The minor rants thread.
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Is "Which" the correct word to use in that first sentence? It feels weird for some reason...
If two witches watched two watches which witch would watch which watch?
Also:
Substantiate the way wherupon the relationship between the two fundamental concepts concerning oscillations henceforth described under the labels of "cycle duration" and "frequency" is based.
filed under: Have I mangled the English language enough? Or is there still room for... erm, "improvements"?
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Of course, when I gave the UPS computer my tracking number and it then connected me to an human operator, it did not forward the number as well, making it a bit pointless...
I used to enter my tracking number and everything when I had to contact UPS. Now I just keep hitting "0" until I get a human because it doesn't freaking matter anyway.
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it doesn't freaking matter anyway.
Yeah. At AT&T they were working on getting the IVR more intelligent and submitting data to be processed by the agent in the WorkFlow which would automatically skip troubleshooting steps done recently (either online, by TV, or via phone), to save time. It was... kinda functional.
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"Which is the relationship between cycle duration and the frequency?"
"It's complicated"
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Trying to debug a website that cheerfully serves up its error page under a 200.
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Trying to debug a website that cheerfully serves up its error page under a 200.
Of course it does. It probably also does the same for everything else.
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It does serve the 404-specific Error page under a 404. I checked.
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OK, that's surprising. Usually if a site is incompetent at one aspect, they're incompetent at all of them simultaneously…
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@Rhywden said:
"Which is the relationship between cycle duration and the frequency?"
"It's complicated"
Thanks for reminding me. That was an actual answer.
I hate my life right now.
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"Which is the relationship between cycle duration and the frequency?"
Depends. Does she get menstrual leave?
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And once again a tale from the wonderful land of "how do we fuck over teachers by using architecture".
Background: Hamburg has chosen to privatize the ownership of school buildings which means that our school does not belong to "us". I'm not sure on which level this makes sense because I myself am not seeing the big advantages.
I mean, the renovated science building has a problem with the heating for weeks now - the problem being that the heaters are running at full tilt all the time. Which in turn requires us to open at least two windows in each room even when it's -5 °C outside.
The company doesn't seem to have a problem with that (in fact, when asked about it concerning the other building with a different set of problems regarding heat and air, we were told that there is no way to actually measure our school's energy consumption - it is measured, yes, but no one seems to know how to pull the data for a single school out of the aggregate numbers.)
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Then, my new electronic "Supposed-To-Be-SMART" board arrived on monday and was mounted to the wall yesterday on the wall facing the pupils. For that they had to move the old green board to the side which for some reason unbeknownst to me had been mounted where the smartboard was supposed to go.
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Furthermore, in the chemistry lab we have an extra light for the green board. Before the renovation, this light was controlled by a switch which resided where all the other switches were as well. This switch is now non-functional and the actual switch is hidden (yes, hidden. We first thought the light was broken because we didn't find the new switch) behind a board on the other end of the room.
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The gas supply is still not working because the only ordered the needed parts when we stepped on their toes.
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We got a new table for experiments in the preparation lab. No one seems to know who is responsible for wiring it up.
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The physics repository is still wide open with no means to lock it because it has become a fire escape.
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The biology lab's light switches are now at 3(three) wildly different positions in the room with a motion sensor thrown into the mix.
Now, today was the grand inspections by the bureaucratic corporate asshats responsible for this mess. They started in my physics rooms and whined about the (small) drilling holes in the floor due to the green board which had been moved. When I told them that I had requested this positioning, I was accused of not telling the proper people about it.
This did not amuse me.
Then I showed them the idiocy in the chemistry lab. Whereupon I was told that "this was requested this way in the contract". When I asked who actually requested this, I received a non-answer and that I should have talked to my principal!
Yes. Next time I'll list not only what should be changed but also everything that should not be changed. It makes perfect sense to take a working switch, disable it and put the replacement onto the equivalent of Abu Dhabi!
That was when I became sarcastic and told the bunch of nitwits that maybe, just maybe it would be a clever idea to actually talk to the people who have to work in the messes they create.
"That's not in the contract!"
I became slightly unfriendly afterwards.
This repeated in the physics lab when I asked them what ideas they had to restrict access to the (expensive and dangerous) equipment.
"This is a fire escape! Do you want people to burn?"
I almost answered: "Currently? Yes, I can easily think of several people I'd like to burn. In fact, I have everything I need right here... would you mind standing still for a sec so I can aim properly?"
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So, just went through an ordeal you might call a bit kafkaesk.
What happened? Well, a minor thing, really. Something that happens to my pupils often enough, first time for me, though.
