"Not really," says the attorney. "This morning, when Ralph told me he'd been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and piss all over your desk and that you'd be happy about it."

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Me:
Anon:

"JBoss?!" the interviewer jumped in, "why didn't they use Tomcat, if they were going to use Java?"
"I'm not sure,"

Buzzz, wrong answer. Sure it was a decision made some time ago and of course you can't retroactively change those decisions, but the right answer was to say something along the lines of "well with JBoss you can do x which you can't do in Tomcat...." (or vice versa). You don't have to agree that one is better than the other, but you should understand what the relative strengths and weaknesses are.

The interviewer didn't ask about the relative merits of JBoss and Tomcat -- he asked what were the deciding factors in a decision that the interviewee had no part in. For all he knows, it was because the CEO's brother-in-law told him about JBoss during a holiday dinner.

Don't be line Mr Anon here. If you want the interviewee to compare X and Y, ask "What are the relative merits of X and Y?" -- don't ask "Why did somebody you may not even know choose X?"

I never said it was the best or most direct way to ask the question. What I said is the interviewee missed an opportunity. It doesn't matter if the CEO's brother-in-law told the CEO that was what they needed, it doesn't matter if you know the real reason or not. You SHOULD be able to talk somewhat intelligently about it. His answer only demonstrated that he does not know even ONE DAMN THING about JBoss and Tomcat. And that's weak. I'm not surprised they didn't hire him.

luis.espinal · 2010-06-10 Reply Admin

A few days later I was, in fact, offered a job, but I turned it down. Not because of the f-bomb, but because of the commute.

Meh, you should have told them it was because of the f-bomb that you turned them down (just to put some hit on the interviewer.) :P

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

=== The IRS decides to audit Ralph, and summons him to the IRS office.

The IRS auditor is not surprised when Ralph shows up with his attorney.

The auditor says, "Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full-time employment, which you explain by saying that you win money gambling. I'm not sure the IRS finds that believable."

"I'm a great gambler, and I can prove it," says Ralph. "How about a demonstration?"

The auditor thinks for a moment and says, "Okay. Go ahead."

Ralph says, "I'll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye."

The auditor thinks a moment, and says, "It's a bet."

Ralph removes his glass eye and bites it. The auditor's jaw drops.

Ralph says, "Now, I'll bet you two thousand dollars that I can bite my other eye."

Now, the auditor can tell Ralph isn't blind, so he takes the bet.

Ralph removes his dentures and bites his good eye.

The stunned auditor now realizes he has wagered and lost three grand, with Ralph's attorney as a witness. He starts to get nervous.

"Want to go double or nothing?" Ralph asks. "I'll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk and pee into your wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between."

The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there's no way this guy could possibly manage that stunt, so he agrees again.

Ralph stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he strains mightily, he can't make the stream reach the wastebasket, so he pretty much pees all over the auditor's desk.

The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a huge win.

But Ralph's attorney moans and puts his head in his hands.

"Are you okay?" the auditor asks.

"Not really," says the attorney. "This morning, when Ralph told me he'd been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and piss all over your desk and that you'd be happy about it."

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

the only problem was that the commute was an hour-and-a-half each way, and that's only on a good traffic day.

So, three miles in Los Angeles, was it?

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

highphilosopher:
Pete:
Good old C-Pound my favourite language.
I don't even know where that comes from I could understand C-Hash or C-Number. Is it called that in America? I'm from the UK so pound is £.

Yeah, that's our American leaking through so...

C-Pound == C# C-Hash == I can see the baggie of weed sticking out of your pocket C-Number == Can I call you later follow up question. C-Sharp == Programming Language, or musical Note. I think it should be noted that in music, a sharp note is a half step above the natural tone. I think this is the reason Microsoft chose this name was to infer that they were a half step above the competition. What actually happened is that when tuning an instrument, if you stretch a string for instance too tight, it produces a sound that's sharp or slightly out of tune. I think this metaphor better describes the Sharp family of Microsoft programming languages.

I was under the impression that it was (C++)++, which would be C++++, and if you arrange the plus signs in two rows, C#.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Blah:
I was under the impression that it was (C++)++, which would be C++++, and if you arrange the plus signs in two rows, C#.

