• Anonymous (unregistered)

    This frist comment was entered via a manual process. And didn't it turn out well? I don't see what the problem is...

  • (cs)

    But I wanna post a comment nowwwwwwww.

  • Fab (unregistered)

    TRWTF Way of importing the data should start by printing the excel file and taking the photo of the listing on a wooden table.

  • Al (unregistered)

    TRWTF is posting the spoiler warning after the spoiler.

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding is ruined for me now...

  • (cs)

    0_0

    This is far too much of a wtf to be real.

  • (cs)

    ... I really shouldn't be surprised...

    This reminds me of that guy who jokingly claims to have a basement full of abducted teenagers with notepads instead of a hard drive, except somehow a company got suckered into paying for it.

  • (cs)
    Still, he couldn't bring himself to ask how much money the highly-skilled data insertion analysts would see from the sale.
    So, that was mom and pop doing the insertion analysis? Nice terminology, by the way.
  • SR (unregistered) in reply to Al
    Al:
    TRWTF is posting the spoiler warning after the spoiler.

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding is ruined for me now...

    Go and see it anyway. The data entry scenes are a riot!

  • Anonymous (unregistered)

    So who actually wrote the system that this company was peddling? Was it even legit?

  • Pickle Pumpers (unregistered)

    I can't tell you how much it annoys me to be asked, "How much longer?" I hate it so much I quit a job when my boss, for the last time, asked me, "When will it be fixed?" I packed my stuff up and walked out.

    This is what I wish I had said:

    It will now take as long as it would have plus the time you have wasted asking me how long it will take in addition to the time you wasted while I had to answer the question, 'How long will it take?' for the umpteenth time.

    Now do you have any other question? Because I will need to log the time it takes to listen to and answer them so I can add that to the total time it takes to fix this problem and I want to be sure I log how long I wasted answering these kinds of questions.

  • Bob (unregistered)

    TRWTF: WTF does "Being pinged" mean?

  • CodeSOD4ME (unregistered) in reply to Bob

    TRWTF is that someone reading this blog does not understand that analogy.

  • blah (unregistered)

    TRWTF is that these comments aren't printed out for Mark Bowtyz to type into Community Server.

  • nerfherder (unregistered) in reply to Bob

    'ping' refers to a common network command which is used to test that a device is on the network and communicating. Its name comes from an analogy to naval sonar, where a ping is send out and an echo is returned, measuring the distance to underwater objects. Ping is often used as a rudimentary troubleshooting tool to identify where issues in systems that involve a network originate. By 'pinging', a technician can quickly see if a server is on and functioning at a rudimentary level. It has entered common parlance as a term meaning "to check on".

  • (cs) in reply to Pickle Pumpers
    Pickle Pumpers:
    I can't tell you how much it annoys me to be asked, "How much longer?" I hate it so much I quit a job when my boss, for the last time, asked me, "When will it be fixed?" I packed my stuff up and walked out.
    A quick, concise and appropriate answer is, "How long did it take Michelangelo to finish the sistine chapel?"

    Not only does it convey your own sense of your worth and that of your work; it references the answer your boss needs. Check it out (first paragraph).

    When will you make an end?

  • (cs)

    TRWTF was Stewart.

    Data migration process should have been discussed before deployment.

  • svu (unregistered)

    there is always an easy way, and an alternative way which involves a few guys from india

    ...a team of highly-skilled data insertion analysts who are responsible for importing the data...
    from the last story:

    Ready for Anal (from the previous article) and now Data Insertion... Isn't it time to call this The Fabulous WTF?

  • (cs) in reply to Bob
    Bob:
    TRWTF: WTF does "Being pinged" mean?
    It is a technical term misused by retarded manager types these days. As a result, it is slowly morphing into an equivalent term for an instant message conversation and makes me want to smack everyone who misuses it.
    nerfherder:
    'ping' refers to a common network command which is used to test that a device is on the network and communicating. Its name comes from an analogy to naval sonar, where a ping is send out and an echo is returned, measuring the distance to underwater objects. Ping is often used as a rudimentary troubleshooting tool to identify where issues in systems that involve a network originate. By 'pinging', a technician can quickly see if a server is on and functioning at a rudimentary level. It has entered common parlance as a term meaning "to check on".
  • fat, if not Greek (unregistered)

    I thought I had seen MBFGW, but the reference is all, well, lost on me.

