I just downloaded the Amazon video app to my PS3 for the first time. It downloaded an 18 meg file and installed it. Then it immediately informed me that the version that was installed wasn't the latest version and it needed to download a 20 meg update.

This is pretty much so par for the course with every other experience I've ever had with the PS3.

11/24/2012 11:58:29 PM

Okay, the problem with this...

return isset($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']) && preg_match('/\bmsie [1-6]/i', $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']);

11/25/2012 4:04:53 AM

I want a copy of msie 1. Just to see what the world looks like.

11/25/2012 12:06:25 PM

next-best thing: http://utilu.com/IECollection/

prolly the earliest version to work for you will be IE1.5

[Edited on November 25, 2012 at 1:34 PM. Reason : it doesn't even support HTTPS, or CloudFlare's DNS trickery, or these forums

11/25/2012 1:11:59 PM

I'll try to load it up in my Windows 3.11 VM and see what happens.

[Edited on November 25, 2012 at 4:56 PM. Reason : If I can find 1.0. Win95 VM otherwise.]

11/25/2012 4:55:51 PM

Quote :

"This is pretty much so par for the course with every other experience I've ever had with the PS3."

Yeah. I've never turned on the PS3 without it telling me it needs to update something.

11/25/2012 6:08:09 PM

unrelated but I don't want to make a new thread for it.

Next person who sends me a screenshot in Word is getting shot. Send me a something in a damn image format. .PNG preferred.

11/27/2012 10:22:48 AM

lol i think there is thread for it

message_topic.aspx?topic=376822

11/27/2012 11:11:54 AM

^we need a mod bump on that thread, until then I'm posting this in there

I had to spend an hour today explaining monospace vs variable width fonts to our document layout person today

11/29/2012 4:17:44 PM

Why, why, WHY do people continue to write programs that store user data in directories in Program Files? That is not the place for data. Data does not go there. Neither do settings or preferences. Because they get blown away when you reinstall the program, and then the users wonder why their settings and/or data got deleted.

12/7/2012 11:32:51 AM

Boss comes in today and tells me that we need to have a new release with 4 requirements that aren't yet specified in a fully qualified release (1 peer code review, 3 rounds of testing by our QA system) ready to be delivered next Tuesday and I'm the only resource available aside from my immediate project manager. My face when..

1/15/2013 12:09:05 PM

Ah, yes. Nothing like having a manager that knows nothing about SDLC.

1/15/2013 3:15:56 PM

^^Just make him/her sign off at every single stage where you will be forced to cut corners.

The only part of what you said that sounds risky is that the requirements haven't been clearly defined. Doing a peer code review should take a day including necessary changes, and QA passes should take another day, leaving 3 work days to implement the changes.

1/15/2013 9:53:36 PM

Quote :

"Why, why, WHY do people continue to write programs that store user data in directories in Program Files?"

They never updated their toolchains past the Windows 95 era.

1/16/2013 1:40:40 AM

^^ we work in manufacturing for pharma so we get the double whammy on documentation and quality assurance. The implementation for these 4 requirements is actually fairly short but our documentation and review requirements are gonna consume way more time than the implementation.


Half of my job is actually doing paperwork. The specification docs which have to be signed by the client are still on their desks getting debated and by policy I can't touch anything until those are signed off on.

Gotta get a new gig

[Edited on January 16, 2013 at 9:53 AM. Reason : ]

1/16/2013 9:53:45 AM

The market has been hot for developers, but recently, it's on fire. I'm getting called several times a day for C# positions.

1/16/2013 10:11:28 AM

not having an edit contour feature in civil 3d. points and triangles are for ol' folk.

1/17/2013 1:30:23 PM

working with a "partner" today. suffice it to say you've all heard of them and used their software. I'm looking at a log of why their backup job to AWS is failing. they don't allow the user to specify which region to upload to and assume US (nevermind data sovereignty but FUCK performance from australia - where I'm testing). in addition, after every file they post, they go a get to see if it's there, then encrypt, then another get. the customer can't figure out why it keeps timing out..

1/17/2013 9:01:49 PM

Saw this comic today and it reminded me a lot of this thread.

2/25/2013 10:56:50 AM

A company that will not be named develops a product for managing approval workflows. Users regularly push hundreds of items through approval processes per day. The database tables that store current workflow statuses also store the historical past statuses. Every day, the working set grows larger and larger and larger....

2/26/2013 2:38:05 PM

If I ever change companies, I'm going to break this thread with replies

2/27/2013 1:41:22 AM

replies like "W8"

2/27/2013 1:57:28 AM

^^Isn't that true no matter where we work?

2/27/2013 12:56:47 PM

I like this thread and will soon contribute. In the meantime, I have come across one that I'm not entirely sure why is wtf:

Quote :

"if (A) return foo1; else if (A && B) return foo2; else if (...)"

