The Whiteboard

12:14 AM

How does that work? You have to wait for someone else to fix the screwup?

user15026

12:28 AM

@RobertHarvey Basically two higher up people need to fix a thing and then are hesitant about letting other people touch things so we have too many people scheduled to do the leftover work and since i had booked today off mostly anyhow, I got to leave

user55340

12:55 AM

0

Q: When to use WCF application in the project?

My Project is on Human Resource Management Syste,. Is WCF is suitable for this kind of project ?

wcf

user55340

1

Q: Convert C# procedure to PL/SQL procedure

I'm trying to convert C# procedure to PL/SQL procedure. Anybody work on converter?

c# plsql

user55340

btw, thank you @Ampt for those reviews... want to do some more?

user55340

(and you're doing them already... thank you)

user55340

Today's "What crazy stuff is Eric doing now" is brought to you today by fire: Fabulous adventures in coding | Melting aluminum. Note that given how many posts he has in the foundry category, this is not a on a whim thing for him.

user15026

Huh. That's rather awesome.

user55340

1:11 AM

@AshleyNunn Everyone needs a hobby... his is... apparently melting down lawn chairs thrown on his lawn.

Ampt

He has new posts in his Foundry category?! awesome!

Also, the queue is now down to a more manageable 34 posts

user15026

Hey, whatever works. I make baby blankets, he plays with giant fire things.

Ampt

mine is playing with LEDs! Finally got this stupid strip to wok

user15026

Eventually I want to learn how to make electronic bits bend to my will, but I am going to stick with working on learning other moderately useful computer related junk so that I have the ability to prove I know things because unlike many of you I've not been breathing computers for years ;)

Ampt

eating,sleeping,breathing haha

user55340

1:14 AM

@GlenH7 @gnat want to kill another tag? This one will be easy... macbook

user15026

@Ampt Yeah, I am relatively new to the "can I please poke these things for a living please because I think it would be great fun"

Ampt

@AshleyNunn part great fun, part desperate pleading with the machine gods

user15026

(Knowing full well not every day will be a day made of fun and joy)

user15026

@Ampt Aye, but we all have to pay our penance

Ampt

I wish that CLion would support arduino

the arduino IDE leaves a lot to be desired

user55340

1:21 AM

@Ampt give it some time...

user20683

@MichaelT What tags?

user20683

I see no tags

Ampt

1:38 AM

@GlenH7 you're too late, go home.

user41796

That's how it always goes

user41796

And I'm already at home

Ampt

Then... go to work?

no that doesn't work

hold on, I'll come up with something

go to.. the bar? Maybe... the beach? No, that won't do. Go to... your in-laws house?

user41796

That's the best you've got for suggestions? You ought to crack open a cold one or three. Personally, I'm working on an exceptionally tasty margarita.

user15026

I have tea because my house is cold

user41796

1:47 AM

Maybe you should move further South then?

user41796

Or find some whiskey mixed with honey to add to your tea?

user15026

@GlenH7 I have honey, no whiskey. The sad thing is that the only alcohol I have is a very old bottle of very cheap brandy I bought and cooked with once, drank a bit of once ands decided it tasted like gross.

user41796

Yeah, wouldn't mix that with tea then

user41796

Tea is subtle and requires higher quality spirits

user15026

I do like the idea of honey and whiskey in tea but as far as whiskey goes I wouldn't know what to buy - I am woefully undereducated in that area

user55340

1:57 AM

@AshleyNunn mulled, spiced, wine... warm.

user15026

@MichaelT Oooh, that would also be yummy I think.

user41796

Crown would be fine

user55340

@GlenH7 she's further south than I am...

user15026

@MichaelT Shush.

user41796

@MichaelT Then you need to move South too. :)

user20683

1:58 AM

I am further south than all of you

user41796

Crown Reserve would be yummy. Crown dark would probably over power it

user20683

I should move north

user15026

And I would go further south if you know, America didn't expect me to pay an arm and a leg and a firstborn for hte brain surgery I am invariably need again in my life time.

user15026

@WorldEngineer Come to Canada! We have...free health care! And I will make cupcakes.

user55340

@AshleyNunn half apple cider, half cheep red wine (don't need the expensive things). Add a cinnamon stick, some cloves and allspice. Simmer in teapot (or kettle). Enjoy.