My mobile fell out of my pocket while standing up and hit the ground with the backplate. This shock due to about 40 cm of falling sufficed to break the actual display inside the glass. The (Gorilla) glass itself was just fine. That was new to me as well, I mean, I had seen the other way around often enough - but intact glass and cracked display?[...]
Following up on this:
Well, the original email I got upon sending in my mobile was: "The expected repair duration is between 7 and 12 days." (Please note: It explicitly states "days", not "working days".)
The receipt from UPS states that my mobile was received on February, the 22nd. If you look at the date, we're a bit beyond 12 days now.
So I griped at them a bit only to receive non-answers.
"Well, the technicians need to examine it a bit!" - "Yes. The display is broken. What exactly is there to examine? Do you employ blind technicians or what?"
That's when I was told that the actual duration for repairs could take 20 working days. Great, guys. A whole month. To replace a display for which service several shops in my vicinity advertise: "Display exchange in 30 minutes!"
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I fixed the display on my Lumia 1020, when I've never opened up it or any other cellphone in my life, in about 30 minutes. (However, the replacement part cost $150. So keep that in mind. My biggest hitch/delay was the instructional video I was using said it was a number 4 TORX screwdriver, and it was actually a number 5. Or vice-versa, I no longer remember.)
Of course I don't know how easier other phones are to work on, but man, those Lumia phones, even all-thumbs Blakeyrat can fix the display in no time at all.
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Yes, I would have considered that, save for the fact that there seem no replacement screens to be had at the moment (or at least at the time I sent it in).
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I was happy with Fixez: https://www.fixez.com/nokia-lumia-1020-display-assembly-lcd-touch-screen
The price of my phone's screen has gone way down for some reason, huh.
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Does anyone know who to scan a fucking JPG to PDF without magic programs
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Just get CutePDF or something and print the jpg.
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Just looked - they don't have parts either. And browsing through two German speaking forums, some people with similar problems were not really enamoured with the repair process either.
Damn.
I'm currently trying to figure out how to tell those jokers that I'm exactly the kind of person they don't want to piss off. I have established myself as the resident nerd at my school which means that I'm asked regularly by my colleagues for advice regarding technology. My word has weight, plus I was the one who proposed buying and cast the deciding vote for a bunch of Surface Pros. Just last week I was asked by a colleague if I could recommend the Lumia line of phones.
Plus, aside from my colleagues, there are my pupils to consider. Considering how they have a quasi-symbiotic relationship with their phones, what do you think they'll say when I tell them: "Oh, it's a nice device unless you have a hardware problem. Then you'll have to deal at least a month without it."
They'll still not care. And then they'll wonder why their sales resemble a lead baloon.
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I've just started my own business.
So far it has had a lot of:
- Scanning
- Printing
Most of this was to prove that I who I said I was.
Now, my scanner natural orientation was the wrong way round for everything and I had to flip every scan.
Emailing the proof I couldn't exceed 1MB so I emailed the link to my domain which was fine ... but surely that misses the point.
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I'm currently trying to figure out how to tell those jokers that I'm exactly the kind of person they don't want to piss off.
Oh good, an Internet Tough Guy.
I have established myself as the resident nerd at my school which means that I'm asked regularly by my colleagues for advice regarding technology. My word has weight, plus I was the one who proposed buying and cast the deciding vote for a bunch of Surface Pros. Just last week I was asked by a colleague if I could recommend the Lumia line of phones.
It's like that shop reviewer in the MST3K movie Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders. "My reviews have destroyed entire cities!!!"
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they have a quasi-symbiotic relationship with their phones
Mutualistic, commensalistic, amensalistic, or parasitic?
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All of the above, at times.
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I may not have made myself clear: I'm quite aware that I on my own won't change anything.
But pissing off several people like me will have an impact.
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But pissing off several people like me will have an impact.
Not to the customer service drone you'll be talking to.
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And another follow up:
The "up to 20 working days" should be revised to "exactly 20 working days". The person in the callcenter for this repair shop just told me that my device is ready for shipping (the website, of course, does not reflect this in any way).
My new device. I'm not sure what led them to replace the whole thing outright but about this, at least, I shan't complain. Maybe it's a desperation move because they still don't have spare displays and don't know how else to get rid of me?
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@Rhywden Aaaaaand another follow-up.
I was to receive my phone by UPS today. Due to some address problems (which I think I detailed above), I had told those jokers in Hungary repeatedly that the return address should be changed to my home address.
I just logged into my UPS account and saw the notice "Action requested" beside my tracking number (at least I got that one by email - the support website still says: Out for delivery without a tracking number).
"The address is wrong." Well, colour me surprised, I certainly didn't see that one coming.
So I called UPS support and they told me that those jokers a) used the old address and b) were not even able to include my name (instead using "mail addr").
