Friday, January 7, 2011

The "bad things people do, allegedly driving" rant

The freeway, or any other multilane road:

- Driving on the left lane with no reason whatsoever.
And f someone comes... tough. Because if you need to overtake, you are already there. Smart hun? NO, you are not smart, you are a selfish idiot.

- Driving on the middle lane with no reason whatsoever.
These people are also selfish idiots. And slow ones. And self righteous ones that actually think you/me/others are wrong to complain about them being a "moving chicane" to those that drive on the right and have to overtake their slow ass (left if in UK, JP and... you get it) by going across 3 or more lanes.
They do so because it is more comfortable for them. "I'm just fine here, go around... you have room".
And if you do the safest thing, keep in your lane and just drive through, obviously on the right, instead of slalom around, they complain and high beam you. Because they are ok... really?



- People that veer to the left lane real fast, without warning or turning signal. And then they take forever to overtake, move away very slowly and then using the turning signal. Again, these people are selfish idiots. What was the sudden rush? And did it end suddenly as well?

- People that drive on the left lane... with the left indicator on. Why? Are you going to change another lane left? There are no more lanes! Nor crossroads. What's that you say? To let the guy know you want to overtake? Why? Isn't that the reason you are both in the most left lane? It's a given...

- People that brake when overtaking. I mean... with no reason except: they are about to pass the other car, and brake... Why? Do you wonder "will it fit"? Do you get scared? Hold your freakin' speed, or even accelerate to finish the maneuver!

- People that after doing the above, then speed up, still on the left lane, or veering slightly right and then returning, and then repeat the braking on next overtake. Usually driving a Mercedes... or a convertible. Selfish idiots, the whole lot.

- People that do not allow room for bikes, or worst, make life harder on them on purpose. Just because they feel stranded, powerless and impotent stuck in traffic, why act like selfish idiots?

- People that do not allow room for trucks (not pick-up ones... the real ones) or buses. WTF is wrong with you? They are working, and are usually 10x more skilled that you selfish idiots. Let them do their thing, slowly yes, and then they will move away. And you can speed up with no time loss. At all.

- Truckers that overtake @90k, another truck @90k... wtf is that?


Roundabouts, you are doing it wrong:


- It is wrong to cut across a roundabout through the straightest line possible. There are lanes, and they have purposes. It is even worst to do so with traffic and cars in other lanes, getting stuck on the diagonal blocking every freakin lane because you want to exit there, coming from the center of the roundabout.

- It is also wrong to drive always on the right lane of a roundabout. Again, there are lanes. They have a purpose, it's not road decorating paint! It is even worst to do so with traffic and cars wanting to enter the roundabout.

- It's utterly wrong to stop your car, because your exit is blocked, blocking the entrance or the circulation of the roundabout.

All that, is plain stupid selfish behavior that shows the utmost disrespect or how careless you are to other drivers.

Other general "I know I'm going over there, the rest is just clutter or landscape " behavior like:
- merging into a multi-lane road and cutting across all lanes in a 45ยบ angle to go to the left. Especially if traffic is inbound, and worst if the left lane is slow or stopped.
- try to exit from the left lane...
- overtaking, changing lanes, parking or turning without using turning signals.


And to finalize... my personal favorite:
To speed up when being overtaken. I got that a lot coming from Spain last vacation, on a specific part of the country... They would speed up to prevent me from overtaking, and then hi-beam the sh* out of me because I was going faster. I don't know... maybe they are all cops there. That or they are selfish idiots.

...

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The hastag: iparklikeanidiot

People have been finding and posting pictures of people (well, actually cars) that can't park properly.


This is usually done over Twitter with the tag #iparklikeanidiot


I will be posting some of these occasionally. Here are a few examples:


1: 2:


I told you I had no patience for people with no parking skills...

The "I hate iTunes" rant...


I, as many, utterly loath iTunes computer software.

To put it simply, it's like a chain saw that some brilliant minds decided to bundle with "fantastic" new features, like a Tv screen or a cup holder.

iTunes was and still is a good audio player/media library manager, to those on MAC OS, that chose to use it. It was a good idea to also use it to copy that library to a portable music player. And even to sell music through it.

It was not however a good idea to use it to manage the new range of touch iDevices. You now have apps, tv series (well... I don't but), movies, and then the device management (music, video, apps, photos, email, contacts, software updates, back-ups...). All "brilliantly" in one place. Where you can do ONE thing. At a time. Ok, you can listen to music while you sync... provided it's on the computer... since the device will be unavailable... and if it's a phone it means "please don't ring, or the sync will fail"... and no SMS... or mail... or... well... you get the point.

Additionally, the stitched up mess that it actually is, is now slow and is very, very stupid to use (unless you live in a world with only ONE computer, and ONE mobile device, and ONE person using your account, but for the "rest of the world" it's NOT GOOD).

I have ONE account, but 2 users, several computers and devices. So I ask you:

- Why do the apps I choose to sync with ONE device (my iPhone) _have_ to sync with my wife's? And don't give me any "different computer account" excuse because a) we share, and b) I'm the one doing all the syncing. Besides, even if it's just me. Why would I want to have the same music, video, podcasts and apps in my iPod touch, iPhone and iPad? Yes, I could create e new Library for each and alternate. But it's still wrong and stupid. 

- Why, even in the same iTunes account, but in different machines (and it's not that odd, now-a-days people have at least two of these: work pc, home desktop, laptop, netbook... no?), if I want to sync a new music (from my personal library, ripped from my legally owned CD), I can't do it without eliminating ALL tunes synced from the other machine? This is not synchronizing. Nor installing/uploading, it's a stupid concept some idiot decided to impose on us. In my personal opinion (I could be wrong...) to make us "see" how it's way more comfortable to just buy it, and _then_ it will be always "available". Even if I already bought it... on CD... and is available... in my hands!

- And finally, why does iTunes try do check, back-up and do a myriad of operations for hours (sometimes), when I just want to sync a new 200kB app?

I could go on... but I think you get the point. A chain saw was made to cut trees. Wanna add something? Add blade protection or something, not the kitchen "sync".


On this subject:
- How to share a library between machines using dropbox:
http://www.astro-geek.com/2009/01/use-dropbox-to-share-your-itunes-library
- How to manage music on PC without iTunes:
http://www.copytrans.net/copytransmanager.php

FAQ's

Yes. I now have a freaking blog.

 
It's mine to write, and for anyone who stumbles across it to read.


So yes... It is in English, not Portuguese. Because I want anyone who stumbles across it to be able to read it. And it helps me practice my English. And yes, I have little respect for Portuguese people with no language skills.
(Hint: in today's world you kinda should know some English...)


If you find it odd that the whole site is in PT and the text in EN, change your site preferences to EN.


I also have very little respect or patience for people with no tech or driving skills. Or parking skills. This will become clear in the future...


And finally, no. It is not meant for "you" or anyone in particular, so I really don't give a dam if it's "correct" or not, or if it could be funnier or in any way better for "you".


Happy New Year!
(or not... what do I care?)