Comment On Securing The Server Room, Part II

I guess you could say he's happy to be leaving...

*rimshot*

For God's sake man! This is a University, not the real world!

CAPTCHA: slashbot - isn't that contradictory when Prove[ing] that you're not a robot...?

It must be nice to know that you'll have a couple of days off in the spring ... there's no way you're going to do anything sensible to avoid that.

The real WTF is, given their resistance to change, G.R.G. could probably go back there now, Bic the lock again, and log into a machine because removing his account and/or changing the admin passwords would be too big of a change, since they "know what they're doing".

We had a similar leaf related problem. Every year the leaves gathered on the roof (quite a feat as it was four stories up) and blocked the drains. The roof was enclosed with a 3 foot high wall with standard "flashing" to prevent the water getting in. The first heavy rain of winter would cause enough water to sit on the roof that it rose above the flashing and soaked into the building, running down the outer walls for a few floors, creating lovely brown patterns in the paintwork and causing ceiling tiles to fall apart.

For some reason the estates people never realised that an occasional clean of the leaves would prevent all the damage and mean we could actually put computers against the outer walls of offices.

"...with the aide of a giant floor fan..."

The giant floor fan had an assistant?

Because, you know, installing some sort of little housing above this brick structure so that the leaves fall and slide off of it, instead of directly into the air conditioner: BLASPHEMY.

I love emails where people say, "...know what we're doing". If that were true, then the referenced conversation wouldn't be occurring, would it?

The annual fixing of the AC is probably a union job. Fixing the leaf problem would put them on strike.

One thing to keep in mind about this certain university, is that it’s located within in a certain geography known for its rapid transitions from Winter to Spring. On April 5th, there’s snow on the ground and the mercury reads a brisk 20°; on April 6th, it’s a cool 70° and everyone’s walking around in shorts.

You don't work at Virginia Tech, do you GRG?

N:

Because, you know, installing some sort of little housing above this brick structure so that the leaves fall and slide off of it, instead of directly into the air conditioner: BLASPHEMY.

Those leaves would fall somewhere else, creating other kind of problems.

What is the big deal about cleanning the roof once a year?

Mcoder:

N:

Because, you know, installing some sort of little housing above this brick structure so that the leaves fall and slide off of it, instead of directly into the air conditioner: BLASPHEMY.

Those leaves would fall somewhere else, creating other kind of problems.

What is the big deal about cleanning the roof once a year?

Well, on a scale of expenses, the ways to fix it are: Once a year, destroy the AC (standard practice); Once a year, clean the roof (But it's snowing! Or: But why? We don't see it, there's no reason.); One time only install a leaf blockage system (costs $$$$ now, saves $$$$$ later).

Unfortunately, people don't like to be told how to do their jobs by anybody, and they don't have to listen to anybody who's not their boss.

mrprogguy:

"...with the aide of a giant floor fan..."

The giant floor fan had an assistant?

Yes and the giant floor fan was actually the Green Giant who apart from being a fan of peas is also a fan of floors, hard to believe but true... ho ho ho

N:

Because, you know, installing some sort of little housing above this brick structure so that the leaves fall and slide off of it, instead of directly into the air conditioner: BLASPHEMY.

Yep. You beat me to it. I replaced my house's archaic AC with a heat pump a few years back. Works great. Except... in the wee hours of one wintry night I woke to the awareness that the temperature in the house seemed to be about 30 degrees F, and there was a faint but insistent grinding sound, "Grrzzzgrrrzzzzgrrrrzzzz..." A peek out the window revealed a freezing rain storm, with water running off the roof and straight down into the heat pump, where it hit the fan blades, splattered into the surrounding coils, and froze. I was hearing the sound of the blades struggling to spin inside a slowly swelling cylinder of ice.

I spent the next two hours standing outside, holding an umbrella with one hand and a blow dryer with the other, trying to melt enough ice to get the heat going again. I finally succeeded, after which I went into my shop, cut a long swath from a sheet of plastic that I had, grabbed a couple of boards and cinderblocks, and jury-rigged a pathetic but functional cover for the heat pump. Later, without the pressure of the emergency situation, I built a better and more permanent one.

