The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

2010-06-22 Reply Admin

Lego:
SR:
Lego:
This must not have happened in the U.S. Here you would have sued, and quite possibly won, a wrongful dismissal suit based on a hostile work environment.
--Lego

If he quit, how can it be wrongful dismissal?

It is called constructive dismissal. It means your employer forced you to quit by either making or allowing working conditions to be unbearable. In this case the gender based profanity would be one piece of evidence in support of that claim. Based on the specific profanity used I am assuming Chris is female.

--Lego

My Dad was a Senior VP at this one company. A President got hired who flat out told the management team that he didn't fire people, just made work too unbearable to stick around. Well, he started pushing on my Dad and the VP Finance. A few weeks before Christmas, one of my Dad's subordinates who'd gotten pretty buddy-buddy with the President was being reprimanded by my Dad and the guy basically told my Dad that this was irrelevant because of his relationship with the President. By Monday, he'd been moved and his new office was right next to the President's. The week before Christmas, the VP Finance quit. At the Christmas party, this same retard, drunk off his ass, was bragging about how he got the VP Finance fired and that my Dad would be next. My Dad was gone before the New Year.

Both he and the VP Finance checked with their lawyers about constructive dismissal - and they're both VPs here - and they each determined that it would be solid cases costing too much money for not enough compensation.

2010-06-22 Reply Admin

The whole point of not having cell phones in a hospital is not that they are a potential health hazard, but they're bloody annoying to everyone else.

Also: A hospital. No AN hospital. Only say "an hospital" if you're going to pronounce it as "an 'ospital". Like the French do (which is where this rule about using "an" before a word starting with a vowel came from).

</endrant>

2010-06-22 Reply Admin

Falcon:
What I'd really like to know is what kind of life that child will have, with parents like Jeremy and Deborah.

The child will learn to be a narcissistic sociopath like its parents. CAPTCHA: delenit - "You want an ace of clubs? I'm just not delenit this hand."

2010-06-22 Reply Admin

Bruce W:
This reminds me of when my wife had emergency abdominal surgery. I called my boss who asked me right then if I could go on a three-day business trip in two weeks. I reminded my boss that my wife just had major surgery and would have problems walking for two weeks. She begged me to go and I finally agreed. I later learned my boss wanted me to go because her husband didn't like having her travel. My wife still hates that manager even 15 years later.

i'm sympathetic, but your experience was much worse, up to the point in the story where the husband/corporate officer gets involved

to recap:

“Okay… but surely you can tell me how you feel about the candidate? I mean, he’ll want to know when things are going to happen.”

. . . .

“But it’s a Friday,” she insisted, “and I hate leaving these go all weekend. It’s not like I’m asking for a decision, just a hint as to how things went and when you’ll decide.”

i don't find anything all that unreasonable about the above. true, she could have been more diplomatic and expressed some sympathy to start out with, but, difficult (and ``inconclusive'') as things were to that point, surely he could have taken the few seconds it would take to dredge up whatever hint he might be at liberty to disclose to (a) satisfy the recruiter and (b) give the inteviewee she was inquiring about some hint as to how his hopes for getting a job might be playing out, if, say, he was himself awaiting news that might inform whatever decisions he'd have to make about the well-being of his own family that were tied up in it. family is im- portant, but that doesn't give you the license to get inhumane and clannish to the exclusion of consideration of all others when you're on the way to purchase yourself some Reese's. price of living in a society

2010-06-22 Reply Admin

Emmanuel:
The whole point of not having cell phones in a hospital is not that they are a potential health hazard, but they're bloody annoying to everyone else.
Also: A hospital. No AN hospital. Only say "an hospital" if you're going to pronounce it as "an 'ospital". Like the French do (which is where this rule about using "an" before a word starting with a vowel came from).

</endrant>

Not AN, not No AN...

Muphry's law strikes again.

2010-06-22 Reply Admin

One must remember that the proper response to "Do you know who I am?" is a two parter: The first part is "Yes"/"No" as needed (it really doesn't matter what you say here). The second part is "And I really don't care!".

As for Cell phone interference, one needs to determine what type of phone you have. It seems that all GSM (AT&T/T-Mobile) phones cause nice radio interference, whereas CDMA (Verizon/Sprint) phones don't. You usually hear silly buzzing every once in a while (for me on computer speakers) around GSM phones.

Worth repeating: Nice to have a happy ending!