If one wanted to return different things in the cases where (A) and (A and B) and, presumably whatever other cases there are... wouldn't one write this? I'm not sure what's bad about it.

2/27/2013 2:54:12 PM

You're never gonna get to (A && B) with else if

if (A) ...
if (A && B) ...

That would evaluate both

[Edited on February 27, 2013 at 3:02 PM. Reason : or just flip em if they're exclusive]

2/27/2013 3:01:25 PM

correct. the case for A && B should be first, in that context

2/27/2013 3:02:23 PM

ah, right. Good catch

2/27/2013 3:03:17 PM

Think of it like a code funnel.

if (A && B) ...
if (A) ...

[Edited on February 27, 2013 at 3:33 PM. Reason : -]

2/27/2013 3:32:37 PM

in general though it would be better to write

if(a)
{
if(B)
return foo2;
else
return foo1;
}

Reduce the number of evaluations and easier to read on big complicated things in general. Whenever I've seen what was above it usually leads some other programmer later in the game to make a mistake. Though feel free to disagree w/ me.

2/27/2013 5:38:10 PM

Allow me

http://sourcemaking.com/refactoring/replace-nested-conditional-with-guard-clauses

[Edited on February 27, 2013 at 7:28 PM. Reason : phone]

2/27/2013 7:27:49 PM

god damnit, I missed one and now everyone thinks I'm retarded

http://martinvalasek.com/blog/pictures-from-a-developers-life

http://thecodinglove.com/

http://lesjoiesducode.tumblr.com/

I like to communicate in gifs at work...

2/28/2013 2:34:53 PM

Quote :

"^Yeah, that was my immediate thought. You only need two numeric comparisons and then a null check. if (num mod 3) out = fizz if (num mod 5) out += buzz if (out != null) out = num return out"

3/14/2013 8:31:10 PM

[Edited on March 14, 2013 at 9:12 PM. Reason : ]

3/14/2013 9:11:49 PM

Not sure if this is 100% the best place for this picture, but whatever.

Also this could be faked, but again, whatever.

3/15/2013 12:47:42 PM

It would only belong in this thread if the driver's gambit worked.

3/15/2013 2:01:57 PM

^^Credit: http://28byteslater.com/2009/10/29/ocr-injection/

3/15/2013 2:14:24 PM

http://www.news-record.com/news/north_carolina_ap/article_69d56603-fe2c-5112-a65f-ec9ea6eff3bf.html

I had completely forgotten about this till I saw the article.

Quote :

"Associated Press | An audit of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services released Wednesday says it has failed to fully test a new $484 million computer system scheduled to begin processing Medicaid claims on July 1. The report issued by the office of State Auditor Beth Wood raises serious questions about the process used to affirm that the complex NCTracks software will be ready to handle the more than $12 billion in Medicaid claims paid by the state each year. Of 834 "Critical Priority Test Cases" set to be performed on the new system, it failed 123. The audit says 285 of the "critical" tests, more than one quarter, were never performed. The audit also says key decisions about the addition of 1,500 user accounts and privacy and security procedures have yet to be made, increasing uncertainty about whether the project will be ready on time. Even if the system were passing the tests, the audit says that is no guarantee it will work as intended. "The complexity of the NCTracks system makes it impossible to predict all of the scenarios that could impact the project, even after it is tested in accordance with industry best practices," the audit says. NCTracks is being developed under a 2008 contact with Computer Sciences Corporation, a software vendor based in Virginia. NCTracks was originally set to go live in August 2011 at a cost of $265 million, but that deadline has been extended nearly two years as costs have soared. The project is now the most expensive contract in state history. In a statement released shortly after the audit, DHHS Communications Director Ricky Diaz sought to lay any blame for the problems squarely at the feet of the administration of former Gov. Bev Perdue. Diaz previously served as press secretary for the political campaign of Pat McCrory, who took over as governor in January. "This administration inherited this project, and over the past five months, our team has been working around the clock to push NCTracks over the finish line by July 1," Diaz said. "We have already corrected many of the findings in the auditor's report since field work ended in March, and our team will continue to test the system to find and address as many issues as possible before the launch date." The new NCTracks software is set to replace an antiquated system that has been used to process the state's Medicaid claims since 1977. DHHS first sought bids for a replacement in 2003, awarding a $171 million contract to Affiliated Computer Systems the following year. But by 2006, it became clear the system being developed by ACS wasn't working. The state cancelled the contract, eventually paying ACS $16.5 million to walk away. When the contract was put back out for bid in 2008, CSC helped land the project by hiring former legislator and DHHS Deputy Secretary Lanier Cansler as its lobbyist. Shortly after CSC landed the contract, Perdue named Cansler as her DHHS secretary. CSC has copied much of the computer code for its North Carolina software from a similar system operating in New York. Many of the delays in the project, according to the department, are the result of CSC initially overestimating how much of the code could be copied directly and how much would need to be developed from scratch. Over time, state and federal Medicaid officials have also made regulatory changes, requiring still more new code to be written. Critics of the project have raised concerns that CSC is developing NCTracks using COBOL, an out-of-date computer language created in the 1950s. Most college computer science programs no longer teach COBOL and many who are experts in programing in the language have retired. To develop NCTracks, CSC has recruited a large number of COBOL programmers from India to work in the company's Raleigh offices. The federal government funds up to 90 percent of the costs for developing NCTracks. Once the system goes live, federal money is expected to underwrite at least 50 percent of the operational costs. More than 70,000 medical providers across the state will depend on the new system to file Medicaid claims for more than 1.5 million North Carolinians. Diaz said Wednesday the current DHHS leadership is working to make the best of what it was handed. NCTracks will go live, ready or not, July 1. The state has already informed the vendor running its old system, tech-giant Hewlett Packard, that its services will no longer be needed as of July 7. "Transitions of this magnitude never go perfectly and we are taking proactive steps to prepare for any potential issues," Diaz said. "We have established a call center to deal with the expected influx of call volume after July 1 and formed a response team to address user issues.""