I only had to get shut down once to figure that one out. Guess the university's maintenance crew is a little slower than that.

vt_mruhlin:

One thing to keep in mind about this certain university, is that it’s located within in a certain geography known for its rapid transitions from Winter to Spring. On April 5th, there’s snow on the ground and the mercury reads a brisk 20°; on April 6th, it’s a cool 70° and everyone’s walking around in shorts.

You don't work at Virginia Tech, do you GRG?

Obviously not since he left soon after the WTF. =P

Mcoder:

Those leaves would fall somewhere else, creating other kind of problems.

Yep. The yard crew's machinery is calibrated to handle the exact amount of leaves that fell in previous years. The additional burden of leaves that had previously stayed in the AC would cause untold ruination.

It may have been a budget issue. They had funds to pay an emergency repair guy, but none to pay a maintance guy to clear the leaves. Installing a leaf blockage system would be from yet another budget requiring a hearing and approval and what not to get the funds.

"This is the way we have always done it. This is the way we will continue to do it"
I have heard it so many times.
Pitiful. Morons.

BO Joe:

mrprogguy:

"...with the aide of a giant floor fan..."

The giant floor fan had an assistant?

Yes and the giant floor fan was actually the Green Giant who apart from being a fan of peas is also a fan of floors, hard to believe but true... ho ho ho

Good thing the 'assistant' was not an Alligator!!
That would be a Gator-Aide !!!

Mischief:

It may have been a budget issue. They had funds to pay an emergency repair guy, but none to pay a maintance guy to clear the leaves. Installing a leaf blockage system would be from yet another budget requiring a hearing and approval and what not to get the funds.

If they don't spend their emergency maintenance budget this year, it wont be as high next year. So what happens if they have an actual emergency before April 6th? They send GRG up to the roof to clear the leaves...

"20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

mentor:

"20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

We're not interested in your buckinghamshire nonsense here, sir.

mentor:

"20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

The Real WTF(TM) is that you're complaining about this.

Carnildo:

mentor:

"20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

The Real WTF(TM) is that you're complaining about this.

Apparently maintenance staff aren't the only ones resistant to change.

Hear Here. I keep getting excited when they talk of 80, 90 and 100 degree temperatures before realising that they are using Fahrenheit scales, and all they are talking of is a summer's day. Hey, 20°C is still woolly jumper weather about these parts.
I wouldn't like to see a 100°C server room. The idea of water-cooled devices slowly simmering.....

maybe you should be reading http://ru.worsethanfailure.com/, you filthy foreigner

"a cool 70°" wasn't enough of a hint that it's not in Celsius?

Carnildo:

mentor:

"20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

The Real WTF(TM) is that you're complaining about this.

Honestly, "70 degrees Fahrenheit" doesn't mean anything to me. Giving the Celsius measurement would have made it a bit easier to read.

Anon:

Carnildo:

mentor:

"20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

The Real WTF(TM) is that you're complaining about this.

Apparently maintenance staff aren't the only ones resistant to change.

We know what we're doing.

mrprogguy:

"...with the aide of a giant floor fan..."

The giant floor fan had an assistant?

Of course! He's the mini floor fan.

mentor:

"20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

mikko:

mentor:

"20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

Wow, I hope that was sarcasm.

Otherwise, that was a brilliant portrayal of a stereotypical American as seen by the rest of the world. Way to reinforce that opinion, dude.

ac:

"a cool 70°" wasn't enough of a hint that it's not in Celsius?

but what is a "cool 70°"? I have no idea what that temperature is. Rather than having large amounts of people have to work it out, someone writing or editing the story could work it out, saving work for everyone. Do it once only! Good programming practice even.

From now on, all WTF temperatures should be in Kelvins, expressed in hexidecimal.

Actually, it should be in Kelvins, expressed in *binary*, printed out on a piece of paper, photocopied, photographed, scanned, and uploaded in a JPG.

Peter:

Actually, it should be in Kelvins, expressed in *binary*, printed out on a piece of paper, photocopied, photographed, scanned, and uploaded in a JPG.