2010-06-22 Reply Admin

clive:
Yes, cell phone in a hospital. People have discovered by now that they're fine. I was even using my laptop with mobile broadband during my recent hospital stay.
(too bad for the company whose business was providing phones and internet access at insane prices to patients - apparently they encouraged hospitals to ban mobile phones to make sure their kit got used, but people have wised up)

I work in a hospital. There are only select places where you cannot actually use one. Mostly places with MRI machines and the like. There are however tons and tons of signs up. I think its a "cover your ass" thing. My hospital actually has guest wifi just about everwhere.

CAPTCHA: appellatio - Dirty things with apples?

2010-06-22 Reply Admin

stevewahl:
Actually, I think it was here (on TDWTF, in the comments section) that I got a hint of enlightenment on this subject. If you think about it, tying your health insurance to your employer is a WTF; and you'll notice it's not done for home or car insurance, etc. The nugget of knowledge I obtained here (and verified elsewhere) was: This country (US) ties health insurance to employers because of wage caps the government put in place during WWII. Benefits were not counted against the wage cap, so adding health insurance coverage was one way the companies could compete for workers. It stuck after the war, and that's how we ended up on the path that brought us where we are today.

Okay, quick lesson in economics. Insurance is less expensive if it’s not a choice and insurance companies prefer it that way. In other words companies pay a lot less for health insurance for workers than if those workers were given a choice.

If it’s a choice than the people at highest risk, specifically those who companies can’t detect, would be more likely to get insurance. So companies have to raise premiums to compensate, etc, etc. End result is that anyone who wants insurance has to pay as if they were at very high risk. So finally most people end up worse off, either without insurance or paying absurdly high premiums.

You, for example, can get private insurance in the US. You just pay through the roof for it unless you’re very healthy and go out of your way to set it up correctly. Companies get relatively inexpensive insurance rates because they have a random pool of workers and thus no selection bias.

Car insurance, by the way, is mandatory which deals with these problems nicely. Home insurance isn’t but they’ve got draconian policies which I’m guessing let them better estimate risk.

2010-06-22 Reply Admin

Every physician I know carries his or her cell phone in the hospital, including me.

cklam · 2010-06-22 Reply Admin

java.lang.Chris;:
I received a call from a company director, saying he'd heard I'd "f*cked" his system and calling me a "c*nt".
... SNIP ...

I found myself up for a dismissal procedure, but thankfully had all the emails from my boss, as well as support from a contractor who was aware of the details and disgusted at my boss. The upshot was the dismissal proceedings were withdrawn, but the director was not censured nor did he offer an apology. I quit the next day.

And that is why I am recording all my mobile calls and never do anything without a signed and approved work order. Screw my employer, always CYOA first!

Plus: with a call recording he could have gone straight to the general director! Or Youtube!

Scarlet Manuka · 2010-06-23 Reply Admin

java.lang.Chris;:
I proposed PostgreSQL as a free alternative. The DBA preferred MySQL as he was familiar with it, so MySQL was chosen despite my reservations about its suitability.
Cut to six months later, and I was supporting the database as a well as the applications, since the DBA turned out to be a lazy sod. I needed to tweak some performance parameters, and having tested it on both development and QA environments I got approval from my boss to do the changes on the live environment.

About half an hour later, the monitoring system went crazy as performance of the apps went through the floor. It turns out that the DBA, seeing a golden opportunity to create some job security, had decided to quietly drop all the indexes!

FTFY.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Eno Cent:
Vilx-:
there is one WTF in there - why was Peter trying to remember phone numbers and not using the phonebook of his cell phone?
Because (until Droid) a phone is not a computer in the sense that you cannot script, run and verify your own backups. Thus, it is only a temporary data storage device that will randomly fail when least expected, and, because you're in the habit of relying on an unreliable device, you won't remember anybody's number to call them for help.

Granted, losing the phone book from the phone is annoying, but it still doesn't negate the real WTF of trying to remember phone numbers instead of using the phone's phone book.

Besides, there are alternatives. For example my phone syncs with the company mail server so I have an up-to-date calendar and contact list in use on my phone (I've opted to not download emails to my mobile).

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

The doctor was in route

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/inroute.html

Steve The Cynic · 2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Anon:
Car insurance, by the way, is mandatory

When I lived in New Hampshire (more moons ago than I care to think about, think 1989 or so), car insurance was NOT mandatory. It was a surreal moment, but it is worth noting that it was cheaper than it had been in Massachusetts, where not only was the insurance mandatory, but also price-controlled by the state.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

EmperorOfCanada:
Why don't we here this story more often. In all my years around IT companies it is usually the opposite, over and over.

Had an IT director once who would do this. He had so much clout that even the financial director kissed his ass (it was a rather large bank so finance had a LOT of clout themselves). We LOVED him, even though he was quite a pain in the behind sometimes. But he had the ability to make idiots across the organization bow to IT so we forgave all. He is dearly missed...

robbak · 2010-06-23 Reply Admin

PG4:
OK, on cell phones and planes.
In the US, the FAA doesn't care, but the FCC does.

