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Ask Slashdot: What Software (Or Hardware) Glitch Makes You Angry?

This question was inspired when Slashdot reader TheRealHocusLocus found their laptop "in the throes of a Windows 10 Update," where "progress has rolled past 100% several times and started over." I pushed the re-schedule dialogue to the rear and left it waiting. But my application did not count as activity and I left for a few moments, so Windows decided to answer its own question and restart (breaking a persistent Internet connection)... I've had it. Upon due consideration I now conclude I have been personally f*ck'd with. Driver availability, my apps and WINE permitting, this machine is getting Linux or pre-Windows-8...

That's mine, now let's hear about the things that are pushing you over the edge this very minute. Phones, software, power windows, anything.

There's a longer version of this story in the original submission -- but what's bugging you today? Leave your best answers in the comments. What software (or hardware glitch) makes you angry?

484 comments

  1. No unicode on Slashdot. by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Funny

    No unicode on Slashdot. All I ask for is a Thorn!

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    1. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Gay+Boner+Sex · · Score: 0

      I wish for a SWASTIKA unicode character.

      That's actually a standard character in Windows. Look it up in Character Map. The hotkey is to press Alt F4 simultaneously.

    2. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      A pox on unicode!

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    3. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That doesn't always work. Sometimes you have to force it by holding ALT+DELETE for 30 seconds and then quickly tapping CTRL five times before releasing the other two buttons.

    4. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      And it works on Linux, too. Thanks, GBS!

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    5. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

      Now slashdot removes undesired characters (basically anything above 0x7f) thanks to a simple regex. Would be more difficult if the whole Unicode scope is available.

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    6. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      A pox on Unicode!

      TFTFY.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    7. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Rei · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Exactly what I've been asking for for ages!

      Slashdot doesn't need to allow all of unicode (feel free to leave out emoji, for example), but at least allow common letters and symbols. Slashdot's current behavior - silently stripping them - is terrible. It can distort the meaning of text - when talking about foreign matters, when using math / science symbols, etc. It's made me look like an idiot several times - e.g. there's a world of difference between "My morning coffee is fine, but 10(DEGREE MARK) more would be perfect" and "My morning coffee is fine, but 10 more would be perfect". And thorn is a common letter where I live, so whenever I mention people or place names from where I am they get mangled. I've also had problems copy-pasting text from other sites that happened to have unicode symbols in them. On occasion, rather than silently stripping them, Slashdot has instead transformed them into gibberish.

      --
      Nietzche: "I'm immortal because I'm all sin." Jesus: "I forgive you." (Bang!) -- Jesus Christ Supercop
    8. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Rei · · Score: 1

      Right. Unicode shouldn't be allowed because there's (easily group-blockable) emoji in them. The same reason that HTML should be banned because of the MARQUEE tag.

      --
      Nietzche: "I'm immortal because I'm all sin." Jesus: "I forgive you." (Bang!) -- Jesus Christ Supercop
    9. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Rei · · Score: 4, Informative

      Lol, just ran into two Google easter eggs that I'd never heard of before - searching for "blink tag" or "marquee tag" cause google to blink and marquee their respective search results ;)

      --
      Nietzche: "I'm immortal because I'm all sin." Jesus: "I forgive you." (Bang!) -- Jesus Christ Supercop
    10. Re: No unicode on Slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slashdot did not make you look like an idiot.

      You simply are an idiot, and it showed the rest of us the truth you were hiding behind special characters.

    11. Re: No unicode on Slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ÃéÃÃÃüñ

    12. Re: No unicode on Slashdot. by dougdonovan · · Score: 1

      that there isnt a "start" button in the bottom left hand corner of the "windshield of your vehicle" that you drive to get to work so you can click on the "start button on your monitor" when you get to work to collect a paycheck. it would only be visible from the inside.

    13. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      Oh, I'm pro-Unicode. I'm just anti-emoji.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    14. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

      (interesting. You can enter them in the Comment: box using standard keyboard-entry hacks (such as "control-shift-u, hex representation, return" on linux). And if you preview they get mangled in the display but are still displayed correctly in the Comment: box.

      --
      Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    15. Re: No unicode on Slashdot. by the_humeister · · Score: 1

      åå

    16. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      if it's merely a simple regex then they can use something like Unicode::Regex::Set to get the unicode character sets they want.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    17. Re: No unicode on Slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You looked like an idiot last night when my manhood was jammed down your thorat and I was jizzing in your trachea.

    18. Re: No unicode on Slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I start typing a message then switch out of an app to copy something and then switch back to find my started message has disappeared!

    19. Re: No unicode on Slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I can't copy and paste, like the email address field in Gmail app! Fuck you Google I know you are just fucking with me because I searched "I know you are watching me" and I sent you a support request with the text "you are ruining my life", fuck you Google.

    20. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      U+1F339.

      Have a nice day.

    21. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Misagon · · Score: 1

      Maybe it would be more reasonable to instead support ISO 8859-1, also known as ISO Latin 1.

      Before Unicode/UTF-8 overtook it, it used to be the most used character set and it is the default character set of HTML up to before HTML 5. Therefore, all web browsers has good support for it, more so than for emoji even.
      It does contain for instance the degree symbol, Thorn, the multiplication symbol, mu and bullet but no weird characters that can be mistaken for something else. Most characters are Latin vowels only with diacritic marks.

      The first 256 code points of Unicode are ISO 8859-1 with the "C1 control set" (non-printable characters that nobody uses) in code points 128..159.
      MS Windows used to default to a superset of ISO 8859-1 but with printable characters in that range.

      --
      "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
    22. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      "Slashdot doesn't need to allow all of unicode (feel free to leave out emoji, for example), but at least allow common letters and symbols. Slashdot's current behavior - silently stripping them - is terrible. "

      Skál to that!

    23. Re: No unicode on Slashdot. by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

      My cat just disappeared! Was that you?

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
    24. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

      I wish for a SWASTIKA unicode character.

      You'll have to upgrade to Office 2003 to find it in the Bookshelf Symbol 7 font. But do not apply K833407 "critical update to remove unacceptable symbols from the Bookshelf Symbol 7 font" where Microsoft famoulsly thwarted Reichturds everywhere by suddenly rendering their documents (even already printed ones! In the closet!) Swastikless. Microsoft's K833407 and the subsequent rise of Unicode emojis is the latest 1984/Illuminati/EU/Walmart plot:

      1. Encourage us to express important concepts with Unicode emoji character symbols.
      2. Especially with smartphones. Because, smartphones! Because, smartphones!
      3. Deny Unicode support to old OSs to encourage upgrade to new (back-doored) systems.
      4. Unleash a whirlwind of Unicode updates so we MUST have exploitable centralized updates.
      5. New Emoji Du Jour: The New Cool. Your teenagers will lust for them even if you won't.

      Then, at some point in the future,

      6. Issue automatic Unicode updates to neutralize dissident ideas in all the world's literature by (simply) replacing their emojis.

      Microsoft Critical Update K88833407: Replace Unicode symbol for "Eurasia" with that for "Eastasia"

      Funny how that Microsoft K833407 removed the Star Of David same time.
      A phenomenon science will never explain.

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
    25. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 1

      And thorn is a common letter where I live

      Same here. We have lots of people who are a thorn im Auge...

    26. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Frederic54 · · Score: 1

      Exactly, I opened my account in 1999 or something with the login/nickname "Frédéric" and it was like never displayed correctly, think Fr%E9d%E9ric, and at one point I couldn't even connect, I had to send an email to CmdrTaco for help and admins to change my nickname in the database...

      --
      "Science will win because it works." - Stephen Hawking
    27. Re: No unicode on Slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When my phone rotates while using Discord my unsent message disappears.

    28. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by cthulhu11 · · Score: 1

      1) I have a non-alphanumeric char in my name, so many DB misses because it randomly gets stripped out, so many cases of it being converted to an HTML escape.

      2) I have several 8TB drives in my Mac Pro. They randomly go invisible; a power cycle recovers them. Doesn't happen with smaller drives.

    29. Re: No unicode on Slashdot. by brokie · · Score: 1

      WTF is a thorat?

    30. Re: No unicode on Slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All that aside... The word "swastickless" made my morning. (I'm a linguist. We're weird like that)

    31. Re: No unicode on Slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was Google. They are stealing our minds!

    32. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Shut the fuck up, nigger.

    33. Re:No unicode on Slashdot. by Joey+Vegetables · · Score: 1

      The Swastika is not a symbol of the Third Reich. It is an ancient Indian symbol that was co-opted by the Third Reich. "Reichturds" demonstrate their ignorance, just as the Nazis did, by claiming it as their own.

  2. Not much by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Switched to Linux several years ago for the final time. Although some GUI-bugs here and there, I get around them, and not looking back. Keeping W7 in a VM and only for the 2-3 Windows applications I still use now and then. Forget Wine, find and support alternatives.

    Forced W10 at work and lose productivity and motivation to work due to that and cloud solutions being rammed from above.

    1. Re:Not much by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 5, Funny

      I run Linux and Windowsin each others' virtual machines. You can begin with either one running the other. Then create a VM of the outermost OS inside the inner VM. Apply a bit of soap to the screen and hook four standard C-clamps to the innermost VM's window and the edge of the physical monitor. Then just each of the clamps a twist every few minutes and in a day or two the innermost VM window will be stretching against its parent. Line them up carefully and get a friend to help you, four hands at once are needed to get the inner window to 'snap' over the larger, otherwise you will just be chasing both around the screen. With four hands give the clamps a full twist and you will hear a 'PING!' sound.

      Once the inner VM has snapped past the outer, continue to tighten all clamps until it is stretched/drawn to the corners of the screen. Then finally tap the clamps off with a sharp blow from of a hammer. As the last clamp is removed the computer will make a strange sound, as the machine's OS merges with the innermost VM. You have now created a Klein Nested VM with unique properties.

      Since the original outer-to-inner paradigm has been broken both VMs are simultaneously child and parent of one another, and relative merit and demerit of each OS also (strangely) enters a tesseract-like state. Any two OS 'bred' together in this way become 'best of breed'.

      You will also discover that the hardware abstraction layer has itself become an abstraction! Go ahead, gently tug the computer across the desk. You will see the spookily entangled OS hovering in the original position. You can even toss the computer you won't be needing it.

      But if you move house you'll have to do it again. Before attempting this it is good to consult your lease to see if it may subject you to penalties or threats of eviction.

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
    2. Re:Not much by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      There is no fucking way we're ever going to find a working printer driver for the entangled OS. But if the original goal was to go entirely paperless, I guess we've succeeded.

    3. Re:Not much by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

      There is no fucking way we're ever going to find a working printer driver for the entangled OS.

      If the Entangled OS (or any OS) convinces you to just give up... then the problem has been solved.

      MEAN PRO TIP: Always save tech support emails for a company with ticket numbers in the subject. When you experience a new problem don't open a new ticket, go find the oldest one you can find and reply to it, replacing text with a description of your new problem. Most systems will automatically re-open old tickets and since the date is so old you'll shoot to the top of their status boards and set off warning sirens and be escalated automatically. It is also not unusual for the urgency of the re-opened UNRESOLVED issue to implode the building and open a giant sinkhole under the company, especially if they are in Florida.

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
  3. Y2K bug - in 2014! by dbIII · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The thing that pissed me off in a major way was the flexlm "protection" software that was changed so that a perpetual license expired in the year 2000. It took a few weeks for that to be resolved before the stupidly expensive software that was "protected" could be used.
    For added laughs their USB dongle updater used MSDOS stuff and would not work in a 64 bit operating system. How that happened I have no idea since they must have had to add USB support to MSDOS to get that problem to happen in the first place.

    1. Re:Y2K bug - in 2014! by Megane · · Score: 2

      I have a USB-based EPROM programmer (Needhams EMP-31?) which only has a 32-bit USB driver. WTF? The company was bought out in early 200x just before x64 became a thing, and the big fish company simply threw their whole product line out the back door. This was also before libusb and "user-land drivers for everything on USB" became a thing. (Even then, Windows might still want INF-only "driver" to tell it to fuck off and leave the thing alone instead of installing its own retarded driver. AIUI, Windows has had a crappy CDC serial driver at least through Windows 7.)

      From what I have heard, the base reason for this WTF was that it probably emulated a bit-banged parallel port over USB in a way that required a Windows driver. So because of how it hooked itself into Windows, it had a driver incompatible with 64-bit mode. I now keep it together with a crappy old white-era Dell Insprion with 32-bit XP installed.

      Windows started with a brain-damaged USB subsystem that wants to freaking re-install a driver completely if you merely plug a device into another port. Sometimes that's useful when a particular driver instance gets fucked. Windows has maintained that brain damage for over 15 years since then.

      So yeah, my gripe is that Windows has always had crap USB support. At least I normally use OS X, so I only have to use Windows (which I still keep at Windows 7) for playing games.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    2. Re:Y2K bug - in 2014! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your USB comment just reminded me of the problem I had with my TomTom. It's USB drivers won't work outside of WinXP, so I maintain a Eee to run it, so I can update the TomTom.

      I finally figured out the problem by reading the .INF installation for the TomTom USB drivers, which was expecting Windows Vista, and with that pointer, I tried it under XP, which worked, after I updated to the latest Windows USB drivers, and then installed the TomTom drivers.

      Given I had been running Win7-64 for a few years at that time, I would have expected that a current selling TomTom would have had its' drivers updated by the company to work with Win7.

    3. Re:Y2K bug - in 2014! by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 2

      Windows started with a brain-damaged USB subsystem that wants to freaking re-install a driver completely if you merely plug a device into another port. Sometimes that's useful when a particular driver instance gets fucked. Windows has maintained that brain damage for over 15 years since then.

      Even worse, if the USB subsystem needs to assign a 'Com' port to a USB connection, it will assign a new Com port (Com4, Com5, Com6... Com28) to the same peripheral each time it's plugged into a different USB port on the machine. This can get ridiculous if you, say, are working with an Arduino and lose track of which USB connector you plugged it into last.

      It also creates a mess if you have USB to RS-232C adaptors that you mix-and-match to get legacy ports. Eventually you have to dig into the 'Device Manager' and force it to display unconnected drivers to clear out a bunch of the old driver instances.

    4. Re: Y2K bug - in 2014! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My Arduino is currently listed as COM45

    5. Re:Y2K bug - in 2014! by heypete · · Score: 1

      Windows started with a brain-damaged USB subsystem that wants to freaking re-install a driver completely if you merely plug a device into another port. Sometimes that's useful when a particular driver instance gets fucked. Windows has maintained that brain damage for over 15 years since then.

      Even worse, if the USB subsystem needs to assign a 'Com' port to a USB connection, it will assign a new Com port (Com4, Com5, Com6... Com28) to the same peripheral each time it's plugged into a different USB port on the machine. This can get ridiculous if you, say, are working with an Arduino and lose track of which USB connector you plugged it into last.

      It also creates a mess if you have USB to RS-232C adaptors that you mix-and-match to get legacy ports. Eventually you have to dig into the 'Device Manager' and force it to display unconnected drivers to clear out a bunch of the old driver instances.

      Depends on the USB-to-Serial converter. My PL2303-based ones get new COM port numbers whenever I switch physical USB ports, as do my CH340s, but my FTDI and CP2102 based adapters have per-device unique serial numbers, so the system can recognize it's the same device even when you switch USB ports. Very handy.

      Some versions of the PL2303 will let you define a unique serial number (by default the option is to not have a unique serial number).

    6. Re:Y2K bug - in 2014! by Euler · · Score: 1

      ....and every time I plug in a USB device Windows goes to find it on Windows update first, which is NEVER going to work, it spins and spins forever. I say cancel because I actually have the driver files, but still takes minutes to stop spinning after acknowledging the fact that I told it to bugger off. Then to truly get most drivers to work, you have to "update driver" and tell Windows 3 different ways in the set of dialogs to stop helping and let me actually pick the files I have "Have disk", which is never presented as a reasonable option to begin with.

    7. Re: Y2K bug - in 2014! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Run the install disk first, before you insert the USB device!

      Duh. Since 1995.

      Maybe bad design but there it is.

  4. Forced restart. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "You have to restart your computer in order for the changes from this patch to apply" [Ok] [Cancel]

    "The software have been succesfully applied" [Ok]

    Pressing OK restarts the computer.

  5. When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by papa_san · · Score: 1

    When my computer's OS lies by stating a username/password combination is wrong, when actually the account has been (temporary) disabled. Or the prompts I get in my company lately where sometimes I should login with domain\username, sometimes usename, and sometimes email address and password. What moron feels that there should not be an indication of what it wants? In general I get the impression software nowadays is seen as being good, when it replies with a message, even if that message has no relation to what is actually going on. Sorry, if an application can't be bothered to give an accurate message then let it just say "fault fuck off".

    1. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 3, Insightful

      When my computer's OS lies by stating a username/password combination is wrong, when actually the account has been (temporary) disabled.

      That's standard security practise, and it's actually for good reason.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    2. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a reason. It's subjective where that reason is good enough.

      Security is a trade-off between authorized (implicit or explicit) access to the thing that is being protected, versus easy access to the thing being protected. It's the user's computer, so only he should have the final call.

    3. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by loonycyborg · · Score: 4, Informative

      The security practice is about not telling whether you got username or password wrong, to avoid revealing existing account names to possible attackers. However if username/password combo is correct then there is no security reason for the system to hide the fact that account was disabled. Telling the real reason of login failure would save the now known authentic user possible futile attempts to reenter password thinking that he made a typo.

    4. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 0

      Take it up with Oracle (amongst others).

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    5. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by papa_san · · Score: 0

      A computer should not be allowed to lie !!!!! No reason to make it lie is a good reason. If it is part of a moronic security guideline then it should just say "fault fuck off", instead of providing incorrect information.

    6. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      My computer should not divulge any potentially useful information to anyone other than me and those whom I authorise.

      You feel differently about yours, maybe.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    7. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really? Think once again. If someone is brute forcing the locked account and manages to find a good password he will get "account locked". That would be a good indication that the credentials are correct. Wait for the account to get unlocked and login. Forcing a password change on unlock will solve this, however it could be used to guess at least the username. Therefore, displaying a simple "access denied" is common security practice. You can always inform your users on how the system behaves on the sideline.

    8. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Simple solution: have it say "account locked" on every attempt afterwards regardless of whether the password is correct or not. That way they get the same message whether or not they eventually manage to guess the right password.

    9. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Standoff timers...
      First login pw check will take 1 second.
      Second time with incorrect pw it will take 2 seconds
      third 4 seconds
      fourth 8 seconds
      and so on... Try doing any type of brute force on that..
      You could also keep a counter that would keep the attempted login attempts per user. If any user has more than 10 unsuccessful attempts always reply back with "invalid password" for 30 minutes, even for the correct pw. Perhaps separate counters for remote and local access.

    10. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... should not divulge any potentially useful information to anyone ...

      And by that feat my ISPs server, when I tried to add my first(!) email account (with that ISP), just returned a rather unhelpfull "can't create the emailbox, try it again later". Did I do something wrong ? But what ? How can I attempt to fix it when I do not even know which mistake I've made, or maybe its even the ISPs infrastructure which has a problem. :-(((

      And by the way, when I contacted the "helpdesk", they had no clue but did tell me me more people had, in the last few weeks, encountered the same problem.

      (As it turned out all that was wrong was that -- found by me acting on a hunch -- unmentioned on the webpage and (thus?/seemingly) unbeknown to anyone, the email account (myname@isp.com) had to be entered in all lowercase letters)

      A nice example of how the "lets not make it easy on the hackers" is taken way to far.

    11. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      At the end of the day, usernames are NOT security devices. It is foolish to allow the machine to lie to the users just for security through obscurity. You solve this issue with 2FA, not lying.

      --
      Good-bye
    12. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by papa_san · · Score: 1

      No, I don't feel different about that. It just should NOT state something that is NOT true. If something is brute forcing, other mechanisms are to be activated. And if it "guesses" the password right, it should assume it is me.

    13. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your emotional temper tantrum still doesn't trump valid security practice.

    14. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by ThosLives · · Score: 2

      This. I recently switched jobs and went from a Mac to Windows10. Why is that if I fat-finger my password on Win10 it takes 15 seconds for it to let me re-type it? (I know the reasons, but they are...questionable.)

      In general, what irks me most typically aren't glitches, but annoying design decisions. These are the main ones for me:

      • Hardware: coil whine.
      • Office 2016: all that slow typing animation. And the windows even drag slowly. There is a registry hack (seriously?) to fix the typing one, but no solution for the window drag one.
      • Windows10: still can't handle connecting and disconnecting additional monitors. Windows stuck off-screen or sized incorrectly, etc. And this is on a laptop that is used in two locations, so is always swapping between the *same* two external monitors.
      • Windows10: still treats the same piece of hardware (e.g., mouse) as a different device depending on the particular USB port to which it's connected. Same mouse, different port, must install new drivers, resets mouse speed settings, etc.
      • My BluRay player: When it connects to the net, it displays a nuisance modal dialog box saying "network connected" (only show me one if there is an error).
      --
      "There are a dozen opinions on a matter until you know the truth. Then there is only one." - CS Lewis (paraprhase)
    15. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Bert64 · · Score: 2

      Actually in a work environment the computer belongs to the company, so it's their final call and the employee has to put up with it (or quit) even if the company made stupid decisions.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
    16. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Bert64 · · Score: 2

      Locking individual accounts is also a bad idea, it allows someone to intentionally lock out other's accounts causing a very easy denial of service.
      Also attackers won't usually try thousands of passwords against 1 account as thats not very effective, they are more likely to try the 10 most common password against thousands of accounts.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
    17. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      Windows10: still treats the same piece of hardware (e.g., mouse) as a different device depending on the particular USB port to which it's connected. Same mouse, different port, must install new drivers, resets mouse speed settings, etc.

      I actually wish Linux did this by default. I tried to set up a little Dymo printing factory but when I add a second printer it doesn't treat it as a diffferent device, so there's no way to print to it.

      Apparently I can do it by I have to faff around with config files to change how USB devices are named internally.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    18. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      USB hardware is supposed to have a unique hardware identifier, which means it could be recognized correctly regardless of number of identical devices attached or which USB port. Windows enables shoddy hardware vendors to exist, with all their devices having the same hardware ID. Windows CAUSED your problem on Linux.

    19. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by dougTheRug · · Score: 5, Informative

      Oracle here. The reason is that if you say "That account is locked out" then the attacker can enumerate the valid usernames. If bobama is valid user but gwbush is not, then you can try gwbush with random passwords six times and it will still say "Username password combination is incorrect." Whereas with bobama it would say "bobama account is locked out," confirming the existence of the account for further targeting. So, loonycyborg's problem is the error message should be correct, which would be "You could not be logged on with those credentials. Try again or contact your system administrator."

    20. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No it wouldn't. It will only say that the account is locked when given the CORRECT password.

    21. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GP is correct. Almost no accounts are hacked by brute force password guessing. It takes billions of guess and any sane system will cut off an attacker long before that.

      Accounts get hacked by social engineering, sql injection, xss, etc.