user41796

1:58 AM

@WorldEngineer Might find better job opportunities

user20683

@GlenH7 entirely possible

user15026

@MichaelT The only kettle I have is like one of those stovetop whistle-y ones

user20683

@AshleyNunn I might just do that.

user15026

...wait, I might have a teapot.

user55340

@AshleyNunn those work quite well.

user15026

1:59 AM

@MichaelT Oh, awesome.

user41796

@AshleyNunn With or without tempest?

user15026

@WorldEngineer Have you seen the cupcakes I've promised you lot?

user15026

@GlenH7 Without, I'd think, or you would surmise I would have noticed its disruptive presence.

user20683

@AshleyNunn You've never promised me cupcakes

user15026

@WorldEngineer Dang, really? I should fix that, not sure if my cute face would be enough impetus without cupcakes. Then again, perhaps the healthcare would be enough?

user15026

2:02 AM

Although it is damn cold (well not really I just had to wear socks today, and I don't like socks) today

user15026

Now I want warm alcohol. I might have to add "LCBO trip" to tomorrow's errands (that also involve a french press and some sort of coffee and a new unbroken 3DS)

user41796

@WorldEngineer How have you missed out on the descriptions of the cupcake tour?!?

user15026

You lot are bad influences.

2

user41796

@AshleyNunn Thank you!

user55340

Btw, crazy cold golf / puzzle:

user55340

2:03 AM

6

Q: Reorganize By Arrows

code-golf

user15026

@GlenH7 He doesn't understand the awesome that I have offered!

user41796

@AshleyNunn Not in the least bit.

user41796

Maybe a stretch goal of the kickstarted campaign would be to get him up to my neck of the woods so he can help sample the BBQ and make cupcakes.

user15026

@MichaelT That sounds incredibly difficult.

user55340

This is a nice challenge, it just seems bloody hard! — Beta Decay yesterday

user15026

2:05 AM

@GlenH7 Well, we are already stretching to get you a new kitchen so why not add that to the mix?

user41796

Exactly

user15026

Some days I wish we could actually do this

user41796

Someone's gotta write up the kickstarted proposal...

user20683

@MichaelT @JimmyHoffa Challenge, do this with Haskell Arrows

user15026

@GlenH7 I have a degree in writing things!

user41796

2:08 AM

@AshleyNunn <cough, cough> Really!? I hadn't heard of that. Sounds like you'd be a natural to start things and we can collaborate and make it awesome.

user41796

Was that too obvious?

user15026

@GlenH7 Nah, it was just right. :)

user41796

In other events, I can't figure out my son's soccer team. This week, they played probably the hardest team in their division and they did wonderfully well. Everybody played hard and was great about going after the ball. Last week, they played a team that they should have beaten hands down. But they ended up getting their hats handed to them. I'm giving up on predicting how the kids ought to do.

user20683

@GlenH7 Randy Pausch talked about "out of position" being code for "nothing left to lose"

user15026

@GlenH7 Children are kinda this nebulous thing in my head, like just when I make sense of them they do things that are illogical to me. (I spent a bunch of time with a almost 6 year old today. I learned about cars, there was lots of yelling.)

user55340

2:12 AM

@GlenH7 You got your rock scissors paper backwards?

user41796

That may have been it. My son checked a few kids and normally he's very reluctant to do those things

user41796

There was one moment where I was almost certain he was going to get carded, but didn't.

user15026

Did they know the team was harder? Perhaps that was more impetus to try, because it was a challenge?

user55340

@GlenH7 His opponent hasn't learned how to play like a european?

user41796

@AshleyNunn They did actually. Last week, I told them this was their game to lose (and they did.) This week, I told them they were going to have a really difficult time and they needed to fight for it.

user41796

2:15 AM

@MichaelT Oh, there were a couple of dives from the other team, no doubt.

user15026

Perhaps that is what drove them?

user41796

My players know I won't tolerate that. I'm immediately shouting to find out if they are okay and to get up if they are.

user41796

And it's shouting because they're 30 - 40 yards away usually

user55340

►

user41796

That's spectacular. I'm sure the player in yellow wished he had delivered his elbow instead of being forced into a fake slap.

user41796

2:30 AM

I went camping this weekend with my son's cub scout pack. One of the families that I'm friends with and have had over for multiple cookouts & s'mores was also at the campout.

