The Water Cooler - 2018-01-19

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9:26 AM

it's weird looking at the very start of The Water Cooler. such humble beginnings.

and now we're talking about gimp masks.

10:01 AM

There's been cases in the past where the content has been so lewd I've had to close the chat window down entirely.

The Workplace Chat - NSFW.

10:26 AM

Some might say that SE as a whole isn't work safe - it does suck up an awful lot of time...

10:40 AM

Hello all

@Snow I hope it wasn’t me. Was it?

@Nofel No, not you. The Americans are the lewd ones.

11:07 AM

@Snow - agreed! it's quite addictive but so unproductive

i spend a lot of my time lurking here and not contributing

might have to ban myself when i return from holiday

That won't work. You're here now. To paraphrase, "You're our wife now" (you may not be old enough or cool enough to recognize that phrase).

League of Gentlemen was before my time - ha! i feel so young again!

Well done for knowing what it was though. I know it came back recently, but I didn't see the new versions - I'm a bit wary of comebacks like that.

IamSoNotListening

12:08 PM

@Snow Hodor

Good morning/afternoon.

1:00 PM

@Lilienthal Sadly I don't have 10K privileges so cannot find it, as I believe it has since been deleted. I spotted all three as I regularly do the queues and they came up. One I thought was odd, the 2nd was very strange and the third made me lose my temper. They all had different questions but managed to mention the phrase child pornography in the question. It was really odd

@theonlydanever Hang on, you're only a couple of years younger than me and that series was before your time? Yeesh, I remember waiting for that series with bated breath

@Draken it felt a bit suspect to me as well. Flagging was absolutely the right thing to do. I think @Lilienthal was just asking not to actually engage with the troll. Even if they are obviously trolling...

@RoryAlsop Agreed, I should really be more in control then that! Did you spot several questions then as well? I'm sure I remember seeing at least three, but now I'm questioning that as well....

@theonlydanever it's scary looking at user numbers for latest users - we are up at 81000 already. I thought I was late to the party being user number 647...

@Draken I saw 2, but I tend to scan multiple sites so I don't see everything

The Snark Knight

1:36 PM

@Snow Americans are the lewd ones? Hey! I resemble that remark!

@Tinkeringbell Sorry that I'm appearing to be snarky on the ips chat. That guy does wind me up sometimes.

The Snark Knight

@Snow I've quit that until things mature a bit.

@Snow Don't worry, you're doing fine ;) But you guessed wrong this time ;) In the meanwhile, the meta is up ;)

The Snark Knight

Wow, I walk in and things grind to a halt, eh?

What do you want to talk about? :P

1:44 PM

I'm feeling all angsty. It's a good indication that I need a break, I think.

@Draken - maybe i just wasn't cool then, haha. actually, that's more than likely!

The Snark Knight

@theonlydanever I was born cool, personally..... I have no idea what happened since, though

@TheSnarkKnight heh - I read that as "Snow Americans are the lewd ones" - and assumed you meant Canadians :-)

The Snark Knight

@RoryAlsop ah yes, the importance of commas!

It's the difference between "Throw the Yule log on uncle John" and "Throw the Yule log on, uncle John"

2:08 PM

user image

2

2:53 PM

i'm a big fan of the oxford comma... drives my other half nuts though.

i reformatted her CV once, and she went back through and removed all the oxford commas

@theonlydanever I've never actually met anyone in real life who didn't prefer the Oxford comma...

It's so clearly superior, like a 24-hour clock!

The Snark Knight

@TheTinyMan a huge legal case was won due to the lack of oxford comma, as the government entity accidentally made much more than it intended to be tax free, to be tax free thanks to it's lack of use of the oxford comma.

@TheSnarkKnight Heh, I had never heard of that.

The Snark Knight

@TheTinyMan it was a few months ago, I forget how it went... let me see if I can find it

Oxford comma changes court case

3

@TheTinyMan found it ^^^^^^^^^^^^

That is glorious

I am disappointed that neither CNN not the state guidelines require the Oxford comma, though :-P

2 hours later…

4:41 PM

user image

Soo, quick workplace question? Is this acceptable as an alternative to a rubber duck?

@Tinkeringbell Is that a person or some kind of anteater? O.o

@TheTinyMan I'ts a dummies man, you dummy :P

@Tinkeringbell :'(

I am wounded! Alas!

@TheTinyMan Hmmm... you're bad at lying too :P

@Tinkeringbell This is very true

The Snark Knight

4:46 PM

lying, like all skills, are developed over time. When I was a kid, I was honest as the day is long.... then, a teacher didn't believe me about some bullying. She taught me to start lying. I am forever in her debt.

@TheSnarkKnight Your worldview depresses me sometimes, my friend. :-)

I use the word "depress" too loosely.

@TheSnarkKnight You had very wrong teachers :/

IamSoNotListening

@Tinkeringbell Ye

s

The Snark Knight

@TheTinyMan The fact that I haven't managed a successful suicide attempt is either a testament to my resilience, stubbornness, or masochism, I haven't decided which.

