• Russ (unregistered)

    I'm confused. Were they porting it to the Windows Platform or the X-Windows platform? oh and fist

  • Pyro (unregistered)

    The Right Way(s) That is why you need some one person for all programmers to hate together, that person is usually called "architect" or something like that

    The Message Queue "N will be enough for anybody" is a clbuttic :)

  • my name is missing (unregistered)

    The rule should be "never take over for a team that just left". There's always a reason they left, and never a good one.

  • (cs)

    The ending sucked, it just stops. Where's the punchline?

  • (cs)
    Internal conflicts over minor issues divided the team to the point that communication effectively broke down, aside from quietly, angrily muttering to onesself.
    No team lead? No manager? Those are the guys who make decisions on conflicts and issues.
  • J. Walter Weatherman (unregistered)

    How about stacking my shit?

  • (cs)

    Popups are obviously the best way to handle inputting data for this scenario.

    I'm not saying that popup dialogs are inherently flawed, but when something as simple as data-entry causes this much confusion, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG.

  • (cs)

    He's just fallen victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly lesser known is this: one person is not always capable of fixing the problems caused by a team of many.

  • (cs) in reply to CRNewsom
    CRNewsom:
    He's just fallen victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly lesser known is this: one person is not always capable of fixing the problems caused by a team of many.

    Feature that comment!

  • (cs) in reply to J. Walter Weatherman
    J. Walter Weatherman:
    How about stacking my shit?

    Oh, the level here is so high! I think that this site might check for replyers age or something. If you're under 10, no posting.

  • (cs)

    Nice story. But I wish it had further addressed the wprintf()/wsprintf() issue. There had to be an interesting explanation of how standard string manipulation functions morphed into user interface functionality. With multiple contradictory implementations.

    Extra points for working the word "filicided" into the story, though.

  • Alan (unregistered) in reply to CRNewsom
    CRNewsom:
    He's just fallen victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly lesser known is this: one person is not always capable of fixing the problems caused by a team of many.

    Yup, always get Australia first, then build up your guys.

  • (cs) in reply to CRNewsom
    CRNewsom:
    He's just fallen victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly lesser known is this: one person is not always capable of fixing the problems caused by a team of many.
    You forgot "Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line".
  • ddd (unregistered) in reply to bobday
    The ending sucked, it just stops. Where's the punchline?
    It overflowed the stack and was ignored
  • (cs) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    You forgot "Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line".

    A-Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha- Segmentation fault

  • caveman (unregistered)

    hey.. there's no climax.. or did you miss something in the story? :/

  • sweavo (unregistered)

    Gah, kids today!

    Life isn't just a never-ending series of climaxes, you know.

    MFD should have taught you that.

  • root (unregistered)

    What in the hell? Interesting, and close to funny, but what's with this shit ending without point...

  • (cs) in reply to Vaitrafra
    Vaitrafra:
    J. Walter Weatherman:
    How about stacking my shit?

    Oh, the level here is so high! I think that this site might check for replyers age or something. If you're under 10, no posting.

    He does it time an again, but I stopped caring, for example in the previous thread: http://thedailywtf.com/Comments/Oklahoma-Leaks-Tens-of-Thousands-of-Social-Security-Numbers,-Other-Sensitive-Data.aspx#189755

  • (cs) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    CRNewsom:
    He's just fallen victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly lesser known is this: one person is not always capable of fixing the problems caused by a team of many.
    You forgot "Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line".
    Hey Fred, congratulations on being today's "That Guy". You know, that guy who thinks he's being really clever explaining the joke that everybody else already got. And ironically, thus making him the *least* clever person in the room.

    So yeah, today, you're That Guy. Here's your complimentary bag of stinky microwave popcorn.

  • Fred Tables (unregistered)
    WhiskeyJack:
    A-Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha- Segmentation fault
    I spent the last few years building up an immunity to segmentation faults.
  • (cs) in reply to Fred Tables
    Fred Tables:
    WhiskeyJack:
    A-Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha- Segmentation fault
    I spent the last few years building up an immunity to segmentation faults.
    I know something you don't know. I am not big-endian!
  • Ken B (unregistered) in reply to Fred Tables
    Fred Tables:
    WhiskeyJack:
    A-Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha- Segmentation fault
    I spent the last few years building up an immunity to segmentation faults.
    A [i]few years]/i]? You must be a slow learner. 
    signal(SIGSEGV,SIG_IGN);
  • Ken B (unregistered) in reply to Zemyla
    Zemyla:
    I know something you don't know. I am not big-endian!
    I wouldn't talk that up, if I were you.

    (Sorry... Couldn't resist the cheap shot.)

    Inconceivable!