  • awfwefewa (unregistered)

    John Ocford is not impressed.

  • (cs)

    It never ceases to amaze me when humans are used to do the repetitive, monotonous job of manually transferring/converting data from one system to another. What do they think computers are for anyway?!

  • (cs)

    This isn't uncommon, my mother got a temp job doing something like this. She had to type over one database into another. As they where both access databases I just asked her to bring them over, and I did her 8 week job in 5 minutes.

  • Milligan (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent
    Code Dependent:
    "How long did it take Michelangelo to finish the sistine chapel?"

    Not as long as you might think. He was the first to use a roller! </Mel Brooks>

  • (cs) in reply to kastein
    kastein:
    Bob:
    TRWTF: WTF does "Being pinged" mean?
    It is a technical term misused by retarded manager types these days. As a result, it is slowly morphing into an equivalent term for an instant message conversation and makes me want to smack everyone who misuses it.

    Not just IM. I hear it reference to meetings ("I'll ping him offline after the meeting."), phone calls ("I don't know, let me ping her and find out."), messages ("I pinged her but she hasn't called back.") and basically any other mode of communication. It's bloody irritating.

  • Fast Eddie (unregistered) in reply to Pickle Pumpers
    Pickle Pumpers:
    I can't tell you how much it annoys me to be asked, "How much longer?" I hate it so much I quit a job when my boss, for the last time, asked me, "When will it be fixed?" I packed my stuff up and walked out.

    This is what I wish I had said:

    It will now take as long as it would have plus the time you have wasted asking me how long it will take in addition to the time you wasted while I had to answer the question, 'How long will it take?' for the umpteenth time.

    Now do you have any other question? Because I will need to log the time it takes to listen to and answer them so I can add that to the total time it takes to fix this problem and I want to be sure I log how long I wasted answering these kinds of questions.

    Hmmm...

    Sounds like you are exactly the kind of programmer that needs to be "pinged" <grin>. A real programmer would already expect the boss (you know, the guy responsible for determining your next raise?) to require consistant status reports and supply them without needing to be prompted.

    TRWTF is how you managed to hold a job at all for any length of time...

    ...I'm just sayin'.

  • Canthros (unregistered)

    Honestly, I've been on a system where shipping the contents of the database off to a third party for manual entry would have been faster than the 'automated' solution that was used. Would've been cheaper, too, because it would have freed the expensive technical resources to work on the technical problems they were hired to deal with.

    CAPTCHA: ludus It's not ludus!

  • fungus (unregistered) in reply to webhamster

    For phone calls 'pinging' has a narrower meaning, at least that's how I use it: Let someone's phone ring once as a previously accorded signal that some event occurred, or meaning "Call me back when you have time", or "You call me, I don't want to pay/don't have any credit left".

  • MRAB (unregistered) in reply to Daid
    Daid:
    This isn't uncommon, my mother got a temp job doing something like this. She had to type over one database into another. As they where both access databases I just asked her to bring them over, and I did her 8 week job in 5 minutes.

    Did she still get paid the same amount as she would have if she'd taken 8 weeks?

    Captcha: populus. And that's not a typo!

  • Basseq (unregistered)

    Those of you whining about "pinging," I imagine you're the same group who started the rumor about Google being out of "bandwidth" last week.

    TRWTF is that the software sounds pretty impressive. Why the stone-age response? Can I buy this company and make millions once I hire a couple recent CS grads?

