The Whiteboard

12:33 AM

@Mike Sigh. It means "check special variable $Q to see if I've been called by something that expects a return value, if so, since the post conditional is true quit with value of variable QUIT. If $Q is falsey then quit with no value". MUMPS will error if a return value is expected but none is returned. If none is expected, returning a value is fine, it's just ignored. So the code is intentionally silly - though not that much worse than code that some would consider idiomatic.

Is the super-colider gone? I would assume Gnat would have pasted a couple hundred celebratory YouTube videos in chat if it were really gone.

blackbee

2:19 AM

i have been looking into a couple of image manipulation libraries like caman.js, filtrr2 .. what i donot understand that why Bernstein function of 3rd order is used. How does the do that histogram manipulation.. its certain time consuming to change the rgb pixel values one by one...

gnat

6:12 AM

hot questions are downgraded, from collider to homepage...

Blog - Stack Exchange: A New Top Bar for Stack Exchange

David Fullerton on December 04, 2013

The top bar of a Stack Exchange site has always been a bit of an odd place. It somehow combines user info, navigation, search, and a one-size-fits-all popup that includes hot network questions, a list of 100+ Stack Exchange sites, personal inbox messages, and other system notifications (lovingly referred to as The StackExchange™ MultiCollider SuperDropdown™).

It was, in retrospect, overdue for a face-lift which is why we’re excited to roll out a new top bar this week.

So, in the redesigned top bar, we wanted to make sure that it would look the same across all sites, and make it obvious that you’ …

24

Q: Extend the new Hot Questions sidebar

I really like the new sidebar. With the new top bar eliminating the "Hot Questions" area there, I think this is the perfect place for it. One-click access to time-wasting questions about topics I may or may not have an interest in. Seriously, it's a procrastinator's dream come true. The only sug...

8

A: Extend the new Hot Questions sidebar

Over the next month or two, we're going to be fiddling with the related questions and the hot question stuff. We've got some algorithm changes to test, and we will also be testing how many items are in the list. More isn't always better, as my goal is to make the sidebar feel useful again inste...

are we ready for fiddling? you bet

2 days ago, by gnat

gee I've got enough ammo for 7 bounties on hotness formula fix. Just 2-3 weeks to wait until the dust around CV queue / top bar settles and I can get the ball rolling...

gnat

11:09 AM

this answer looks worthy of a bounty...

14

A: What is the real responsibility of a class?

[Note: I'm going to be talking about objects here. Objects is what object-oriented programming is about, after all, not classes.] What the responsibility of an object is depends mostly on your domain model. There are usually many ways to model the same domain, and you will choose one way or the ...

gnat

11:25 AM

just got too chatty flag declined on this comment - wonder why

+1 thx for your useful input — kfmfe04 Jan 8 at 13:46

and this...

+1 That is good explanation. — Sarfraz Apr 9 '12 at 14:27

and this...

+1 : Nice post, good points. — Matthieu Feb 15 '11 at 16:15

and this...

+!: probably the best answer — kevin cline Aug 19 '11 at 6:20

Ampt

1:20 PM

@gnat I thought we were flagging for not constructive?

although I agree that those are odd to decline flags on...

21

A: Is there a Python caching library?

Take a look at Beaker: Home Page Caching Documentation

would that qualify as not-an-answer?

seems a little too short and link heavy

gnat

1:53 PM

@Ampt only if you love playing russian roulette with flag declines...

82

Q: Can we get some consensus on what flag to use for link only answers?

Related: Since moderators are just asking users to flag a custom "Link only answer," can we permanently make this a flag option? (not a dupe, that's a feature request and was closed as a dupe of another one) This (old) post does indeed say that Link-only answers can be flagged as NAA, bu...

discussion flags moderation link-only-answers not-an-answer

as opposed to that, flagging / voting the question asked is a piece of cake, canned reason fits 200%: "Questions asking us to recommend or find a tool, library or favorite off-site resource are off-topic for Stack Overflow as they tend to attract opinionated answers and spam..."

6

A: Is it forbidden to use "Other" flag for link-only answers?

Although link-only answers are rather heavily discouraged, a flagger needs to take into account that currently, these carry a certain risk of flag decline. In addition, types of flags that go through 10K tools queue at Stack Overflow carry a risk of being disputed by one of few thousands * 10Ke...

Ampt

@gnat I'm batting 1000 so far so I think I'll play it safe. it IS on SO after all...

gnat

2:32 PM

@Ampt yeah it was at SO where they managed to decline about dozen of my flags for dead-link-answers...

