• Caffeine (unregistered) in reply to jschank
    jschank:
    Don't be silly. There's no way a pigeon can carry a mail server.

    It could grip it by the husk...

  • Xythar (unregistered) in reply to Mr.'; Drop Database --
    Mr.'; Drop Database --:
    Code Dependent:
    From the "first and last letter" people:

    Aoccdrnig to rseearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

    Tihs tierd old cyoasptpa nedes to die. It osuveers sorht wodrs and all of the leretts are itnanlolietny rangeerard in a way taht's ralbeade to hanmus. Try rdloanmy snfihfulg the leretts of the wdors and wctah as the huamn bais dprsieaaps. You can pablorby stlil dihepecr it but it's osiblovuy mroe dcfulfiit. Ieialtlndncy, the utesiinrvy rarceseh is tlltoay foantciil. It nveer henepapd.

    That's a little harder but still more readable than you'd expect from randomly rearranged words. I got stuff like "copypasta" almost immediately.

  • arran (unregistered)

    Looks like to me the reason they didn't do replace it, is they enjoyed it. Look how they made it a game at the start with a 'heads start.' How else would that system move building with them?

  • Peter (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent

    "You are standing in a room, holding a fan. There is an old computer with the covers off here. There are no spare wall outlets.

    What do you do now?"

    Buy a power strip while you're out getting that fan.

  • Franz Kafka (unregistered) in reply to Zapp Brannigan
    Zapp Brannigan:
    Are we 100% certain that Tom and the other old-timers weren't jerking David's chain? Cause that would be cool to pull off a long term punk like that.

    I expect so - wouldn't make sense to torpedo your SW build for a prank.

  • Edward Royce (unregistered)

    Ok I'm sorry but I'm stealing this. There is no way in heck that I'm ever not going to make the 'New Hire' go through this run.to.server.and.fan.it.with.cardboard.

    I may be a bastard but I'm an -amused- bastard and that is all that really matters.

  • Anonymous Lurker (unregistered) in reply to Edward Royce
    Edward Royce:
    Ok I'm sorry but I'm stealing this. There is no way in heck that I'm ever not going to make the 'New Hire' go through this run.to.server.and.fan.it.with.cardboard.

    I may be a bastard but I'm an -amused- bastard and that is all that really matters.

    Hell yeah. My company is looking for a new junior programmer at the moment and I can't wait to use this.

  • Franz Kafka (unregistered) in reply to Edward Royce
    Edward Royce:
    Ok I'm sorry but I'm stealing this. There is no way in heck that I'm ever not going to make the 'New Hire' go through this run.to.server.and.fan.it.with.cardboard.

    I may be a bastard but I'm an -amused- bastard and that is all that really matters.

    If he shows up the second day...

    I mean, if he shows up the second day with a fan, give him a raise.

  • (cs) in reply to Franz Kafka
    Franz Kafka:
    If he shows up the second day...

    I mean, if he shows up the second day with a fan, give him a raise.

    No, look at him as if you're horrified and tell him that company policy forbids any personal equipment to be plugged into the power sockets, just to make his brain melt. Oh, and whip up a fake PO for a power strip and a fan and tell him it's just waiting on approval and you should be able to get it in a month or two.

  • P.M.Lawrence (unregistered) in reply to Ouch!

    'Plus, the compiler nowadays not only notices your grammatical errors but also tells you in what way you erred (of course, it doesn't spot the exact error in every case; still it's much easier to correct your errors now than in the days where the only error message the compiler gave was "Syntax error on line xx. Possibly missing ';' on line above.").'

    Not necessarily. I know of a Forth variant where there is no such thing as a grammatical error and all possible finite source compiles to something (unrecognised text defines and declares a new keyword). Infinite source is valid in that too, you just never get anything out before you hit a limit.

  • Ouch! (unregistered) in reply to P.M.Lawrence
    P.M.Lawrence:
    'Plus, the compiler nowadays not only notices your grammatical errors but also tells you in what way you erred (of course, it doesn't spot the exact error in every case; still it's much easier to correct your errors now than in the days where the only error message the compiler gave was "Syntax error on line xx. Possibly missing ';' on line above.").'

    Not necessarily. I know of a Forth variant where there is no such thing as a grammatical error and all possible finite source compiles to something (unrecognised text defines and declares a new keyword). Infinite source is valid in that too, you just never get anything out before you hit a limit.