      A login prompt that is rate limited to one attempt per 10 seconds is well enough defended against brute force password guessing. Read NIST's recently released update to recommended security guidelines

    22. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Which would be even worse because it would confirm bother user name AND password to the attacker.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    23. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Reading is fundamental. What the GP said: "However if username/password combo is correct then there is no security reason for the system to hide the fact that account was disabled."

      Captcha: "clowns" (but I typed "Oracle" and it accepted that too.)

    24. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by John+Napkintosh · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So you're saying successful login is bad because it indicates credentials are correct?

      --

      Long signatures suck.
    25. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also on "when it lies" - software updates that only say "enhanced security and stability update" - that's as informative as a "dummy-light" on a car dashboard.

    26. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Wrath0fb0b · · Score: 2

      Yes there is.

      (1) If an account is disabled, we have to believe it's possible that it is currently under a brute-force password attack. The attacker may be trying to learn the password or he may be trying to generate a list of valid usernames. Our goal is to prevent him for doing either.

      (2) If an attacker is brute-forcing the password, we should make sure that correct and incorrect passwords give the same result so the attacker doesn't learn the correct one. In your example, the attacker would know when he got the password right because the response would switch from "Invalid Password" to "Account Disabled".

      (3) Even if the system requires the user to change the password to something different, letting the attacker learn the password in his attack is dangerous because many users use the same or similar passwords (!!!) on various accounts.

      An alternative approach, by the way, that might satisfy your requirement is to allow nonexistent usernames to be "disabled" with the same incorrect attempt policy as real accounts. So then you can safely return "Account Disabled" for every single login attempt after the 5th and you aren't an oracle for either the username or password correctness.

    27. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by hvidstue · · Score: 1

      Windows10: still can't handle connecting and disconnecting additional monitors. Windows stuck off-screen or sized incorrectly, etc. And this is on a laptop that is used in two locations, so is always swapping between the *same* two external monitors.

      DisplayFusion solved a lot of those problems for me.

    28. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As suspected, Oracle is too dumb to read, think through its decisions properly, or step back from its tunnel vision.

    29. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Plus1Entropy · · Score: 1

      I'll second that endorsement. DisplayFusion FTW.

      --
      Only crack the nuts that crack. You don't put the ones that don't crack in the sack.
    30. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by SharpFang · · Score: 1

      So, the effect is:

      - attacker is unable to enumerate valid, but locked accounts
      - attacker is still fully able to access valid, not-locked accounts, obtaining full privileges of these accounts.

      seems like Titanic is sinking, but you're still making sure that 3rd class passengers won't try to steal any 1st class passengers' snacks.

      --
      45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    31. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

      No, I'm saying is there's an account lock out due to too many login attempts, the last thing you want the OS reporting is "I can't let you because the account is locked out, but way to go entering the right credentials!"

      I can go on any of my outward-facing routers and watch the brute force login attacks, at least a couple a minute, even with mechanisms in place to shut down obvious hacking connections. Further, we have a RD server sitting on an open port, and it too faces these sorts of attacks, so no, I don't want confirmation of correct credentials after an account is locked out.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    32. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by GoRK · · Score: 1

      I would not consider an account locked message to be an information leakage if a user entered the CORRECT credentials, and this was actually the original poster's concern.

      Optional two factor systems can and do present this same username information leakage vector today, and this risk seems to be generally accepted. Although such a system could present 2 factor prompts occasionally and repeatably for nonexistent users as well I haven't encountered one that does so.

    33. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by lucm · · Score: 1

      What if the person has been fired and security is on the way? That's a good reason

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    34. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by lucm · · Score: 1

      So your answer is to blame something that works in real life because in theory it shouldn't.

      Have you ever considered a career at the DMV? They're always looking for people like you, who understand that strict rules with no room for common sense is what society really needs.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    35. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Euler · · Score: 1

      Yeah, Sony Blu-ray player. I think it usually says something like "The internet is ready" and requires an ok click every time it is turned on and I want to use Netflix. I think that code was written by someone who went into cryo-stasis in 1995 and woke up in 2010 to write the code for Sony. Like back when you had to connect your modem and click-through the various dialogs to do anything online.

    36. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by FormOfActionBanana · · Score: 1

      That is incorrect. Because in your solution, an attacker could continue to brute-force the passwords on accounts even after they are locked out.

      That keeps out the legitimate user while letting the attacker continuing his work.

      --
      Take off every 'sig' !!
    37. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by FormOfActionBanana · · Score: 1

      If the attacker can guess the correct password in 5 tries, then yes, it would be bad. Hence, additional controls like password complexity rules.

      --
      Take off every 'sig' !!
    38. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by FormOfActionBanana · · Score: 1

      Oracle here again. If the username/password combination is correct, but the account has recently been subjected to a brute-force attack, (i.e. it is locked out), then there is a very good reason to hide the fact that the password was correct.

      --
      Take off every 'sig' !!
    39. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by FormOfActionBanana · · Score: 1

      It's true that I can't read; but your design would be wrong. In your design, I would continue brute forcing passwords on locked accounts until I see the "your account is locked out" response.

      2fa does help and with multiples factors a lot of this nitpicking goes away.

      --
      Take off every 'sig' !!
    40. Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That spurious reason has been used as an excuse by atrocious programmers when they should've been using exponential backoff to solve the real problem instead of stealing the time of thousands (millions!) of legitimate users in the common case.

    41. Re: When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Simple fix: track the attempted user names and lock them out after the prescribed number of attempts, even if not valid user names. That way, a valid user won't need to be mislead. Since they only need to be kept for the lockout period, it's not too much a burden.

      My pet peeve is lock out after a tiny number of attempts, combined with unusual password rules that require me to use 2nd, 3rd & 4th backup passwords - for example, denying use of characters not in A-Za-z0-9, where other systems require a character not in A-Za-z0-9. Are developers still having trouble with quote characters in passwords, as Little Bobby Tables AKA "Robert') DROP TABLE Students"? I've got banking websites that won't let me use a $ in the password.

  6. Accidental click on dialog box button by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Specifically, I place the mouse pointer at the right location on screen (for what I actually want to do) and press the mouse button. The instant before I press the mouse button, an unexpected dialog box appears. If the mouse pointer is over one of the buttons for the dialog box then that button will be pressed. Most likely the dialog box will disappear, and I will have no idea why the dialog box appeared, what it said, or what I just caused to happen by pressing the dialog box button.

    1. Re:Accidental click on dialog box button by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      And dialog boxes for software installation in the middle of the screen is a bugger too, especially if you have something that takes an eternity to perform.

      Some dialog boxes aren't even showing in the task bar and when you close all other windows you see one at the desktop. WTF was they thinking about?

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    2. Re: Accidental click on dialog box button by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not a glitch. That's you being an idiot. PICNIC.

    3. Re:Accidental click on dialog box button by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1
      On the subject of dialog boxes, my pet hate is boxes lie "Your system is totally fucked because of [OK]"

      No, its NOT OK.

      I once had a very nice piece of shareware where the dialog box said "Your system is totally fucked because of <insert total gobbledegook here> [Oh Shit]" - definitely better.

      Ideally, there would be the option of getting a diagnostic dump to send to the developer or just aborting. Better still, developers could test their apps before shipping.

      As for the idiot who shipped Ubuntu Mate 16.04 in a condition where you cannot access the CDROM drive with k3b or any other cd buring tool I could find, because it is no longer accessible as /dev/cdrom, and there is no documentation as to where it is - people like that should be removed from the OpenSource world - by force if necessary. I have moved to *BSD (ok systemd was part of the problem).

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
    4. Re:Accidental click on dialog box button by toddestan · · Score: 2

      What more common and just as annoying is when you're typing and a dialog box pops up and steals focus, and you inadvertently select some option because you're still typing and you have no idea what you just did.

      Also, when you go to click on something on a webpage that's still loading, and the browser decides to redraw the page at that very instant, and you click on something else because the thing now is to make the entire webpage a clickable element for some stupid reason.

    5. Re:Accidental click on dialog box button by lucm · · Score: 1

      Ubuntu Mate [...] *BSD

      I sense a pattern of despair and misery.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
  7. Windows focus by Kokuyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When I'm typing on my keyboard and some application thinks it's important enough not just to pop up in front of all the other windows but also move the cursor to its windows.

    Especially funny when you're entering an internal password with a customer looking over your shoulder.

    I also very much hate it when I enter a domain and the browser goes "Oh, I know tha tone! Let me autocomplete that for you, even though you hit enter after the ".com""

    I want the computer to sopt trying to think for me until it's actually smarter than me. But at that point, I want to be able to copy a url, a username and a password and just hit ctrl+v three times and the system pastes the correct value in each field.

    1. Re: Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Absolutely this. Why it hasn't pissed everyone off and been sorted out years ago I've no idea.

    2. Re:Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Windows XP doesn't do that. When you type into one window and another window demands focus, the taskbar tab of that window blinks, but it does not get focus.

    3. Re:Windows focus by mwvdlee · · Score: 2

      When I'm typing on my keyboard and some application thinks it's important enough not just to pop up in front of all the other windows but also move the cursor to its windows.

      Especially funny when you're entering an internal password with a customer looking over your shoulder.

      This has been a complaint I've had since the earliest versions of Windows.
      I don't think it's the application controlling this, but the OS, which makes it even more egregious as the OS can actually know the keyboard is being used in another application.

      --
      Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    4. Re:Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Exactly. I used Windows XP for several years and finally jumped to 7 after 10 was released. I immediately noticed a change in the way the OS gives focus to windows. In Windows XP if you were active in one window, no other window could get auto-focus. The best it could was 1) flash the taskbar entry 2) draw on top of the active window but not have focus. The exception was, if the active program launches another one, eg browser launches the default app for the file you downloaded. Or through user interaction eg start->programs->X program. In fact there is a specific WINAPI call that lets you give your "focus rights" to another applications. eg when you launch a program and that program checks if there is another instance running. It communicates with it to show the mainwindow or a dialog and exits itself. Without the WINAPI call that older instance wouldn't get the focus. That WINAPI is AllowSetForegroundWindow
      Now, in Windows 7 it seems that at least newly started apps can steal focus. I don't know what happens for already running ones.

    5. Re: Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Cuz I turn that shit off for the address bar. It makes a nice drop down list for me.

    6. Re:Windows focus by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 2

      It's not the OS that controls the focus, and this is the problem.. When writing a Windows application, any programmer can write code that says "I want to receive the focus now." This makes it necessary for every application to behave properly, which of course they don't.

    7. Re:Windows focus by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 2

      Yes, the Windows focus issue is also especially bad when you're typing, and a confirmation dialog box pops up just as you press the spacebar in between words, and the spacebar presses the "Yes" button of whatever you were being asked.

    8. Re:Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Err... nevermind 'Windows Focus'. Just 'Windows' is already enough to annoy me.

    9. Re:Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Remember when acrobat reader thought it was a good idea to move the window to front whenever the mouse pointer moved over a part of it?
      Made me switch to Foxit.
      Then Foxit ditched their classic GUI and enforced the ribbon crap.
      That made me switch to Sumatra.
      It isn't pretty, it doesn't have many features, but at least it doesn't try any bullshit on me.

      I can live with a program that doesn't do what I want as long as it doesn't do things I don't want.

      Pretty much the same reason to why I run noscript.
      I can deal with crippled pages. What I can't deal with is pages that does things without me telling them to.
      No function is better than the wrong function.

    10. Re:Windows focus by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 3

      The programmer can write any shit he wants, the OS should not respect the demand from the application without proper permissions. Demanding focus is a privileged command. At least we should have a matching, "Do not give focus to any other application" to other programs. And a click to specifically gives focus overrides both and resolves conflicts.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    11. Re:Windows focus by CODiNE · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There needs to be a slight UI freeze of a quarter second or so whenever a dialog or prompt jumps up unexpectedly. This is a universal problem.

      iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux all of them. You're typing a command and JUUUUSST as you press enter a dialog comes out of nowhere and you just pressed "Ok" on who knows what! It's worse for people who look at the keyboard while typing, they don't even know anything happened.

      Mobile... you're taping away like normal and all the sudden just as your finger is microns from the screen a dialog shows up and you tapped.... whatever it was. Probably just accepted a mysterious self-signed certificate on an important service that definitely shouldn't have one.

      There needs to be a tiny inactive period on those so you can't just confirm something in the middle of something else by mistake. The OS can easily handle this without any app code changes since it owns the dialogs.

      --
      Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
    12. Re: Windows focus by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      "I know tha tone", you say? ... must be you are using Opera :^)

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    13. Re: Windows focus by Kokuyo · · Score: 1

      I am astounded that it took that long for someone to comment on the typo :D.

    14. Re:Windows focus by Solandri · · Score: 2

      Ironically, Microsoft tried to get around this problem in Win 10 (maybe Win 8 as well) by not giving focus to notifications during Windows Update. Unfortunately they also didn't pop it up as the top window on your desktop. Several times I've had Windows Update "get stuck." I'd let the computer sit for several hours to see if it'd finish, but no progress. Eventually I'd give up and restart the computer. During shutdown all the program windows would close one by one. Just as the last one closes, it would briefly reveal a dialog box for Windows Update underneath it, waiting for me to hit OK before Update would continue. Then the computer would shutdown and restart.

      Unlike Unix/Linux which has a well developed concept for focus (floating focus following your mouse cursor is my favorite), Microsoft has never quite gotten focus quite right. It used to be the top-most window always got focus, which was why we had the problem of a dialog box popping up as you were typing stealing 'space' or 'enter' as OK and immediately vanishing before you could read it. They're trying to address it, make it more Unix-like, but it seems some vestige of that old code is forcing notification dialogs to appear underneath other windows because they're insisting it not have focus.

      Then you've got this stupid flat design trend in UI which makes it impossible to tell which window in a stack has focus. Stupid designers assume everyone uses "window on top has focus" when that's precisely what we need to move away from.

    15. Re:Windows focus by justthinkit · · Score: 1

      Not true that XP doesn't allow this.

      xReminder (Pro) steals the focus (on XP). But, more importantly, you can turn this off in preferences. And yes I'm still on XP.

      --
      I come here for the love
    16. Re:Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This was "fixed" in Windows XP. It was then promptly "unfixed" in every subsequent version of Windoze.

    17. Re:Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Firefox does this on download prompts (only) but takes several seconds to activate the buttons which is kind of infuriating.

      It needs to be an audible (configurable for the hunt+peckers who aren't looking at the screen and will type into the dialog prompt for the next 30 seconds otherwise) + visible cue and enough time for the user to react, not one second longer.

    18. Re: Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This a million times.

      The UI on mobile needs to process the interaction as if the screen didn't change for the period of time after a context change that is less than human reaction speeds.

    19. Re:Windows focus by Megane · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately they also didn't pop it up as the top window on your desktop.

      That brings up a big complaint of mine about WIndows. My brother's old laptop had a few problems (bad connection to DC plug, and the hard drive was all clickety-clickety dead), so I had to re-install W7 ("Home Premium", gag, but that's what the CoA sticker said, so that's what I downloaded from TPB) on a spare spinny HD I had lying around. I had forgotten how bad Windows was about putting up new alert windows behind everything else, usually completely hidden by the Explorer window that you started something from. The stupid security dialogs from running the various driver installers almost always went to the back, and even then the app's window would sometimes go in back. Thank goodness for the task bar.

      At least I didn't get the really annoying "modal child window alert behind parent window" thing. Oh sorry, you can't move this window on top to get to the window it's hiding, because it has a child window, the one that it's hiding!

      Oh yeah, and I think Windows still doesn't fucking erase the background of exposed windows when one is closed (something Mac has done since 1984), so it looks like windows are falling through each other before the behind windows paint themselves. At least It's not so bad on modern graphics cards where each window gets its own buffer and the GPU handles putting them on the screen.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    20. Re:Windows focus by sims+2 · · Score: 1

      In this same vein with browsers as the ads or whatever else loads in the page jumps around so when you think it's done loading and you go to click and BAM one more ad loads and magicly rearranges the page just enough to push the ad under your mouse where the menu button was a few milliseconds before.

      --
      Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    21. Re:Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Another example of how the windows UI peeked at XP and has been going downhill ever since.

    22. Re:Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Windows has more focus issues than just rando dialog boxes. Where is focus-follows-mouse ? Windows makes me click too much. Windows is RSI

    23. Re:Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What linux do you use that has dialogs coming out of nowhere?

      Doesn't happen to me with arch linux. Or do you use some mistaken desktop environment like gnome/kde? Use a simpler wm and get rid of problems like that.

    24. Re:Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Alerts && notifications need to stay out of user focus. This has been more than a nuisance for decades.
      Along with retarded progress bars/%. - VERBOSE please bitches!

    25. Re:Windows focus by Euler · · Score: 1

      Thank you! ..about the 'flat' UI trend. I can't tell if it is my eyes failing or just truly bad UI design fail that you can't really tell the difference in focus. That on top of the fact that the window focus can be stolen at any time like people are saying. I know traditional "raised" window edges and grey/blue obvious window title bar decoration are outdated. But they were the pinnacle of GUI design being truly functional. Basically gone full circle; at least in the '80s it was either due to early innovation or limited hardware.

    26. Re:Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's actually surprising how common this issue is. It's also not quite as easy to fix as you think, but I suspect you'd get most of the way there if there's a way an application programmer can't screw up to determine the difference between a dialog box spawned from a direct user interaction (such that the user could be bringing up a dialog box they intend to press enter at directly) versus one that is spawned from some event or wait state.

      In the game "Star Wars: The Old Republic", an MMORPG in the same line as WoW, many popups are triggered by the actions of other users. Invitations to guild, invitations to trade, and invitations to group all pop up a UI on your screen. Pressing escape clears these away. Additionally, the system itself will sometimes bring up a prompt- if, for example, you are in queue for group content, a box will appear, accompanied by audio fanfare, announcing that the user can begin the content they were waiting for. Escape also clears this away. More commonly, however, Escape is used to close a variety of in game things as part of normal user interaction- so if you were trying to close your inventory, close a window with which you were interacting with a merchant, etc., and at the same time a user or system prompts you, you can easily cancel out of it accidentally.

      It's a tough challenge because you want to keep user responsiveness, and some boxes are produced by direct user interaction.

      In the MMO world, games that allow addons (user modifications to the UI) normally have one that disables the functionality of "escape" on system-provided notifications, requiring you to click on a button and hit "leave queue" or similar to get the functionality of waiving away the queue (that you waited five to twenty minutes for and very rarely want to waive). But it's not so simple in all cases.

    27. Re:Windows focus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The earlier IE download confirmation boxes were like this to mitigate drive-by downloads. Of course, it was very frustrating for a keyboard user who actually wants to download something (like a list of attachments, where each is a link that must be individually clicked on and approved).

      dom

    28. Re:Windows focus by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Then what the heck is the "allow applications to steal focus" setting that's been in Windows for ages? (admittedly you need to use TweakUI to get at it. But it appears to default to OFF.)

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  8. When it thinks it knows... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... better than I do.

    Windows is convinced my Pioneer AV receiver is a Sony TV and refuses to output anything more than 2 channel sound. There appears to be no way to correct its misunderstanding.

    By all means make plug'n'play assumptions and guesses, but for fuck's sake let the user easily correct it when it guesses incorrectly.

  9. Buffer Overflows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    FFS, we know why they happen, and OS distributed code still has this garbage in it, windows/linux and Mac.

  10. Trivial? Probably. by sheramil · · Score: 1

    When you get off a horse in Minecraft and it becomes invisible.

  11. No support by ET3D · · Score: 1

    Glitches are annoyances, but if there's support behind the product, I don't tend to get angry. What I hate is the 'this has been a known issue for a few years, and nobody knows how to solve it and the company doesn't seem to want to fix it' type of problem.

    1. Re:No support by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

      It is often not that companies do not want to fix it, but that the customers demand new features. With limited resources businesses need to make a decision if they fix stuff or add features. They typically opt for new features because that allows for more sales. The only time the scale gets tipped the other way is when the company starts losing business due to quality issues. Complain to the vendor and stop buying their stuff, as long as you keep giving them money they have no incentive to do anything different.

  12. Software by francvs8407 · · Score: 1

    Why is it so hard on Android phones, though not on Windows phones going the way of the dinosaurs, to move apps to the SD card?

    1. Re:Software by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      Why is it so hard on Android phones, though not on Windows phones going the way of the dinosaurs, to move apps to the SD card?

      What do you mean by "hard"? I've found it dead easy to do this on nearly every Android device I've ever owned. Mostly Samsung gear, FWIW.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    2. Re:Software by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For many apps the option is disabled. Then the internal storage fills up and updates are no longer able to update - nevermind that many of the updates are for bloatware.

    3. Re:Software by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      For many apps the option is disabled. Then the internal storage fills up and updates are no longer able to update - nevermind that many of the updates are for bloatware.

      That's the fault of (a) shitty apps developed by shitty developers and (b) you, for installing such apps. Nothing to do with the *platform* AFAICT.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    4. Re:Software by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And by "shitty apps by shitty developers" you mean most of the Google collection of apps? They're the ones that are typically immovable on most Android phones.

      I don't want Hangouts, Google Play Movies, Google Play Books, Google Play Game, Google+, Google Play Newstand at all. But the phone insists that not only can you not delete them (you can "disable" them, which does fuck all), but they must remain on internal storage at all times.

    5. Re:Software by Computershack · · Score: 1

      Yep that is down to shitty decisions made by Google.

      --
      I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
    6. Re: Software by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who made the platform; so, an issue with the pkatform.

    7. Re:Software by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you have a phone with a bunch of Carrier bloatware you can't move a bunch of those to the MicroSD card or remove them. It is irritating. You could roll your own rev of Android without them, but that's a whole 'nother level of fuckery.

  13. Windows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    10.

    1. Re: Windows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Windows 10 & systemd.

    2. Re: Windows by tonique · · Score: 1

      The real killer OS will be born when systemd is ported to Windows 10.

  14. These are mine: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    1. When you tell windows to restart/turn off and it starts the shutting down process then crashes. Pisses me off because the OS should always be in control of turning off.
    2. Windows fucken update updating my working drivers when I dont want it to and breaking it instead. Since the driver update is clobbered in with all the other windows updates (thanks a lot windows 10 you useless pile of shit) I have to install all updates including the one that I know will break my sound and then reinstall my sound drivers manually at the end of every windows update. I even have driver updates disabled in the registry and control panel and stupid windows keeps on insisting on updating it.
    3. I have a freenas server sharing files to windows machines. On the odd occasion windows 10 will refuse to read shares and the only way to fix it is to restart windows.
    4. windows changing your privacy settings by itself. eg turning off your camera/mic/location settings yourself and finding out later it has inexplicably turned itself back on. Happens even what I dont have a camera/mic/gps installed!!!

    1. Re: These are mine: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "... even what I dont have a camera/mic/gps installed!!!"

      That's what you think...

    2. Re:These are mine: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      4. windows changing your privacy settings by itself. eg turning off your camera/mic/location settings yourself and finding out later it has inexplicably turned itself back on. Happens even what I dont have a camera/mic/gps installed!!!

      My complaint is windows changing settings in general. It seems like over a long enough period of time almost anything will eventually get spontaneously changed.

