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?

Comments

No unicode on Slashdot.

[phantomfive]

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

Not much

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:Not much

[TheRealHocusLocus]

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.

Windows focus

[Kokuyo]

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.

Re:Linux kernel and Xorg not supporting ABIs

[Zontar The Mindless]

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.

Deliberately breaking software...

[msauve]

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.

Re:That computers do what I say....

[TheRealHocusLocus]

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.

Re:When it lies, or doesn't say what it wants

[dougTheRug]

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."

Re:Adobe

[TheRealHocusLocus]

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.