I can't even imagine

5/23/2013 10:41:52 PM

COBOL? Nice.

I've been tasked with removing a "weak event" pattern from a critical piece of our codebase recently because the implementation of the pattern is absolute shit and most of the uses of it aren't even necessary. I've been going through and knocking out the easiest ones first, you know, ones with one subscriber and one publisher. Seems easy enough.

So, I'm digging in, and I get to one usage of it that I don't entirely understand, but it seems simple enough... You've got a WinForm, and you've got a lot of controls on said form, and many of these controls need to be notified when the other controls have properties on them that change. Sounds reasonable enough. But they subscribe every one of these controls to the weak event, and since the event is NOT tied to a specific instance of the form, then all instances of the form get notified whenever any of the controls changes state, which means that there now has to be a good deal of extra logic to figure out which control should respond to which event. Fucking. Brilliant. If only there was an object that was common to all of the controls that were interested in updates from each other... What could that object be? Hmmm...

5/23/2013 11:04:00 PM

if (foo != null)
{
    foo.SomeMethod();
}
else
{
    foo.SomeOtherInstanceMethod();
}

5/24/2013 8:36:39 PM

5/24/2013 10:01:02 PM

I should go work for NC then since I can read and write COBOL.

It's basically my job where I help customers modernize their mainframe. Pays $Texas compared to the consulting stuff I did for ChemE.

5/27/2013 11:33:50 AM

mainframes seem not to go away. AS400 systems still being used.

To be honest there seems to be more money in AS400 support than design.

5/27/2013 11:50:14 AM

Yeah my job's basic premise is to keep workload on the mainframe, but also make it more modern. So what my role is to do is to help customers get COBOL code into Java. I'm one of only a small handful of people who can setup it up on the mainframe and one of even fewer who can fully use it. However, it is a sweet gig that lets me live in a nice apartment in Chicago and travel all over when I want. Because of my skillset they want me world wide because I guess this is an issue affecting everyone every where, but no way in hell am I flying as a 6'4 guy in coach on 20+ hour flights.

That said I know it's not a long term career in building new applications, but the maintenance part is where $Russia can come in. A guy I know within my organization is billed out at $400/hour and has well over 100% utilization. If he makes half that at 200 an hour and works 40 works a year, he's pulling in over 300k. That's one of those don't need to work at it long jobs and you're set.

5/28/2013 3:51:27 PM

foo.SomeInstanceMethod();
if (foo == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("foo");

6/7/2013 1:53:56 AM

this is a perfectly reasonably way to have people unsubscribe from unwanted marketing emails



[Edited on June 20, 2013 at 2:33 PM. Reason : i wonder if i got the 7.17.12 fuck you email]

6/20/2013 2:32:29 PM

7/3/2013 11:29:29 AM

Using Thread.Sleep() to delay the timing of sending async messages so that there's not a race with the response messages
Doing this because you put the GUID of the messages into a local instance of a hashset on a form and didn't want different forms to get confused about which messages belonged to them when multiple forms sent messages at the same time

That was an incredibly enjoyable conversation at work today.

7/4/2013 12:18:13 AM

Guy at work today could not for the life of him understand why an message pattern that was clearly asynchronous needed a unique identifier passed along with the message.

He then asked if it was OK to use the getNextMessageResponse() synchronous call on the same communication session object from different threads. I politely informed him that it did not matter because he was no longer allowed to use threads.

8/22/2013 9:39:54 PM

I saw this gem in the codebase today.

class FooBase
{
    public delegate void FooDelegate(EventData args);
    public event FooDelegate FooEvent;
}
 
class FooSubClass: FooBase
{
    public new void FooEvent(EventData args) { ... }
}

8/26/2013 11:28:59 PM

Internet Explorer in general

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

8/27/2013 11:58:41 AM