Have you ever actually called it "C plus plus plus plus" in front of another programmer? Did they laugh their ass off? That's even better than "C pound"!

cconroy · 2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Septic Tank:
I say tom-art-o you say tom-ate-o.

WhoTF says "tom-art-o"?

Raedwald · 2010-06-10 Reply Admin

[quote user="will"][quote user="Mister Zimbu"] The name of pound is old tech when it was an international symbol for package weight.[/quote]

Would you believe it, # is a symbol for quantity in Linear-B.

frits · 2010-06-10 Reply Admin

cconroy:
Septic Tank:
I say tom-art-o you say tom-ate-o.

WhoTF says "tom-art-o"?

That spelling makes sense if Septic Tank has a non-rhotic accent.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Mister Zimbu:
Yes, it's called the pound symbol in America.
Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to why- we don't even use it to abbreviate the word "pound" in any context that I'm aware of. Unfortunately, it was named before my time.

It's used throughout the paper and printing industries. That paper you put in the copier is probably 20# (twenty-pound) white text. Your fancy brochures are, say, a combination of 80# gloss cover and 100# matte text.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

mace:
Exactly why does a drug testing company need over a dozen different programming languages? That doesn't sound like using "the right tool to solve the right problem".

If you test drugs extensively, you will eventually come up with ideas like connecting an LDAP server to a JavaScript application using a serial port.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Yes.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Ralph's Urine Test:
=== The IRS decides to audit Ralph, and summons him to the IRS office.
The IRS auditor is not surprised when Ralph shows up with his attorney.

The auditor says, "Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full-time employment, which you explain by saying that you win money gambling. I'm not sure the IRS finds that believable."

"I'm a great gambler, and I can prove it," says Ralph. "How about a demonstration?"

The auditor thinks for a moment and says, "Okay. Go ahead."

Ralph says, "I'll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye."

The auditor thinks a moment, and says, "It's a bet."

Ralph removes his glass eye and bites it. The auditor's jaw drops.

Ralph says, "Now, I'll bet you two thousand dollars that I can bite my other eye."

Now, the auditor can tell Ralph isn't blind, so he takes the bet.

Ralph removes his dentures and bites his good eye.

The stunned auditor now realizes he has wagered and lost three grand, with Ralph's attorney as a witness. He starts to get nervous.

"Want to go double or nothing?" Ralph asks. "I'll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk and pee into your wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between."

The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there's no way this guy could possibly manage that stunt, so he agrees again.

Ralph stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he strains mightily, he can't make the stream reach the wastebasket, so he pretty much pees all over the auditor's desk.

The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a huge win.

But Ralph's attorney moans and puts his head in his hands.

"Are you okay?" the auditor asks.

"Not really," says the attorney. "This morning, when Ralph told me he'd been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and piss all over your desk and that you'd be happy about it." ===

meh. the Quentin Tarantino version in Desperado is 10x better.

tiller · 2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Anon:
To give the first interviewer the benefit of the doubt, I think he might have been challenging the interviewee to compare and contrast the various technologies that could have been used. It seem a relevant question to me and the "that happened before my time" answer is a missed opportunity by the interviewee.
"JBoss?!" the interviewer jumped in, "why didn't they use Tomcat, if they were going to use Java?"
"I'm not sure,"

Buzzz, wrong answer. Sure it was a decision made some time ago and of course you can't retroactively change those decisions, but the right answer was to say something along the lines of "well with JBoss you can do x which you can't do in Tomcat...." (or vice versa). You don't have to agree that one is better than the other, but you should understand what the relative strengths and weaknesses are.

Not if you are a frontend developer(Meaning graphics, html and maybe javascript).

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Anon:
I never said it was the best or most direct way to ask the question. What I said is the interviewee missed an opportunity. It doesn't matter if the CEO's brother-in-law told the CEO that was what they needed, it doesn't matter if you know the real reason or not. You SHOULD be able to talk somewhat intelligently about it. His answer only demonstrated that he does not know even ONE DAMN THING about JBoss and Tomcat. And that's weak. I'm not surprised they didn't hire him.

