• (cs)

    Wait, dual monitors attract mice?

  • Matt B (unregistered)

    Pretty hard to imagine how an interview process wouldn't reveal any quirks of a company like this.

  • Paul (unregistered)

    SneakerNet 2.0 The NEW wireless technology

  • S. (unregistered)

    How the hell do you not run away screaming after a first day like that? Who in their right mind would stay with such an idiot of an employer?

  • the beholder (unregistered)

    Ah, the joys of using a Sneakernet! I've never worked with one but in my college there were labs where that was the only network available. Once I even had to dig up a box of 3.5 in. disks I had forgott^Wstored somewhere.

  • (cs) in reply to S.
    S.:
    How the hell do you not run away screaming after a first day like that? Who in their right mind would stay with such an idiot of an employer?
    Someone who doesn't have another job.

    OTOH, why someone would not immediately continue to seek another job and leave ASAP is another question.

    One thing I've learned, every employer has their warts. I guess the trick is to find stupidity you can live with and not let it get to you.

  • Twoquestions (unregistered)

    I'm just out of school, but either they develop on a very small in-house language, or they spend a mint on a library of programming books.

    Fun story, but I can't believe that happened less than 10 years ago.

  • Mr. S. (unregistered)

    Actually, if you used git, this wouldn't be so bad - at least for source control...

  • anon (unregistered) in reply to Twoquestions

    You'd be surprised at what kind of infrastructures become part of daily operations. There's still some businesses still with win98se and even windowsNT.

  • (cs) in reply to Mr. S.

    Based on the tone of the story, I'm guessing that the "infection" was only a year old at that point, which means that this was in 2000 or so.

    Git was not to be had at that point. The Art of the system called for a Central Repository Version Control architecture

  • (cs)
    Ever since the office was hit by the Melissa virus, upper management decided that connecting our computers together was a security risk.
    Damn Cylons and their viruses.
  • k# (unregistered)

    Very smart. When the Cylons attack, this company will be the only one to survive.

  • Someone (unregistered)

    That reminds me of my first internship. We did have network connections, and there was a network-accessible SVN repository... for people with the proper "security clearance".

    Me, being a measly intern, obviously didn't have access to the SVN repository. Or to the development databases. A developer with the proper clearance checked out the repository, zipped it, and sent it to me. Same thing with the development database.

    When my internship ended I zipped everything and handed it back to him. I can't even begin to imagine the hell that must have been to merge my changes... Unless I was the only one touching that system, which thinking back is quite likely.

  • imMute (unregistered) in reply to Mr. S.

    HAH! I wasn't the only one thinking this! Could even send the patches over the sneakernet right? Something about saving the changes to be pushed into a pack and then copying that over?

  • Caffeine (unregistered)

    http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Overdue-Retirement.aspx

    I was having a bad case of de ja vu.

  • (cs)

    I was expecting the punch line to be that all the machines ended up infected with a virus spread via the company-issued flash drive. I'm somewhat disappointed that they weren't.

  • grzlbrmft (unregistered)

    No internet connection? They must be terribly productive...

  • (cs)

    It's like something out of a Dilbert cartoon!

  • Bobbo (unregistered)
    the_article:
    ...setting up Amanda's work area ahead of her arrival.

    This has to be made-up. I've never seen that happen anywhere!

    First day = sitting around waiting for things to be installed and permissions granted.

  • BentFranklin (unregistered)

    If they did not believe in network connections, one hopes they advised their clients the same. I assume the websites they maintained were distributed on mailed CDs? Sneakerweb!

  • Bryan the K (unregistered) in reply to grzlbrmft

    No internet connection? How is she supposed to look for a new job or read slashdot?

  • (cs)

    How is it that no one thought of an internal only and external only network?

  • Anonymous (unregistered)

    Melissa eh? I guess that makes the story about 10 years old. Fun fact, the guy that wrote Melissa was tracked down based on GUIDs in his code, which identified his machine's MAC address. Oh wait, we covered that a few weeks ago. Let's not get into another GUID argument.

    As for today's story, only upper management could think that the "sneakernet" is more cost-effective than purchasing an anti-virus package. But in a company this small, I would expect management to be open to good suggestions from enterprising team members. Did nobody in this entire office feel minded to draft a report on available anti-virus systems and how much more productive the office could be with an effective, well secured network? If it stood to make my working life easier I think I would have taken the few hours it takes to write such a report.

  • Anonymous (unregistered) in reply to Caffeine
    Caffeine:
    http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Overdue-Retirement.aspx

    I was having a bad case of de ja vu.

    Good catch, this is clearly a re-hashed version of that 2 year old article. Interesting that names have not been anonymised, unless two editors independently picked out "Amanda" as the anonymised name. I'd wager this company went out of business thanks to its awful practices, so no anonymisation required.