  • Bob N Freely (unregistered)

    Sweet. I prompted Skip to submit this story. He's been working as a consultant for years, and has lots of great WTFs. If I recall correctly, in this case, they were porting the system from VMS to Windows 1.0. So nobody on the team had ever worked with MSDOS much, if at all, and nobody anywhere had worked with Windows much.

    PS - Hey Skip! Hope you had a good vacation.

  • not Paula (unregistered)

    Paula had grown so rich, she wanted to retire. She took me to her cabin and she told me her secret. 'I am not the real Paula Bean' she said. 'My name is Debra; I inherited the coding style from the previous Paula Bean, just as you will inherit it from me. The woman I inherited it from is not the Paula Bean either. Her name was Lucy. The real Paula has been retired from consultancy for 15 years and is now living like a queen in Guam.

  • topeka (unregistered)

    the same thing happens when ur dating on _ Millionaireloves.com _ when the chemistry is right, everything goes smoothly, and u may end up with the most perfect girl online; but if not...

  • I walked the dinosaur (unregistered) in reply to akatherder
    akatherder:
    Popups are obviously the best way to handle inputting data for this scenario.

    I'm not saying that popup dialogs are inherently flawed, but when something as simple as data-entry causes this much confusion, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG.

    I think some kind of picture, possibly with animals or possibly with computers, with the caption "YOUR DOING IT RONG" would have been better...

  • ping floyd (unregistered)

    It should have been "A Tale of Two Stacks" - tapes and data structures... I'm just sayin...

  • 5|i(3_x (unregistered)

    WIZARD!

  • (cs) in reply to gabba
    gabba:
    Nice story. But I wish it had further addressed the wprintf()/wsprintf() issue. There had to be an interesting explanation of how standard string manipulation functions morphed into user interface functionality.
    I thought it was obvious - wprintf() is for printf() to a Window.
    gabba:
    With multiple contradictory implementations.
    Oh, come on. Now you're asking impossible questions.
  • APH (unregistered) in reply to ping floyd
    ping floyd:
    It should have been "A Tale of Two Stacks" - tapes and data structures... I'm just sayin...
    I was thinking more along the lines of "Lord of the Team: The Two Stacks"
  • (cs)

    The interesting thing is that if they had even a little bit of UI design training, they would have avoided the whole problem of running out of stack space. One of the first rules of UI design is that tunneling dialogs (or alerts) are bad. A tunneling dialog is when one dialog leads to another, leads to another, etc. If they had just known that one thing, they wouldn't have even tried to go down that road and would have instead found a completely different way to royally screw it up.

  • (cs) in reply to bobday
    bobday:
    The ending sucked, it just stops. Where's the punchline?

    This is the sopranos ending to the story... You will have to wait for a daily WTF box set to read the rest!

  • Paul (unregistered) in reply to my name is missing
    my name is missing:
    The rule should be "never take over for a team that just left". There's always a reason they left, and never a good one.

    My last three projects here at work have been like that (I sense a pattern here).

    The current one is a doozy, an internal application (amber warning) interfacing with the production database (red warning). Like pretty much all internal apps I've come across, it was written with no usability in mind ... it doesn't matter that the page I'm working on now is used continually, contains two 20,000 item drop down lists and takes 14 minutes to load, and reloads on every change. After all, all the required functionality is there, in various drop downs and input fields.

    I went into this with my eyes open, but by viewing the users as like paying customers, I've managed to fix that page to load in three seconds (still too long, but I can't change everything on this iteration), and one daily task that took 5 hours to complete now takes less than 30 minutes.

    It also helped that I'm not afraid to make the necessary cuts (I love removing code) and whatever other changes needed. It's a mess so the bugs I'm introducing are minor compared to what's there.

  • (cs)

    wprintf()

  • (cs) in reply to Paul
    Paul:
    It also helped that I'm not afraid to make the necessary cuts (I love removing code) and whatever other changes needed. It's a mess so the bugs I'm introducing are minor compared to what's there.

    I find myself adding features and fixing bugs at the same time by removing code.... quite often. When you find the simple solution that has the most functionality for the least code, you have probably found "The Right Way"

    I consider myself more of an architect than code monkey now.

  • James (unregistered)

    Skip was clearly lacking in a vital skill for such a position: bullshitting the boss about your "progress" while you quietly rewrite the whole thing from scratch.

  • (cs) in reply to Paul
    Paul:
    I went into this with my eyes open, but by viewing the users as like paying customers, I've managed to fix that page to load in three seconds (still too long, but I can't change everything on this iteration), and one daily task that took 5 hours to complete now takes less than 30 minutes.
    Be careful, for all you know some people may have built their entire careers around that 5-hour task. Watch your back!
  • m0ffx (unregistered)

    Their backup still worked. Skip just had to restore from each tape, figure out how recent it was (relative to other tapes is sufficient), rinse and repeat. Eventually he'll find which is newest, and realise that labeling is the way to go. Of course that might take some time...

