• Dekker3D (unregistered) in reply to AbbydonKrafts
    AbbydonKrafts:
    The chin is a big pointy, but hey.. everyone has at least one flaw. It's not that big of a deal.

    [image]

    Is this the same girl? The lighting differences between the three pics is throwing me off if it is.

    [image]

    nope. this one's got redder hair, i think.

  • bah, humbug (unregistered) in reply to Chris Ridenour
    Chris Ridenour:
    DeLos:
    WhiskeyJack:
    That Irish girl is distracting.

    She's subpar at best. It'd take some drinking and some convincing.

    This is today's real WTF.

    Seconded.

  • s. (unregistered)

    I don't really appreciate how Alex 'spiced up' my story (missing some important points on the way).

    Let me paste the original:

    In my country, most of government institutions are obligated by law to publish certain data on the net - their structure, current responsibility chain, public competitions, general announcements and so on.

    A friend worked at a company that catered to all the software needs of government institutions, and as the requirement to publish said data (and in a specific law-regulated format) was introduced, they decided to release a web portal software that allows publishing this very data. As you can guess, the product would cost a wild fortune despite being quite simple: just store/retrieve some documents, provide basic usage stats and two-level security (user - can read all, admin - can modify all), and no business logic - all changes are done manually by the admin.

    The management decided that 6 months would suffice for this product, and at the time it seemed like a reasonable estimate. And so, the production began. The timeline was as follows:

    • 3 months of that spent on finding a subcontractor to write the project. At some third try a company was found that would write the backend and subcontract the frontend.
    • Another 2 months of re-negotiating the money, combined with some work on project of the backend.
    • 3 weeks for a graphician subcontracted by the subcontractor to create graphics project for the site. Meantime, the first subcontractor writing the backend.
    • the graphician subcontracts a team of four freelance web developers to create 40something webpages following the gfx project (drawn in Corel with concepts so wildly incompatibile with the web technology that it was a torture to make it work). No professional webdeveloper company would accept this kind of deadline for this kind of work. I'm one of them. The friend from the original company is another (with a blessing from his boss who is fully aware there's a week remaining from the half-year period and more than half of the work is missing, and they already have customers scheduled for the release date.)
    • After 4 days and nights of work, with like 4-6h breaks for sleep, we ship the bug-ridden pages with weird js hacks to make the odd web design work, with tables nested 5 levels deep, and so on.
    • 3 days to hook up the frontend to the backend and ship the resulting crap to the customers.

    The product was released on time, although we spent another week sending bugfixes to be added to v1.1. We got our salary, which was a fraction of percent of a single sale. And we got credit for our part of the work in the final release. In GIF comment of one of the background images.

    The WTFs for these who didn't spot them:

    • out of 6 months of schedule, 5 months on negotiations, planning and request for changes, 3 weeks on gfx project and backend, 4 days on frontend (which was more than half of the project) and 3 days to integrate front and back end. 0 days left for QA, testing, writing docs and so on.
    • a big and reputable company ends hires slightly less reputable company. That company hires a pretty small but still reputable gfx studio. The studio hires 3 random students and one employee of the original company (outside normal outsourcing process of course) to have most of the work done.
    • the people who got most of the work done get null credit and sucky salary (but they get to sneak their credits in, in a .gif comment).
    • when we were on the end of day 3 and saw we will do it on time, the guys decided "Since we're networked (we brought all our PCs to a room of one of us to get the work faster) and we'll do it on time, what about a shortie of Quake?" - 1h deathmatch, then 4h sleep and when I wake up I say "Guys, allnighters are OK but no more Quake. Putting HTML tags in my sleep was fine. But when they began rushing me and I had to shoot them and run from them, it got out of hand.
  • Busta (unregistered) in reply to AbbydonKrafts
    AbbydonKrafts:
    Chris Ridenour:
    DeLos:
    She's subpar at best. It'd take some drinking and some convincing.

    This is today's real WTF.

    Obviously. Who can deny the firecracker?

    [image]

    I'd binge on the minge with the ginger fringe

  • M.I.K.e (unregistered)

    I remember one project where our new hardware designer wanted to use an Atmel AVR microcontroller, but since we firmware developers mainly had worked with Microchip PIC he also volunteered to write the firmware as well. Since this new hardware module had to communicate with one of our older ones, we decided on a 4-bit data and strobe/ack handshaking approach. I wrote the communication part for the old hardware in probably an hour, but couldn't test it.

