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Old 03-14-2012, 11:07 AM   #261
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Plus being at least somewhat less likely to walk into the pathway of a truck or bus, or suddenly find oneself in the middle of an attack. Worst of all I think are people walking along texting, as they cross streets, crash into other pedestrians, etc.

I love my Ipod and podcasts- but only at home. I won't even sit on a park bench with it.

Ha
At my gym, listening to podcasts or music on an iPod while working out is more common than not. People just get bored while doing their routines. It doesn't bother me any more than it would bother me if someone was watching the TVs in front of the treadmills (in other words, not at all).

Still, it seems hilarious to me to see people walking down the street or sitting in a doctor's office with a telephone glued to one ear. It almost seems as though they are terrorized by the thought of being alone.
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Old 03-14-2012, 11:41 AM   #262
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R
At my gym, listening to podcasts or music on an iPod while working out is more common than not. People just get bored while doing their routines. It doesn't bother me any more than it would bother me if someone was watching the TVs in front of the treadmills (in other words, not at all).
I'm thinking of getting an iPod for just that purpose. And perhaps feeding it into the car audio system.

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Still, it seems hilarious to me to see people walking down the street or sitting in a doctor's office with a telephone glued to one ear. It almost seems as though they are terrorized by the thought of being alone.
It used to be you could spot the people with problems on the street because they were the ones talking to themselves. Now, with all the hands free devices, you can't tell.

Last night I was out walking. Twice, people walking their dogs while talking or texting on their cell phones were unable to shorten the leash as they approached to keep the dog from jumping on me. If they can't even walk the dog without a problem, imagine driving.
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Old 03-18-2012, 08:28 PM   #263
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Even if the restaurant only has 2 beers on tap, the waitress never knows how much they cost. And beer prices are never on the menu.
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Old 03-18-2012, 10:47 PM   #264
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Why, with New England's 50 degree winter has nobody on the news mentioned the words "Global Warming"? I'd expect everyone saying "see! told you so".

Or is GW old news now? Personally, I've saved over 40% on my heat bill, so I"m thrilled!
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Old 03-19-2012, 07:57 AM   #265
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Why, with New England's 50 degree winter has nobody on the news mentioned the words "Global Warming"? I'd expect everyone saying "see! told you so".

Or is GW old news now? Personally, I've saved over 40% on my heat bill, so I"m thrilled!
Because people are becoming more knowledgeable and now understand the difference between "weather" and "climate"? Or it might be that they know the earth has warmed about 1.4 degrees F in the last 130 years, a climb (about .7 degree over the course of a lifetime) that is so gradual that no one is going to notice it in the subjective perception of the outdoor temperature?
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Old 04-05-2012, 08:25 PM   #266
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Something I don't get. Web sites that will ask for a credit card number or SSN, but can't handle it if you put in spaces or dashes.

It's trivial for a program to strip out the dashes or spaces. People can enter it more easily and accurately if it's broken up.

Why do they require numbers only?
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Old 04-05-2012, 08:42 PM   #267
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Something I don't get. Web sites that will ask for a credit card number or SSN, but can't handle it if you put in spaces or dashes.

It's trivial for a program to strip out the dashes or spaces. People can enter it more easily and accurately if it's broken up.

Why do they require numbers only?
Agreed - drives me nuts. And this happens with phone numbers and zip codes also.

Sometimes, you can fill out an entire page of info, then hit submit, and it kicks it out for the phone number format. Most times, it doesn't even tell you what the "correct" format is (do they want hyphens, parenths around the area code, or ?), until you get the error message. It always strikes me that to simply strip out any non-numeric (trivial as you say), so the format would make absolutely no difference, would be so much easier than writing the error message.

Or a zip code entry that doesn't specify 5 or 9 digit format (my autofill will usually give the full 9). If you give it 9 for a 5 digit field, just take the first 5 numbers.

I don't get it, is it really stupid programmers? And no one reviews this stuff?

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Old 04-06-2012, 12:06 AM   #268
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Programmers can be a bit rigid, no?

Ha
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Old 04-06-2012, 02:28 PM   #269
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Programmers can be a bit rigid, no?

Ha
It's usually more an attitude of "it's good enough". From my personal experience.
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Old 04-06-2012, 06:16 PM   #270
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Posters of music legends with the person's name written as a big caption at the bottom. Talk about stating the obvious. When you see a big, iconic image of Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Charlie Parker etc, printing their name at the bottom is superfluous and makes it look a little silly IMO.
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Old 04-06-2012, 06:52 PM   #271
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Posters of music legends with the person's name written as a big caption at the bottom. Talk about stating the obvious. When you see a big, iconic image of Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Charlie Parker etc, printing their name at the bottom is superfluous and makes it look a little silly IMO.
Obviously you have not yet attained the esteemed age at which you would say, "Oh look at that great image of..... um..... er.... you know, that great bluesy rock singer from Port Arthur that was so incredible at the Monterey Pop festival and that we saw live in SF back in the 60's and that sang with the Holding Company... Cheap Thrills, Pearl, feather boas, Southern Comfort....darn, what was her name?.... It is on the tip of my tongue.... Jane? Janet?..."

