• ÃÆâ€â„ (unregistered) in reply to frits
    frits:
    Design Pattern:
    frits:
    TRWTF are nerds that don't recognize Slayer.
    No, the TRWTF is that the amount of censorship currently happening in the forums are killing all the good puns and will deprive later readers of any chance to understand what you were referring to.

    But don't expect your post to surive the next hour.

    There does seem to be quite an arbitrary censoring of comments going here.
    Where have you been, that's been going on for a long time. It seems that they're taking more time to censor comments, than to stick to The DAILY WTF (and when they do, it's bad WTFs).MO

  • Hubert Grimset (unregistered) in reply to Dave
    Dave:
    Gregg:
    So if I get this right, the principal changed its funding from coming from Special Projects to coming from the library's budget, so then the head librarian was pissed because it ate all the library's budget? And the staff dropped out of PEN because all the new students that were getting involved in PEN were "less than desirable" (i.e. not really interested in improving their grades) but still allowed to participate because of the principal?
    That is how I understood it, too.

    The principle was playing Hubert the fool, and making changes guaranteed to doom the project, and being able to place the blame on OP for it.

    Bingo.

    My original submission was quite a lot longer and included a lot more detail (fewer proofing errors, made me look a bit less whiny, etc. - there's actually not much of my original submission left, but that's just how it goes).

    Basically Principal WTF systematically undermined PEN and set the project up to fail. There wasn't anything that I could do - I had no real power, so "being in charge of PEN" was merely a means for him to place the blame of failure on me. In reality, he was the one in charge of the program. All I was doing at that point was keeping the system up and running and dealing with day-to-day issues.

    He had full, 100%, control of the budget. And he used the ENTIRE library budget to fund the program. He used other money to buy that newly planted tree outside his window (as TFA implies, but doesn't explicitly state).

    Calli Arcale:
    And precious few were as amazingly fortunate as Hubert, to have a no-nonsense mentor who understood the situation, understood his real qualifications, and could get him a new position where his work would actually be appreciated.
    Meeting Kelly has been the best thing that's ever happened to me. We actually have been working together for years now, and make a really good team.
    pjt33:
    The description in TFA isn't especially detailed, but the impression I got is that it's trying to solve an NP-complete problem, in which case scaling it to the whole district might well cause it to become completely useless.
    It wasn't an NP-complete problem, and enrollment processing took less than a second. Granted - Kelly very well could have ended up trying to solve an NP-complete problem if I wasn't there in the beginning and realized the potential pitfalls of her original design.
    Anonymous:
    - IT student - Steamy, sweaty, business-consultant-suit-ripping jungle sex

    You don't need a degree in math to know that these are mutually exclusive sets.

    This.

    Also - Ms. Kelly is actually Mrs. Kelly, and I'm gay. So, no steamy, sweaty, business-consultant-suit-ripping jungle sex for us.

    But she's flattered that strangers on the Internet think that a third-hand description of her sounds hot.

    John:
    The whole point of the story is the politics. This couldn't be an ongoing success because the new manager couldn't take credit for it. It had to fail, because of someone else, then be re-created (probably the exact same code) and a huge success.
    Pretty much. Principal WTF only wants to be a superintendent (which, because of the way the US education system works, is going to happen eventually. He just needs to put his time in, and get rid of things that he thinks might make him look bad).

    PEN was set up by his predecessor. He felt the need to destroy it, and wipe away every last trace of Selene. My original submission was longer, and I mentioned that PEN wasn't the only one of Selene's projects that Principal WTF was undermining.

    He won't be setting up a duplicate PEN any time soon - contrary to what the article says, I actually maintained total ownership of the code and the design. When PEN was killed, I took everything. If he wants to start it up again, he'll be doing so without my help or my code.

    The original title I submitted was "Can't we just use a spreadsheet?". PWTF wanted to get rid of me and replace my program with a manual spreadsheet solution - consisting of teacher emailing each other a copy of the "master" spreadsheet until all their students were entered, and so on. So if he ever does try to recreate PEN, he'll have his work cut out for him. And I can imagine that a sequel to this story would then soon after be appearing here.

  • socknet (unregistered)

    good story, @#$!@$ article.

