The Vent and Rant Thread

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

What in the name of whatever is THAT? It looks like a rattified piranha. I'm not scared that easily, but if I'd meet something like that, especially more than one, I'd probably... run. Fast.

edit: and both Firefox and Thunderbird started jacking around again for whatever reason. Can't think of anything else to do. Both programs have been cleaned up, all drivers have been upgraded, and Windows itself is cleaned. edit2: and 10 minutes later, they're both fine again. Daaaaaarnn....

That looks scarier than a piranha. It is a fisher cat.

[GrannyGrump]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

...
Sometimes, I hate computers. As Dijkstra said somewhere in the 60's: If we would build houses like we build software, everything would fall apart days after being finished.

An old joke, but still hits home:
If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason at all, your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines on the road, you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally, executing a manoeuver such as a left-turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, and you would have to reinstall the engine.

4. When your car died on the freeway for no reason, you would just accept this, restart and drive on.

5. Only one person at a time could use the car, unless you bought ‘Car95’ or ‘CarNT’, and then added more seats.

6. Apple would make a car powered by the sun, reliable, five times as fast, and twice as easy to drive, but would run on only five per cent of the roads.

7. Oil, water temperature and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a single ‘general car default’ warning light.

8. New seats would force everyone to have the same size butt.

9. The airbag would say ‘Are you sure?’ before going off.

10. Occasionally, for no reason, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key, and grabbed the radio antenna.

11. GM would require all car buyers to also purchase a deluxe set of road maps from Rand-McNally (a subsidiary of GM), even though they neither need them nor want them. Trying to delete this option would immediately cause the car’s performance to diminish by 50 per cent or more. Moreover, GM would become a target for investigation by the Justice Department.

12. Every time GM introduced a new model, car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

12-b. GM would radically redesign the dashboard of its entire fleet to hide all the familiar instruments and remove the buttons and knobs from all the controls, forcing legacy drivers - i.e., 95% of people who have ever driven a GM car or truck - to locate and install a 3rd-party dashboard cover to restore enough functionality to be able to drive the thing.

13. You would press the ‘start’ button to shut off the engine.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

What in the name of whatever is THAT? It looks like a rattified piranha. I'm not scared that easily, but if I'd meet something like that, especially more than one, I'd probably... run. Fast.

Yup, that's one scary beeeeyatch, raaaght thar. Don't want to meet him/her in the dark--or at all, come to think of it.

edit: and both Firefox and Thunderbird started jacking around again for whatever reason. Can't think of anything else to do. Both programs have been cleaned up, all drivers have been upgraded, and Windows itself is cleaned. edit2: and 10 minutes later, they're both fine again. Daaaaaarnn....

I have this mystery "thing" that happens with my computer. NO idea what it is, what causes it (not really), etc. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, my typing buffer starts to go slower, and slower, and slower. The symptoms first appear in things like the start search box (Windows 10), then will show up in my Skype IMs (everybody here IMs via Skype, during the day). THEN, it shows up in Word, in text boxes (like the one I'm typing in to create this message), and so on. I've tried rebooting, takign it all the way down, bringing it all the way back up, thinking something is cached, or looping...as near as I can figure out, it's SOMEHOW related to Word/MS, and maybe, maybe, OneDrive.

I have not had OD enabled on this desktop. I have it on a laptop, and I have a folder for OD, here on the desktop, but the synchronization and all that good stuff is NOT enabled. We're trying an experiment wherein we did enable OD, to see if MAYBE Word et al are searching for it (I think that this is NOT it, but...my Scotty for the Starship Booknook thinks that it may be...) but it is really starting to P*SS ME OFF. For now, I keep Word and other MS programs closed, because there's a direct correlation--start up Word, and thar she blows.

n.b.: except, NOT ALL THE TIME. I can run for two weeks, w/o any issue. Then it raises its ugly head, and nothing seems to work to solve it, other than shutting down Word/Excel/yadda. Then, we come up with some quick workaround, and another few weeks/days go by, no problem. AND then, sure as sh*t, it starts up again. Driving me bonkers.

And no...I can't find any commonalities, other than, the programs that I run daily are pretty much the programs that I have up and running, daily. 3 SAASs in Chrome; Word; Skye's IMs, and then various and sundry related-to-bookmaking programs, like our HTML editors, Sigil, ePUBcheck, Font Smasher, 3 font managers, AutoHotKey, FileZilla, Dropbox, ADE 4.5, two Kindle Previewers, and all the other usual suspects. Frustrating as hell.

And this puter? She's got some legs. GRRR, it's happening again.

