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Do These Things Bug You?

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Posted by Paul of Covington on Tuesday, June 4, 2013 1:14 PM

   I wonder if some of us are taking our entertainment far too seriously.

_____________ 

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Monday, June 3, 2013 10:39 PM

When I see an advert start that has to play (even for just 5 seconds) before I can see a web video I went to the web site to view, I immediately close the window and forego watching the advert or the video.  I just hope that the "view count" does not get incremented even though I actually didn't see the video, cuz, I DIDN'T.

 

As for adverts that appear over the TV shows, it really irks me when they put it over any foreign language translation captioning such that I can't read the captioning.  Nothing like the bad guys spilling the beans on what they are going to do, and some idiot advert sweeps over the text, obliterating them.  Also, when there is some tense scene, when you expect the boogie man to jump out from that shadow and they stick an advert for the next program on the bottom of the screen where the star runs out on the screen and points at words advertising the next program.

PBS stations work so hard to find enough filler between programs, and they also do voice overs and visual adverts over the last scenes at the end of each program advertising the next program. 

The local PBS network used to do voice overs at the end of "The Red Green Show" when there was still audio from the show while the credits were running... often there were funny comments made at that time and it got destroyed by the voice over advert.  During one of their Festivals (aka: begging week) someone refused to donate if they continued the practice and they abruptly ceased.  MONEY does talk!

 

 

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, June 3, 2013 10:00 PM

Murphy Siding

Quick- the last time you had to wait 15 seconds before you were able to skip an ad, what product was being advertised?

I think it was a car dealer in Houston, TX.  I live in NY.  The TV station got their money, but the dealership (I don't even remember the name) got squat.

I don't pay attention to those ads - I'm too busy watching the little counter count down to zero so I can click on it and make the ad go away.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by zardoz on Monday, June 3, 2013 8:09 PM

zugmann

Don't worry, pretty soon the "go away" button will wait until 10 seconds, then 30, then it will also "go away".

We are so inundated with ads, I wonder who even pays attention to them anymore?  I never really looked at that trains map thing they are pushing in that pop up ad.  I simply close it out every time.

But the whole point is that they got their ad into your brain--you know what the product is they're trying to sell. And even though YOU "never looked at the map thing", many will. And the mere existence of the maps is now stored away somewhere in your cranium, should the need for a railroad map ever present itself.

The reason I HATE (a word I rarely use) ads is that I resent my consciousness being messed with.  I have mostly given up on tv; it was bad enough when the ad time seemed to equal program time, but when ads started appearing during the program (like popups but without anyway to click them away) is when I gave up.  At least PBS only has ads at the beginning and end of programs.  

The next time you  watch a professional sports event, try counting all the ads to which you are subjected:  this will include all the little ads the talking heads have to throw in, like "This score update brought to you by_____"; or "Here is _____'s 'Play of the day", etc.  Oh, and don't forget the inundation of signage in the stadiums.  I bet you lose count before the game ends, or else you realize how many ads there really are and just turn the tv off in disgust.

So when I come here for alternative entertainment, and the ad barrage continues, I am disappointed.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Monday, June 3, 2013 4:49 PM

     Call me a fool, but I think there is a better way.

           If they HAVE to have the advertising to bring me whatever on the Internets for free, I propose something different.

      Don't  make me wait 10 or 20 or 30 seconds to hit the escape button.   Show the name of the product or company to being advertised.   Then give me a box to write that name in, and then send me down the line.

      For example:  "This train video is sponsored by Victoria's Secret."   I then type in "Victoria's Secret", and  it jumps to the start of the video.

     I'd have to believe that this would be less annoying, and certainly couldn't make the product advertising any less forgettable than the sit and simmer system used now by most advertisers.

    Quick- the last time you had to wait 15 seconds before you were able to skip an ad, what product was being advertised?

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Posted by zugmann on Monday, June 3, 2013 11:38 AM

Don't worry, pretty soon the "go away" button will wait until 10 seconds, then 30, then it will also "go away".