13

Q: Was it a mistake to flag these answers?

My not an answer flags for the below answers were declined "a moderator reviewed your flag, but found no evidence to support it". I am sorry I am kind of sleepy .. but you can read here to get an idea of your problem :) [dead URL] This thread has a good discussion of this issue, near the bott...

discussion flags broken-link declined-flags not-an-answer

user41796

@gnat Yet another reason I don't actively participate on SO.... :-)

user41796

BTW, I flagged the comments you highlighted as NC. Generally, I have been using NC instead of TC for the +# type comments. I also tend to go through the entire question searching for comments to flag instead of relying only on charcoal.

Ampt

ill stick to my pse flags for now i guess haha

user41796

@Ampt So did your current employer put together a decent offer? Or at least one comparable to your Chicago offer?

Ampt

@GlenH7 no word yet. first day in the office this week. planning on broaching the subject sometime this morning

want to get some more coffee first though.

user41796

2:41 PM

Mmmmm coffee. I'm thinking of doing the same...

Ampt

can't go into the meeting with my baggy eyes and slow thoughts

need to think on my feet

user41796

Dominic Connor's article on why you're not driving a Ferrari comes to mind...

user41796

Neither am I, btw... <sigh>

Ampt

where were those articles again? :P

user41796

www.theregister.co.uk

user41796

2:43 PM

search on the author

user41796

hilarious guy. Cut his teeth writing C++. Now works as a manager and a technical recruiter.

Ampt

theregister.co.uk/2013/04/12/it_salary_trends

im thinking about asking for more from chicago

i mean... it can't hurt right?

user41796

@Ampt whenever you ask for more, make sure you have evidence to back up "why"

Ampt

@GlenH7 yep. gotta go into it with information

user41796

And don't make it a protracted negotiation, either. The moment you counter, you need to be on your A-game with staying in contact with them and replying quickly whenever they reach out to you.

Ampt

2:46 PM

yeah. im about to enter that phase of it now. im just gathering my thoughts and everything

im a step ahead of the game becuase I have numbers though

no one else does

user41796

We rescinded an offer to someone who was playing us around. Initial negotiations were "okay" but they started dragging out. And his communication was spotty. So we pulled the offer.

Ampt

yeah thats no good either

user41796

Numbers are good. Build up a case using your work experience and point out how you're not a "new hire"

user41796

The HR person & your hiring manager need to make a business case to their bosses to explain why you deserve more money. Guess who has to make the business case to begin with?

user41796

oh, and you only get one round of negotiation. If you counter with Chicago, then counter with current and then try to counter again with Chicago then you're going to be left holding nothing.

Ampt

2:50 PM

yeah im not going to try and do more than one negotiation

user41796

And be mindful of the cues each organization is giving you. From what you've told us, Chicago is lukewarm on you. If nothing else, that means they have more available talent wanting a job than they have positions. Ergo, you have less negotiating power.

Ampt

i think the real problem is that the number was so much higher than I expected. I'm not unhappy with that number

but its the first number they provided, without question

user41796

How's your relationship with the HR person in Chicago?

user41796

good, bad, neutral?

Ampt

neutral

also, there are 3 of them contacting me.

user55340

2:52 PM

There are some odd suggestions on Google as you type in "difficulty with friends c++"

Ampt

they all seem to be coordinating fairly well though

user41796

I'd get the offer from current employer in hand first. Then pick the one (of three) in Chicago that seems to have best "gotten it" when talking with you

user41796

You can always ask that one recruiter "Should I be asking for anything more on this offer, or is this the absolute best you guys can do?"

user41796

If you play through the phrasing on that, you're not actually asking for anything. You're asking if there is more on the table.

Ampt

yeah... ive just always been of the mindset that you should at least try to negotiate

user41796

2:53 PM

HR can then tell you "nope, that's it" and you know you're done. If they hem, they'll need to know "why"

Ampt

no one leads with their best numbers

user41796

Some firms do lead with their best offer. Not all, but some do.

user41796

My suggested question is a way to find out if they want you to negotiate.

user55340

@Ampt The proper flag is "Blah!"

Ampt

yeah that's a good point

user41796

2:55 PM

By asking if they want to negotiate, you are actually moving yourself a notch higher in the meta aspects of the game. Instead of just playing the game because you have to play the game, you're trying to determine if there even is a game that has to be played. Or if they're leading with their best offer.

Ampt

I wonder how recruiters feel about people comparing offers

user41796

doesn't matter how they feel - it's what people do.