So the boys were roasting marshmallows over the fire. Their 2nd grader finishes up his first marshmallow and immediately turns to me looking for a bar of chocolate and graham crackers. Unfortunately, I had to disappoint him as I hadn't brought any of those along. But I laughed at how well I had trained him to expect s'mores whenever I setup for a cookout.

user15026

Pavlovian response with marshmallows!

user15026

Although I've never really understood them because the chocolate never melts for me before the marshmallow risks leaking out so it is kinda odd. Now melty marshmallow between two halves of an Oreo, that's good stuff.

user55340

@AshleyNunn depends on the chocolate.

user15026

@MichaelT Maybe I just don't have the right kind. What's the right kind? No one informed me of the intricacies of smores!

user55340

@AshleyNunn classic is Hershey's. Otherwise, you want the one with the lower % cocoa if you're a chocolate snob... no matter how much that offends your sensibilities.

user41796

2:34 AM

I always use Hershey's. Tends to melt at the right rate.

user15026

@MichaelT Oh, I see, so I was doing it wrong. (I suspect it was the chocolate being too thick, now that I think of it compared to a Hershey bar, but you 'don't always see those here in the plain kind.)

user55340

@GlenH7 yep... but for quality of chocolate... its rather low on the scale.

user41796

And the slightly sour aspect of Hershey's goes great with the sweetness of the marshmallow.

user41796

@MichaelT The fact that any is exported to Europe blows my mind

user55340

@GlenH7 How else would they makes smores?

user41796

2:36 AM

@MichaelT Was laughing at the pre-edit

user15026

@GlenH7 And that is what is weird about it!

user55340

user41796

@AshleyNunn They go to great pains to maintain the original equipment that makes that chocolate. They've never been able to figure out what gives Hershey's it's distinctive taste. So they spend a fortune on refurbishing the original lines.

user55340

You'd with the 37 or 61 from that set... though 61 may even be too much.

user15026

@GlenH7 Okay, that is kinda fascinating

user41796

2:37 AM

@AshleyNunn Look it up sometime. From an engineering perspective, they have a crazy task in front of them.

user15026

@GlenH7 I am going to, now.

user15026

I think it might have been mentioned in Candyfreak but it was a while since I have read that book, and I read a lot of other candy related books in the same timeframe

user15026

(because I tend to chunk my reading by subject, binging on one subject at a time)

user41796

@MichaelT I think I used some 80%+ dark chocolate for the triple dark chocolate ice cream I made a while back. Was actually quite perfect as the grainy nature of the chocolate worked perfectly with the ice cream.

user55340

@GlenH7 the thing is, the higher the % cocoa, the higher the melting point.

user41796

2:40 AM

@MichaelT makes sense. And the bits of 80+ that I added in were while the ice cream was churning. So they were definitely for mix-in purposes

user55340

@GlenH7 My preference is in the mid 70s for chocolate... that 73 looks quite good. If its mixed with some other flavors, I'd go up to 79.

user55340

user15026

I am not the biggest fan of dark chocolate

user41796

I'd agree with that. 80+ by itself is .... for the purists. But mixed with ice cream it was perfect.

user55340

2:42 AM

There's a 55% one.

user15026

@MichaelT I am intrigued.

user15026

I like Dairy Milk and stuff like that

user15026

Nothing overly fancy, and nothing with too many bits in.

user55340

user15026

(That's kinda how I like my ice cream, too.)

user15026

2:44 AM

@MichaelT Yeah, I don't think I could do that.

user55340

You need to go to japan and figure out what you like... en.japantravel.com/view/100-chocolate-cafe-kyobashi

user55340

Each one of those is a different flavor combination for chocolate.

user41796

@MichaelT Just a short hop across a pond ....

user15026

@GlenH7 I could swim there, surely ;)

user15026

2:48 AM

@MichaelT One of each please!

user41796

@AshleyNunn Let's not rule out planes too hastily.

user15026

@GlenH7 Planes make my cyborg bits sad

user55340

@GlenH7 yep... though just getting a set of chocolate and figure out what you like... like that set I first linked (apparently a Canadian company).

