The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

Richard Nixon · 2005-10-11 Reply Admin

emptyset:
hell, i have no problem with that. of course, the same definition can also be applied to an anarchist.

unlike anarchists, libertarians rely on the free-market to solve the world's problems. the anarchists (and nihilists?) simply don't care.

the debate really wasn't much of a debate - it was hilarious. i am captivated by the common trait of american libertarians to collect silver and other precious metals. when i asked this guy why he did that, he said it was because silver had intrinsic value. since that pretty much goes against the free-market determining its value, hilarity ensued.

consequently, today i had a hamburger for lunch. it was delicious. they put bacon on it.

Please, enrich the forum with further tales of your glorious battles. I am enthralled. MORE! MORE!

emptyset · 2005-10-11 Reply Admin

Richard Nixon:
Please, enrich the forum with further tales of your glorious battles. I am enthralled. MORE! MORE!

compared to the script-kiddy douche-bags, you're much more entertaining.

just for the record, i'm really confused as to what led you to believe i was this* proud about quashing the silver-obsessed libertarian. to me, it's just a funny illustration about ideology gone awry. nothing more, nothing less.

* holds out arms as if to indicate a massive trout.

reinpost · 2005-10-11 Reply Admin

The the original arcticle submitter: you seem to be doing a great job of confusing programming skills with natural language skills. It's hard to imagine thge applicant not being from China. Chimnese is really really different from English and no amount of C-Pound experience will beidge that gap.

2005-11-10 Reply Admin

SEQUELl

Squirrel

SQL

Squeal

...

perhaps it's from SQooL (as in "we should go to" ;) )

2005-11-17 Reply Admin

Very technically speaking, Db really isn't the same as C#. While on a fixed-pitch instrument like a piano or a guitar they are the same note, a string or a wind player would probably play slightly different pitches-- I would expect C# to be pitched slightly above Db, although it also depends on the key of the piece.

2005-11-17 Reply Admin

Even if on piano C# and Db is exactly the same sound, still the key of Db is much more comprehensible then the C# one.

2005-11-23 Reply Admin

Right on.

I know people can float through college without learning much of anything, but I don't think that's possible in most CS programs (not where I went to school, anyway). Sure, someone with no formal CS training can be just a good or better a programmer as a CS graduate, but that doesn't mean the degree is worthless. I certainly am much better off for it.

IMHO, the "not worth the paper it's printed on" crowd have their heads stuck up thier asses. Or maybe they're just jealous.

2005-11-23 Reply Admin

emptyset:
Anonymous:
Mike R:
The fabled emptyset vs. libertarian debate, of which tales are told long after the debate ended. It was quite an epic battle as tales are still being told of it.

According to some online dictionary, a libertarian is "One who advocates maximizing individual rights and minimizing the role of the state."

That sounds exactly like emptyset. How could there have been a debate?

hell, i have no problem with that. of course, the same definition can also be applied to an anarchist.

unlike anarchists, libertarians rely on the free-market to solve the world's problems. the anarchists (and nihilists?) simply don't care.

the debate really wasn't much of a debate - it was hilarious. i am captivated by the common trait of american libertarians to collect silver and other precious metals. when i asked this guy why he did that, he said it was because silver had intrinsic value. since that pretty much goes against the free-market determining its value, hilarity ensued.

consequently, today i had a hamburger for lunch. it was delicious. they put bacon on it.

Thank you for delighting us with such relevant information, I was worried and wondering where you went, just as I was just beginning to give a fuck :)

And why do you feel the need to type in tt? Are you trying to make yourself feel different and/or superior?

Richard Nixon is a dick, but you're not much better actually. I believe Nixon tells it like it is. Maybe too muh, but you guys all bite.

2005-11-25 Reply Admin

Everyone knows it's pronounced ...

C plus plus .. plus plus

or

that-god-awful-java-clone-cause-M$-got-sued-by-Sun-no-serious-developer-uses-it-it's-just-M$'s-sour-grapes err.. sharp

2005-11-29 Reply Admin

Alex Papadimoulis:

Scott C. Reynolds was looking for a strong C# developer a while back. He was kind enough to share the tale of one of the many, many unqualified recruits (who we'll call “J“) with us.

The job description in the ad is pretty explicit about the level of experience required in .NET, C#, SQL, and app development in general. We get "J" through a headhunter. First, excerpts from the questionnaire the headhunter gave him, then forwarded to us: (spelling and grammar his...)

Tell me about your experience with:
.Net: I have used .net for about 3 yrs and c language for slight longer. I have programmed many application and programs using C# for numerous businesses.
C#: I use this to create programs over that of java in the .net application code behind the page or the creation of GUI's
HL7 or XML: I use this language to check my database information in .net application and access processing
SQL or Oracle: I prefer using these application in the creation of database information, write the script direct and modifying the table information

So...the resume was less than impressive. But he had some experience listed, we thought, maybe the headhunter phrased the questions strangely or typed in his answers in a weird way. We call him in for an interview.There's not enough time to go through the whole thing, but it was bad. The highlight was the following:

Me: So, J, you've told us about some stuff you did in VB.NET, what's your level of experience and comfort with C#?
J: Oh, C-Pound [yes, he said that], I use C-Pound all the time. I like C-Pound for the error handling [like the 15th time he's mentioned error handling to that point]
My Boss: So, you have had some good experience with C-SHARP then. That's good. Tell us about something you built with C-SHARP [emphasis his, not added]
J: Well, if you're going to talk about the language I'll just write with if I want to be comfortable, it's C-Pound. I like the code-behind-the-code of C-Pound.

Yeah....

Finally, we sent him on his way, and asked him to email a code sample. Something simple but non-trivial that shows his command of .NET. We get an email back, with the following in the body: (all spelling and grammar errors are his).