  • Anonymous (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent
    Code Dependent:
    A quick, concise and appropriate answer is, "How long did it take Michelangelo to finish the sistine chapel?"
    I use a similar trick, except I ask my boss "how long did it take for Gaudi to finish the Sagrada Família?". One day he'll look it up and damn will he be pissed.
  • Anon (unregistered) in reply to svu
    svu:
    there is always an easy way, and an alternative way which involves a few guys from india
    ...a team of highly-skilled data insertion analysts who are responsible for importing the data...
    from the last story:

    Ready for Anal (from the previous article) and now Data Insertion... Isn't it time to call this The Fabulous WTF?

    Not just data insertion, but data insertion analysis or data insertion anal for short.

  • Anonymous (unregistered) in reply to fungus
    fungus:
    For phone calls 'pinging' has a narrower meaning, at least that's how I use it: Let someone's phone ring once as a previously accorded signal that some event occurred, or meaning "Call me back when you have time", or "You call me, I don't want to pay/don't have any credit left".
    Damn that pisses me off. I always ignore my phone when that happens, and I secretly hope that the person on the other end is drowning. If you can't afford to phone me for help then fuck off and drown.
  • monkeyPushButton (unregistered) in reply to webhamster
    webhamster:
    kastein:
    Bob:
    TRWTF: WTF does "Being pinged" mean?
    It is a technical term misused by retarded manager types these days. As a result, it is slowly morphing into an equivalent term for an instant message conversation and makes me want to smack everyone who misuses it.

    Not just IM. I hear it reference to meetings ("I'll ping him offline after the meeting."), phone calls ("I don't know, let me ping her and find out."), messages ("I pinged her but she hasn't called back.") and basically any other mode of communication. It's bloody irritating.

    Next time you are asked to "ping" someone, call them, ask if they are there, then hang up on them. Then report back to the requster how long it took the "pingee" to reply.

  • TB3 (unregistered)

    I once had a student job at a government agency that required a specific piece of scientific code written in FORTRAN. The program had been developed by another government agency and due to inter-departmental rivalry, they would not supply us with the code in digital form, only a print-out of the source.

    So, my superiors gave the hard copy to a secretary, who spent a week typing it in. Then they printed out her version, and we did a line-by-line comparison of the two print-outs to find her typos.

    After the typos were corrected, the program was compiled, and worked fine. I just don't think it was worth the effort.

  • APAQ11 (unregistered) in reply to Anonymous

    The best data insertion people don't know how to read. They just match the characters exactly and don't mess up words with how they 'sound'.

  • jennifergeek (unregistered) in reply to fat, if not Greek
    fat:
    I thought I had seen MBFGW, but the reference is all, well, lost on me.

    I've seen it at least 10, and nowhere does it reference data entry or problems with data entry as far as I recall... I was confused by the spoiler alert as well...

  • (cs) in reply to Al
    Al:
    TRWTF is posting the spoiler warning after the spoiler.

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding is ruined for me now...

    Don't waste 2 hours of your life, that movie sucks donkey dick anyway.

  • (cs) in reply to Anonymous
    Anonymous:
    Code Dependent:
    A quick, concise and appropriate answer is, "How long did it take Michelangelo to finish the sistine chapel?"
    I use a similar trick, except I ask my boss "how long did it take for Gaudi to finish the Sagrada Família?". One day he'll look it up and damn will he be pissed.
    Just tell him your client is not in a hurry.
  • Ash (unregistered)

    That would probably be better than the way an unnamed company who make Seriously Appalling Programs tried and failed to integrate our data.

  • (cs) in reply to TB3
    TB3:
    Then they printed out her version, and we did a line-by-line comparison of the two print-outs to find her typos.

    After the typos were corrected, the program was compiled...

    The compiler wouldn't show you the typos?

  • Alin (unregistered) in reply to Canthros
    Canthros:
    Honestly, I've been on a system where shipping the contents of the database off to a third party for manual entry would have been faster than the 'automated' solution that was used. Would've been cheaper, too, because it would have freed the expensive technical resources to work on the technical problems they were hired to deal with.

    Ok... How bad was the "automated solution" that manual entry was faster? Yayks!