    I don't believe that this was read at a conference, no-one would do that without even a quick proof read

  • Power Troll (unregistered) in reply to Hubert Grimset
    Hubert Grimset:
    ...I'm gay...
    Then what are you doing on the internet? Go somewhere else until you understand basic biology and then come back.
  • Dave (unregistered) in reply to Hubert Grimset
    Hubert Grimset:
    He had full, 100%, control of the budget. And he used the ENTIRE library budget to fund the program. He used other money to buy that newly planted tree outside his window (as TFA implies, but doesn't explicitly state).

    It heavily implies it, when you said that there was a tree where there used to be a student garden. ;)

  • Hubert Grimset (unregistered) in reply to Dave
    Dave:
    Hubert Grimset:
    He had full, 100%, control of the budget. And he used the ENTIRE library budget to fund the program. He used other money to buy that newly planted tree outside his window (as TFA implies, but doesn't explicitly state).
    It heavily implies it, when you said that there was a tree where there used to be a student garden. ;)
    Yeah; though, in my original submission I was a lot more explicit about how he handled the school budget. And that what he was doing was illegal and not district-endorsed.
  • (cs) in reply to Fat Guy In a Little Coat
    Fat Guy In a Little Coat:
    foo:
    TRWTF today are the comments, more than ever. The few that actually comment on the story completely miss the point. ADHD must be widespread here.

    One of the better stories here, and sadly, the Asperger's crowd is in full force.

    Bah! Agreed about the quality of the story, but as for the rest of your sentence - what a retard you are!

  • (cs) in reply to Calli Arcale
    Calli Arcale:
    I very much enjoyed this story -- and I have ADHD, so I don't think that explains why some people appear to be missing the point or unable to read what is frankly not that long of an article.

    And I think I could find somebody with Asperger's to agree with me that it's a good article. Learning disorders don't make it impossible to appreciate the nuance of this story.

    The new manager who deliberately tanks the project while pinning the blame on the poor sap running it is definitely the WTF, and deserves to be a WTF because it is so commonplace. The world has a lot of bullies in it, who think nothing of stepping on the unwary to achieve their goals, just as this principal got PEN shut down while letting Hubert take the fall for it, so he comes out smelling like roses both for graciously supporting a student project and for the district not suffering from such a "miserable failure". A lot of us have had experiences like that; not all of us were lucky enough to learn it so early, before it can tank our careers. And precious few were as amazingly fortunate as Hubert, to have a no-nonsense mentor who understood the situation, understood his real qualifications, and could get him a new position where his work would actually be appreciated.

    Actually I read this as: the joke is on the Principal. He ends the story as he began: dull, ugly and nasty. The real WTF is that his college is now without PEN.

    OTOH our Hubert has learned probably the most important lesson of his enviable life, has developed a successful application, doing something useful and interesting, AND gets back with that absolute angel of a mentor.

    (Stands and applauds, with a wistful tear in the eye.)

  • Grammar Antinazi (unregistered)

    Everyone complaining that "Alex and I" is poor grammar should go back to school. It's about the one part of the article that's correct. Oh wait...

    IHBT, etc.

  • ÃÆâ€ââ (unregistered) in reply to Hubert Grimset
    Hubert Grimset:

    Also - Ms. Kelly is actually Mrs. Kelly, and I'm gay. So, no steamy, sweaty, business-consultant-suit-ripping jungle sex for us.

    But she's flattered that strangers on the Internet think that a third-hand description of her sounds hot.

    You almost had me convinced until you reached here. It just gives away your whole testimonial as a heaping pile of bull****.

  • Gunslinger (unregistered) in reply to Kuba
    Kuba:
    EduMonkey:
    Student and Librarian cobble together an unmanageable, unmaintainable, stinking mess of an application and promote it as "progress". This is par for education. We're stuck supporting these types of "apps" for years. Thanks guys.
    I sincerely hope that you're not serious. If you are serious, though, do you think that, say, Facebook's code initially was anything more than "unmanageable, unmaintainable, stinking mess"?

    It still is.

    CAPTCHA: abigo - Facebook's code is abigo mess.

  • Hubert Grimset (unregistered) in reply to ÃÆâ€ââ
    ÃÆâ€ââ:
    Hubert Grimset:
    Also - Ms. Kelly is actually Mrs. Kelly, and I'm gay. So, no steamy, sweaty, business-consultant-suit-ripping jungle sex for us.

    But she's flattered that strangers on the Internet think that a third-hand description of her sounds hot.

    You almost had me convinced until you reached here. It just gives away your whole testimonial as a heaping pile of bull****.
    The last sentence was sarcasm.