Ampt

I mean with each other

i know a few other people who have offers from this company

and we've been comparing notes so to speak

I'm the only one with numbers so far

user41796

They would officially discourage such activities. But they know it goes on. Some firms counteract that by having standard packages that they offer college new hires

Ampt

yeah I believe that's what the first offer I had was. they wouldn't budge on numbers period

user41796

2:57 PM

graduate + no internship == X dollars. graduate + internship == Y dollars. No deviations.

Ampt

from what I gathered it was just graduate == X dollars.

internship and experience be damned

user41796

it also depends upon the market - if they have more applicants than positions, then you have less leverage

user41796

Some of the consultancies are very formulaic in how they offer. So be forewarned.

Ampt

from what I can tell the positions are unlimited right now. it's a "If you're qualified, we have a position"

user41796

I have a standup meeting to head off to. Back in a bit.

Ampt

2:59 PM

they are going through a very large growth

@MichaelT if only I could flag stuff for just you :P

user55340

@Ampt You read Jimmy's "Robert, I blame you" bit?

Ampt

yes haha

user55340

Bleh! Leave this for Robert to deal with.

Nov 21 at 20:08, 3 minutes total – 6 messages, 3 users, 1 star

Bookmarked Nov 23 at 23:58 by MichaelT

Ampt

but now you're suggesting it

why should poor robert be to blame

> Even though I have no experience with TDD, I will add my own opinion on this

Ah the hallmarks of a great question and answer

user41796

3:41 PM

@Ampt Be. Wary. That sounds like a consultancy in full grinder mode. Grinders aren't always bad if the compensation is adequate. But if they're planning on using folks for 2 - 3 years and then letting attrition thin the ranks, that may not be the place you want to be at.

Ampt

@GlenH7 They were just acquired by a very very large company, and are doing work for all of the different companies under that large one, so they have as many projects as they can handle.

and the compensation is good, and the company is great from what I hear. this is the one where I have a friend at

user41796

@Ampt Like I said. Be wary. I know of the parent company very well, and had an offer from them myself when I was a yearling. "Things change" as part of an acquisition.

user41796

Oh, and "be wary" doesn't mean run away screaming. It means dig and dig some more to fully understand what's going to be expected of you.

Ampt

I'm honestly more apprehensive about working for a large company more than anything else. I've never done that. I've come from a small town and gone to a small college and worked in a small/medium business on a small team

user41796

It's a different experience, that's for sure. My floor is about 100 employees for me to consider the company. Less than that is just too small. Working for a 300k+ company was kind of similar to working for the 10k+ company that I work for now. The 3k company I worked for was different because of its industrial sector.

enderland

3:50 PM

each team dynamic is really different too in terms of "how big of a company does it feel like"

Ampt

Right now my only priority is paying off my debts, so a steady income is mandatory. After that though I wouldn't mind working on a startup if I really felt strongly about the project

user41796

If I were in your shoes, I would be more worried about the loss of autonomy. You have a significant amount for your career stage where you are currently working.

enderland

@Ampt live like a college student after you graduate

Ampt

I have a stupid amount where I'm at. My boss is awesome about where I want to be and where I want to work and what kind of projects I want to do

enderland

and you become really wealthy in the engineering/software world

user55340

3:52 PM

@GlenH7 I've been at 10k+, <25, and in the growth period of a 500 - 10k+... now I'm at a 25-50 consulting shop.

Ampt

@enderland that's on the agenda. I need to figure out where I'm working to figure out how that's gonna work

user55340

I'd have to say that the growth period of the 500 to about 5000 was the 'fun' period there.

enderland

@Ampt if you want to get me started on a soapbox, young people not taking interest in their longer term financial interests and the importance of not spending everything and saving a non-insignificant percentage... will get me there ;-)

user41796

@MichaelT The <10 employee shop I worked at left me .... distrustful.

Ampt

@enderland are you trying to say I can't have that 2014 stingray I've been eyeing up?

;)

user41796

3:54 PM

@Ampt No, he's saying it depends upon how much you're bringing in versus how much is going out.

