@Kian - this is to avoid you hunting down and killing those who have wronged you on the forums
lordofduct
@lordofduct
Best posts made by lordofduct
-
RE: Downvoting doesn't show who downvoted, funky behavior when there are downvotes and upvotes
-
RE: In which the banks encourage people not to click on links in unexpected emails
Used to bank with Wachovia, bought out by Wells Fargo, and after that I left them.
One day I get a phone call claiming they're from my bank and trying to sell me on opening a savings account with them, and all they need is my bank account info and we can open it up right now over the phone...
... yes, this doesn't sound fishy...
Furthermore I already had a savings account with them, so what, they want me to open up yet another one?
I don't do it of course, and hang up. I then do a reverse lookup on the phone number, and it turns out to be the address of my bank right around the corner. So wait... was this legit? Or did someone spoof their number?
So I shoot an email to customer support informing them of the fact. Explaining that either if this were them that's very bad taste in security, teaching customers it's OK to just hand out account information over the phone to people that called them with no confirmation of who they are... or that worse, there's someone in the area spoofing their phone number and phishing for personal account information.
1 day later, I get a form email response slightly modified to me (name replaced, that sort), explaining that I should never respond to emails asking me for my account information.
Yay, they didn't read my email.
So I called their support line.
They proceeded to yell at me, call me a liar, and that I was out to slander them...
I cancelled my account immediately and moved to the credit union my girlfriend uses.
-
RE: Programming Confessions Thread
@cartman82 said in Programming Confessions Thread:
I once ran over a man with my car. It was night and I was drunk. I dragged the body into a ditch and drove off. I can only bring myself to talk about this in anonymous confession threads like this.
I was about to ask if you were Tim ******, this guy I know who did the very same thing.
But then again, he's serving prison time for it, so I don't suspect forums are the only place that he confesses this.
Dude man hit a guy coming out of a restaurant, dragged him into the bushes, ditched the guys bike a while further down behind a mcdonalds, then proceeded to return to the scene of the accident still covered in the dude's blood and stand around with the crowd all like "what happened!?"
But then again, this post is 2 years ago... so maybe!?
Tim! I had no idea you were into programming!!!
-
RE: How did you start hating opensource?
@HardwareGeek said in How did you start hating opensource?:
@blakeyrat said in How did you start hating opensource?:
it's demonstrably not better at any of the things I value in software.
Your value system is clearly different from that of the thousands of people who do find value in OSS software. That doesn't necessarily mean you're completely wrong, but as you've noticed, you're going to have a hard time convincing people who see value that you don't that they're wrong.
This appears to be @blakeyrat 's problem.
He sees no value in something... therefore it has no value.
"I'm not attracted to redheads, therefore redheads are ugly and should never be party to a sexual relation."
-
RE: Strategy Letter VI (Joel on Software)
@blakeyrat said in Strategy Letter VI (Joel on Software):
@Jarry It's just so fucking frustrating. You don't need to give counter-examples to a generalization.
And if you'd actually traveled all around South America, I'd think you'd be the one applauding my effort to get these numbskulls to think of the world outside their tiny little first-world mindset to think about the other 5 billion people in the world.
But whatever. Go into a forum and correct all the generalizations. Why not make this place as annoying as possible to post in. Knock yourself out.
You're quite the cunt aren't you.
Great job at getting us "numbskulls to think of the world outside" our own... by stating a false statement about a complete continent. And then when someone FROM that continent corrects you, you act like they're the dick head.
Hrmm.... lets see how hard this would have been to even research before even typing in your numbskullery in an attempt to culture us plebes.
Global average - 5.1
Argentina - 4.2
Bolivia - 1.8
Brazil - 3.6
Chile - 5.7
Colombia - 4.2
Ecuador - 4.1
Paraguay - 1.5
Peru - 4.4
Uruguay - 5.9
Venezuala - 1.5
...And that's the average, not the peak. Peaks through out South America get into the 40's.
And I didn't have to travel around all of South America for that... I just had to look at numbers from people who did.
I mean fuck, you take a offense because @Jarry started their post with "Uhm"? Are you fucking kidding me? Your skin must be soft as lilies you fucking wimp. But it's ok to refer to all of us as uncultured numbskulls?
-
RE: Anonymous ex-Microsoft coder on what it's like to work on Windows 10
@cartman82 said in Anonymous ex-Microsoft coder on what it's like to work on Windows 10:
A random thing I stumbled upon on reddit:
He dropped just enough juicy details to make the rant believable.
