this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2023
1597 points (98.5% liked)

Mildly Infuriating

35562 readers
1647 users here now

Home to all things "Mildly Infuriating" Not infuriating, not enraging. Mildly Infuriating. All posts should reflect that.

I want my day mildly ruined, not completely ruined. Please remember to refrain from reposting old content. If you post a post from reddit it is good practice to include a link and credit the OP. I'm not about stealing content!

It's just good to get something in this website for casual viewing whilst refreshing original content is added overtime.


Rules:

1. Be Respectful


Refrain from using harmful language pertaining to a protected characteristic: e.g. race, gender, sexuality, disability or religion.

Refrain from being argumentative when responding or commenting to posts/replies. Personal attacks are not welcome here.

...


2. No Illegal Content


Content that violates the law. Any post/comment found to be in breach of common law will be removed and given to the authorities if required.

That means: -No promoting violence/threats against any individuals

-No CSA content or Revenge Porn

-No sharing private/personal information (Doxxing)

...


3. No Spam


Posting the same post, no matter the intent is against the rules.

-If you have posted content, please refrain from re-posting said content within this community.

-Do not spam posts with intent to harass, annoy, bully, advertise, scam or harm this community.

-No posting Scams/Advertisements/Phishing Links/IP Grabbers

-No Bots, Bots will be banned from the community.

...


4. No Porn/ExplicitContent


-Do not post explicit content. Lemmy.World is not the instance for NSFW content.

-Do not post Gore or Shock Content.

...


5. No Enciting Harassment,Brigading, Doxxing or Witch Hunts


-Do not Brigade other Communities

-No calls to action against other communities/users within Lemmy or outside of Lemmy.

-No Witch Hunts against users/communities.

-No content that harasses members within or outside of the community.

...


6. NSFW should be behind NSFW tags.


-Content that is NSFW should be behind NSFW tags.

-Content that might be distressing should be kept behind NSFW tags.

...


7. Content should match the theme of this community.


-Content should be Mildly infuriating.

-At this time we permit content that is infuriating until an infuriating community is made available.

...


8. Reposting of Reddit content is permitted, try to credit the OC.


-Please consider crediting the OC when reposting content. A name of the user or a link to the original post is sufficient.

...

...


Also check out:

Partnered Communities:

1.Lemmy Review

2.Lemmy Be Wholesome

3.Lemmy Shitpost

4.No Stupid Questions

5.You Should Know

6.Credible Defense


Reach out to LillianVS for inclusion on the sidebar.

All communities included on the sidebar are to be made in compliance with the instance rules.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Why are you so bent about this?

Again, how old are you? Do you actually remember this time? I gave one anecdote, but ask literally anyone my age and they’ll say the same. You certainly know people my age, don’t take my word for it, ask them what sleepovers were like before and after cable tv became a thing. Everyone my age remembers a massive shift, especially with Showtime.

With/without cable wasn’t an easy change. Lots of people didn’t accept it easily because it seemed technically complex. That’s part of why my family was an early adopter: my dad was an aerospace engineer, so it was a no-brainier.

The televisions sold in the late 70s were not set up for cable, so you needed a cable box and to configure your tv a certain way – typically by setting one of your two dials to channel 2, 4, or I think UHF 12 (?it’s been a while, but it depended on your tv, and you’d have an auxiliary dongle, too), you had to plug a cable box into your tv (which was nowhere near as simple as now), and then maybe sacrifice a goat. I joke, but the wiring out of the back of those things wasn’t easy. It wasn’t clear ports with matching inputs, but more like in the back of old school audio speakers, but more of them.

That doesn’t sound hard, but for most people the tv was a magic box that pictures came out of. These were your grandparents, they weren’t good at technology.

The majority of channels had ads because, again, they were just the same channels as without cable.

In the late 80s, yeah. That’s after what I’m talking about. It sounds like you’re talking about the era of Nickelodeon and the height of Showtime/Cinemax porn. I’m talking about more than a decade before that.

Yes, by that point, cable had settled into the subscription + ad model I’m saying was the down slide. I’m talking about way before that, when it hadn’t yet devolved.