  • (cs) in reply to Anonymous
    Anonymous:
    Fun fact, the guy that wrote Melissa was tracked down based on GUIDs in his code, which identified his machine's MAC address. Oh wait, we covered that a few weeks ago. Let's not get into another GUID argument.
    If they would have waited for XP, they wouldn't have had that problem...
  • (cs)

    This really makes me want to curl up in a corner and cry all morning. Companies like this have no business being involved with IT in any way.

  • Ken B. (unregistered) in reply to frits
    frits:
    Wait, dual monitors attract mice?
    I see I"m not the only one momentarily confused by the strange use of the word "ergo".

    BTW, I would have posted this earlier, but the Comment PC was already booked.

  • (cs)

    Sorry I didn't get this in earlier. I had a tough time finding the Comment PC.

  • Bill's Kid (unregistered) in reply to Bobbo
    Bobbo:
    the_article:
    ...setting up Amanda's work area ahead of her arrival.

    This has to be made-up. I've never seen that happen anywhere!

    First day = sitting around waiting for things to be installed and permissions granted.

    Permissions to what?

  • (cs) in reply to Ken B.
    Ken B.:
    frits:
    Wait, dual monitors attract mice?
    I see I"m not the only one momentarily confused by the strange use of the word "ergo".

    BTW, I would have posted this earlier, but the Comment PC was already booked.

    Argh! fist shake You beat me to it.

  • CoderDan (unregistered)

    Obviously they hadn't been enlightened.... Otherwise they would have used BobX Version Control

  • drachenstern (unregistered) in reply to Anonymous
    Anonymous:
    Caffeine:
    http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Overdue-Retirement.aspx

    I was having a bad case of de ja vu.

    Good catch, this is clearly a re-hashed version of that 2 year old article. Interesting that names have not been anonymised, unless two editors independently picked out "Amanda" as the anonymised name. I'd wager this company went out of business thanks to its awful practices, so no anonymisation required.
    I'm willing to bet she finally quit

    captcha: suscipere ~ I'm suscipere that this is going to be reposted in 18 months...

  • (cs) in reply to Caffeine
    Caffeine:
    http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Overdue-Retirement.aspx

    I was having a bad case of de ja vu.

    Sure, both stories involve a company that doesn't use a network due to fear of viruses. And sure, both stories involve an "Email PC". And everyone shares one Outlook session. And uses their own USB drive for file transfer. And there's a source code notebook/laptop.

    But that really only amounts to a coincidence. You can tell these were two completely different stories because they were submitted by two different developers. Right?

    Right?

  • F (unregistered) in reply to Xero
    Xero:
    How is it that no one thought of an internal only and external only network?

    But they did. In fact, they went one better. One network per machine, all completely separate.

  • Bob (unregistered) in reply to Twoquestions

    You need a book / Google to write code? Small tip: don't mention that in interviews.

  • StupidTheKid (unregistered) in reply to Caffeine

    Nice eye indeed, it is a re-hash of an old story.

    Not to re-hash myself a tired meme, but TRWTF would be to use USB keys to prevent virus propagation. A simple google scan on "USB virus" returns no less than a quarter million hits ...

  • (cs) in reply to S.
    How the hell do you not run away screaming after a first day like that? Who in their right mind would stay with such an idiot of an employer?

    I call bullshit. Even in this tough economy, I can't see sticking around to deal with the level of idiocy seen in this "story". Work of fiction this, through and through.

  • Bobbo (unregistered) in reply to Bill's Kid
    Bill's Kid:
    Bobbo:
    the_article:
    ...setting up Amanda's work area ahead of her arrival.

    This has to be made-up. I've never seen that happen anywhere!

    First day = sitting around waiting for things to be installed and permissions granted.

    Permissions to what?

    Servers, network shares, whatever. I'm generalising.

  • Ajtacka (unregistered) in reply to Bob
    Bob:
    You need a book / Google to write code? Small tip: don't mention that in interviews.
    This is an attitude I just don't get. Yes, I can write good code on my own. But it's also helpful to have a manual or Google handy, for those times when you think "Which way do the parameters go?" (yes, PHP), "Oh, I think x function does this exact thing, but I've never used it before" and of course, "There *must* be a better way to do this!". When those situations come up, I want to spend a maximum of a few minutes finding what I want.

    I don't know everything there is to know about any language, framework or tool that I use. Being able to admin that only means that I am willing to find out more when it's required, instead of thinking "If I don't know it, it must be impossible!"

  • (cs) in reply to Merrick
    Merrick:
    How the hell do you not run away screaming after a first day like that? Who in their right mind would stay with such an idiot of an employer?