Ampt

how can you say no to that

user55340

@Ampt Ahh... dot com boom days...

enderland

@GlenH7 it also really depends on what you want in life. I really, REALLY value the "F U" factor I have in my job, I could work at a fricking coffee shop and support my current lifestyle

Ampt

ugh don't tell me.

user41796

Money is a tool. Cash flow in should be positive. Beyond that, use the tool to enjoy life.

enderland

3:54 PM

this means I can enjoy my job sooooo much more, because I don't even need it

Ampt

when someone mentioned they were getting 70k for answering phones for a tech company I almost cried

user55340

... I was making $35/h doing tech support at SGI back in the day.

enderland

I have very serious plans ot be able to retire whenever I want at about age 40

user55340

(waits for the sobbing...)

jozefg

I want to answer every license question to do with the GPL with Sure, but Richard Stallman may come after you with his katana.

user41796

3:55 PM

@Ampt really good support folk can pull that down, yes

Ampt

@MichaelT yeah it was you. jerk

user41796

@jozefg His katana is called the GPLv3

Ampt

@GlenH7 I didn't know we were qualifying @MichaelT as really good...

user41796

@Ampt DON'T CHALLENGE HIS GOOGLE-FU!!!!

Ampt

@GlenH7 it is made of Hanzo steel

user55340

3:56 PM

@Ampt You have to remember the flip side of working at a startup where the paycheck bounced a few months earlier.

user41796

(I was waiting for the Hanzo comment)

Ampt

we would be terrible IT geeks if we didn't at least mention it

@MichaelT That is so foreign to me honestly. One of my friends (not in the software field) had his work not pay him for 3 weeks before he quit

i couldn't believe they would do that

I mean they were small but not that small

probably 30 people

and they just refused to pay him what he was owed

user41796

@Ampt Friend of mine handled accounts payable and receivables for an organization. He knew when Death was going to come knocking and the paychecks weren't going to be paid because the money just wasn't there.

user41796

@Ampt Welcome to being a first line creditor during the bankruptcy hearing

user41796

IIRC, unpaid wages have to be paid first prior to other creditors being paid.

Ampt

4:00 PM

he was only making $8/hr for a 10 hr a week gig so it's not a ton of money but it was mind boggling for me

probably <10hr/wk

I love the guy but man did he pick the wrong field to go into

user41796

Firms that are dying play a game of roulette where they decide who they are going to pay and who they are going to ignore. You can't sustain payables being greater than receivables for very long.

Ampt

They put on a good front for apparently being broke

user55340

Back then, it was a gamble - do you get in a good company? Yes: Collect $1M in stock options. No: Paycheck bounces. Did the company continue to do well? Yes: Collect $50 - $50,000,000 in stock sales. No: use options as toilet paper.

2

Ampt

We need a flowchart for that

user55340

"Are you insane? Yes: Do margin trading." -- I know a number of people who went deeply in the red on the dot com bust.

Ampt

4:06 PM

my buddy is doing that with bitcoin, fairly successfully so far

granted he put 100 in total so he's not gonna go in the red

user55340

"The collateral for the house is my stock, the stock is worth $2M... two months later... the stock is worth $50,000 (ok, thats an exaggeration). Bank comes knocking "um.. you need to put up $1.95M for that loan..."

Ampt

ouch ouch ouch

user41796

Ignoring the (potential) moral aspects of it; there's nothing wrong with gambling if you have a stop-loss mechanism in place. I did that with RedHat and got back 10x my money.

Ampt

he's currently at 3x. He really loves the idea of bitcoin though and wants it to become a real currency

user55340

Ampt

4:07 PM

I keep telling him the more he treats it like a stock the less likely it is to become a currency

user55340

See that climb and fall? yea... that kind of sucked.

enderland

@GlenH7 just make sure you realize it's gambling ;-)

Ampt

nope, I don't like the stock market much at all really

It's the realization that every extra dollar you get out, someone else loses a dollar

user41796

@enderland absolutely, positively. They were far from a sure thing when I bought. And when I bought, I specifically told myself that I could very well end up losing all of it.

Ampt

for, in my opinion, no work at all

the biggest gambles I make is on kickstarter

enderland

4:09 PM

@GlenH7 you are far wiser than most people who do that :P

user41796

I had a coworker at the time who checked his 401k accounts daily and fiddled with them perhaps weekly. He was a huge, huge fan of Sun. I wish I could say his accounts ended up in a better state than what they did.

enderland

heh I'm definitely a "set and forget" type person on investments

indexes are boring but consistent!

user55340

Ultimately, I was lucky and came not bad off... the money is sitting in the bank collecting nice interest (when you've got enough the "money that works for you" becomes practical) to the point of I wouldn't really need to work for ~10-15 years if I don't want to (but then too, that's my retirement funds).

user55340

The disappointing part of the money in the bank thing, you need $$$ for it to turn around to be $$$, otherwise the opportunity cost of having it in there sitting and making pennies isn't really worth it.