    3. Re:These are mine: by Qzukk · · Score: 1

      > On the odd occasion windows 10 will refuse to read shares and the only way to fix it is to restart windows.

      I get this on windows 8.1 after my laptop sleeps. I can see the freenas server in the "Network" in File Manager, but clicking on it or trying to access a share on it gets me a time out and the useless generic "not found" error until I reboot.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
  15. Annoying things that could have been fixed easily by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 0

    Glitches that could have been fixed easily thanks to a bit more testing. The iPhone has more and more of these.

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  16. That computers do what I say.... by mark-t · · Score: 1

    .... instead of what I mean.

    I have spent *HOURS* trying to debug code that I could see nothing wrong with, and another human being looks at it and sees the problem in seconds, such as having an inverted condition, or some other typo that the compiler would not detect as a syntax error, but which is plainly obvious in the context of what is being done, and meanwhile I didn''t see the problem because I was reading the code as what I *thought* I had typed instead of what I actually typed.

    1. Re:That computers do what I say.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So basically you're blaming the computer for your own mistakes?
      What you call "plainly obvious" would require human level AI to figure out. Anything less and you'd constantly have to recorrect the autocorrect, because the simple AI would think it knows better than you.
      So a simple AI would be horribly frustrating and annoying, and a really smart AI would put you out of a job...

    2. Re:That computers do what I say.... by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 5, Interesting

      In the days before on-screen spellcheck there was a lady at our printshop who was voracious and speedy reader, but she was also a perfect final proofreader. Try as we might all we could do is plod along but she was fast and caught everything, every misspelling, word choice error, even inconsistent spaces. I asked her how one day. She made two passes over every paragraph, the first eyeballing the words in reverse order while noting only spelling and spacing. Then (in double-time she said) moving forward sounding the language normally for meaning, style and grammar.

      While she was reverse reading she said, there was NO mental distraction from the actual message, to her it was like being presented a series of word puzzles/problems in a sort of "game" mode. Perhaps you could adapt yourself to examine troublesome code meticulously in reverse sequence this way while not perceiving the task. You seemingly work in some type of overlay mode where as you lay it down you are reproducing a (fuzzy) mental image.

      If everything compiles perfectly in your brain, just use that and to blazes with the computer. Best of luck.

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
    3. Re:That computers do what I say.... by Computershack · · Score: 1

      This a thousand time. Yes =/= true, and in SQL NULL=/=0.

      --
      I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
    4. Re: That computers do what I say.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck you, fish tits.

    5. Re:That computers do what I say.... by thereitis · · Score: 1

      I use the backward/forward technique to double check long codes like shipment tacking numbers if I've copied them down. I've found that I'm mildly dyslexic so that's an extra guard against making a transposition error.

    6. Re:That computers do what I say.... by Waccoon · · Score: 1

      Interesting. As an artist, I regularly look at my art upside-down or in mirror image to find mistakes. I'm surprised (but shouldn't be) to know that this technique works with text.

  17. SystemD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why SystemD randomly changes how raid is configured with no editing files at all during a reboot?!!

  18. Re:Linux kernel and Xorg not supporting ABIs by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 3, Informative

    Drivers NEVER have to be re-compiled.

    False. You just make yourself dependent on the good will of vendors to perform the builds for you, since they won't let you have the sources.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  19. Working on it ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm a Linux user almost exclusivity for more than ten years now. I bought a surface because It seems such a great machine and my macboor air just died. MS hardware and MS software. They should be good together, but they don't. The thing has temporary freezes and other weird stuff, but the most annoying to me is opening the Downloads folder and seeing a message:

    "Working on it ..." and a green progress bar. I have just a few (maybe 60) entries. The damn thing cant open a folder with a few files without making me wait. WTF MS??? It's 2017 and windows 10 and lot's of time developing "explorer". Should it be done right by now?
    Take a look at Dolphin.

    1. Re:Working on it ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL. that reminds me of one. When you tell windows to delete a whole bunch of files and it pops up a window about calculating the space and it hangs for a very long time. Meanwhile I open up a dos prompt and type "del folder\*.*/f/s/q" and it deletes everything straightaway and really fast. You know microsoft has lost its ways when a function they had 25+ years years ago works better than what they want you to use now.

    2. Re:Working on it ... by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      All these file system features take time to execute. Journaling, error correction, scanning all your data for the nsa, and so on.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    3. Re:Working on it ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try doing that in XP and you find one file among thousands is locked. It will complain and stop there leaving the remaining files. It took until Vista to ask if you wanted to continue the delete.

    4. Re:Working on it ... by justthinkit · · Score: 1

      Related... ...when the OS swaps out commonly run things, or doesn't cache them in the first place.

      I realize this is how Microsoft convinces us we need the next version, but as annoying as it gets. Nothing like penalizing power users...

      --
      I come here for the love
    5. Re:Working on it ... by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Best experience with my Surface Book was when it died after six weeks. Back to the Mac. I really wanted to like that machine. Great keyboard (until it went tits up that is).

      Stupid OS X works better with old versions of Exchange than Windows 10.....

      Sigh.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    6. Re:Working on it ... by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Working on it ..." and a green progress bar. I have just a few (maybe 60) entries. The damn thing cant open a folder with a few files without making me wait. WTF MS???

      Many happy little committees have met over the years to help you. All of their ideas were Good Ideas. Every idea only "increased loading by 0.x percent!" but the combined percentages have added to 20,000% thus far. And some of the ideas were APIs for Microsoft Partners and Script Kiddie Partners to sink their pus-filled meat hooks into your bloated registry to affect basic computer operation. Every time you open a folder...

      All 32x32 icons on the system are upsampled to 1024x1024 and scaled down again; Microsoft Security Essentials loads completely, realizes you turned it off a year ago, then unloads; Windows checks for updates; Internet explorer checks to see if it is the default browser (it isn't); two dozen corrupted registry branches left by incomplete installs are accessed and the system looks for 50 programs that aren't there; the ILOOKATEVERYTHING utility is run because it installed a registry to look at everything though you have never used it; Windows converts extensions to MIMETYPES and back again just for shits and giggles; media handlers load in multiple threads; folder display flags are inexplicably set to the dumbest view possible; everything is alphabetized; Windows re-sorts by 'group'; a blank window is shown; media apps are struggling to produce thumbnails; (W10 only) inactivity! Time to reboot NOW for updates; Cortana thought she heard you grunt, she transmits a voice-snippet over HTTPS; SSL certificate services loads causing everything else to swap out; certificates are checked for revocation because Paranoid Nerd Is Paranoid; media hooks still trying to make thumbnails; problems with media length detection on improperly encoded files causes long delay, then length is discarded anyway because "..." no one asked for it or there's no room on the display; now media metatag information is being accessed for NO DAMNED REASON; cute (but empty) film borders are painted, what the hell are film sprockets?? Where are those thumbnails??; file names finally appear, mostly hidden after "..."; virus checkers are invoked, both the one you use and the other OEM checker that Windows doesn't know is still operational; twenty smartphone-specific pieces of bullshit code briefly run and then exit (every second); a media codec triggers an Internet lookup for mysterious reasons; DNS delays stall 10 threads and an indeterminate amount of resources; DESKTOP.INI is accessed for Windows 95 compatibility; mouse pointer turns into a pointer for a moment just to torture you then flips to 'busy' again; Windows has synchronously finished counting files, GOLLY GEE, now you have an (unclickable) scroll bar; thumbnails finally starting to come in; dipshit 'subdirectory logic' is triggered for subfolders, all this shit starts to happen for them too; subfolder shit completes and the calculated result is discarded because it wasn't to be displayed anyway; OH HOLY SHIT, ANIMATE/THROB is on, we need more power Scotty because we need moving thumbnails; 3rd party media apps run to see if they are needed now (they're not); you clicked the right mouse button on an item to attempt to regain control which actually starts a whole new CONTEXT MENU WORLD OF SHIT completely separate from this shit; hold on, CrystalFonts has to smooth the edges before you can get control; timeouts for stalled threads finally trigger (cleanup routines delaying you again); a whole second goes by where everything is finished or stalled; inactivity triggers fire making you think the waking nightmare is still going on; finally THE FOLDER HAS BEEN DISPLAYED.

      Queued mouse and keyboard desperation events have been detected! Launch stuff you clicked on, push that button that wasn't even there when you clicked, display a context menu and a balloon tool tip containing useless junk and wasn't that easy.

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
    7. Re:Working on it ... by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

      Try doing that in XP and you find one file among thousands is locked. It will complain and stop there leaving the remaining files.

      What's really going to bake your noodle later on is, you'll remember you can Control-Z/undo to reverse the effect of a Windows copy... BUT if you do it now are you fixing the effects of the aborted copy, or are you undoing the last successful drag'n'drop operation you performed? Or will nothing happen? Would you still be confused about this if I hadn't said anything?

      You're going to have to make a choice. In the one hand you'll have Morpheus' life and in the other hand you'll have your own. If you select Control-Z/Undo, one of you is going to die. Which one will be up to you. I'm sorry, kiddo, I really am. You have a good soul, and I hate giving good people bad news. Oh, don't worry about it. As soon as you step outside that door, you'll start feeling better. You'll install Cygwin and start using rsync all the time, and can devote the remainder of your days to fixing file ownership and permission problems. You'll remember you don't believe in any of this Windows crap. You're in control of your own life, remember?

      Here, take a cookie. I promise, by the time you finish copying these files, you'll feel right as rain.

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
    8. Re:Working on it ... by Jetstream · · Score: 1

      Same problem in Linux. I think Mint Mate uses either Nautilus or a re-branded Nautilus (I might be wrong) as file manager. When I go to copy or delete a bunch of files (in the hundreds), it takes forEVER to "prepare", and sometimes it seems to completely hang. I end up switching to another file manager & it does the same task almost immediately.

    9. Re:Working on it ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow. Fixing this list of bugs would be enough of an advancement to be called Win 11.

    10. Re:Working on it ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let me break this down for you. Click an icon, shit happens. That's it. It's literally not any more complicated than that.

      If your computer grinds to a halt, either you or the computer (or both) are Doing It Wrong(tm). Reboot. That'll fix the computer. If the problem persists, find a different way of doing what you're doing, because PEBKAC.

      INGDRS. (It's Not God-Damned Rocket Science.)

  20. Yearly updates and perpetual user betas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I'm so sick and tired of dealing with this yearly upgrade bullshit.

    Nothing ever works properly anymore. By the time they work out most of the bugs (but not all), it's time for a new "major" release with improved Emoji support or some bullshit, which inevitably breaks a whole bunch of other crap, and the cycle repeats. Eventually everything becomes too bloated for your "old" hardware to handle and things start to slow down. If you're lucky, you can downgrade to a less crappy version of the software and things will speed up again. If you're not, tough shit, go out and buy a new system like a good little consumer.

    I've learned not to rely on ANYTHING modern anymore. The most reliable systems in my house are running Mac OS X 10.8.5 and Windows 7 SP1. They're dated as fuck and they don't run a lot of new snazzy software, but they continue to run what they've always ran with zero problems whatsoever. It's a crapshoot if my Windows 10 box actually lets me use Maya or Photoshop today because Microsoft installed some faulty patch or helpfully upgraded a random system driver somewhere.

    That's what makes me angry. People don't care about writing reliable software anymore and testing it before release. Everything is just one big giant rolling beta that will never actually conclude. And some companies (like Adobe) actually expect you to pay monthly for it too! Fucking hell.

    1. Re:Yearly updates and perpetual user betas by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Mac OS X 10.8.5 ... dated as fuck

      Hmm - looks like my move to replace Mac OS X 10.4 with FreeBSD was later than it should be.

    2. Re:Yearly updates and perpetual user betas by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

      Testing costs money and consumers do not value quality. They always claim they do, but they do not want to pay for it. Why are you even using Win 10? That one you could have taken for a free test drive and found out that it is garbage. Yet, you bought it anyway. If you don't like Microsoft's stuff stop buying it!

    3. Re: Yearly updates and perpetual user betas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I still use Mac OS X 10.5. Even has a fairly up to date Firefox port.

    4. Re: Yearly updates and perpetual user betas by Megane · · Score: 1

      I don't know much of any good reason to use 10.7 or 10.8.

      10.4 on a PPC system lets you run Classic. (Except that my recent Uverse modem does some shit that fucks up Netinfo on 10.4, which sucks.)
      10.5 lets you work with bigger disks, and is the last PPC version.
      10.6 lets you run Rosetta so you can still run PPC apps on Intel. I ran this for a long time on my Late 2011 MacBook Pro, which required a tricky process to downgrade since the shrinkwrap version only went up to 10.6.3., and it couldn't run anything earlier than 10.6.7. Had to get a hacked up 10.6.7 image from TPB, then run the 10.6.8 updater.
      10.7... um... it removed Rosetta?
      10.8 is the last one to support Open Transport (bye-bye MT Newswatcher in 10.9)
      10.9 fixed up problems with OpenGL that would let programs (specifically Minecraft 1.6) totally hose the graphics subsystem. That's what got me to upgrade to 10.9.5 two years ago.
      10.10 made the Notification Manager more complete, yeah, whatever.
      10.11 locked down the system a lot, but at least you can still do magic to turn that off
      10.12 locked things down even more

      So I run 10.9.5 on my "daily driver", leave other Mac Minis at whatever was on when I got them (10.9 - 10.11), and I put 10.6.8 on an older MacBook Pro (one of the first Core 2 Duo models) when I need some old stuff to work.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    5. Re: Yearly updates and perpetual user betas by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      My newest Macs are a pair of iMac G4s, so I am bound to the older versions.

    6. Re: Yearly updates and perpetual user betas by dbIII · · Score: 1

      I went to FreeBSD11 on a G4 eMac for the updated wifi, but ethernet over power or a pile of other solutions that don't involve actually changing the OS are simpler with the same sort of outcome (unless it's a laptop). To be honest I really just wanted to play with it and see what it could do. Even MAME will work on an old version of OSX so there's not a lot of reasons to change OS.
      I tried Lbuntu as well. It was disappointing due to sound being broken for the relevant chipset.

  21. RAM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The amount of PCs I've come across that fail to boot because of RAM is silly.
    I've "fixed" PCs where someone has tried to install new RAM and hasn't pushed it in hard enough.
    Before I replaced the ram in my workstation I found that I needed to re-seat the RAM every couple of months.
    It's great that I can swap out and upgrade RAM whenever I want but the amount of problems it seems to cause not having the stuff soldered to the motherboard is silly.

    1. Re: RAM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Expect to see more of this, some new mobos have only one lever per slot instead of two. No idea what they were thinking.

    2. Re: RAM by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

      They were thinking that it will cost a penny less per connector. That makes a huge difference when building ten thousands of mobos. I agree, it will get worse because folks go for cheap stuff. That said, I never had a problem with RAM once I managed to get the board to work with it. What annoys me is that you cannot just buy RAM that fits the standard supported, oh no, it was the right timings and latency and this and that. What good is a standard when many do not adhere to it?

    3. Re:RAM by Megane · · Score: 1

      Had to swap around laptops the day before yesterday, moved the 16GB over. Had three problems in 24 hours (two failures to wake from sleep and one kernel panic), so popped it open, took out the RAM, pencil erasered the SODIMM contacts and brushed them off, put them back in tight. I've been doing this since SIMMs back in the '90s, I remember one Mac SE that would spontaneously reboot until I cracked it open and re-seated its memory.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  22. Adobe by darkain · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Photoshop and Lightroom. I'm more or less forced to use these tools because all competing products dropped off the face of the Earth, so there is no viable alternative to the work that I do (yes, I know there are some RAW processors out there, but they don't have the feature set that I need for my job) - but PS and LR are so god awful fucking buggy pieces of shit. Over four years ago, LR5 Beta introduced a UI bug. It made it into production. It continued to exist in LRCC/6. It continues to this day. Yes, over four years for a stupid UI bug. Photoshop is so notorious for crashing, they implemented a crash recovery system that never works! Oddly enough, today PS "recovered" a photo from a crash from six weeks ago, despite the fact I've been using PS nearly daily since then until now. DRM is both also routinely fail at LEAST once a week, even though they are supposed to go 30+ days without a phone home connection. LR-CC had a very nice DRM bug in which it 100% failed for everyone at launch! Luckily THAT was patched quicky.

    1. Re:Adobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try Affinity Photo.
      We are headed that way when their INDD replacement product rolls out.
      Nice drop in replacement for Photoshop AND it's Win/Mac and $50 permanent license.
      Good bye Adobe. Good bye Quark. Good bye annual $500 hostage fee.

    2. Re:Adobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use GIMP frequently instead of Photoshop. Have you checked if it meets your needs?

    3. Re:Adobe by Voyager529 · · Score: 1

      Like the AC said, Affinity Photo is well worth the $50. Unless your workflow makes extensive use of third party plugins, it may well do a good 80% of what you need.

      As for Lightroom, I've been pretty happy with Corel Aftershot. Again, there's no accounting for muscle memory, but it is definitely a solid Lightroom competitor.

    4. Re:Adobe by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 5, Funny

      Photoshop and Lightroom. I'm more or less forced to use these tools because all competing products dropped off the face of the Earth

      GRAB GOD by the GONADS and GO for GIMP. If you're completely familiar with Photoshop's menus, methods and basic tool functionality you'll have no problem going gibbering insane from Gimp's arbitrary different-ness. Gimp is so unique and unPhotoshopy you'll have to resort to extreme measures to learn it. This means find a cabin deep in the woods, bring a generator and lots of gasoline to stay there during the re-training process. Notify nearby law enforcement of your intentions.

      Start by building your own Photoshop-to-Gimp cheat sheet but don't use paper, it soon gets clouded and smudged with tears and spittle. Carve your notes in a wooden desk or the computer case itself with a large bowie knife. Find an uncomfortable funny hat to wear and hog-tie your left arm to your right ear so your body has a unique tactile sensation while learning Gimp's idiosyncrasies. You should always use Gimp this way while wearing the hat, so if you need to use Photoshop again releasing the bonds will permit you to recall its use (and relate to friend and family you knew before you switched to Gimp) more easily.

      It is good to notify your insurance company you intend to switch to Gimp. Failure to do so might indemnify them from paying out if they learn you are using it, whether the calamity is traceable to Gimp or not. This is where tipping off local law enforcement helps. Inexperienced detectives sometimes gloss over important details in their reports at the mere note of Gimp. I want to give you the best possible chance to spare yourself legal complications.

      And by all means, experiment with the powerful scripting languages and hooks that Gimp provides. Since you'll probably lose touch with friends and family, these scripting tasks can occupy your mind as you descend into your poignantly silent darkness of the soul. There are some good books that may help you learn Gimp but I cannot tell you which ones, my copies have pages missing with bite marks. I think the pages were eaten.

      The author had successfully trained himself in Gimp, but its details of operation are presently clouded by prescribed medication. Author has done desktop publishing for 25 years and has used Aldus Pagemaker, Adobe InDesign and Quark spanning 8 continents.

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
    5. Re:Adobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All competing products have not dropped off the face of the Earth, you just refuse to use them.

    6. Re:Adobe by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Nice try. Affinity is OK but it's about five years behind Photoshop.

      And nothing under $20K touches After Effects.

      But yes, Adobe needs to summarily execute the entire Marketing Department take six months off, give everybody still standing a six pack and a group hug and just FIX bugs instead of creating new ones.

      Grrr.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    7. Re:Adobe by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Have you thought about giving seminars about this?

      I'd sign up for your newsletter.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    8. Re:Adobe by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Hey, have you worked on Lotus Notes?

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    9. Re:Adobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you manage to install them at all, of course; the Adobe CC app seems incredibly fragile.

    10. Re:Adobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AC who recommended Gimp above here. This is what I meant to say. Darn spellcheckers...

    11. Re:Adobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was this a parsing error, or is it one of your personalities asking another one a question?

      The newsletter came yesterday (Vol IX Issue 27) and as always, it was awesome. Did you get it?

  23. Cant repair office 2013/16 by aristofeles · · Score: 1

    One out of 3 or 4 "full repair" that I have to do on this software will end up with it be unsitanlled and thats it. Than I have to go back to the origina DVD (or 365 in case of signature - you cant use the same source for both, it would be too easy) and install again. The second problem is finding the install key, there is always a problem and someone misplaced it (on my company or on the small business in question). In the end Office is the only original software that I have to pirate. Its way faster for the user... in case MS ever knock on the dor they will give us days to find all the licenses.

    1. Re:Cant repair office 2013/16 by Billly+Gates · · Score: 2

      If you have Office 365 you can download it again free at office.com. Just use your login ID for your account information. One of the good things to using it as a service is you do not have to fiddle with license keys. If you use the home edition go to outlook.com to log into your tenant and download office.

      Also there is the Microsoft office uninstaller at Microsoft's website and a vbscript version too that Microsoft uses if you google for it to do a full scrub and clean.

      Last if this is in an office then your system administrator is not doing a good job. AutoKMS on A.D. needs to be enabled so that message never pops up.

    2. Re: Cant repair office 2013/16 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Office 2013/16 extremely inhelpful install error messages. "Someting went wrong".
      Later, they added an error code.
      Even later, they bothered to properly document those error codes.
      The installation can fail because of all sorts of silly things, the most common being some remnant of an earlier Office program or an earlier install attempt. One install error solution is to temporarily disable the print spooler.

    3. Re:Cant repair office 2013/16 by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

      All nice, but none of that should be necessary if MSO365 actually worked as advertised. And no, using the cloud version through a browser is not a suitable replacement. Ever tried to work with tables in online MSO365 Word? Forget it!

  24. Re:Dumbed down by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

    Add the Blue Screen of Death to the list.

    Today an OS should be able to cope with driver errors and recover.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  25. I'm running Mac OS X on a hackintosh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm running Mac OS X on a hackintosh, for 5 years now, could not be more happier.
    Clover bootloader is mature enough now, and there is a community at tonymacx86 to help with a few hardware hiccups.

    1. Re:I'm running Mac OS X on a hackintosh by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

      Yea, I wouldn't admit this too publicly because you violate Apple's shitty license agreement. What is about as bad is that hackintoshes have to use the ridiculously overpriced Intel processors because Apple did not put AMD support into the OS X kernel when they cloned BSD.

    2. Re:I'm running Mac OS X on a hackintosh by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      You say Apple is overpriced. You say Intel is overpriced.

      Are storage devices overpriced too? Do you use a punched paper roll to store your information because Western Digital/Seagate/etc are overpriced?

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:I'm running Mac OS X on a hackintosh by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

      Compare Intel CPUs with AMD CPUs and you pay far less with AMD for the same computational power. Plus, AMD motherboards are significantly less expensive. Yes, Intel is way overpriced. Apple's hardware is off the shelf parts with a custom housing, yet it costs about twice as much as the parts would be individually...and that is comparing with consumer prices, not volume pricing that Apple clearly gets. Apple is far too expensive, which is also explained by the piggish margins that Apple enjoys. Storage isn't that expensive...unless of course you have an Apple box that at times makes upgrading with 3rd party components difficult if not impossible.