    I call bullshit. Even in this tough economy, I can't see sticking around to deal with the level of idiocy seen in this "story". Work of fiction this, through and through.

    Too true. It's not like the risk of losing your home because you couldn't pay your mortgage would be enough of a reason to not quit a frustrating job.

    Seriously, how many people really keep jobs that they don't like?

  • Ryan (unregistered) in reply to boog
    1. Name is identical
    2. Email PC
    3. Transferring by USB drives
    4. Version control on a laptop
    5. Little known about backing up version control
    6. Inter-office emails are printed and handed to user
  • (cs) in reply to Ajtacka
    Ajtacka:
    Bob:
    You need a book / Google to write code? Small tip: don't mention that in interviews.
    This is an attitude I just don't get.
    You mean you don't just write whatever crap code you think might work without checking a single book or search engine for reference, then mindlessly hack away at it until the compiler stops barfing?

    Interesting...

  • Steve (unregistered)

    Yeah, this story is total BS. I've seen some REALLY dumb managers and others who were obsessed with irrational processes... but this? sounds totally made up.

  • (cs) in reply to Ryan
    Ryan:
    1. Name is identical 2. Email PC 3. Transferring by USB drives 4. Version control on a laptop 5. Little known about backing up version control 6. Inter-office emails are printed and handed to user
    7. Networks. BAD!! Beer. GOOD!!
  • (cs) in reply to Ajtacka
    Ajtacka:
    This is an attitude I just don't get. Yes, I can write good code on my own. But it's also helpful to have a manual or Google handy, for those times when you think "Which way do the parameters go?" (yes, PHP), "Oh, I think x function does this exact thing, but I've never used it before" and of course, "There *must* be a better way to do this!". When those situations come up, I want to spend a maximum of a few minutes finding what I want.

    I don't know everything there is to know about any language, framework or tool that I use. Being able to admin that only means that I am willing to find out more when it's required, instead of thinking "If I don't know it, it must be impossible!"

    Exactly. I use Google all the time to look up library functions, whether I'm programming in C++, Python, X/Motif library code, Ada, PHP, Java, bash scripting, etc. Sometimes it's to remember an algorithm or a paradigm that I'm less familiar with (e.g. how do you set an X widget to be initialized a certain way, because the way I think it should work doesn't. Aaah, there is a workaround...)

    I wouldn't necessarily mention it at an interview, but my productivity would be greatly reduced if I couldn't Google while I was coding.

  • airdrik (unregistered) in reply to Ken B.
    Ken B.:
    frits:
    Wait, dual monitors attract mice?
    I see I"m not the only one momentarily confused by the strange use of the word "ergo".

    BTW, I would have posted this earlier, but the Comment PC was already booked.

    What's the deal with having an "ergo" mouse but not an "ergo" keyboard. IMO, having a "nice keyboard" in the context of dual monitors and an "ergo mouse" doesn't really seem impressive enough to merit adding "to boot".

  • The DailtyWTF Staff (unregistered) in reply to boog
    boog:
    Ryan:
    1. Name is identical 2. Email PC 3. Transferring by USB drives 4. Version control on a laptop 5. Little known about backing up version control 6. Inter-office emails are printed and handed to user
    7. Networks. BAD!! Beer. GOOD!!

    Ladies and gentlemen (and frits), we have a problem. The world's supply of wtfery is running low. Scientists aren't sure why this is - some blame a world-wide explosion of competence, while others call that "ludicrous" and "impossible" and claim instead that we have reached the limit of divisibility for types of idiocy, but that individual acts of stupidity are as common as ever.

    Whatever the cause, clearly there is a shortage of humorous tales of moronic behavior for your delectation, and the "daily" wtf will be scaling back to a monthly publication schedule in order to conserve this valueble resource.

    On the non-wtf days, we will feature cute pictures of charismatic mammals in endearing poses. (To appeal to the broadest possible audience, some of these photographs will not be pornographic in nature.)

    Thank you. That is all.

  • Oldies (unregistered)

    Maybe there is a certain sect of people who frequent this site and just resubmit old articles to the editors? Like, one time I had this teacher who made us take pictures on wooden tables...

  • JennyJenny (unregistered) in reply to Bobbo
    Bobbo:
    Bill's Kid:
    Bobbo:
    the_article:
    ...setting up Amanda's work area ahead of her arrival.

    This has to be made-up. I've never seen that happen anywhere!

    First day = sitting around waiting for things to be installed and permissions granted.

    Permissions to what?

    Servers, network shares, whatever. I'm generalising.

    My current job, I got a laptop and access to the thing I'm dealing with the first day. I just didn't have a place to sit. For two weeks. While they finished building the rest of the office.

  • Myself (unregistered) in reply to Anonymous

    This might come as a surprise to you, but sometimes managers are idiots.

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