It's pretty clear from the interview text (as presented) that the interviewer was asking those questions rhetorically, as if he already knew that Python, Tomcat, etc. were hands down the best technology evarr, and they were total blithering idiots for not using it. Had the interviewee come up with actual reasons, the interviewer probably would have called security to escort him out the door to make sure his puny brain didn't get him lost in a heating duct or something on the way out.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Dan:
Anon:
I never said it was the best or most direct way to ask the question. What I said is the interviewee missed an opportunity. It doesn't matter if the CEO's brother-in-law told the CEO that was what they needed, it doesn't matter if you know the real reason or not. You SHOULD be able to talk somewhat intelligently about it. His answer only demonstrated that he does not know even ONE DAMN THING about JBoss and Tomcat. And that's weak. I'm not surprised they didn't hire him.

It's pretty clear from the interview text (as presented) that the interviewer was asking those questions rhetorically, as if he already knew that Python, Tomcat, etc. were hands down the best technology evarr, and they were total blithering idiots for not using it. Had the interviewee come up with actual reasons, the interviewer probably would have called security to escort him out the door to make sure his puny brain didn't get him lost in a heating duct or something on the way out.

You may not have noticed that our friend Anon is the interviewer from the first story.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Jesus, the hoops some of you want interviewees to jump through. Half of you interviewers/wannabe-interviewers seem to expect mind reading from the job applicants.

"Ah, but I wanted you to pant and wag your tail THIS way, not THAT way."

captcha - ideo. For surely ideograms can be used in English when convenient.

SQLDave · 2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Anon:
To give the first interviewer the benefit of the doubt, I think he might have been challenging the interviewee to compare and contrast the various technologies that could have been used. It seem a relevant question to me and the "that happened before my time" answer is a missed opportunity by the interviewee.
"JBoss?!" the interviewer jumped in, "why didn't they use Tomcat, if they were going to use Java?"
"I'm not sure,"

Buzzz, wrong answer. Sure it was a decision made some time ago and of course you can't retroactively change those decisions, but the right answer was to say something along the lines of "well with JBoss you can do x which you can't do in Tomcat...." (or vice versa). You don't have to agree that one is better than the other, but you should understand what the relative strengths and weaknesses are.

Buzzz, also wrong answer. ASSUMING you could clearly tell the interviewer favors (or favored) Tomcat, then there's a golden butt-smooch opportunity. The right answer is something like "Yeah, I lobbied hard for Tomcat because _____, but they didn't listen. I'd like to say their decision worked well for them, but truth be told they've had a terrible time with JBoss because ____"

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

tiller:
Anon:
To give the first interviewer the benefit of the doubt, I think he might have been challenging the interviewee to compare and contrast the various technologies that could have been used. It seem a relevant question to me and the "that happened before my time" answer is a missed opportunity by the interviewee.
"JBoss?!" the interviewer jumped in, "why didn't they use Tomcat, if they were going to use Java?"
"I'm not sure,"

Buzzz, wrong answer. Sure it was a decision made some time ago and of course you can't retroactively change those decisions, but the right answer was to say something along the lines of "well with JBoss you can do x which you can't do in Tomcat...." (or vice versa). You don't have to agree that one is better than the other, but you should understand what the relative strengths and weaknesses are.

Not if you are a frontend developer(Meaning graphics, html and maybe javascript).

Yes, because a frontend developer should be totally clueless about the backend. That's the best kind of frontend developer. Everybody loves to hire one-trick ponies.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

SQLDave:
Anon:
To give the first interviewer the benefit of the doubt, I think he might have been challenging the interviewee to compare and contrast the various technologies that could have been used. It seem a relevant question to me and the "that happened before my time" answer is a missed opportunity by the interviewee.
"JBoss?!" the interviewer jumped in, "why didn't they use Tomcat, if they were going to use Java?"
"I'm not sure,"

Buzzz, wrong answer. Sure it was a decision made some time ago and of course you can't retroactively change those decisions, but the right answer was to say something along the lines of "well with JBoss you can do x which you can't do in Tomcat...." (or vice versa). You don't have to agree that one is better than the other, but you should understand what the relative strengths and weaknesses are.