  • Apple (unregistered) in reply to CRNewsom
    CRNewsom:
    He's just fallen victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly lesser known is this: one person is not always capable of fixing the problems caused by a team of many.

    Only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!!

  • (cs) in reply to Zylon
    Zylon:
    Hey Fred, congratulations on being today's "That Guy". You know, that guy who thinks he's being really clever explaining the joke that everybody else already got. And ironically, thus making him the *least* clever person in the room.

    So yeah, today, you're That Guy. Here's your complimentary bag of stinky microwave popcorn.

    I wasn't "explaining" anything. Thanks for the popcorn. You got your adrenaline rush for the day, huh.

  • Moekandu (unregistered) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    Zylon:
    Hey Fred, congratulations on being today's "That Guy". You know, that guy who thinks he's being really clever explaining the joke that everybody else already got. And ironically, thus making him the *least* clever person in the room.

    So yeah, today, you're That Guy. Here's your complimentary bag of stinky microwave popcorn.

    I wasn't "explaining" anything. Thanks for the popcorn. You got your adrenaline rush for the day, huh.

    Well, yeah dude, you were "explaining". See, you were calling reference to the original quote. The joke CRNewsom made was to replace the death-match part with his own. Most of us found this replacement, versus forgetting, perfectly acceptable as well as damn funny. Instead of accepting the replacement, you felt the need to point it out. You "explained". This is not funny.

    If you wanted to show your understanding of the joke and do so in a humorous way, you need to EXTEND the joke, not point out a "flaw" in the joke.

    Here's nested examples of how to do it properly:

    Fred Tables:
    WhiskeyJack:
    A-Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha- Segmentation fault
    I spent the last few years building up an immunity to segmentation faults.

    See the difference? Or do you need somebody to "explain" it to you?

  • wlao (unregistered) in reply to bobday
    bobday:
    The ending sucked, it just stops. Where's the punchline?
    Now THAT would be some last words. I'll try to remember them for my own death bed.
  • (cs) in reply to Moekandu
    Moekandu:
    FredSaw:
    I wasn't "explaining" anything. Thanks for the popcorn. You got your adrenaline rush for the day, huh.
    Well, yeah dude, you were "explaining". See, you were calling reference to the original quote. The joke CRNewsom made was to replace the death-match part with his own. Most of us found this replacement, versus forgetting, perfectly acceptable as well as damn funny. Instead of accepting the replacement, you felt the need to point it out. You "explained". This is not funny.

    If you wanted to show your understanding of the joke and do so in a humorous way, you need to EXTEND the joke, not point out a "flaw" in the joke.

    Here's nested examples of how to do it properly:

    Fred Tables:
    WhiskeyJack:
    A-Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha- Segmentation fault
    I spent the last few years building up an immunity to segmentation faults.

    See the difference? Or do you need somebody to "explain" it to you?

    Amusingly, it is you and Zylon who need it explained to you.

    The last time I watched The Princess Bride was sometime around 1990. I recall certain memorable quotes from the movie, but "You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia" was not one of them. I did recall "but only slightly less well-known is this" followed by the "Sicilian" quote. When I saw what CRNewsom said, I was reminded of the scene, but I did not realize that he was actually quoting it. The close proximity of language prompted me to make my reference to the movie, for the humorous benefit of any others who had likewise been reminded.

    When people miss an obvious reference like this, they will generally admit to momentary cluelessness with phrases such as "brain-fart" or "I haven't had my coffee yet." And so it was with me. See above; I acknowledge that I did not pick up on the fact that the quote which so reminded me of the Princess Bride was in fact an actual reworking of that quote. I only thought that the wording was similar enough to spark a memory in those who had seen it, and I quoted the "Sicilian" part to encourage others to follow along.

    So you see, it wasn't me giving an explanation of a joke. It was me missing the joke altogether, and in my innocence trying to make one of my own.

    You and Zylon, on the other hand, made the same mistake that I did; you misunderstood a post and responded inappropriately. The difference is that I was just trying to make a joke. You two were salivating over the opportunity to argue for your imagined mental superiority. You two remember a quote that I don't, and that bubbles you to the top of the brainiac list? Wow... I'm impressed.

    Here, have some popcorn. There's only one bag. I guess you'll have to share it.

  • Moekandu (unregistered) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    Moekandu:
    FredSaw:
    I wasn't "explaining" anything. Thanks for the popcorn. You got your adrenaline rush for the day, huh.
    Well, yeah dude, you were "explaining". See, you were calling reference to the original quote. The joke CRNewsom made was to replace the death-match part with his own. Most of us found this replacement, versus forgetting, perfectly acceptable as well as damn funny. Instead of accepting the replacement, you felt the need to point it out. You "explained". This is not funny.