....

So why does the FCC care? Just go up in plane 3000' or so AGL and suddenly you can hear stuff at airports half way across the state. Line of sight, no ground clutter, you hear much much further, and you also transmit much much further. The cell systems as designed tries to find the cell or adjacent cell that hears you signal the best. It can't cope with a hundred cells hearing your phone all the same time.

My understanding is that newer cell stations have antenna patterns and other software features to help the problem, but you can still mess things up.

Worth considering: In a plane, you might have several hundred of the things. As they are all tightly packed inside a metal tube, they are all transmitting at higher than normal power levels. Most of that power doesn't get out of the plane, but reflects around until absorbed by the furnishings, passengers and/or electronics.

So you do have pretty close to a worst-case scenario, when it comes to RFI. Still, things are shielded well enough for it to not be a problem - but it would not take much of a flaw or fault for the RFI start to cause problems.

And all that noise, being received by so many cell towers, will cause considerable problems down here on the ground. before the green light will be given on cellphones in planes, we are going to need microcells installed in them. That would fix all the problems - chatting to a receiver 20 meters away in the same metal tube, the phones power levels will be way down.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Anonymous Cow:
Anon:
And, seriously, this:
He almost immediately regretted doing that, as getting sacked might put his family’s health insurance at risk.

Is TRWTF. How much of a fucked up, barbaric country is this that would remove somebody's health care right when they need it most?

It has nothing to do with the country. Health benefits were traditionally provided by companies here. You lose the job, you lose the benefits.

Of course, that's all changing now. We'll see how that goes.

Seems to me it does very much have to do with the country - or at least its politics, since most first-world countries have government-provided health care. It's pretty messed up. Fortunately, Obama now seems to be attempting to remedy it.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Joey Stink Eye Smiles:
"He had hoped a Reese’s Cup might assuage the fact that his wife was sitting in the hospital"
I never expected to read the word "assuage" on the Daily WTF. I'm usually tickled when you guys actually use punctuation correctly. Well done, Mr. Fancy Pants $10 Word.

The only other recorded use of the "assuage" in human history is in Wesley's hymn "Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God!"

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Buck:
Bruce W:
This reminds me of when my wife had emergency abdominal surgery. I called my boss who asked me right then if I could go on a three-day business trip in two weeks. I reminded my boss that my wife just had major surgery and would have problems walking for two weeks. She begged me to go and I finally agreed. I later learned my boss wanted me to go because her husband didn't like having her travel. My wife still hates that manager even 15 years later.

i'm sympathetic, but your experience was much worse, up to the point in the story where the husband/corporate officer gets involved

to recap:

“Okay… but surely you can tell me how you feel about the candidate? I mean, he’ll want to know when things are going to happen.”

. . . .

“But it’s a Friday,” she insisted, “and I hate leaving these go all weekend. It’s not like I’m asking for a decision, just a hint as to how things went and when you’ll decide.”

i don't find anything all that unreasonable about the above. true, she could have been more diplomatic and expressed some sympathy to start out with, but, difficult (and ``inconclusive'') as things were to that point, surely he could have taken the few seconds it would take to dredge up whatever hint he might be at liberty to disclose to (a) satisfy the recruiter and (b) give the inteviewee she was inquiring about some hint as to how his hopes for getting a job might be playing out, if, say, he was himself awaiting news that might inform whatever decisions he'd have to make about the well-being of his own family that were tied up in it. family is im- portant, but that doesn't give you the license to get inhumane and clannish to the exclusion of consideration of all others when you're on the way to purchase yourself some Reese's. price of living in a society

I second this!

I believe he was out of order not answering to her simple question.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Jurgen:
I second this!
I believe he was out of order not answering to her simple question.

I've just told you my wife is having a heart attack and you insist I tell you how I feel about your candidate? Fine: your candidate should have an unexpected midnight visit from a moose in rut, that's how I feel about him.

I find this story entirely believable as the only people I've met who are stupid enough to press the point in that situation are head hunters.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Outtascope:
Anonymous:
Pedro:
The antibiotic is exotic. The condition is common. Two adjectives describing two different things. Parses fine here.
An exotic treatement for a common condition? No, still isn't parsing right here I'm afraid.

Because clearly all "common" conditions have effective "common" treatments, right? HIV/Aids is common. Treatments, not so much. Staph infections are very common, though treatments for them are becoming more and more exotic because of anti-biotic resistant strains. My oldest son has an anaphylactic allergy to many common antibiotics, leaving the more exotic ones as the only course of treatment regardless of how common his infection may or may not be.