Buzzz, also wrong answer. ASSUMING you could clearly tell the interviewer favors (or favored) Tomcat, then there's a golden butt-smooch opportunity. The right answer is something like "Yeah, I lobbied hard for Tomcat because _____, but they didn't listen. I'd like to say their decision worked well for them, but truth be told they've had a terrible time with JBoss because ____"

Buzzz, still the wrong answer. You sound like a whinny pussy. Besides, the article stated that all these decisions were made before the interviewee started at their current/last employer, so your statement would be a straight up lie.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

TheRealMe:
Jesus, the hoops some of you want interviewees to jump through. Half of you interviewers/wannabe-interviewers seem to expect mind reading from the job applicants.
"Ah, but I wanted you to pant and wag your tail THIS way, not THAT way."

Mind read, no. Show some fucking passion for your chosen field and a broad knowledge? Is that asking too much?

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

++C++

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Anon:
SQLDave:
Anon:
To give the first interviewer the benefit of the doubt, I think he might have been challenging the interviewee to compare and contrast the various technologies that could have been used. It seem a relevant question to me and the "that happened before my time" answer is a missed opportunity by the interviewee.
"JBoss?!" the interviewer jumped in, "why didn't they use Tomcat, if they were going to use Java?"
"I'm not sure,"

Buzzz, wrong answer. Sure it was a decision made some time ago and of course you can't retroactively change those decisions, but the right answer was to say something along the lines of "well with JBoss you can do x which you can't do in Tomcat...." (or vice versa). You don't have to agree that one is better than the other, but you should understand what the relative strengths and weaknesses are.

Buzzz, also wrong answer. ASSUMING you could clearly tell the interviewer favors (or favored) Tomcat, then there's a golden butt-smooch opportunity. The right answer is something like "Yeah, I lobbied hard for Tomcat because _____, but they didn't listen. I'd like to say their decision worked well for them, but truth be told they've had a terrible time with JBoss because ____"

Buzzz, still the wrong answer. You sound like a whinny pussy. Besides, the article stated that all these decisions were made before the interviewee started at their current/last employer, so your statement would be a straight up lie.

what next, you challenge him to a fight? give it a rest, "Anon".

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to why- we don't even use it to abbreviate the word "pound" in any context that I'm aware of. Unfortunately, it was named before my time.

A hash symbol is similar to musical notation to mark a sharp note. If you increment one note up from C in a 12-tone system, the next note is C#.

So, it's a play on C++.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

SQLDave:
Anon:
To give the first interviewer the benefit of the doubt, I think he might have been challenging the interviewee to compare and contrast the various technologies that could have been used. It seem a relevant question to me and the "that happened before my time" answer is a missed opportunity by the interviewee.
"JBoss?!" the interviewer jumped in, "why didn't they use Tomcat, if they were going to use Java?"
"I'm not sure,"

Buzzz, wrong answer. Sure it was a decision made some time ago and of course you can't retroactively change those decisions, but the right answer was to say something along the lines of "well with JBoss you can do x which you can't do in Tomcat...." (or vice versa). You don't have to agree that one is better than the other, but you should understand what the relative strengths and weaknesses are.

Buzzz, also wrong answer. ASSUMING you could clearly tell the interviewer favors (or favored) Tomcat, then there's a golden butt-smooch opportunity. The right answer is something like "Yeah, I lobbied hard for Tomcat because _____, but they didn't listen. I'd like to say their decision worked well for them, but truth be told they've had a terrible time with JBoss because ____"

Screw you and the buzzer you're riding. This is a perfect opportunity to decide that you don't want to work with a flaming asshole like the interviewer.

RHuckster · 2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Anon:
TheRealMe:
Jesus, the hoops some of you want interviewees to jump through. Half of you interviewers/wannabe-interviewers seem to expect mind reading from the job applicants.
"Ah, but I wanted you to pant and wag your tail THIS way, not THAT way."

Mind read, no. Show some fucking passion for your chosen field and a broad knowledge? Is that asking too much?