user15026

(I have what amounts to a pressure valve keeping my brainmeat happy, and it does not like flying.)

user15026

I was a pukeasaurus on the only time I flew (to and from NYC to see a friend)

user15026

2:49 AM

The fact that I have a LDR and that means more flying is....something that worries me sometimes.

user20683

@AshleyNunn So if your mysterious boyfriend would want to see you, he'd have to be the one flying then?

user20683

or girlfriend?

user20683

I can't recall

user15026

Boy creature.

user41796

@WorldEngineer He's flying up in the near future.

user15026

2:50 AM

(Although, if you've suddenly forgotten what bits you've got...)

user20683

@GlenH7 I'm well aware

user41796

@AshleyNunn meh. Be Happy.

user15026

@GlenH7 I am :)

user55340

Awhile back there was an expedition to drive from London to New York...

user15026

@MichaelT Isn't there a lot of water in the way?

user20683

2:51 AM

@MichaelT Not for evil London

user55340

@AshleyNunn Chunnel + Bering straight frozen over (note: switched vehicles)

Robert Harvey

@JimmyHoffa: You around?

This isn't a curried function, is it?

f x y = x + y

user15026

Ah, okay. How likely is that last one?

Robert Harvey

I read it as one function that takes two parameters and returns a single result.

user55340

Apparently, there are also crazy people

user41796

2:52 AM

Had a conversation this weekend with another Scouter about one who had preceded both of us. The other Scouter wasn't fully aware of the previous one's life situation and had mentioned a slightly opaque news article about him. My response: "Oh, you mean ___? Yeah, he's totally gay and most have known that for a while. Effing shame that national policy excludes him."

user15026

@GlenH7 I've stopped really thinking about it for my own needs, and just sum it pu with "I like people!" and go from there.

user41796

@AshleyNunn So much easier, tbh.

user15026

@GlenH7 Works well enough for my purposes :)

user20683

It's surprising what you need to make explicit with a young child. New house rule: "Don't touch your penis while making soup."

Tweeted by PatrickRothfuss on September 15, 2014 at 2:45 AM

user15026

is still laughing

user41796

2:59 AM

@WorldEngineer Funny you should mention that. I just recently had a similar conversation with a group of 4th graders.... Not the genitals bit, but about picking up stuff and putting it in their mouths. "Oh hey, here's some seeds from some weeds growing in the fields. I wonder how they'll taste!"

user15026

Oh my.

user15026

I might've done so if it looked like food, but not random stuff.

user20683

@GlenH7 Probably bitter because probably poison.

user41796

@WorldEngineer Yeah, my son later said "okay, so I ended up swallowing some of those seeds you said to spit out...."

user55340

@GlenH7 would have been much more fun if it was weeds and genetalia... remember that bit I told you about poison ivy?

user41796

3:01 AM

@MichaelT That was another player...

user41796

Okay, actually it was chiggers and not poison ivy. But basically just as bad.

user15026

@MichaelT I don't think I wanna know where this goes next because there is some places that I would never ever ever extra ever want poison ivy

user55340

Point them to the nettles once... they won't make the mistake twice.

user41796

His grandma relayed the pertinent details and I didn't need to be involved.

user41796

@AshleyNunn Young boys are so amazingly stupid.

user41796

3:02 AM

Wait, strike the bit about "young."

user55340

@AshleyNunn The story -- note mouseover link.

user15026

@MichaelT That would suck a lot :(

user41796

It's an amazingly crazy difficult oil to break down.

user55340

@AshleyNunn did you read the story? (btw, on E2, its fun to jump around to the links at the bottom...)

user20683

@GlenH7 I once had spider mites...they are much, much, much worse than chiggers.

user15026

3:05 AM

@MichaelT Yes I did.

user15026

I didn't think about the fact it would float in a bath.

user55340

@AshleyNunn its a 'it hasn't bound completely yet'.

user41796

@WorldEngineer OMG, I am so sorry to hear that.

user41796

I lost that particular player for a week while his issues subsided. Can't imagine the recovery time on spider mites...

user15026

I've been lucky in that way, I've never had anything like that happen.