-------

Here are two simple examples of code,

(1)
Dim Slogan as String
Slogan = "J<REAL name snipped>" & "is a good " & "canidate!"

(2)
Dim Slogan As String
Slogan = String.Concat("<MY boss? name?>", "this is", "simple."

[#3 is just the method signature of a button click event for some reason....in VB.Net...I don't know. Then, he says in the email:]

(4) This is a cut out from a page Form on a program I development for a Company with a database

[this eloquent comment is followed by about 100 - 150 lines of IDE-Written code, primarily the contents of InitializeComponent(). There's a little database connectivity code at the bottom....but I really didn't bother reading it, except that my eyes caught on the following snippet]

"DELETE FROM tblCustomer WHERE (fldCustomerID = ?) AND (fldAddress = ? OR ? IS NUL" & _
"L AND fldAddress IS NULL) AND (fldCity = ? OR ? IS NULL AND fldCity IS NULL) AND" & _
" (fldCreditCardNumber = ? OR ? IS NULL AND fldCreditCardNumber IS NULL) AND (fld" &

-------

Needless to say, he's an immediate hire.

2005-12-26 Reply Admin

Anonymous:
I get a kick out of doing HTML/CF/Tango/PL/SQL Web/PHP/Whatever else...

And I have to use color='#000000' instead of colour :D

At least in England they aren't hybridized with the American spellings, like we are in Canada :D

And yes, my comments do say "Colour" and not "Color".

Ey Spel Reel Goud.

2005-12-26 Reply Admin

Anonymous:
I get a kick out of doing HTML/CF/Tango/PL/SQL Web/PHP/Whatever else...

And I have to use color='#000000' instead of colour :D

At least in England they aren't hybridized with the American spellings, like we are in Canada :D

And yes, my comments do say "Colour" and not "Color".

Ey Spel Reel Goud.

2006-02-14 Reply Admin

assuming states(id,name,code), cities(id,name,state_id) i'd go for:

select name from cities where state_id in (select id from states where code='AZ')

p.s. I use "in" to manage the case where there are mistakes in the data (i.e. two state id's for AZ or no data for AZ).

2006-02-22 Reply Admin

I always used to write "C++" as "C-Double-Cross" on Usenet years ago. It had a rather appropriate ring to it.

And as for "SQL" (which was touched upon further up in the thread): it's lucky for speakers of English who can pronounce these things as if they were acronyms. Japanese speakers can't understand "sequel" so they have to wrestle with pronouncing it as "ESS-KYUU-ERU" all the time.

--

US$.02

2007-08-01 Reply Admin

"Learnt" and "Learned" are both right. Check the dictionary...

2007-08-06 Reply Admin

The 2-Belo:
I always used to write "C++" as "C-Double-Cross" on Usenet years ago. It had a rather appropriate ring to it. And as for "SQL" (which was touched upon further up in the thread): it's lucky for speakers of English who can pronounce these things as if they were acronyms. Japanese speakers can't understand "sequel" so they have to wrestle with pronouncing it as "ESS-KYUU-ERU" all the time. -- US$.02

It's probably very easy for Japanese speakers to say "ess-kyuu-eru". Doesn't seem to constitute a wrestling match of any kind.

2007-08-07 Reply Admin

There is an IT skills shortage in the uk, the emphasis here is on skills. There are alot of IT graduates and "Programmers" but there is a serious lack of people who know what they are doing. I found a job within a month of starting the job hunt, and it pays well. But then again I am good.

2007-08-13 Reply Admin

You already changed if you're using '-ise'. The Times carried on using the traditional '-ize' until the latter half of the last century when it finally joined the rest of the UK in using '-ise'.

Mexi-Fry · 2007-09-14 Reply Admin

wow... this board has lived a long time. I wonder if I can find samples of my work pre-dating Y2K on here? Now that would be a WTF :)

2008-10-03 Reply Admin

Makes me think of an employer. Around the same year (2003 or 2004) I was applying for jobs. A large local library was hiring a web programmer and listed some very tall requirements. 15 years in development or webmaster with IIS experience. 10 years experience in Microsoft .Net, 5 years Flash...

I looked at that and was thinking, "I don't know if .Net has been around for 10 years yet... Maybe since 1998, but that is still only 5 years." I applied for the job any way giving the credentials I had. When I did get contacted for the position for a time I figured I did not get it and went in to ask about it. The secretary told me the position was filled. I asked her if she knew why I was not considered for the position. She said "experience." So I asked, "What experience did they guy who got the position have?" She replied "He met all of our requirements." I asked "Even the 10 years in .Net?" She flipped through the folder pages and quickly replied, "Actually, he had 12."

I waited a bit, considered if I should respond... then realized the silence was awkward to her and said "Um, that technology is new, I think its only been out for 5 years. Couldn't have been that far before 1998."

I will never forget the look on her face... and left very quickly. 3 weeks later the position was back in the newspaper listings... HR still had not corrected the experience requirements and from what a friend said it sounds like they went through the same thing again.

2010-09-11 Reply Admin

skicow:
Not to be nit picky but # == Sharp/Hash/Pound depending on what country you are from. I know MS defines C# == C-Sharp but some people think that they are l337 and therefore refer to it as C-Hash or C-Pound....I'd have to say proving that you are l337 in a job interview isn't the best idea.
BTW I love how he concatenated the Delete statement in the middle of the word NULL!

When using "archaic technology" I tend to write # as shorthand for "number".

So I guess I'll call it "C-Number"

2013-10-04 Reply Admin

5 years of C Pound experience? I'm better than that - I got 7 years of C Hash experience!

2013-10-07 Reply Admin

If you don't like people saying "C-pound", then why do you write "C#" instead of "C♯"?

2016-12-07 Reply Admin

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