As the OP of the article, you're right. I should have expressed a greater interest in the back-end, and the fact is, I did indeed have some knowledge of JBoss and the other technologies I was not involved with at my former employer.

The reason I shrugged was simply because:

a.) I was not prepared for this kind of question, and it came to me from left field. My first reaction was simply saying, "I don't know." before I started remembering some of the reasons behind choosing it. Had I prepared for the interview by familiarizing myself with technologies I wasn't involved with, I probably would have had a job there. Lord knows how miserable I'd be there if I did.

b.) As I was saying I wasn't familiar with the details, I started getting a foggy recollection of their reasons behind choosing JBoss, but I didn't have enough details to answer, "Why they chose JBoss and not Tomcat." I knew part of the reasoning behind choosing JBoss over other platforms was that it was scalable compared to other platforms they evaluated, was easily deployable on a Linux platform, and had some abilities to hot deploy new builds of the web services, plus one of the senior developers who was part of the effort to choose JBoss had prior experience of it, which also probably influenced the decision... but before I could even say ANY of those things, he started ranting about how we should have used Python instead of Java.

Instead of going off on the Python tangent, he could have asked me point-blank: "Do you know anything about JBoss?" and I would have had enough recollected by that time to give somewhat of an answer... of course, using any of the points above probably would have lead to more ranting and demand to defend my arguments on behalf of my colleagues.

c.) I didn't know anything about Tomcat simply because at the time I was not exposed to it as a web service platform (I had some prior experience working with it as a web server platform, but not using SOAP or REST), thus there was absolutely no way I could answer why they chose NOT to go with Tomcat, thus even if I knew everything there was to know about JBoss from curiously asking about every little nuance about it, I STILL wouldn't be able to adequately answer the question.

Expecting me to know everything about my company's technologies is like interviewing a podiatrist and asking them what they know about open heart surgery. They might be able to give a very general and foggy answer, but none of it would be useful in his field.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Gob Bluth:
Anon:
SQLDave:
Anon:
To give the first interviewer the benefit of the doubt, I think he might have been challenging the interviewee to compare and contrast the various technologies that could have been used. It seem a relevant question to me and the "that happened before my time" answer is a missed opportunity by the interviewee.
"JBoss?!" the interviewer jumped in, "why didn't they use Tomcat, if they were going to use Java?"
"I'm not sure,"

Buzzz, wrong answer. Sure it was a decision made some time ago and of course you can't retroactively change those decisions, but the right answer was to say something along the lines of "well with JBoss you can do x which you can't do in Tomcat...." (or vice versa). You don't have to agree that one is better than the other, but you should understand what the relative strengths and weaknesses are.

Buzzz, also wrong answer. ASSUMING you could clearly tell the interviewer favors (or favored) Tomcat, then there's a golden butt-smooch opportunity. The right answer is something like "Yeah, I lobbied hard for Tomcat because _____, but they didn't listen. I'd like to say their decision worked well for them, but truth be told they've had a terrible time with JBoss because ____"

Buzzz, still the wrong answer. You sound like a whinny pussy. Besides, the article stated that all these decisions were made before the interviewee started at their current/last employer, so your statement would be a straight up lie.

what next, you challenge him to a fight? give it a rest, "Anon".

I'll challenge any one of you fuckers to a fight!

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

mace:
Exactly why does a drug testing company need over a dozen different programming languages? That doesn't sound like using "the right tool to solve the right problem".

You said "tool."

Captcha: appellatio - shoving an apple down your pants?

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Anon:
SQLDave:
Anon:
To give the first interviewer the benefit of the doubt, I think he might have been challenging the interviewee to compare and contrast the various technologies that could have been used. It seem a relevant question to me and the "that happened before my time" answer is a missed opportunity by the interviewee.
"JBoss?!" the interviewer jumped in, "why didn't they use Tomcat, if they were going to use Java?"
"I'm not sure,"

Buzzz, wrong answer. Sure it was a decision made some time ago and of course you can't retroactively change those decisions, but the right answer was to say something along the lines of "well with JBoss you can do x which you can't do in Tomcat...." (or vice versa). You don't have to agree that one is better than the other, but you should understand what the relative strengths and weaknesses are.