    So the grammar is "Do what thou wilt"? Scary. But easy. Of course, whether your programme does what you intended is a different question.

  • teh jav (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent
    Code Dependent:
    derula:
    YOU LOST.
    I dunno, sounds like a win to me.
    Have you not played The Path. Lost is the new win.
  • Grant (unregistered)
    As the months passed, David came to learn that, oddly enough, the younger and healthier non-smoking developers tended to have more success at getting their builds sent to the mainframe and tested.
    Looks like another case of survival of the fittest to me.
  • SR (unregistered) in reply to Keloran
    Keloran:
    So TRWTF is that they were all idiots

    Awww! That's always TRWTF!

  • Swa (unregistered)

    not sure about this but:

    isn't the whole point of the supposed fanning to let fresh air enter the warm server room? all you people whining about installing a mechanical fan etc, that most likely wouldn't be enough. you need a doorstop too. ;)

    anyhow, i'm SO going to use this when we get our next hire...

    either for large SVN commits or letting something build on the Build server. i don't know which yet. hmz... or maybe for our 'slow' QA server. fan it to make it go faster!

  • uxor (unregistered) in reply to Mr.'; Drop Database --
    Mr.'; Drop Database --:
    Code Dependent:
    From the "first and last letter" people:

    Aoccdrnig to rseearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

    Tihs tierd old cyoasptpa nedes to die. It osuveers sorht wodrs and all of the leretts are itnanlolietny rangeerard in a way taht's ralbeade to hanmus. Try rdloanmy snfihfulg the leretts of the wdors and wctah as the huamn bais dprsieaaps. You can pablorby stlil dihepecr it but it's osiblovuy mroe dcfulfiit. Ieialtlndncy, the utesiinrvy rarceseh is tlltoay foantciil. It nveer henepapd.

    Congratulations! You both can have wonderful careers writing spam.

    Fuckers.

  • Ron Piler (unregistered)
    obody ever thought to vent A/C directly to the machine room, or a build machine that wasn't so temperamental, or at the very least, buy an electric fan.

    Including our hero, David G. So the real WTF is that numbnuts put up with this crap for so long

  • Ron Piler (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent
    Aoccdrnig to rseearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

    Congratulations, you are the ten billionth person to regurgitate this tired old cliche. Here's an idea: write a script which will parse and re-arrange every single thing you ever read, in line with this philosophy, and spend a month or two reading just that. Then tell us how little it matters what order the letters are in

  • Cosi Fan Tutti (unregistered) in reply to DES
    DES:
    An electric fan would actually have raised the average temperature in the machine room.

    Blowing the dust out of the case and CPU fans (and vacuuming it up so it didn't go right back in) and putting the frickin' case cover back on would have gone a long way.

    Depends which way the fan was facing. Having it behind the machine (from the door's perspective) blowing hot air out, would help

  • Spudley (unregistered) in reply to Steve the Cynic
    Steve the Cynic:
    they still had mainframes in 1994?

    Yes.

    Yes they did.

    I know because I was there using one. An ICL mainframe running VME. Fortunately for me, I had a PC because my main job was to write code for DOS that interfaced with the mainframe. I was the only programmer in the company who's job didn't involve writing COBOL all day (just the odd bit here and there, but that was plenty!). Most of the other people in the building just had dumb terminals -- ie a monocrome (green-screen) CRT that linked up directly to the mainframe.

    We also had 8 inch floppy disks which the data entry clerks used for backing up their mainframe data.

    Yes, it was hideously archaic even in the mid 1990s but I do know that some of those old ICLs are still in service -- when I went to the bank recently, the lady I spoke to may have had a nice shiny PC on her desk, but the main window she was using to pull up my details was a terminal emulator showing an ICL-VME screen. I don't know whether the hardware in the background has seen improvements over the years, but I can easily imagine the bank's data capture clerks dutifully filing everything away onto 140K 8 inch floppies.

  • Martin Fowler (unregistered) in reply to BentFranklin
    BentFranklin:
    I like how the build gets compiled twice. In case the first time it isn't compiled enough.

    So...either you don't compile your code locally to see if it works before committing it, or your organisation is in the habit of releasing binaries compiled by a developer. Either way, you fail process management forever

  • Martin Fowler (unregistered) in reply to BentFranklin
    BentFranklin:
    I like how the build gets compiled twice. In case the first time it isn't compiled enough.