If half the things revealed are true.... holy shit.
Sounds like the ranting of a greenie...
started job working in UI
was told a simple method for adding controls to the UI without getting explained the why it's done this way because everyone else is too damn busy to hold the persons hand through it
person interprets lack of hand holding as 'no one knows what they're doing'
can't figure out why his copy pasted code doesn't work, but never bothers to read said copy-pasted code
shows to more experience colleague, said colleague points out issue with code. It's that the indexing is buggered because a new entry was inserted. Colleague knows how to solve problem, evidence that they DO know how things work.
must then run code through custom toolchain to compile (pretty normal... you ARE building a fucking OS afterall)
None of this sounds all that weird to me.
Frustrating for the new guy? Oh hell yeah! I've gotten frustrated in the first few months at a place trying to figure out wtf is this or that while everyone else is too busy to hold my hand so I just have to dive in and read lines of code hoping that I trip over some documentation on the way.
Does this suck? Oh fuck yeah it sucks.
But it's not completely bizarre.
This is the nature of a large product like a fucking operating system.
Digging around any other operating system isn't any god damn easier!
-
RE: How did you start hating opensource?
@blakeyrat said in How did you start hating opensource?:
@anonymous234 Are either of those two things worth the years of struggling with shitty unfinished software? I would say no. Also:
@anonymous234 said in How did you start hating opensource?:
And if the vendor goes bankrupt, you can find someone else to maintain your code. Or you can find someone to make you a customized version if you need it.
Have you ever done this? Have you ever heard of anybody ever doing this?
Well, first and foremost, most examples would be with some enterprise setting that you would be unaware of. I could tell you of the various companies I've worked at that over the decades of operation had to rewrite systems because 3rd party vendors went out of business, cross their fingers that a new organization would purchase up the IP and continue maintaining it, and have gotten into a practice of using open-source so as to avoid such scenarios, and even had to utilize that fact since going with OSS options.
But would that suffice for you? You probably would have never heard of the company since they're enterprise and serve a small niche in the market that IF you've heard of them... you wouldn't be making this argument.
The consumer facing realm though, it's not as obvious. The consumer facing realm is dominated with proprietary software... because consumers don't want to support their own software. They pay for the luxury of the company who produces their software to support it.
Which is a valid argument for the usefulness of proprietary software! I'm not arguing against it at all (some others may be).
But that doesn't negate what I just said. Just because you're unaware of the usefulness of it... doesn't mean it poofs away from existence.
-
RE: Is Your Brain a Democrat or Republican?
Sometimes I'm taken back when I have to explain the slang that is part of my upbringing that I think everyone just knows.
Another that took me off guard was the word "packey". Where I'm from in western mass and norther connecticut, we say "package store" instead of "liquor store", and "packey" for short.
I no longer live up there thoug, and down here in Florida I still say it all the time.
I'm out with a friend of mine, and I say "Oh, I gotta just stop in at duh packey real quick" and turn into the liquor store. I run in, grab a bottle of vodka, come back and continue on down the road.
She responds as I pull out of the plaza, "I thought you were stopping at the convenience store..."
"Huh? No, I said I was going to the packey, the liquor store."
"OHHHH, the packey is the liquor store!? All these years I thought you meant the convenience store."
"What?"
"Yeah, I thought you meant Paki... like Pakistani. For convenience store. I just assumed you were racist."
"WHAT? No... you're racist!"
-
RE: 10 questions to determine familiarity with C++
@Kian - So how I personally go about interviews, if I had to implement it as a 10 question quiz (I'm going to allow short answer questions, because some just need it)
Part 1 - determine logical abilities (language independent)
Your first few questions could be logics based. One of my favourites is:
There is a deck of cards on one side of which are letters, and the other side of which are numbers. There is 1 rule:
if a card has a vowel, the number on the other side must be an even number
4 cards are dealt in random order/facing:E 4 5 L
What fewest cards would you need to flip over to verify the rule is true?
The nice thing about this puzzle is that the answer isn't just right or wrong. You can be right, sort of right, wrong, or way wrong. Depending on the answer you can have a nice bar to work with, like if they said E, 4 and 5, they're really close, they just flipped on unnecessary card. But they obvsly had the right idea in mind.