    Probably three months later someone from sales asked me about the project because it was long overdue, but I still hadn't gotten any sample of the new hardware. Initial testing revealed that it didn't really work. The firmware was written in AVR assembly, was overly complicated, didn't really work, and there seemed to be problems with the hardware as well.

    To get this project done as fast as possible I had one day to familiarise myself with AVR Studio, the WinAVR compiler, and the microcontroller architecture itself. Practically overnight I thought of a way how to handle the task in C and implemented it in about an hour the next day.

    To my amazement the code was practically bug free from the start, only three problems slowed down testing:

    1. The hardware was supposed to count 100 microsecond pulses, but the optocouplers in our test equipment weren't able to handle that speed.
    2. The AVR circuit had a buggy reset logic.
    3. In the code I had written three months before I had forgotten to initialise one of the handshaking pins, which caused rather sporadic problems. Otherwise the untested code worked just fine.

    Two days of work in C on an unfamiliar microcontroller, versus weeks and weeks of assembly code by someone who knew the architecture. And the really funny thing is that he had problems to fit his code into the 2K Flash, while the C compiled code fits quite nicely into 25% of it.

  • bah, humbug (unregistered) in reply to M.I.K.e
    M.I.K.e:
    The firmware was written in AVR assembly, [..]
    okay, there's your wtf right there.
  • Hans (unregistered) in reply to Sally the seashell
    Sally the seashell:
    I'm rather perterbed, I had the first post on this originally and someone nuked it! Bastards! It said "I wish I could get the two minutes of my life I spent reading this WTF back"

    It is true, my post was originally the second and yours was above it.

    But life is not always fair, my friend. Maybe next time our fortunes will be reversed, and my posting nuked to make room for yours... And indeed, I would gladly trade that glorious first spot, for Windows XP not randomly leaving directories off the CD I burnt for a customer earlier this week. It has made me look like a total fool, and the customer is still angry with me.

    God bless, and may the wind always blow in your mails...

  • Hans (unregistered) in reply to Dekker3D
    Dekker3D:
    AbbydonKrafts:
    The chin is a big pointy, but hey.. everyone has at least one flaw. It's not that big of a deal.

    [image]

    Is this the same girl? The lighting differences between the three pics is throwing me off if it is.

    [image]

    nope. this one's got redder hair, i think.

    I'm not sure either, but as an intermediate solution I'm happy to take them both of your hands. Once I figure out how many there are I'll post back.

  • (cs) in reply to M.I.K.e
    M.I.K.e:
    And the really funny thing is that he had problems to fit his code into the 2K Flash, while the C compiled code fits quite nicely into 25% of it.
    The real WTF is that some programmers still think that they can hand code large quantities of assembly any better than a compiler. This was true in the eighties but hasn't been for almost twenty years. This is especially true of control structures (if, loops etc.). They should stick to hand coding small critical functions and leave the bulk of the work to the tools.
  • Just another bloke (unregistered) in reply to Hans
    Hans:
    Dekker3D:
    AbbydonKrafts:
    The chin is a big pointy, but hey.. everyone has at least one flaw. It's not that big of a deal.

    [image]

    Is this the same girl? The lighting differences between the three pics is throwing me off if it is.

    [image]

    nope. this one's got redder hair, i think.

    I'm not sure either, but as an intermediate solution I'm happy to take them both of your hands. Once I figure out how many there are I'll post back.

    They're the same. Same chin, same eyebrowes, same breast size.

  • (cs) in reply to Mutant
    Mutant:
    This is a WTF? I would have called it a BAU.

    I really wish people would learn to read.

    This is not supposed to be a WTF. It's the Feature Article.

    Too bad your mutation didn't involve a bigger brain.

  • (cs) in reply to Neil
    Neil:
    Huh - some WTF. Seems like the SOP of the IT world. And a designer working on the front end not getting bonus or credit? Wow, what a terrible injustice. :P

    And yet another not-a-clue voice is heard from...

    It's not supposed to be a WTF. Learn to read. It's the Feature Article. If you don't know the difference, you're not smart enough to be here; go back to /. where you belong.

  • (cs) in reply to Sally the seashell
    Sally the seashell:
    I'm rather perterbed, I had the first post on this originally and someone nuked it! Bastards! It said "I wish I could get the two minutes of my life I spent reading this WTF back"

    Why? You obviously don't have the brains to know what to do with them if you did.