We are so inundated with ads, I wonder who even pays attention to them anymore?  I never really looked at that trains map thing they are pushing in that pop up ad.  I simply close it out every time.

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, June 3, 2013 10:35 AM

I'd rather deal with a few pop-ups and a small banner on the bottom of the page than full page popups that completely block my view until they're ready to go away.

Kinda like the adverts on YouTube - they should know by now that people are going to click on the "go away" button after five seconds.

Or the news sites that make you sit through a 30 second ad so you can see what you came for.  I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not travelling 1500 miles to buy a car from a dealer I've never heard of in a town I may or may not ever visit.  I just want to know what's going on (or happened).

LarryWhistling
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Posted by switch7frg on Saturday, June 1, 2013 5:34 PM

Smile Murphy Siding;   did you go to the RIP track to get fixed  ??  I have been  signaled to the rip track a few times.  However, the fix never seems to work. Do the fixers use metric or SAE standard tools  and hardware   I would hope no trains  or  feelings  over this post were injured.

Y6bs evergreen in my mind

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Posted by switch7frg on Saturday, June 1, 2013 5:13 PM

Big Smile  Murphy Siding; Your last sentence nalied it to the wall.

Y6bs evergreen in my mind

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Saturday, June 1, 2013 5:04 PM

John WR

Bucyrus
What bugs me is that if you compose a message in the composition box, then want to change the font, you highlight the whole text, and change the font or font size.  The highlight goes away during that process, but then comes back when you are done. 

You are absolutely right, Bucyrus.  And it is easy to get carried away will all the things we can do to our posts.  It is easy to make a stray movement and wipe everything out.  On the other hand, I began in the days of manual typewriters.  We have really come  a long way.

John

 
If you recognize the problem right away, usually you can type the "Ctrl-Z" (hold down the Control key and type the "Z" key) and it will UNDO the last change.
 
I just tried it here (highlighted the whole thing and hit the Enter key and then typed "Ctrl-Z" and it all came back!
 
At least I know it works in Winders 7, IE-10.  I will say it has worked for me in many different configurations,  but There is no telling if it also works with other programs on other computers, on other days, in other rooms, of any planet or in any alternate dimension. Geeked  

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, June 1, 2013 5:03 PM

I see it does it WORD too, but I never noticed it.  I always use the delete key and never would have thought about using the return key.  I probably have accidentally deleted in WORD but I never remember it as an issue because WORD has an undo command so you can retrieve an accidental deletion. 

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Posted by John WR on Saturday, June 1, 2013 4:32 PM

Bucyrus
What bugs me is that if you compose a message in the composition box, then want to change the font, you highlight the whole text, and change the font or font size.  The highlight goes away during that process, but then comes back when you are done. 

You are absolutely right, Bucyrus.  And it is easy to get carried away will all the things we can do to our posts.  It is easy to make a stray movement and wipe everything out.  On the other hand, I began in the days of manual typewriters.  We have really come  a long way.

John

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, June 1, 2013 11:13 AM

What bugs me is that if you compose a message in the composition box, then want to change the font, you highlight the whole text, and change the font or font size.  The highlight goes away during that process, but then comes back when you are done. 

Sometimes I do that and then go up and pull down a quote from the post above.  Then to add a little space between the quote and my message, I might hit the return key.  If you do that and your text is still highlighted from changing the font, the return key deletes the whole thing. 

 

 

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Thursday, May 30, 2013 8:47 PM

Semper Vaporo

 

 

That quote above was edited improperly... it is not my comment, but that of Zardoz who had quoted Murphy Siding, who had quoted me, when I quoted John WR who had quoted Ulrich.  I don't mind reducing the clutter of multiple embedded quotes, but ya gots to git right the user name of the person whose comment you are leaving in the quote.

 

   ...'Sorry 'bout that.  It's kind of like Dirty Harry:  "To tell ya' the truth, in all this quoting and re-quoting, I've kinda' lost track myself......"

     I went back and fixed it- I think.