    We actually still work together, and sits a few feet away from me. She just laughed when I told her.

    She's a bit different from how the article describes her. :P Suffice to say, most people think that she's either my mother or my aunt when they see us together. So the idea of people imagining her as a blond seductress and us having some torrid affair is pretty funny.

  • (cs) in reply to Meep
    Meep:
    Ah, the joys of socialized education.
    What an elitist opinion.
  • Ã (unregistered) in reply to Hubert Grimset
    Hubert Grimset:
    ÃÆâ€ââ:
    Hubert Grimset:
    Also - Ms. Kelly is actually Mrs. Kelly, and I'm gay. So, no steamy, sweaty, business-consultant-suit-ripping jungle sex for us.

    But she's flattered that strangers on the Internet think that a third-hand description of her sounds hot.

    You almost had me convinced until you reached here. It just gives away your whole testimonial as a heaping pile of bull****.
    The last sentence was sarcasm.

    We actually still work together, and sits a few feet away from me. She just laughed when I told her.

    She's a bit different from how the article describes her. :P Suffice to say, most people think that she's either my mother or my aunt when they see us together. So the idea of people imagining her as a blond seductress and us having some torrid affair is pretty funny.

    But the story takes place in "your" teenage years.

  • (cs) in reply to Hubert Grimset
    Hubert Grimset:
    ÃÆâ€ââ:
    Hubert Grimset:
    Also - Ms. Kelly is actually Mrs. Kelly, and I'm gay. So, no steamy, sweaty, business-consultant-suit-ripping jungle sex for us.

    But she's flattered that strangers on the Internet think that a third-hand description of her sounds hot.

    You almost had me convinced until you reached here. It just gives away your whole testimonial as a heaping pile of bull****.
    The last sentence was sarcasm.

    We actually still work together, and sits a few feet away from me. She just laughed when I told her.

    She's a bit different from how the article describes her. :P Suffice to say, most people think that she's either my mother or my aunt when they see us together. So the idea of people imagining her as a blond seductress and us having some torrid affair is pretty funny.

    The story gave us to understand that you are contemporaries (or near-contemporaries) based on the report that she could have been mistaken for one of the student body. Somebody dressed casually but a clear generation older would more likely be mistaken for one of the members of staff (at least in the UK where "college" is a level of higher schooling where arbitrary child-discipline and dress-codes have been discarded).

  • (cs) in reply to Ã
    Ã:
    Hubert Grimset:
    ÃÆâ€ââ:
    Hubert Grimset:
    Also - Ms. Kelly is actually Mrs. Kelly, and I'm gay. So, no steamy, sweaty, business-consultant-suit-ripping jungle sex for us.

    But she's flattered that strangers on the Internet think that a third-hand description of her sounds hot.

    You almost had me convinced until you reached here. It just gives away your whole testimonial as a heaping pile of bull****.
    The last sentence was sarcasm.

    We actually still work together, and sits a few feet away from me. She just laughed when I told her.

    She's a bit different from how the article describes her. :P Suffice to say, most people think that she's either my mother or my aunt when they see us together. So the idea of people imagining her as a blond seductress and us having some torrid affair is pretty funny.

    But the story takes place in "your" teenage years.

    "... and here's to you, Mrs. Robinson ..."

  • (cs) in reply to Power Troll
    Power Troll:
    Hubert Grimset:
    ...I'm gay...
    Then what are you doing on the internet? Go somewhere else until you understand basic biology and then come back.
    "Power Troll" indeed. Great job.
  • Abso (unregistered) in reply to Pecos Bill
    Pecos Bill:
    Power Troll:
    Hubert Grimset:
    ...I'm gay...
    Then what are you doing on the internet? Go somewhere else until you understand basic biology and then come back.
    "Power Troll" indeed. Great job.
    No, it isn't. It's unfunny, and no one bit. I've seen better trolling from Nagesh.

    (Also: is critiquing the trolls a sign that I've been spending too much time reading the comments here?)

  • Hubert Grimset (unregistered)

    Believe it or not, TDWTF staff change a lot of details. The submitted stories don't necessarily even resemble what gets published. So there is a bit of a disconnect for me between the fiction of the article and the reality I experienced - especially since I had already changed details when I submitted the story.

    While Kelly was by no means an old woman when the story takes place, she was still twice my age.

    Regardless, I guess I never thought of large age differences as being an obstacle to... uh... "fraternization". I've often joked that if she were I man, that I'd be in love.

