Innocuous things that make you irrationally angry (a list thread)

strangulation, I mean

I don't get this lack of playlist understanding. It's a list of songs that is derived from those in your collection. You can choose to play it in sequential or random order.

Dare I ask what they're thinking it may be, if anything?

throw a web page together with lots of screenshots. bookmark it or put it on the desktop.

mh, in my mother in law's case it boils down to - if you dont fully understand what ITunes is, or what your ipod shuffle really is, and resist learning how it works in a basic way, playlist understanding is the least of your troubles

I spent about half an hour on the phone with my mum trying to explain how to burn a single mp3 onto a CD, using iTunes. Turned out she'd downloaded a 'playlist' file instead of the mp3.

I know what a playlist is and how it works, but DJP's articulated it in a way that I never have been able to, making it all really make sense to me. It just contains "pointers"!

I'm sure a lot of people think the playlist is a compilation of the tracks themselves.

been there...my dad is a complete idiot in regards to pc issues. my mother who is blind figures out pc related issues with very little help.

this technology for my mother in law is so alien, it's beyond tech support. she wrestles with text messages on her phone, or playing mahjong on an ipad...she mentally puts playlists in the too hard basket before she's started.

meanwhile her husband, 77, laughs behind her back...he's had one for years & loves it, no problem with playlists whatsoever

wanted to just say "a playlist contains pointers to songs you've chosen from your library

Did not know this! I mean the nature of them, that the song titles in the list are "shortcuts" and not the actual tracks, I guess.

I don't get this lack of playlist understanding. It's a list of songs that is derived from those in your collection. You can choose to play it in sequential or random order.

Dare I ask what they're thinking it may be, if anything?

The situation that prompted the conversation was that my mom bought an mp3 off of Amazon and, instead of clicking "Yes" on the prompt to use the Amazon downloader, clicked "No". A streaming link to the song on the Amazon server came up for her in Windows Media Player (she does not use iTunes). She played the song a couple of times and then "saved it in Windows Media Player". She closed the application, came back to it the next day, and the song was gone.

As it turned out, what she did was create a new playlist, gave it the title of the song, added nothing to it, then closed Windows Media Player, losing the link to the stream. We had to call Amazon support to get them to re-enable the download link for the song. While investigating this, I had to answer the questions "Where did my song go?" and "I created a playlist? What's that? Why would I want that?"

It was all very aggravating.

xp: lol actually the light bulbs going off in this thread are making that whole process retroactively less aggravating, also maybe I should have just said "pointers" and called it a day.

so I am now IA that I made something more difficult for myself

I'm sure a lot of people think the playlist is a compilation of the tracks themselves.

I've always believed it to be this way, but after giving it two seconds worth of thought, you're right, it's not.

Now I'm eyeing all these desktop folders with suspicion...

Eh, on a computer, the whole filesystem thing is ingrained in your mind now. You're actually better off thinking like moms if stuff is in iTunes, because it does its own data management if you do it the right way.

Just think that iTunes either has a song or it doesn't, and if it has it, it can make playlists and stuff.

It irritates me that in the 3 years that we've had our new phone system, my bosses have not been able to learn how to make a conference call. I showed them dozens of times and made cheat sheets, but they don't get the simple, logical process.

1. Call party #1 and tell them to hold
2. Press hold. The line on hold will blink red.
3. Call party #2.
4. When party #2 answers, press "CONF" button, then
5. Press the blinking button from step 2.
6. Talk to the parties.
7. Hang up.

Three years and they still press "Transfer" instead of "CONF" or forget how to put a call on hold or ??? :(

All this parental playlist talk reminds me of a friend's recent tweet: "My parents didn't so much give me the gift of life as give themselves the gift of lifetime tech support."

haha nice

• Fuckin' sharp stratchy zipper pulls on goddamn throw pillows what the FUCK

• goddamn throw pillows

my mom bought an mp3 off of Amazon and, instead of clicking "Yes" on the prompt to use the Amazon downloader, clicked "No". A streaming link to the song on the Amazon server came up for her in Windows Media Player (she does not use iTunes). She played the song a couple of times and then "saved it in Windows Media Player". She closed the application, came back to it the next day, and the song was gone.