user55340

As an aside, I still remember the opening an account at Wells Fargo (chose a national bank) when I got laid off and the explanation of why I was opening an account there and the eyebrows raised at the how much I was depositing.

user55340

4:16 PM

"Current employment: none. Current residence: for the next two weeks... there, after that, uncertain..." you could see them going "ok, let him down nicely..." -- "how much do you plan on depositing?" and then the "oh, now thats different"

enderland

HA. wise financial decisions result in so much life flexibility

Ampt

Ugh. that's where I want to be haha. one day

@MichaelT you drive a corvette too right? I can have one of those?

user41796

This is how you come to understand that money == power

user55340

@enderland If I was wise I would have pulled out enough to pay the taxes when it was at $150 rather than at $15... I wouldn't be working today if that was so. Other than that, it was luck. Lots of luck.

user55340

@Ampt I drive a Honda Insight. My previous car was a Geo Metro.

Ampt

4:17 PM

damnit.

user55340

(incidently, my brother is still driving that Geo Metro... '96.)

enderland

@MichaelT oh you mean stock options stuff. hah. I drive a ford focus station wagon, haters gonna hate but its' the best car ever

user41796

@Ampt money is a tool. Don't presume that @MichaelT's tastes in vehicles match yours.

user41796

In other words, his priorities may not match yours.

Ampt

@GlenH7 no but his flexibility with his career and money definitely interest me

unfortunately i would have to make a lot to have both that and all the other nice things I want haha

user55340

4:19 PM

The insight story was fun... I was driving a Honda Civic hybrid (swapped cars with my brother) when I was on the great unemployed road trip... I was staying in Aspen and the IMA (Integrated Motor Assist - the hybrid part) died. Fortunately the dealership was all downhill (I had almost no acceleration).

user55340

Went to the dealership, they were "ok, thats a $2000 part with a 2 week lead time" - it was just before they went to a skeleton crew and moved everything to denver.

user55340

I wasn't going to stay in Glenwood for 2 weeks, or rent a car and drive another 2000 miles on a rental... so I bought a new car... looked around the show room "how about that one" and I got it.

user55340

Looking back then and where I'm living now, half wishing I got a Subaru instead.

enderland

@Ampt mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/22/…

user55340

(Paid cash for the car, that surprised them too - they were going on about the finance options as I wrote out a check... and then they noticed it matched the price they were asking... called up the bank and said "well then...")

user55340

4:22 PM

Got the car, moved all the stuff in the back seat and trunk from one car to the next, drove it to the insurance company... got it insured and continued on my trip.

enderland

@MichaelT my plan next time I buy a car is to write a check for what I'll pay, walk in, say "I'd like to test drive this car" then show them teh check and say "take it or leave it, I'll save everyone a lot of time"

Ampt

They at least give you some good credit on the trade in?

user55340

(The car got fixed, my parents took the train out to Colorado and then drove it back to Wisconsin)

Ampt

lol. Alright Mr. Wayne, lets not get out of hand here :P

> Broken Car? Pish posh, nothing stops the great road trip

user55340

The thing is the civic blue book was about $6k or so... and with a known cost of $2k that would have been $4k... its worth more to my parents to get that fixed ($2k fix is better than $4k trade in).

Ampt

4:25 PM

yeah you never get shit on trade ins

rather give it to my brothers or a younger cousin honestly

then again I drive a 14 year old car so that may have something to do with it

user55340

My brother's wife is driving the civic now... But yea, nothing stops a good road trip.

gnat

@GlenH7 I see, thanks! All were removed, except for this one...

+1 : Nice post, good points. — Matthieu Feb 15 '11 at 16:15

wonder what is so special about it

Ampt

Ill throw mine at it

enderland

@W'rkncacnter ...good comment; glad this got closed as the dispute I had with enderland spoiled my Saturday night — whytheq Sep 3 '12 at 7:26

Ampt

god that whole question sucks and should be deleted

enderland

4:29 PM

wow, I'm awesome

gnat

@Ampt wow we're testing :) thanks!

user55340

If we all toss flags at it, it should dissapear without a mod.

user41796

@gnat I think I got a declined flag on that one... :-( So confused

user55340

(and I'd really like a 10k comment flagging thing...)

Ampt

this will be 48 if it goes through

user55340

4:30 PM

You know... the 10k comment flagging could work just as is with the auto deletion of comments based on flags.

