Why ask for my city when I’m filling in an address AND the zip code? Just ask for the zip code and let your database look up my city.
Good point.
Not only can zip codes straddle city boundaries, they can also straddle state boundaries. The border around ND is notorious for this.
Allowing a person to enter the zip code and then autofilling the state/city when unique could be helpful. But then you have people mistyping the zip code and just accepting the fill-in. With both there is redundancy that reduces errors.
But such verification leads to problems. They split our zip code and it took quite a while for our new one to propagate to the online form folks. So it kept getting rejected as invalid.
Sounds like just a bad design. The ones I’ve been to it pretty clear to look down and see if there’s any open spots or not before turning down the aisle.
But the address goes to the location of the post office that the zip code serves, doesn’t it? Even if the zip code straddles cities or state, there’s still only one main post office that serves that zip code.
A related gripe about the way drop-down lists are usually implemented:
If I hit the letter ‘M’, why does Maine (first state that starts with that letter) typically appear as the last entry in the newly updated list? Surely it should be first, with the rest of the ‘M’ states appearing below it.
Lots of short semi-replies, so no quoting.
The only thing I can think of for Maine is the postal abbreviation. But that just explains why Massachusetts would be above Maine.
The website design is just laziness, as combo boxes have existed as long as HTML forms have existed. Those allow you to type or select. And, if you’re going to customize them, it should at least replicate the original features. And the fancy stuff should be performant. I hate the tendency to use new stuff when the old stuff worked. Just skin it.
It seems to me that the keyless cars should have already cut off after a reasonable period unless you explicitly set them to stay running. They can detect if the keyfob is nearby, so they should be able to tell you’re not just waiting in the car with it on.
Yeah, Windows 8 reinvented the wheel, but Windows 10 still kept too much of that stuff. And every feature update to Windows 10 is this, creating so many problems. Just make a stable, reliable OS.
I agree the oven should work without the clock. I get the move to make them run on timers, so they don’t get left on. But you don’t need to set the clock for a timer to work.
The outlet switch makes some sense, I guess, but the real thing the UK does right are the plugs. Especially when compared to having to wire a plug yourself. That was just asking for trouble.
And, just in general, this is what I consider advertising to be nowadays. It’s not about letting you know about something you may need, but trying to create an artificial need and then providing something to fill it. That is the reason I go out of my way to avoid ads so much. If I do allow ads on a site, I also write a script that makes them invisible, or zoom in where I can’t see them.
The only “feature” I can think of that I hate is just planned obsolescence in heaters. They all just get to a point where they will overheat enough and turn off. They can’t keep the fans working, for some reason. The only way to keep one working is to never turn it off. But at least I get why they do that.
My local McDonalds is in a high traffic area so it’s always packed with customers but also has a lot of people hanging out inside who just go there to use the WiFi or homeless using it to sleep. I’m assuming because of this traffic the work staff is constantly concerned with making food and not maintenance since the place doesn’t look like it’s been cleaned in decades and still has Mac Tonight posters around that have literally been there since the mid-90’s (when I first went to the place).
Last year apparently they updated the establishment thoroughly cleaning and modernizing it and gutting the original floor plan, got rid of some of the larger booths to make room for more individual chairs and tables, took down all those old McDonalds posters and put in multiple HDTVs that aired the news. However because it was still a high traffic area all these improvements basically immediately fell apart because of no maintenance, with the HDTV’s only lasting about a month before they were taken down because somebody had broken one of them. So now it’s back to being a broken and groody McDonalds meaning all that money spent on improvements was wasted.
Their solution of updating the restaurant to make it seem cleaner and newer fell apart because they failed to find a solution to the original problem, that there’s nobody cleaning the place.
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Not all things are sent USPS. Other shippers do their own routing.
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Even USPS frequently ignores the zip code! We have a relative who lives on a street named after a state. Most mail sent there ends up going to that state and then bouncing back.
There’s how things should work and then there’s how things go in reality.
I read this, and assume you work for the CIA or MI6. 
I agree with both of these statements; it seems every “upgrade” decreases functionality and tries to make my (still working) old computers obsolete. I have quite a bit of old software that’s still pefectly functional, such as some engineering programs I still use, and MS Office stuff. Take Publisher 2007 for example; I help fix/update a few webpages for an HOA out in the rural sticks of NM–they use some web features that aren’t supported by “upgrades” to Publisher. While I think MS tells us the upgrades are for “security,” I really believe they are pushing these upgrades for planned obsolescence. Don’t get me started on the number of iterations I’ve had for iTunes, that changes the interface as often as I change my underwear (daily, thank you).
I get around their security crap by leaving my old XP and Win 7 boxes on the desk, unconnected to the Internet as ‘standalone.’ I’m now building a collection of functional antiques. Thanks a lot, MicroSoft. ::shakesfist:: Do Macs have these problems?
Then there are a few threads where a poster wants to freeze people until we cure death, and replace everything (including human consciousness) with AI and nanobots. That’s a totally different realm of “WTF?”
Tripler
It’s time to bring out this quote: “Get off my lawn.”
Does speed, RAM, etc. really need whole new OS? Or, how do I make my pocket knife better? 
The particular garage where I noticed this has displays at the entrance that tell you how many available spots are on each floor. I’ll have to check next time to see if the numbers are even in the right ballpark. Even if they are, you’d have to remember them as you drive through the garage and hope that the promised space is still available by the time you got there. Having the numbers at the end of each aisle sounds like a potential improvement.
But this garage is also small enough that it really only has one way through it. It’s not a complicated search pattern. You’d find the same parking spots, in the same order, even without the lights.
And honestly, parking behavior may be among the most nonsensical things that human beings do. When I go to the airport, seems like anyone I’m with wants to park on the lowest floor with the first available spot they find. I drive up to the second-highest floor (so my car will be under cover) and park right near the elevators; piece o’ cake.
Bought a used two door (no second seat) pick up truck. The previous owner put a stereo with a remote control in it. It is a real fancy stereo. It’s got like two dozen different control buttons on it. That kinda pisses me off too. I really only use the truck to plow my driveway, so I can never remember how to operate it.
Redundancy is a good thing.
An address with “Grafton, OH 40444” at the end has a chance of being resolved correctly even though the correct zip code is 44044. If all you put in is 40444, it goes to Bryantsville, Kentucky.
Zip codes are never divided into separate city areas. If a zip code has multiple approved city names, all city names are equally valid for the entire zip code. (But redundancy is still good.)
There is a whole subculture of Car Audio enthusiasts, who show off the awesomeness of their systems from outside the car. Hence the “need” for remote controls.
Regarding keyless car ignitions: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/13/business/deadly-convenience-keyless-cars-and-their-carbon-monoxide-toll.html?recId=158IiZDxtUjJZQMbTV0rSNWSv5T&geoContinent=NA&geoRegion=CMX&recAlloc=thompson_sampling&geoCountry=MX&blockId=signature-journalism
Yeah, this. Once you’re enough levels up that you’d use the elevator in place of the stairs, the levels are functionally indistinguishable, so why not just go for the one that will likely have the most empty spaces? It really drives me nuts when I get stuck behind someone waiting for a space on level 3, when it would be faster for everyone if they just drove up to level 4 or 5.
Generally something along the lines of “The marketing people who told us this is what people want are idiots.”
Ah, got it! Would never had occurred to me.
The dropdown menu for the state is easy to explain – most of the programmers live in California, which takes only one keypress.
More seriously, using a dropdown does eliminate one type of error, where the user types in two characters which are not a state abbreviation.