  • ÃÆâ€℠(unregistered) in reply to Hubert Grimset
    Hubert Grimset:
    Regardless, I guess I never thought of large age differences as being an obstacle to... uh... "fraternization". I've often joked that if she were I man, that I'd be in love.
    Ok dude, it's not funny anymore.
  • rast (unregistered)

    Two pages of comments and still no picture of Ms .Kelly?

    [image]
  • rast (unregistered) in reply to rast
    rast:
    Two pages of comments and still no picture of Ms .Kelly?
    [image]
  • Hubert Grimset (unregistered) in reply to ÃÆâ€â„Â
    ÃÆâ€â„Â:
    Hubert Grimset:
    Regardless, I guess I never thought of large age differences as being an obstacle to... uh... "fraternization". I've often joked that if she were I man, that I'd be in love.
    Ok dude, it's not funny anymore.
    I can assure you: at no time in my life have I ever been funny. As evident by my poor attempts at sarcasm, which usually just leave me with egg on my face.
  • anon (unregistered) in reply to Brandon
    Brandon:
    EduMonkey:
    Student and Librarian cobble together an unmanageable, unmaintainable, stinking mess of an application and promote it as "progress". This is par for education. We're stuck supporting these types of "apps" for years. Thanks guys.

    Well, most of these applications are created by people who know what the real problem is, and intended for use as a prototype - not a final system - which never gets funding to be properly designed. I have no problem with people taking the initiative to build these types of "apps", I have a real problem with rigid IT structures and unfunded schools that can't capitalize on these innovations.

    It is not a matter of being "unfunded", it is a matter of a gross misallocation of funds by keeping people on the payroll like Filmore. In California 40% of the state budget goes to education. California has the highest paid teachers in the country(1st of 50) and the lowest performing students (49th out of 50 states). The problem has never been funding, it's the corrupt bureaucratic unionized greedy system that wastes billions on overpaid and useless people whose union guaranteed tenure prevents them from being fired.

  • David Wright (unregistered) in reply to Fat Guy In a Little Coat
    Fat Guy In a Little Coat:
    One of the better stories here, and sadly, the Asperger's crowd is in full force.
    Please do not equate Asperger's with stupidity. Yes, most of the commentators are idiots, and some of them may have Asperger's, but that does not mean that most people with Asperger's are idiots. Quite the contrary, in fact.

    As for Hubert, it's clear that even when he was still a student, he was a lot more mature than many of the people commenting here.

  • (cs) in reply to Abso
    Abso:
    Pecos Bill:
    Power Troll:
    Hubert Grimset:
    ...I'm gay...
    Then what are you doing on the internet? Go somewhere else until you understand basic biology and then come back.
    "Power Troll" indeed. Great job.
    No, it isn't. It's unfunny, and no one bit. I've seen better trolling from Nagesh.

    (Also: is critiquing the trolls a sign that I've been spending too much time reading the comments here?)

    I also found it incredibly stupid and offensive but I know (usually but somehow am being stupid now) not to feed the trolls. Power Troll obviously has zero clue just how many species on our planet have sex with the same gender.

  • Cheong (unregistered) in reply to A Programmer
    A Programmer:
    So Brian learned his lesson: nothing you work on ever belongs to you, until you go into business for yourself. It's one of the harsh realities of this profession.
    No. Any bugs and failure of codes you wrote tags with you in the remaining of your life, even if no other people actually remember them.
  • Iago (unregistered) in reply to Anonymous
    Anonymous:
    OK, so one guy cares. But nobody important cares.

    So, by extension, if you care, then you are nobody important?

  • Ben (unregistered)

    That's the best WTF story I've ever read :-)

    Thanks for posting it!

  • Norman D. Landing (unregistered) in reply to D-Coder
    D-Coder:
    foo:
    TRWTF today are the comments, more than ever. The few that actually comment on the story completely miss the point. ADHD must be widespread here.
    Swiss cheese is better than cheddar (IMHO).
    Ohh, a blue car!
  • Captain Chaos (unregistered) in reply to rast

    And I thought Kelly was an Irish name?

    [image]
  • Grey (unregistered) in reply to Slim
    Slim:
    Beautiful story! *Standing Ovation*

    Aye, me too :-)

  • eric (unregistered)

    Thanks for the story, it's pretty close to a past experience. But it's good to know that there are others that make that mistake too.