@Tinkeringbell oh yes, and the stories I could tell. A few were fortunate that our town did not have any dark alleys I could meet them in.

@TheTinyMan If I ever write an autobiography, it will contain a warning in the author's forward to lock up all sharp objects, poisons, and weapons before reading.

@TheSnarkKnight Heh. I feel that. Lifelong suicidal ideation is the main reason why I refuse to ever have a gun in my house. Thankfully it's started to get better in the last 5 years or so. Mostly.

4:59 PM

I'm heading off soon, and I'm not coming back...

for two weeks.

because i'm going on holiday.

@theonlydanever Well now I'm really depressed ;-)

oh, whoops. i should learn to read the previous messages before posting!

@theonlydanever Snark's life is too awful and yours is too good! ;-)

well, they're experiencing thunderstorms and cyclones at the moment... so it might be an awful getaway

@theonlydanever Or an extra long holiday!

5:13 PM

haha, fingers crossed!

have a good few weeks, everyone. speak to you when i get back!

The Snark Knight

5:26 PM

@TheTinyMan I've always said that if anyone ever wants to win a fortune in Vegas, take me along and bet the opposite way I do.

@TheSnarkKnight ...hey, @TheSnarkKnight, wanna go to Vegas? xD

The Snark Knight

:D @TheTinyMan

well, off to lunch, gonna enjoy myself.

@TheSnarkKnight looks down at his Soylent and sighs

I've started making yogurt parfaits for lunch

greek yogurt + frozen berries + granola --> healthy almost-like-icecream lunch

@RoryAlsop Yeah that's what I meant @Draken. It won't help for actual trolls and might scare off people who are simply ignorant of the systems we use here.

The Snark Knight

5:37 PM

@enderland I cannot eat greek yogurt. I have sensory issues and the texture is just.... I can't take it. LOL

@TheSnarkKnight shudder it's so....slimy!

The Snark Knight

@TheTinyMan my father and brother both loved raw clams.... EWWWWWW!

@TheSnarkKnight I don't know that I have any idea what raw clam is like, but I've yet to meet the shellfish that I liked much that wasn't shrimp.

The Snark Knight

@TheTinyMan I never tried, I couldn't get past the look.

@TheSnarkKnight Hmm. That sounds like a frustrating problem, haha.

The Snark Knight

5:44 PM

@TheTinyMan it makes it hard to eat sashimi as well.

@TheSnarkKnight I was wondering about that - and a lot of other non-Western food too, I'll bet. Ever try kimchi?

The Snark Knight

@TheTinyMan I love kimchi.

@TheSnarkKnight Man, now I want some good Korean. xD How about squid that looks like squid?

The Snark Knight

my principle problem is with textures. if it's not slimy, I can eat it.

I'm not thrilled with having my food look too much like what it looks like when it's alive.

I have a problem with lobster, but that goes back to my father telling me that they scream when you put them in the pot. I was so freaked out by that, to this day I can't bring myself to eat lobster.

@TheSnarkKnight Yeah. I don't have the sensory issues that you do, but... shudder I don't understand what kind of, I'll say 'different from me,' someone's got to be to get a thrill out of hunting. I can acknowledge necessities, but...

The Snark Knight

5:51 PM

@TheTinyMan My father and brothers hunted, not for me though. But of all the hunters I've met, they almost always treat animals in general with more respect than most do. They hate to see animals suffer.

@TheSnarkKnight That's good to hear.

afternoon

@ChrisE Hiya! :-)

'snew?

@ChrisE 'snew 'snew?

6:05 PM

user image

The Snark Knight

ROFL!

@TheTinyMan I think when you have to actually take the life of the food you are going to eat, it gives you a deep respect for the animal.

@TheSnarkKnight That explains why I respect people so much.

@TheTinyMan Darn it Tiny, what did we at IPS teach you about taboo subjects! :P

The Snark Knight

@TheTinyMan I like the way you think. Then again, I always say "Build a man a fire, he's warm for a day, set a man on fire, he's warm for the rest of his life"

@Tinkeringbell That there are boundaries that must be pushed? xD

The Snark Knight

6:18 PM

@Tinkeringbell If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

@TheSnarkKnight Hummus, obviously!

@TheSnarkKnight humaniables?

@TheSnarkKnight Hummers?

The Snark Knight

LOL, my macabre sense of humor is on overdrive today

@TheSnarkKnight I blame @Tinkeringbell

6:22 PM

@TheTinyMan You should pick an easier victim

@Tinkeringbell Does such a thing exist? :o

@TheTinyMan Now I feel objectified

@Tinkeringbell Does such a...not-object exist?

6:57 PM

sup everybody

@DarkCygnus Nah, it's lunchtime.

Actually, in my country it is :)

@DarkCygnus Aha! So we shall indeed sup! ;-)

lol

7:17 PM

-2

A: What are positions in computer science / programming that allow / require constant learning?

Police work is totally out of the question.

I dont get it

@enderland ... ... all of them? Well, all of them that isn't 100% legacy code at a company that refuses to adapt.

I worked at one of those once.