Your parser needs an upgrade.

You people keep referring to a figurative "parser" when you clearly talk about your capability of making semantic sense of a piece of written language that obviously was grammatically parsed quite fine.

If you expect your "parser" to handle the semantics, you either (a) don't quite know what you're talking about or (b) yadda yadda this industrie yadda yadda...you know, those things people keep senselessly yelling at each other here...

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

North Bus:
Vilx-:
Though there is one WTF in there - why was Peter trying to remember phone numbers and not using the phonebook of his cell phone?

Maybe he has a Blackberry. I have a Storm (v1) and it occasionally deletes most of my Contacts, leaving a few assorted numbers and email addresses I never actually use.

Phone number of landlord from two years ago? Check. Wife's email address? Missing. (Not that I need help remembering, but it is easier to use the contacts shortcut than type the whole thing on a mini-keyboard.)

That's cute. Another reason I'm keeping my ten year old Nokia that does phone calls and text messages and nothing else. (Apart from the fact that it's ten years old and hasn't broken yet, where it seems that more modern phones need replacement after two)

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

illtiz:
Outtascope:
Anonymous:
Pedro:
The antibiotic is exotic. The condition is common. Two adjectives describing two different things. Parses fine here.
An exotic treatement for a common condition? No, still isn't parsing right here I'm afraid.

Because clearly all "common" conditions have effective "common" treatments, right? HIV/Aids is common. Treatments, not so much. Staph infections are very common, though treatments for them are becoming more and more exotic because of anti-biotic resistant strains. My oldest son has an anaphylactic allergy to many common antibiotics, leaving the more exotic ones as the only course of treatment regardless of how common his infection may or may not be.

Your parser needs an upgrade.

You people keep referring to a figurative "parser" when you clearly talk about your capability of making semantic sense of a piece of written language that obviously was grammatically parsed quite fine.

If you expect your "parser" to handle the semantics, you either (a) don't quite know what you're talking about or (b) yadda yadda this industrie yadda yadda...you know, those things people keep senselessly yelling at each other here...

You sound a lot more confused than the OP. Which is typical for a TDWTF comment so well done for that.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Please stop putting these stories on this site. This isnt a WTF! Get some good material or STOP!

GalacticCowboy · 2010-06-23 Reply Admin

forgottenlord:
Both he and the VP Finance checked with their lawyers about constructive dismissal - and they're both VPs here - and they each determined that it would be solid cases costing too much money for not enough compensation.

Doesn't anybody stand on principles any more? It's not the compensation, it's to drop the arrogant bastards down a couple notches in the hopes that they'll stop the behavior - or at least think twice - before doing it to someone else.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

robbak:
before the green light will be given on cellphones in planes, we are going to need microcells installed in them. That would fix all the problems - chatting to a receiver 20 meters away in the same metal tube, the phones power levels will be way down.

Not all the problems. You'll need dentists on planes, because there's going to be a lot of people getting their teeth knocked down their throat if they want to spend hours yapping away on their babble box when I'm stuck on a plane with them.

Until the self-centered little pricks that make up humanity learn to cope with the fact that they are not the only person in any given room, and their immediate preferences do not obviate the need for politeness and for basic safety, cell phones will continue to be a disaster.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

I can honestly say, the company I work for treats situations like this incredibly well. As fate would have it, I had two bereavements during this first year of working, and they were incredibly supportive, saying to take as much time as I needed, hoped I was allright, and both my supervisors took me aside to comfort me and add their own anecdotal experiences in this kind of matter.

Though from reading the comments I guess this is not common in the IT industry?

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Paul:
stevewahl:
Anon:
How much of a fucked up, barbaric country is this that would remove somebody's health care right when they need it most?
This country (US) ties health insurance to employers because of wage caps the government put in place during WWII. Benefits were not counted against the wage cap, so adding health insurance coverage was one way the companies could compete for workers. It stuck after the war, and that's how we ended up on the path that brought us where we are today.
Not only that, but the government gives employers a tax incentive to provide health insurance. If they gave a similar incentive for groceries, you'd get all your food at work, and when you lost your job you'd starve even quicker! The government meddling is to blame, and more government meddling won't make things better.
By the way, insurance is not health care. It is merely one way of paying for health care. And insurance is not a right. Rights are things you can do for yourself: speak, associate, defend yourself. If you were to have the "right" to force someone else to do something for you against their free will, that other person would (temporarily) be your slave.

I read "remove somebody's health care right when they need it most" as: "remove somebody's health care at exactly the point when they need it most" as opposed to: "remove somebody's right to healthcare when they need it most"

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

da Doctah:
Jeremy: “You upset my wife! she’s eight months pregnant!”
Peter: “Do you have any suspects?”