    4. Re:I'm running Mac OS X on a hackintosh by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Right. Some AC on Slashdot is worried that the nefarious bean counters at Apple will delve deep into the logs at Slashdot to find out that this guy actually is running a Gateway box running XP.

      Then you wind off on a tangent about Intel?

      Time to go outside.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  26. Easy: DRM by Halueth · · Score: 2

    I get furious when a paid-for piece of software thinks I'm not allowed to use it. So I consider that broken bij design.

  27. Re:Linux kernel and Xorg not supporting ABIs by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

    Drivers NEVER have to be re-compiled.

    False. You just make yourself dependent on the good will of vendors to perform the builds for you, since they won't let you have the sources.

    Not really. A driver from 2009 will just work on Windows 10. Can't say the same for my ATI 5770

  28. Auto Update, Jumping webpages, autoplay by n2hightech · · Score: 2

    Auto update that closes open applications with unsaved work in progress, How hard would it be to send save commands before closing a file and appending a WIP designator to the file name so nothing is over written. That should be a standard required windows feature. Webpages that jump during load have popover, popunder or autoscroll. The fricking browser should be designed to not even allow these things to happen. The commands that even allow those things to happen should be banned and the people who thought them up drawn and quartered. It would make for a much much friendlier web experience to make the web flat again. But the most annoying thing that forces me to keep the volume muted on my computer is the autoplay curse. Web pages that somehow play video or audio when they open. I want my computer to do as its told speak when its told show video when told and stop when told. Any programmer that does not create software that enforces that basic human machine interface rule is a curse to mankind.

    1. Re:Auto Update, Jumping webpages, autoplay by blind+biker · · Score: 1

      Forced updates must die. They're the curse of Windows. But Windows has another curse: windows that steal focus. Whoever designed Windows to behave this way, didn't think about how fucking dangerous such behavior can potentially be.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    2. Re:Auto Update, Jumping webpages, autoplay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Auto update without save shows a _complete_ lack of regard for customers on Microsoft's part. I can't fathom how many person years of work must have been lost because of that horrible misfeature!

      Yes, and focus stealing! Totally agree - these two get my blood boiling.

      On my old iPhone 4s (I don't do iPhones anymore) it would give me the "Hello / Hola" initial welcome screen every time I reboot. It would forget the security settings I had in place before the reboot, and even the advertising privacy settings would be reset. It burns my ass to have to reset all these things back every time the phone reboots. Shit like that made me move to Android.

      Who the fuck designs/tests this stuff?

    3. Re:Auto Update, Jumping webpages, autoplay by blind+biker · · Score: 1

      Auto update without save shows a _complete_ lack of regard for customers on Microsoft's part. I can't fathom how many person years of work must have been lost because of that horrible misfeature!

      Yes, and focus stealing! Totally agree - these two get my blood boiling.

      On my old iPhone 4s (I don't do iPhones anymore) it would give me the "Hello / Hola" initial welcome screen every time I reboot. It would forget the security settings I had in place before the reboot, and even the advertising privacy settings would be reset. It burns my ass to have to reset all these things back every time the phone reboots. Shit like that made me move to Android.

      Who the fuck designs/tests this stuff?

      Too bad you're an AC, because I've found a kindred soul.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    4. Re:Auto Update, Jumping webpages, autoplay by Megane · · Score: 1

      Auto update that closes open applications with unsaved work in progress, How hard would it be to send save commands before closing a file and appending a WIP designator to the file name so nothing is over written.

      I love how OS X 10.9 is so good about reloading apps after a reboot or kernel panic. I got used to that in my web browser, but it's like magic when (most) apps simply go back to where they were. I guess that's one of the side-benefits of having the high-level UI support built into the operating system. When it gets updated, even old apps can take advantage of new features.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    5. Re:Auto Update, Jumping webpages, autoplay by Jetstream · · Score: 1

      That's annoying as hell in Linux AND Windows. I click to start a program (expecting it to start IN THE BG!), then go back to working in the prog window I was first in. Suddenly the new program forces itself right in my face, even while I was typing in the first window. Annoying as hell.

    6. Re:Auto Update, Jumping webpages, autoplay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cool. :) I haven't posted while logged in for a long time, but I used to use https://slashdot.org/~thereitis

    7. Re:Auto Update, Jumping webpages, autoplay by thereitis · · Score: 1

      Okay, here's another one: Internet Explorer, the way it takes forever to initialize but lets you type in the address bar before it's ready. Most power users can type the address before IE is ready but when IE _does_ become ready, it wipes out the address you typed in and brings you to the home page. That one bug alone is a major reason I've never ever like IE.

    8. Re:Auto Update, Jumping webpages, autoplay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This. I have a personal rule whereby if I start reading the main text on your page, and it scrolls itself off my screen, it's game over. No questions asked, I just close the tab and if its something I really want to read about, I read about it somewhere else.

  29. Angry? by CustomSolvers2 · · Score: 2

    I see bugs, non-ideal behaviours, wrong approaches, easily-improvable bits, etc. almost every day in virtually any piece of software. The software which I develop might also include bugs. Everyone makes errors. How could I feel angry about any of this? I would be constantly angry! What kind of life would be that? I find most of bugs funny or irrelevant. Some of them might be somehow annoying, but I would plainly ignore them or even stop using that software.

    A different story is gross incompetence, careless/abusive attitudes (sometimes, even intentionally!) or dishonest reactions. I wouldn't feel angry in these cases either, but might stop taking that company seriously or have a more aggressive reaction.

    --
    Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
    1. Re:Angry? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Your ideas intrigue me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:Angry? by CustomSolvers2 · · Score: 1

      Which newsletter? The one about software bugs, the one about complaints (software), the one about complaints (internet), the one about complaints (everything else) or the one with all my attacks to random people/companies? You can get a very good deal if you subscribe to all of them. LOL. Just kidding. I don't write anything anywhere, other than sporadically in my public accounts of various sites like this one.

      --
      Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
    3. Re:Angry? by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

      How could I feel angry about any of this? I would be constantly angry! What kind of life would be that?

      I see bugs, non-ideal behaviors, wrong approaches too
      I see them every day for me and for you
      and I think to myself
      what a wonderful world
      I see screens of blue
      smoky flashes of white
      and it won't fucking boot, I'll be up all night
      yet I think to myself
      what a wonderful world
      the callback centers... the tear in my eye
      the snarls on the faces as my clients pass by
      I see hands in the air
      they're shouting "What will we do?"
      But they're really saying
      I forgive you
      I hear babies crying, they're grown men though
      I wish I knew less, for then I could go
      trapped here... I think to myself
      what a wonderful world

      ~with apologies

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
    4. Re:Angry? by CustomSolvers2 · · Score: 1

      LOL.

      --
      Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
  30. Dpc latency... grrrr by Chalits · · Score: 1

    While working on audio projects. That is real time audio streaming/ recording. Usb.sys trows up deffered procedure call latetency... at random. Some days no glitches at all and other days one after another. Without any apparent reason.

  31. Timing Bugs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hate it when an USB HD tv tuner fails to create sane HD recordings with the combination of activated Hyper-V and processor turbo functionality.

  32. RDP in windows steals the Alt-GR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Since about a year ago windows RDP client sometimes "steals" the Alt-GR button. And you have to find the right RDP window and press Alt-Gr button again to be able to use it on the host mashine (including all other RDP windows).

    One don't realize how many chars are dependent of that dam button until you lose it.. Especially in swedish where @ and | is dependent on Alt-Gr. Any idea how hard it is to handle a linux promt without those chars?

  33. My car. Still on same SW version it came with. by seoras · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Car manufacturers are the worst for software updates. Some worse than others. There's a couple of stupid little bugs in the audio system of my 3 year old car, that make it too painful to use, that could be fixed easily enough with a software update but probably will never get one.
    The dealer and manufacturer are aware of the problems. The dealer just gives me a blank look when I ask when a fix is coming.
    It's that lack of appreciation of software's importance that sank the likes of Nokia et al in the mobile phone market.
    I fully expect the same to happen to the traditional big car manufacturers, they deserve it.

    1. Re:My car. Still on same SW version it came with. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is why Apple and Google can even get a foothold and even take the market away from traditional manufacturers.

    2. Re:My car. Still on same SW version it came with. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My car has a "feature" that makes me very angry.

      The radio will not play for longer than 2 minutes without the engine running! 2 minutes! And they did this on purpose so the battery wouldn't run down.

      My boombox from the 80's could run for hours on 8 D cells, I'm pretty sure the battery of a car can power the radio system for a few hours with no problems.

      The part that makes me the angriest was that this was a conscious design *choice*.

    3. Re: My car. Still on same SW version it came with. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's why god created the ACC key position, you millenial.

  34. Re:Linux kernel and Xorg not supporting ABIs by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A few years ago, I bought a 64-bit laptop that came with 32-bit Windows. I put 64-bit Windows on it only to discover that the wifi card had no 64-bit Windows driver. Period. I found that there was a Linux driver for the same card for which source was available. So I put 64-bit Linux on the machine, got the source for the driver and one make && make install later I had a 64-bit machine running a 64-bit OS with all hardware supported, including wifi. Something that was not possible using Windows, in spite of the fact that the machine came with Windows on it, for neither love nor money.

    You like letting your vendors make your decisions for you, fine. But don't try to pretend that isn't what it is.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  35. Lastpass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't envy their task, they have to keep it working across thousands of websites with different login schemes but I swear at it almost weekly as it fails here fails there fails when you need it not too.

  36. Re:Dumbed down by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cannot trust a ring-0 fail. It's like your wife telling you she got the clap, and doesn't know from which toilet seat. Time to toss her shit on the lawn.

  37. App Store by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1. Launch App Store...
    2. Start typing in the Search box...
    3. App store "Featured" page loads, erasing what I just typed...

    Every... f'ing... time

  38. Ubuntu: initd 1-CPU to 100%, bluetooth obex by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How many updates over the last five years has Ubuntu had where for some reason, several times a week, initd still takes over a core at 100%? At least they didn't add multithreading or it would have cooked my CPU off of the board. Really bad for a mobile machine while flying if you don't notice the fan rev up, goodbye battery charge.
    They could after like 5-10 years also fix bluetooth so we can reliably do obex in and out, it was sometime mid 2000s when they broke that.

  39. Long file paths in Windows 10 File Explorer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Long file paths in Windows have not been properly supported FOR DECADES !

    Windows 10 File Explorer ( yes, even with the new flag ) cannot handle files with long paths THAT IT ITSELF CREATES !

    Microsoft added a flag to support Long File Paths.
    But Microsoft's File Explorer DOES NOT USE IT !!

    Meanwhile they are adding millions more lines of code to Windows, and making it more and more rotten.

    1. Re: Long file paths in Windows 10 File Explorer by tsa · · Score: 1

      That's MS Windows for you. It has been a stinking heap of garbage ever since version 1.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    2. Re:Long file paths in Windows 10 File Explorer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can you describe how I can repro this bug? I may be able to fix it. It's too late to put it in Fall creators, but perhaps the spring release?

    3. Re: Long file paths in Windows 10 File Explorer by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      Uh Oh.

      We've summoned the Old Ones.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    4. Re: Long file paths in Windows 10 File Explorer by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 2

      Saying things like that discredits you. There has been a LOT of differentiation between Windows versions. Microsoft has done things that were vast improvements, and they've rolled things back to Windows being a horror show. The quality back and forth is typical of any large organization's product.

    5. Re:Long file paths in Windows 10 File Explorer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Backwards compatibility. Or to be pedantic: backwa~1.

    6. Re:Long file paths in Windows 10 File Explorer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mate, it you have the influence to fix this like you claim to have, but not the experience to know that this is a very long standing problem, then the entire ship has fucking sunk.

    7. Re:Long file paths in Windows 10 File Explorer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MICROSOFT added the flag so apps that can handle long file paths can handle them.

      But MICROSOFT chose NOT TO FIX File Explorer to handle long file paths.

      Instead they have spent their time writing lots of new, broken crap that no-one wants or will use.

      While File Explorer - that EVERYONE uses EVERY DAY - stays THE SAME OLD SHIT.

    8. Re: Long file paths in Windows 10 File Explorer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "back and forth" ?!

      This bug - in an app that EVERY window user uses EVERY DAY - has been there for DECADES !

  40. Adding to PP: ME, Trustzone, PSP, Signed Firmware. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All of those are hardware 'glitches/drm' that trouble me immensely on a daily basis. My hardware, outside of cell phones, thankfully lacks it or has it disabled, but with every succeeding generation that has become more and more difficult to keep true. And if I was to lose all my hardware today, and could only buy new (no used!), outside of a few niche SBCs, I could not replace them with a non-drm or freely documented x86 computer system, or a device with more than 2 gigs of ram which did not contain some form of management engine utilizing signed firmware, thus limiting my ability to secure and repurpose hardware that I supposedly own.

  41. household appliances by bynry2 · · Score: 1

    I can't believe how horrible the user interfaces of household appliance can be. We have a microwave which takes at least 5 button presses to get going (yes, I know some microwaves have the nice start button which defaults to 30 secs or 1 minute with a single press). Also, the oven requires powering off at the switchboard to reset the time. Then there is our car which shows the reversing camera, but only after the phone has connected via bluetooth. That's not much use when the first thing I want to do when getting in the car at home is backing out the driveway! I would be happy to be more patient if these design issues were unavoidable, but they are not. How did these things get past QA?

    1. Re: household appliances by tsa · · Score: 1

      My oven has a fast heating button. It heats to the desired temperature and stays there for ten minutes. You can not change that time, which is humungously stupid. I bake my own bread, and every time after the oven had heated uo I have to switch it off, put it in normal heating mode, set the temperature again, set the timer for 30 minutes and then I can bake the bread. Grrr...

      --

      -- Cheers!

    2. Re:household appliances by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

      Which QA? Companies do not do QA. Before anything is built QA does not get a say and after something was built QA is seen as the delay to go to market. Then again, you bought that microwave. Did you go back to the store and ask for your money back? Did you write sternly worded letters to the manufacturers? And above all, are you willing to pay more for better quality????

    3. Re: household appliances by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

      We have a convection oven. I find frozen pizzas cook best with about 10 minutes of normal heat and 2 with the forced-convection fan on.

      But you can't just switch modes. You have to clear it, then restart it in the other mode, which requires manually counting the temperature up from the default again, and remembering what temperature you're trying this time.

      --
      Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    4. Re: household appliances by tsa · · Score: 1

      Also a Samsung? Mine has that too.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    5. Re:household appliances by Misagon · · Score: 1

      Induction stove with only touch-sensitive "buttons" on the same surface as the stove plates.
      + and - to change setting, meaning that you have to press and hold - to turn a stove-plate off. It does wrap around max and min, but neither the max or min is very usable and the induction plates heat food faster than the delay in the buttons.
      Sometimes it is just easier to turn the entire stove off and on again and then restart the other plates.

      And... the On/off button is right next to a button that says "Power" where the "Power" turns up a plate to the max, which means that it is often pressed by mistake. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to design it that way?

      Does not work with fat on your finger. Becomes unresponsive and starts beeping if it gets wet - such when a pot bowls over or just when you wipe it with a slightly damp rag.

      --
      "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
    6. Re:household appliances by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

      LIFE PRO TIP: Before you walk into a phone store, pour vegetable oil over your hands. Once the first sales person sees you try to operate the latest touch screen horror, they'll find an excuse to take it away quickly. Regardless of your personal gullibility level, sooner or later you'll be offered an ancient flip-phone that has a separate button for every number you'll ever need. It will have buttons for other things too. And you'll be able to operate it. BONUS: Only $50.

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
    7. Re:household appliances by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Microwave manufacturers love their complicated interfaces, apparently blissfully unaware that the only buttons that will be pressed are whatever combo is required for "a minute or two" and "some sort of defrost thingy". Judging by the buttons on mine it expects me to cook a full roast dinner, dessert and some sort of pastry... unless they *do* realise and those buttons are just cosmetic: I really should try them sometime to find out.

      And ovens: maybe it's just me, but I'm yet to own an oven where the timer functions were worth using. Watch, phone, cheapo oven timer are all easier to use and fit in my pocket. The clock on the oven has been blinking since a blackout 5 years ago.

    8. Re:household appliances by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ha, the timer on my oven is a beautiful analogue dial that I crank to the desired time. What is fucking stupid is that it only goes up to 60 minutes, making it pretty damn useless for a lot of roasting...

  42. Selinux by Rei · · Score: 1

    Selinux failures commonly being interpreted as file permission failures, leading to misleading error reporting.
    Selinux failures on libraries or other files that programs don't expect to experience permissions failures on, leading to mysterious failures which you have to track down with strace.

    --
    Nietzche: "I'm immortal because I'm all sin." Jesus: "I forgive you." (Bang!) -- Jesus Christ Supercop
    1. Re:Selinux by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

      I have strace running on everything all the time, and spool the multiple strace logs directly to a console screen laying face-down on top of a large steel bucket. If you set console font size to zero it creates invisibly thin monofiliment character streams (think Ringworld shadow-square wire) that 'drop' off the screen. The bucket appears to be empty for days but then you see a slight blur of bottom features as the threads gather, which over several months becomes darker. When it becomes black it is best to empty the bucket before its density/weight punches through the floor. Worse things can happen too.

      With strace already running all you have to do to examine a thread is snag it where it leaves the screen with a titanium hook, and pull it across to the electron microscope. Amazingly the stuff does not tangle. Once the cat knocked over the bucket and I was greeted by a fuzzy thing in the vague shape of a cat trailing a slippery shadow. Took awhile to free him because some of it was extending through the cat, requiring hours with the hook and a dose of worm medicine.

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
    2. Re:Selinux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Selinux failures commonly being interpreted as file permission failures, leading to misleading error reporting.

      This is a result of SE Linux being bolt-on. To the API exposed to the user program, it appears as an access denied- like EPERM or similar. None of these say it is caused by SE Linux, which must be ultimately sniffed from the logs.

  43. WinKey + arrow keys behavior vertically is not... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One nice feature of the Windows (7) operating system I use at work is: WinKey + arrow keys in order to move/resize/split multiple windows using the keyboard. But... it works well only horizontally. For example: open Notepad and put it somewhere on your screen (not maximized). Okay, now press WinKey + Left (Notepad now uses the left half of your screen, cool). Then, press WinKey + right (hey, it goes back to it were, sweet). Do it again: WinKey + right arrow (Notepad is now on the half right part of the screen, awesome!). But don't expect the same behavior using the WinKey + up and down arrow keys, (won't split half horizontally) it will either maximize on minimize to the taskbar. Shucks.

  44. Ubuntu/Debian's unatetnded upgrades by cloud.pt · · Score: 1

    ...which I can't really turn off on managed @work machines. I will get anything from 3 to 20 freezes per week, each lasting around 1min or more, which when looking at a side screen's top output all I see is a 100% spike on "unattended-upgrades" process. And yes this is on an SSD machine so I doubt it's disk access.

    But on second thought, my biggest gripe these last 2 years has been BDPROCHOT flags on my Lenovo U41 laptop, and I believe I'm not alone on this one. It seems most Lenovo's consumer-grade Intel ULV laptops (any Core-I that ends with no HQ) ship with a firmware-based, trigger-happy BDPROCHOT flag. The flag turns on constantly, even when nothing around the CPU or the cooling solution is remotely close to 1/3 max temp. This is another one of Lenovo's long-standing signature fuck-ups to low-level and consumer-proof the shit out of their bad BAD warranty and "marketing" policies. Another example is that infamous BIOS-based insta-installed crapware on newly installed Windows on first boot.

    It's been 3 BIOS updates and Lenovo still considers my CPU cores should be ULTRA THROTTLED to 8x multipliers (i.e. 500mhz per core!!!) every time the GPU wakes, such as for playing the most basic vid clip that the GPU natively decodes, or any use of OGL or D3D API calls.

    Throttlestop's BDPROCHOT spoofing has been the only single way to mitigate this, but TS is understandably a half-baked enthusiast app that cannot be minimized to tray and has a weirdly justified expiration date that forces update, basically meaning the laptop will become useless when the dev stops support. Furthermore I have yet to find a solution on *nix machines to fully disable BDPROCHOT flags forcing 8x multiplier.

  45. Deliberately breaking software... by msauve · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is to you, Mozilla, Google, Firefox...

    STOP deliberately breaking things. I don't care that my 5 year old IOT thing uses HTTPs with old encryption. I don't care that it uses self-signed certificates. It's still better than unencrypted, and I can't update it. You just deliberately broke things so now I'm forced to use unencrypted communications - what idiot decided that's better than even weak encryption? Put up a warning, fine, but don't break it. Idiots.

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    1. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You just deliberately broke things so now I'm forced to use unencrypted communications

      I'm even going further than that: I've got an old system which still works very well and can browse the web without a problem. But now, by forcing websites to adopt encrypted connections (or be punished by being demoted in the google listings) I now pretty-much have to use another system to even view humorous pages like "notalwaysright.com".

      Why ? Where is my choice to retrieve those (and similar) pages unencrypted ? And what the heck is so secret about "msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa365150.aspx" (CreateNamedPipe) that it has to be delivered encrypted ?

      The people who want (or need) it can use encrypted connections (for all, or just certain websites), but let the visitor use an unencrypted connection when he wants to.

      Especially as I'm living in a (supposedly :-) ) democratic country in Europe, which is not really known for its oppressive regime(s).

    2. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was just going to mention Firefox. The URL bar ("awesome bar", I think they call it) completely breaks from expected behavior with some idiotic algorithm to decide what URLs should show up first in the dropdown instead of listing the most recent manually entered URLs. They got rid of the "Browse" feature when choosing the application to open a Download so now you can only choose from an existing list of options. It makes me wonder what sort of idiots are working these things? And now even the scroll bar breaks from the way it is expected to work. Besides being too skinny, the slider moves to where you click instead of acting like a page-down. I actually prefer that behavior to the traditional, but not when it is the only application that behaves this way.

    3. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Wrath0fb0b · · Score: 1

      Your choice (or I should say, the collective choice between you and the party hosting the resource) has not been modified.

      Google's choice about what resources to list in their own index does not deprive you of that choice.

      And anyway, a site can have a HTTPS version that's indexed and a plain HTTP version that's not indexed. So the entire "problem" here is a whole bunch of nothing.

    4. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by hvidstue · · Score: 1

      It IS actually better than weak encryption. As weak encryption gives you the sense of security, it is in all practicality exactly as weak as no encryption. It doesn't take that much brain power to go from reading unencrypted traffic to unencrypt some other traffic. The "hard" part in fact, is to start reading the traffic at all.

    5. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indeed!

      I like how at work, our rackmount KVM units, HP based and requiring java (WTF?!?), which Corporate is trying hard to remove wholeheartedly, naturally have outdated cert's upon installation for the management access. Which, any and all current ALLOWED browsers, looking at you IE and Chrome, naturally fail on.

      It's easier for me to march to the Data Center in 15 minutes than it is to get the damn browser interface to work. Of course, all the while, a server is still down... :(

    6. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by msauve · · Score: 1

      No, you're completely incorrect. I know what's going on, and a warning can inform others. The "false sense of security" strawman is complete and utter bullshit. And, it does take significant additional effort to get plaintext from even weak encryption than it does from, well, plaintext.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    7. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can always go back to Firefox 1.0. Maybe Mosaic is more to your liking.

