• DropDeadThread (unregistered) in reply to sewiv
    sewiv:
    Okay, I feel like an idiot now. I'd never noticed that "The Brillant Paula Bean" was misspelled. I've been reading this site since the start.
    Don't you mean an 'idot'?
  • Bill (unregistered) in reply to ex-eBay

    This kind of thing is pretty easy to manage. We ignore the search requests from certain user agents in our search engine. This keeps all the "test" words from spiking results.

  • Grrr (unregistered)
    And for three years, “monkey” returned exactly one result: Who's Got the Monkey? (full article text) by William Oncken Jr. Written in 1974 Oncken’s article is for managers who “find themselves running out of time while their subordinates are running out of work.” As for the monkeys, they’re just an analogy for work, not who managers should outsource work to. Apparently, Oncken wasn’t that ahead of his time.

    Is there any other way to interpret the sentences in bold than that it is suggesting "monkey" as a derogatory term for foreigners who do outsourcing work?

  • (cs) in reply to Grrr
    Grrr:
    Is there any other way to interpret the sentences in bold than that it is suggesting "monkey" as a derogatory term for foreigners who do outsourcing work?
    Yes.
  • (cs) in reply to Grrr
    Grrr:
    And for three years, “monkey” returned exactly one result: Who's Got the Monkey? (full article text) by William Oncken Jr. Written in 1974 Oncken’s article is for managers who “find themselves running out of time while their subordinates are running out of work.” As for the monkeys, they’re just an analogy for work, not who managers should outsource work to. Apparently, Oncken wasn’t that ahead of his time.

    Is there any other way to interpret the sentences in bold than that it is suggesting "monkey" as a derogatory term for foreigners who do outsourcing work?

    In present context, it's probably better to take it as a similar reference to Code Monkey, just like "master" and "slave" in context of an IDE drive pair doesn't bear any relation to human slavery.

    Edit: Fred wins...

  • (cs) in reply to Grrr

    Also FYI, Who Moved My Cheese? isn't about how all of your cow-orkers are rats.

  • Maks Verver (unregistered)

    What's up with the link to the "full article text"? There's only the first of (supposedly) six pages there. Or is it assumed that we all take premium subscriptions to the Harvard Business Preview?

    I know the article wasn't the point, but why even bother linking to an article that isn't even available on the public internet?

  • Jonh Robo (unregistered) in reply to Maks Verver
    Maks Verver:
    What's up with the link to the "full article text"? There's only the first of (supposedly) six pages there. Or is it assumed that we all take premium subscriptions to the Harvard Business Preview?

    I know the article wasn't the point, but why even bother linking to an article that isn't even available on the public internet?

    FOUND: A Use for Google Scholar!

    [http://scholar.google.com/scholar?complete=1&hl=en&q=%22Who's+Got+the+Monkey%22&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=ws]

  • Mr T Test (unregistered)

    Everyone might know not to fulfill orders to "Mr Test Test", but most systems don't.

    I once worked at a Telco when they implemented bill redirection - a service to temporarily redirect bills to a new address while people are away from their house. The final test needed to be conducted in production on the official 'test' customer that doesn't actually get charged or receive bills. So the test was run on that "Mr T Test", changing Mr T's address to our office address.

    It worked perfectly. Two days later the postman started turning up with a van instead of a trolley because of the number of bills that got issued. The billing systems were only suppressing test bills to the old address; whoever set up that test account didn't consider that the address could change in future...

  • (cs)
    HBSP’s new website was slick. On top of a fairly advanced search system

    That would be SSDS then?

  • (cs) in reply to vt_mruhlin
    vt_mruhlin:
    Oh, I also think that a lot of testers are hired with the goal of doing the manual testing "for now", while they also work on an automated test. After a while, job security dawns on them so they find every excuse they can to delay automated testing development and keep doing it manually. Sometimes they even write "tools" that make it harder for anybody but them to manually test.
    Not like real programmers, then.

    Back in the day, around twenty years or so ago, we used to go out to customers, get requirements, write functional specs, design the system, implement the system, document the system for maintenance purposes, unit test it, integrate it, and deliver it on-site with a specified set of "acceptance tests."

