That is frustrating.
I have a Roku box with an RF remote that’s the bee’s knees…except for the absolutely useless Netflix, Sling, Hulu, and CBS buttons on it.
I took it apart and stuffed some cardboard between the buttons and their respective membrane switches. Some folks just rip them out with pliers, but I wanted the thing to look somewhat decent.
And I get it, the Roku box is cheaper because of these buttons. It still is annoying.
To call in sick you must use an automated line for my job.
The problem is that it’s voice only and if the system can’t understand you two times in a row, the call is terminated and you have to recall the number and go through the entire 10 minute process all over again.
The thing is, if you’re sick you might be couching or sneezing which the voice line will interpret as a voice and become confused at what option you chose and tell you to “repeat that”, and remember you only get one more chance to make it right.
Also it’s two misunderstandings in the entire call, not just two misunderstandings in that particular section.
If they simply just made it numbers based the system would work, there’s nothing in the call that would require a specific phrase to be uttered that can’t just be put on the numpad.
As for rear plugs; my buddy’s Dodge Omni became my benchmark. I did Midgets, Sprites and everything else but that damn Omni ------ I almost had to drop the motor. I DID have to shift it around somewhat.
Had a Norton JPS cycle ------ when I sold it I included the specially modified needle-nosed pliers you needed to insert, remove and turn the key. :smack:
Even worse in Europe, if you used a credit card at a kiosk you still have to go to the cashier to sign the credit card receipt before they start making your food. If it wasn’t for the language barrier I’d just have used the cashier every single time since it skips the receipt step.
I’ll see your Dodge and raise you a 2013 Prius:
Any user interface of Microsoft.
Any SAP software interface.
I own a BMW R850 RT motorcycle. The battery can only be reached by removing the left hand side of the “body work” requiring removing 17 hex bolts, of unequal length. Meaning that, if inadvertently you drained your battery away from home by e.g.leaving the parking light on, you’d have to do this in order to be able to jump start the bike. The battery can be trickle charged by a plug on the dashboard, but jumpstarting through that is obviously impossible.
Even worse: turning on the contact lights every warning light, so you can see if the lights are still in working order. Fine, except that the only light NOT tested this way is the low fuel warning light. This means that the only way to find out this light is broken is when your bike sputters to a halt. Of course, the bike has a fuel gauge, but why, o why, is this light not lit when turning on the contact? :smack:
I actually went back to the dealer after buying this bike thinking that bulb was broken, only to learn this was a feature, not a bug.
I used to have a BMW R1150R. Reaching the battery requires removing the gas tank. So BMW installed quick disconnects on the fuel lines, but then they got cheap and made them out of plastic. After numerous gas leaks which permanently stained the magnesium engine block, and maybe caused fires? I don’t know, but gas dripping on a hot engine seems bound to cause a fire eventually. Anyway, they recalled and replaced the plastic disconnects with metal ones. Removing the tank takes about 30 minutes the first time, and about 10 minutes after that. Reinstallation is similar.
To BMW’s credit, they did put a positive terminal on the side of the bike, and a negative connection point on the engine block for charging and jump starting.
Digital Equipment Corporation had a round mouse on their DECstation years before Apple. That just makes Apple’s design even worse, as they had plenty of opportunity to see how bad it was. Of course the DECstation mouse was worse than Apple’s, because not only was it non-ergonomic, but the tilted wheels it used to track, instead of a ball, performed poorly.
Not trying to pile onto the stove valve debate, but all the gas grills I’ve used work the same way: off, start/high, medium, low.
Makes sense from a safety standpoint too: small hands can’t turn on the stove so easily. (Or paws–I had a counter-surfing dog who managed to turn on a burner by bumping the front-mounted control. Mind you, she didn’t manage to light it, but just turn on the gas. :smack: )
Sink, mirror, cabinet combination attached to the wall with cement screws that are too short and too thin for the purpose, bottom of the cabinet about six inches above the floor, and no feet for the thing to be resting on. Building is 10 years old and the whole contraption came off the wall Saturday morning, cutting me slightly just below my left ankle. Yeah, I’m not happy about it. The landlord, though, is paying for the repair–and this time it’s going to have the bloody feet instead of me.
Uh? I’m reasonably sure that both Spain and France are Europe and I’ve never needed to do that. The problem is probably with your cc’s conditions: blame the bank, not the kiosks.
Count me in on the Uh? too. I’m reasonably familiar with European fast food places and I’ve never had to do this.
Ditto SimCity. Just to make sure, you had to match up symbols so your 110 wpm typist couldn’t just type up a copy in a few minutes.
That would have been, oh, six months later for me, just to make sure I got some use out of the T-a b.
I’ve only used my Visa card once in Europe, but I did have to sign for my cab ride in Madrid: I suspect it was indeed because we in America did not get an actual chip card but a pseudo chip card. Or I guess it may have been a rare place that makes everyone sign, since I still occasionally have to sign for my credit card purchases in America anyway.
That’s usually linked to specific limits; alternatively, that cab may have had an older machine which called up the old protocols. But the second option simply won’t be the case for the kiosks, those have the newer terminals.
What interface, I thought you had to use mental telepathy to communicate with it.
I firmly believe SAP was created by the Germans to prepare for the time they desire to take over the world. There has to be a secret setting that, when activated by the overlords, takes the system down worldwide. All industry is immediately crippled and OPS/accounting won’t consider developing or building anything unless Earned Value/Process Flow is operational.
Holy shit, you mean there’s a known culprit for the ^$#@##@ receipt sandwich?!
Whoever at corporate who designed our room key cards. The design makes it look as if you should insert it one way. The teeny tiny little arrow indicates it should be the other way.
9 times out of 10 when someone calls the front desk because their key card isn’t working, the bellman discovers they were just putting it in backwards.
My chevy Astro’s water pump is not just a non-standard design, it also in a non-standard place; $800 to replace.
The spark plugs? Remove both front wheels, remove access panels… I will say that the plugs last like crazy; 70,000 miles now.
The pump that boosts the brakes, also boosts the steering. When it fails, neither one works well. This has happened to me at speed, very exciting.
I’m a photographer, and I’ve noticed that some photo magazines (I’m assuming mags in other fields, as well) have adopted the teeny tiny print aesthetic, as well as a tendency to use medium gray skinny type on a slightly lighter gray background. This is incomprehensible in a photo mag, where SOMEONE in the design chain should understand contrast. Someone in the marketing division should have recognized by now that their target audience includes older folk with the bucks to spend on (rarely inexpensive) cameras and gear. Older folk (I am one) frequently have less-than-optimal eyesight (raises hand again).
Was it Shakespeare who said “First we kill all the designers”?
Dan
I’m sorry, I was speaking more metaphorically - I should have been more clear.
It’s the most likely way I can see how a process so simple, once done correctly, changed to a far worse process which then became standardized throughout the industry.
Thanks Dan for reminding me of the assholes who think that printing tiny letters in pale grey ink on the white plugs of electrical devices was a great idea. I guess Jeff Bezos never plugs his own stuff, it’s not like he doesn’t have enough minions to do that and more for him…
(I just got the SMS informing me that I can pick up my new glasses. My first pair of progressives, I guess my eyes are all grown-up now…)
ETA: please don’t kill me. I promise my SAP designs work* and do not include any tiny print in non-contrasting colors.