Or:

Peter (smugly): "Yep. (tee hee)"

SenTree · 2010-06-23 Reply Admin

anon:
Joey Stink Eye Smiles:
"He had hoped a Reese’s Cup might assuage the fact that his wife was sitting in the hospital"
I never expected to read the word "assuage" on the Daily WTF. I'm usually tickled when you guys actually use punctuation correctly. Well done, Mr. Fancy Pants $10 Word.
The only other recorded use of the "assuage" in human history is in Wesley's hymn "Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God!"

I thought it was what a rent boy earns.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

anon:
robbak:
before the green light will be given on cellphones in planes, we are going to need microcells installed in them. That would fix all the problems - chatting to a receiver 20 meters away in the same metal tube, the phones power levels will be way down.
Until the self-centered little pricks that make up humanity learn to cope with the fact that they are not the only person in any given room, and their immediate preferences do not obviate the need for politeness and for basic safety, cell phones will continue to be a disaster.

Looks like robbak was seeking to address the "basic safety" issue, so let's look at the other. Perhaps advances in subvocal recognition (or other forms of "technological telepathy") would be the solution. Once those improve to commercial viability, you get this: They sit there quietly staring at a book. Are they on the phone, or reading? Do you care?

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

another_drone:
... They also have chemical imbalance in their brain, so that might account for it, but boy is it scary. And yes, they can do some serious damage in 30 seconds. I hate to see what would happen if they ever unleased on a person.

One day, I would like someone to tell me why there is all this talk of "chemical imbalance in the brain" as an "explanation" for behavioral disorders when:

the brain's proper chemical balance has not been established beyond very crude measures (life-endangering parameters are more or less known).
chemical activity in the brain can not be linked to thought in any way (thought is instant, as far as we can measure it. Chemical reactions are pretty slow)
No chemical tests are ever done before giving a "chemical imbalance" verdict. There are no tests.

Blaming "chemical imbalances" as a cause for human quirks without chemical tests is not very different from blaming demons and evil spirits for the same quirks, as was done in the middle ages.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

DOA:
frits:
I have a feeling most people's berserkers would gas-out after 10, maybe 20 seconds of berserking. Especially readers of this site.
Less. But does it really matter? If you really lose it, it only takes a couple of seconds to seriously mess someone up

That's a common myth; it is only true when the aggressor has a marked advantage in terms of size or strength/agility. The average human body is very resilient to physical injury; most people will gas out in about 8-10 seconds of wailing spastic hay makers; and most people can't make a fist and punch with knock out power without breaking their fist. People learn that in a very shocking way with a few weeks of training in a combat sport, and anecdotal evidence observed by bouncers and police officers suggest the same.

Not to say people cannot injure themselves in a fight, but on average (barring a size advantage or a weapon), they rarely have the capacity to seriously mess someone up.

Most people have no clue what a punch to the face feels like, and no matter how much they "lose it", after a couple of punches, both parties tend to go "sh*t, it hurts". You can actually see their inner Rambo draining very quickly (pretty entertaining thing to watch really.)

From software wtfery to violence, awesome.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

So what?

Two apes get angry, possessive at each other over their female ape relatives. How is that a 'Curious Perversion in Information Technology'?

I notice a distinct trend for this site to go from amusing programming quirks, to disparaging commentaries, or stories, about human people.

The first is a discussion of ideas, the second is letting our base instincts rule us.

Best regards

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

RandomUser423689:
anon:
robbak:
before the green light will be given on cellphones in planes, we are going to need microcells installed in them. That would fix all the problems - chatting to a receiver 20 meters away in the same metal tube, the phones power levels will be way down.
Until the self-centered little pricks that make up humanity learn to cope with the fact that they are not the only person in any given room, and their immediate preferences do not obviate the need for politeness and for basic safety, cell phones will continue to be a disaster.
Looks like robbak was seeking to address the "basic safety" issue, so let's look at the other. Perhaps advances in subvocal recognition (or other forms of "technological telepathy") would be the solution. Once those improve to commercial viability, you get this: They sit there quietly staring at a book. Are they on the phone, or reading? Do you care?

As long as I don't have to listen to them blather, it doesn't matter much to me. Get on it. You'll be a hero.

Kensey · 2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Buck:
“Okay… but surely you can tell me how you feel about the candidate? I mean, he’ll want to know when things are going to happen.”
. . . .