user20683

3:07 AM

@GlenH7 entire torso and legs as I remember it, had to endure a 5 hour flight back to California

user41796

@WorldEngineer Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! ....

user41796

This is quite comedic. My obviously very tired doggy has moved beyond giving me dirty looks and has simply settled into a dejected posture with her back to me. I think she's trying to tell me something.

user15026

My cat keeps going from my room to here and back like "Hello, it's bed time, you coming?"

user15026

But I don't work til 7 pm tomorrow, so.....

user41796

@AshleyNunn Yeah, my 4 legged baby has given up on that.

user15026

3:11 AM

Eventually Norbert will stop and just claim whatever bed he wants until I decide to sleep.

user41796

Baby doggy's pleadings win for the evening. Have a great night, everyone.

user15026

You too :)

user55340

Sidebit: context for the regulars if this SO user gets the requisite rep somewhere and shows up:

user55340

Lexicographical comparison of Numbers is easier to do if they are Strings. To that end, consider the function in the Integer class .toString(). That said, this may be completely wrong for the approach the instructor desires you to take for this homework problem. You may wish to read Open letter to students with homework problems from Programmers.SE's meta site. — MichaelT 2 days ago

user55340

Thanks for giving me that link about the students with homework. I do want to understand, but my TA is unfortunately only available when I'm in another class, and the Java help lab people don't help with concepts and have extremely limited availability. If you have any other resources for REALLY new-to-programming people, I'd appreciate any tips. The book we have isn't explaining things well and the Oracle docs seem to assume you have some other basic programming experience (at least it seems that way to me). Thanks. — AshRo yesterday

user55340

3:17 AM

off site, I'm not completely sure. It has been a long time since I was in an academic setting (and I got help with some code online from other coders on a mud I played on back in the day). To that extent, chat rooms are probably the best resource - a way to get real time, interactive help with the dense back and forth that chat provides (and Q&A lacks). Chat on Stack exchange requires 20 reputation on any site (if you are having difficulty with getting rep on SO, you could get it answering questions on others — MichaelT 7 hours ago

user55340

Once you have that 20 rep, you could go to one of the Stack Overflow chat rooms specializing in a language. I'm personally a bit more active over in the Programmers.SE chat room The Whiteboard... and we have heaped students with resources and instruction in the past (though as professionals, we're most active in that room 9-5, M-F; it gets quiet outside of that). Another SE site to look at is codereview.stackexchange.com for after the code is complete, how it can be improved. — MichaelT 6 hours ago

user55340

4:56 AM

I have found the most annoying css style: text-shadow. Go to webonastick.com/php.html and try not to get a headache.

user55340

(that said, this is what I was looking for: whydoesitsuck.com/why-does-php-suck )

user15026

@MichaelT Oh my god that makes me want to throw up. It messes with my head.

user55340

At least it wasn't comic sans.

user20683

@MichaelT My browser flat out refuses to go to that site

user55340

FWIW, out of close votes already again.

user15026

5:04 AM

@MichaelT O.o that's fast

user55340

12

Q: Refund close votes for questions deleted on the same day

When a question is deleted the same vote-day as it was closed, refund the close votes cast on the question. There are three situations where this comes up: Question has a close vote or two, a comment tells the OP that this is off topic (or about issues with the question) and the OP self delete...

feature-request vote-to-close deleted-questions

user15026

@MichaelT I never saw a usecase for anything like this but after spending sufficient time here I have determined you guys need something to help stem the tide

user55340

5

Q: Provide 10k users more close votes

Please provide 10k+ users more close votes. Why? Putting questions on-hold in a timely fashion is critical in providing useful feedback to new users. It's rare for salvageable questions to be put on-hold without a constructive comment having been left. Quickly putting questions on-hold keeps...

feature-request status-deferred vote-to-close

user15026

Yes, this, you need this.

user55340

@TimPost gotta say... its painful recently with being out of close votes for the day typically at about 10am or so... and then watching questions like Do you like my idea? come through and seeing the '0 votes remaining' for close votes. Sure, the mods are picking up the spill - but they shouldn't have to. And then if I happen to click on /review, I see another dozen items in the queue that I can't vote on either (and that means when votes refresh I'll be out of them soon again). Have you thought any more about this? — MichaelT Aug 7 at 20:58

user55340

5:08 AM

user15026

O.o

user55340

Already had one speedy delete today.

