Technological/practical "backward steps" we all just accept now

Remove sock, roll up sock, toss over the cubicle door

no thats when you discover theres no loo roll iirc

I stayed at an airbnb that apparently had a motion light in the bathroom! I had to wave my arm to let it know I was still on the toilet.

Ugh i hate those.

Thirty seconds ago:

-wave hand in front of faucet sensor
-water comes out of faucet
-wave hand in front of soap sensor
-soap comes out of dispenser
-lather
-wave hand in front of faucet sensor
-soap squirts into sink
-wave hand in front of faucet sensor
-more soap squirts into sink
-wave hand more fervently in front of faucet sensor
-soap puddle achieves volume sufficient to begin slowly running towards drain
-wave hand dejectedly in front of faucet sensor until the futility of doing so finally sinks in
-look into mirror
-sigh heavily
-water comes out of faucet without sensor being directly engaged

this is why you should never wash your hands

This is what I get for trying something new.

When i shake someone's hand and it's soapy, i always know who couldn't get the sensor to work

the case for never washing your hands is only getting stronger

Imo BYOS

https://www.tboake.com/images/film_images/playtime2/PLAYTIME_-9.jpg

One thing it took me a long time to realize is that most sensor-activated faucets work better if you simply hold your hands still in front of the sensor instead of waving them.

How about kicking them hard, does that help

we'll just all have an easier time if we learn to serve the machines, guys

Best thing to do is stay perfectly still. If you startle the sensor it may summon a security bear

we're through the restroom glass people

I stayed at an airbnb that apparently had a motion light in the bathroom! I had to wave my arm to let it know I was still on the toilet.

― mh, Wednesday, November 13, 2019 5:01 AM (yesterday)

i think it was akm a while back who posted about it, but some of these things are now written into building codes to be "energy efficient" -- maybe this is some Berkeley, CA specific thing, because I don't think this is a requirement in Oakland (the next city over, same county)

Smacking the faucets doesn't work, but smacking the sensor paper towel dispensers absolutely does work, without fail!

abuse yr appliances before they can abuse you

i know this might be overgeneralizing a bit, but in response to OP, can i submit the entirety of the years 2000-present? basically this whole century so far.

falling down the stairs is not a "backward" step, exactly, but it is still bad

this fucking headphone jack thing i think about very often, that was a dumb move apple

I just watched a man eat a sandwich on YouTube and I'm having complex thoughts

I seen a man die

the continuing erosion of anonymous/pseudonymous space online. This is bad and people will realise how bad when it’s eventually gone.

― gyac, Wednesday, 14 August 2019 06:26 (three months ago)

i think it was akm a while back who posted about it, but some of these things are now written into building codes to be "energy efficient"

yah this is starting to bubble up here http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2019/11/complaints-at-broadway-building-part-of-pushback-over-adding-smart-lock-and-home-automation-tech-to-apartments/

Regarding the various sensors and systemps in public bathrooms' sinks nowadays, it's become so complex to find out which system you're facing (hand sensors located in various places, foot button, leg bar, actual thing to touch/turn/push on the faucet, etc).
Often it takes me a little while to understand what to do (and often I have to help people besides me who can't find out) !

My auxiliary toilet across the street at the Convention Center flushes each time I make a motion. I can see why these things are in there for possible health reasons, but don't even try to bring the environment into it.

We've got two paper towel rollers in our restroom that are sensor-controlled. So now, not only are we killing trees, but we're using lithium or whatever to distribute them. Best part is when the battery goes in and none of us can dry our hands properly.

The day I see this done on a toilet paper dispenser, I'm just going to ... shit.

Where's the thread asking us to guess an artist's discography using visually similar images of the album covers on Google Image Search?

― Kevin John Bozelka, Thursday, November 14, 2019 11:55 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

That was a fun thread! No idea what it was called.

― ☮ (peace, man), Friday, November 15, 2019 6:21 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Recognize Discographies from Approximate Colour Schemes! (an ILM cover game)

― ☮ (peace, man), Friday, November 15, 2019 7:29 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I just went and tried to use GIS visually similar images to see if this could be replicated, but unfortunately they just gave me back 100 pictures of the same album cover.

― ☮ (peace, man), Friday, November 15, 2019 7:42 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

technological/practical "backward steps" strike again

― weird ilx but sb (Doctor Casino)

from a different thread. otm. Google Image Search legitimately became much worse this decade. i once used it every single day, usually several times. i loved it. then they gradually ruined it, one update at a time.

It's fairly fascinating how shitty Google has become... I mean, I know they have commitments to their shareholders, but all of their once cutting-edge services are now shadows of their former selves.

their ability to collect data on everything we do seems to be in good shape, though

"user 23402342304823048234_AKA_Z_S appears to be using GIS less and whining about it on a daily basis on an internet forum. assign bill maher ads to Z_S and monitor situation"

lollin'

I wholeheartedly agree about the shitness of Google.
The decline of GIS was hastened by Pinterest

Google image search is a weird tool as it now seems to be precision engineered to prevent you doing what you want to do with it.

Bing is a bit better.

Amazon's method of content delivery to the Library and registering devices is all sorts of ass-backwards

I live abroad, and in the pre-Skype days calling my folks used to be a simple matter of typing in a phonecard number plus their landline (I'm shocked I used to have about 26 digits memorized, btw). The calls were usually nice and clear, no fiddling about, talking to one family member at a time. But today requires first texting 'Skype?' then waiting for them to log on, then a protracted period of 'turn on your video/hit the unmute button/I can't see your face/I didn't get that/etc.', and then the call itself is choppy as shit because either their or my internet connection is poor. And they both try to cram their faces in the screen but I always only get my mother's right eye and my father's left eye -- never the full faces at once. (My in-laws are even worse -- my wife is lucky if she gets the tops of their heads and the portrait of Jesus Christ on the wall behind them.)

I mean it's great when it all works, and it's free, and it means my family can see my little kids playing, but the experience is so incredibly worse than talking on a landline used to be.

isn't this what facebook's Portal is meant to solve? 1000 muppets cannot be wrong.

light bulbs that don't turn on instantly.

not exactly backwards but i remember back in the 90s looking forward to a future when computers have more power and i won't have to wait so long for software to boot up and do things but this is something that has never really changed.

hm

maybe you're not using the right computers? The difference between booting up off an SSD and how it used to be is huge.

The days of waiting for Deskmate to load on my Tandy

I actually love my current car's level of phone integration (music, podcasts, navigation, messages, calls) but it tends to take a block or so to boot up.

I obsessively delete your phones from the memory of rental cars and dealership loaners, fyi.

Thank you for your service.

in London 3G is more reliable than 4G on my network.

I can't imagine needing a phone that does faster than 3g. Better on battery, too.

london mobile infrastructure - capacity and coverage - is appalling. regularly see foreigners incredulous at the patchiness of it.

i frequently drop down to 3 or 2g if im only browsing text based stuff (hello) in the city centre

for home use, bluetooth speakers are inferior to traditional speakers. but their 2 upsides--portability & ease of use with streaming services--keep me from reverting back to wired speakers.