Hitch

[BetterRed]

@Hitch - I had this problem. A neuron is suggesting it could be a Firefox extension, but it can't recall which one - but that was at least 5 years ago.

Recognising the problem not repeatable, and knowing what, and how useful it is - I would try running without AHK. FWIW I use an alternative - PTFB (Push the Freakin' Button).

Another gadget that can create these sort of problems on Windows 10 is ClickTo, I've learnt to live without it.

FWIW - I run multiple instances of Word 2016, and single instances of OneNote and Outlook just about all day, every day, without the symptoms you report

Re Firefox, I'm sticking with version 54.0, I refuse to live without some of my XUL extensions, and there are no WebExtension alternatives. At least one well known XUL developer has tried to re-design, and re-develop his extensions, but he gave up because the new 'platform/ecosystem/framework/api' lacks too much functionality - i.e. it's been dumbed down to the point of being useless.

Re MS and GM - if GM designed and built cars like MS builds its software, I'd be able to take components from my old Camaro and drop them into my new Silverado, like I can continue to use programs (the executables) I first used on NT4.0 last century, on today's Win 10

BR

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@Hitch - I had this problem. A neuron is suggesting it could be a Firefox extension, but it can't recall which one - but that was at least 5 years ago.

Hmmmm. Five years?

Recognising the problem not repeatable, and knowing what, and how useful it is - I would try running without AHK. FWIW I use an alternative - PTFB (Push the Freakin' Button).

I'll try running it w/o AHK. I am, FWIW, only running 1-2 scripts at any given moment, each individual ones, not like the whats-it, the one where it's running dozens of autofills, but...I'll try anything. (Nearly. Sacrificing cats or baby goats is out of the question.)

Another gadget that can create these sort of problems on Windows 10 is ClickTo, I've learnt to live without it.

Embarrassing moment: Uh, what? What's "click to?" Whatever that is, AFAIK, I'm not using it.

FWIW - I run multiple instances of Word 2016, and single instances of OneNote and Outlook just about all day, every day, without the symptoms you report

I should have said, yes, I run Outlook for my personal, not biz, email. The biz email is in Salesforce Desk, an SAAS that runs in Chrome.

Re Firefox, I'm sticking with version 54.0, I refuse to live without some of my XUL extensions, and there are no WebExtension alternatives. At least one well known XUL developer has tried to re-design, and re-develop his extensions, but he gave up because the new 'platform/ecosystem/framework/api' lacks too much functionality - i.e. it's been dumbed down to the point of being useless.

I gave up FF at some point in time, about...IDK, 5-6 years ago? It keep bogging down and bogging down, and I gave up.

Re MS and GM - if GM designed and built cars like MS builds its software, I'd be able to take components from my old Camaro and drop them into my new Silverado, like I can continue to use programs (the executables) I first used on NT4.0 last century, on today's Win 10

BR

Indeed. I have a laptop here that is still goin' strong, running XP. I have programs that I used in the early aughts, as well. I enjoyed the list as much as the next guy, but...I guess I decided it's better than the Apple-built car--no matter how great it worked, or how much you loved it, you'd have to replace it, entirely, every two years, just because Apple said so and started deliberately manufacturing gas and parts that wouldn't work in it--just so you would have to buy new cars. Nyah, no thanks. I'd rather fight with my mystery issue! :-)


Hitch

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

That looks scarier than a piranha. It is a fisher cat.

Can't find what the Dutch name is... maybe it even doesn't have one. It looks like a huge marter or ferret.

[GrannyGrump]

@Hitch --- I see slow-downs in the typing buffer sometimes too, it is particularly noticeable in Notepad ++. The only progs I have in common with you, I think, are AHK, Sigil, and ADE (2.0). But I am still running Win-8. I also sometimes have the additional lovely symptom that the cursor will lock as though the CTRL or SHIFT key is being held down so that moving the mouse selects whole blocks of text in an editor or blocks of files in my file manager (that one is caused by my indispensable home-made AHK script that runs a lot of alternative mouse-click shortcuts, like right-click+drag to resize or move windows, etc). I usually end up doing a reboot. I suspect either AHK or the Windows Explorer Indexer (which seems occasionally to bog down everything)

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Can't find what the Dutch name is... maybe it even doesn't have one. It looks like a huge marter or ferret.

You've got the right idea. It's a (very big) member of the weasel family. The "cat" is a misnomer and its real name is just "fisher." I suspect it's the screech that led people to append the "cat."

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Recognising the problem not repeatable, and knowing what, and how useful it is - I would try running without AHK. FWIW I use an alternative - PTFB (Push the Freakin' Button).

