Really trivial stuff that bugs you

[Trebuchet]

They even include that statement for the “one-shot lasts forever” pneumonia vaccine.

For which I had a once-in-a-lifetime booster a couple of weeks ago!

[Gillianren]

And things that people think aren't "drugs", like herbal preparations they bought from a health food shop. A lot of these have pharmacologically active ingredients, which are provided in completely unregulated quantities.

There are certain herbal supplements that can reduce the efficacy of hormonal birth control, which most women from what I can tell don't know. Granted, I personally have never been on oral hormonal birth control, but it was something I'd mention every time people would suggest those herbal supplements to me. The number of people whose response was, "Oh, crap" was . . . illuminating.

It turns out, too, that I may indeed have to squeeze a new keyboard into next month's budget, because not all its problems seem to have come from the driver issues. It isn't just not working anymore, but letters are starting to stick. I'll clean it first, of course, but it's also not a new keyboard.

[DonM435]

I had obsessively saved all my old computer keyboards, in a closet or the garage, after replacing them. This was just in case the new one broke down. As of 2016, I still had my original, from a long-gone (Windows 3.1) computer, vintage maybe 1992. When we moved, I got rid of almost all of them. (The oldest ones had obsolete connectors anyway.)

Now, I'm accumulating a new set of relics.

[Trebuchet]

I have a legacy keyboard/mouse to USB adapter, just in case!

[DonM435]

Heck, I used to keep an early-design mouse that connected to the serial port plugged into the back of the computer. In the Windows 95/98 era, when you had to do a tricky reboot, the USB connections weren't available to you. Also, every now and again the USB mouse and keyboard would fail, but my secret backup rodent allowed me some control.

(I attribute my cheapness and hoarding to long-ago student poverty, as a Graduate Assistant at a big university, getting paid $300 a month (which was wretched even by 1970s standards). Having made your biennial purchase of new shoes at Pick-and-Pay, you'd store the old, worn-out pair in anticipation of the day when the newer pair had gotten even worse well short of a pay day. And, you'd be surprised how often that got messed up. "Oh, sorry, in our multimillion dollar payroll system, your $300 got lost -- head football coach probably used it to leave a tip somewhere. But don't worry, hang in there, and next month you'll get $600, we promise! See you then." Well, it happened to me twice. I'd better quit this digression before sound like some crazy radical.)

[Trebuchet]

I read the Luan comic strip daily on the web, have been for years. Their little story arc for the past week or so has been Gunther's roommate's cat getting on the roof, the roommate climbing up to rescue him, and both being stuck up there. That's been bugging me a lot, especially when he was climbing a downspout. A downspout coming loose when I steadied myself on it was what caused me to fall off the roof!

[Delvo]

I sometimes wish I had an old keyboard from before they invented the middle section that does nothing but make take up more space because every single button in that middle section is a duplicate of another button somewhere else. But then I remember that such a keyboard would probably have that loud clacky mechanism, and would probably be beige/tan, not white.

[grant hutchison]

I've never had a keyboard with a middle section, or a white keyboard. I don't think I want either of those.

Grant Hutchison

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

Are we talking about something like what is in the photo?

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/r...ergo-keyboard/

My computers aren't that old, but none of my keyboards have a middle section. I was absolutely mystified when coming across these posts.

[Jens]

I sometimes wish I had an old keyboard from before they invented the middle section that does nothing but make take up more space because every single button in that middle section is a duplicate of another button somewhere else. But then I remember that such a keyboard would probably have that loud clacky mechanism, and would probably be beige/tan, not white.

With others, I think, I have to admit I'm puzzled. What do you mean by the "middle section"? You mean the part with the letters?

[Trebuchet]

With others, I think, I have to admit I'm puzzled. What do you mean by the "middle section"? You mean the part with the letters?

Probably arrow keys and such between the main part and numeric keypad.

[Delvo]

.....

[Van Rijn]

Ah. I neither consider that the middle of the keyboard (I would say it is to the right of the main keyboard) nor do I consider those redundant, so I can understand why others would be confused. I remember your previous comments about liking the old IBM PC keyboard. I never cared for it when I ran into it, obviously a difference in preference.