    So...either you don't compile your code locally to see if it works before committing it, or your organisation is in the habit of releasing binaries compiled by a developer. Either way, you fail process management forever

  • (cs) in reply to Code Dependent
    if I couldn't convince management to kick down for one, I'd be willing to do it myself.

    What... new hardware in the machine room, without being signed off by management, the Server Team and a highly-paid consultant? That would SO violate The Process! You can't do that!

  • (cs) in reply to Ron Piler
    uxor:
    Congratulations! You both can have wonderful careers writing spam.

    Fuckers.

    Ron Piler:
    Congratulations, you are the ten billionth person to regurgitate this tired old cliche, blah blah blah, etc. etc.
    "Context". It'll be a new concept for you two. Study up on it; it'll help you in social situations, greatly improving your acceptance factor.

  • (cs) in reply to Arancaytar
    Arancaytar:
    if I couldn't convince management to kick down for one, I'd be willing to do it myself.
    What... new hardware in the machine room, without being signed off by management, the Server Team and a highly-paid consultant? That would SO violate The Process! You can't do that!
    I guess I'd request approval from the guy who signed off on the cardboard. :)
  • Connect the dots! La la la la la la! (unregistered)

    Maybe they just enjoyed running in the halls all the time.

    If not, then that's a pretty big WTF...

  • eliac (unregistered) in reply to Spudley
    Spudley:
    Steve the Cynic:
    they still had mainframes in 1994?

    Yes.

    Yes they did.

    I know because I was there using one. An ICL mainframe running VME. Fortunately for me, I had a PC because my main job was to write code for DOS that interfaced with the mainframe. I was the only programmer in the company who's job didn't involve writing COBOL all day (just the odd bit here and there, but that was plenty!). Most of the other people in the building just had dumb terminals -- ie a monocrome (green-screen) CRT that linked up directly to the mainframe.

    We also had 8 inch floppy disks which the data entry clerks used for backing up their mainframe data.

    Yes, it was hideously archaic even in the mid 1990s but I do know that some of those old ICLs are still in service -- when I went to the bank recently, the lady I spoke to may have had a nice shiny PC on her desk, but the main window she was using to pull up my details was a terminal emulator showing an ICL-VME screen. I don't know whether the hardware in the background has seen improvements over the years, but I can easily imagine the bank's data capture clerks dutifully filing everything away onto 140K 8 inch floppies.

    Oh, this just calls for a Fight Club quote...

    • Which car company do you work for?
    • A major one.
  • IT Girl (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent
    Code Dependent:
    Anon:
    Perhaps there wasn't a spare outlet?
    You are standing in a room, holding a fan. There is an old computer with the covers off here. There are no spare wall outlets.

    What do you do now?

    Buy a $6 power bar to go with the fan.

  • Bim Job (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent
    Code Dependent:
    uxor:
    Congratulations! You both can have wonderful careers writing spam.

    Fuckers.

    Ron Piler:
    Congratulations, you are the ten billionth person to regurgitate this tired old cliche, blah blah blah, etc. etc.
    "Context". It'll be a new concept for you two. Study up on it; it'll help you in social situations, greatly improving your acceptance factor.
    Well, you know. What they said.

    It's (not particularly) interesting that neither one could be bothered to read earlier posts on the subject.

    It's (mildly) interesting that they both disagree with you, nonetheless.

    It's (even more) interesting that you're clue-batting them with the accusation that they haven't read the "context."

    IIRC, "context" was my whole problem with your absurd post in the first place. Of course, it's always easier to throw random insults at people you'll never meet than to address the defects of your own argument. Call it the "ex hominem" attack. Blah blah blah. Snip.

  • (cs) in reply to Bim Job
    Bim Job:
    IIRC, "context" was my whole problem with your absurd post in the first place. Of course, it's always easier to throw random insults at people you'll never meet than to address the defects of your own argument. Call it the "ex hominem" attack. Blah blah blah. Snip.
    Keep trying, BJ. Scattershot's bound to hit something, sooner or later.
  • Ron Piler (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent
    Code Dependent:
    uxor:
    Congratulations! You both can have wonderful careers writing spam.

    Fuckers.