But I do agree that they could make the name very small, in one corner. Maybe 12 point font, "Janis Joplin, San Francisco, 1968" or something like that.
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Old 04-06-2012, 06:56 PM   #272
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Memory aids - now that's a good one W2R
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Old 04-06-2012, 07:00 PM   #273
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Memory aids - now that's a good one W2R
I need all the help that I can get in that department, since I passed age 60 and more. I don't worry about it much but it's nice to have something to jog my memory sometimes.
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Old 04-06-2012, 07:49 PM   #274
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I need all the help that I can get in that department, since I passed age 60 and more. I don't worry about it much but it's nice to have something to jog my memory sometimes.
I thought you were making a joke, but I see there is an element of seriousness to what you say.

I've recently started paying more attention to my memory lapses, as both my parents passed away as a result of dementia in the last few years. What I used to think of as a normal scatterbrained moment will now have me wondering if I'm showing the early signs of heading down the same path. I took an online early Alzheimer test and passed with flying colors, so I think my occasional "pre-senior" moments are nothing to worry about.

However, if I ever see a picture of Jimi, Janis or Miles and wonder who they are, I hope that whoever is with me will march me straight to the nearest doctor's office!
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Old 04-06-2012, 07:57 PM   #275
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However, if I ever see a picture of Jimi, Janis or Miles and wonder who they are, I hope that whoever is with me will march me straight to the nearest doctor's office!
No need to get too concerned about forgetting a name. Truth is as we age we do tend to suffer from occasional bouts of W2R's aptly named 'memory lapses', and it isn't a sign of Alz or dementia, it's just the way things are...


An elderly couple had been experiencing declining memories, so they decided to take a power memory class where one is taught to remember things by association. A few days after the class, the old man was outside talking with his neighbor about how much the class helped him.

"What was the name of the Instructor?" asked the neighbor.


"Oh, ummmm, let's see," the old man pondered. "You know that flower, you know, the one that smells really nice but has those prickly thorns, what's that flower's name?"


"A rose?" asked the neighbor.


"Yes, that's it," replied the old man. He then turned toward his house and shouted, "Hey, Rose, what's the name of the Instructor we took the memory class from?"
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Old 04-06-2012, 08:50 PM   #276
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Obviously you have not yet attained the esteemed age at which you would say, "Oh look at that great image of..... um..... er.... you know, that great bluesy rock singer from Port Arthur that was so incredible at the Monterey Pop festival and that we saw live in SF back in the 60's and that sang with the Holding Company... Cheap Thrills, Pearl, feather boas, Southern Comfort....darn, what was her name?.... It is on the tip of my tongue.... Jane? Janet?..."

But I do agree that they could make the name very small, in one corner. Maybe 12 point font, "Janis Joplin, San Francisco, 1968" or something like that.
Never mind music legends, sometimes I need everyone I know to wear a very small sign with at least a first name on it!
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Old 04-06-2012, 09:55 PM   #277
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I do not get how great pizza makers from New Jersey can move to Florida and make lousy pizza . Do they throw their recipes out the window on the drive down ?
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Old 04-06-2012, 10:02 PM   #278
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I do not get how great pizza makers from New Jersey can move to Florida and make lousy pizza . Do they throw their recipes out the window on the drive down ?

Ahhh, I've got a theory on that (Chicago pizza in California, but same concept)...

The people in FL/CA generally don't appreciate NY/Chicago pizza. If they did, people would already be selling it there! For some odd reason, a business can't survive selling the good stuff in some areas. Regional tastes (or lack of taste)?

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Old 04-06-2012, 10:15 PM   #279
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Ahhh, I've got a theory on that (Chicago pizza in California, but same concept)...

The people in FL/CA generally don't appreciate NY/Chicago pizza. If they did, people would already be selling it there! For some odd reason, a business can't survive selling the good stuff in some areas. Regional tastes (or lack of taste)?

-ERD50
I also think that is the main reason. You have to sell in the local market, tailored to the local tastes. Taking the bagel example, maybe better bagels are available in parts of Miami beach?

I know my sister from the midwest would not recognize a fish if it weren't battered and deep fried.

Ha
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Old 04-06-2012, 10:26 PM   #280
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Posters of music legends with the person's name written as a big caption at the bottom. Talk about stating the obvious. When you see a big, iconic image of Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Charlie Parker etc, printing their name at the bottom is superfluous and makes it look a little silly IMO.
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Obviously you have not yet attained the esteemed age at which you would say, "Oh look at that great image of..... um..... er.... you know, that great bluesy rock singer from Port Arthur that was so incredible at the Monterey Pop festival and that we saw live in SF back in the 60's and that sang with the Holding Company... Cheap Thrills, Pearl, feather boas, Southern Comfort....darn, what was her name?.... It is on the tip of my tongue.... Jane? Janet?..."
Another reason is so that your teen daughter can learn the proper spelling of Mr. Hendrix's & Ms. Joplin's first names and Google them by herself... because you know she's not going to ask you and have to watch you roll your eyes and do your famed Left-Handed Air Guitar act.

It's important because when she's getting ready to buy her first car, you want her to be able to appreciate the irony of Janis' "Mercedes Benz" song and Hendrix's "Crosstown Traffic"...
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