The little things that irk us so

[brianvds]

I saw a Facebook post (where else!) by an EFF bloke complaining that the Oscar trial and sentence typified white privilege. Had he been black, he would have gotten a heavier sentence. (No doubt the black judge is a racist!). Others complained that he was punished too harshly. Still others complained that battered women once again got a raw deal. Etc. etc.

What occurred to me is that with this kind of thing, it is actually not about Oscar. People simply used the case as a focus point into which to read their own issues. If you have a problem with white privilege, you see white privilege in the trial. If you're a feminist, you see oppression of women.

So it goes with all such high profile news, and now that I have noticed it in the Oscar trial I am beginning to see it everywhere: all the angry commentators are simply reading their own issues into whatever the news is, and their commentary mostly tells you more about them than about the news item.

[BoogieMonster]

If you have a problem with white privilege, you see white privilege in the trial. If you're a feminist, you see oppression of women.

Quite. It also doesn't help that we live in an era of oppression Olympics: Where your degree of social status is determined by how oppressed you are.

So as you say: Men complimenting women on the street suddenly find themselves accused of "verbal rape", a charge that says more about the victim than about the "guilty".

[Mefiante]

Or it’s motivated by something slightly more unsanitary:  Pistorius remains a hot topic and airing some purportedly knowledgeable scribblings is a sure-fire tactic for amassing followers for those descendants of the “Me” generation who can’t abide feeling left out.

'Luthon64

[brianvds]

Or it’s motivated by something slightly more unsanitary:  Pistorius remains a hot topic and airing some purportedly knowledgeable scribblings is a sure-fire tactic for amassing followers for those descendants of the “Me” generation who can’t abide feeling left out.

'Luthon64

Yup, I'm sure that also plays a role. And of course, if there is one thing people love more than creating a hero, it is to tear the hero down again. :-)

[brianvds]

Norton Anti-virus. It actually doesn't belong in this thread, because it is a fucking BIG thing that irks me so.

So a month or three ago I was invited to try it out for free for a month. On the whole I wasn't impressed; it seemed good at blocking threats, but it's intrusive, putting an extra bar on my browser without asking me, and it slowed down my browsing speed (and the whole computer, for that matter) so much that it wasn't worth it. So after a month I let it expire and uninstalled it.

Or so I thought. The other day I wanted to download a YouTube video downloader suggested by someone else. Up popped Norton anti-virus and informed me that the site contained malware, so it prevented me from going there. Except I know for a fact that the site is safe. So I followed the option "visit the site anyway," only to be brought straight back to the page that won't let me visit. I.e. Norton, after I uninstalled it, now tells me which sites I am allowed to visit. If it doesn't like a page, it simply prevents me from visiting it.

Even worse, someone tells me that the only way to ever get rid of Norton is to format your hard drive. Once you have it, it's more tenacious, and frequently more annoying, than any virus ever released.

[Tweefo]

I've heard that it is more difficult to get rid of you SABC licence than Norton, but only a little bit.

[Tweefo]

You can do a "Rinse and hold" cycle on your dishwasher with only one small item in it, but with the next load of dishes, you are guaranteed to run out of space.   

[Rigil Kent]

You can do a "Rinse and hold" cycle on your dishwasher

Wouldn't know. I don't go near it. 

[Tweefo]

It's going to a long day, 6 shows, normally you can 5 in a school day. But is there time for skriflesing en gebed? Need I answer? 

[BoogieMonster]

You can do a "Rinse and hold" cycle on your dishwasher with only one small item in it, but with the next load of dishes, you are guaranteed to run out of space.  

Pro tip: This can rust metal stuff and/or certain cutlery if you leave it closed.

But I believe dishwashers were designed to either be in a state of too full or too empty.

[Tweefo]

You can do a "Rinse and hold" cycle on your dishwasher

Wouldn't know. I don't go near it. 

you could describe me as a domesticated husband.

[Faerie]

You can do a "Rinse and hold" cycle on your dishwasher

Wouldn't know. I don't go near it. 

you could describe me as a domesticated husband.

Or a well trained one...

[Spike]

OK.  I've seen this billboard twice, and I was instantly enraged both times:  "MTN Business: The courage to grow is business"

I think we've run out of PC slogans, which is why South African copywriters now specialise in non-sequiturs.  I'm lucky I don't have to brave the traffic and see it every day.

[brianvds]

OK.  I've seen this billboard twice, and I was instantly enraged both times:  "MTN Business: The courage to grow is business"

I think we've run out of PC slogans, which is why South African copywriters now specialise in non-sequiturs.  I'm lucky I don't have to brave the traffic and see it every day.

Just for you:

[Spike]

Step 1. Helping someone out by agreeing to buy a beat-up, tiny little second-hand fridge for R1000 minus half the cost of re-gassing, which ends up costing R400.  So, R1200 which is a decent deal for extra storage even if I don't need it, and I can always tackle it with spray paint for fun
Step 2. Waking up the next morning to find that the compressor had expired in the night
Step 3. Finding out that it will cost upwards of R1800 to fix
Step 4. Lying awake wondering whether I got my 'just reward and retribution' for being grasping and greedy and effectively only paying the original owner a miserly R800 for the damn thing (which I didn't even want in the first place).

Oi.