    This new thing is soooo much better. I haven't practised my piano skills since I was eight or so. Go, left hand:

    asdf asdf asdf asdf asdf asdf...

    Yup, so satisfying. Now, if I could only do that in 5/4 time...

    (Cue Dave Brubeck)

  • (cs) in reply to DropDeadThread
    DropDeadThread:
    sewiv:
    Okay, I feel like an idiot now. I'd never noticed that "The Brillant Paula Bean" was misspelled. I've been reading this site since the start.
    Don't you mean an 'idot'?
    Now, that's just cruel. Be ashamed. Be very, very, ashamed.
  • (cs) in reply to ex-eBay
    ex-eBay:
    The truth of the matter is, the two engineers who developed the monitoring infrastructure for the new search product simply wrote scripts that searched multiple nodes, 1000's of times each day, for search terms that would be considered somewhat improbable by anyone else: their initials or their last name.
    Jesus. Literally thousands of times a day? Now we're all in trouble. I mean, whew, I knew this Web stuff was powerful, but after that little accident with the chain-saw I'm not sure I can add that many zeros up using only the remaining toes on my left foot.

    I think I'll go back to bashing two rocks together, and check whether a 1 or a 0 comes out the other end.

  • (cs) in reply to operagost
    operagost:
    Don't forget to go back and fix your apostrophe usage, as well.
    In the nit-picking spirit of the grammar nazis on this site (including me), may I suggest you fix your moniker? It appears to be missing an aspirant.

    On the other hand, I'm not sure that the 'h' in "ghost" is actually an aspirant. I suspect that it's more of a combinant to soften the hard G, borrowed off early Germanic and left as a remnant in current English.

    But you would well have a point. Carry on ... nothing to see here.

  • Dave (unregistered)

    Obviously they forgot to mount a scratch monkey.

  • (cs) in reply to not me
    not me:
    The next time you're in an empty row on that overbooked flight, remember to thank TEST/IMA MRS and TEST/A MR.

    /seen that way too many times.

    At my last job, with a voicemail company, I used to name my test users after characters from TV shows. Even went so far as to use soundboards on the internet to record messages etc when I was bored and tired of saying "test message. I bet this one's going to magically delete itself too." So if you ever got a voicemail from Mr. T or MAcGyver, it was probably me.

    Now that I work at an investment bank...I was looking at some logs on the UAT system today and say a trade whose comment was "I ain't sayin she's a gold digger".

  • DisGruntled (unregistered) in reply to DropDeadThread
    DropDeadThread:
    sewiv:
    Okay, I feel like an idiot now. I'd never noticed that "The Brillant Paula Bean" was misspelled. I've been reading this site since the start.
    Don't you mean an 'idot'?

    You mean iDiot (TM), the new Apple gizmo? We have one at work, however, not from Apple, but somethings that resembles a human and is addressed as "boss".

  • Hognoxious (unregistered) in reply to Steve
    Steve:
    Why do people keep mispelling "brillant?"
    Because they're not French?
  • (cs) in reply to Grovesy

    The WTF here is that the tests were being done in the production database. Why didn't they just use a test database?

  • Jon (unregistered)

    The real WTF is that when writing a unit test to return one search item when you have books in your search space is that they didn't just use the ISBN.

  • Dave (unregistered) in reply to Steve
    Steve:
    Grovesy:
    Brilliant!

    Why do people keep mispelling "brillant?"

    Keep flogging that wannabe meme, dude...

  • (cs) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    Grrr:
    Is there any other way to interpret the sentences in bold than that it is suggesting "monkey" as a derogatory term for foreigners who do outsourcing work?
    Yes.

    Maybe. Or maybe it meant real monkeys.

  • leppie (unregistered)

    The real WTF is testing on the live system... :|

  • Bosshog (unregistered)

    I wish I had the monkey. :(

  • Test Test (unregistered)

    Why the hell won't anyone send me all these things I ordered?!

  • WeffJebster (unregistered) in reply to Test Test

    Winner post of the century.

  • Nicolas V (unregistered)

    This has to be the best WTF so far.

