up/down button on its own will change the brightness, and it even has a little brightness symbol above it. D’oh ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/95 "2011-09-08T06:22:01Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Ref **TruCelt** : On my fairly fancy car there’s a hidden switch on the trunk lid which unlatches the trunk. It’s recessed near the license plate lights. But which works only when all the doors are unlocked. In many cars the lever is on a sort of “roof” over the trunk lock; sometimes it’s the lock itself (just push it). One of my coworkers recently realized what the button labeled CC on his car’s wheel meant. He’d had the car for three years and drives a lot on the highway, oops! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/96 "2011-09-08T07:57:03Z")
My mother had been driving since the '50s. One day, a few years ago, she was shopping, and when she came out to the car, it was covered with ice. She said it took forever to clear the windshield. I asked her why she didn’t use the windshield fluid. She said, “No, that would have made more ice.” She had no idea that windshield fluid was also de-icer." ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/97 "2011-09-08T13:49:15Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > My mother had been driving since the '50s. One day, a few years ago, she was shopping, and when she came out to the car, it was covered with ice. She said it took forever to clear the windshield. I asked her why she didn’t use the windshield fluid. She said, “No, that would have made more ice.” She had no idea that windshield fluid was also de-icer." That may work in some circumstances, but depending on how cold the windshield is, the fluid will indeed freeze and create more problems. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/98 "2011-09-08T14:34:33Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Ya know the two hooks on a vacuum cleaner that you wind the cord around? The top one could be turned around, and I always wondered why, as I patiently unwound the cord, one loop at a time… Dang, I must not own a fancy-schmancy high-falutin vaccum clearners like all you people. My cord hook is a single piece of hard immovable plastic. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/99 "2011-09-08T15:08:55Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > That may work in some circumstances, but depending on how cold the windshield is, the fluid will indeed freeze and create more problems. You must not be living in a frozen zone. Our windshield wiper fluid is rated to 40 below here! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/100 "2011-09-08T15:16:19Z")
Aw, man. I saw **QtheM** had posted and thought a doctor would have an extra-funny “duh” story to share. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600.md?page=6)