user55340

That I had a close vote cast on.

user55340

This weekend had a number of them too...

user55340

5:10 AM

And then we get hit with people asking a bunch of bad questions in quick succession too...

user55340

1, 2, 3, ... 4, 5. — MichaelT yesterday

user55340

1 was at 6:02, 2 at 6:32, 3 at 7:05, 4 at 13:22, 5 at 13:50. I'm fairly sure that user is question banned here now... but it would have been nice to slow that down so that they have more time to meditate on the rate at which they're getting down and close voted before asking another question.

user15026

Oy. That is a ridiculous rate.

user55340

@ratchetfreak @GlenH7 if you want to vote on something random... programmers.stackexchange.com/tags/random/synonyms

user20683

@MichaelT There will be no voting on that. Democracy, in this case, is unnecessary.

user55340

5:26 AM

@WorldEngineer (mawhahwaw! my quest for the random tag badge is that much closer!)

user55340

gotta wait for the tag to recompute, but now I've got 10 non-wiki answers. 10 more and I've got a random badge!

ratchet freak

8:04 AM

what comments should be:

Maybe I haven't been to Iceland because I'm busy dealing with YOUR crummy code.

Ampt

1:28 PM

@GlenH7 Have you seen this yet?

2.5 Billion for MC

ratchet freak

I wonder how they plan on recouping that little sum

Ampt

selling more copies would be my guess

oh my god.

I don't want to give them any ideas

ratchet freak

what? pay to win stuff?

Ampt

Get the Minecraft 1.9 update for 4.99 on presale! At launch, it'll be 6.99!

ratchet freak

I bought minecraft when it was lifetime updates

though I'm a bit miffed that M$ has my email now...

Ampt

1:33 PM

Ah, you see that was Minecraft Classic. We're on to Minecraft 2.0, but it's only 24.99 to upgrade today!

ratchet freak

oh no I have lifetime updates so I'm going to expect that from them

Ampt

Hahahahaha

Let me know how that works for you. They can end MC development, slap a new name on it, and sell it again as something different

Same great game, new packaging!

Buy through gamestop and get your exclusive efficiency 12 pick with fortune 8!

They aren't even sure who's going to be sticking around on the team and who'll be let go

it's gonna be a shit show

ratchet freak

and notch washed his hands of MC now

notch.net/2014/09/im-leaving-mojang

or the pastebin copy: pastebin.com/n1qTeikM

Ampt

Something tells me the 2.5 Billion may have influenced his decision just a little.

Man, I need to stop hanging around @JimmyHoffa

Thomas Owens

1:58 PM

My manager asked me to take a requirements engineering training thing at work on Wednesday. Apparently, 23 answer and +102 rep plus a requirements engineering course at school isn't enough. :\

ratchet freak

maybe he thinks you loaned out your account for those answers

Ampt

Nothing like getting rejected from a project first thing on monday morning.

Thomas Owens

@Ampt You should reject whoever rejected you from the project.

Ampt

@ThomasOwens Just show up on day 1 and start working? I like it.

Thomas Owens

2:15 PM

@Ampt Yep.

user41796

@Ampt Sorry to hear it

user41796

And no, I hadn't seen the official announcement. Thanks for dropping the link.

Ampt

2:56 PM

@GlenH7 Me too. At least my watercooling parts come in today so I'll have something to tinker with I guess.

Ampt

3:07 PM

Man, Notch is really foreshadowing his last post with the one before it

user41796

@Ampt I dunno. Read the EA one and the others before that

user41796

I think he's been taking a lot of heat lately. And he's not really comfortable with it.

user41796

The Phil Fish video he mentions is kind of interesting from that point of view. He's briefly mentioned in the video.