BR

Red:

FWIW, I acquired this today. It looked less brain-damaging to use than AHK, anyway. The fact that GG also mentioned an issue, possibly, surrounding AHK, and given how cheap PTFB is, what the hell.

We'll see. Honestly, this whole GITM thing is really starting to get on my nerves. I'm not sitting here at home stuffing junkfood in my face whilst playing damn video games, y'know? I'm running a damn business. And, yes, my Scotty would say, there's a s**tload of complexity going on, in this machine, and literally hundreds of programs. Hell, more than hundreds, for all I know. Some of which were never designed to work together. But still...when you've been around 'puters this long, as many of you have, you know what it's like. You build it yourself, from components, you put it together, you create the underpinnings...and then it kinda feels like it's stabbing you in the back. (Must be how the parents of teenagers feel...)

I had a weird one today--my (Win) right-click menu, in the File directories, disappeared. This was RIGHT after it had been brought up from a cold-start. Ergo, not some weird memory thing, or...the right-click menu vaporized, replaced with a 2pixel wide (approx) drop-down, displaying only the right carets/arrows. I mean...WTF?

So I had to stop my (major) backup (long story why I'm doing it today, instead of last night) and reboot. Problem "solved," but...uhhhrrr? (Insert Scooby Doo "uhhhhrrrr?" sound there.)

(sigh). Can't live with 'em, DAMN sure can't live without 'em.....


Hitch

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by issybird

You've got the right idea. It's a (very big) member of the weasel family. The "cat" is a misnomer and its real name is just "fisher." I suspect it's the screech that led people to append the "cat."

Is it in the same sort of class as the wolverine? (In Dutch, that animal is called "Veelvraat"), and it has some seriously wicked teeth as well.

Like that...

But the fisher looks more evil; more piranha-like.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by GrannyGrump

I also sometimes have the additional lovely symptom that the cursor will lock as though the CTRL or SHIFT key is being held down

Do you have Logitech Setpoint installed?

Their latest version is over two years old now, and on newer Windows computers (running Windows 10) it causes this issue if you have a shortcut defined that uses CTRL of SHIFT. Setpoint doesn't release the key after it presses it.

so that moving the mouse selects whole blocks of text in an editor or blocks of files in my file manager (that one is caused by my indispensable home-made AHK script that runs a lot of alternative mouse-click shortcuts, like right-click+drag to resize or move windows, etc). I usually end up doing a reboot. I suspect either AHK or the Windows Explorer Indexer (which seems occasionally to bog down everything)

I've replaced setpoint with a completely custom AHK-script. I've actually compiled it to an executable with its own icon.



Irritatingly enough, every mouse (desktop, current laptop, old laptop) requires different codes for the left-right tilt of the wheel. (I use the left titlt to go back/up in the file manager or web browser, and right tilt to close windows). Thus I need three different scripts.

[GrannyGrump]

Katsunami -- unfortunately I don't have Setpoint. I fear me it is entirely the fault of my "Multi-Talented-Mouse" script. I wrote it in the old AHK "classic" version many years ago, and never learned enough about the newer versions to port it, but it seems to keep on chugging along (except my taskbar handlers--they only worked on XP.).

[Hitch]

I had to let someone go today.

And, of course, it sucks most for the person who loses the job. I know that. I'm not stupid enough to think it sucks more, being the person who does the firing, but...it still sucks. I didn't really have a choice, but damn.


Hitch

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I had to let someone go today.

And, of course, it sucks most for the person who loses the job. I know that. I'm not stupid enough to think it sucks more, being the person who does the firing, but...it still sucks. I didn't really have a choice, but damn.


Hitch

Sorry hun.

[Rumpelteazer]

Just one month to go before the deadline of the court and my uncle has to tell the judge whether he wants to appeal the decision or not. Knowing my uncle he will let the judge know at the last possible minute. Unless he asks for (and gets) more time to make the decision. Which is what I'm afraid of.

Meanwhile we're also busy with the judge overseeing my uncle's curatorship. Almost four months ago we send a letter telling the judge why we won't sign off on my uncle's final report (it isn't strictly necessary, but the courts likes us to do so). In the letter we wrote about my uncle's fraud and the decisions the judge made we thought were wrong. Since then we haven't heard from the judge. After a month we called the court and they told us the letter had just been delivered to the judge. After another month we called again and then the head clerk was on vacation and they promised to call us back. They didn't. Two weeks later there hadn't been a decision yet. For the last four or five weeks my mother has been calling every week. They promise to look into it and call us back, which they don't do. The past two weeks the judge was on vacation. Now we've decided to ask our lawyer to write a letter asking what the hold up is. I can understand that the whole case has become complicated, but if the judge needs more time she should let us know. Now it just feels like she's stringing us along.