Ampt

he's probably the guy reviewing the flags :P

user55340

Just show us all the flags on comments and let us add our own to it.

user41796

If a flag is declined, does it make sense that I can flag the comment again?

gnat

@GlenH7 that's probably formally allowed, but not quite polite

2 declines in a row, I'd ping some mod in chat to explain...

user41796

@gnat erm, I'm thinking a "WAT? WHY NO DELETE?!" type custom flag now

user55340

4:32 PM

Heh - the 10k comment question has activity today on MSO.

Ampt

we'll see if mine gets declined

user55340

@GlenH7 its supposed to be "Bleh!"

gnat

@GlenH7 that would be cool:) Though I'd prefer to see what goes with flag from @Ampt

Ampt

I'll let you know when it goes from active-> (Helpful | Not Helpful)

user41796

@gnat I figure a mod flag is the best way to get an answer.

user41796

4:35 PM

I don't care as much about declined flags as you do

gnat

@GlenH7 I'd say the most reliable way. "The best" is subjective :)

user55340

(btw, that answer I mentioned yesterday with very good edit... went from +0/-1 to +4/-0 accepted... I hope that helps the answerer continue to write quality... 99 rep to 156)

user41796

@MichaelT I helped with that +4

user55340

Yep. I'm also pleased that it was accepted... because it does answer the question now and quite well.

user55340

Its an additional validation of "this is what people are looking for"

gnat

4:47 PM

would be nice to get "help" with this funny plagiarism...

-2

A: Is it possible to develop Azure applications on my PC without Internet Connection?

Visual Studio 2013, with the Azure SDK, gives you an Azure emulator so that you can develop your application and emulate it running in Azure. You can find more information here. As mentioned in the comments of the question, there is also a free trial you can use. This will let you experience the...

copied word by word from prior answer, what's the point?

Ampt

is there a way to see your flag weight?

I'm really curious

user41796

flag weight doesn't matter. It's a myth.

Ampt

Ah I see, thanks.

I'm just gonna go ahead and pretend that my flag-weight is the perfect score and that my flags go directly into Spolsky's inbox.

user41796

Flags used to be weighted, yes. And then people got really worried about their weight and how it compared to others. And that was ... counter-productive. So flags aren't weighted anymore.

user41796

@MichaelT - new names maxing out on the close review queue.

user41796

4:59 PM

Too bad @Ampt can't participate like that....

Ampt

@GlenH7 Yeah, that @Ampt character is such a slacker. never helping out with the community at all.

user55340

@GlenH7 We'll keep working on it...

user41796

always taking. Never giving. Sigh.

user55340

I'm also curious how many other 20k delete voters there are.

user41796

@MichaelT The ceiling on that number is pretty easy to identify

user55340

5:02 PM

The thing is how many actually cast vtd. I have seen very few of them in vtd on questions.

user55340

I'd suspect even fewer go vtd on answers.

user41796

I would agree on that. RH is the only one I regularly see placing VTDs

user55340

@GlenH7 Btw, have you gone on any vote to delete binges recently?

user41796

@MichaelT did a few yesterday. Been pretty busy at work though. Stupid silverlight app giving me fits

user55340

Oh, whats the name of the meme for the funky unicode on characters?

user55340

5:05 PM

Hmm...

user55340

339

Q: How do I make my document look like it was written by a Cthulhu-worshipping madman?

I want to type up some spells from the RPG Call of Cthulhu and give them to my players. I could just type them up in Word or LaTeX, but that seems too...neat. I'd like to make these things look like they were scrawled by a gibbering madman, unhinged by the horrors he has witnessed. Bonus points i...

fonts typography fun

user41796

no idea. My issues are fundamental performance / scale issues. It doesn't like having thousands of points slammed into a graph

user55340

@MichaelT I finally get it. I always thought it was a really poorly-drawn icon of an open envelope. — ThisSuitIsBlackNot 5 mins ago

user55340

@ThisSuitIsBlackNot Its just a matter of working at a place where the boxes were common place on the desks of managers... (shudders flashbacks... no no no̱̰̗͎̼͛̐ͅ n͚̜͎͍̭͍̞ͪo͎̞ͦ̓ n͔͙͔̗̲̦ͯ̑ö̥͉̖̮̮̙́̌ͣ͐ͅ N̫͇̳̘͛̌ͅO͖̜̼̠̱̦͐ͨ...) — MichaelT 52 secs ago

gnat

that plagiarist guy has quite some start, their question is almost as bad as the "answer"...

-3

Q: Is there library package or SDK that integrated open sources shuch as libjpeg, libogg, libnfs,libcec and etc.?