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Posted by richg1998 on Thursday, May 30, 2013 8:18 PM

Get some cheese to go with your whine. Works just fine.

These forums are free. They can do what they want. You can always look for other MRR forums. There are quite a few.

I found one with a free eZine that is improving quite fast.

Rich

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Thursday, May 30, 2013 5:52 PM

Murphy Siding

Semper Vaporo

?

So how does that job description read?  And I wonder what the interview process is like? Does the applicant try to out-jerk or overly irritate the interviewer?

Interesting aside: I recently cleaned out my hard drive of all cookies, placeholders, etc.  When I first came back to this forum and lurked (without signing in) I did not get any of the annoying things mentioned in this thread. After I re-signed in, the yellow bar as well as the popover ad  immediately reappeared. So my conclusion is that the kalmbach servers do indeed know who is logged in, and thus could also know of your subscription status.

    I never said I agreed with the policy, only that it is part of some marketing person's job.  He or she is probably  a new marketing grad, who was told to do whatever it takes to increace sales of whatever stuff they're trying to push, using the latest fads in communications.

     Right or wrong, if bugging the bejeebers out of you with annoying pop-up ads is shown to work somewhere, somehow, it will be used  against you on this site as well.  Every time I open my e-mail, there's a fresh  e-mail there from Adrianna that says "Hey you!".   I wonder if Adrianna has a subscription to Trains Magazine? Sigh

    You would hope that some companies would have more class than to stoop to this.  You'd probably be wrong.  This is the future you're looking at.  If this follows how other things have gone in the past, the next level is a forum that you pay for, to avoid those annoying ads.

They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot..
 

 

That quote above was edited improperly... it is not my comment, but that of Zardoz who had quoted Murphy Siding, who had quoted me, when I quoted John WR who had quoted Ulrich.  I don't mind reducing the clutter of multiple embedded quotes, but ya gots to git right the user name of the person whose comment you are leaving in the quote.

 

And I should point out that I get the adverts whether I am logged in or not, or if I am using my magazine subscriber ID or my more usual non-subscriber ID.

 

Yes, I am getting an excellent value in this forum and I do appreciate that, but I am incensed by the intrusive, in your face, advertising.  If you want my money, be nice to me!  PERIOD!

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by John WR on Thursday, May 30, 2013 5:11 PM

Semper,  

Kalmbach is giving me something for nothing here.  But it is a competitive world and they still have to pay their bills.  I can live with the yellow footer.   

Some people here are very sensitive to even the slightest suggestion of criticism to railroads and people associated with them.  Perhaps publishers deserve some consideration too.

John

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Thursday, May 30, 2013 4:31 PM

zardoz

?

So how does that job description read?  And I wonder what the interview process is like? Does the applicant try to out-jerk or overly irritate the interviewer?

Interesting aside: I recently cleaned out my hard drive of all cookies, placeholders, etc.  When I first came back to this forum and lurked (without signing in) I did not get any of the annoying things mentioned in this thread. After I re-signed in, the yellow bar as well as the popover ad  immediately reappeared. So my conclusion is that the kalmbach servers do indeed know who is logged in, and thus could also know of your subscription status.

    I never said I agreed with the policy, only that it is part of some marketing person's job.  He or she is probably  a new marketing grad, who was told to do whatever it takes to increace sales of whatever stuff they're trying to push, using the latest fads in communications.

     Right or wrong, if bugging the bejeebers out of you with annoying pop-up ads is shown to work somewhere, somehow, it will be used  against you on this site as well.  Every time I open my e-mail, there's a fresh  e-mail there from Adrianna that says "Hey you!".   I wonder if Adrianna has a subscription to Trains Magazine? Sigh

    You would hope that some companies would have more class than to stoop to this.  You'd probably be wrong.  This is the future you're looking at.  If this follows how other things have gone in the past, the next level is a forum that you pay for, to avoid those annoying ads.

They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot..

