Comedic "things you would ban": minor things that irritate you

[Techniquest]

I ban hindsight being described as a wonderful thing. It is anything but!

I don't know about that, hindsight can teach a lesson on how not to do something in the future for just one example, so in that case it truly is wonderful. More so if said wisdom gets passed on to the next generation!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I don't know about that, hindsight can teach a lesson on how not to do something in the future for just one example, so in that case it truly is wonderful. More so if said wisdom gets passed on to the next generation!

Indeed. And as has been attributed to Winston Churchill:-

"Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."​

 

[Techniquest]

Indeed. And as has been attributed to Winston Churchill:-

"Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."​

Fair point, but I still think hindsight is a wonderful thing!

 

[Acey]

Golden Delicious Apples ,never was a product so ill-named !

 

[sor]

Unnecessarily loud exhausts are cheesing me off at the moment. Mostly cars, so "loud pipes save lives" doesn't even apply (and if it did I shouldn't need to hear it for 30 seconds)

When YouTube first started becoming a big player in terms of media, I hoped it would lead to a diversity of presentation techniques and styles. Unfortunately a lot of stuff is very formulaic, as you say Trip Reports are particularly bad for this. The toilet tests are quite the bugbear for me, too.

I suppose there's only so many ways you can present a trip report though. A few shots out of the window, a walk down the train, a review of the seats... doesn't really make a difference what order you put them in.

The Algorithm (tm) has been blessing me with videos from Japanese travel bloggers recently. It's an interesting juxtaposition since none of them seem to talk, preferring subtitles (either burnt in or switchable), and it's much more "down to business".

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Unnecessarily loud exhausts are cheesing me off at the moment. Mostly cars...

Often wondered how these souped-up noise polluters manage to get through an annual MOT. (Or maybe they don't!)

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Often wondered how these souped-up noise polluters manage to get through an annual MOT. (Or maybe they don't!)

They swap the exhausts for legal ones, take it in for their service and MoT and then swap the exhausts back out again.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Golden Delicious Apples ,never was a product so ill-named !

Brings to mind the Eddie Izzard routine about names and branding:

"Mrs. Smith? Go away... until your daughter has a baby!"

 

[Acey]

The bright spark who thought it would be a good idea to put " delete " next to " enter " on my keyboard !

 

[Purple Train]

I'd ban Fortnight (however on earth you spell it).

 

[150249]

I'd ban Fortnight (however on earth you spell it).

Fortnite

 

[Purple Train]

Fortnite

Thanks

 

[gg1]

The generally accepted wisdom within the car industry that if you want a higher spec model of a given car, you also want larger wheels with lower profile tyres.

 

[Statto]

I'd ban, transport operators using the term "good service" to describe normal service, good service is quite ambiguous can mean anything, as in what the hell is a good service supposed to be, why can't they just say normal service instead?

 

[duncanp]

I'd ban, transport operators using the term "good service" to describe normal service, good service is quite ambiguous can mean anything, as in what the hell is a good service supposed to be, why can't they just say normal service instead?

I would also ban transport operators from showing incorrect destinations on the front of vehicles.

eg. At Grand Central today, a tram going to Edgbaston Village was showing "Wolverhampton St Georges" on the front, which caused several people to get on it and go one stop in the wrong direction.

 

[Purple Train]

I'd ban, transport operators using the term "good service" to describe normal service, good service is quite ambiguous can mean anything, as in what the hell is a good service supposed to be, why can't they just say normal service instead?

"Normal service" and "good service" mean very different things to each other in most areas of the country.

 

[py_megapixel]

Websites that change how the scroll wheel works, e.g. by adjusting the scrolling speed, using the scroll wheel to trigger animations or a "parallax" affects, or trying to make the scrolling "smooth" or "natural" (which usually results in not being able to scroll as precisely).

Seriously: if you are a web designer/developer, do not do this. I have literally never had my experience on a website improved by my scroll wheel doing anything other than move up and down the page at the speed I have set in the operating system. At best it's irritating because it's not behaving how I'm used, at worst it makes the website unbearable to use.

 

[gg1]

Websites which don't allow you to open internal links in a new tab or window.

 

[duncanp]

Newspaper websites.

They seem to contain more adverts that actual news content, and are unbelievably slow, to the extent of being unusable.

 

[BanburyBlue]

Shopping websites that give out annoying messages...

"there are currently 6 people viewing this item"
"this item is selling fast"
"Only 2 of these items left in stock"

 

[Busaholic]

Newspaper websites.

They seem to contain more adverts that actual news content, and are unbelievably slow, to the extent of being unusable.

I agree, but we all know it's deliberate because the newspaper is trying to get as many print sales as possible. However, I doubt very much whether that works as a strategy, especially with local papers.

 

[Jimini]

I agree, but we all know it's deliberate because the newspaper is trying to get as many print sales as possible. However, I doubt very much whether that works as a strategy, especially with local papers.

It's more a mildly desperate attempt to monetise online content to offset the circulation / revenue decline (or cessation in many cases) of the print product.

 

[duncanp]

It's more a mildly desperate attempt to monetise online content to offset the circulation / revenue decline (or cessation in many cases) of the print product.

And a lot of the online content is not really what I would regard as local news.

A few days ago, the online version of the Birmingham Mail had as their main headline "..Restaurant writes perfect response to diner who gave 1 star review on Trip Advisor.."

Was that really the most important thing happening in Birmingham at the time? I don't think so.

 

[birchesgreen]

And a lot of the online content is not really what I would regard as local news.

A few days ago, the online version of the Birmingham Mail had as their main headline "..Restaurant writes perfect response to diner who gave 1 star review on Trip Advisor.."

Was that really the most important thing happening in Birmingham at the time? I don't think so.

Yes but actual news requires journalism, creating an article from online reviews or social media can be done much cheaper by an intern.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Websites which don't allow you to open internal links in a new tab or window.

Speaking of which, one of the recent updates to Chrome for Android is this new feature called "tab groups". This means if I click on a link in someone's post on here, it opens not in a new tab but in a sort of "tab within a tab" meaning that if want to move between tabs I there are two different places I need to click rather than one.

 

[Gloster]

People who press on the option for a receipt at an automatic till and then throw the receipt away. If you don’t want it, why choose it? My local W.H.Smith has a bin by the till and it is well used.

 

[43096]

People who press on the option for a receipt at an automatic till and then throw the receipt away. If you don’t want it, why choose it? My local W.H.Smith has a bin by the till and it is well used.

Perhaps people aren’t asking for a receipt and the machine is just spitting out the usual pointless offers and surveys - that then need to be binned.

 

[Bletchleyite]

People who press on the option for a receipt at an automatic till and then throw the receipt away. If you don’t want it, why choose it? My local W.H.Smith has a bin by the till and it is well used.

WHS that don't have a bin for your Costa Coffee slip you have to scan to pay for it!

(Wish they would just put a contactless reader on the machine, I have seen that so it is possible)

 

[BanburyBlue]

People who press on the option for a receipt at an automatic till and then throw the receipt away. If you don’t want it, why choose it? My local W.H.Smith has a bin by the till and it is well used.

yes agree. The other automatic till one I hate are the people that are paying by card, who insist on using the one or two automatic till that still take cash. I was in M&S the other day, and there was one cash till and half a dozen card only tills. I was paying cash, so queued behind this guy, who then paid by card!

 

[Gloster]

Perhaps people aren’t asking for a receipt and the machine is just spitting out the usual pointless offers and surveys - that then need to be binned.

No. This is specifically those who answer Yes to the question as to whether they want a receipt.