  • Power Troll (unregistered) in reply to Pecos Bill
    Pecos Bill:
    Abso:
    Pecos Bill:
    Power Troll:
    Hubert Grimset:
    ...I'm gay...
    Then what are you doing on the internet? Go somewhere else until you understand basic biology and then come back.
    "Power Troll" indeed. Great job.
    No, it isn't. It's unfunny, and no one bit. I've seen better trolling from Nagesh.

    (Also: is critiquing the trolls a sign that I've been spending too much time reading the comments here?)

    I also found it incredibly stupid and offensive but I know (usually but somehow am being stupid now) not to feed the trolls. Power Troll obviously has zero clue just how many species on our planet have sex with the same gender.

    Yes, but I thought we were supposed to be evolved...animals may not realize this activity is "fruitless" (so to speak), but a 10-year-old human should be able to grasp this concept.

    I guess some people prefer to live delusionaly.

  • Idiot Face (unregistered)

    F r i s t!

  • Idiot Face (unregistered) in reply to David Wright
    David Wright:
    Fat Guy In a Little Coat:
    One of the better stories here, and sadly, the Asperger's crowd is in full force.
    Please do not equate Asperger's with stupidity. Yes, most of the commentators are idiots, and some of them may have Asperger's, but that does not mean that most people with Asperger's are idiots. Quite the contrary, in fact.

    As for Hubert, it's clear that even when he was still a student, he was a lot more mature than many of the people commenting here.

    I'm an Aspie and I'm an idiot!

  • Joe Norm (unregistered) in reply to Power Troll
    Power Troll:
    Pecos Bill:
    Abso:
    Pecos Bill:
    Power Troll:
    Hubert Grimset:
    ...I'm gay...
    Then what are you doing on the internet? Go somewhere else until you understand basic biology and then come back.
    "Power Troll" indeed. Great job.
    No, it isn't. It's unfunny, and no one bit. I've seen better trolling from Nagesh.

    (Also: is critiquing the trolls a sign that I've been spending too much time reading the comments here?)

    I also found it incredibly stupid and offensive but I know (usually but somehow am being stupid now) not to feed the trolls. Power Troll obviously has zero clue just how many species on our planet have sex with the same gender.

    Yes, but I thought we were supposed to be evolved...animals may not realize this activity is "fruitless" (so to speak), but a 10-year-old human should be able to grasp this concept.

    I guess some people prefer to live delusionaly.

    Sexual gratification is fruitless? You must be a Christian. You may find this hard to believe but normal people actually enjoy sex - it's really quite rewarding if you haven't been indoctrinated to believe it's condemning you to eternal damnation.

  • Power Troll (unregistered) in reply to Joe Norm
    Joe Norm:
    Power Troll:
    Pecos Bill:
    Abso:
    Pecos Bill:
    Power Troll:
    Hubert Grimset:
    ...I'm gay...
    Then what are you doing on the internet? Go somewhere else until you understand basic biology and then come back.
    "Power Troll" indeed. Great job.
    No, it isn't. It's unfunny, and no one bit. I've seen better trolling from Nagesh.

    (Also: is critiquing the trolls a sign that I've been spending too much time reading the comments here?)

    I also found it incredibly stupid and offensive but I know (usually but somehow am being stupid now) not to feed the trolls. Power Troll obviously has zero clue just how many species on our planet have sex with the same gender.

    Yes, but I thought we were supposed to be evolved...animals may not realize this activity is "fruitless" (so to speak), but a 10-year-old human should be able to grasp this concept.

    I guess some people prefer to live delusionaly.

    Sexual gratification is fruitless? You must be a Christian. You may find this hard to believe but normal people actually enjoy sex - it's really quite rewarding if you haven't been indoctrinated to believe it's condemning you to eternal damnation.
    Your right: I've never met a Christian with kids rolls eyes. BTW, thanks for proving my point.

  • AC/DC (unregistered) in reply to Power Troll
    Power Troll:
    Joe Norm:
    Power Troll:
    Pecos Bill:
    Abso:
    Pecos Bill:
    Power Troll:
    Hubert Grimset:
    ...I'm gay...
    Then what are you doing on the internet? Go somewhere else until you understand basic biology and then come back.
    "Power Troll" indeed. Great job.
    No, it isn't. It's unfunny, and no one bit. I've seen better trolling from Nagesh.

    (Also: is critiquing the trolls a sign that I've been spending too much time reading the comments here?)

