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What's the Worst Technical Feature You've Used?
kooky45 asks: "In an effort to make our lives easier and more entertaining, technology designers pack more and more features into electronic devices, but often they're more nuisance than they're worth. An earlier article on LEDs discussed some of these. Another example is my Nokia 6320i mobile phone which has a back lit screen that drains the battery life at an alarming rate. When the phone is not in use the back light is off; if the battery starts to run low, it gives me regular warnings by beeping and turning the back light on! What other examples of designer stupidity have you seen?"
Or just call the dealer you bought the car from, give them the VIN, and they'll give you the code over the phone. I've been doing this off and on for a decade, and haven't had to give them anything else.
This is not a sig. this is a duck. quack.
Speaking of Microsoft (Clippy), back in the days of DOS 6.something (6.2 ?), when upgrading from a previous version of OS, if the Mircosoft installation program detected something besides a DOS partition, it would blithely inform you that it had detected something non-Mircosoft and it would take care of it for you!
That was a disappointment.
I lost a lot of work until I found the work-around.
Best regards.
In Handspring Treo 180, there was a "World Clock" program that could display time in any timezone. It allowed to change my current timezone, but it would not change the time! So I move between timezones, I would need to update the timezone AND the time. Perhaps the software was not tested on real word travelers.
You can also use Honda's online Owner Link to store your radio code, unless you're afraid someone will hack your account and then steal your stereo. There's a special field for it and everything.
Dewey, you fool! Your decimal system has played right into my hands!
Yes, I purchased the legitimate thing from a respectable, authorized seller. I don't download that stuff, and I keep my taskbar empty. I keep a crap ware free machine. I had to turn WGA off in order to keep it from slowing down my real work (which takes up a lot of ram already). But somehow, after 4 months of use, it decided that my copy was illegitimate. So it almost locked me out, till I called tech support to fix it. (Good thing I still had the warranty). Maybe I'm just not Windows 1337 enough for it... I guess I'll go back to DOS. or go on to Linux.
Give Kashyyyk back to the Wookies
You are experiencing a bug with Microsoft Update, not WGA. It's been driving us crazy here at work for months now.
Thankfully, Microsoft finally released a hotfix for it.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
http://www.myopenx.com/home.htm
I've broken scissors too. Never again! Never again!
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
It's a pretty big tank. One US gallon. Seems like a good idea, since I'm in the US, and windshield washer fluid is sold by the gallon. Just buy a gallon, fill the tank, done.
Except that's not how it works. I've got a "washer fluid low" sensor and light on the dash. It comes on when there's about 1/10th of a gallon left. Plenty of time to put more in before running out.
So I go to the store, buy a gallon, pour in (by now) 15/16ths of the bottle, and now the tank is full. And I'm left with a 1 gallon jug with 1 cup of fluid in it. So the almost empty jug has to sit in the garage or the trunk until I use a little fluid.
Sure would have been nice to have a 1.1 gallon tank.
I am not a crackpot.
Since I'm posting as an AC, I doubt this will get seen, but what the heck:
This is not the fault of Motorola, it is the fault of your wireless company. Motorola allows the phone company to add any features to the phone that they want, and allows them to "lock" several features so they cannot be changed/deleted/etc. There is no way to get around this on the phone itself, however if you connect it to your computer there are several utilities that can fix the problem. Check out http://www.motomodders.net/ or http://wiki.howardforums.com/index.php/Motorola for details on the fun stuff you can do with a computer link.
If you're using microsoft, try Start->Settings->Control Panel->Accessibility Options->Mouse->Use mousekeys
There is a reason those messages are so laborious with unnecesary pauses and bad order of menu options etc...
... another 10-20c... so one excahnge = 4 minutes of talk time. 4 minutes on the phone could accomplish a lot more... and uses way more bandwidth, but once again the tel-co's have it setup so that the more laborious the process, the more it costs you.
The time you spend with your answering machine is money to the Tel-Co. If you have Pay-As-You-Go it DEFINTLY counts as 10c/minute. Considering that they bill you for two minutes even if you hang up at 61 seconds, its a very easy way for them to make millions.
No joke, the more time you spend on the phone going through the various menu's the more time gets racked up, even if your on a plan your still burning minutes just trying to leave a message on someone elses phone.
Text messaging is almost worse in its cost vs value, a singel text message is generally 10-20c (sending party and recieving party), and generally requires at least one reply
--Idiots, Every single one of YOU, A flaming mass of conglomerated morons, hey wait a second, isnt that how RAID works?
It's actually "Paper Cassette".
Because I know you care. <3
The United States of America: We do what we must because we can.
In linux, read the file /usr/linux/src/Documentation/sysrq.txt and select the following kernel option while running "make menuconfig"
Kernel hacking --->
[*] Magic SysRq key
If your system is locked up, you can at least hit {ALT-SysRq-s} to force a sync to save data before hitting the power button. This can avoid filesystem corruption. There are various commands that can be executed. Read the documentation file I mentioned above for more details.
I'm not repeating myself
I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
You really aren't understanding the issue.
People who are observant certainly remember what is and isn't allowed. The issue is that the device needs to be flexible. If a refrigerator always lights a light when the door is opened, and always turns the compressor on when the door is opened because it's designed to expect that cold air is escaping then, then an observant Jewish person cannot use that fridge at all one day a week. He won't be able to avoid doing prohibited things if he goes to get anything out of it. So he'll have to do without altogether.
It seems like it'd be a hell of a lot easier to just have a switch that puts the fridge into an alternate mode where opening the door doesn't make the light come on, and doesn't trigger the compressor. Then the person can use the fridge. He knows what he wants the fridge to do -- the machine isn't meant to remind him. It's just meant to behave in the way he needs it to during that time.
Letting things work on timers or other automatic systems that are not connected to human activity which occurs on the sabbath is fine. So heat in the winter is left on automatic. It doesn't need to be turned off. There's no prohibition about having a compressor running, or having it switch on or off. The prohibition is against being the one who switches it on or off.
Anyway, this is actually pretty legalistic and rational, if quite conservative in interpretation. Well, at least if you're treating the law you're trying to follow as an absolute given. It is something that you can have a rational discussion about.
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.