“But it’s a Friday,” she insisted, “and I hate leaving these go all weekend. It’s not like I’m asking for a decision, just a hint as to how things went and when you’ll decide.”

i don't find anything all that unreasonable about the above. true, she could have been more diplomatic and expressed some sympathy to start out with, but, difficult (and ``inconclusive'') as things were to that point, surely he could have taken the few seconds it would take to dredge up whatever hint he might be at liberty to disclose to (a) satisfy the recruiter and (b) give the inteviewee she was inquiring about some hint as to how his hopes for getting a job might be playing out, if, say, he was himself awaiting news that might inform whatever decisions he'd have to make about the well-being of his own family that were tied up in it. family is important, but that doesn't give you the license to get inhumane and clannish to the exclusion of consideration of all others when you're on the way to purchase yourself some Reese's. price of living in a society

Here's the thing: Most recruiters are pests. They bug you about every resume they've sent your way, every candidate you've phone-screened, every candidate you've interviewed, and are constantly trying to pry info out of you about positions you might be wanting to fill. Recruiters on the whole, in other words, do not know how not to act like Amway salesmen.

So the relationship is adversarial to start (given the summary above, I think it's safe to say this was one of the pest recruiters). Now the recruiter is intruding into this person's off-work time -- because if he's in the hospital with his wife, he's clearly not at work and should not be expected to deal with work issues. Would it be acceptable for her to call him while he's on vacation? After hours while he's eating dinner?

Then, of course, she got shirty with him when he politely informed her that she was intruding. At that point she ought to have counted herself lucky he just hung up on her -- I'd have done my best to ruin her professional reputation inside the company.

All that's completely aside from the fact that I never talk to anybody but my boss, teammates and (occasionally) HR about how I feel regarding a candidate. It's a bad idea because if you give a bad review, you might end up chasing off a candidate your company ultimately wanted to hire, and if you give a good review, they might take that as a preliminary offer and put their notice in only to not actually get hired. So the recruiter was off-base asking him for his opinion directly no matter what other circumstances obtained.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Steve The Cynic:
Vollhorst:
Cell phone in a hospital? Idiot.
I wondered about this myself.
I would have been seeing red(1) about this sorry episode, until the letter of apology appeared.

(1): "Seeing red" is not a metaphor. Given the right impetus, you can get into a state where your field of vision acquires a sort of red haze, and the berserker(2) is ready to take over.

(2): Yes, the berserker. Don't discount the berserker - everybody has one, but some people suppress it better than others. It's really scary(3) when you find your berserker trying to break out of its box and rip someone's lungs out.

(3): Well, I was scared, anyway.

As a Norwegian, I am deeply offended that you make light of our cultural traditions and indeed imply condemnation. Yes, it is true that at one time in our history we cultivated the practice of going into an insane rage, foaming, at the mouth, and slaughtering everyone in sight. We think of this as a quaint traditional practice. Are you implying that killing innocent people in a blind rage for fun is "bad"? Who are you to criticize our culture? Sounds very judgemental and intolerant to me.

I also object to sports teams being called the "Vikings". If people can get all upset and bring lawsuits and so forth about teams named after Indian tribes, I think we Norwegians should start a campaign against teams that have few if any Norwegian members but call themselves "Vikings".

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Luis Espinal:
DOA:
frits:
I have a feeling most people's berserkers would gas-out after 10, maybe 20 seconds of berserking. Especially readers of this site.
Less. But does it really matter? If you really lose it, it only takes a couple of seconds to seriously mess someone up

That's a common myth; it is only true when the aggressor has a marked advantage in terms of size or strength/agility. The average human body is very resilient to physical injury; most people will gas out in about 8-10 seconds of wailing spastic hay makers; and most people can't make a fist and punch with knock out power without breaking their fist. People learn that in a very shocking way with a few weeks of training in a combat sport, and anecdotal evidence observed by bouncers and police officers suggest the same.

Not to say people cannot injure themselves in a fight, but on average (barring a size advantage or a weapon), they rarely have the capacity to seriously mess someone up.

Most people have no clue what a punch to the face feels like, and no matter how much they "lose it", after a couple of punches, both parties tend to go "sh*t, it hurts". You can actually see their inner Rambo draining very quickly (pretty entertaining thing to watch really.)

From software wtfery to violence, awesome.