In fairness to yr momz this is absurdly stupid and shouldn't be allowed to happen, I can see plenty of people making a smilar mistake.

otm, can i not just download songs with the browser as has been done since time immemorial, instead of having to install 100,000 different proprietorial downloading systems.

those proprietorial downloading systems are the things doing the authentication, the things saying you've paid for this.

(actually, i'm not sure boomkat uses one, you click on a flash link in your purchases screen and it downloads as an mp3 or a zip containing mp3s. AND it'll let you re-download for a few months, regardless of which computer you use (i think))

See this is why I use emusic (tho even it wont allow re-downloads anymore grr)

those proprietorial downloading systems are the things doing the authentication, the things saying you've paid for this.

why should i need to download and install something for this when there are perfectly good authentication mechanisms on their website already?

I may have mentioned this one before: front-door callers, particularly strangers or tradesmen, who use the letterbox as a door knocker.

people who get all righteous about high fructose corn syrup but will eat crazy-salty potato chips & agave-sweetened cereal (or whatever) by the handful-tonne

> why should i need to download and install something for this when there are perfectly good authentication mechanisms on their website already?

these'll be digitally signed using a token in the download file, not just your 8 digit password - 940 lines of base64 encoded file if this one i'm looking at is typical, 50k of binary.

fuck the man

In fairness to yr momz this is absurdly stupid and shouldn't be allowed to happen, I can see plenty of people making a smilar mistake.

oh no doubt, my anger was at the situation and the events that led to it, not my mom (who is awesome)

Rain, wind, and fucking useless umrellas.

obligatory lol about "buying music".

That said…
- timers over 300 seconds
- Impeach Obama banner ads
- Two files that have to be joined to be played correctly.
- Bunch of weird metric euro talk that I don't understand.

Dust getting stuck to the bottom of my bare feet from dirty floors. Rage!

Oh and little chunks of food stuck in the kitchen sink trap - Rarrrr!

Dust stuck to your feet that then makes its way into your bed!

Also, kitty litter stuck to kitty toes that makes its way into the bed >:(

there is nothing irrational about getting angry over finding kitty litter in your bed

You don't understand, KittyLitter is the name of her dog.

Oh and little chunks of food stuck in the kitchen sink trap - Rarrrr!

you know what is awesome about this, though? taking it out. feels GOOD.

What? With your hands? All the little bits of grody slimy vegetable matter? <shudders>

that's why you use a straw

your screen name makes me think of a push-broom, dp

hahahahaha

You don't understand, KittyLitter is the name of her dog.

I used to get IA at being mistaken for a girl based on my name. Still don't like when people spell it "Jessie."

Yes with your hands. It's part of growing up.

It's okay, Jesse. I won't cut fresh flowers for you.

I hate having to tell clerks at kiosks/coffeeshops/wherever my name. Not for any privacy or respect reasons. It's just that they always misspell Tre as Tray or Trey or Ray or Tony or Tay or Terry or Trip. And even if they get it right, I'll still miss them calling it out when my order is ready since the AYE sound is probably the most common sound in the English language.

I've experimented with giving them a different name, but (A) Suddenly being asked your name and fumbling for an answer is one of the oldest tricks in the book for cops and border patrol. It's the most difficult question to lie about, if you're unprepared.

and (B), no one's going to believe that my name is Javier anyway.

I'm sorry, but what is your real name? If I may ask.

Dray?

Gary

Just say Pleasant Plains

My name is Tre.

Also, kitty litter stuck to kitty toes that makes its way into the bed >:(

This. And it really doesn't matter what kind you try, the cat will eventually find a way to track if all over the bed.