Buzzz, also wrong answer. ASSUMING you could clearly tell the interviewer favors (or favored) Tomcat, then there's a golden butt-smooch opportunity. The right answer is something like "Yeah, I lobbied hard for Tomcat because _____, but they didn't listen. I'd like to say their decision worked well for them, but truth be told they've had a terrible time with JBoss because ____"

Buzzz, still the wrong answer. You sound like a whinny pussy. Besides, the article stated that all these decisions were made before the interviewee started at their current/last employer, so your statement would be a straight up lie.

Buzzz even more wrong answer. Who cares what you look like to anyone but the interviewer? It's a job interview, your job as interviewee is to get the job, by whatever means possible, as long as you believe you can do a good job of it once you're in the door. If that means a little butt smooching.. sweet, pucker up. If you want to be successful in the corporate world sometimes you need to realize it's more important that people like you and feel that you fit the org, than your arrogance and pride be demonstrated.

Coming from someone who has been offered every job they have ever interviewed for. It's all about confidence and manipulation. Screw pride, I'd rather make the big bucks.

Jaime · 2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Anon:
TheRealMe:
Jesus, the hoops some of you want interviewees to jump through. Half of you interviewers/wannabe-interviewers seem to expect mind reading from the job applicants.
"Ah, but I wanted you to pant and wag your tail THIS way, not THAT way."

Mind read, no. Show some fucking passion for your chosen field and a broad knowledge? Is that asking too much?

I'd kill to have an interviewee show the slightest amount of passion for his or her chosen profession. It seems that a lot of people in IT simply read the manuals and bang on the keyboard until it works.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Yardik:
Anon:
SQLDave:
Buzzz, also wrong answer. ASSUMING you could clearly tell the interviewer favors (or favored) Tomcat, then there's a golden butt-smooch opportunity. The right answer is something like "Yeah, I lobbied hard for Tomcat because _____, but they didn't listen. I'd like to say their decision worked well for them, but truth be told they've had a terrible time with JBoss because ____"

Buzzz, still the wrong answer. You sound like a whinny pussy. Besides, the article stated that all these decisions were made before the interviewee started at their current/last employer, so your statement would be a straight up lie.

Buzzz even more wrong answer. Who cares what you look like to anyone but the interviewer? It's a job interview, your job as interviewee is to get the job, by whatever means possible, as long as you believe you can do a good job of it once you're in the door. If that means a little butt smooching.. sweet, pucker up. If you want to be successful in the corporate world sometimes you need to realize it's more important that people like you and feel that you fit the org, than your arrogance and pride be demonstrated.

Coming from someone who has been offered every job they have ever interviewed for. It's all about confidence and manipulation. Screw pride, I'd rather make the big bucks.

I think you misunderstood me. I didn't mean there was a problem with butt kissing, but that you'd sound whinny to the interviewer if you go with the "I told them to use x, but they used y instead, if only they'd listened to me they wouldn't have problem z". Bashing your current/former employer isn't terribly attractive. Oh, and of course, getting caught in a lie is a sure fire way to not get the job.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Jaime:
It seems that a lot of people in IT simply read the manuals and bang on the keyboard until it works.

There are manuals? Your ideas intrigue me and I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter... as long as I don't have to read anything. Sorry, anything worth my time has a clicky draggy droppy interface with brightly colored cartoons, cute sounds and animations, you know, all the stuff necessary to keep a three year old's attention.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Anon:
Buzzz, wrong answer. Sure it was a decision made some time ago and of course you can't retroactively change those decisions, but the right answer was to say something along the lines of "well with JBoss you can do x which you can't do in Tomcat...." (or vice versa). You don't have to agree that one is better than the other, but you should understand what the relative strengths and weaknesses are.

You sir, are an idiot. He already said he was a front-end developer and was not involved in the back-end server decisions. Why should he know or care?

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

83 comments and no one has pointed out yet that Alex spelled "interrupting" wrong?

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

r2k:
C+=2 is one fewer character and equivalent!