    8. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your choice (or I should say, the collective choice between you and the party hosting the resource) has not been modified.

      Yes, it has. Instead of the party hosting the resource adding an encrypted connection option, it instead "chooses" to remove the un-encrypted connection (worse: all HTTP requests get redirected to HTTPS), for reasons already stated.

      Google's choice about what resources to list in their own index does not deprive you of that choice.

      Yep, it does. By as I already mentioned demoting (websites which offer) un-encrypted connections they effectivily force the website-owners hand: either do what the boss says, or see your visitor numbers (thru Google) reduce to next-to-nothing (because the site is way down the results list.

      And anyway, a site can have a HTTPS version that's indexed and a plain HTTP version that's not indexed

      Nope. See above.

      So the entire "problem" here is a whole bunch of nothing.

      The problem is there, even if you do not experience or (want to) see it. My list of websites I can reach is definitily getting shorter-and-shorter, because many switch to encrypted only.

    9. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Megane · · Score: 1

      This is why I use Seamonkey. It is basically what became of the original Mozilla browser after Firefox forked from it. It quickly achieved Firefox 3.x levels of usability and stayed there. Meanwhile, Firefox started chasing Chrome's UI weirdness. I had a chance to install FF yesterday and it was like going to another planet.

      The "if it isn't encrypted, we must scare the user" thing is massively stupid. First of all, not everybody runs a web site that needs certificate-based encryption. Yeah, it was good to shame the major players into it, but encryption is hardly important for running a little blog web site on your own domain.

      For a small web site, even turning on SSL can be a major undertaking, and getting a certificate is extra work too. I have mine set up aliased to multiple domains, using vhost to select which site to serve up, and AIUI, I would have to get a separate certificate for each domain, and return the proper one for a browser to not bitch.

      Certificates (authenticating the server) and encryption (encrypting the communication) are two different things, yet they get conflated by the "we know what's best for you" types.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    10. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Megane · · Score: 1

      I hate it when people decide that their idea of what UI widgets should look like is so important that they ignore native UI widgets. Doubly so in an app that isn't cross-platform. Cross-platform apps are a minor excuse for avoiding native widgets in favor of the UI framework's widgets, but it's still lazy as fuck.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    11. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by iampiti · · Score: 1

      Indeed, artificially breaking things is bad. I hated when Firefox decided to remove support for plugins except for Flash. They're usually a source of security problems? Yes, but I'm an adult at least provide an option to enable it again.
      It'd be nice if we could do everything without plugins but things are not always so perfect. I know of a corporate webapp designed years ago that added support for scanning though a Java applet. The alternatives (Oracle says just use Java Web Start, there's no standard API for scanning in browsers) are not enough so so far the app is at a dead end.
      Also, Windows 10 in general but one of the things I can't stand about Windows (and, admittedly, every OS save for Linux/Unix) is that they tie the OS version to the UI so if you want to enjoy the internal improvements of Windows 10 you have to use their stupid UI.

    12. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Misagon · · Score: 1

      The problem is that many merchants have HTTPS with new encryption only on the entire site, and the only feedback you get when using an old browser is that the connection was reset.

      OK if they would enforce high encryption during the checkout process, but sometimes you just want to browse.

      This made it difficult for me when I wanted to buy a new Linux PC recently. I did not want to go through the motions of installing a new distro on the old PC - that I would use only for a couple of days - just to be able to buy the new PC.
      Then I'd rather avoid that store altogether and buy it somewhere else, which I eventually did.

      --
      "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
    13. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Google runs the risk of their advertising not being visible properly if they allow consumers to browse websites with not-current browsers. Selling eyeballs is their top priority, as we all know.

    14. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Keep in mind that this breakage came in before the era of Let's Encrypt.

      I don't know how many /.ers have noticed that loading a dinosaur browser from 11+ years ago to visit well-known HTTPS sites is an exercise in frustration. You get "certificate expired" messages everywhere. I remember seeing this happen as far back as 2003 when trying an OS that had not been updated for about 5 years, and more recently with the stock Android browser on a phone I bought around 2011, a scant 4 years later.
      Browsers EXPECT / assume your computer will be receiving updates indefinitely

      It is logical to infer that the major certificate authorities which browsers bake into their builds colluded to inform them that continued supply was in danger, lest a selective embargo caused the same fate on newly-shipping builds. The CA's feel threatened by self-signed certs which are *mostly* seen and used by IT people doing internal stuff anyway. If not threatened, they are just greedy that 100% coverage isn't possible yet, and eventually the IT staff will try and get someone to cough up a formal cert.

    15. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if i understand your problem correctly - can you keep an older portable firefox saved that you bust out solely to log in to your old hardware? inconvenient, i know, but slashdot is basically a repository of stories of having to maintain legacy to interact with old hardware, so surely you were ready for this possibility

    16. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. I have to keep an old version of Firefox around to be able to access my openwrt router.

    17. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by antdude · · Score: 1

      Firefox is a company? Mozilla made Firefox! :P Anyways, yeah I agree on them breaking stuff. ALL companies.

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    18. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Euler · · Score: 1

      The search results issue aside. I think he is referring to browsers refusing to display a page if the server doesn't support https, the right type of encryption, and/or certificate that is self-signed for things like intranet applications. Happens to me on a pretty regular basis.

      Oh, and unrelated. Whatever version of I.E. that my IT department insists on does this thing where I type a search query "something" in the address bar, but it assumes I want something.com.

    19. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not that secret an algorithm. It simply gives priority to pages that have "porn" "sex" "girl" "boobs" "loli" and "midget" in the title.

    20. Re: Deliberately breaking software... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Netscape Navigator, FTW

    21. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by strikethree · · Score: 1

      Put up a warning, fine, but don't break it. Idiots.

      It sucks not being in control eh?

      Most commercial software takes your needs into account LAST. What that means it that they figure out a need that you might have and write software to cover that need... but, while creating that software, the creator only takes their own needs into account. This is not a problem with Open Source software since you can change it to suit your needs. Commercial software on the other hand... let's just say source is not included so your needs will always be last and not able to be serviced by yourself.

      --
      "Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen
    22. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And I bet you don't have the self-signed CA certificate for that IOT device. At least then you could install that into your browser. When *you* control your key distribution, you can get better protection than using the PKI.

      Too bad you can't update the device to install your own self-signed certificate.

    23. Re:Deliberately breaking software... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your real beef is with the manufacturer of the IOT device. Well actually, the real problem is that you think you need an IOT device.

  46. Browser memory leaks (especially, Chrome on OS X) by IHTFISP · · Score: 2

    There is no excuse for professionally written code to suffer memory leaks.

    Over time, the Chrome browser (on OS X) leaks more and more memory until it eventually loses screen synch and flickers on scrolling refresh. Eventually, it just locks up and crashes. This has been the case for at least 10 years.

    I don't care what the excuse, professionally written programs should never crash due to memory leaks. Ever. Period.

    I'm sure Bing has similar issues on Windows, but Google should do better w/ Chrome on OS X & Linux. They should be ashamed.

    --
    Error: NSE - No Signature Error
  47. Ryzen CPU Temp support in Tux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    so many sensors, so little output?

  48. Re:Linux kernel and Xorg not supporting ABIs by dbIII · · Score: 1

    Not really. A driver from 2009 will just work on Windows 10

    The guy in my office who upgraded to MS Win10 despite being warned otherwise who has to get other people to print for him disagrees. The even more annoying thing is an update broke support for those older printers and plotters and they worked for a few months after the "upgrade". There are plenty of examples like that out there of hardware where the drivers no longer work in MS Win10.

  49. Nvidia Game Rendering Bugs... by MindPrison · · Score: 1

    In Ark Survival Evolved (under Linux), I get some horrible bugs, even with a 1070 card. No matter what settings I try, I will eventually get the ACID-Rain on LSD effect, meaning that everything will glow in 1000 colors and cover the entire screen so navigation and vision becomes impossible. Sometimes the Dark rays of death appears, meaning...there's some strong sun reflection from some water, and long black stripes will emerge from them and eventually cover the entire screen. Sometimes the dust from Animals and gathering will turn into black clouds and cover the entire screen with "trippy LSD like colors" as if your card was on a bad acid trip.

    For hours, everything seem normal. The ARK developers blame Nvidia for this. But ARK is the only game I'm having problems with this, not under Windows 10 though.

    --
    What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
  50. windows and vusual studio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Although I switched to Linux about 10 years ago, I still have to build an test on Windows at work occasionally. Windows is one big glitch of constant updates and reboots with the most poorly designed user interface I have ever seen. Most particularly, the prevalence of ribbon toolbars, and tablet like features, has simply made windows completely unusable. These are flaws that should have been caught during testing. I used to like windows 2000 and could live with XP, or even a customised 7, but 8/10 have just reached the limit of what is tolerable for someone who values getting things done.
    The other thing that drives me crazy is vc++. Build dependency checks that takes 0.5 secs on Linux for a warm build take over 1 min on windows, and generally everything about vc++ is slow. Also, the compiler is still crap when it comes to being discovering compiler bugs, or lack of working support for modern features. We always find that cl is the blocker for adopting new features. Why do we have to pay money for something that is much worse than free alternatives?

    1. Re:windows and vusual studio by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

      The ribbon and craptastic UI WERE found during testing and thousands of beta testers commented on it, many with quite floral language. In Win 10 we get a bokred up UI and still suffer from an inadequate and totally outdated file system. The UI was the least of the issues in Windows. VisualStudio isn't too bad, but I wish MS would put the same attention and effort onto Test Manager. Glitchy as hell and no, the web view even in TFS2017 doesn't cut it. What is worse is that it is impossible to query on many fields. Say what? I cannot get a list of all tests that are assigned to a specific tester? I have to create a project in VS and write C# code to get that information through the TFS API? It's one thing if Microsoft gives a damn about QA, but don't sabotage the QA of other companies.

  51. Windows search by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 1

    First of all, when I type something in the Windows search box, I'm not looking for things on the Web, I'm looking for things on my computer. Yes, I know there is an option to turn off Web search.

    Second, when I do look for something on my computer, Windows search can't find obvious search results. For example, I have a VPN client with the title "Global VPN Client." If I type "VPN" in the search box, Windows can't find it. If I just type "VP" it finds it just fine.

    Then, if you want Windows search to actually find files that contain the text I'm looking for, you have to go deep into settings to turn this on for specific folders. But even then, the search results are temperamental, sometimes showing you what you want, and sometimes not.

    1. Re:Windows search by cjellibebi · · Score: 1

      Pretty much this. Since Windows XP, Microsoft seems to be deliberately trying to sabotage desktop search. If you want to search just for a particular file (or set of files) using just their names, and not their contents, Microsoft are doing everything they can to get in your way. In Windows Vista, you had to select the search-filter from a drop-down list to say you were only interested in searching filenames. In Windows 7, they reduced the search-filters to just "Date modified" and "Size", and if you wanted more, you had to memorise the filter-name so you could type it out by hand. Thank goodness for utilities such as FileSearchEX and Search Everything. Before I discovered either of these, I sometimes had to resort to sharing the folder I wanted to search in, and plug a Windows 2000 machine on the network just to search for something. I've not used Windows 8 or 10 much, and when I did, I used Search Everything. Has the search of 8 and 10 become even worse, or did the Windows encrappyfying team move on to the UI instead?

    2. Re:Windows search by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I gave up on Windows Search back in the Windows XP days. Windows Search couldn't (and still doesn't) handle even simple Unicode text files - as in files saved in either Unicode big-endian or little-endian order. Since then I've been using Launchy to find and open programs/scripts and "Everything" to search for full/partial filenames across all my volumes. Could never find a decent content search tool so I wrote my own in Perl.

    3. Re:Windows search by Euler · · Score: 1

      100% agree. Also, WTF Microsoft? why is the basic file search turned into a command line that nobody seems to understand? It worked great in XP, ya 'know a GUI dialog and all since that is what Windows is all about. In the past you could pick from the GUI "when modified", extension, etc. Now it is just a confusing mess of what options will it let me choose or do I need to know the magic code... Also very unclear for which types of files will it do content search or not.

    4. Re: Windows search by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jesus man, DIR /s *something*. It has worked since dos 1.0. You don't need a gui for everything.

  52. Outlook Search by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 1

    I have about 15 messages in my inbox at work. But when I type text in the search box, the search process goes on and on forever, never actually finding what I typed. For larger folders, just forget it.

    1. Re:Outlook Search by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

      Outlook in general, worst calendar program that as email bolted on. The biggest shit in Outlook is that it is unable to properly quote messages when replying, slaps the signature in the middle of messages, and cuts stuff off when using too many dashes to separate content. Worse even, companies pay money for this stinking pile of garbage. Then again, still better than the total clusterfuck called Sharepoint.

    2. Re:Outlook Search by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >> Outlook search

      I use the search in Outlook 2016 and it works fabulously. Have you or your administrator turned off the search indexing functions?

    3. Re:Outlook Search by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since about Outlook 2010 (I think) Microsoft bought and integrated the "Lookout!" search tool which improved on Outlook's search immeasurably. Somehow, though, they managed to fuck it up a little and you can't search for IP addresses any more, even when put in quotes. You could do this in Lookout!, so I guess it's using period characters as word separators when building the search catalog.

  53. Deceptive and spurious feedback... by sgage · · Score: 1

    One thing that infuriates me more than just about anything else is when the feedback mechanism for a keypress or mouse click is so decoupled from the acceptance of that keypress or mouse click that you get the feedback without the input being registered.

    E.g., sometimes the visually presented region of a button will be larger than the region that registers the click. You click your mouse, the button blinks or whatever to give you feedback, and nothing happens. Because you didn't click right in the tiny region in the middle of the button that actually registers mouse clicks. But you got the feedback anyway. This is just criminally stupid.

    Another example. Years ago I used a very expensive and complicated piece of equipment to do some field work. It was weatherproofed, and had a sealed membrane keyboard. There was not a lot of tactile feedback from the 'keys', so when you pressed a key it helpfully generated a 'peep' noise. Except the mechanism that made the peep noise was totally unrelated to the mechanism that recorded the keystroke. What good is 'feedback' if it is not connected to the event you want feedback on?

    It was possible to blithely enter, say, plot ID codes and have every other character dropped, with the machine peeping away all the while. Ditto launching various functions: OK, I'm gonna start a sample run now. Press the button. 'PEEP'. Wait for the run to complete. Only to discover that it never began.

    I wrote a fairly spicy email to the manufacturer of the device one day after being bitten by this bug and having some measurements rendered unusable. Fortunately, I showed it to a colleague before I sent it, and he suggested that I adopt a more, um, professional tone ;-)

     

  54. NVidia on Kubuntu reboot surprise by katz · · Score: 1

    I reboot my computer after apt-get dist-upgrading, reboot, and get a blank screen responsive only to Magic Sysreq[1] (and probably SSH). It's the video driver issue: no nvidia module is available for loading. I think that any time apt-get installs a new kernel, it needs to re-install the nvidia drivers. The solution I've found (so far) is to manually issue apt-get install --reinstall nvidia-375 after any apt-get dist-upgrade has updated the Linux kernel.

    Anyway. It's 2017. Why am I still dealing with this shit?

    1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    1. Re:NVidia on Kubuntu reboot surprise by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

      Yes, it is 2017, why are we still tapping away in command line interfaces. Give me a GUI or go away!

    2. Re:NVidia on Kubuntu reboot surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Toddler

  55. NVidia "Optimus" laptops without hardware mux by Chep · · Score: 1

    The damn NVidia "optimus" laptops without hardware mux.

    My laptop (2017 Gigabyte Aero 14W) has an nvidia GTX 1060 that I never use (the i7's internal GPU is perfectly adequate to run IDEA IntelliJ, YouTube's videos, and GNOME's desktop animation at QHD 2560x1440p. PLENTY ADEQUATE). So I never, ever waste 25+W running the damn nvidia chip, except for ONE thing: enabling the external outputs.

    Yep, if I want to display something on a beamer, I must run "intel-virtual-output -f" in a clunky shell away.

    Older laptops/chips at least had the good grace of having a real HDMI multiplexer on the external outputs, now it must be blitted through the nvidia chip.

    Fuck you, NVidia. Fuck you again.

    (and yes, Gigabyte, you failed. If you sold the same machine without the nvidia chip, even at the exact same price, I'd have bought it without hesitation. But yours was the only 14" option with a real (really quad-core) i7 and ability to have 32 GiB of RAM, under 2kg, this winter).

    1. Re:NVidia "Optimus" laptops without hardware mux by SlowCoder · · Score: 1

      Next time, look up the Thinkpads. My T460p matches your requirements. 14", 32GB, under 2Kg (1.8), Proper i7 HQ CPU (i.e 4 proper cores). Mine came with a built-in GeForce 940MX, but it has never been enabled. External ports work just fine without it.

    2. Re:NVidia "Optimus" laptops without hardware mux by Chep · · Score: 1

      That's my point, the newer NVidia chips are defective here. The 940MX didn't hijack the external ports to save ¢2 on the BOM of a $2K machine

      (my i7 is the gen 7, yours is probably gen 6 based on its being matched with the 940MX, plus Lenovo didn't see fit to sell the proper T460p with the real quad core i7 around here (France) &mdash; I'd have gone ugly machine (lenovo) if it was in the race at all, but it wasn't. Buying out of state is/was a no-no in this case (keyboard layout, warranty, tax status [work machine], etc.).

      (next time, ... I'll see what the market delivers, but will probably be more willing to trade raw performance for less clunk. Still weeping my 2012 Samsung 900, it's a shame they exited the market. Still a notch above today's zenbooks in terms of form factor and finish.

  56. Hiding UI functionality by lordlod · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Programs which hide (delete) menu entries based on state.

    I once spent two days trying to figure out how to recover a low quality software raid disk because the recover menu entry had been deleted and the documentation was useless. The menu entry to start the recovery wasn't visible until the spare disk had been precisely configured as the software wanted. Of course with no feedback of that being the case I was left searching through the interface and floundering around until I managed to luck into the solution.

    1. Re:Hiding UI functionality by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Same applies to the horrible ribbon menus. Especially in MSO they are a shape-shifting horror. Why would anyone think that I do not want to change formatting while working in tables? Constantly have to switch between the big hunking ribbon menus. The menu system was the least of the problems in MSO. Worse, that effen ribbon now pops up in every app, Microsoft or not. I hate it! Dumbest UI change ever, worst user experience since Zuse invented the computer!

    2. Re:Hiding UI functionality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow I gotta agree with this one. I remember my reaction when I first saw it: Ok, so now I need to click twice to get to stuff, instead of configuring the menu buttons exactly how I want them? GREAT.

      When you get older like me, you realize that not all change is good, and in fact a lot of it is a big step back. Command line, function keys, with as little mouse usage as possible is probably the most efficient way to get work done, by far.

    3. Re:Hiding UI functionality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gawd we're old! Get off m cursor, I need a nap.

    4. Re:Hiding UI functionality by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

      Just got notification that the next version of our flagship software is going to adopt ribbon menu. We support linux too. So don't think you are safe from ribbon because you use linux. Ribbon will come to you.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    5. Re:Hiding UI functionality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The sad part is that that "problem" was solved at least 2 ways long ago: greyed out options and the "more options" arrow at the bottom of the menu, though I favour just leaving the menu be (muscle memory and keyboards do not mix well with menus that keep changing for no good reason).

    6. Re:Hiding UI functionality by radarskiy · · Score: 1

      The location where things are in a ribbon UI do not change any more than the locations in a menu UI. The difference is that you can see everything in the ribbon instead of having to drill down into the submenu hierarchy.

    7. Re:Hiding UI functionality by Euler · · Score: 1

      So true. At least leave the disabled option visible, and maybe hover text to tell you why. When things vanish, I lose my sanity.

    8. Re:Hiding UI functionality by Euler · · Score: 1

      It's gotten better with the Ribbon in newer versions (usually), but still digging out from rock-bottom on a pretty bad interface concept to start with.

    9. Re: Hiding UI functionality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I like it a lot.

      It has improved my work flow more than it has hampered it.

  57. Android back button by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Android back button will exit the app to the home screen. This has been annoying from the first version of Android I ever used (2.x?) and it still persists.

    Imagine if your web browser back button is always enabled but sometimes it just closes the app. That's how it feels.

  58. Sticky Keys by MTEK · · Score: 1

    What pisses me off is when dealing with a copy of Windows that hasn't had sticky keys disabled. Real fun when playing a game that makes use of the SHIFT key.

  59. Domain trust relationship... by oic0 · · Score: 1

    1. No quick and easy way to fix a domain trust relationship problem. Always have to unjoin and rejoin. 2. Windows 10 can't really remove built in apps. They come back. 3. Switching domain users is unintuitive. 4. Changing passwords when screen is locked and password is expired is also unintuitive. Meaning I have to explain it to users weekly.

  60. Companies that don't use their own software by Andy+Smith · · Score: 1

    * Go to the search tab in the mobile twitter app. The search bar is hidden by default and you have to scroll up and click on it.

    * Media player on PS4. Fast forward and rewind buttons go at an insane speed, i.e. you can skip through an entire film in a couple of seconds. There are YEARS of forum posts complaining about it.

    * Pretty much everything on iCloud is broken and has been for years. Handoff, Airdrop and iMessage sometimes work, sometimes don't, and if you can't rely on something then it's useless. Apple support forums are full of workarounds but the faults are never fixed.

    * Unity. So many broken features, never fixed. The latest release carried a huge list of impressive new features, but was greeted by hundreds of "will you ever fix XYZ" comments. The dirty secret of Unity development is that it's great for prototyping, but you need to custom write everything that matters. Right down to basic stuff like vector maths.

    * Steam. For some games it asks your date of birth, which is remembered between sessions so you can just click ok. But occasionally it forgets, and if you click ok with the wrong date set then you can't access that game... ever. If you try to access it again then it says you're underage, with no option to enter the correct date.

    1. Re:Companies that don't use their own software by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      I bought a Dell Precision with Ubuntu because of Mac's stagnant hardware and fucking iCloud. I disabled everything remotely tied to iCloud, and I'd still get incessant pop-ups telling me to log into iCloud. No, fuck you. Not doing that.
       
      Running Ubuntu now and I'm much happier. Is is perfect? No. My trackpad spazzes out when uptime gets too long, and scrolling starts switches apps. I get a weird flicker on some websites, and it seems to be a combo of uBlock and some aggressive ads causing the video card to struggle. But overall nothing nearly as irritating as the iCloud nagware was.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
  61. None Specific - More General by EmagGeek · · Score: 2

    Generally, I resent becoming a beta tester for literally everything. It seems like some time in the mid 90s, companies started doing away with in-house validation and decided that consumers would be the new quality control auditors, because almost every electronic/computer/software product I've bought since then has been utter shit, with a constant stream of patches, bug fixes, and other problems that should have been flushed out before the products were ever released.

    Almost everything sold to day is chock full-o-glitches, gaping security holes, fatal errata, and other things that should never be shipped to consumers.