So, this evening I'll drive (again) to the UPS main facility here in Hamburg (30 km from where I live), present my ID card and some credentials that I do indeed work at the address listed on the package and hope to Glod that this is it.
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More of a minor
than a rant, but it doesn't deserve a topic of its own, so this is as good a place for it as any.Heard on the radio: A software company advertising job openings for programmers. (Are they offering such low pay or are they so bad to work for that they're desperate? Why radio rather than something more targeted at tech?) Resumes to be submitted on paper via snail mail.
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@Rhywden said in The minor rants thread.:
(30 km from where I live
In Texas, we call that "going to the convenience store" as we ride there on a horse.
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@FrostCat said in The minor rants thread.:
@Rhywden said in The minor rants thread.:
(30 km from where I live
In Texas, we call that "going to the convenience store" as we ride there on a horse.
In this case, it involves driving through the Elbtunnel, a long tunnel under the river Elbe, which serves as a bottleneck. The traffic jams it regularly generates are the stuff of legends.
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@Rhywden said in The minor rants thread.:
In this case, it involves driving through the Elbtunnel, a long tunnel under the river Elbe, which serves as a bottleneck. The traffic jams it regularly generates are the stuff of legends.
Traffic jam avoidance? There's a MUCH better reason to avoid the trip. If I were @blakeyrat, this is where I'd make a snide comment about how you should lead with the important information.
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Some of you may remember me asking how to crop an SVG some time ago. Well, I looked at it some more and discovered that there are a lot of people who think that "clipping" and "cropping" are the same thing.
Up to the point where those guys completely drown out anyone who really and actually wants to crop something and not merely hide the overflow in a mask or viewport.
So I resigned myself to rolling my own until it hit me that OpenStreetMaps is open source. And since I'll be using that map material anyway, why not have a look at how they are doing that? After all, they do have the exact feature I want - exporting parts of a map to SVG.
Turns out, the tool is called "mapnik".
And, boy, is it ever fun to install.
The first VM I created used Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. Well, the installation instructions told me to add their repository to sources and simply
apt-get update. Which failed with a bunch of 404s - well, 16.04 is still new, they're forgiven.So, second VM with 14.04 LTS. Added repo to sources,
apt-get updateworks and now I can install the packages... only that I can't because thepython-mapnikpackage has a dependency issue for 1 year now and they couldn't be bothered to update the instructions. I should just build that package from sources, according to a GoogleGroups mailing list entry.Okay, so if I'm building from source anyway, why not build everything from source? No dependency issues there and the instructions surely can't fail?
Only thing: I need to make sure that a "boost" library is of the proper version. So, another repo to sources added,
apt-get updateagain and...... fuck me. No, fuck them:
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@chubertdev That's quite hilarious because mine are exactly the opposite. Normally I show up late, have a leisurely 30 minutes to figure out a reasonable plan and then it goes to hell. Ultimately the day crescendos into an increasingly feverish cacophony of inane questioning until I literally walk away for the day.
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@darth_llama It's a good thing @chubertdev will have a good reference to whatever it is you're talking about.
I think this counts as a new definition to necroing a thread? Or perhaps necro-ing a conversation...
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Reading past exams on the course I'm teaching for inspiration. Here are some tips for future exam constructors:
- Spell check your exam!
- Proofread your exam. Make sure that the critical phrase you're asking for is the right one and not an unfortunate misspelling.
- If you have True or False-questions, make sure that each statement is either true or false. Not "it depends on how you interpret the question", and certainly not "it's true in my head, and you ought to know this".
- Unless you think them through thoroughly, T/F-questions are a really crude measure of understanding.
- If you ask the students to model two concepts, make sure both concepts are presented in text. Not "A Phone can be of two types. Smartphone and" (and expect that later on in the text the students will figure out that the other type of phone is a keypad phone (note; not a feature-phone, which I believe is the commonly accepted term)).
- NOBODY GIVES A SHIT ABOUT THE FINER POINTS OF FORMALISM IN UML! Not even on an exam. It makes absolutely no difference to the students' understanding of the subject, and they are never going to use that distinction in real life. And (shock of all shocks!) the world will not explode if they were to use the wrong word in the wrong context.
- Why would a student ever have to regurgitate, from memory, the fifteen fields required to write an expanded design contract? They are not going to document their design contracts anyway, let alone with fifteen ridiculous attributes. All this question tests is memory recall and NOTHING about understanding.
- If you want to include hints to the students as to what they should answer on a question, make sure that these hints refer to something that they can find either in the course books or on the lecture slides. Not a term that you just invented.
- Mark exams based on the students' understanding, not based on what your personal shoulder aliens say is correct.