[Solfe]

.....

That reminds me of the time my wife tried to type Alt codes into Facebook and it didn't work. I watched her switch to her work Mac before asking me for my laptop. Totally perplexed, she put the 3 computers side by side and looked at them, like the solution was written on the cases. Finally, she uttered a few choice words followed by "LINUX!"

My wife is just enough of a nerd to know Linux in under the hood of a Mac and while it's different from Mint or Ubuntu, it still doesn't let you input ALT codes like a Window machine.

Back to annoying. I have a laptop with a key combo that turns the letters into a number pad. Danged if I know what key combo that it, but I managed to hit it by accident about once a year.

[Van Rijn]

And that reminds of my own trivial keyboard issue. I recently bought a new laptop with enough horsepower for gaming, but also to be used for conventional purposes. The “alt” keys are in really awkward positions for key combinations. I can’t really touch type with them. They are also silver keys on a silver case with not very bright LEDs shining for the key legends. I would have preferred more conventional and readable keys. Not a big deal for the standard keys in standard locations, but I have had to do some close keyboard inspection to find the keys they fitted in around the edge. This machine was recommended at multiple sites, but I didn’t see any mention of these poor design choices. I’m mostly used to the layout now, so it isn’t as annoying, but still.

[Gillianren]

Does logging in to my personal computer every time I turn it on make me safer in some way?

[Trebuchet]

I think I use those "middle keys" more than any others! Especially now that there's something wrong with the old laptop causing the scroll wheel not to work. Yes, those functions exist on the numeric keypad, but are way harder to find and require turning num lock off.

[grant hutchison]

Does logging in to my personal computer every time I turn it on make me safer in some way?

Only if you store confidential information on your PC, and someone breaks into your house and steals your PC.
PCs nowadays are designed to be used by more than one person, with each login protecting that person's information for other users. So that's why you find yourself needing to set up an account and login, even if you're the only person who uses the machine, or your entire household uses the same login.
If you're not worried about the consequences of someone stealing your PC and accessing your stuff, there are ways to avoid the login screen, even under Windows 10.

Grant Hutchison

[Trebuchet]

When we got our latest computer a couple of years ago, Win10 asked for a login and password so I put one in. Except the keyboard layout was weird and I mistyped it and locked us out. I had to take it back to the store and get it reset. The guy quite helpfully told me if I just hit "enter" when it asked for the password, we could do without one, so I did.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

Finally, she uttered a few choice words followed by "LINUX!"

If it was an Apple running macOS or OS X, then I am sure she concluded with "UNIX!", not "LINUX!"

[DonM435]

When we got our latest computer a couple of years ago, Win10 asked for a login and password so I put one in. Except the keyboard layout was weird and I mistyped it and locked us out. I had to take it back to the store and get it reset. The guy quite helpfully told me if I just hit "enter" when it asked for the password, we could do without one, so I did.

Working in a reasonably secure office in the pre-Internet days, we used to get annoyed at having to log in to a PC just to get down to work, so "carriage return" (that's what we used to call it) was a popular choice for a password.

Someone suggested using "invalid" as a password. If you mess it up, the operating system will tell you "Your password is invalid." Thanks!

[Trebuchet]

Here's a challenge for you: Go to Papa Murphy's pizza nutrition site and tell me how many calories I had in dinner. I had 3/12 of a large pepperoni pizza, regular crust, regular cheese. Note that they assume 8 slices per pizza so I had the equivalent of two. Try it more than once, because I don't seem to be able to get the same number twice.
Then click on "nutritional menu", for yet another number.

ETA: "Large Slice" means 1/8 of a large pizza. As far as I can tell.

[Gillianren]

If you're not worried about the consequences of someone stealing your PC and accessing your stuff, there are ways to avoid the login screen, even under Windows 10.

One of today's planned activities is figuring that out.

Yesterday was the first, which is Errands Day. Unfortunately, I forgot that it was also supposed to be Therapy Day. I have to call today and reschedule.