    Ron Piler:
    Congratulations, you are the ten billionth person to regurgitate this tired old cliche, blah blah blah, etc. etc.
    "Context". It'll be a new concept for you two. Study up on it; it'll help you in social situations, greatly improving your acceptance factor.

    cf: http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Butthurt

    It's ok for me to call you a wanker, because of the context

  • Ceiswyn (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent
    Code Dependent:
    From the "first and last letter" people:

    Aoccdrnig to rseearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

    First: that's not true. It only works if you're very picky about which words you choose and how to scramble them.

    Second: while it's possible to make out the sense of many things that are ungrammatical or incorrectly spelled, they make people's brains glitch and slow them down. Making something easy to comprehend - ie using the rules - is polite. Making something hard to comprehend - ie throwing a bunch of words at the screen and expecting the reader to make sense of them - is rude.

  • (cs) in reply to Ceiswyn
    Code Dependent:
    From the "first and last letter" people:

    Aoccdrnig to rseearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

    I'm sure people with reading disorders that require them to read words letter-by-letter were appreciative of the research.

    Ceiswyn:
    First: that's not true. It only works if you're very picky about which words you choose and how to scramble them.

    Exactly. The given example "Aoccdrnig to rseearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy" has some conveniently placed letters (like the "cc" in the mixed up "according").

    "Anocdircg to rraceseh at an Egisnlh uiitrvesny" is more of a pain.

  • Franz Kafka (unregistered) in reply to Scarlet Manuka
    Scarlet Manuka:
    Franz Kafka:
    If he shows up the second day...

    I mean, if he shows up the second day with a fan, give him a raise.

    No, look at him as if you're horrified and tell him that company policy forbids any personal equipment to be plugged into the power sockets, just to make his brain melt. Oh, and whip up a fake PO for a power strip and a fan and tell him it's just waiting on approval and you should be able to get it in a month or two.

    By which time he'll be in a company that isn't so batshit insane.

  • uxor (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent
    Code Dependent:
    uxor:
    Congratulations! You both can have wonderful careers writing spam.

    Fuckers.

    Ron Piler:
    Congratulations, you are the ten billionth person to regurgitate this tired old cliche, blah blah blah, etc. etc.
    "Context". It'll be a new concept for you two. Study up on it; it'll help you in social situations, greatly improving your acceptance factor.
    "Spelling". I'd tell you to google it, but the way you type you're not going to find it.

  • Bim Job (unregistered) in reply to Liquid Egg Product
    Liquid Egg Product:
    Code Dependent:
    From the "first and last letter" people:

    Aoccdrnig to rseearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

    I'm sure people with reading disorders that require them to read words letter-by-letter were appreciative of the research.

    Ceiswyn:
    First: that's not true. It only works if you're very picky about which words you choose and how to scramble them.

    Exactly. The given example "Aoccdrnig to rseearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy" has some conveniently placed letters (like the "cc" in the mixed up "according").

    "Anocdircg to rraceseh at an Egisnlh uiitrvesny" is more of a pain.

    Oh, now, you two are just trying to be reasonable with CodeDependent. You know that won't work -- he's a Texan. He's even left-wing, so far as these things go in Texas.

    He can't cope with grammar (which is odd, because his is perfect); he can't cope with a logical argument (I'm still waiting for a refutation of "orthogonal"); and he just loves to dive sideways into an irrelevant (but fun) quote.

    You kind of have to take him as he is. In Texas, he's a Good Ole Boy. In the world of etymology, he's more of a juvenile delinquent.

  • Alberto (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent

    And so he would had been fired for changing a FANtastic and FANctional release process.

  • Alberto (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent
    Code Dependent:
    Is this the origin of the term "fanboy"?
    And over all that time, nobody ever thought to vent A/C directly to the machine room, or a build machine that wasn't so temperamental, or at the very least, buy an electric fan.
    I don't think I would have the guts to submit a story with such an admission in it. I mean, for about twelve bucks you can get a little fan at Walmart... if I couldn't convince management to kick down for one, I'd be willing to do it myself.

    And so he would had been fired for changing a FANtastic and FANctional release process.