I'm a beginer. I use Visual C++ 2010, but it doesn't librarys such as libjpeg, libogg, libnfs, libcec and so on. I must waste many times that download and link them one by one. I wish that famous programers help me. If there is some SDK that integrated them, notice me about it.

visual-c++

looks like running straight into the ban

user55340

5:09 PM

> I wish that famous programers help me.

gnat

@MichaelT lovely isn't it

user41796

Do we know anyone famous?

user55340

Nope. I can't answer that.

user55340

@GlenH7 Well, Yannis might be famous.

user41796

That's infamous, not famous

user55340

5:12 PM

@GlenH7 abs(Yannis.fame) > this.fame.

user41796

true

user41796

Does anyone know if they lifted the minimum rep limit for entering chat?

user55340

Don't know / believe so.

user41796

Or are <20 users allowed into the room and just not allowed to say anything?

Kody Manharth

It told me about chat at 20 rep. I didn't know it existed until then.

gnat

5:18 PM

@GlenH7 famous or infamous, Yannis qualifies to take care of that. His deletion powers fit here nicely

user41796

We just had a user in here with 1 rep, but they didn't make any comments.

user55340

Do they have rep on other sites?

user55340

Btw, on comment flagging...

user55340

1

A: Make comment flagging work more like chat flagging, available to users with 10k reputation

There exists a system already for auto-deletion of comments with sufficient flags ( How do comment voting and flagging work? ). These flags are currently only visible to mods. By (simply) making the flags visible to 10k users, it may be possible to gain enough flags on the comments that no addi...

user55340

(and mention the word comment and @Undo shows up...)

user41796

5:19 PM

@MichaelT nope, none. 1 rep user with no other accounts. I took screenshots to prove it

Undo

Lol

user55340

@GlenH7 Odd.

user41796

@MichaelT He has a bot that monitors all the chat rooms

user55340

@GlenH7 s/has/is/

user41796

@MichaelT True. Mighty presumptive of me.

user55340

5:21 PM

Ever read about Kibo back from the days of USENET?

user41796

nope

user55340

James Parry

James Parry (born July 13, 1967), commonly known by his nickname and username Kibo , is a Usenetter known for his sense of humor, various surrealist net pranks, an absurdly long .signature, and a machine-assisted knack for "": joining any thread in which "kibo" was mentioned. His exploits have earned him a multitude of enthusiasts, who celebrate him as the head deity of the parody religion kibology, centered on the humor newsgroup alt.religion.kibology. Background James Parry grew up and lived in Scotia, New York. He showed early computing skills, such as being able to open up and reprog...

user55340

This was back when one could parse the entire usenet feed with reasonable processing power... but yea... you mention Kibo, and he'd show up.

user41796

And I just verified through another browser that you can enter this room & watch the chatting going on. With the obligatory "You must be logged in to talk..." message

Kody Manharth

@MichaelT Something tells me without him this Wouldn't beep you.

user55340

5:24 PM

Example of Kibo - groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/alt.folklore.college/AHp0Xx6sukE/…

gnat

that mysterious flagging-proof comment has gone

not that I'll miss it

user41796

@gnat I got a helpful reply on my mod flag for said comment.

gnat

@GlenH7 all right then. Our invisible masters were good to you this time :)

user55340

Still think that giving active comment flag visibility to 10k'ers to pile on to comments as needed would be good. If you need to delete everything in the thread, use a mod custom and it gets handled as is.

user41796

@MichaelT Shog's answer didn't make it clear if he was rejecting the entire idea or if he was rejecting the "just like chat flags" idea.

user55340

5:33 PM

My point is more of "the process exists, but is broken because there is no visibility into it from non-mods ultimately leading to mods needing to handle nearly all the chat flags... by giving visibility to 10k, we'll be able to push things through the system without mods needed."

gnat

@GlenH7 I think I can decipher what they aim at. They plan to hide trivial comments (and this plan looks surprisingly solid), then change the policy to rejecting most of comments flags like current ones as insignificant...

105

Q: Hide trivial comments

If you look around the internet, you'll find that: 99.9 percent of comments are either spam, off-message or simply wasted electrons.—ithacaindy (Obviously part of the 0.1%.) Stack Exchange does not have that problem. Thanks to flagging, our spam and offensive comments have a half-life of m...

feature-request comments

and, well, I would be more than happy with that, including flag rejection

the only reason I flag now is I have no confidence when this awesome change is going to be implemented... nor is it going to be implemented at all. As soon as it's done, I'll happily leave all these boring comments queries

...but no earlier than that

Kody Manharth

Am I naive for thinking that stack exchange platform would be an excellent candidate for a PaaS?

user41796

@KodyManharth probably yes. :-) How do you mean?

user41796

@gnat Perhaps that's what ChrisF was referring to the other day. Who knows what the overlords are thinking....

