The Whiteboard

Q: How different is using styrofoam rather than empty cans when pouring concrete?

@MichaelT it's settling right in

user55340

5

In the recent 6.4 earthquake that hit Taiwan, it was seen in a newswire photograph of rubble with metal cans embedded in the concrete. The quote from an official regarding this practice: For such purposes in construction, it was not illegal prior to September 1999, but since then styrofoam...

user41796

@MichaelT on-topic, interesting question. Sufficient information to form the basis of the question. Got me wondering how larger structures handle the weight of the columns themselves

@GlenH7 for concrete columns?

user41796

8:06 PM

And it led me to discover a related question that I haven't asked yet. A commercial building near where I work is having all of the sides ripped off and replaced. I kind of wonder if most commercial buildings are designed to withstand that

Most of the time the sides are placed on dead last - so yeah, they're made for that.

depends on the size of the building though

I'm talking high-rises

user41796

@Ampt right. Hollow shapes can have similar resistance to bending forces, so there's an interesting interplay between material cost, strength, design effort, as well as difficulty to construct correctly

user41796

@Ampt Probably 5 or 6 stories high. I didn't count too closely

user55340

@GlenH7 code wise, as long as one wall stands it's a remodel rather than a rebuild.

user55340

I've seen a several story building being built one wall at a time.

user41796

8:10 PM

@MichaelT That would explain why they're doing what they're doing. They've only taken ~1/2 of the skin off at this point

user55340

Hmm. ETL team is trying scrum.

user55340

Is it wrong to laugh?

@MichaelT it's wrong not to.

@MichaelT ETL team?

user55340

@Ampt dedicated to data extracts and giving the business side a better view of the data.

8:26 PM

errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

@Ampt cat's on your keyboard

seriously don't ever get benefits screwed up. worst. nightmare. ever

@enderland I accidentally had been withholding 2 exemptions this last year

almost owed money lol

@Ampt that's just annoying though, I have to get a corrected W2 from a previous employer for round 2 of fixing the mistake :'(

ouch :(

8:38 PM

also "almost owed" is the idea situation

or really $0 is

yeah

but I like peace of mind

we'll get a bunch back this year, meh

sure, giving an interest free loan to the gov't for the year isn't great

but neither is having to shell up $$$$ in april

and I'll take the former over the latter, personally

@enderland humbug. I put in extra so I always get a refund to never owe. Because I have enough surprise bills without one from the government. People advocating a goal of a $0 tax bill/refund I think are advocating a heavily risky approach (everyone I know who's tried this ends up owing boatloads of money because they made a mistake)

@JimmyHoffa it's less risky if you can do your own taxes though ;-)

and grok it. which is the hard part..

8:46 PM

@enderland nope, every single person I know who tries it, does thier own taxes (couple I knew even would do quarterly!) and end up getting it wrong.

The thing is, there's no reason not to let the gov do the withholding really, unless you're particularly poor

@JimmyHoffa well yeah your W4 figure this pretty well -- if you do them right

my taxes match my spreadsheet calculation ;)

user55340

Few hundred expected in return is much easier to budget for than exactly on... And bring off by $200 on either of them.

@enderland perhaps for you, but for a vast majority that won't happen. This is why I discourage trying to be super-conservative regarding this

oh I agree

best to just put the right numbers

@enderland I always do additional withholding; I don't trust company's to get my standard withholding correct, this buffer saves me from their possible mistakes

@Ampt I just don't see why it matters, people tell me I'm losing the value in inflation! But seriously, my income from the beginning of the year to the end wasn't going to change, so the only way to avoid losing money to inflation is to spend it immediately when you receive it so it may be cashed in for current value of goods. That's just ridiculous.

it matters if I really need that money right now because I'm struggling for food day in day out

user55340

9:03 PM

This sounds like a reasonable personal finance question

user114359

@Ampt My best tax year was when I wrote a check to the IRS for approximately $50. Treasury did not get an interest-free loan from me, and I did not have a back-breaking tax liability.

user114359

I have yet to be able to repeat that feat since then. As taxes and income change it is difficult to calculate withholding precisely.

> When my taxes are involved with a boss that slaps me, how does inflation effect the likelihood I should quit?

@Snowman why are you reticent to give an interest-free (small) loan to the government? I mean, interest is on loans to mitigate the risk of loss as well as the pains of going without in the interim. If it's small, you're hardly going without, and the risk of loss is nil as the gov is good for it. So, what's wrong with giving them a small interest free loan?