You forgot the part where the photocopy is placed on a wooden table.

Quinnum:

mikko:

mentor:

"20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

Wow, I hope that was sarcasm.

Otherwise, that was a brilliant portrayal of a stereotypical American as seen by the rest of the world. Way to reinforce that opinion, dude.

QFT!

Mmm.. waffles..

wikipantia:

mentor:

"20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

We're not interested in your buckinghamshire nonsense here, sir.

That is the cleverest comment in this whole thread.

vt_mruhlin:

One thing to keep in mind about this certain university, is that it’s located within in a certain geography known for its rapid transitions from Winter to Spring. On April 5th, there’s snow on the ground and the mercury reads a brisk 20°; on April 6th, it’s a cool 70° and everyone’s walking around in shorts.

You don't work at Virginia Tech, do you GRG?

Virginia? Sounds more like Boston to me. It was 95 the other day. Yesterday it was barely 70.

Only in New England can you get all 4 seasons in one night.

Captcha - Smile - It's only thunder and snow. Heck, that's part of the charm of NE.

Quinnum:

mikko:

mentor:

"20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

Wow, I hope that was sarcasm.

Otherwise, that was a brilliant portrayal of a stereotypical American as seen by the rest of the world. Way to reinforce that opinion, dude.

"as seen by the rest of the world"? I live in America and even I see American's this way. Then again, I'm foreign born...

mikko:

mentor:

"20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

Never heard about a place called "Europe", eh? :-)

Why not implement something like wikipedia's Template:Temperature
and Template:Unit length?

standgale:

ac:

"a cool 70°" wasn't enough of a hint that it's not in Celsius?

but what is a "cool 70°"? I have no idea what that temperature is. Rather than having large amounts of people have to work it out, someone writing or editing the story could work it out, saving work for everyone. Do it once only! Good programming practice even.

Oh dear lord, because Googling 70 F in C is too much work for you? The context clearly explains that he's talking about a cold day followed by a warm one. The numbers are actually extraneous hyperbole meant only to reinforce "a big change in a short time", which is evident by the size of the numbers even if you're not familiar with Fahrenheit. The exact temperature is completely irrelevant to the story and most likely not true anyway.

[quote user="mikko]You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF![/quote]

"We know what we're doing."

I wonder if this was the attitude of the engineers that built the ill-fated Mars Climate Orbiter?

ac:

... which is evident by the size of the numbers even if you're not familiar with Fahrenheit. The exact temperature is completely irrelevant to the story and most likely not true anyway.

If the size of the numberes coresponded to celsius, then would be like from -10°C to 40°C.

Also, the majority of the world uses metrics.

This site should be renamed TheDailyGRGWTF.

Disaster seems to follow this man around. I demand his name be released so that we can know if we end up working with him.

I don't think it really matters is the temperature was in C, F or K - provided that it was specified in the first place - which is wasn't - which is where the confusion would creep in, especially for those of us who are familiar with the different scales, and don't have to resort to googling for the answer.

mikko:

mentor:

"20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

Oh yeah, how could we forget how great the US are in "kicking the shit out of your country"! Oh wait - mentor could be from Vietnam...?

CAPTCHA: muhahaha (I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry reading mikko's post...)

Joe:

vt_mruhlin:

One thing to keep in mind about this certain university, is that it’s located within in a certain geography known for its rapid transitions from Winter to Spring. On April 5th, there’s snow on the ground and the mercury reads a brisk 20°; on April 6th, it’s a cool 70° and everyone’s walking around in shorts.

You don't work at Virginia Tech, do you GRG?

Virginia? Sounds more like Boston to me. It was 95 the other day. Yesterday it was barely 70.

Only in New England can you get all 4 seasons in one night.

Nope, old England as well. We call that day "summer".

(One thing I love about this site, there is always a pedantic argument in every thread.

or

This site is like a box of cracker jacks, a pedantic argument in every thread.
)

and

The Real WTF is I don't know if I'm using the word "pedantic" correctly.

mikko:

The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

If mentor is Canadian his/her country kicked US ass and burned its capital to the ground at least once. Hehe.