Day Thirty, April Thirtieth

People who don't walk on escalators. So many lazy people decide that they do not want to walk up an escalator. It should not be an option. You are making it difficult for people who are trying to actually get places to get through. If there is an escalator full of lazy, immobile vegetables, than it is faster to use the stairs, which is more work. Escalators (and moving sidewalks) should be viewed as devices to speed up the process of walking rather than ways of getting places without doing any work.

Day Twenty-nine, April Twenty-nineth

Jewel cases for CDs. They are very badly designed, and really could not be much worse. The whole case is held together by two flimsy pieces of plastic that are very prone to breaking. The plastic used is way too rigid, and cracks and snaps all the time. A softer plastic could be used, and it would work much better. The jewel case was not designed with any thought, but still is the most common way to store CDs.

Day Twenty-eight, April Twenty-eighth

Apple earbuds. It is impossible to design worse, less comfortable earbuds, yet they are the most common type of earbuds ever. How do people manage to listen to these, let alone let them in your ears. All earbuds are uncomfortable, but you should at least get ones with rubber pads. Apple has revolutionized the crappy earbud with this awful design, that can ruin the experience of listening to music.

Day Twenty-seven, April Twenty-seventh

Obsession with the royal family. Why do so many people follow these government-payed idiots? We are in a century where the UK is a democracy, and in not governed by monarchs. What is stranger is that many people outside of the UK are just as interested. I find it disgusting how the government pays these people to be figureheads and create boring news stories. The people of the UK should rebel and take back all the possessions and money of the family in revenge for the hundreds of years of oppression. Let queen Betty live on the street, because she and her family have done nothing to deserve their fortune.

Day Twenty-six, April Twenty-sixth

Speaker Phone. This awful invention makes it possible for people to share their conversation with everyone in the area, usually without the knowledge of the person on the other end of the phone. If you are having a phone call, sometimes, it is nice to know who you are talking to. With speakerphone, anybody could also be on the other end. Also, sometimes you are in the area of someone with a phone call on speakerphone, and you have no choice but to listen to their conversation. No one should ever use it unless they are alone with only people who are interested in the conversation, and the person on the other end is informed of who else is listening.

Day Twenty-five, April Twenty-fifth

Prezi. How do people manage to use this badly designed software when much better alternatives exist? Prezi is based online, which means that you are relying on the internet for your presentation, which is never a good idea. It looks awful, and makes your audience want to kill themselves. On a bad computer, it lags, and doesn't work properly. That's probably a good thing in the end, because it loses some of it's nauseating effect. One should never use this, when alternatives exist with none of the defects.

Day Twenty-four, April Twenty-fourth

Websites with "slideshows." Sometimes, when looking for a list of top 10s or something of that nature, you are forced to go to one of these sites. They start you on the last and least important slide and make you go through many webpages to get the first one. Every time you click the next arrow, it redirects you to a completely different page, boosting their views enormously, so they can make more on a advertising. Once you reach the end, you usually have not found what you were looking for, but you have to press "back" multiple times to get back to your search. Also, usually, when you are done a slideshow, if you accidentally press the arrow again, it sends you to a completely unrelated, and often embarrassing slideshow. After all this is done, their website has earned a spot on your top sites, because you have been to so many of their pages. Why don't they just make it one page?

Day Twenty-three, April Twenty-three

When people put spoilers on their Pontiac Sunfires. Often, you see these ridiculous 90's cars riding around, lowered and with racing accessories. A Sunfire would be luck to drive much faster than 110 km/h. At this speed, there is no need for additional downforce. It just looks ridiculous and serves no real purpose.

Day Twenty-two, April Twenty-second

Ken Burns effect. This seemingly harmless effect that many people use on their slideshows is the root of all evil.  It is very hard to control, and many people are unable to remove it because of its deep integration in all slide show software. It makes it very difficult to focus on a photo, as it is moving all around. This can also cause nausea. It also usually cuts of a part of the photo, which can be a serious issue. One should never sell their soul to the devil by using this effect.

Day Twenty-one, April Twenty-first

When people put files on discs. Why wouldn't you just use a USB stick? Discs are not reusable, and are more susceptible to be damaged in transportation. They take longer to prepare and cost more. Not all computers even have disc drives anymore. It doesn't make any sense. There are no advantages of using a disc, so you might as well use the more modern, standard, and easy method, yet some people still insist on using this ancient way of transporting files.

Day Twenty, April Twentieth

Vegetarianism. I could't care less if people didn't eat meat and left more for me. The problem is that they ruin it for everyone else. I live in a household in which one person has ruined their life by making the awful choice of giving up meat. This means often, it is easier to make all the food vegetarian, and I end up getting less meat. If you become vegetarian, you should get used to the idea that you will have to make your own food, because meat takes priority.

Day Nineteen, April Nineteenth

Microsoft Word. This is the most overrated piece of software ever. It is way more complicated than it needs to be and has a multitude of problems. It is much more effective to use a simple word processor like notepad. Google Docs is really the best, as it has a very effective sharing function as well as a  simple interface. It will save as you go, unlike Word, where you have to save manually, and it usually crashes when you try, causing you to lose all work. I don't understand why people use this awful software when there are much better alternatives available.