Jimmy Hoffa

@RobertHarvey Any function can be curried, the question is whether the language curries them or you manually do. Haskell would automatically curry that which would make it a function that takes a parameter and returns a function that takes a parameter and returns a result

currying you can think of it like this; unary function = function takes 1 parameter, binary function = function takes 2 parameters, trinary function = function takes 3 parameters, with currying: A trinary function is represented as a unary function that returns a unary function that returns a unary function that returns a result. Everything is broken down into steps of unary functions

@WorldEngineer tempting because I could make the syntax the actual code defining ---> as a parser combinator etc

user55340

3:29 PM

@GlenH7 You might enjoy news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8318506

user55340

(and then there's also the discussion about notch at news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8318702 )

user41796

@MichaelT Oh crap! I hadn't heard of scriptcraft before. <sigh> There's another mod I have to hunt down now...

user55340

@GlenH7 theres quite a bit in there about kids playing the game and the influence it has.

user55340

There's also the labeling of it in terms of other company acquisition price that is amusing: "That's 2.5 Instagrams, or 0.33 Nokias. What do you feel, realistic, too much, too little?"

user41796

It'll be interesting, that's for sure. I'm not certain MS knows how to manage a product where so much of the content is driven by the community in a grey legal zone.

user55340

3:34 PM

@GlenH7 They'll black and white it and put out a plugin for visual studio?

user41796

@MichaelT That would actually be quite amazing if they did that.

ratchet freak

tumultuous times around mojang

first the EULA crap

then bukkit being shut down, then not, then DMCAed

and now merger with M$

user55340

@ratchetfreak I would hazard a guess thats mojang trying to get its house in order for getting sold to MS and not doing a good job of it.

ratchet freak

the EULA was the only thing that was their fault really

all the rest was overreactions

user55340

Can we bronze this question and put it up somewhere for all eternity? — MetaFight 1 hour ago

user55340

3:40 PM

@MetaFight if you +fav a post, you'll have it in your favs for eternity (or until you remove it)... even if its deleted (you'll see it again when you hit 10k)

user41796

@MichaelT I'm a bit surprised to see my comment wasn't taken down. I figured someone would claim it was rude despite being true.

user55340

I would have been tempted to migrate that question to gis.se but I know they would have hated me for that.

user55340

Or maybe the advice "buy a copy of ArcGIS from Esri and learn how to use it"

user15026

Someone seriously asked what they should name their cat?

user55340

3:45 PM

Jimmy Hoffa

@AshleyNunn one of the better classic questions

user55340

There's also one about the patron saint of programmers...

user55340

0

Q: What's the off-topic part of this question?

So I asked a question which doesn't jibe with the normal flow of questions on this site, but I don't think it is off-topic and I edited the question to specifically relate it to software development and appease even the minute details of the commentators to no avail I'd be tempted to ask "Why is...

discussion off-topic

user55340

user15026

Oh goodness. Sometimes I really wonder what people were thinking.

user15026

3:51 PM

Or not thinking, as the case may be.

user55340

@AshleyNunn from the artifacts, it was a strange time... the NPR days were chaos, and those posts were from people trying to keep it being a water cooler site rather than a programming site.

user55340

While we don't get much of those horrendously off questions asked today... we still do get the person shows up after 3 years of inactivity and asks a just way too broad polling question.

user15026

4:13 PM

Yeah, from what i understand you guys had a rough beginning.

user15026

Seems like you all work pretty hard to keep this place awesome and topical, though. The coordinated efforts are kinda amazing. (although you guys need more votes)

Robert Harvey

Oh, boy. Sixteen thousand views.

Because that question is sooo interesting.

Ampt

Primarily Opinion Based?

Grins Yes?

Robert Harvey

Not an opinion, really. Every programmer really should know what that number is.

And why it is significant is not an opinion.

Ampt

I would argue that 2^32 or 2^64 is much more important in modern programming

Robert Harvey

4:18 PM

Unless embedded.

Ampt

or even 2^31 or 2^63

Robert Harvey

Those are just the high bit set.

Ampt

they're the overflow for a signed int or long

Robert Harvey

True.

Ampt

I think that the question doesn't provide any lasting value, and that it's very much subject to age as computers become 128 or 256 bit

or even quantum.

Robert Harvey

4:20 PM

You could say that about all SO and P.SE questions.

user55340

0

Q: Delete the popular popular deleted stack overflow and programmers questions

The justification for keeping Popular Deleted Stack Overflow and Programmers questions on Meta.SE is: So those two Programmers questions are the only justification for keeping this on Meta instead of SO meta or Programmers meta alone – random Jul 6 at 18:37 @random, I pulled my account ...

discussion specific-question meta deleted-questions

user55340

You're kidding me. — Robert Harvey 15 secs ago

user55340

@RobertHarvey you should know the determination of the user that keeps that list updated...