  • Dave (unregistered) in reply to Grrr
    Grrr:
    And for three years, “monkey” returned exactly one result: Who's Got the Monkey? (full article text) by William Oncken Jr. Written in 1974 Oncken’s article is for managers who “find themselves running out of time while their subordinates are running out of work.” As for the monkeys, they’re just an analogy for work, not who managers should outsource work to. Apparently, Oncken wasn’t that ahead of his time.

    Is there any other way to interpret the sentences in bold than that it is suggesting "monkey" as a derogatory term for foreigners who do outsourcing work?

    That is what it is that I am understanding it to mean, yes sir.

  • (cs) in reply to real_aardvark
    real_aardvark:
    asdf asdf asdf asdf asdf asdf...

    Yup, so satisfying. Now, if I could only do that in 5/4 time...

    (Cue Dave Brubeck)

    That is 5/4 time. The space is the fifth beat. Go, Morello.

  • charon (unregistered) in reply to akatherder
    akatherder:
    Grovesy:
    people looking at childrens dvd's...
    I'm curious how you fixed that. ... Maybe dear ol' dad likes to order adult movies and then feels guilty and orders a movie for the kids at the same time.

    I'm sure the records created prior the deployment should have been somehow possible to identify

  • (cs) in reply to Tim
    Tim:
    Testing against a real database is daft. It's a kind of daftness that is commonly exhibited by otherwise intelligent people, but it's still daft.

    It really depends what you are wanting to test.

    If you want to check that the test database is working, then use the test database, but if you want to check that the real database is working, testing against the test database is daft...

    Of course, you should try hard to test against the real database with data which won't affect anything else.

  • bd (unregistered) in reply to Mr T Test
    Mr T Test:
    Everyone might know not to fulfill orders to "Mr Test Test", but most systems don't.

    I once worked at a Telco ...

    Those silly Telcos...

    Over here, testers ran a few order fulfillment test scenarios on a production system as part of the standard deployment procedure. Somewhat understandable as order fulfillment involves 5+ behemoth IT applications that break more often than Elija Price.

    As test entries on production systems are usually frowned upon, they didn't go with good old "Mr. Test Test" but with "Winnie the Pooh". Well, not that, but an equivalent from the locally extremely well-known, but internationally unknown bedtime story. And they've entered an address on one of the capital city's main streets as his permanent address ...

    Testers were quite surprised a few months later when the system recorded a field visit on their test fulfillment orders with the remark "CUSTOMER NOT PRESENT". It turned out the that cable guys actually went to the house entered as the address looking for Winnie. When they asked the cable guys whether the name "Winnie the Pooh" didn't tip then off that it might be an fictitious customer, they got the best answer ever: "We take our customers very seriously".

    Winnie the Pooh was quickly retired and replaced with "Mr. Testy Test" that lives on "Test Street 1".

  • (cs) in reply to Jon
    Jon:
    The real WTF is that when writing a unit test to return one search item when you have books in your search space is that they didn't just use the ISBN.
    Tried using the 13 digit ISBN on Amazon, recently?

    Hilariously, you can hit the title on the ten-digit version, but adding the (I assume) default of "978" results in a "whoops -- no results; but you might be interested in what others like you have purchased ... <follows> "The collective wisdom of the Bush Family," "How Rodney the Arachnid conquered his fear of flying," etc etc.

    Truly, we live in a brave new SQL world.

  • (cs) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    real_aardvark:
    asdf asdf asdf asdf asdf asdf...

    Yup, so satisfying. Now, if I could only do that in 5/4 time...

    (Cue Dave Brubeck)

    That is 5/4 time. The space is the fifth beat. Go, Morello.
    Yes, Fred, I knew that was in 5/4. Care to guess at the only other top ten hit in the UK (sixties) that featured 5/4?

    And once you're past that, how about the only top ten hit in the eighties (UK again) in 15/16?

    PS I actually sang "Take Five" to myself while I penned that. I probably missed out the odd 'g', though ...

    And of course I failed totally on your point that the space is the fifth beat. (I don't remember "Take Five" that way myself.) Time to go back to the ole 78s.

  • JimM (unregistered) in reply to bd
    bd:
    Mr T Test:
    Everyone might know not to fulfill orders to "Mr Test Test", but most systems don't.

    I once worked at a Telco ...

    As test entries on production systems are usually frowned upon, they didn't go with good old "Mr. Test Test" but with "Winnie the Pooh"...