Nope. "+=2" is pre-increment, "++" is post-increment (and doesn't yield an lvalue, so "C++++" isn't valid).

You can fuck off now.

davedavenotdavemaybedave · 2010-06-10 Reply Admin

2010-06-10 10:53 • by Iain Collins
until relatively recently it was illegal to displaying weight in anything but metric units, but this was challenged and now non-metric values may be provided as supplementary indicators

Urban myth, I'm afraid.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Indeed.

davedavenotdavemaybedave · 2010-06-10 Reply Admin

As the OP of the article, you're right. I should have expressed a greater interest in the back-end, and the fact is, I did indeed have some knowledge of JBoss and the other technologies I was not involved with at my former employer.

I think you're right. If the interviewer's a tosser, you don't want to work there. Stipulating that you don't want to work with this bloke, there is another course of action, probably akin, and yet subtly different to just blowing the interview off.

You will, every now and again, get results with behaviour from the school that says that in this situation you find out who the interviewer reports back to, and raise with them the issue that you were interested in working for their company until you met X, who is an incompetent, bullying arsehole. If the top boss is shocked and appalled by this, and actually does something about it instead of kicking you out on the street, then stick to them like glue.

Generally, sucking up to bullies doesn't work. Confronting them head-on works far more often than you'd think - although still far less often than not... But you're always better off politely telling someone that what they said was unnecessarily rude than just sitting in silence seething.

2010-06-10 Reply Admin

Internet Tough Guy:
I'll challenge any one of you fuckers to a fight!

I will fight you. I bring a Samurai sword and cut your head off. You lose. I win, proving once again I am superior to you.

You ask for a rematch and bring a Samurai sword. I bring a howitzer, and blow you to bits. You lose. I win again. I celebrate at my farm by drinking champagne made from beets. Ummm, delicious. Would you like some? Oh, that's right, you can't have any because you're DEAD!

RogerInHawaii · 2010-06-10 Reply Admin

blunder:
What is it with programmers and parsing things literally?

Ummm, because that's what programmers do. Would you prefer that we parse things figuratively?

Eternal Density · 2010-06-11 Reply Admin

I've got this weird feeling that I read all these some time last year.

Also, did they use TubeRodent in addition to C-Pound?

2010-06-11 Reply Admin

Anon:
To give the first interviewer the benefit of the doubt, I think he might have been challenging the interviewee to compare and contrast the various technologies that could have been used. It seem a relevant question to me and the "that happened before my time" answer is a missed opportunity by the interviewee.
"JBoss?!" the interviewer jumped in, "why didn't they use Tomcat, if they were going to use Java?"
"I'm not sure,"

Buzzz, wrong answer. Sure it was a decision made some time ago and of course you can't retroactively change those decisions, but the right answer was to say something along the lines of "well with JBoss you can do x which you can't do in Tomcat...." (or vice versa). You don't have to agree that one is better than the other, but you should understand what the relative strengths and weaknesses are.

Yep.. precisely what I was thinking. This is more of a WTF on the interviewee not understanding their own environment than the interviewer being a pr*t

Bellinghman · 2010-06-11 Reply Admin

Accent Opaque:
Mister Zimbu:
Yes, it's called the pound symbol in America.
Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to why- we don't even use it to abbreviate the word "pound" in any context that I'm aware of. Unfortunately, it was named before my time.
It's used throughout the paper and printing industries. That paper you put in the copier is probably 20# (twenty-pound) white text. Your fancy brochures are, say, a combination of 80# gloss cover and 100# matte text.

I suspect this is 'throughout the paper and printing industries in the US'.

Over here, your standard copier paper is 80 gsm (grams per square meter). Until now, I had never heard of 20# paper.

2010-06-11 Reply Admin

CAPTCHA: Gfyrse

Go fuck yourself.

2010-06-11 Reply Admin

davedavenotdavemaybedave:
2010-06-10 10:53 • by Iain Collins
until relatively recently it was illegal to displaying weight in anything but metric units, but this was challenged and now non-metric values may be provided as supplementary indicators

Urban myth, I'm afraid.