    1. Re:None Specific - More General by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

      Then stop buying those broken apps and write to the company's CEOs to hire more QA staff. At the same time, reduce the expectations to have a new version come out at least every other month. It is the worst in the mobile arena, if vendors do not ship an update within two weeks the comments come in declaring it abandonware. The users carry as much fault as the vendors. Stop buying the buggy crap and dial down the expectations for accelerated release schedules.

  62. Purposeful Glitches by lannocc · · Score: 1

    Auto-updating software that provides no user control over their schedules. This appears to be a modern trend in software updates. Chrome and the Dropbox client are pretty bad offenders but there are others as well. I have very limited bandwidth on my connection to the Internet and any time my system becomes unusable for the web it is usually because DropboxMacUpdate or ksfetch are consuming all the bandwidth. I swear, it's like all modern software assumes everybody is on a fat pipe these days.

    And don't get me started about auto-playing videos in the web browser...

    1. Re:Purposeful Glitches by thereitis · · Score: 1

      I disable auto-update on my Android phone because it seems to happen at inopportune times. eg. the app I'm using gets updated underneath me and helpfully restarts itself. Come on guys, it's Linux underneath, restart when I'm done with the friggen app. It's not like there's locked files.

  63. The big glitch. by hord · · Score: 1

    systemd.

  64. Body by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    - Same hole used for eating, drinking, and breathing
    - Same hole used for liquid excretory function and pleasure release
    - Same hole used for solid excretory function and object input
    - Self copy feature confused with pleasure feature
    - No updates, ever
    - The only fixes are user-created workarounds and patches from expensive industry

  65. DRM and related thigs like UEFI by pcjunky · · Score: 1

    I recently acquired a modernish Dell laptop (Inspiron 7537) that will not boot to anything but a pure mechanical hard drive in legacy mode. I've tried two different brands of SSD and two different SSHD drives. None will boot. The 640 Gig mechanical boots just fine. Either a bios bug or something deliberate to prevent you from running newer drives in anything but UEFI/Secure boot mode.

    1. Re:DRM and related thigs like UEFI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      UEFI isn't DRM. Asking developers to sign their fucking code isn't DRM; It's protection against modified code. UEFI is an attempt to modernize "BIOS" which has been largely unchanged since IBM introduced the PC Jr. Your annoyance is coming from a shit bios implementation by Dell, not UEFI.

  66. Updates on shutdown by scsirob · · Score: 1

    The fact that there is no way to properly shutdown a system when an update is scheduled. The shutdown option changes to 'update and shutdown' and instead of the 20 minute margin you allowed yourself to the next customer visit, you now are *forced* to wait for the updates to complete, and run late for an otherwise comfortable start of the meeting.

    For f*ck sake, I want control over *MY* computer!

    --
    To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
    1. Re:Updates on shutdown by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not that this diminishes your issue, but a potential workaround might be to use the "shutdown" command from a command prompt with the right options. See https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb491003.aspx

    2. Re:Updates on shutdown by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

      instead of the 20 minute margin you allowed yourself to the next customer visit, you now are *forced* to wait for the updates to complete, and run late for an otherwise comfortable start of the meeting.

      Recently I hit 'off' on my (boss issued) Win10 laptop at the end of my shift and it tried to blue-screen-update me to death. Like HAL9000 thinking murder it kept muttering "Just a moment..." "Just a moment..." but I slammed the lid and unplugged it anyway. The battery took over with glee. I got out the door before it grasped my intention and sprinted to my car, tossed it into the back seat but the door would not close because WIFI was still trying to access the Internet. I tossed it in the trunk and tied the lid down with a bungee, and a couple hundred yards down the road I heard a 'thunk!' and with some squealing of tires, broke free. Down the highway it kept tugging the wheel towards Seattle and the 'popup notification' sound kept sounding over the radio. Street signs were vibrating and a blinding-bright Windows logo descended in the rear view mirror. As I sped past McDonalds it hit the public WIFI for a moment, almost swerving me into the curb. My "check engine" light came on but that is just because my gas cap is loose, go figure. The wipers came on and would not turn off, but that is normal too. My car has problems. Finally pulled into the driveway and it snapped onto my WIFI so hard the case stuck to the front door. I wrestled it inside and set it up, leaving the plug inches away from the wall socket. Little white balls still juggling on a blue background, we stared each other down. As soon as it realized I was not going to plug it in until it finished, the progress counter started moving faster until with a grunt it vomited up the startup screen.

      There was also a post-login update process, but that is another story.

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
  67. By far, mobile apps forgetting login by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    The only software glitch that really makes me angry, is when I've been using an app for a while and then after an update I need to log in again...

    The reason it's so aggravating is usually I discover it's dropped the login when I am out somewhere trying to use the app, where I can't access my computer to look up saved passwords.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:By far, mobile apps forgetting login by Walter+White · · Score: 1

      I have a map/navigation app that does that. I only need it when I'm in a place with no data and with no data I am unable to log in. Copilot is the name of the app and it cost me $15. It has let me down more times than I care to remember.

    2. Re:By far, mobile apps forgetting login by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about apps that need you to register in order to use them? I wanted a simple pedometer and the one from Under Armor (of all companies) had great reviews. I load it up and get greeted by a registration screen. App was deleted right there.

  68. Newer Linux, tablets, Win 10 on VMWare, OSX by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

    I have an older Toshiba Satellite laptop that still works fine. Win7 runs like an asthmatic snail on it, but it at least boots. I used to have Linux on it, but at some point kernel and other updates caused the laptop to stop booting. I even tried those distros that advertise themselves as great for older hardware. To be fair, Win 10 doesn't boot on it either. Not so much as a glitch as I assume it is done intentionally so, but I have by now a stack of older tablets that would be neat to refurb with a newer version of Android, but those suckers are locked down and closed up. Some of them are barely three years old and otherwise in perfect condition although a bit slow. Way to go with reducing e-waste! Win 10 on VMWare Server is a major pain. Each time a new build comes through the system boots into a black screen and that's the end of it. By the time I figure out what might be going on I have the new build downloaded and reinstalled. Still, glitchy as hell. OS X not being allowed to be used on non-Apple hardware...also not really a glitch, but intentional. I could understand if Apple makes its money with Mac hardware sales, but compared to other stuff those sales figures are dismal. And Mac hardware is nothing special, outdated off the shelf components wrapped in a pretty box. Detaching OS X from Mac hardware might even drive more sales in other areas.

  69. DJI GO4 app crash while I'm flying my Mavic by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    Having the DJI GO4 app crash while I'm flying my Mavic Pro. Repeatedly. Bad bad bad!

  70. Once past middle age ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... most of us are more concerned with meatware glitches.

  71. Xorg in CentOS 6 by supremebob · · Score: 1

    Lately, the version of XOrg in CentOS 6 has been really pissing me off. For some unknown reason, it randomly fails to determine the resolution of the monitor on bootup and I end up with a screen resolution of something stupidly low like 1024x768.

    I can fix this by putting in a hardcoded xorg.conf file, but it's 2017 and that kind of shit really shouldn't be necessary anymore.

  72. Re:Browser memory leaks (especially, Chrome on OS by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

    Firefox is leaking like a sieve since forever. Mentioned many times, typically got a rant with personal insults from Asa Dotzler in return blaming it on stupid user and add-ons. If the Mozillas spent as much effort on their software as they do on insulting their users we all would be in a way better position.

  73. Linux Power Consumption by Qbertino · · Score: 1

    is a big one for me right now. I'd love to use a Netbook with Linux for serious work but 4 hours of battery life doesn't cut it for me. Hence I'm leaning towards getting a Mac once again. A current day MacBook it would be, even though they are really expensive. Apples power management still rules. My MacBook air from 2011 still gets 4+ hours out of one charge.

    --
    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
    1. Re:Linux Power Consumption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >> Linux Power Consumption

      There is a utility called powertop that will often let you see what application is eating your battery life. It's usually just one or two bad actors.

    2. Re:Linux Power Consumption by Megane · · Score: 1

      The battery menu on at least 10.9.5 will try to identify power-hog apps and list them for you.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    3. Re:Linux Power Consumption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You had better be looking at recent MacAirs if you want battery life. This 2017 macbook pro (or whatever the hell it is called) has about 1/3 of the battery life of the last 3 versions of Airs (although, 3 versions of Airs were required to replace each failed Air with a newer model when applecare declined to fix totally dead machines). Bought the book-pro-thingy before last Air died. To put it in a positive marketing light - ' this mac book is the last mac I'll ever need to buy'

  74. Re:WinKey + arrow keys behavior vertically is not. by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

    The Win key on keyboards sucks...at least its placement. I cannot count how many times Windows went apeshit on me just because I hot that friggin Windows key while pressing Shift, Alt, or Control keys. Keyboard shortcuts are easy to implement even without an OS specific key....unless you use a US keyboard where an entire layer is missing. How come European keyboards have two different Alt keys allowing for a wide array of options, but not US keyboards? Instead, they stick that effen Windows key on it.

  75. Web site compatibility issues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What bothers me most is terrible web site compatibility with browsers. How many times has clicks not worked, or the site crashes the browser or some other compatibility problem. I thought since were so obsessed with web standards these days this should be getting better. But because browsers seem to be the only part that adheres to the standards. Web sites still are flakes about them and so we have browsers unwilling to forgive. It really was better when browsers were more forgiving.

    1. Re:Web site compatibility issues by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

      What bothers me most is terrible web site compatibility with browsers. How many times has clicks not worked, or the site crashes the browser or some other compatibility problem.

      There is an insurance consortium out there I was directed to under protest, that only works with Internet Explorer. But not that one. Or that one. By spoofing my Firefox Agent string I managed to complete the signup process fine and can log in fine and it claimed I have 2 messages unread, flagged Important!

      The messages are Just Damned Text [tm] but impossible to read because it is a Savage Syntax Script button running code that expects non-standard DOM of DOOM which jerks off on JSON and Quietly Fails [tm]. I would have completely diagnosed the (simple-ass) problem and sent them a fix, or explain the Wonder Internet of Yukon days when links loaded text, but there was a small but terrifying risk I'd end up working for those people. So I just called them and asked for everything by U.S. Mail.

      But they must have shared my personal information because lately other web sites have begun arriving in the mail too. String-tied brown packages with fanfold printouts, glossy brochures that fold out to 10 feet tall (the scroll bar is printed on!) and postcards that are pop-up ads. Amazon sent me a box containing a login prompt with my ID printed on a sticker. To complete the login I have to bake cookies and drop them in. Also, my house is now surrounded with abandoned shopping carts.

      I sent Microsoft a letter asking them to ship the latest version of Internet Explorer. They sent back a large box of rubber snakes. They might have signed me up for MSDN by mistake.

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
  76. Mine is that new stuff is worse than old by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My personal pet peeve to end all pet peeves is the fact that most of the time new stuff, whether it be hardware or software, is often worse than the old stuff. The "improvements" often mean it's slower and more buggy than before.

  77. Re:Annoying things that could have been fixed easi by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

    Are you willing to pay for more quality? OK, in case of an iPhone you already overpaying....then again, why the heck do you buy an iPhone? There are plenty of droid phones that are way better at half the cost. If you keep feeding the gremlin don't complain that it sticks around. In other words: stop buying Apple products!

  78. Reboots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Every three or four years I am forced to reboot my OpenBSD laptop to install a new kernel due an obscure security update. It is so tedious having to wait 35 seconds instead of just resuming within 3 seconds as usual.

  79. Reschedule dialog doesn't care if you're working by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 1

    If you put off restarting for too long, it will restart for you. The point of the dialog isn't to allow you to defer restarting indefinitely, but to let you pick a good time to restart. If you fail to do that your PC will do its best to pick one for you but it would have been better if you helped.

    It seems almost every time I hear about a major PC infection, it always comes with the footnote that the exploit being used was patched by Microsoft months or years earlier. So knowing this it's not hard to see why MS is making Windows Update more aggressive with patching PCs.

  80. Comcast Xfinity X1 Entertainment System by Walter+White · · Score: 1

    Without a doubt the most sluggish and buggiest S/W I work with on a daily basis is the software (and cloud backing) on my cable box. It's either running on a slow processor or is horribly inefficient. It frequently takes more than a second to reply to button press. And the UI requires too many button presses to navigate. Deleting recorded programs takes about 5 button presses. Delete a bunch of episodes - you'll be there a while! Frequently the deleted content remains in the listing for hours or days. If you try to watch one of these 'zombie' episodes the DVR reports that service is temporarily unavailable.

    One of the screens suggests that resetting the box will often solve problems. That's an admission of failure from a software quality standpoint. Alas, they are right. Unfortunately it takes several minutes for the box to come up following a reset. That's ridiculous.

    Just last week the box stopped responding to the remote. The green LED on the front of the box lit when I pressed buttons but there was no response to the button press. Time to pull the plug. A couple days earlier our other box (not DVR but just player) stopped playing content. I could pull up menus but the screen was otherwise black. Time to pull the plug.

    Unbelievably buggy (and s-l-o-w) for a consumer device.

  81. current issue by someone1234 · · Score: 1

    Playing movies on Ubuntu (using VLC) eventually the video stops, the audio is still going but the whole machine is frozen solid. I don't know whom to blame, and that makes it even more annoying :D

    --
    Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
  82. Tripple click ... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Annoying is that many applications especially on windows don't support triple click (to select a whole line of text)
    Related to that: browser adressbar. The whole text gets selected, instead of just placing the curser where I clicked (and that is 99% of the time I click there what I want: position cursor to fix a typo) Even Safari does it now wrong on OS X.
    Windows text copy paste. Select a word and cut/copy it: in case of cut there is correctly one of the surrounding spaces removed (so that there are not 2 spaces between the remaining words). However, that space is in the clipboard (also why you do copy), which makes it impossible to simple copy paste initial passwords.
    Now if you paste that cut word at another place in the same document, the space from the clipboard is most of the time added wrongly, so you have to manually fix it by adding one space on the other side of the word and deleting the wrongly added space.
    Ribbons .... software with ribbons is IMHO unusable.
    Autoplay of videos. Browser/Computer crashed. On reboot it tries to load 100 youtube videos and tries to start them ....
    Related to text selection: on Mail.app it is impossible to fix a mistyped email address. After you have hit ',' or tab to go to the next line, the text of the recipient is converted into a "blue button", which you can drag around but can not edit anymore.
    Pointless UI changes, especially when they make the UI ugly. I like the gem stone like red orange green buttons on my old OS X, on OS X 10.10 it is simply super ugly.
    Windows file search not working ... pisses me off so big time that I mostly use the GitShell and find
    Without a good shell windows is completely unusable anyway ... outlook makes me vomit. /. being close to unusable since month. The thread of posts is wrong formatted, only covers about 2/3rd of the space from left to right. The ads in the upper right area are jumping up and down, so you can not zoom into the posts. After a while the ads stop jumping around, but meanwhile I basically close them all the time and give google the message: add covers content.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  83. Root it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Root it and be done. I was able to clean up so much afterwards.

  84. Browser feature support by maestroX · · Score: 1

    What bugs me after the joyful demise of IE6 and the move to standardized HTML5/CSS3, browsers *still* manage to fuck up and prefer things to do their own way. . (Hello position fixed, zooming safari etc. etc.)

  85. Higlighting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When trying to highlight something to copy/paste and it jumps to the entire word, sentence, or selects the whitespace before/after. GOD D@*#! IT I KNOW HOW TO HIGHLIGHT DON'T DO IT FOR ME! I swear this has taken years off my life while I paste into a text editor and just to recopy/paste only the content that I need.

  86. X standards by jmccue · · Score: 1

    Here you go - where I work I need to use proprietary applications on my Linux system at work (yes they exist). Here is my list (you had to ask).

    These applications:
    1. refuse to follow X standard cut/paste.
    2. crash and hang all the time
    3. loose focus a lot, forced to use a mouse to gain focus
    4. All are JAVA based, so that to me indicates there is something wrong with JAVA :)
    5. These applications do not play well with window managers, you are forced to use either GNOME3 or KDE

    Freedesktop.org - do not get me started. I used X for many years and I liked it's eccentricities - freedesktop (and maybe others) seem to be trying (and succeeding) onmoving X Window to a Microsoft model and that may be the root of the my complaints. Here is my big one: These applications (and a few others) ignore ~/.Xdefaults (X server resource database). That make it hard to impossible force a geometry on them.

    Granted there are some good things done by Freedesktop.org, but it annoys me when old working utilities are thrown away because they are not shiny.

  87. Windows 10 should've never made it out of beta by ttyX · · Score: 1

    This OS is still in beta, new issues appear with each release while older ones either get resolved or partially resolved. I thought my mouse was bricked until this month's patch Tuesday. The issue was whenever I left-clicked the right-click context menu appeared, it was so frustrating that I decided to get it replaced until this month's update arrived.

  88. Windows 10 update - what else... by wvmarle · · Score: 1

    Today my laptop spent well over an hour installing updates (downloaded them in the background, asked to install it, time was OK for me, but an hour later it was still not finished).

    Then when the updates were done, WiFi didn't work any more. A problem with the driver, Windows said.

    So using my Linux Mint system I go to the Asus website, download and install their 2015 Win10 drivers (first had to find a USB stick for the transfer, different computer!), no luck.

    Browse a bit again, see the suggestion to install the Win8.1 drivers.

    So downloaded Win8.1 drivers, installed them, and well, this post proves that this work. Latest Win10 with 2014-dated Win8.1 drivers for the WiFi.

    Why can't MS with all its resources not get this work properly? Like in Linux where while I upgrade my system to the latest Mint I can continue working, then a quick reboot later everything Just Works?!

    It is, by the way, not the first such issues. Before I've had a driver problem with the touchpad (had to connect a mouse to be able to fix that - downgrade to an older, already installed driver was the solution). Also related to a Windows update.

  89. Re: Dumbed down by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Didn't Multics do that?

  90. Screencast/Mirroring the screen from my Mi Pad by Frankie70 · · Score: 1

    Screencast/Mirroring the screen from Mi Pad to Chromecast doesn't work. The audio gets cast but the screen is shown as blank/black.

    MIUI is the most fucked up of all Android ROMs

  91. Register by bagofbeans · · Score: 1

    How about trying to order a simple thing online, being forced to open an account, then getting spam to rate them, review them, survey and more spam exactly one year after they finally remove you from the email list.

    Even worse with companies who send junk mail too after web orders...

  92. Scroll Jacking by Luthair · · Score: 2

    **** those idiots.

    Also, *** websites that scroll into a different article after reaching the end of the current one.

    1. Re:Scroll Jacking by iampiti · · Score: 1

      +1. Freaking stupid. I don't like infinite scrolling websites

  93. Windows 10 Delivery Optimization by The_Revelation · · Score: 1

    You know, the forced updates that break open files and running processes logging critical data doesn't even both me so much. Its this god awful Delivery Optimization service that ships with Windows 10. Its like Windows Server Update Services where it will cache a bunch of updates that other computers in your organization might need. Unfortunately its completely broken.

    I have 4 Win 10 PCs in the house. All of them routinely download more than 10GB worth of patches for the other machines in the house that are already 100% up to date. Instead of filling up the server drives though, it downloads to tablets as well taking up the tiny SSD drives. Its an absolute joke.

    It used to be that this service could be stopped and disabled, however after the Anniversary update it automatically re-enables itself and MS have removed the 'stop' option, so if you want to turn it off you will either need to go hunting for the process image or restart the computer. As none of the computers in the house require these updates, this service only manages to fill up disks and cause our netflix to stall while our data is hoovered up. By most definitions this service is actually a virus.

  94. File transfer remaining by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    41423 days and 22 hours remaining

  95. Systemd by geggam · · Score: 1

    Systemd...

    Hands down the biggest frustration I face daily.

  96. Windows' Cryptic Error Messages by schwit1 · · Score: 1
    I was recently trying to get windows updates and it came back with an error. I clicked the error message help and it said it couldn't find any help on this error. I googled the error code and it came up with numerous hits. Many links said it may be a GPO disabling windows updates over the internet, which was my issue.

    Is an obtuse error code really the best Microsoft can do for its users.

  97. latency by jshipp · · Score: 1

    I really hate the latency on a lot of modern devices. My microwave for example, requires each button to be held in for about half a second before it registers. I just want to cook my food, and don't like waiting for the button delay capacitors to charge a few times. My car's XM radio interface has so much lag that i canceled my service. My dad's new TV has so much lag, then even he couldn't figure out how to turn it on/off. I discovered he wasn't holding the power button down long enough. WTF? This isn't the future i was hoping for.

    1. Re:latency by Jetstream · · Score: 1

      I have no latency like that on my microwave. Of course, it's my brother's old used one from about 20-30yrs ago and the only control is a dial timer that goes up to about 12 min. ;)

  98. wireless mice and touchless sinks by jshipp · · Score: 1

    wireless mice don't seem to work with my hand for some reason. It's like my hand is blocking the signal. touchless sinks are the same way. it takes me longer to get the water started than it took for me to shit.

    1. Re:wireless mice and touchless sinks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Caution: Your difficulties in interacting with the physical world may indicate that you are now a ghost. If the only person who actually seems to pay attention to you is a very emotionally troubled child, counseling him may help you both. Do not encourage him to "pay it forward." That won't be good, in the medium term.

  99. Re:Linux kernel and Xorg not supporting ABIs by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    You like letting your vendors make your decisions for you, fine. But don't try to pretend that isn't what it is.

    You really stuck it to them by giving them your money and then changing operating systems TWICE before you found a setup you were happy with. I'm sure they'll consider your preference based on a generic complaint on Slashdot in the future.

    Thankyou for your feedback sucker ... err I mean valued customer.

  100. GIMP by petes_PoV · · Score: 1

    Apart from all its clunky UX in just about every element of its design, the one that bugs me the most is after you have done something to an image and saved your changed version. You then go to close the original and it asks if you want to save the changes.

    Next worst is the stupidity around saving JPG files. I can't save as a JPG - I have to export it. I don't care about the technicalities. I don't care about free and non-free. I don't care about any of the "theoretical" or purist reasons. I just want to click SAVE and the data appears on disk.

    --
    politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
    1. Re:GIMP by alantus · · Score: 1

      I hate the UX too, in particular you can't use tab to switch between text inputs quickly. When using a tool in the same way repeatedly, this would save a lot of time. It used to work before but it was broken at some point.
      Now, the export vs save thing, doesn't bother me at all.

  101. MS Office and template crashes by tonique · · Score: 1

    At work, we have templates for Word and Excel. That's great, but...

    • first, there's always an error message when opening the program
    • Word slows down because of the template stuff
    • a certain way to crash Word: open two documents that use the template and save another with a new name
    • Word or Excel tries the recovery. Okay, but it takes a couple of minutes.
    • one of the recovered document is always the template .dotm
  102. Microsoft's lack of commitment. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    You'd think with their entire hardware division in the PC side focused towards one single product line they would be able to resolve basic stuff. But no. In the interest of maintaining an efficient production line they are also focusing on backwards compatibility, .... except when they don't.