  • PinkFloyd43 (unregistered)

    I worked at a billion $$ company who basically did the same thing, we always had multiple fans in our computer room and one day the word went out if anyone had a fan at home to go and get it as it was really hot outside and the systems needed to keep going. We did have a fantastic team but the almightly dollar kept them from upgrading the a/c, don't get me going on the emergency generator day, ok, lost power and no generator, seems like they didn't pay the bill for the diesel and it had simply ran out due to monthly testing for a year or so..........again the almight dollar. BTW, it took an entire day to get the cash to get the thing serviced and started up again.

  • Anonymouse (unregistered) in reply to psm321
    psm321:
    DWalker59:
    Oh, and how do you "discretely" wipe off perspiration? (I know, that's Alex's fault...)

    One drop at a time.

    I think the intention was 'discreet' or 'discreetly'.

  • Buzzard (unregistered)

    I am sure this fanning job could be outsourced to an Indian firm with great success

  • (cs) in reply to DWalker59
    DWalker59:
    It's weird that (good) computer programming is an exacting art/skill, requiring great attention to detail and an appreciation of minutiae, and yet so many programmers can't even spell. (I'm talking about the native English/American speakers; proficiency in a second or third language is understandably hard.)

    I find that the 2nd or 3rd language speakers(especially Europeans) spell better than many natives. The number of idiots that type 'seperate' instead of 'separate' or 'loose' when they mean 'lose' is beyond belief. Mistakes like 'loose' are the best, as they require more characters that the correct version. Mind you, the worst mistakes are spellings like 'color' for 'colour' or 'nabor' for 'neighbour'. People who make these errors tend to have speech impediments as well,unfortunately.

  • @thorfi (unregistered) in reply to Arancaytar
    Arancaytar:
    if I couldn't convince management to kick down for one, I'd be willing to do it myself.

    What... new hardware in the machine room, without being signed off by management, the Server Team and a highly-paid consultant? That would SO violate The Process! You can't do that!

    Sadly, I am the David in Question. And even more Sadly, Arancaytar is about right.

  • @thorfi (unregistered) in reply to DES
    DES:
    An electric fan would actually have raised the average temperature in the machine room.

    Blowing the dust out of the case and CPU fans (and vacuuming it up so it didn't go right back in) and putting the frickin' case cover back on would have gone a long way.

    Heh. Nope. Was tried, didn't work. Ancient 286, and I really mean ancient. Half dead fans, unique comms card (as in, there is only one and you can't buy a replacement). Put the case on in the nice cool main office and it would die, let alone in the Hot Place.

  • (cs) in reply to Mr.'; Drop Database --
    Mr.'; Drop Database --:
    Tihs tierd old cyoasptpa nedes to die. It osuveers sorht wodrs and all of the leretts are itnanlolietny rangeerard in a way taht's ralbeade to hanmus. Try rdloanmy snfihfulg the leretts of the wdors and wctah as the huamn bais dprsieaaps. You can pablorby stlil dihepecr it but it's osiblovuy mroe dcfulfiit. Ieialtlndncy, the utesiinrvy rarceseh is tlltoay foantciil. It nveer henepapd.

    Haha... I was just wondering the same thing to myself as i read that classic chain mail example for the 10th time. I was about to write a perl script to see if it would apply to any normal writing samples. Thanks for saving me the time :)

    I'm still stuck on 'cyoasptpa' and 'foantciil'

    Addendum (2009-09-18 22:42): edit: 'copypasta' and 'fictional'.. cripes!

  • Frans Baron (unregistered) in reply to Max
    Max:
    Come on, people. You should be smarter than this.

    Fans do not actually cool down air. They just move it. The story said that they fanned air from the hallway into the warm room. The open door is the key, not the fan.

    So the real solution would be to just chock the door open...

    So in your opinion, a CPU fan does not make the CPU less warm?

    Why not try it out yourself by unplugging the power cable to your CPU fan? ;)

  • Elvis (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent
    Code Dependent:
    Anon:
    Perhaps there wasn't a spare outlet?
    You are standing in a room, holding a fan. There is an old computer with the covers off here. There are no spare wall outlets.

    What do you do now?

    type XYZZY and see what happens

  • (cs) in reply to Dank.
    Dank.:
    I am so annoyed that someone already suggested the CD tray hack.

    Now I am gonna go out back and throw a few logs on the TCP/IP smoke-stack and see if that makes my connection faster.

    I always thought that if you ran the cat-5 cable downhill, that would make your connection faster.

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