Day Eighteen, April Eighteenth

Poster board school projects. This is a completely useless and time-wasting method of preparing a project. It requires printing things out,  gluing them and sometimes even writing things out by hand. Teachers should never force students to go through this torturous process, because it takes away from the actual learning. Also, poster boards cost money, unlike power points or write-ups. It is unreasonable to expect someone to spend money on a dumb poster board that they don't even want to make. Maybe it could work for kids in elementary school, because of their lack of computer knowledge, but in any grade past that, it is a huge mistake.

Day Seventeen, April Seventeenth

Having a light backpack. I need for a backpack to have a fair amount of weight, otherwise it is just uncomfortable and doesn't really have a presence. Also, weight shows that there are many things in there, at your disposal. A light backpack just flies around, and jumps from shoulder to shoulder. This is very annoying, and sometimes even causes you to momentarily forget that you have a backpack on. If your backpack is heavy enough, there is a constant pressure on each shoulder, stabilizing you and making it clear that there is indeed something on your back. I like to always make sure that my backpack has plenty of things in it, and is heavy enough to meet my standards.

Day Sixteen, April Sixteenth

When people use pictures with watermarks. The whole point of a watermark is to make a picture unusable unless you pay for it. This is exactly what it does. It makes anything you do look very unprofessional and cheap. It is better to have a bad image than one with a watermark. You may not think that people really notice, but it is easy to see that you have not made an effort to be professional and make whatever you are doing look good. Often, watermarks are used on online based video editing softwares. Do yourself a favour and buy some cheap software. Even if the online one produces better looking videos, that is all lost because of the watermark. One should never use anything with a watermark for anything, ever.

Day Fifteen, April Fifteenth

Flies. Nothing is worse than a fly buzzing around you. I would prefer a mosquito. At least you can kill them easily. Flies just get away whenever you try to swat. A fly in a room makes in almost impossible to concentrate or do anything. Mao Zedong had it right when he ordered his people to meet a quota of dead flies. It probably increased the productivity of the country by 200%. We should implement this system worldwide, as it would produce global happiness. I don't know how people have dealt for this many years with these annoying pests.

Day Fourteen, April Fourteenth

When people post Vines on Facebook. If I wanted to see your dumb seven-second videos, I would join vine. That would be a more logical system. Vines are really dumb, and are very rarely funny, or at all interesting. There is not enough time to make something good, and no one seems to care about the quality of the footage/editing. I find these vines more annoying than advertisements in my news feed. That is not what Facebook is for. There is an app for sharing seven-second videos. It's called "Vine."

Day Thirteen, April Thirteenth

Beats by Dr. Dre. How are people willing to spend upwards of 300 dollars on these fairly low-quality,very inaccurate headphones. All beats products contain built in equalizers which boost the highs and lows, which is something that people notice when comparing headphones, and will equate to being better. The sound is not at all what you are supposed to be listening to. When you compare with other headphones, they will sound different, and an inexperienced headphone shopper would assume that one with more bass would be better. This is not a bad rule if the things you are buying are under $10 but when buying expensive headphones, you should look for a flat frequency response, rather than an elevated bass. They also use this trick on all cell phones and computers with audio by Beats. Beats are manufactured by Monster, which is a notoriously bad company. Monster makes low quality audio accessories, that are overpriced. One should never buy any "high-end" audio products with built-in equalizers. Buy yourself some nice headphones.

Day Twelve, April Twelfth

When people use leaky headphones. What is more annoying than being stuck with someone listening to music on their headphones, when you can hear half of it. It would almost be more tolerable if they were to play the music out loud. Only being able to hear the music partially is very unpleasant, because you can't enjoy it, but it is still a presence. This is generally a problem with cheap headphone and on-ear headphones, which is a topic that I will get to later. By using leaky headphones, you are making life worse for everyone around you.

Day Eleven, April Eleventh

The very broad range of things that people classify as a salad. Salad is a term that could make sense. People could use it to describe savory mixtures of leafy greens with a somewhat acidic dressing served at room temperature. This is not the case though, and people will be willing to call almost anything a salad. The situation is getting out of control. When someone says that there will be a salad available, that could range anywhere from a bowl of pasta, that is really no different from normal pasta to a mixture of fruits, that are sweet, with little or no dressing. You might also find a large jello dish filled with odd items such as pretzels, vegetables, and mayonnaise. The term is becoming much too general, and is is becoming to understand what anybody means anymore. One cannot claim that they like salads, because at this point in the history of gastronomy, pretty much anything can be a salad. Try to avoid calling your weird foods salads because it really throws people off.

Day Ten, April Tenth

When people say "literally" and don't mean it at all. The word "literally" was designed to explain that something is exactly true. Sometimes, you hear people using it connected with ridiculous hyperboles, which is a completely wrong way to use the word, as it means pretty much the opposite of how it is being used. An example is if someone were to say "The school is literally 1000 years old" it is completely obvious that this is not true, yet the word "literally" is used. There are other ways that the same sentence could be said, for example, "The school is probably 1000 years old" or simply "The school is 1000 years old." Both of those phrases are just as effective, and correct. It's almost as people don't know what the word really means.