The Snark Knight

@enderland I've been working with Excel for 20 years and I'm STILL learning.

If you don't want to be constantly learning, don't go into IT

I've not opened an office product in nearly two years.... :D

The Snark Knight

@enderland I'm trapped in Excel land. I've been working with it for so long, I have a rare level of expertise, so I'm in demand, and the business world is so dependent on Excel, you can't get away from it anyway..

I went to the dark side of software dev. glad I did sof ar..

7:27 PM

@TheSnarkKnight I am way better with VBA than anyone as young as I should be. xD

(I got into the field as a professional when VB6 was way, way deprecated anywhere it was used.)

The Snark Knight

@TheTinyMan programming in VBA is like sawing a table in half with a ball point pen. You can do it, but you have to be damn creative and patient.

I actually miss COBOL. hard to program, but very very VERY stable.

VBA is fine as a programming language, the IDE is a bit weak. the main problem is the average VBA "developer"

The Snark Knight

@enderland too true, but boy does the average VBA developer make me look good in comparison

@enderland gone

@TheTinyMan I did a contract for Georgia Pacific about 5 years ago. They were still using VB 6 for their financials. No lie. VB6 and Crystal Reports. I was stunned.

IamSoNotListening

@ChrisE Nope, nope, and nope.

The Snark Knight

7:48 PM

VB.NET is worse to work with. I'd rather use C#

@TheSnarkKnight C# is in fact my language of choice xD

8:09 PM

And it can be used to interact with Excel's APIs these days! :-D

The Snark Knight

@TheTinyMan yes, very versatile.

That reminds me, I need to sign up for a C# refresher course

8:50 PM

What’s up world

@TheSnarkKnight today I told my colleague about me getting laid off

He said I should talk to manager about support and more time

Did I did the right thing?

you got laid off? bummer :(

I really missed conversations here >.>

I was so stressed today like why don’t I get it. Did I landed a wrong role

No @enderland I didn’t

I'm confused

What’s up @ChrisE

The Snark Knight

9:06 PM

@Nofel whenever you feel out of your depth, you should ALWAYS ask for help. You did the right thing.

skeet finally hit 1MM

stackoverflow.blog/2018/01/15/thanks-million-jon-skeet/…

@Nofel I'm confused that you were telling a colleague about getting laid off but you told enderland that you weren't.

Fear of getting laid off*

for cause?

Impostor syndrome

Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a concept describing individuals who are marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a "fraud". The term was coined in 1978 by clinical psychologists Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes. Despite external evidence of their competence, those exhibiting the syndrome remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve the success they have achieved. Proof of success is dismissed as luck, timing, or as a result of deceiving others in...

guilty. often.

Yet I know that I'm good, very good. But I still have moments where I have this fear that I'm in over my head.

It's irrational, like my social anxiety.

9:17 PM

I am in over my head. but I'll figure it out. that's why they pay me what they pay me ;)

The Snark Knight

@enderland it took me a long time to learn that, years of therapy too.

@Nofel I think we've all felt that way. I think it's a job requirement for IT

@TheSnarkKnight Basically, yeah

The Snark Knight

Ooooh, this person is about to step in it badly.....

0

Q: Is it appropriate to ask a worker to stop backbiting over mail?

I have a (female) coworker who always has terrible mod and curses everything. While I can deal with that, now, after working a few months at this place, I see more and more that she terribly backbites people. Not just some usual shit-talk but just plain bullying with the goal to let the other per...

communication colleagues social-nuances

Fisticuffs at noon!

@enderland When I think "in over my head" I mean "can't figure it out". Hence the impostor syndrome. I'm so afraid that I'll come up against something that's beyond my ability.

For instance, I still have issues with lambdas

Func<T> and Action<T> gives me fits and it's embarrassing to even say that given that I've been using C# since it came out.

Recursion is another one, whether it's WITH in T-SQL or yield

9:27 PM

@ChrisE Lambdas are weird, man.

delegates took me a while to grok, and I still have to concentrate.

The Snark Knight

@ChrisE I tend to get inspired by desperation. I get a laser-like focus. Half the time I end up doing things I never thought I was capable of doing.

I hate that my boss is every bit as good as I am (possibly better, dunno). :)

The Snark Knight

@TheTinyMan I have gotten very good at office politics. I can be diplomatic when I need to be

@TheSnarkKnight The mind boggles. :-P

The Snark Knight

9:30 PM

@ChrisE doesn't that break some cardinal rule of IT, a boss who knows anything?

@TheTinyMan it's good for pushing someone out the door in such a manner so that they think it's their own idea

@TheSnarkKnight His saving grace is that he's a really great guy. He actually gave $100 to the gofundme for my son's funeral. I was shocked and touched.

The Snark Knight

@ChrisE yeah, my brother worked with a really great group of people. I can relate

9:47 PM

@TheSnarkKnight what is? I am lost

10:46 PM

Lol, a few hours ago I answered a Q on SO. Which got accepted... now the OP contacted me via my University mail asking if I can help him further

I think he got my Umail from my github account

freaked me out a bit TBH...

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Jan '1819

The Water Cooler

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