    Cripes, people! Half of the posts here are from idiots who not only can't READ the words that say this isn't intended to be a WTF, but apparently are color blind as well and can't see from the color of the article heading that this is a FEATURE ARTICLE instead.

    If you can't even tell what type of post it is from both of these indicators, you're not smart enough to understand the WTFs either. Go back to Disney.com or /. where you belong.

  • s. (unregistered) in reply to MET
    The real WTF is that some programmers still think that they can hand code large quantities of assembly any better than a compiler. This was true in the eighties but hasn't been for almost twenty years.

    For ix86 architecture, yes, good compilers exist and create highly optimized code. The problem is with other architectures with very limited resources, like PIC, 8051 and so on. The compilers are far less advanced and often lack code optimization completely.

  • (cs) in reply to AbbydonKrafts
    AbbydonKrafts:
    ben:
    You have so much Irish heritage you don't know what a SHAMROCK is, eh? You're probably looking forward to drinking green beer on 'St Patty's Day".

    Ewww.. beer. And I didn't say my parents are fresh off the boat. No one calls them shamrocks in the US.

    Apparently, the ones that got off the boat were a lot removed from your parents, as all of the Irish heritage has been bred out of you. You make that clear when you said

    AbbydonKrafts:
    Ewww.. beer.

    You're no longer Irish. :-)

  • Just another bloke (unregistered) in reply to KenW
    KenW:
    Sally the seashell:
    I'm rather perterbed, I had the first post on this originally and someone nuked it! Bastards! It said "I wish I could get the two minutes of my life I spent reading this WTF back"

    Why? You obviously don't have the brains to know what to do with them if you did.

    Cripes, people! Half of the posts here are from idiots who not only can't READ the words that say this isn't intended to be a WTF, but apparently are color blind as well and can't see from the color of the article heading that this is a FEATURE ARTICLE instead.

    If you can't even tell what type of post it is from both of these indicators, you're not smart enough to understand the WTFs either. Go back to Disney.com or /. where you belong.

    And you're claiming to be so much better? Ranting about this for every post you find. Two options: a. We actually can't read as you stated. Then what's the use of posting these comments? b. We can read, in which case we heard you the first time and there is really no use ranting about for every one of the 100+ comments.

    And BTW: I thought these comments were about the cure irish girl? What featured article?

  • (cs) in reply to pheabo
    pheabo:
    Ok, I'll dig up a jpeg of myself, but do you think you could ask your mom if she still has any pictures of the 4-way I had with her, your sister, and your girlfriend?

    Oh, crap! Watch out, everybody... We have another 12 year old script kiddie who escaped from /. and ended up here by mistake!

  • The real wtf fool (unregistered) in reply to s.
    s.:
    I don't really appreciate how Alex 'spiced up' my story (missing some important points on the way).

    Let me paste the original:

    dullest wtf ever

    The WTFs for these who didn't spot them:

    • usual stuff

    It's still the dullest WTF I've seen in a long time.

    irish girl discussion has been fun though

  • D. T. North (unregistered) in reply to Just another bloke
    Just another bloke:
    Hans:
    Dekker3D:
    AbbydonKrafts:
    The chin is a big pointy, but hey.. everyone has at least one flaw. It's not that big of a deal.

    [image]

    Is this the same girl? The lighting differences between the three pics is throwing me off if it is.

    [image]

    nope. this one's got redder hair, i think.

    I'm not sure either, but as an intermediate solution I'm happy to take them both of your hands. Once I figure out how many there are I'll post back.

    They're the same. Same chin, same eyebrowes, same breast size.

    Spoken like a true geek. Are you a consult for the artists who design video game avatars?

  • The real wtf fool (unregistered) in reply to The real wtf fool

    Oops.

    s/WTF/Feature article/i

  • Hans (unregistered) in reply to Just another bloke
    Just another bloke:
    Hans:
    I'm not sure either, but as an intermediate solution I'm happy to take them both of your hands. Once I figure out how many there are I'll post back.

    They're the same. Same chin, same eyebrowes, same breast size.

    Stop ruining my fantasy!

  • Gaz (unregistered) in reply to NCBloodhound
    NCBloodhound :
    We got burned once before with a direct hire. He was a walking dictionary of technical terms, but couldn't code his way out of an endless loop. All of our interviews now include the developer writing code.