[Swift]

Someone suggested using "invalid" as a password. If you mess it up, the operating system will tell you "Your password is invalid." Thanks!

I'll have to do that for some site I don't care about too much.

I guess, for the sites that require passwords with a capital letter, small letter, number, and symbol, you might use "Pa$$wor6"

[grant hutchison]

'Tis the season to be cautious. I see the "we tried to deliver your parcel" phishing emails have fired up again in these parts. The one I got today was a pretty obvious scam, with a dodgy sender address ("... @com.a"), no use of my name or tracking data, and a strange "to pay" amount ("2,38 £"). The first one of these I got, last year at this time, I followed the link out of interest, and it took me to a clone of the real delivery service web page, except all the links to other pages at the head of the page were dead, and (of course) I needed to give my bank account details before they would "redeliver".
On the phishing phone call front, I got one yesterday I've never encountered before, which made a pleasant change from the automated messages saying that an internet provider with whom I do not have a contract is threatening to cut off my internet and report me to the police for accessing pornography, or that Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs have issued a warrant for my arrest for non-payment of taxes. This one seemed almost cosy by comparison--a recorded voice told me it was speaking on behalf of "my local oven cleaning company". Press 1 to speak to a representative.

Grant Hutchison

[Swift]

' This one seemed almost cosy by comparison--a recorded voice told me it was speaking on behalf of "my local oven cleaning company". Press 1 to speak to a representative.

I assume they threated to turn you over to the kitchen police if you didn't give them your banking information. Wasn't there a Monty Python sketch with Inspector Grime of Scotland Yard's Flying Dirty Kitchen Squad?

[Trebuchet]

'Tis the season to be cautious. I see the "we tried to deliver your parcel" phishing emails have fired up again in these parts. The one I got today was a pretty obvious scam, with a dodgy sender address ("... @com.a"), no use of my name or tracking data, and a strange "to pay" amount ("2,38 £"). The first one of these I got, last year at this time, I followed the link out of interest, and it took me to a clone of the real delivery service web page, except all the links to other pages at the head of the page were dead, and (of course) I needed to give my bank account details before they would "redeliver".
On the phishing phone call front, I got one yesterday I've never encountered before, which made a pleasant change from the automated messages saying that an internet provider with whom I do not have a contract is threatening to cut off my internet and report me to the police for accessing pornography, or that Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs have issued a warrant for my arrest for non-payment of taxes. This one seemed almost cosy by comparison--a recorded voice told me it was speaking on behalf of "my local oven cleaning company". Press 1 to speak to a representative.

Grant Hutchison

My e-mail provider must be doing pretty well; I don't recall getting any of the delivery scam ones lately. The landline phone number, on the other hand, gets two or three a day.

[Gillianren]

I've been getting a lot of Social Security ones, which make me antsy as a person on disability but are not actually convincing--Social Security calls all have the same feel, and this isn't it.

[Noclevername]

I get the usual Social Security and Credit Card ones. Recently I got an IRS scam... using the same computer generated voice as the "Social Security" calls.

[Gillianren]

Last month, we ordered a Yule present for Irene from a faire vendor friend of mine. Irene wanted a pink wand; the woman whose booth is usually next to ours, who's practically part of our group for three weekends, makes and sells wands. Unfortunately, even after I gave her our mailing address, she used the address PayPal had on file for Graham. Which is a problem--because we'd forgotten that PayPal had an address on file for him, and it's our previous address. We moved long enough ago so that our mail is no longer forwarded.

Now, she's sending us a replacement free of charge, and she says that, if the old one arrives, we should go ahead and keep it (and I'll give her a pin from our booth next summer, assuming there's faire next summer), but it's still frustrating. For several reasons.

In "amuses," though, Irene knows she's getting a pink wand for Yule. We don't do Santa or a Santa equivalent. And I mentioned in front of her that I was messaging the woman who makes wands. I then told her that I was messaging one of Simon's godparents, to which she said, "Does Aunt Rowan make kitty shirts?" As the other thing she'd told me she wanted was a pink kitty shirt.