    The Type Cover 4 and the new Surface Type Covers are the only ones sold on the MS website. Both list compatibility with the earlier Pro 3. Both cause the Pro 3 to lockup for about 8 seconds when waking from connected standby with the cover flipped backwards making their premier tablet unusable as a tablet while the keyboard is attached.

    Microsoft is aware of the problem
    Microsoft is aware of the exact hardware details of the problem (relating to applying power to the type cover to identify it's orientation).
    Microsoft has been aware for this since December 2015.
    Microsoft has been promising a fix for this since January 2016
    Fuck Microsoft for not being able to even get ONE PRODUCT right.

    I really hate that I love everything else about this tablet/laptop/slate/whateverthefucktheycallitrightnow enough that I'll probably buy another when it breaks. The bug is infuriating.

  103. TIVO 30 second skip by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It occurs while watching a football game I've recorded - the American type with lots of 2 min commercial breaks. Press the skip button 4 times to get around the break only to discover it skipped ahead 30-60 min. Before I realize it, the game is in the 4th quarter and I know the score. Dammit!! Happens maybe 1% of the time and after years, its never been fixed.

    1. Re: TIVO 30 second skip by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't press 30 second skip while you're fast forwarding. It skips to the next index marker. Don't let someone else with another remote press fast forward while you're skipping commercials. User upgrade to 2.0 complete. You're welcome.

  104. Keyboard navigation, hiding mnemonics by HalAtWork · · Score: 1

    Keyboard navigation is becoming more difficult as time goes on, but I find it much easier and faster to do what I want with the keyboard.

    Even on Linux Mint, keyboard ALT+* combos are being hidden on button labels, sometimes CTRL+Q can quit an application, sometimes it can't, sometimes CTRL+W works to close a window, but sometimes it doesn't and you have to do ALT+F4.

    In the Nemo/Gnome Files application, when you type a few letters it jumps to the file that starts with those letters, then you can press ESC to get out of the typing box and use arrow keys to highlight files or move the cursor. Sometimes it will jump back to the top of the file list if you attempt to move the cursor, or sometimes it will work as expected and use the filename you started typing out as the point of origin. But in Linux Mint the cursor sans highlight is invisible (i.e. if you are holding CTRL to select files and moving the cursor, you are supposed to see a dotted outline).

    Random behavior like that drives me nuts.

  105. Windows login by rfengr · · Score: 1

    CTRL-ALT-DEL to login to windows! Why a hard to use key combo? That was the fucking soft reboot in DOS. Also, blinking cursor in windows login password field, that you must move the mouse into to activate it. What the fuck is the blinking cursor for if that text field is not focus.

    1. Re:Windows login by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, CTRL-ALT-DEL is an important security stage during login.

      Otherwise, I could write a Windows program that mimics the login screen and leave it running on a computer - you come along, log-in, and I've now captured your credentials.

  106. systemd-resolved by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It stalls very reliably on every other DNS query on one of my machines. I disabled it. If needed a DNS cache I would just use BIND because it is a mature reliable piece of software. They did not need to reinvent a DNS cache poorly.

  107. Re:Linux kernel and Xorg not supporting ABIs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And for every time this happened, there were 10,000 instances of Linux not working where Windows did.

  108. We seriously need a SW-Complaints-Toilet by Sla$hPot · · Score: 0

    Who will make a top 10 and 100 web page for software annoyances and complaints with persistent follow ups on issues like:
    ( Including a top 500 hundred best tantrum outbreaks. With prices )

    Microsoft Word Ribbons....
    MS Copy paste empty lines :-((
    "Smart" phone history swiping
    Alt + Arrow history browsing
    MS Windows sleep, wakes up for no reason
    MS trying to update deleted software forever!

    Just to mention a few.


    A kind of F"#€ this and that and Get it the F"#€ out of here already

    Maybe such an initiative exists already.

    If so where is it?

  109. OSX and Samba file shares by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 1

    My biggest gripe is that Apple hasn't bothered to fix their samba implementation to not drop connections several times per day. It is criminal, and I assume they just don't care about selling macs in business environments any more.

  110. People who call every bug a "glitch". by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A glitch is a small, transitory thing that you aren't even sure happened.

    When, say, a global airline has an hours-long global ground stop because their computers don't work, and you call it a "glitch", THAT'S what bugs me.

  111. "Security" Software by ElizabethGreene · · Score: 1

    What drives me literally to drink is when IT departments don't properly manage and upgrade their "security" software.

    I'm working with a customer now that is two years behind on updating the version of their enterprise antivirus software. Literally half of the BSOD crashes on desktops at this company are a known bug that's fixed in newer versions of their AV.

    The other half of the BSODs are mostly Intel Wireless and Video driver bugs that have also been fixed. There has to be a better way to manage these than "Hey, this driver is crashing let's go check the manufacturer website."

  112. Laptop keyboards & touchpads. Browser interfa by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

    Laptops used to have full-sized keyboards and ouiji keys.

    Now, in the quest for thinness, they have chicklet keys. (I thought we'd learned not to do that back in the early home computer days.) Not only do they work horribly, creating a typo storm, if your fingernails are not trimmed to the quick, but they have backlit keys that are mostly clear and painted/molded with a thin layer of plastic on the top. Use them a couple months and the opaque layer scrapes off, causing the common characters to have irregular white spots instead of illuminated letters.

    Touchpads can be nice. But a giant, hypersensitive, touchpad on the palm rest, where you REST YOUR PALMS WHILE TYPING, causes the gui to go all wonky while you type. The cursor jumps back into the text you typed and your continued typing corrupts it. Windows get selected. Different tabs get selected. The slashdot "submit" button gets hit in mid-entry or mid-proofread! The selection goes out of the text entry box and twenty browser "keyboard accelerator" commands fire off before you realize what's happening.

    (And why DO browsers have all these (apparently undocumented - or dig for it) lower-case-alphabetic "accelerator" actions, anyhow?)

    Apparently they've standardized on this, across diverse manufacturers (or they're all using the same OEM/ODMs). I got a Toshiba (through work) a couple years back that had the problem. Then it went belly-up and the only linux-compatible replacement I could find at Fry's - a Lenovo - had THE SAME KEYBOARD and a different touchpad that was THE SAME SIZE, LOCATION, and HYPERSENSITIVITY.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  113. my major FOSS gripe by mkornelix · · Score: 1

    zombie bugs: they come back after being killed, because coder B overwrites fix from coder A

  114. my 2nd FOSS gripe by mkornelix · · Score: 1

    Gratuitous API changes Old APIs should keep working as long as the equivalent functionality is available in the new API. An adapter function should be supplied.

  115. Failed password by heson · · Score: 1

    When AD thinks entering the same password several times is a hacking attempt (due to it being my previous password, CAPSLOCK or keyboard malfunction) and it needs to lock my account.

  116. Re:Newer Linux, tablets, Win 10 on VMWare, OSX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Have you tried Antix or Debian Dog as a linux distro for older computers. This 2003 thinkpad laptop with 32 bit processor works fine with either. This computer doesnt have PAE so many 32 bit distros dont work.

  117. The Entire Android Interface by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Really, who thought this was a good idea?
    I feel like a fell through a wormhole into a universe with a modernized gui on Windows 3.

  118. My list by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1. Standard Keyboard Layout

    Small ENTER keys, the 'windows' key (at least put some other logo on it!), the position of ESC (should be next to number 1), and capslock instead of control next to the "A". None of this makes sense, why the fuck is there a capslock key anyway, it should be a two-key combo.

    Luckily, I've got a Unicomp keyboard, which fixed most of these issues, but I just don't get why modern keyboard are such a pile of shit and I don't understand why companies get away with it.

    2. PCs without ECC RAM

    If you have enough RAM, chances are high your computer will crash several times a month and you won't even know why!

    3. Ready-made PCs without integrated backup disk and without enough RAM.

    I get it why Apple, Dell, HP, etc. want to save money, but this is really money saved in the wrong place. Out-of-the-box desktop PCs are unusable for anything, companies should be liable for data loss if no backup solution is included. It just makes no sense with HD failure rates (modern SSDs are better, but still this should be part of the package).

    4. Too short USB and power supply cables.

    If you want to witness the decline of Apple and why these computers are such a crap, just compare the length of their power supply cables over time. But I've also recently purchased a cheap MP3 player with a 5cm USB cable...

    As for software, all current operating systems just plain suck - focus stealing windows, sluggish performance, built-in spyware (Windows 10), updates that don't work, ...

    1. Re:My list by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

      why the fuck is there a capslock key anyway

      JUST BECAUSE.

      I usually pop off CAPSLOCK and put a bit of electrical tape over the post. It's still operable but no longer bump-able.

      When I ran an ISP in ~1997 CAPSLOCK was the bane of our existence... UNTIL I added custom code to the Radius server managing our logins, which stored customer passwords as crypts. Username always forced to lower case. If a login failed on the first attempt, it completely FlIpPeD (fLiPpEd) the case and tried with that. If that worked, let 'em in. This instantly reduced tech support calls by 80%... tossing the log after the first month it had quietly 'salvaged' over 10,000 logins. All of a sudden whole nights went by without a single tech support call, which were forwarded to our homes because we gave a shit. And the flip case trick only decreased password space by a linear factor of 2. Which wasn't any deal at all because we were already set to lock out brute force attempts. Not one of which was ever encountered.

      --
      <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
  119. In general: Memory Usage and Optimization by ChurchyardTX · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I'm a graybeard sysadmin from Teh Oldz. But a standard issue browser that grabs a quarter GIG of memory just to start up and present a blank window strikes me as criminally inefficient by at least one, and probably two orders of magnitude. You can likely sub out your favorite application for "browser" in the above.

    --
    Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
  120. Re:Newer Linux, tablets, Win 10 on VMWare, OSX by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

    Haven't tried Antix...duly noted, downloading right now.

  121. Re:Browser memory leaks (especially, Chrome on OS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    How do you avoid them?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  122. This post! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trolling all /. community with a post like this...

  123. Voicemail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Voice to text is here and I still have to listen to ALL junk messages before I get to message number seven? or nine??

  124. memleaks in ubuntu chrome by jarkus4 · · Score: 1

    When I leave deezer in an open chrome tab running for more then a day or two (regardless if its playing or not) it turns into a huge memory hog and slows my system down by causing swapping. If I remember I just switch to this virtual desktop at the start of the day and restart the tab, but its still annoying.

  125. Re:Browser memory leaks (especially, Chrome on OS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have not had any problem with Firefox on OSX in years. I often have tens of tabs open. Currently, Firefox has been running for 5 days with 26 tabs and it is using 2.7GB on a 16GB MBP. I would have to go back to the Snow Leopard days to experience significant memory problems with Firefox and using lots of memory is not necessary a leak. As much as you don't like hearing the phrase, "check your add-ons," that is what you need to do or give repeatable steps in a bug report if you are dead sure the browser (with no add-ons) actually has a leak. From my experience the spiraling memory problems have been cause by add-ons or poorly coded websites. For myself, I use a minimal set with NoScript, uBlock Origin, Tab Mix Plus, and Tree Style Tab.

  126. Please just STOP HELPING ME! by gestalt_n_pepper · · Score: 1

    Don't autocomplete.

    Don't pop up "helpful" suggestions like a retarded version of Clippy.

    Don't *ever* ask me to log into *anything* with my facebook account.

    Don't ask if I really want to install your insecure, buggy, virus laden app to improve my "user experience." You're tracking me for marketing purposes, OK? I wasn't born yesterday. Go suck an egg.

    Don't *ever* shift my focus to where *you* think it should be.

    Mouse "Gestures". Ye Gods. Really?!
    Don't turn on "mouse gestures" by default. In fact, take all mouse gestures out and shoot them. Then shoot the marketing moron who thought they might be a good idea. If you can't get rid of them, turn them all *off* by default. I'm sure that both of the people in the world who like and use them will figure out how to turn them on.

    Not a software issue, but laptop clickpads consisting of only one bug button. WTF were you people *thinking?*

    Annnnnd the worst one of all. Software that responds to a click or keystroke with ..... NOTHING. It sits there and thinks a minute. This is just slightly less infuriating than software that doesn't disappear on close. Get it out of my face. Clean up after yourself on your own time. Not mine.

    --
    Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
  127. USA Date Formats by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pick a sensible format for gods sake.

  128. Windows 10 + Citrix by Pascoea · · Score: 1

    We use Citrix deployment for our ERP software. When using an external monitor on a laptop or Surface Pro it literally won't work if the external monitor is on the right side of the laptop. It cuts off half of the window, and the mouse doesn't click where it's actually pointing (you have to click a half inch to the right of a button to get it to click). Move the monitor (physically and logically) to the left of the laptop, it works perfectly.

  129. Clicking in text boxes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When I click on a text box, I want the cursor to be placed where I clicked with nothing highlighted. If I double click, I want the word highlighted. If I triple click, I want the entire text in the text box highlighted.

    Currently, this behavior is random. In some text boxes, clicking once selects everything, on others, it just places the cursor where clicked. Worst are the ones where you click and drag to select specific text, let go of the button and find all of the text selected.

    Even if you don't use the sequence I like, at least do it consistently across all applications!

  130. Close window shortcut by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm amazed that some production code still use alt-F4 for their close window shortcut. Can you old programmers get with the guidelines from 1984?

    1. Re: Close window shortcut by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's the OS doing that, dipshit.

  131. Epson by thermidor · · Score: 1

    I was pretty annoyed to buy a brand new Epson label printer for use with iOS, and LESS THAN A WEEK later, iOS was updated and the damn app stopped working. It's not like this was totally unpredictable to the developer, or something that would be even vaguely difficult for them to plan for. Apple (and all other O/S vendors) make betas available for months before releasing updates, so why the developer couldn't be bothered to test their app on the beta and rebuild if necessary is beyond me. Of course, I submitted a support case to Epson; they told me they'd get back to me, and never even bothered. A month or so later they finally pulled their finger out of their ass and updated the app, at which point my printer had been not working for about 4 times longer than it'd been working.

  132. And another thing... by thermidor · · Score: 1

    When I updated a laptop to Windows 7, the trackpad started working at ninety degrees to the screen. So up became left, left become down, etc. Just the level of quality control I've become used to.

  133. All of windows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... Keep that steaming pile of shit away from me and i'm relatively happy with even moderately buggy software.

  134. Re:WinKey + arrow keys behavior vertically is not. by Megane · · Score: 1

    Oh hell, those damn Windows keys. Both the Windows and "menu" keys steal focus when brushed by accident while touch-typing. It is especially annoying when you're playing a game in full-screen mode and it switches the screen back to the desktop--from just bumping a bottom row key by accident. And then there's the Insert key. What the fuck is the point of overwrite mode in a GUI text editor? Who needs that anymore?

    In my previous workplace, I removed various key caps of annoying keys (including Windows, Menu, F1, Insert, and another F-key that did an annoying thing in the IDE) and put them in a small baggie under the monitor. Really, that's the best solution.

    --
    #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  135. Windows 10 updates deleting Linux partitions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Microsoft Windows 10 Anniversary Update had a bad habit of wiping out Linux (Ubuntu) partitions without reason or warning.

    Microsoft Windows 10 Creators Update apparently has the same bug!

  136. Logon failed by peterofoz · · Score: 1
    All the variations on password validation rules on different web sites, applications, and internal systems drives me nuts. I keep different general passwords for:
    1. work
    2. banking (where I keep money)
    3. regular shopping (regular recurring places I spend money like utilities, and online stores)
    4. irregular shopping (one-off shopping stores)
    5. games

    My passwords already have upper case, lower case, number and special char, at least 8 chars. Having many variations on what is allowed or not exacerbates the problem when sites don't allow a special char like '*' or have some other unusual requirement.

  137. Ambient Authority by ka9dgx · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Ambient Authority in all of our operating systems is the cause of most of our grief, and the fact that most technical people don't even realize it's happening makes it even worse.

    It's going to be about 5 more years until everyone wakes the fsck up, and another 10 years to finally fix things.

  138. built-in audio & internal spkrs in ubuntu by karlandtanya · · Score: 1

    Everything about ubuntu has been fscking awesome so far.
    Sound is just annoying. Everybody has at least ways to fix it and none of them work.
    On about 1/2 to 2/3 of reboots, ubuntu finds the sound on my laptop. Once it goes back in my bag, I roll the dice again.

    Read the forums, the official troubleshooting procedure, random articles found in google, etc.
    a *lot* of people seem to have this problem, and have been for a long time.

    How can they do everything else so well and sound so poorly?

    --
    "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
    1. Re:built-in audio & internal spkrs in ubuntu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "How can they do everything else so well and sound so poorly?"

      Fuck Poettering and Pulse Audio.

  139. The Windows file dialog by Dracos · · Score: 1

    Every time it opens, I can't scroll the file list panel because focus is automatically given to the filename input. One of the few times Windows, the OS that tries to train users to do everything with the mouse, expects them to remember how to type.

    Once you're consciously aware of this, it will eat at you like a traumatic experience.

    1. Re:The Windows file dialog by alantus · · Score: 1

      If you think that is bad, you have never seen the file dialog of Firefox and Thunderbird.

  140. Universal Resource Locators are no longer Universa by rastos1 · · Score: 1

    If you google for "windows 10 iso download" you get to the official page by Microsoft where you can download the .iso - but only if you do this from non-Windows platform. If you try to access the same URL from Windows you are redirected to "media creation tool", or some other nonsense. Web installers with no full installer available fall into this category too.

    Somewhat related - web pages that display different content depending on their idea what my preferred language is, what my geo-location is, what OS I run, .... often with no possibility to override.

  141. Non-helpful error messages by Miamicanes · · Score: 1

    Error messages that lie:

    "(...something...) failed. Please try again later." (when in reality, it will NEVER work without outside intervention).

    If you don't want to acknowledge that an account exists or has been locked out, at least have the decency to note that possibility somewhere in the error message. Like, "(...something...) failed. If the username and password you entered was indeed valid, it's possible that the account might be locked out, in which case you'll have to contact tech support at 800-999-9999 for assistance before it will ever work again."

    Error messages that lazily tell you to "contact your administrator". Goddamn it, if I'm logged in AS an administrator, there should AT LEAST be something in the error message to point me in the right direction (like, "Please check the Windows Security Event log for item 277382438 for additional details").

    Telling a user to "try again later" does NOTHING for security (an attacker already knows it's a lie), but frustrates end users ENORMOUSLY by sending them on a wild goose chase and wasting their time. And telling them to "contact their administrator" (without giving them the specific contact info) is unhelpful (they might not have any idea who the Administrator *IS*). Even MORESO when they are, in fact, logged on AS a goddamn Administrator.

  142. I can think of a few. by phozz+bare · · Score: 1

    Slashdot comments taking up only about 60% of the screen width, with nothing but a very wide blank white space on the right hand side of my monitor.

    (Windows 7 specific from here on, not sure what's been fixed since:)

    Windows Explorer expands folders inappropriately, jumping the folder you expand to the bottom of the navigation pane. This one has been driving me crazy for years. Not just the bug itself, but MS's unwillingness to fix it.

    How the system generally thrashes and grinds to a halt when simply copying a large file.

    The amount of time and painful sequence of events when switching some graphical application or game between windowed and full screen mode. The screen turns blank, then off, then on but blank again (there was also a nasty click back in the Trinitron monitor days), then off again, then on and blank, and finally the desired image is displayed. Why this takes 5 seconds and not 5 milliseconds is a mystery to me.

  143. Re:Laptop keyboards & touchpads. Browser inter by Misagon · · Score: 1

    Better laptops have touchpads with "palm rejection" that can tell a mistake apart from a real tap ... or rather, they are supposed to. Does not always work.

    I usually disable the touchpad (if at all possible...) and instead use mouse or trackpoint. (And also the reason why I request for a ThinkPad over other types of laptops when I start a new job)

    --
    "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
  144. Re:Newer Linux, tablets, Win 10 on VMWare, OSX by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

    You should try NetBSD on it. The NetBSD folks don't push the 'bleeding edge' and their current OS even runs on old 68K Macintoshes. All versions on all architectures build from the same source tree, both kernel and userland. There aren't dozens of 'distros' all with their own dogs breakfast of a userland. Cross-platform development by necessity keeps software robust and 'honest.'

  145. Cinepaint? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is that useful for your situation?

  146. Re:Linux kernel and Xorg not supporting ABIs by sims+2 · · Score: 1

    The lenovo laptop i'm typing this on has a bunch of oddball issues i've yet to figure out.
    If you have windows driver issues in the future I recommend drp.su it's a advertising riddled mess but it works great!

    This laptop in windows 7 has a couple minute delay after startup before the wifi will work also if I connect a usb wifi dongle it also has a few minute delay before it will work my best guess is tinywall is doing something it shouldn't.

    I dual boot XP to run some old games that won't run in anything newer the wifi driver works but for whatever reason greatly limits my connection speed everything works it's just slow.

    --
    Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
  147. iOS Mail App by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Go to the default Apple Mail App. Start typing an email. Try to add an attachment that isn't a picture or video (like a PDF). You will really start to appreciate Apples attention to detail.

  148. My LCD monitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My LCD monitor taking longer than a cold CRT to turn on or resume from standby.

  149. Faked non standard UI. by jellomizer · · Score: 1

    What normally gets me. Is when there is a UI control that for all purposes could be the standard one. But for some crazy reason, they rebuild it, so there is some action on the control that just isn't quite right. Say using a standard keyboard action will not work.
    This normally get me when a web site that has no reason to do do, will use Silverlight, flash or a Java Applet, vs just using the standard HTML controls.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  150. Re:Newer Linux, tablets, Win 10 on VMWare, OSX by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

    Each time a new build comes through the system boots into a black screen and that's the end of it.

    There is/was a bug in some video drivers that caused the screen to come up black, though the system was otherwise working fine. (I ran into that several years ago installing Ubuntu on a Toshiba laptop. They had just gone to Unity and the chip in the laptop wasn't quite initialized correctly.) There was a workaround (with an argument to the bootloader?) for startup, to get an initial live screen, then another to make it work automatically and persistently.

    Don't recall it. But I was able to find it on the net by googling with the laptop model and verbiage about the problem. (Since you're on tablets, if it's a similar problem it might be different in detail, so my experience wouldn't apply directly.)

    If you've got some older tablets gathering dust, you might want to try installing a later-patch-release version of a recent release of some linux distro - and if they don't come up, google for the symptoms. You might end up breathing new life into them.

    IMHO it's not that the developers are deliberately dropping support or killing older machines. It's just that, as they work on new stuff, sometimes they break older stuff and don't have enough thousands of different machines to discover it before release - so it goes out and gets fixed (if at all) only after somebody complains.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  151. ...and the reverse is almost sure not to work, too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    about a month ago I came across a braindead windows driver installer that worked like this:
    -> are we on 32-bit ?
      ( if so: is it win7, win8, or win10 ? )
    OK, the answer to the first question above was no - we are on 64-bit, so it MUST be win10
    Thus It am happily installed win10 drivers onto a win7 64-bit, causing crashes/bluescreens over and over

  152. The Adobe shortcut key problem by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    Adobe prides itself on making its photo editing and organizing software convenient for professionals by offering a massive variety of shortcut keys for every conceivable operation in applications like Photoshop and Lightroom. If Adobe had stuck to a set of shortcuts that could be annotated in the application menus in the usual manner there wouldn't be a problem, but Adobe quietly implements a vastly larger number of shortcuts that even experienced users tend to find out about years later upon reading someone's obscure photographic blog.