    Yeah we've had a few of them. We've been talking about including some coding test or another for ages but noone has ever bothered to do it. Yesterday I thought I'd just throw one in on a whim.

    Me: "If it's OK i'd like you to get you to write me a very simple method."

    Candidate: "Oh I'm not sure I'd be able to."

    !!!

    We're interviewing you to be a COMPUTER PROGRAMMER! And asking you to write a tiny method on a piece of paper freaks you out! WTF?!

    Anyway I persisted and asked him to write a method to return the names of all files in a directory and right down through its subdirectories. I even gave him the Path.GetFiles and Path.GetDirectories methods to use.

    He looked at it for ages then said "I think I'd use a foreach loop". I tried to get him to say the word "recursion" but nothing doing.

    And he'd never heard of generics in C# 2, despite having 3 years experience.

    Incredible.

    oof.

  • (cs)
  • (cs) in reply to AbbydonKrafts
    AbbydonKrafts:
    WhiskeyJack:
    Anyone else get pissed off when they clicked the ad and got to the men's shirt page by default?

    Yeah. I was in shock for a moment until I realized I had to click the little link above the box. That was 4 days ago, though, so I got over it.

    [image] Anyone else notice that Hacker-Safe logo in the bottom right corner? Anyone tested it yet?
  • (cs) in reply to s.
    s.:
    The real WTF is that some programmers still think that they can hand code large quantities of assembly any better than a compiler. This was true in the eighties but hasn't been for almost twenty years.

    For ix86 architecture, yes, good compilers exist and create highly optimized code. The problem is with other architectures with very limited resources, like PIC, 8051 and so on. The compilers are far less advanced and often lack code optimization completely.

    SDCC... Free, a pain in the ass to use, sometimes, but capable of plenty of optimizations for various architectures. I use it for most of my 8051 development and then use the manufacturer-supplied JTAG downloader to push the intel hex file to the chip.

  • (cs) in reply to DeLos
    DeLos:
    real_aardvark:
    (1) She's not Irish.

    How do you know she's not irish? Sure fits the stereotype so far.

    Which is why she's not Irish. Come over to Dublin some time; you'll love it. Full of attractive young ... er ... edit here, please, but I'm afraid not this particular young lady.

    I've looked at tomorrow's (that is, today's) pictures, and the background architecture doesn't resemble Ireland. Much more like the brownstones in New York, I'd guess.

    This being the Cheltenham week, I'll give you 6/4 against that she's Irish.

  • Anon E Mouse (unregistered) in reply to Zoner

    You have women?! Well... we have Irish Girl. She just stands there smiling at me all day, making me feel all warm and tingly... inside. So stick that in your stethoscope!

  • Bozo (unregistered) in reply to DeLos
    DeLos:
    WhiskeyJack:
    That Irish girl is distracting.

    She's subpar at best. It'd take some drinking and some convincing.

    I also think that you'd need to be de-gayed

  • Kuba (unregistered) in reply to Hans
    Hans:
    I've noticed that a lot of IT people in their mid-thirties to early forties are leaving IT (or considering it), and moving to completely unrelated industries. Is that just in my environment, or does it happen everywhere?

    What are your experiences?

    Some time ago I've heard (first hand) from a guy who used to be a software developer. He switched fields. He became an air traffic controller (after coughing up the dough to pay for the not so cheap training). He said that it came with way less stress than his developer job. I kid you not.

  • Kuba (unregistered) in reply to M.I.K.e
    M.I.K.e:
    Two days of work in C on an unfamiliar microcontroller, versus weeks and weeks of assembly code by someone who knew the architecture. And the really funny thing is that he had problems to fit his code into the 2K Flash, while the C compiled code fits quite nicely into 25% of it.

    I guess that guy would have written equally poor code in C.

    I'm not really a big fan of assembly, I'd much rather use a high level language, which I am. It had begun with a self-made assembler for Z8 Encore! with LISP macros. It ended up as a half-assed LISP implementation, producing assembly on par with my hand-written stuff (which was always at least 50% smaller than the broken Zilog thing had made).

  • The Temple (unregistered)

    OMG! Gorgeous. Wish I could wake up next to this babe!

Leave a comment on “The Sub-Sub-Sub-Subcontractor”

Log In or post as a guest

Replying to comment #:

Log Out

« Return to Article