    I also found it incredibly stupid and offensive but I know (usually but somehow am being stupid now) not to feed the trolls. Power Troll obviously has zero clue just how many species on our planet have sex with the same gender.

    Yes, but I thought we were supposed to be evolved...animals may not realize this activity is "fruitless" (so to speak), but a 10-year-old human should be able to grasp this concept.

    I guess some people prefer to live delusionaly.

    Sexual gratification is fruitless? You must be a Christian. You may find this hard to believe but normal people actually enjoy sex - it's really quite rewarding if you haven't been indoctrinated to believe it's condemning you to eternal damnation.
    Your right: I've never met a Christian with kids rolls eyes. BTW, thanks for proving my point.
    I guess I'm more evolved than you, because I find that thanks to my species' advanced toolmaking and manufacturing skills, in particular around the manufacture of latex prophylactics, and using my fine motor skills and opposable thumbs to put said prophylactics on, I can enjoy the excellent health (good cardio workout) and mental (a great natural way to release endorphins) benefits of fucking men AND women. Hell, both at the same time even.

    And I can choose to procreate as well, if and when desired.

    Ain't evolution great? Call us if your species ever catches up - maybe we could hit some clubs...

  • (cs) in reply to AC/DC

    For those wanting more "mature" comments...

    Thanks, I guess.

  • (cs)

    This story is the "The Fountainhead" of Daily WTF: a rambling, implausible tale of an unappreciated genius and his fight to defend his brilliant work against the onslaught of malicious unthinking bureaucrats.

    Also there is an unlikely sexual tension between the male and female leads.

  • QJ (unregistered) in reply to Idiot Face
    Idiot Face:
    David Wright:
    Fat Guy In a Little Coat:
    One of the better stories here, and sadly, the Asperger's crowd is in full force.
    Please do not equate Asperger's with stupidity. Yes, most of the commentators are idiots, and some of them may have Asperger's, but that does not mean that most people with Asperger's are idiots. Quite the contrary, in fact.

    As for Hubert, it's clear that even when he was still a student, he was a lot more mature than many of the people commenting here.

    I'm an Aspie and I'm an idiot!

    I don't like the word "Aspie". I'd like to refer to myself as an "ijit Spaggy" and have people understand what I mean.

  • QJ (unregistered) in reply to Rootbeer
    Rootbeer:
    This story is the "The Fountainhead" of Daily WTF: a rambling, implausible tale of an unappreciated genius and his fight to defend his brilliant work against the onslaught of malicious unthinking bureaucrats.

    Also there is an unlikely sexual tension between the male and female leads.

    All very well but I'd like another "Atlas Shrugged" featuring a company from which all the talented individuals left in disgust at the way management was incompetent, but not before leaving a damning indictment on said company's website (which of course could not be removed because there was nobody left in the company with sufficient competence).

    Except it could never happen except in fiction.

  • aliquam (unregistered) in reply to QJ
    QJ:
    Rootbeer:
    This story is the "The Fountainhead" of Daily WTF: a rambling, implausible tale of an unappreciated genius and his fight to defend his brilliant work against the onslaught of malicious unthinking bureaucrats.

    Also there is an unlikely sexual tension between the male and female leads.

    All very well but I'd like another "Atlas Shrugged" featuring a company from which all the talented individuals left in disgust at the way management was incompetent, but not before leaving a damning indictment on said company's website (which of course could not be removed because there was nobody left in the company with sufficient competence).

    Accept it could never happen except in fiction.

    That certainly doesn't mean it won't appear in an article here.

  • Sgt Lee Ermy (unregistered) in reply to QJ
    QJ:
    Rootbeer:
    This story is the "The Fountainhead" of Daily WTF: a rambling, implausible tale of an unappreciated genius and his fight to defend his brilliant work against the onslaught of malicious unthinking bureaucrats.

    Also there is an unlikely sexual tension between the male and female leads.

    All very well but I'd like another "Atlas Shrugged" featuring a company from which all the talented individuals left in disgust at the way management was incompetent, but not before leaving a damning indictment on said company's website (which of course could not be removed because there was nobody left in the company with sufficient competence).

    Accept it could never happen except in fiction.

    Thanks for ruining the entire plot, you jackwagon. You don't find out some of those details until page four thousand and ninety three.