Key assumption here is that the berserker does not have a weapon. It's probably true that few people could seriously injure someone with one or two punches with a bare fist. But suppose the berserker grabs a knife, or even a heavy blunt object? I admit that I don't have a lot of experience in brawling -- which no doubt makes me different from most software geeks -- but I'd think one good hit in the head with a rock could cause serious injury. And of course the question is not, Is it likely to?, but Is it a serious risk?, i.e. the probability doesn't have to be 75% to be a serious concern; 10% would be enough to concern me if someone was coming at me in a rage.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Kensey:
I've had two "so, that's how it's going to be" moments that led to job changes. (No nose-to-nose confrontations, but A Turning Point Was Reached.)
One was the manager who ordered me to finish a project I'd been working on in my personal time (it was for the company, after a point, but he didn't want to pay actual hours to work on it so it was still done at my own pace). He actually said "Either have that done tomorrow or have your resignation on my desk." The next day he got the one and a few weeks later he got the other (after I'd lined up a new job).

The other was the manager at my last job who tried to order me to circumvent security policy on a federal government system, and griped at me in an e-mail copied to all my co-workers about not coming up with "excuses" when I refused. I hit Monster that night and less than 3 months later (a couple of months ago) I started my new job.

I did once tell a senior contract manager on a conference call who was griping about my emergency patch to "his" failed system "I can un-fix it right now if you like." No, he wouldn't like, it turned out, and he was very deferential after that.

My almost 10 yr old daughter just turned in her first resignation last night. Her disorganized coach was reaming her and another "veteran" after he scraped together a last second team that had never practiced together. It barely lost a "summer fun" (coach's term) league match. I was in the bathroom when it happened; I came back to the court and could not find my folding chair nor my wife and my daughter was not on the court. I found them in the car waiting to leave.

EvanED · 2010-06-23 Reply Admin

WizardStan:
Cell phones on planes are not a safety threat, and no one who actually knows what they're talking about says so. Ever left your phone beside a speaker when a call came in, or when it lost signal and tried to reacquire it? Know that buzzing clicking sound? IT'S ANNOYING!

One of the big things that I miss about my old Nokia bar phone now that I have an N900 is I can't throw it across the room when it does that.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

EvanED:
WizardStan:
Cell phones on planes are not a safety threat, and no one who actually knows what they're talking about says so. Ever left your phone beside a speaker when a call came in, or when it lost signal and tried to reacquire it? Know that buzzing clicking sound? IT'S ANNOYING!

One of the big things that I miss about my old Nokia bar phone now that I have an N900 is I can't throw it across the room when it does that.

I don't know. There is evidence that certain cellphones do mess up navigation systems, including GPS based ones.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/aviation/unsafe-at-any-airspeed

Given the consequences of having a plane go where it's not supposed to be (the ultimate penalty is being shot down), well...

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Worf:

I don't know. There is evidence that certain cellphones do mess up navigation systems, including GPS based ones.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/aviation/unsafe-at-any-airspeed

Given the consequences of having a plane go where it's not supposed to be (the ultimate penalty is being shot down), well...

OK, I'm back with more on planes RFI and GPS.

Yes a lot of things mess with GPS. The signal can be very weak. It is required that when a GPS is installed in a plane it has a specific checkout that includes transmitting from the normal VHF radios on selected frequencies.

Transmitting from radio 1 can cause the signal to hit the output stage of stage radio two, One antenna picking up the other radio. The signal on the output transistors can reflect back out at the 13th harmonic that falls right on the GPS signal. Which then get heard from the GPS receiver and it brakes lock.

The signal is very low, but if the 3 antennas are very close it happens. It also depends on the model and version on comm radios.

Does this mean the GPS puts you off course? No. It no longer has a lock on the sats needed and as soon as the interference is gone, it shows you right back where you are. If that causes you a problem, to lose lock for a few seconds in anything other than an IFR approach, you are doing something else very wrong. Which also leads to why they want portable devices tuned off below 10,000'.

If my GPS goes out, then I have 2 VOR/DME receivers I can go back to using. And if that fails, then get out of the clouds and pull out a VFR chart and follow landmarks. I can also call ATC and have them give me radar vectors.

Your bigger problem in a plane is something messing the ILS signals on an IFR approach. These are in the VHF/UHF range, 120Mhz, and 240Mhz range. You got all kinds of digital devices now days with digital signals around those rates.

Gender_2 · 2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Mark J.:
Falcon:
What I'd really like to know is what kind of life that child will have, with parents like Jeremy and Deborah.
The child will learn to be a narcissistic sociopath like its parents.

I think I just fell in love. Exactly my thoughts. There are so many people like that. And they make the best, most hated, managers and bosses.

We should feel sorry for them. Completely ruined from probably even before they were born: I want it to wake up, lets poke until it responds!

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Freedom is right. You have the freedom to purchase your own health insurance if you choose. And you can take it with you from job to job.

The last thing I want the government involved in is my health care. Allow health insurance to be interstate and then regulate it that way. Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans, and Indian Health Services are already a disater.

SQLDave · 2010-06-23 Reply Admin

A CEO appalled at blatant nepotism? I call shenanigans.