[Citation Needed]

I'm not saying your wrong but if you're going to come out with a point blank dismissal then you need to provide some proof. I'm sure you can link us to something relevant to support your assertion. Thanks.

2010-06-11 Reply Admin

Herby:
HopelessIntern:
Pete:
Good old C-Pound my favourite language.
I don't even know where that comes from I could understand C-Hash or C-Number. Is it called that in America? I'm from the UK so pound is £.
Yeah in the states, the # symbol is called a pound. Still, it is no excuse. C-pound is just as wrong as C-hash or C-number, any competent IT-related professional should know it is C-sharp (it makes sense too, its musical notation).
Back when I was doing telephone work, there was great confusion on what to call the '#' character. One in our staff said "you know like the tic-tac-toe game". Of course the dumb droid on the other end of the phone then knew what we were talking about. As for languages, Microsoft should have chosen the equivalent: 'D-flat' as a language. Would have made more sense!

I usually describe myself as a C-tic-tac-toe senior developer when I'm on the phone with HR folks. What's the problem with this?

2010-06-11 Reply Admin

Iain Collins · 2010-06-11 Reply Admin

davedavenotdavemaybedave:
2010-06-10 10:53 • by Iain Collins
until relatively recently it was illegal to displaying weight in anything but metric units, but this was challenged and now non-metric values may be provided as supplementary indicators

Urban myth, I'm afraid.

Okay, strap in everyone .. we are going off topic ... ;-)

The position you take on it may depend on who you choose to believe (retailers, lawyers, or EU commissioners), and how much documentation you can dig up (naturally the legislation is not defined in a single document readily available for easy review). The long standing confusion is a result of European Union commissioners being deliberately evasive and contradictory on the issue.

In the first instance, when the regulation enforcing the use of metric came in to force in 2000 (having been agreed up to in principle decades before) the rights to display imperial measurements did not certainly extend beyond last year (2009).

In 2007 an EU Enterprise and Industry commissioner unhelpfully declared that - while the use of metric was mandatory - there never was and never will be a moratorium on using imperial measurements along side metric values in the UK. The EU also declared that err the deadline for using imperial measurements in addition to metric values was extended to 2010.

The notion that there never would be a moratorium on using imperial measurements as well was based entirely on the unspoken and facile notion that they always planned to keep extending the deadline for it indefinitely, at least until no one cared enough to object strenuously enough (which is modus operandi for unelected EU mandarins).

However, by then many large vendors had taken the position that the use of imperial values alongside metric ones was /already/ illegal (based on their interpretation of the existing statutes) and that at the very least it wasn't worth risking prosecution over. The European Enterprise and Industry commission where not unhappy about this.

The commissioners statement that it was not (and never would be be illegal) was only an attempt at a mitigating clarification after the fact, couched in a misleading and evasive manner and delivered only in direct response to a High Court trial which confirmed that legislation covering the sale of imperial measurements alone was legally binding (which everyone did know already, but lots of people we just not very happy about and so chose to take a stand on).

I am (obviously) not against the adoption of metric, and strongly in favour of European social and economic integration - however I'm also in favour of a Europe that has at least some vague semblance of democracy, where policy is transparent and is set by elected officials (with key decisions to subject to public consultation).

Mostly from memory, with some double checking of dates. Stuck in the mind as got a lot of press coverage in things like Private Eye.

2010-06-11 Reply Admin

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2010-06-11 Reply Admin

Iain Collins:
davedavenotdavemaybedave:
2010-06-10 10:53 • by Iain Collins
until relatively recently it was illegal to displaying weight in anything but metric units, but this was challenged and now non-metric values may be provided as supplementary indicators

Urban myth, I'm afraid.
<Snipped well crafted and informative response>

Sorry dave but Iain has crafted a very good response here and you couldn't even provide a citation for your "urban myth" assertion. It's pretty obvious who's got the stronger case here. But hey, thanks for your brusque input.

The Interupting Rebutter, The Final Word, and The Jury Rig

"Not really," says the attorney. "This morning, when Ralph told me he'd been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and piss all over your desk and that you'd be happy about it."

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