    Back when I worked in Local Government, I had to train users on the changes in each release of the specialist software we used (and we got about 4 releases a year to keep up with legislation changes...). The providers of the system populated their test database with Mr Bilbo Baggins, Mr Sam Gamgee, and a number of other characters from popular fantasy fiction. It made it very difficult to maintain users' concentration during training sessions...

  • Dave (unregistered) in reply to JimM
    JimM:
    bd:
    Mr T Test:
    Everyone might know not to fulfill orders to "Mr Test Test", but most systems don't.

    I once worked at a Telco ...

    As test entries on production systems are usually frowned upon, they didn't go with good old "Mr. Test Test" but with "Winnie the Pooh"...

    Back when I worked in Local Government, I had to train users on the changes in each release of the specialist software we used (and we got about 4 releases a year to keep up with legislation changes...). The providers of the system populated their test database with Mr Bilbo Baggins, Mr Sam Gamgee, and a number of other characters from popular fantasy fiction. It made it very difficult to maintain users' concentration during training sessions...

    To be fair, it was probably slightly easier than a humour-free local government IT related training session - at least there's a chance they're awake...

  • (cs) in reply to JimM
    JimM:
    bd:
    Mr T Test:
    Everyone might know not to fulfill orders to "Mr Test Test", but most systems don't.

    I once worked at a Telco ...

    As test entries on production systems are usually frowned upon, they didn't go with good old "Mr. Test Test" but with "Winnie the Pooh"...

    Back when I worked in Local Government, I had to train users on the changes in each release of the specialist software we used (and we got about 4 releases a year to keep up with legislation changes...). The providers of the system populated their test database with Mr Bilbo Baggins, Mr Sam Gamgee, and a number of other characters from popular fantasy fiction. It made it very difficult to maintain users' concentration during training sessions...

    When I was in college I worked as a bus driver, and our manager once put up a list of all the drivers who had gone a whole semester without missing a shift or being late, and who would therefore get a free hat. A test user named Gandhi Barfaronious was proudly displayed near the top of the list, but I don't know if he ever got his hat.

  • (cs) in reply to real_aardvark
    real_aardvark:
    Yes, Fred, I knew that was in 5/4. Care to guess at the only other top ten hit in the UK (sixties) that featured 5/4?
    Hmm, hmm... I wasn't in the UK so don't know what was popular there, but in the states it was the Mission Impossible Theme. Was that your reference?
    real_aardvark:
    And once you're past that, how about the only top ten hit in the eighties (UK again) in 15/16?
    Drawing a blank on that one. The only 15/16 I can think of at the moment (although I'm sure I know others) is Free Will, on Rush's "Permanent Waves" album. Then again, that was problably in the late 70's, and it is far from strictly 15/16; in fact, they change time signatures almost as often as chords in that one. And I don't recall it ever being on the play charts. So, nope... tell.
    real_aardvark:
    PS I actually sang "Take Five" to myself while I penned that. I probably missed out the odd 'g', though ...

    And of course I failed totally on your point that the space is the fifth beat. (I don't remember "Take Five" that way myself.) Time to go back to the ole 78s.

    It was the way you typed it, with no commas or indicators of a pause, just run-on from one measure to the next: asdf asdf = 1234512345. Joe Morello on Take Five was my inspiration to start playing drum solos in 5/4 time (and 7/8).

    Addendum (2008-02-06 12:52): Gotta call myself on this one; I'm thinking of 13/16, not 15/16, in Free Will. One measure of six beats and one of seven (but they do throw in the occasional 8 just to keep us on our toes).

    Addendum (2008-02-07 09:28): Having slept on it, I've narrowed the sixties hit down to something by the Beatles, but I can't peg it. I want to say "All You Need is Love", but that's 7/8, not 5/4.

  • Spoe (unregistered)

    Now I'm waiting for the follow up where the royalty department thought it was a best seller, t0o.

  • (cs) in reply to real_aardvark
    real_aardvark:
    On the other hand, I'm not sure that the 'h' in "ghost" is actually an aspirant. I suspect that it's more of a combinant to soften the hard G, borrowed off early Germanic and left as a remnant in current English.