Again, I’m not making this up, and I kinda wonder what you think my motivation would be to do so, but I’m very curious how old you are and if you’re just going on things you’ve read or if you were alive for this.

e: clarification

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

. As an aside, I have to ask: Did you ever get sent up to the roof by your parents after a storm to reset the antenna? Or be the unpaid holder of the rabbit ears by the TV, moving this way and that so your old man could watch his game with the least amount of snow and rolling horizontal lines? I did.

I was a weird nerd, and some of my fondest memories are helping my dad do engine work on our wood-sided station wagon (I was such a cliché) and going with him to the tv shop to pick up vacuum tubes for the tv after a loud pop and faint waft of smoke, then shimmying ass-upwards on the wall like spider man to hold the flashlight at the correct angle whilst my dad pulled the particle-board (I think, maybe cardboard) back off the television and taught me what every single part inside did.

Best time of my young life, hands down.

e: I’ve never been afraid of technology or learning things in my adult life. Thanks, dad.
(And if you’re raising your child like this, thank you. You’re helping to make good people that way.)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

almost the size of a couch, so I have no idea what was on the back of it because I could never have moved it.

Oh yeah! Exactly! Mine was very similar to this, but a bit narrower. It was a behemoth, plus the cord was very short.

Thus the shimmying ass-upwards to hold the torch. There was scant space back there, and making more was work.

it was probably masonite or some kind of hard board on the back of the tv

I think you’re right. It was a dark, dense, and very thick board, but not actual wood. I had a radio or clock or something with the same backing, now you mention it. I hadn’t paid much attention except it was thicker than the ikea shit, lol.

And plugging a bad fuse with a penny,

Wait, what? I completely missed that growing up.

Brb.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's dangerous as hell, but it's something people used to do on knob and tube wiring in old houses.

Christ on a bike, don’t say shit like that to me – my house was built in 1886. O.o

Codes changed after any number of fires…

Just keeps getting worse from there. Some outlets in this place have seen all the world wars.

There are more efficient ways to give me a heart attack, you know.

BTW, I think your detractor is probably too scared to take me on

I think you’re right. I was sticking around for the next volley of meme-facts, but it looks like the match has been called. :)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

It’s all good, lol.

I’ve been here for 20 years. If this place was gonna immolate me, it’s had plenty of chances.

Thanks for the info about what to look for, though!

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

I was sticking around for the next volley of meme-facts, but it looks like the match has been called.

Sorry if I have to sleep at night I guess?

"Meme-facts"... Sorry if I provide actual sources instead of relying on personal feelings and experience.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

BTW, I think your detractor is probably too scared to take me on

You sound just like a COVID denier, hope you realise that? "My experience is true, people who researched the subject and found sources from those in the industry are wrong. Let me show you with anecdotes instead of sources to back my point!"

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

deleted by creator

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

In the late 80s, yeah. That’s after what I’m talking about.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/rise-cable-television

https://www.cablecompare.com/blog/the-complete-history-of-cable-tv

https://www.ncta.com/cables-story

No, I'm talking about before the 70s when cable exclusive didn't exist, the only "exclusives" that existed before then was signal from far away local stations that wouldn't otherwise be accessible with regular antennas, but they were still channels available without cable in their local community. Heck, the FCC ended up forcing cable companies to carry local stations!

Also the number of subscribers might have been lower, but the number of TVs too. Cable subscribers before the 70s still represented a high enough portion of TV watchers that local stations put pressure on the FCC to regulate it.

HBO launched in 72, in 1980 there was 28 cable exclusive networks vs a multitude of local stations.

Why are you so bent about this?

Because I'm tried of seeing people who were kids or not even born back then pretend that it was better than it truly was. Facts are important and "the point of cable TV was to not have ads" isn't a fact, it's a lie that started from people who remember wrong (or only watched the few ads free channels because they were kids and uninterested in local TV or didn't live it at all) when it's extremely easy to prove the contrary. Heck, your parents would be the ones who could say considering they were the ones who decided to subscribe, not you.