2010-06-23 Reply Admin

Jay:
Key assumption here is that the berserker does not have a weapon. It's probably true that few people could seriously injure someone with one or two punches with a bare fist. But suppose the berserker grabs a knife, or even a heavy blunt object?

I have as little experience with brawling as anyone could have - none at all - but I do have experience with assuming that a tool will help you if you don't know how to use it. Usually, it doesn't. And I don't expect that being in a blind, incoherent rage would help much with that. I expect the experience would be mostly embarrassing for the "berserker". This whole notion seems to stem from watching too many movies where an ordinary person suddenly transforms into a perfect killing machine to satisfy the requirements of plot and justice, and suddenly finds deep wells of martial expertise, killing thirty bad guys with a paperclip because the head bad guy has his wife hostage or something. Seems a little bullshit to me.

SQLDave · 2010-06-23 Reply Admin

cklam:
java.lang.Chris;:
I received a call from a company director, saying he'd heard I'd "f*cked" his system and calling me a "c*nt".
... SNIP ...

I found myself up for a dismissal procedure, but thankfully had all the emails from my boss, as well as support from a contractor who was aware of the details and disgusted at my boss. The upshot was the dismissal proceedings were withdrawn, but the director was not censured nor did he offer an apology. I quit the next day.

And that is why I am recording all my mobile calls and never do anything without a signed and approved work order. Screw my employer, always CYOA first!

Plus: with a call recording he could have gone straight to the general director! Or Youtube!

CYOA?

Cover Your Obese Ass? (Too presumptive) Cover Your Oxen's Ass? (Too much of a non sequitur) Cover Your Other Ass? (Too medically improbable) It can't be Cover Your Own Ass because "Own" would be redundant.

I'm stumped.

Steve The Cynic · 2010-06-24 Reply Admin

Jay:
Steve The Cynic:
Vollhorst:
Cell phone in a hospital? Idiot.
I wondered about this myself.
I would have been seeing red(1) about this sorry episode, until the letter of apology appeared.

(1): "Seeing red" is not a metaphor. Given the right impetus, you can get into a state where your field of vision acquires a sort of red haze, and the berserker(2) is ready to take over.

(2): Yes, the berserker. Don't discount the berserker - everybody has one, but some people suppress it better than others. It's really scary(3) when you find your berserker trying to break out of its box and rip someone's lungs out.

(3): Well, I was scared, anyway.

As a Norwegian, I am deeply offended that you make light of our cultural traditions and indeed imply condemnation. Yes, it is true that at one time in our history we cultivated the practice of going into an insane rage, foaming, at the mouth, and slaughtering everyone in sight. We think of this as a quaint traditional practice. Are you implying that killing innocent people in a blind rage for fun is "bad"? Who are you to criticize our culture? Sounds very judgemental and intolerant to me.

I also object to sports teams being called the "Vikings". If people can get all upset and bring lawsuits and so forth about teams named after Indian tribes, I think we Norwegians should start a campaign against teams that have few if any Norwegian members but call themselves "Vikings".

I wasn't making light of, or condemning, anything. I said it was scary when I had a "red haze" episode, mostly because I had never thought of myself as a potential berserker, and I'm actually aware that berserkers are really, really dangerous to be around.

But that's not "bad" in the sense of evil, culturally negative, or anything, just very, very dangerous.

And I'm not going to get into the question of the names of sports teams. I come from a country where one of the top-level football (that's "soccer" for those who aren't keeping up) teams features the word "Wednesday" in its name, ffs...

2010-06-24 Reply Admin

SQLDave:
cklam:
And that is why I am recording all my mobile calls and never do anything without a signed and approved work order. Screw my employer, always CYOA first!
Plus: with a call recording he could have gone straight to the general director! Or Youtube!

CYOA?

Cover Your Obese Ass? (Too presumptive) Cover Your Oxen's Ass? (Too much of a non sequitur) Cover Your Other Ass? (Too medically improbable) It can't be Cover Your Own Ass because "Own" would be redundant.

I'm stumped.

I read it as Choke Your Overseer's Appendage. That seems to fit best with the "Screw my employer" just before it.

2010-06-24 Reply Admin

Vollhorst:
Cell phone in a hospital? Idiot.

My father is a surgeon and medical director of a hospital in southern Germany. He says the no-cellphone rule is only there because of the annoyance and distraction stupids with cellphones are. All medical equipment must be EMI hardened anyway. That, by the way, is one of the reasons for the stuff being so expensive.

I would be more worried of a medical machine running a shitty insecure OS that is connected to a shitty insecure network than about the phone ringing next to it.

Critically Conditioned

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