    What this leads to is accidentally pressing one of these hidden shortcut combinations while in an editing session and having your Lightroom screen suddenly change beyond all recognition, with no obvious way to change it back to your preferred normal state. Then you have to take a few days off scouring more obscure blogs to find out that Command-tab-tilde-wave a chicken around your head was what caused all of your fonts to display the same color as the background.

  153. Re:Reschedule dialog doesn't care if you're workin by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

    What I find worse is the "silent" pre-update work that happens. I travel for work, and we get either a laptop or a desktop. So I get a laptop. I'll be crunching some data, and suddenly shit slows to a crawl. Outlook fails to respond. My scripts fail. I restart Chrome to see if my 20 tabs are causing the issue, and it persists. 20 minutes later I get prompted to reboot. How we not do that, and just update on reboot? Please?

    --
    Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
  154. MAD MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD !!! by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

    [AC says] software. Just. About. Everything. Is. Made. For. Stupid. People. Republicans. Caused. This. Mess.

    Score -1 comment copied because it is funny and priceless! It is also MAD!

    I STARTED THIS WHOLE THREAD and I'll decide who gets voted down to oblivion! I appreciate that the editors sanitized my submission (and even linked to it, thank you that's a class act, not joking) instead of flipping past it. But regrettably extracting the calmest paragraph within it... has resulted in a rather sedate discussion of gripes. I wanted to weed out the moderates, incite the ingrates and get a rip-rollin' festival of (collectively hilarous) anger going.

    I wanted to bellows of rage! Profanity! Even wordless frustration!

    Here is the original submission:

    Ask Slashdot: Are you MAD AS HELL and not going to take it anymore??

    This year marks the 40th anniversary of Howard Beal's rant in the 1976 movie 'Network', and I am staring at a laptop in the throes of a Windows 10 Update 'gasm'. Progress has rolled past 100% several times and started over. They decided people don't mind that. Some cutesy-pie message "close to goodness" flashes by that was probably 'tiger-team tested' by overpaid professionals. I am on call, supposed to be monitoring a sewer plant. Instead after several dismissals to the screens without a LATER, NOT NOW or I'LL LET YOU KNOW, I pushed the reschedule dialogue to the rear and left it waiting. But my application did not count as activity and I left for a few moments, so Windows decided to answer its own question and restart (breaking a persistent Internet connection). In addition to the flaky Bluetooth and countless options missing or rearranged beyond belief to accommodate stupidphones, I've had it.
     
    Upon due consideration I now conclude I have been personally f*ck'd with. Driver availability, my apps and WINE permitting, this machine is getting Linux or pre-Windows-8.
     
    We're not supposed to act this way, get angry. I'm sure there are no angry people North of Oregon, or it could never have come to this. And replacing signed components with other signed components could not possibly take this long, there must be eons of just-in-time crapulation going on behind that blue screen. I'm done with it. That's mine, now let's hear about the things that are pushing you over the edge this very minute. Phones, software, power windows, anything. Are you MAD AS HELL? Let's get a Real Beal rant rolling.

    --
    <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
  155. Maybe it is your case. Here's my notes. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

    I looked at your post again and I think maybe it WAS the same problem. (Mine was a Toshiba - satellite, I think - bought surplus from work that went to black-screen-on-login after it updated to Natty 11.4 and was still broken with Oneiric 11.10)

    So here's my notes from the install.


    ==
    Sat May 19
    ==

    - Backed up critical part of home directory to white 4G thumb drive.
    - Used "upgrade" button in update manager to go to new revision.
    - It went to Natty. (11.04?)
    - Broken:
    - New workspace.
    - Freezes once taskbar shows.
    - Could get console login on pseudoterm ctl-alt-F1
    - Console login prompted for another upgrade.
    - Upgraded again (using command interface.) Went to onieric (11.10)
    - Still frozen.
    - Live CD can't see encrypted disk.

    ==
    Sun May 20.
    ==

    - Much debugging:
    - Initially thought it was mouse buttons. But:
    - Mouse worked fine on login screen.
    - Control-alt-delete, enter: Logs out. Screen flashes then
    back to login.
    - So it looks like a permission issue.
    - Much looking around on net found stuff on it:
    - Related to Nvidia driver:
    - (compiz?) isn't changing permission somewhere like previous
    workspace did so userspace stuff can't touch screen.
    - User got past it by:
    - Going to classic no-effects in login screen options.
    - Uninstalling nvidia "recommended" driver in "additional drivers".
    - Then fixed by installing (via Synaptic) and enabling
    (in Jockey/additional drivers) xserver-xorg-video-nouveau
    driver (which he reports as being faster than Nvidia's
    proprietary driver.)
    (Something about moving-aside /etc/X11/xorg.conf)
    ==
    Mon May 21 21:47:14 PDT 2012
    ==

    - Continued debugging:
    - Was able to get it working by selecting a 3D session.
    - Tried disabling Nvidia's driver.
    - This ended up with a system that didn't display X screen asking
    for full-disk password.
    - Got around that by rebooting, which got grub options to
    try recovery mode and using that.
    - Disabling driver apparently works by:
    - putting nvidia in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-local.conf (only entry)

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  156. Windows Explorer hides dialogs by scdeimos · · Score: 1

    Probably 80% of the time that Windows Explorer pops some kind of confirmation dialog (e.g.: move/delete files) the confirmation dialog pops up *behind* the Explorer window you're currently using. I'd never experienced this particular issue until Windows 10.

    1. Re:Windows Explorer hides dialogs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey that's the greatest OS software according to M$. Except the bugs from WIn2000 up to WinXP would be repeated on that latest and greatest OS.

  157. Amazon iPad app keyboard bug by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In the A,ago iPad app, If you go to your past orders and search for something, it works, but when you then click back in the search box to search again, the keyboard doesn't work. Happens on multiple iPads, and the only way to fix it is to force close the app and reopen.

  158. Xcode Swift Playground by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Damn thing keeps losing its connection and having to restart, and even then it's god-awful slow, taking a couple three seconds to update when I change the value of a frickin' INT.

    Nice job, Apple!

  159. "Bottomless" web pages by Jetstream · · Score: 1
    I started noticing this in the last year or so. Not sure if it's the result of scripting, new browser "functioning", or an HTML5 thing.

    Normally, the scroll bar gives you some idea how far you have left to get to the bottom of the page you're on, right? But now, I'll be just about to the bottom (alright, I'm done with this page!); then suddenly, the scrollbar indicator suddenly jumps about halfway up the page & more content loads at the bottom. And often when this happens, I completely lose my place on the page. WTF?!? How can I turn off this INFURIATING behavior?

    1. Re:"Bottomless" web pages by Jetstream · · Score: 1

      Answering my own comment.... Even though I wasn't sure what to search for, I tried Googling this issue anyway. For anyone else who might be annoyed by this, it's called "infinite scrolling" & appears to be have been around for much longer than I thought. Here's info on it: https://www.smashingmagazine.c...

      And a couple of attempted solutions (imperfect, it seems):

      https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/kill-infinite-scroll/

      https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/

  160. Few bugs actually by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1. Any bug that prevent me from having two months uptime (single logged in session). after about 2 months I upgrade the kernel and need a reboot for that.

    Those bugs are rare, but some years ago I had to ditch a driver that crashed the computer once a week. That was unacceptable.

    2. Anything that pops up at all. Doesn't really happen to me, but I have seen so many presentations disturbed because the presenter got mail or the computer discovered a wifi. Of course I don't run sw that pop up stuff - I don't want to have to stop stuff to hold a presentation in a professional manner. (I teach, so I present stuff every week.)

    3. Attitude bugs. People who seriously thinks it is normal for a computer to crash occationally. It is not. And pople who think computer is down is a magic excuse when nothing happens. I always tell them to FIX the damn thing, or hold back payment to their vendor/provider. There is rarely a valid excuse for downtime. Finally, those who give up because it is all outsorced and therefore hard to get things fixed in 5 mins. That is instead a very good reason for NOT outsorcing, especially not to someone out of walking distance.

  161. A couple of bugs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Intel floating point bug (FDIV bug),
    Sendmail bug in Solaris, Linux, and other Unix variants
    Norton AV bug which won't allow any hexeditor to do its job of editing a single byte in an executable
    Windows Vista up to Windows 10 file search functionality, where some files are being hidden intentionally.
    Windows 95 cinderella monthly bug that crashes the OS after 49.7 days, which would then require a complete re-install
    Special characters in DOS (including Win95, Win98) filesystem which makes folders and files impossible to access.
    Counter-Strike bug where you can bunny hop and reach impossible distance in split seconds.
    IFE chess program in A300 economy seats, where the chess engine allows its king to get captured and then continues playing without its king.
    $MFT (MS Master File Table) bug in modern Win7 and Win8.1 OS which causes BSOD, but Win10 and XP, Win2000 were not affected
    iPhone Unix date bug, which would brick your iPhone if the date is set to Jan 1, 1970 (expensive prank)

  162. Windows auto-updates annoyance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I primarily run Linux on my home machine, but keep Windows on it just in case. I rarely have to boot into Windows, especially with access to a VM, so it is so infrequent there are always heaps of updates pending. So when those rare occasions do arise and I have to boot into Windows, I have to endure an update to get back into Linux, turning something that should have been quick into something long and painful. Needless to say, this makes me even more adverse to ever boot into Windows bare metal.

  163. Fake clinical decision support software by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fake/Sham clinical decision support software for Radiology testing aka "ACRSelect" as implemented by http://nationaldecisionsupport.com/

    This presents a list of possible indications for exams to physicians ordering imaging studies - it includes deliberately included WRONG ANSWERS in the selection dialog so that the software appears to be doing something. WTF? Why would you lead the user down that path? Just include the right answers.

    It's a total scam, lobbied for by national decision support and paid for by your tax dollars.

  164. MP3 players that add a gap between tracks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Every single car that I have owned will insert a small gap between MP3 tracks. This annoys the heck out of me when playing live albums.

  165. Windoze by sproketboy · · Score: 1

    How about 30 year old focus stealing bugs still in Windows? M$ is just too incompetent to fix Windoze.

  166. Re:Newer Linux, tablets, Win 10 on VMWare, OSX by thereitis · · Score: 1

    Detaching OS X from Mac hardware might even drive more sales in other areas. Exactly - they've got you by the balls with the iTunes and app ecosystem (both of which they take a cut of) so I'm surprised they aren't spreading the OS around to whatever the fuck you want to run it on by now.

  167. Re:Linux kernel and Xorg not supporting ABIs by scdeimos · · Score: 1

    The last Windows 10 update removed built-in support for nVidia GT 420 cards, amongst other things. I had to download and install drivers from nVidia to get native resolution (and correct orientation) back. Also... when the fuck did graphics drivers grow to nearly 500 megabytes???

  168. Rhl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When a service fails over and over and over and i go to look and the damn vip pool has nothing but rhl servers. Windows services stay up, but frigging rhl with its daily updates and friggin txt based everything tips over if you walk past the datacenter too fast.

  169. Re:Linux kernel and Xorg not supporting ABIs by lucm · · Score: 1

    The guy has a working laptop, he won't be constantly interrupted by updates, he won't be flooded by malware and his bookmarks and browsing history won't be stored on a Microsoft server. In the big scheme of things, I'd say he did better than if he had "stuck it to them", and I suspect that he doesn't give a shit whether "they" learn from his post on Slashdot or not.

    --
    lucm, indeed.
  170. Re:Linux kernel and Xorg not supporting ABIs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The guy in my office who upgraded to MS Win10 despite being warned otherwise who has to get other people to print for him disagrees. The even more annoying thing is an update broke support for those older printers and plotters and they worked for a few months after the "upgrade". There are plenty of examples like that out there of hardware where the drivers no longer work in MS Win10.

    Indeed. In fact, any driver from Vista-onwards should in theory work in Windows 10 because of the fact that they share the same driver infrastructure. It's of course ideal to find a Windows 10-specific driver if possible due to being able to incorporate the newer backend features, but the worst case scenarios are generally quite accommodating.

    Of course, that all depends on you being able to do a little research like you would in any OS, rather than just bash an OS because it's Windows and that's what everyone else likes to do. Dumb fucks just can't bring themselves to learn anything about it but would rather dump it for Linux rather than actually be proactive. /rant

  171. MS Office Word rendering by Euler · · Score: 1

    Is it just me, or does MS Word in the most recent 10 years or so seem to have real problems with the typesetting on the screen? The spacing always looks wrong, like some letters packed too tight and others so loose that they look like two different words? But no other apps seem to have this issue?

  172. Re:Linux kernel and Xorg not supporting ABIs by dbIII · · Score: 1

    Dumb fucks just can't bring themselves to learn anything

    I did learn.
    I found out about a problem.
    It's you who does not wish to learn that it exists and have gone as far as insulting someone who dares to mention it.

    WTF is it with hypocritical fanboys?

  173. Byte Order Mark by jgoemat · · Score: 1

    Clone git repository, edit file in Visual Studio, commit, now file is treated as a binary file in git because VS saved it with UTF-8 byte-order-mark.

    1. Re:Byte Order Mark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've only ever had problems from the presence of a BOM in UTF files.

  174. um... Word? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cursing each time after 5 minutes of using it and trying to simply insert an image in my text in a useful way.

  175. Re: Laptop keyboards & touchpads. Browser int by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, this 100%. I don't need a giant, invisible touchpad with soft buttons (especially soft scroll!). A reasonable size with hard edges and a real actual pair of buttons. Is that so hard? Apparently so.

  176. Loading photos from Android to winX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not sure how widespread this is, but when you open your camera directory, and it loads thumbnails of last 2500 pics on there before you finally get the photo you want. The last one you took. I get this at work all the time, take a photo n want to cut it so I don't have a pile of work photos on my phone. I tried sending them to my work account email, but often forgot to delete, n you still had to copy them from your email to the server. I flushed a good 500mb of work photos after doing that for a while.

    I'm most likely going to want my most recent pic. So get them first!

  177. How Windows never remembers the right directory by johannesg · · Score: 1

    You want to save a file, or open a file or whatever, and you want it on your D:\ drive. Does Windows actually _ever_ remember that? No, because Microsoft has this grand vision of 'libraries' of 'documents' that get replicated over network acounts and whatever, so it will always... always... ALWAYS... open on c:\users\yournamehere\documents\. I store precisely zero documents (or files of any kind, really) there, but it is still the default for EVERY file dialog box I have the misfortune to encounter.

  178. Unobtainium mechanical keyboard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It bugs me to no end that, if you are looking for a mechanical keyboard, the Canadian multilingual layout is unavailable anywhere at any price in Canada.
    Kills me that we are considered such a minority market that nobody cares to cater to our needs.
    Horrifies me that people here don't seem to care that much for our national identity and standards body (CSA), and buy US layout by the truckload, only making the problem worse by removing any incentive for even Canadian companies (looking at you Matias) to do something about it.

  179. Intel floating-point bug by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It wouldn't have been so bad if they'd just fixed the bug, but instead they essentially said "Please don't do this specific calculation because it causes an error" in their documentation.

  180. The data loss bug in Minecraft by Theovon · · Score: 1

    https://bugs.mojang.com/browse/MC-22147

  181. Web pages which don't print by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Print off a tutorial only to find that 1 page is all that comes out.

  182. Everyt time I boot up.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I get Windows on my work machine! It is so irritating. It's almost as bad as getting OS X. Dear God make those two OSes go away.

  183. systemd by Shark · · Score: 1

    Come on. Somebody had to...

    --
    Mind the frickin' laser...
  184. Blinking cursors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What really annoys me is blinking cursors (or highlighted text) in boxes that don't have focus. Especially in password prompts. The blinking cursor means something, dammit! And why can't I paste into password boxes in rdp sessions where the screen has locked?!?!?

  185. Re:Annoying things that could have been fixed easi by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

    why the heck do you buy an iPhone?

    My iPhone is 3 years old and still works great. This is not the point anyway. the point is "Glitches that could have been fixed easily thanks to a bit more testing". And since Jobs was replaced, these annoying glitches are much more frequent. Apple trend is "new features" but it seems the new management lacks authority to prevent the simplest software regressions.

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  186. Good point by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    That is my second most disliked thing in a app, like you if I load up something and I get a login before I can do anything, I just delete the app unless it's something that I have other ties to that I really need to have access or is reasonable to have to have credentials to use... (like a bank app).

    But something simple that wants a Facebook connection? No.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  187. Software Installations That Ask For Help by tomwood2 · · Score: 1

    When a new (to me) software installer gets about halfway into it and then discovers an obscure issue, so it starts asking me what it should do. I'm like, "You're the smart one, YOU figure it out."

  188. The exact feature I need isn't implemented/broken by allquixotic · · Score: 1

    It seems to happen approximately daily when consuming open source projects. I'll get so far down the path of trying to build out my project, then hit a broken feature that's actually (to me) a killer feature of the program/framework/library/IDE/etc., but the developers couldn't be arsed to implement it properly / keep it up-to-date / fix severe bugs with it.

    Just in general. Because it happens so often that I can't list all the cases where this happens to me. .NET CoreRT would be awesome if it could compile native DLLs that can be called from C, but nope. Lead devs have no interest in implementing it.

    Go would be awesome if it could compile native DLLs that can be called from C, but nope. There are branches with working code out there, but nobody's managed to package it into a release of Go. Which kind of sucks, because compiling Go from source is horrible on non-Linux platforms.

    Eclipse Dali's SQL to Entities reverse engineering code has been broken since 2011; it doesn't pick up most relationships and constraints between tables. So I have to use NetBeans for my SQL to JPA entities generation. Bah.

    I guess I'm the "never lucky" developer -- anything I try to do, the platform I'm using is fatally flawed in exactly the area I'm exploring. But the marketing material makes it sound so great and perfect...

  189. What software glitch makes you angry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The other day something stuck on a Windows 10 system and I had to do a hard reboot. Windows decided that meant I wanted to update. I was on battery power. That is two huge pieces of idiocy lumped together. 1) If I am having so much trouble that I have to hold down the power button, I want to solve that issue and get my work done not update 2)Why would I want to waste 40 minutes of my battery power on an update. Updates should only happen when plugged in or if I allow them. How do programmers that inept get to work at MicroSoft?

  190. GROWL!. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WINDOZE of course.
    Posted by Harry Ort
    I am not a coward.

  191. Not Filtering Data Input by GSearle · · Score: 1

    Copy-and-paste a User ID into a login form: "System Unavailable!" The paste function added some extra whitespace.

    Enter a dollar figure into a form, with a comma for the thousands separator: "An unexpected error occurred!"

    Fill in a credit card of phone number with dashes or other punctuation: you guessed it!

    Capitalize (or not) a username: "Username or password is incorrect."

    Today's software applications and web applications really suffer from terrible input filtering, spitting out nonsense errors or complaining about invalid input, when it's really a matter of simply filtering out the unwanted data. Heard of RegEx?

  192. Windows Updates!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why is this so bad still. This has not improved any since they first were automated.
    Hell I think that the process has gone really really down hill with Win 10.

  193. MacOS Sierra multiple desktops by jim.shilliday2271 · · Score: 1

    When using multiple desktops in MacOS Sierra (10.12.5), pressing ctrl-left-arrow to return to the previous desktop toggles the next app in rotation instead of returning to the one you had open previously. So there's always an extra mouse-click just to resume what you were doing. Annoying.

  194. Windows 10 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or isn't that a glitch?

  195. GLITCHES TO HATE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have 7 but i know they're rewiring me with 8.9 and 10 behind my back....because my PC is always groaning under their load...

    But even 7 has this awful glitch:

    I HATE IT WHEN I WANT TO POST SOMETHING I'VE WRITTEN MYSELF OR SAVED IN MY DOCUMENTS AND THE TWO BOXES POP UP WITH DING DONG THAT I MUST CLICK--AND PROMISE TO NOT MISUSE, I GUESS, MY OWN DOCUMENTS.

    THAT SAME FUNCTION MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO CLICK ON ANY "SEND TO ME" EMAIL INCLUDED IN A TEXT I'M READING SIMPLY TO BEGIN AN INTERACTION WITH THE AUTHOR...THAT THEY'VE INVITED. THE PROGRAM WILL NOT PERMIT THAT via saying "A DIALOGUE BOX IS OPEN YOU MUST FIRST CLOSE".....THAT I CAN'T CLOSE!

    what a pain! And so far I can find no FIX.

    Dennis Morrisseau
    US Army Officer [Vietnam era] ANTI-WAR
    --BACK ON THE TRUMP TRAIN--
    Lieutenant Morrisseau's Rebellion
    FIRECONGRESS.org
    Second Vermont Republic
    POB 177, W. Pawlet, VT USA 05775
    dmorso1@netzero.net
    802 645 9727

  196. Gmail app on iPhone inserts spurious space by dgallard · · Score: 1

    When I compose or reply in iPhone GMail, there app inserts a space character to the left of the first character I enter. I am forced to manually go back and remove that space in order to avoid an ugly single character indent of my first paragraph.

  197. Annoying Software Error by IsoQuantic · · Score: 1

    After Windows Creator update lost connection to Onedrive. Accessing onedrive.live.com results in and unsolvable issue:

    This site can’t provide a secure connection

    login.live.com sent an invalid response.
    ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR

    Not even disabling the firewall solves the problem

    --
    -- I fear explanations explanatory of things explained.
  198. Keyboards. Still. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is the CTRL key to the left of the FN key or vice versa? ...and then Macs make me change from ctrl-c to clover-c. This completely trashes my muscle memory. Oh, and touching caps lock makes ctrl-c stop working, too, with no touch, auditory, or visual feedback on the caps-lock state.

  199. Window$ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...What? Expecting me to be more specific?

  200. Re:Browser memory leaks (especially, Chrome on OS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This this this. Also, Firefox is the only piece of software I know that still regularly (more than once a week) hangs or crashes. I still use it because something in me doesn't like the Google phantom, but boy do I get pissed when Firefox freezes up when I'm in the middle of something.

  201. TLS Email protocol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We were recently mandated (CJIS of FBI) to require TLS for our email. Although TLS has been around and every email server I'm familiar with accepts it in their default configuration many filters and firewalls are not configured to allow it. I have contacted many postmaster as found in their DNS records and found many of the postmaster never respond or the email even bounces. So my users blame me, the email admin, for something I have no control over. Such is life.

  202. HP and MS for the fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have an HP Touchsmart.

    It received a Windows 10 update which (apparently) depended on a BIOS update to be installed first.

    I do not know what the update was supposed to do but the PC is now a paperweight with no BIOS.

    Not an isolated case:
    Here

    Here

    Here

  203. X11 - 'focus follows mouse' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fucking typing going into the wrong window because I bumped the mouse...

    Come on X11heads, is it THAT hard to click on a window to raise it before typing? Your hand is already on the mouse. Jeezus fuck.