All posts tagged: Annoying

Man solves ceiling fans’ most annoying problem

Man solves ceiling fans’ most annoying problem

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletterđź’ˇ Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Anyone who’s used an overhead ceiling fan knows it can be a pain to work. Yanking its chain gets the motor running, but there’s no easy visual indication of what speed setting the fan is  on. The blades can also take a frustratingly long time to reach their full speed. The result is many annoyed fan owners tugging vigorously on the chain, only to have their fan suddenly turn into an in-home airplane propeller. Most people would simply accept the ceiling fan’s inefficiencies as a headache and one of life’s unavoidable realities. But DIY makers armed with 3D printers aren’t like most people. In this case, a maker and content creator going by the handle Super Valid Designs decided to tackle the “ceiling fan guessing game” head-on. Using a commercially available 3D printer, he designed and fabricated a custom mounting device that attaches to the fan and provides a clear visual indicator for each speed setting. Once installed, every …

11 Phrases People Often Think Are Polite That Actually Annoy High-Level Thinkers

11 Phrases People Often Think Are Polite That Actually Annoy High-Level Thinkers

Published by Jenni Sidey

People often hope to convey respect with their manner by saying the right things. But what they may not always realize is that the words they use can be irritating to some people who think on a higher level. While some social interactions call for being more formal than others, it’s typically a good idea to maintain proper etiquette in your conversations. Still, there are very specific phrases people often think are polite that actually annoy high-level thinkers. Sometimes, people may try to seem as though they’re being generous or proper in their manner of speaking, while really, they come off as self-righteous or condescending. In cases like that, their politeness becomes becomes downright bothersome. And it’s not because it’s polite, it’s because it’s extremely fake, snobby, and comes from a person who thinks they’re superior to others. Here are 11 phrases people often think are polite that actually annoy high-level thinkers 1. ‘With all due respect’ Aloha Hawaii | Shutterstock It’s common to hear this phrase uttered during tense conversations or heated debates, when …

4 tiny USB-C accessories I keep in my bag that fix the most annoying phone problems

4 tiny USB-C accessories I keep in my bag that fix the most annoying phone problems

Published by skeptic

While a lot of tech is going wireless, there are still times when you need to connect with a cable. My phone is with me 24/7, as is the case with most people today. It keeps me connected to work, friends, and family, tells me what’s on my daily calendar, updates me on the weather, traffic, and social apps, and more. So, when there’s a problem with my phone, I want to fix it as quickly as possible. To accomplish this, I keep a few tiny USB-C accessories in my bag at all times so I never run into an issue without a solution. I use an iPhone, but with the iPhone 17 Pro and all iPhones starting with the iPhone 15, they use USB-C instead of the old Lightning connector. Meanwhile, every Android phone connects via USB-C. There are some wild things people plug into their phone’s charging port, but these accessories will come in handy no matter what phone you use. Related These Phone Accessories Seem Useless—but They’re Actually Genius Don’t judge a …

I use Google Photos daily—these 5 settings made it way less annoying

I use Google Photos daily—these 5 settings made it way less annoying

Published by skeptic

Google Photos has a lot of excellent features, including Cinematic Photos, animations and AI enhancements, a decent image editor and collage maker. But some features can be really annoying. For instance, I don’t want to see all my screenshots and GIFs in the library after they are backed up, hide specific photos from Memories that I would rather not see anymore, or the annoying Google printing service promotions in my feed. Fortunately, it was rather easy to turn off a lot of these annoyances once I knew where to look. Hide the clutter Screenshots, GIFs, and memes Tashreef Shareef / MakeUseOfCredit: Tashreef Shareef / MakeUseOf The Memories carousel at the top of Google Photos is meant to surface your best moments from years past. Mine often surfaces a meme I saved three years ago or a screenshot of a shipping confirmation. Not exactly the nostalgic trip Google intended. The problem is that Google Photos backs up everything from your gallery, including screenshots, downloaded images, and those GIFs you shared once and forgot about. They all end …

Body Language Signs That Reveal You’re Annoying Someone

Body Language Signs That Reveal You’re Annoying Someone

Published by Sam Flores

We’ve all been there: mid-story, mid-vent, mid-enthusiastic ramble, and suddenly the other person’s energy shifts. Their smile fades. Their eyes wander down to their phone. Their whole body seems to quietly scream: “Please stop.” Most of us don’t realise when we’re annoying someone. We just think we’re being ourselves. We might think we’re offering the type of advice our spouse really needs to hear right now. We think sharing our story from last night’s gym session is just as funny to our friend as it was to us. Or we might (wrongly) assume that filling the silence with the latest story about our cat is a welcomed icebreaker for our co-workers in the break room. But what might feel normal or relieving to us can feel like irritation to another. The thing about annoyance is that it’s rarely announced out loud. People – whether on the playground or in the office – are often too polite to say, “Hey, you’re annoying me right now.” Instead, it shows up through subtle changes in posture, facial expressions, …

How to stop annoying spam calls

How to stop annoying spam calls

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletterđź’ˇ Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Spam calls are the word, a waste of your time and a threat to your privacy and security. Unfortunately, they can be very effective and profitable for the scammers on the other end, which is why these unwanted calls persist. You can fight back through. Both Apple and Google have built anti-spam technologies. Apply some of these settings and features, and you should have fewer spam calls interrupting your day. If you’re on an iPhone Introduced in iOS 26, call screening will put a robot voice between you and unknown callers, asking them why they’re ringing. You’ll be able to see their response transcribed into text on your screen, and you can then decide whether or not to pick up. You can set this up by heading into Settings in iOS, then tapping Apps > Phone. Under Screen Unknown Callers, you’ve got three options: Never (calls will ring as normal), Ask Reason for Calling (the call screening feature), and …

3 Simple Habits That Make Marriage Less Annoying Than It Has To Be

3 Simple Habits That Make Marriage Less Annoying Than It Has To Be

Published by Jenni Sidey

Consider these two annoying marriage scenarios: 1. Dave has been married for 10 years. When he is away from his partner and thinks of her, he usually thinks about how she doesn’t help out around the house enough or about recent fights they’ve had. 2. Sarah has been in a relationship for six years. When she is away from her partner and thinks of her, most of the time she thinks fondly about past vacations or other positive (and even neutral) memories. In both of these scenarios, the crucial difference between Dave and Sarah is how positively or negatively they view their partner. Dave is showing signs of what renowned psychologists Drs. John and Julie Gottman call Negative Sentiment Override, while Sarah appears to be in Positive Sentiment Override. This means that their overarching view of their partner, and ultimately their relationship, is seen through either a positive or a negative lens. Positive Sentiment Override (PSO) or the Positive Perspective is something that couples can work on every day. Having a Positive Perspective of your …