Day Nine, April Ninth

Gherkins pickles. I am astounded by the number of people who are willing to eat these vomit-inducing, inedible things. Before I ever tried one, I had no idea that a simple cucumber could taste so bad, but I was surprised by that what I had deemed impossible was so common, and even popular. As far as my research says, they undergo a very similar process to normal pickles, which leads me to wonder what goes on, because they are on opposite ends of the tastiness spectrum. What is even worse is that often, you are served them at restaurants on the side, and you expect a normal pickle. After you take the first bite, the rest of your meal will inevitably be plagued with the gross aftertaste. Restaurants lose my business if they make this simple, yet powerful mistake. If you have never tried one, save yourself the misery and stay clear for the rest of your life.

Day Eight, April Eighth

Monopoly. Why do people even play this dumb game. As far as I can tell, there is little to no strategy, and you can waste upwards of five hours repetitively rolling dice, and in the end someone wins the useless title of being able to roll dice that happen to land on fortunate numbers the most often. Congratulations. That is if the the game ends, which it usually doesn't. This is probably one of the worst, and most overrated games of all time. Learn to play a real game. There are worse board games (snakes and ladders style games) but at least when you finish playing you haven't wasted a valuable chunk of your life. The obsession with this game is odd, because in no way is it a gratifying game, and can be played by a two-year-old.

Day Seven, April Seventh

The Source. This excuse for a store offers possibly the biggest ripoffs ever. For example, if you go in to buy a female-to-female 1/8th inch audio cord, then you will end up paying at least 25$ for a piece of crap, that might only work for a year. If you were to buy the same cord online, you could probably get a higher quality one for less than a dollar. Now why would you shop at The Source? Even if you need the item right then, it is somehow cheaper to go to a higher end store, whether it be a store that stocks thousand dollar stereos, or builds custom PC's with quality in mind, I can guarantee that you will find something much better for less. People seem to not realize this ridiculousness, and waste hundreds of dollars every year. I think a boycott is called for until they cut all their prices on accessories to 90% off or thereabouts.

Day Six, April Sixth

Unnecessary wireless devices. So many devices pride themselves in being wireless (mice, trackpads, keyboards, headphones) when really, that is the exact opposite of what a consumer wants. If you own a wireless device, you have to change the batteries very frequently, always at the least opportune times. Just when you need them most, they die, forcing you to make a frantic dash to find some batteries. There is no benefit of wireless, it just makes it more complicated to connect, and provides slower and less reliable results. The wireless aspect of all these devices is a flaw, not a strong point.

Day Five, April Fifth

Shallow cereal bowls. How do people manage to eat cereal out of receptacles which are only an inch deep and have a rim? A proper cereal bowl should be at least three to four inches deep, and have almost vertical walls. Large rims can prohibit one from being able to drink the milk left at the bottom. I guess if you eat the lame, malnourishing serving size, you might be able to fit it into a bowl like that, but anyone who eats cereal as their primary source of breakfast will know that around 8 times the serving size is necessary for and adequately sized meal. This is impossible with the small bowl, without an unreasonable amount of servings. I am amazed by the number of people who do not realize this and use the wrong type of bowl for cereal.

Day Four, April Fourth

When people say that spring is their favourite season. That's just what you've been taught to say. No one actually means it. Spring is the biggest lie of all time. Take a look out your window (if you are in a somewhat northern country; remember, this blog is Canada specific) and enjoy the view of grey snowbanks, all the litter from the winter finally revealed, and dead grass. This is spring. What people think of (flowers, warmth, rabbits) all happens in a span of around two weeks, and then summer takes over. If you average out the pleasantness, you will find that spring is in fact, the most unpleasant, ugliest season. Anyone who says that it is the best season is just plain wrong.

Day Three, April Third

When people don't know their types of pasta. It's really quite simple. Pasta is divided into many different shapes, all with their unique names. Spaghetti and Linguini are not the same thing. Simply calling something "noodles" is not good enough. They are very easily identifiable, but most people have really not taken the time to educate themselves. For example, if someone was to ask me if I would like some Penne, I would probably say yes, but it would be completely possible that they would actually mean Rigatoni, but didn't know the difference. Now I would be stuck with some pasta, that had a much larger circumference than I had been expecting, and it would be somewhat disappointing. All because of people's ignorance.

Day Two, April Second

Medleys. No one actually likes them, and they ruin every song involved. The transitions are always awful, and none of the songs ever work together. Just when you are getting into the groove, or starting to actually enjoy something, it changes. Whoever invented the medley should have been shot.

Day One, April First

When people call earbuds headphones. Seriously, there is a large difference, and you would have to be dumb not to see it. One produces rich, colorful sound, while the other awkwardly sits in your ear blasting tinny, inaccurate sound. Learn the difference people.