Kody Manharth

Well, for instance, a big theorycraft heavy game such as League of Legends could subscribe. The the players would have a unified place to ask questions about specific (often obscure) situations. It'd be more authoritative than a forums and would likely help minimize support requests for basic highly repeatable situations.

user41796

5:42 PM

@KodyManharth They have tried similar things with an earlier incarnation of the platform. I don't know all of the details, but they moved away from doing that.

user55340

Heh... chat flag from the watercooler?

user41796

@MichaelT yeah....

user41796

and .... <sigh>

user41796

I dropped into that room just now, and I'll let you guess who the only recently active person in that room is. Me thinks someone was punking someone back.

Kody Manharth

@GlenH7 Okay, I figured they may have. I got the idea from RPG.SE after all.

user41796

5:46 PM

I think one of the concerns was diluting the SE brand. If you search MSO a bit, I'm sure you'd find some Q&A about it.

user55340

@GlenH7 I poked at the transcript.

user41796

One case where I'm just as happy my name doesn't show up in blue in here. Then I don't have to ask and potentially scold for misusing the flagging system. Or maybe mods don't care that much about those things.

user55340

@GlenH7 One day... you'll be blue too. And I'll append "mwahwahahw" to all my custom mod flags.

gnat

studying complaints about recent move of the Hot Questions is very educative to those interested in how things were really going...

9

Q: Please return the hot question dropdown to most pages

The UI update from a few minutes ago appears to have removed the hot questions tab of the StackExchange dropdown on the top menu bar from all pages except the Stack Exchange homepage. Instead all I have is "Explore our sites"; which is an apparent replacement for the all sites tab on the old int...

feature-request user-interface hot-questions top-bar

10

Q: New top bar doesn't show hot threads across StackExchange sites

Before today, I would visit StackOverflow every day and click somewhere in the upper-left corner (I've forgotten what it said, and it's gone now!) and if I didn't have any notifications I would see a list of interesting questions from various sites in the StackExchange network which - I believe -...

support top-bar

0

A: Extend the new Hot Questions sidebar

While I appreciate that the developers were trying to still give access to the "Hot Questions" across the Stack Exchange network, I find that this solution is inadequate. The point of the list being accessible from the top navigation bar was that it was accessible from anywhere. Now, in order t...

user55340

(alternatively, you'll append "mawhawhawh!" to all flag decline messages)

user41796

5:51 PM

6

A: Hide trivial comments

A number of folks have inquired as to what the current status on this is, so here's an update: Our internal discussions and analysis have led at least some of us to conclude that the proposal may do more harm than good. While the selection method Jon proposed, particularly the length input, is...

user41796

@gnat Do not stalk those users and downvote out of retribution. :-P

gnat

@GlenH7 oh so it's not going to be there, quite a pity. I'd prefer it instead of flagging

user41796

@gnat Seemed like there were implementation challenges from the get-go

user41796

brushing dirt under the rug doesn't get rid of the dirt. It merely scratches up your otherwise beautiful hardwood floors.

user55340

developing a good heuristic for identifying signal vs humor is challenging.

gnat

5:54 PM

@GlenH7 more like conceptual barriers. Things they complain about "oh we better keep it" are in my view totally worthy condensing...

Some examples:

Requests for clarification or details
Comments that add color, like the pros and cons of a proposed solution
Comments that explain why an answer that sounds good won't actually work
Requests for additional code, and the response explaining why the OP can't share it (which prevents others from asking the same thing).
Feedback that the suggested solution didn't work (conveying to others that it looks good, but isn't actually effective
You actually need to start here and get more information before asking this question

user55340

Without, that is, going all the way to a /. style meta moderation.

gnat

this stuff becomes useless in a month or two. and harmful, as it deemphasizes answers. They just think otherwise, oh well

10

A: Help us figure out a way to handle the explosion of comments on Stack Overflow

Answers should prevail Rephrasing Optimizing For Pearls, Not Sand, I feel that the world is awash in comments, but not answers... ...the world is awash in comments, but not answers. And further is an exact quote: Answers are the real unit of work in any Q&A system. I believe prevale...

@GlenH7 no way, no stalking. Damage is the formula fault not their, if formula wouldn't be so ruthlessly brainless, we'd deal with quality deviations ourselves and enjoy new visitors from other sites

user41796

For the record, I was just teasing.

Bleh! Leave this for Robert to deal with.

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