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Posted by Norm48327 on Thursday, May 30, 2013 3:28 PM

"Interesting aside: I recently cleaned out my hard drive of all cookies, placeholders, etc.  When I first came back to this forum and lurked (without signing in) I did not get any of the annoying things mentioned in this thread. After I re-signed in, the yellow bar as well as the popover ad  immediately reappeared. So my conclusion is that the kalmbach servers do indeed know who is logged in, and thus could also know of your subscription status."

Seems to me they should be targeting non-subscribers; not those already paying.

Norm


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Posted by Mookie on Thursday, May 30, 2013 3:21 PM

Zardoz - you are working too hard.  On the right side of the forum subject list - they have a Welcome and exactly when my subscription expires.  Plus they always use my real first name - you know - the one that irritates me. 

Jenny

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Posted by zardoz on Thursday, May 30, 2013 3:04 PM

Murphy Siding

Semper Vaporo

John WR

Ulrich
life is too short to be bugged.

Far too short.  

 
I totally agree, but then, why do these people work so hard at bugging us?
 
BOYCOT them!

  It's their job?

So how does that job description read?  And I wonder what the interview process is like? Does the applicant try to out-jerk or overly irritate the interviewer?

Interesting aside: I recently cleaned out my hard drive of all cookies, placeholders, etc.  When I first came back to this forum and lurked (without signing in) I did not get any of the annoying things mentioned in this thread. After I re-signed in, the yellow bar as well as the popover ad  immediately reappeared. So my conclusion is that the kalmbach servers do indeed know who is logged in, and thus could also know of your subscription status.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Thursday, May 30, 2013 1:04 PM

Semper Vaporo

John WR

Ulrich
life is too short to be bugged.

Far too short.  

 
I totally agree, but then, why do these people work so hard at bugging us?
 
BOYCOT them!

  It's their job?

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:45 AM

John WR

Ulrich
life is too short to be bugged.

Far too short.  

 
I totally agree, but then, why do these people work so hard at bugging us?
 
BOYCOT them!

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by John WR on Thursday, May 30, 2013 9:45 AM

Ulrich
life is too short to be bugged.

Far too short.  

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Posted by Ulrich on Wednesday, May 29, 2013 8:23 PM

No, they don't bug me.. but I have a high threshold for things that bug me. life is too short to be bugged. So long as I am able to skip what I don't want to read or see, I have enough food in my stomach, and no one is coming after me with a dagger I'm fairly content.  

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Posted by zardoz on Tuesday, May 28, 2013 8:02 PM

Norm48327

"Are you listening, Kalmbach?"

Only with deaf ears and indifference to their subscribers.

I would be very surprised if we received any response from kalmbach.

I wonder if they figure we're just a small group of whiners, and thus choose to ignore us while laughing in the background.  Or perhaps they just don't care, and therefore either will not or cannot do the small fixes we have mentioned.

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Posted by Convicted One on Tuesday, May 28, 2013 5:17 PM

Sam1
The other thing that bugs me are postings that just include a link to a media story about trains or another relevant subject.  

I agree completely.  Especially when the poster posts (JUST)  a link without bothering to identify the subject matter  or bother to contribute their own take of the story's content.

REALLY makes it look like a waste of time even following the link,  since usually it is

I also hate getting sent to the site's "Media center"  after logging in, with the disclaimer that the site is currently down, "please try again later" etc etc  when  a quick toggle of the "back" and forward" browser controls sends you right to the forums.  AND PROVES THAT THE CLAIM THAT THE SITE IS  CURRENTLY DOWN  IS ANOTHER BALD FACE LIE.

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Posted by switch7frg on Tuesday, May 28, 2013 10:19 AM

Smile  Yes it would be my right to stop or remove that person. my front door is there for their protection, not mine. My protection will be in my hand. The same will apply to my key pad.  

 

                                                 Cannonball

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Posted by MidlandMike on Monday, May 27, 2013 7:29 PM

Even more annoying than a link with no explanation, is a thread title with no explanation of what's in the posting.  A title should have some indication of subject matter, location, RR name if appropriate, etc.   A thread with a title like "They did it again" will probably not prompt me to open it.

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