  • Franz Kafka (unregistered) in reply to webhamster
    webhamster:
    kastein:
    Bob:
    TRWTF: WTF does "Being pinged" mean?
    It is a technical term misused by retarded manager types these days. As a result, it is slowly morphing into an equivalent term for an instant message conversation and makes me want to smack everyone who misuses it.

    Not just IM. I hear it reference to meetings ("I'll ping him offline after the meeting."), phone calls ("I don't know, let me ping her and find out."), messages ("I pinged her but she hasn't called back.") and basically any other mode of communication. It's bloody irritating.

    Well, it sort of makes sense - ping is based on sonar, and refers to sending a pulse out to see what comes back. Map this into conversation and it's a reasonable thing to say.

  • Some Guy (unregistered) in reply to svu

    What a SUPER idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Buddy (unregistered)

    When importing data manually, always pay extra for redundant entry. Catches many errors and weeds out the bad eggs in data entry.

    I remember once an all points bulletin went out in the company for temporary help to do hundreds of graphs for personalized reports. The intent was to do this manually: plotting out points, setting quadrant dividers, then giving "advice" on remedial actions.

    I wrote back to let me investigate, there might be an automated way to do this. A look into enhanced metafiles indicated it was feasible on the output side, the input needed some normalization, but they were willing, and during printing the specific graphs could be imported on the fly. Took a week to write the first cut, which we had to rush, then a couple of weeks to refactor for the second version.

    Easily saved the company my salary that year, and no doubt dozens of inaccurate graphs. Never received a word of thanks. Turns out the all points bulletin was a mistake, it was supposed to go out only to a few departments. Had it been sent as intended, I never would have seen it. Probably made some people look stupid.

  • SomeCoder (unregistered) in reply to jennifergeek
    jennifergeek:
    fat:
    I thought I had seen MBFGW, but the reference is all, well, lost on me.

    I've seen it at least 10, and nowhere does it reference data entry or problems with data entry as far as I recall... I was confused by the spoiler alert as well...

    WHOOSH for both of you.

    Adjust the sarcasm and joke detectors and try again :)

  • (cs) in reply to amischiefr
    amischiefr:
    Al:
    TRWTF is posting the spoiler warning after the spoiler.

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding is ruined for me now...

    Don't waste 2 hours of your life, that movie sucks donkey dick anyway.
    Except if you're a donkey, in which case this movie is GREAAAAAT!

  • Ken B (unregistered) in reply to Daid
    Daid:
    This isn't uncommon, my mother got a temp job doing something like this. She had to type over one database into another. As they where both access databases I just asked her to bring them over, and I did her 8 week job in 5 minutes.
    So, did you defraud the company and still charge for 8 weeks of work, or did you cause your mother to lose 8 weeks of paid work?
  • m0ffx (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent
    Code Dependent:
    TB3:
    Then they printed out her version, and we did a line-by-line comparison of the two print-outs to find her typos.

    After the typos were corrected, the program was compiled...

    The compiler wouldn't show you the typos?

    Plenty of typos won't cause a compile error. Like mistakes in numeric values, or a typo in one variable name that changes it to another.

    TRWTF is why they didn't use OCR. FORTRAN's still widely used by scientists today, so OCR software should have been available.

  • (cs) in reply to Bappi
    Bappi:
    amischiefr:
    Al:
    TRWTF is posting the spoiler warning after the spoiler.

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding is ruined for me now...

    Don't waste 2 hours of your life, that movie sucks donkey dick anyway.
    Except if you're a donkey, in which case this movie is GREAAAAAT!
    Forget the movie. Forget the wedding, too. Just gimmie the fat Greek chick. Hoo-hah!

  • Jadawin (unregistered) in reply to Pickle Pumpers
    Pickle Pumpers:
    I can't tell you how much it annoys me to be asked, "How much longer?" I hate it so much I quit a job when my boss, for the last time, asked me, "When will it be fixed?" I packed my stuff up and walked out.

    This is what I wish I had said:

    "How Long Can You Tread Water?"

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