Robert Harvey

Is that Lance?

user55340

Yep.

Robert Harvey

4:35 PM

Fuck.

user55340

Trying to justify keeping that list on MSE because of those two questions though... meh.

Robert Harvey

Ack. What is that thing called when you return early from a function due to an error condition in a parameter?

It's not a fence, is it?

user55340

fence works

user55340

guard condition

Robert Harvey

Ah, yes. Guard clause. Thanks.

MetaFight

4:38 PM

I was told it was called an "API Check" ages ago.

user55340

c2.com/cgi/wiki?GuardClause

MetaFight

though I've never heard anyone else use it.

user55340

Go chris! ( meta.stackexchange.com/posts/106960/revisions )

user55340

btw, I still 'like' the original version of php's break that was fixed in 5.4: php.net/manual/en/control-structures.break.php

user55340

> Removed the ability to pass in variables (e.g., $num = 2; break $num;) as the numerical argument.

Robert Harvey

4:43 PM

Oh, dear. So much ruffling of programmer status feathers, so little actual insight. — Robert Harvey 9 secs ago

user41796

I need more close votes....

user55340

At Employer^^, the status reports got condensed down to 3 questions: Are you on time with your tasks? If no, what prohibited you from being on time with them? Do you have any scheduled time off coming up?

user55340

@GlenH7 I ran out at midnight.

user41796

I hit the review queue late last night, so that ate up most of them. And I went through my remaining ones earlier today. Which reminds me that I need to go have some vote to delete therapy.

user55340

Btw, @RobertHarvey if you want to dump 4k rep on me on MSE, I can cast a delete vote too...

Robert Harvey

4:46 PM

That would be a neat trick.

user55340

Just put 8x 500 rep bounties on my answers... actually, you'd only need 7... ;-)

user55340

And when I get 10k rep, I'll create a question "Popular deleted questions on MSE"! Mawhawhawh!

Robert Harvey

> Socartes and 孔夫子 beat you to complaining about youth by 2.5 millennia.

:)

Use a spell checker. If you are posting from a modern browser on a real computer (not a cell phone), the editor should already be highlighting the misspelled words. — Robert Harvey ♦ 1 min ago

thanks for ur suggestion..sure i will..:D — Avinash Babu 43 secs ago

[sigh]

user55340

5:01 PM

@RobertHarvey I point people to spellcheckplus.com

user55340

I like the "I'm an anglophone" trick question to make sure that people who aren't native speakers don't try for native speaker corrections.

user55340

@RobertHarvey btw, could you fix the 'scrollTom' bit in the last sentence to match the scrollToM in the parameters?

Robert Harvey

Can you target a DLL at .NET Framework 4.0, and then expect class and method calls to it to work from an application targeted at .NET Framework 4.5?

user55340

(its very minor of a fix for a suggested edit)

user41796

@RobertHarvey I want to say yes that's okay

user41796

5:05 PM

Assembly A using .NET 4.0 ought to be callable by Assembly B using .NET 4.5

Robert Harvey

And the types in the 4.0 DLL will be instantiable?

user41796

@RobertHarvey Ought to be, yes

user41796

I'm almost positive I've had to reference some assemblies that were built in 4 and my app was building against 4.5

user55340

@gnat realized it and fixed it.

Ampt

5:39 PM

@GlenH7 Bukkit is falling apart fast. Wonder what's gonna happen.

user41796

@Ampt I think you meant this one instead

Robert Harvey

@MichaelT: That question still needs 29 more deletion votes. It's not going anywhere unless an admin gets involved.

Ampt

@GlenH7 Nope. Definitely liked my version better.

user41796

Amaranth bailing is big though, no doubt.

Robert Harvey

@ThomasOwens It gets a box checked on some form.

Robert Harvey

5:52 PM

1

Q: A small project but I want to use design patterns to do it right

I've got a project coming up, a very a small system, but one that needs to be extended in the future. Here's how I've designed it so far. It's 3-tier: presentation, business and data. For the presentation layer there will be ASP.NET webforms with user controls (.ascx). There are .NET validato...