    It's not (an aspirant, that is). Phonetically, at least, though I'm not sure how you'd have a non-phonetic aspirant. The word is just pronounced with a hard g (IPA /gost/). The "h" is apparently borrowed from Flemish gheest because of William Caxton (the first printer in England), who spent some time in the Low Countries; the German word is "Geist."

    And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

  • Hognoxious (unregistered) in reply to KattMan
    KattMan:
    Can I pet your monkey?
    Does your monkey bite?
  • Hognoxious (unregistered) in reply to real_aardvark
    real_aardvark:
    Yes, Fred, I knew that was in 5/4. Care to guess at the only other top ten hit in the UK (sixties) that featured 5/4?
    I don't grok time signatures. if I really concentrate I can distinguish two - one is 3/4 and the other is all the rest.
  • (cs) in reply to Hognoxious
    Hognoxious:
    real_aardvark:
    Yes, Fred, I knew that was in 5/4. Care to guess at the only other top ten hit in the UK (sixties) that featured 5/4?
    I don't grok time signatures. if I really concentrate I can distinguish two - one is 3/4 and the other is all the rest.
    No matter. The important thing is, do your feet groove to the beat?
  • (cs) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    Hognoxious:
    real_aardvark:
    Yes, Fred, I knew that was in 5/4. Care to guess at the only other top ten hit in the UK (sixties) that featured 5/4?
    I don't grok time signatures. if I really concentrate I can distinguish two - one is 3/4 and the other is all the rest.
    No matter. The important thing is, do your feet groove to the beat?
    Ever tried "Trout Mask Replica"? I think i've just run out of feet ...

    (Ho ho, a greek pun on meters.)

    3/4 is exceptionally boring, unless you're dancing with a very pretty young lady in a very tight dress (her, not you. But it's your choice, really). Have you ever considered Polka?

  • (cs) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    real_aardvark:
    Yes, Fred, I knew that was in 5/4. Care to guess at the only other top ten hit in the UK (sixties) that featured 5/4?
    Hmm, hmm... I wasn't in the UK so don't know what was popular there, but in the states it was the Mission Impossible Theme. Was that your reference?
    real_aardvark:
    And once you're past that, how about the only top ten hit in the eighties (UK again) in 15/16?
    Drawing a blank on that one. The only 15/16 I can think of at the moment (although I'm sure I know others) is Free Will, on Rush's "Permanent Waves" album. Then again, that was problably in the late 70's, and it is far from strictly 15/16; in fact, they change time signatures almost as often as chords in that one. And I don't recall it ever being on the play charts. So, nope... tell.
    real_aardvark:
    PS I actually sang "Take Five" to myself while I penned that. I probably missed out the odd 'g', though ...

    And of course I failed totally on your point that the space is the fifth beat. (I don't remember "Take Five" that way myself.) Time to go back to the ole 78s.

    It was the way you typed it, with no commas or indicators of a pause, just run-on from one measure to the next: asdf asdf = 1234512345. Joe Morello on Take Five was my inspiration to start playing drum solos in 5/4 time (and 7/8).

    Addendum (2008-02-06 12:52): Gotta call myself on this one; I'm thinking of 13/16, not 15/16, in Free Will. One measure of six beats and one of seven (but they do throw in the occasional 8 just to keep us on our toes).

    Addendum (2008-02-07 09:28): Having slept on it, I've narrowed the sixties hit down to something by the Beatles, but I can't peg it. I want to say "All You Need is Love", but that's 7/8, not 5/4.

    Goddamit, Fred, now you've got me humming the "Mission Impossible" theme to myself. Brings back many happy childhood memories -- none of which, thankfully, feature the certifiable loon Cruise.

    Sad admission here: yes, I was referring to "All you need is love," which is widely credited as being 5/4. You're a drummer; you know better. I'll take 7/8 for a dollar. The 15/16 I'm thinking of is "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers, and now I'm sure you're going to shatter all my illusions by suggesting that it has some sort of preposterous signature like "five and four thirds over twenty three divided by the square root of minus one."

    Incidentally, what's the sig on "Across the Universe"? It's syncopated, so I can't quite make it out, but it doesn't sound like yer standard 4/4 to me. 6/8, maybe?

    (And now you've got me going "asdf, dum dum as df dum dum as` df diddle-dee..." Stop that, will you?)