Part 2 - understanding of design and problem solving
Again, language ambiguous. Maybe even just psuedo-code.
But have a couple questions that either make a person decide how the problem should be solved, and have some code that they should identify what it's attempting to do and why... you could easily pull something from your own library of code for this, but reformat it as psuedo-code and strip out any sensitive bits.
Part 3 - actual language knowledge
C++ knowledge is freaking hard to gauge in the skill range you're looking for... not sure what you're bar is.
I wouldn't be asking inheritance problems, or basic "structs have public fields by default, classes don't" type stuff. But rather the things that trip people up.
Big one... pointers. Time and time again, people fuck up pointers. A good pointer question might be setting up a linked list. Honestly you could integrate this into Part 2... have a type that has a 'next' pointer for setting up a linked list, and see if the person notices what the purpose of it is. I'd consider this rudimentary enough for a junior I'd want, while at the same time not be so complicated that even good programmers on a bad day might overlook into in the stress of answering a interview quiz.
part 4 - during interview, evaluate aptitude and desire to learn
Honestly, this is a BIG one to me.
If a developer is not active in some community (even frivolously like hanging out here), or actively seeks out new languages, ideas, or expanding their knowledge in tangential fields... they're not worth my time.
When I meet that programmer who knows 1 or 2 languages, and sees no point in learning others, I'm concerned. I get being masterful in only 1 or 2 languages because that's all your jobs demanded of you at that point... but have you tinkered in anything else???
This one has wiggle room and doesn't fit on a quiz. But should definitely be brought up in an interview.
-
RE: 10 questions to determine familiarity with C++
@Yamikuronue said in 10 questions to determine familiarity with C++:
@accalia said in 10 questions to determine familiarity with C++:
i was asked if i wrote a language i havent heard of before, i answered " Not yet, give me a book and a weekend though, and i'll give it a shot"
I once did well in an interview looking for a VB.NEt programmer and only knowing C#.Net. I told them that, but then I had to answer a big written test about VB peculiarities. I bluffed my way through it and advanced, but I ended up taking another position before the second interview.
Lol, similar thing happened to me.
Was in an interview for a gig and they told me it was VB, and they had a test for me to take in VB.
I told them I know .Net well, just not VB, and if it was cool I use MSDN for it.
Pulled up MSDN, read through the syntax real quick, blew through the test.
They hired me because even with having to learn the language, I beat all the other applicants times by an hour (a fucking hour... which is absurd, the test was stupid).
Latest posts made by lordofduct
-
RE: Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb
@sloosecannon said in Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb:
@lordofduct said in Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb:
@sloosecannon said in Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb:
@lordofduct said in Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb:
They're 10 dollar an hour kids fresh on the job site and just thrown the keys.
Lol maybe where you live they are.....
Where do you live?
If it's in the US, I bet you anything it's along those lines. New York for example most ambulances are ran by private companies that hire on primarily EMTs and a handful of paramedics.
Surprisingly, where I live, Florida... it's better. Ambulances are part of the fire department and aren't often private companies and are staffed with higher trained people.
I find this ironic since Florida is known for its privatization, corruption, and general lack of state funding. While New York is no for its liberal, well funded, nanny state.
Ohio. Most of the private ambulance companies are staffed by retired public paramedics, so they've got plenty of experience. Plus they usually have both the driver and the guy in the back get the same training so they can do each others' jobs (or help in a big emergency)
Hrmmm
It appears EMTs average 14 dollars an hour in Ohio (like I guessed).
They are licensed by the national EMT registry (same standards as most other states).
Sure, you may have some retired parameds running around as well in your town. But I highly doubt there's enough retired med staff sitting around to fill the highly demanding job of EMT work. Especially if private companies can hire younger EMTs at a lower rate... especially since it's 14 an hour.
And I repeat again, the crux of my point.
THEY'RE NOT TRAINED DRIVERS!
They're trained in medicine, not driving.
I was a truck driver, I was trained in driving, I can drive most any vehicle you can throw at me outside of military stuff like tanks (my dad could though). They're medical staff who happen to drive. They didn't take 6 months or more of driving training, clock thousands of miles of driving in extreme conditions... they were thrown keys, told to turn on the siren, and people are to get the fuck out of their way.
-
RE: Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb
@sloosecannon said in Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb:
@lordofduct said in Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb:
They're 10 dollar an hour kids fresh on the job site and just thrown the keys.
Lol maybe where you live they are.....
Where do you live?
