I read about a primitive AI concept (maybe it was in Omni magazine in the late 70s?) where exactly this was either being worked on or at least discussed around the community bong. As of 1997 not much had been made of it. The Googlewebs suggest the bong keeps getting reloaded before anyone can get as far as the old Commodore64 to start fiddling about with the programming.
But it’s all like whatever. I should be taking the stairs to the third floor anyway.
Well played, suh!
Did anyone else notice that Mr. Moutard always signs his posts “mmm” (which sounds likes he’s savoring what he’s said: Donuts, mmm… open wounds, mmm…)
So I was entertained by him… this once. Good jokes, mmm…
But I hate “siggies”, too.
regards,
moi
“Regards” kind of gives away the person who does it that drives me nuts. I tried to disguise it so as to not get personal.
As to Elevators, the one in my (five story) building does it correctly. There are three elevators. One camps at the first floor, the second at the third floor and the third at the fourth floor. The two busiest (most requested) floors would be the 1st and 4th. When someone takes the 1st floor elevator, one of the others moves to the 1st floor to take its place. The camped 3rd floor elevator handles requests from the 2nd and 3rd floors and the camped 4th floor takes 4th and 5th. Anytime an elevator is used, one of the others takes its place. Waits for elevators are minimal.
The elevator thing: the person on the top floor who “sends it down” and the person on the first floor who “brings it down” - both by pushing a button - are accomplishing the same thing, yes?
So the courtesy is that I pushed the button so you won’t have to?
I may be wrong, but I believe that modern elevators are programmed to return to the first floor when not in use.
mmm
Okay, here’s one: The font used on almost every website doesn’t use the “bars” on the top and bottom of the capital “I.” This means that every time someone writes about Artificial Intelligence, I think the article is about some guy named Al. It’s confusing. There’s a reason the capital I and lower case L look different.
I’ve thought about this from time to time. I personally don’t have this problem, but I easily visualize a fair amount of people could have it. A fair amount of people dispise public toilets, and I imagine, if some people had the means, they would avoid sitting where other people’s asses have been (clothing, of course, mitigates against this, but I have smelt some NASTY office chairs that must be a result of repeated flatulance).
I also imagine that there are a lot of people that dislike using restaurant silverware that’s been in hundreds of other people’s mouths. I try not to think about that.
This.
Reading it as “a apple” or “a ice cream” is bad enough. Hearing little children learning to talk saying that makes me want to punch them in the throat but I don’t because they are little children and are still learning how to talk. Thankfully I’ve yet to meet an adult who talked that way.
Interestingly, in the reply box here, I do get an I with the bars on them. But what I was going to say is actually the I and l look slightly different, at least as I see it here in the posts. The I doesn’t have bars, but the lowercase l does have the one pixel or so one bottom that juts out to the right.
I hate the use of “massive” to mean, simply, very large. I hate when it gets used to refer to something that has no mass. E.g. “a massive amount of information.” I especially hate when it gets used to refer to something defined by its LACK of mass. E.g. “a massive cave”. We can make it even worse by combining those two. E.g. “a massive hole in your logic.”
I get that “massive” doesn’t have to mean “having a great deal of mass.” I get that it can be used to refer to mass metaphorically. And I’m not similarly bothered by references to, say, “a weighty matter” in reference to something that has no weight (or matter!). I just think it’s, er, massively overused without any thought given to the word’s meaning beyond “very large.”
This drives me crazy and fortunately does not happen often, but there is one cashier at our local grocery store who likes to give a running commentary as he scans each item…he finally stopped with me after looking up one time to find me glaring at him…what I buy and why is none of your damn business, just do your job…
I’ve also noticed stores are prompting the cashiers to say, “Did you find everything you were looking for today?” The times I’ve answered honestly have only resulted in confusion on the part of the cashiers and has never yielded the items that were not in stock, so now I just answer, “It doesn’t matter…” Grrr…
I’ve seen people drink wine from a long-stemmed wine glass; I’ve seen people drink wine in a wine glass (a regular glass, but smaller than a water glass). I’ve seen people drink wine in an aluminum cup or a plastic glass when camping. I’ve never seen anybody drink wine out of a coffee cup.
If someone is drinking so much that a stemmed wine glass is in danger of spillage, either that’s not the first glass they’re having or the dog needs better manners.
I’ve got a big, heavy coffee mug that my dad used in the Navy (WW2, he called it a “Ward Room Mug”). It’s so thick-walled that it keeps heat or cold in, and will never get knocked over*. I use that mug for wine, Irish Whisky, Brandy Old Fashioneds, and even coffee.
*Unlike our nice wine glasses, unfortunately. By design, they’re top-heavy, and have been tipped over by sober-yet-klutzy guests (and hosts, usually while washing up).
When somebody suggests watching a movie/TV show together and then the person who recommended it immediately gets up and walks away or does something else while you watch. At that point I might as well just watch it on my own free time or do something else I wanted to do.
As an Israeli, I’d prefer it if foreigners don’t even try to place two vowels between the R and the L. Just pronounce it “IS-Rail.”
Ah. That makes a lot more sense.
A tiny one, spotted in the wild yesterday afternoon…
When I go to a place of business that has a line and someone just doesn’t move up, leaving a huge gap and making me wonder if they have already been served and are waiting for their food.
These days I simply ask in a firm voice “Are you in line?” at which point they usually say “Oh yes…sorry” while shuffling up, or “Oh, no…we’re waiting for a friend” while stepping aside.
Yesterday’s guys were both standing ten feet back from the rest of the people, forcing me to stand right in front of the entrance. When I asked them, they looked at me and said “Yes, we are” and made no movement. I then said “back here???” to which they said nothing. Clearly they were raised by wolves, and I didn’t want to press the issue.
I realized my better response would have been “I’m blocking the entrance, would you mind moving forward a bit?”
McDonalds. Touch-screen ordering pads.
[Turned into a rant…the balance is in the Pit]
Or picks up their phone to play a game or just surf.
I haven’t been in a McDonalds in years. The touch screen ordering pads are as ludicrous as the ‘build your own artisan burger’. What with those and the array of fancy coffees, they really seem to be trying to upgrade from ‘a clown pushing junk food’ to a sophisticated hangout for millenials. The junkies and homeless people who scrape together a handful of change don’t seem impressed at the McDonalds downtown :(…and it’s really not cheap. $5 more and you might as well go to a real restaurant like Panera such.
Sheesh, I hate touch screens in general! Have keyboards and mice become too expensive or something? I just don’t see how touch screens are in any way superior.
Perhaps they should work on the quality of their food before they try to offer more variety. The last few times I went into a McDonald’s, the burgers were dry as bones, and the buns were stale.