@JimmyHoffa people just like to think that they do stuff with that extra money that makes them more money, when in reality they'd probably spend it on junk anyway

@Ampt or put it in their savings for a fat 0.00005% growth over the year

9:09 PM

@JimmyHoffa unless you bank with @GlenH7 then you get 5% (on the first 1500)

dangit @Ampt beat me with the reference :(

@Ampt I put it in stuff that makes me more money.

But it isn't much in this example

@enderland FRIW

user55340

@JimmyHoffa thinking more: given a person with significant debt and living paycheck to paycheck what is the best option for taxes: expected return, expected payment, of close to zero as possible. How important is this goal?"

@enderland My wife spent many hours trying to not re-enroll in health insurance through the government exchange (switched to my company's benefits). Turns out there is no way to do that, except speak to a human. Which can't be done.

9:16 PM

dark UX at its best

If you leave a message they robo-call you with something useless. She deleted all information from the website, they put it back. Eventually spoke to someone who told her they re-entroll everyone - if something happens like your provider goes under they just make up your mind arbitrarily on your behalf.

user114359

@JimmyHoffa Because that is my own personal capital tied up with no ROI to me

user55340

@enderland dark science! dresdencodak.com

@enderland It gets darker, oh fastest gun.

Has anyone here ever used the HttpRequest and HttpResponse objects in the .NET Framework?

To access some API on the web?

I have a caching problem.

user114359

9:17 PM

I have debts that I am paying interest on: I could use that capital to save money.

Ohh, we're talking personal finances here?

@Snowman money doesn't have natural ROI, and it does have ROI: It provides risk mitigation. It provides no different a form of ROI than an emergency fund does.

It mitigates the risk of mistakes in your taxes causing unexpected financial penalties

Though the usual way of referring to ROI is

user114359

@JimmyHoffa In this context, ROI = interest. If I give a loan, I want to be paid back more than I lent.

"How much interest does my money earn?"

9:19 PM

@JimmyHoffa But if you have a different emergency and the IRS has your money they probably won't let you borrow it.

user114359

And even if I did have an unexpectedly large tax burden, I earn enough money that I could pay it and "tread water" on my other obligations for that pay period.

user114359

@JimmyHoffa I have multiple retirement accounts that are backed by investments, and I have other money stashed away in money markets and other investment accounts. I do not keep much liquidity in savings/checking.

user114359

Unlike you, I don't keep my money buried with me, relying on the vagary of my grave site to keep it secure :-)

This hilarious. My workaround for lack of std::round in C++03 is to use round from <math.h> instead and rely on a GCC bug that accidentally provides the function. Somehow this bug isn't even inherited by <cmath>. Good job, C++! — PreferenceBean 19 secs ago

@Snowman hah! I expect to be buried with a box of rocks and a few choice words

user114359

9:22 PM

@PreferenceBean would it not be better to do a proper backport of the function instead of relying on compiler/libstdc++ bugs?

@Snowman in theory .. but the risk of conflicting with the accidentally-provided round is too great

there's probably some macro magic I could use to avoid that but it's really not worth it

especially because I am trying to make round available in a generated source file

but then I take a wildly different perspective than most on valuation, so I oughtn't be listened to regarding decisions of such nature.

user114359

@PreferenceBean C++03 supports namespaces...

Q: What is the best way to calculate the optimal tax withholding from my paycheck?

@Snowman shhhhh

user55340

10

My tax refund for this past year (United States) was much higher than I would have liked it to have been. I'm single and have no dependents. My tax refund was about 4% of my salary. Is that normal? Could I claim myself as a dependent? MrChrister worded it better than I did: I want a smaller r...

united-states taxes income-tax withholding

9:26 PM

Find a payroll calculator online, and re-jigger the Exemptions number until the amount withheld is correct.

That's the only way that works. The process on the back of the W-4 blows.

actually no you're right I will do that

@MichaelT: What is the significance of the Swagger editor to that OP's question?

user114359

@PreferenceBean If this is a legacy project (hinted by the C++03) it might not be a big deal. Still, all it takes is a maintenance release of a compiler (even an older major revision of the compiler) or libstdc++ to invalidate your bug exploit.

@Snowman it's not a legacy project but we have a legacy build environment to a degree

@Snowman true enough

however I'd be fine with sorting that out if/when it happens

since we build against a specific compiler version and frankly I'm pushing this feature-that-uses-round out as an emergency 10pm fix anyway

user41796

@Ampt 4%, not 5. didn't FTFY.

9:32 PM

@GlenH7 whatever