  • (cs) in reply to grylliade
    grylliade:
    real_aardvark:
    On the other hand, I'm not sure that the 'h' in "ghost" is actually an aspirant. I suspect that it's more of a combinant to soften the hard G, borrowed off early Germanic and left as a remnant in current English.

    It's not (an aspirant, that is). Phonetically, at least, though I'm not sure how you'd have a non-phonetic aspirant. The word is just pronounced with a hard g (IPA /gost/). The "h" is apparently borrowed from Flemish gheest because of William Caxton (the first printer in England), who spent some time in the Low Countries; the German word is "Geist."

    And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

    A non-phonetic aspirant ... hmmm. (Spot the clue before the mmm.)

    I recognise "geist," obviously, and I'm fascinated by the Caxton connection, which certainly makes sense. Not sure that "operagost" does, though. Any more than "real_aardvark," now I come to think of it.

    And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

  • (cs) in reply to bd
    bd:
    Mr T Test:
    Everyone might know not to fulfill orders to "Mr Test Test", but most systems don't.

    I once worked at a Telco ...

    Those silly Telcos...

    [snip/] Winnie the Pooh was quickly retired and replaced with "Mr. Testy Test" that lives on "Test Street 1".

    We really should build a city called Testville, with Test Street, Test Avenue and Testy Testy Testaroad where every tester in the world may live. Of course, most of them need to change their name...

  • (cs) in reply to jarlz0r
    jarlz0r:
    We really should build a city called Testville, with Test Street, Test Avenue and Testy Testy Testaroad where every tester in the world may live. Of course, most of them need to change their name...
    And if those who live there are testers, would those whom they test be testees?

    (Admit it, you were waiting for it)

  • (cs) in reply to real_aardvark
    real_aardvark:
    Goddamit, Fred, now you've got me humming the "Mission Impossible" theme to myself. Brings back many happy childhood memories -- none of which, thankfully, feature the certifiable loon Cruise.

    Sad admission here: yes, I was referring to "All you need is love," which is widely credited as being 5/4. You're a drummer; you know better. I'll take 7/8 for a dollar. The 15/16 I'm thinking of is "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers, and now I'm sure you're going to shatter all my illusions by suggesting that it has some sort of preposterous signature like "five and four thirds over twenty three divided by the square root of minus one."

    Incidentally, what's the sig on "Across the Universe"? It's syncopated, so I can't quite make it out, but it doesn't sound like yer standard 4/4 to me. 6/8, maybe?

    (And now you've got me going "asdf, dum dum as df dum dum as` df diddle-dee..." Stop that, will you?)

    Several quick notes here:

    This is the funniest post I have read on here in many long months. My cow-orkers were turning to see why I was laughing so hard.

    While researching, I found an interesting discussion of odd time signatures on Wikipedia. There, they say All You Need is Love is 7/4. Whatever. Quarter notes, eighth notes, tomayto, tomahto (I prefer "to mate... oh")

    I will confess that I haven't listened to Across the Universe often enough to remember how it goes. Even sadder, my current music collection contains no Beatles whatsoever... not since I scrapped my cassette tapes for CDs some years ago.

    Cruise is indeed certifiable.

    Finally, I was thinking to myself, "If you were going to attempt to write the phonetic rendering of Mission Impossible theme, how would it go? Particularly the flute part." You've captured it nicely.

  • (cs)

    At my previous job, we built systems for capturing fingerprints and arrest information electronically and submitting them to the FBI. One of my co-workers was doing some on-site testing on a test database at the police department, but switched to the production DB to check on something and forgot to change it back. She then entereed a test arrest record using a phony name and charge but her real fingerprints, and this got sent to the FBI as a real arrest.

    She figured what happened pretty soon, but to clear this up she had to get one of the top guys at the police department to issue a court order to get the record expunged from the FBI system. She assumed that everything was cleared up, but several years later, she applied for something that required a background check, and the test record came back in the search. Needless to say, she had some explaining to do when confronted with her past crimes of Operating a Brothel under the name Ivana Tinkle.

    Eventually, after some more various legal wranglings, everything got sorted out. The whole incident reminds me of the Ron White Tater Salad story.

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