  • (cs) in reply to Sgt Lee Ermy
    Sgt Lee Ermy:
    QJ:
    Rootbeer:
    This story is the "The Fountainhead" of Daily WTF: a rambling, implausible tale of an unappreciated genius and his fight to defend his brilliant work against the onslaught of malicious unthinking bureaucrats.

    Also there is an unlikely sexual tension between the male and female leads.

    All very well but I'd like another "Atlas Shrugged" featuring a company from which all the talented individuals left in disgust at the way management was incompetent, but not before leaving a damning indictment on said company's website (which of course could not be removed because there was nobody left in the company with sufficient competence).

    Accept it could never happen except in fiction.

    Thanks for ruining the entire plot, you jackwagon. You don't find out some of those details until page four thousand and ninety three.

    That's Gunnery Sergeant R. Lee Ermey to you, you nasty civilian.

  • Timo Soini (unregistered) in reply to Joe Norm
    Joe Norm:
    Power Troll:
    Pecos Bill:
    Abso:
    Pecos Bill:
    Power Troll:
    Hubert Grimset:
    ...I'm gay...
    Then what are you doing on the internet? Go somewhere else until you understand basic biology and then come back.
    "Power Troll" indeed. Great job.
    No, it isn't. It's unfunny, and no one bit. I've seen better trolling from Nagesh.

    (Also: is critiquing the trolls a sign that I've been spending too much time reading the comments here?)

    I also found it incredibly stupid and offensive but I know (usually but somehow am being stupid now) not to feed the trolls. Power Troll obviously has zero clue just how many species on our planet have sex with the same gender.

    Yes, but I thought we were supposed to be evolved...animals may not realize this activity is "fruitless" (so to speak), but a 10-year-old human should be able to grasp this concept.

    I guess some people prefer to live delusionaly.

    Sexual gratification is fruitless? You must be a Christian. You may find this hard to believe but normal people actually enjoy sex - it's really quite rewarding if you haven't been indoctrinated to believe it's condemning you to eternal damnation.

    There's a tangentially related old saying in my country: "Only bad wankers ****".

  • Sgt Lee Ermy (unregistered) in reply to frits
    frits:
    Sgt Lee Ermy:
    QJ:
    Rootbeer:
    This story is the "The Fountainhead" of Daily WTF: a rambling, implausible tale of an unappreciated genius and his fight to defend his brilliant work against the onslaught of malicious unthinking bureaucrats.

    Also there is an unlikely sexual tension between the male and female leads.

    All very well but I'd like another "Atlas Shrugged" featuring a company from which all the talented individuals left in disgust at the way management was incompetent, but not before leaving a damning indictment on said company's website (which of course could not be removed because there was nobody left in the company with sufficient competence).

    Accept it could never happen except in fiction.

    Thanks for ruining the entire plot, you jackwagon. You don't find out some of those details until page four thousand and ninety three.

    That's Gunnery Sergeant R. Lee Ermey to you, you nasty civilian.

    Did your parents have any children that lived?
  • He He (unregistered)

    I read the whole article, and I still don't know what the might of the PENis.

  • Hubert Grimset (unregistered) in reply to Rootbeer
    Rootbeer:
    This story is the "The Fountainhead" of Daily WTF: a rambling, implausible tale of an unappreciated genius and his fight to defend his brilliant work against the onslaught of malicious unthinking bureaucrats.
    To be fair: Selene, Kelly, and I all worked together to design PEN. And the program never would have been as successful as it was without the dedication of the support staff and our peer tutors.

    PEN was by no means my magnum opus, and I don't claim all the credit for its success. It was the work of a lot of people over a number of years, and there's plenty of credit to go around.

    The rewrite the TDWTF staff did does make me sound a bit more ego-maniacal than I think I was.

    Rootbeer:
    Also there is an unlikely sexual tension between the male and female leads.
    You can credit the TDWTF staff for that. As I said in an earlier comment, there was no sexual anything between Kelly and I.

    Nor was there ever any animosity between us. We always considered ourselves partners and friends; and we stood together, along with the support staff, against Principal WTF. I held no grudge against her for leaving the program, and never blamed her. That said, I was shocked and a little hurt when she told me, but I put the blame were it belonged: on Principal WTF. She certainly wasn't the first person to leave after PWTF took over, and wasn't the last.

    A number of elements and characterizations present in the article were not present in my original submission. I imagine they were added in to spice the story up a little. By my own admission, my original submission was very long and dry; so I can't fault the TDWTF staff for wanting to make some "improvements" here and there.

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