Sheeit. It's no wonder this course has had such a low pass-through rate. On some questions I think that a random answer would have been better than trying to figure out what the examiner thinks ought to be correct.
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@Tsaukpaetra said in The minor rants thread.:
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WTH? When did I post this?
This doesn't seem to match my tone at all...
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@Mikael_Svahnberg said in The minor rants thread.:
NOBODY GIVES A SHIT ABOUT THE FINER POINTS OF FORMALISM IN UML!
If you use UML as a formal thing, then you're writing code twice and discarding the first copy.
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@ben_lubar said in The minor rants thread.:
If you use UML as a formal thing
It's a trick. Nobody does that.
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@dkf @Mikael_Svahnberg did the three of us just try to argue exactly the same point to each other?
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@ben_lubar said in The minor rants thread.:
@dkf @Mikael_Svahnberg did the three of us just try to argue exactly the same point to each other?
Yes, but I was frist!
And this particular teacher does just that: focus on formal specification of UML. He teaches software design by going though the grammar -- because he doesn't know first thing about actual design.
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@Mikael_Svahnberg said in The minor rants thread.:
He teaches software design by going though the grammar -- because he doesn't know first thing about actual design.
Obviously not one of the ones who can do. Or one of the ones who can teach it sounds like…
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@ben_lubar said in The minor rants thread.:
you're writing code twice and discarding the first copy.
I hear that's the best way to work out the design...
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@Yamikuronue why use two languages, then?
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One of our collaborative projects has just had one of the groups involved propose that whenever there's a change to the website, a document should be written up in a standard template first describing what is to be changed (both in summary and in detail) and what the likely impact of that change on the site will be. That document will then be circulated to the project's website change management board who will meet regularly to decide which proposed changes will be implemented.
The head of our group had a response to this: “NOPE!”
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@dkf said in The minor rants thread.:
a document should be written up in a standard template first describing what is to be changed (both in summary and in detail) and what the likely impact of that change on the site will be. That document will then be circulated to the project's website change management board who will meet regularly to decide which proposed changes will be implemented.
Oh? So you've seen our SDLC process? Welcome to 2004!
@dkf said in The minor rants thread.:
The head of our group had a response to this: “NOPE!”
Lucky you live in good times, we've been suffering under the SDLC for more than a decade...
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@dkf said in The minor rants thread.:
a document should be written up in a standard template first describing what is to be changed (both in summary and in detail) and what the likely impact of that change on the site will be. That document will then be circulated to the project's website change management board who will meet regularly to decide which proposed changes will be implemented.
So... a standard change review process?
The Phoenix Project has a good case study of what those should be accomplishing and how simple and straightforward the change description can be.
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@Yamikuronue said in The minor rants thread.:
The Phoenix Project has a good case study of what those should be accomplishing and how simple and straightforward the change description can be.
We're going with a process which can be called “someone makes an edit to the page, and the site editor gets to decide whether the edit is published or not”. That's got the key reason for having a process in the first place (some people are significantly error-prone when it comes to this sort of thing) without the whole seeking-permission-for-everything-ahead-of-time vibe, and there's software which implements it already so it's really easy to do in practice.
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Situation: Partner A resells our software, branded with their name. They recentlyish rewrote it in .Net, requiring me to rewrite our interface to their software in .Net. They have a client, B, who's anxious to get the interface working. For reasons I don't want to digress into at the moment, I need the help of a developer in A to compile my DLL. An A employee who's a client rep has been bugging me about when I will have it, and I made the mistake of telling her the name of the A dev who's been working with me, so bright and early this morning she emailed him to pester him to get the compilation done. Now I won't be able to in the future tell her when I'm waiting on him.
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Situation: long-time big corporate client starts fussing that a report they run regularly "seems to be printing [some data] backwards." In this case, they think the old and new data are swapped on a change report. We tell 'em basically they're wrong (because pretty much every client uses this report more or less weekly and nobody has ever noticed this issue before, and it'd definitely be noticeable if it were actually happening), although it can seem like that under certain circumstances; basically if someone makes a change, backs it out, and then makes another change, to the same piece of data, the report COULD look strange. The other thing that could happen is that the program that generates the report could actually do unintuitive things. So one of my coworkers sends them an email yesterday saying "let's do a GoToMeeting and I'll explain how it works and how you can interpret the audit trail to see what happened, and understand why the report gives you the output it does." This morning, first thing, I get an email that says "When I asked corporate to join on the GoToMeeting, they started looking into the issue. They think they may know what is going on. I am waiting to hear back from them before we schedule this meeting".
Uh-huh. I'll just bet.
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@FrostCat said in The minor rants thread.:
Uh-huh. I'll just bet.
No breath-holding is occurring, I hope? ;)