If it's in the US, I bet you anything it's along those lines. New York for example most ambulances are ran by private companies that hire on primarily EMTs and a handful of paramedics.
Surprisingly, where I live, Florida... it's better. Ambulances are part of the fire department and aren't often private companies and are staffed with higher trained people.
I find this ironic since Florida is known for its privatization, corruption, and general lack of state funding. While New York is known as a liberal, well funded, nanny state.
-
RE: Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb
@Lorne-Kates said in Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb:
@lordofduct said in Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb:
The good ol' US of A.
...that is the most horrific thing I've every read. Your country is fucked.
What, that they have the lower trained people drive, while the better trained people save lives?
I think I'd rather the higher paid skilled medical personal do the job of SAVING LIVES.
Or is it that the EMT gets 10 dollars an hour? It's above minimum wage. And depending the job it can go upwards to 15 dollars an hour. Both of which are above UK min wage as well. EMT's aren't people with medical degrees, they're OFTEN people going to school for medical degrees, but don't yet have them (some just do it as a job, but that's actually rare). How much should we be paying untrained green thumbs?
And in the end, neither paramedics nor EMTs are trained drivers. They're medical personal, they drive out of circumstance.
-
RE: Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb
@Lorne-Kates said in Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb:
@lordofduct said in Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb:
They're 10 dollar an hour kids fresh on the job site and just thrown the keys.
What backwards-ass country do you live in where paramedics are minimum wage workers?!?
The good ol' US of A.
And 10 dollars isn't minimum wage, it's 7.25 or some shit.
And I'm not talking about paramedics. I'm talking about EMTs, since most of the drivers of ambulances here aren't paramedics, they're EMTs.
The paramedic stays in the back with the dying person so they don't die. Why the fuck would you put the well trained medical person in the damn driver seat!? No, you put the young up and coming EMT who is studying to be a paramedic (or doctor, nurse prac, or whatever they're going to school for) in the driver seat.
And yep, EMTs do make around $10 an hour, depending the state that is. Anywhere's from 10 to 15 dollars an hour.
And the pay doesn't particularly matter... even if it's at the 15 rate, they're still not trained drivers, they're training for medicine!
-
RE: Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb
@Lorne-Kates said in Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb:
You aren't trained to drive like one,
lol... trained to drive like one. They're not trained. They're 10 dollar an hour kids fresh on the job site and just thrown the keys.
It's their sirens, and the laws about getting the fuck out of their way, that makes them safer.
With that said... yes, emergency services is usually the best option. No one knows you're driving with a hurt person, so no one knows to get out of the way while your blazing down the road. You just look like an asshole.
-
RE: Idiot comes up with stupid demands for "safe driving" that even @Lorne-Kates says are idiot dumb
@Luhmann - I guess it's really easy to become a civil engineer in Italy, I wonder what the pay is like... there's a few flunkies from my ol' math courses that are having a hard time finding work here in the states with their civil engineering degree.
-
RE: Orbitz WTF
Oh, and I'm fairly certain I've seen both those instances before as well.
I would like to say we just happened to be on 95 at the same time... but I'm fairly certain, no, that's just a weekly thing Joe the furniture fetishist does to entertain people stuck in traffic.
-
RE: Orbitz WTF
@FrostCat said in Orbitz WTF:
@lordofduct said in Orbitz WTF:
Because FTL is also 30 miles from WPI.
Have fun with that drive. I was going up the interstate past the airport once when I passed a van on the side of a road that had managed to wrap an entire mattress around a wheel. Another time I saw an easy chair smack in the middle of the damn road.
Oh Florida, how I love you so.
Yeah, I used to drive tractor trailer with my pops. Once I got my own truck, I primarily did the local runs for my dad... West Palm to Miami and back, every day (sometimes over to Naples, or up to Tampa).
For a straight road, on flat terrain, in a state that is mostly sunny... accidents all day and every day.
-
RE: Orbitz WTF
@blakeyrat said in Orbitz WTF:
@masonwheeler said in Orbitz WTF:
If you don't know the difference between "inch" and "30 miles of some of the worst clogged traffic in the nation", please educate yourself.
Oh I know, I just don't care. Why the fuck would I go to LA?
...
I don't care, I only chimed in twice on the conversation that no one else but mason was a member of... but I don't care.
I may have said one thing, then claimed the other in post when demonstrated I'm a moron, because I don't care.
Fucking moron.