    If you wanted to show your understanding of the joke and do so in a humorous way, you need to EXTEND the joke, not point out a "flaw" in the joke.

    Here's nested examples of how to do it properly:

    Fred Tables:
    WhiskeyJack:
    A-Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha- Segmentation fault
    I spent the last few years building up an immunity to segmentation faults.

    See the difference? Or do you need somebody to "explain" it to you?

    Amusingly, it is you and Zylon who need it explained to you.

    The last time I watched The Princess Bride was sometime around 1990. I recall certain memorable quotes from the movie, but "You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia" was not one of them. I did recall "but only slightly less well-known is this" followed by the "Sicilian" quote. When I saw what CRNewsom said, I was reminded of the scene, but I did not realize that he was actually quoting it. The close proximity of language prompted me to make my reference to the movie, for the humorous benefit of any others who had likewise been reminded.

    When people miss an obvious reference like this, they will generally admit to momentary cluelessness with phrases such as "brain-fart" or "I haven't had my coffee yet." And so it was with me. See above; I acknowledge that I did not pick up on the fact that the quote which so reminded me of the Princess Bride was in fact an actual reworking of that quote. I only thought that the wording was similar enough to spark a memory in those who had seen it, and I quoted the "Sicilian" part to encourage others to follow along.

    So you see, it wasn't me giving an explanation of a joke. It was me missing the joke altogether, and in my innocence trying to make one of my own.

    You and Zylon, on the other hand, made the same mistake that I did; you misunderstood a post and responded inappropriately. The difference is that I was just trying to make a joke. You two were salivating over the opportunity to argue for your imagined mental superiority. You two remember a quote that I don't, and that bubbles you to the top of the brainiac list? Wow... I'm impressed.

    Here, have some popcorn. There's only one bag. I guess you'll have to share it.

    Yes. We caught that you missed the joke. We also caught that you attempted to make a joke on that which you missed. In our not so subtle way, we pointed that out. The point of my post was to help show you how to make a funny.

    In any case, you did remember the quote. However poorly that may be. It may not be as such for you, but "The Princess Bride" is a considered a cult classic. I caught the reference immediately because it's just one of those movies that if I catch it while flipping channels, I have to watch the rest of it. I don't think I'm alone in that respect.

    We are not salivating over this. Reading your first comment and subsequent response to Zylon was like a slap in the face in its obviousness. I am trying to make you aware of your gaff and give you pointers on not making it again. I apologize if I offended you in my attempt to point things out. I've been doing this sort of thing with my brother for years.

    Don't worry, there's plenty of popcorn to go around.

  • Westley (unregistered)

    How do we stop these kids from stabbing each other in the face over the internet?

    If we only had a wheelbarrow, that would be something!

  • (cs) in reply to Moekandu
    Moekandu:
    Yes. We caught that you missed the joke. We also caught that you attempted to make a joke on that which you missed. In our not so subtle way, we pointed that out.
    No. You thought that I got the joke and felt moved to explain it.
    Moekandu:
    The point of my post was to help show you how to make a funny.
    Aw, I appreciate that. But the fact is, I do pretty darn well with my jokes. I only need context, and in this case I missed it. Thanks anyway.
    Moekandu:
    It may not be as such for you, but "The Princess Bride" is a considered a cult classic. I caught the reference immediately because it's just one of those movies that if I catch it while flipping channels, I have to watch the rest of it. I don't think I'm alone in that respect.
    Surely not. I can relate. If I were to say, "Semolina Pilchard" to my girlfriend, she would look at me as if I were crazy rather than responding, "...climbing up the Eiffel Tower". But then, I understand this about her and I don't consider her to be "the least clever person in the room" because she isn't familiar with "I Am The Walrus".
    Moekandu:
    We are not salivating over this.
    Both of you seemed to be greatly interested in pointing out my stupidity in contrast with your insight and perception.
    Moekandu:
    Reading your first comment and subsequent response to Zylon was like a slap in the face in its obviousness. I am trying to make you aware of your gaff and give you pointers on not making it again. I apologize if I offended you in my attempt to point things out.
    I wasn't offended. I was simply called upon to set the record straight. Now I have done so.
    Moekandu:
    Don't worry, there's plenty of popcorn to go around.
    *Crunch, crunch* Pass me another beer.
  • joeybladb (unregistered)

    (1) at least they were using a version control system. (2) at least they WEREN'T using C++. I mean, can you imagine how badly a team like that could fracture the space-time continuum if you gave them the wrong tools?

  • Kuba (unregistered) in reply to Moekandu
    Moekandu:
    It may not be as such for you, but "The Princess Bride" is a considered a cult classic.

    WTF?! A cult classic? For whom? 12-year old girls?

    Give me a break. Seriously.

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