The Water Cooler - 2018-06-01

« first day (2242 days earlier) ← previous day next day → last day (2149 days later) »

12:47 AM

yey, my rep is 19591 (symmetric)

1 hour later…

1:50 AM

@Crossedtheriverstyx also really relevant for your post workplace.stackexchange.com/q/48335/73791

(Im starting to think that it might be a dupe of that one...)

2

Q: Overqualified manager looking for a lower position

I am a late-forties mother of several children and I believe my position as a manager for automation development is ruining my health. I have to take care of my family as well as manage my team in an environment with many deadlines and responsibilities. I am also suffering from high blood pressur...

manager stress employment

also related

7 hours later…

8:27 AM

morning all

8:41 AM

good [appropriate time of day for your locality]

9:05 AM

@Cronax same to you good sir :) has to be said my day hasn't had the smoothest of starts but onwards and upwards and all that

9:46 AM

Morning all

Morning @motosubatsu

morning @Nofel

10:25 AM

Kilisi for the win again! I guess he just takes it as a challenge to break his own record. :)

1

A: How can I deal with an applicant that still persists after being rejected?

Ignore anything that is unsolicited, anything else is just asking to continue the dialogue.

@Thanos between Kilisi's brevity and my own verbosity we average out to "normal" :D

1 hour later…

Crossed the river styx

11:37 AM

@motosubatsu now we just need someone to balance my snark.

Its morning in the Matrix. Good morning all.

@Crossedtheriverstyx I would like to add to your question with a bounty, but both the answers you have are similar to what I would say.

@Crossedtheriverstyx Monica.. she's epitome of kind reasonableness around here

@Neo is it though.. or does it just look like it?

Crossed the river styx

12:16 PM

@motosubatsu fair enough to that one. I'm actually quite reasonable when my life isn't in total chaos. I'll let you know if that ever happens

@Crossedtheriverstyx what and break your world-class Chew Toy streak?

Update: Blake and partners called AGAIN today

Crossed the river styx

@motosubatsu I think my purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.

@Nzall ack! sounds like they didn't get the hint

and I told them a second time that I have tried to unsubscribe multiple times, and that when they called me yesterday, I told them that I sent an unsubscribe letter to their info address and to remove my data in accordance with the GDPR. The woman at the phone this time said they did mark my email address, but not my phone number

Like, the GDPR tells you to REMOVE the data, not just mark it as "do not contact"

12:25 PM

@Nzall that's so annoying.. looks like they are going to make this difficult all round

@motosubatsu And it's even with a different phone number this time, so even though I didn't block them originally, it wouldn't have made a difference

@Nzall I think I would have gotten rather cross in your shoes

I mean, what part of 'remove all of my data' did they misunderstand?

@Cronax I'm at work, so there's a limit on how much I can I can get cross at them

@Nzall I suspect that's part of the reason why they called you at this hour, so I wouldn't let it stop you.

@Cronax Yeah, but I mean, they don't even communicate with each other about who they have called and who they're not allowed to call anymore. The woman from today was a different woman from yesterday, with a different name and apparently a different contacts address

12:31 PM

@Nzall That sounds like another reason to be cross at them, not a reason to give them the benefit of the doubt :D

@Cronax I didn't say it was a reason to accept it

@Nzall In your case, I would step outside for a bit, call them back, and give them a good stern talking to, possibly dropping very unsubtle hints that a failure to comply with the GDPR will result in a friendly visit from your lawyer

@Cronax I was considering to report them to the Belgian Data Protection Authority last night. I'm definitely doing so tonight

Crossed the river styx

@Nzall Someone with less scruples than you might post their number to one of the many scam-bait sites. But, please Don't do that

@Cronax however, I don't have a lawyer, and the GDPR does not have a provision for civilians to sue companies in violation. You're supposed to go through a data protection authority

@Crossedtheriverstyx That's too underhanded for me

Crossed the river styx

12:45 PM

@Nzall you could always pass the number on to someone who has no such qualms

@Crossedtheriverstyx you really are lobbying hard for Token Evil Teammate status aren't you? :D

Crossed the river styx

@motosubatsu I wasn't aware that I needed to lobby for it, I thought that it had been firmly established by now.

@Crossedtheriverstyx well, technically yes..but we can't allow you to become complacent can we?

1:16 PM

@Crossedtheriverstyx I'd rather stick to the lawful side of the scale, thanks

Crossed the river styx

@Nzall What I'm suggesting is very lawful, and entirely evil.

You can't be held legally accountable with what a hacker might do with the information provided.

@Nzall at this point i wonder if there's an authority you can alert to their poor handling of the situation

@doppelgreener There is, the Data Protection Authority I mentioned

gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit.be

is the DPA something you can raise a complaint with?

@Crossedtheriverstyx No, but I can be held legally accountable for sharing PII with other people without permission

Crossed the river styx

1:22 PM

@Nzall a toothless old dog without even so much as a bark. Don't bother with them. Use more.... creative means.

@Nzall leave the PII out

@Crossedtheriverstyx a phone number is considered PII

Crossed the river styx

Simply inquiring about who called you is innocent enough whocalledme.com

@Nzall you're not a data processing agent though are you

Crossed the river styx

then of course, if we want to go completely legit, {grumble grumble} reviews on Yelp are fine too.

@Nzall you may want to consult a legal site such as Avvo.com

to learn just what you can and cannot do

@Nzall Actually, a phone number is only personal information when it's a personal phone number

1:26 PM

@Crossedtheriverstyx Somehow I think an USA based lawyer won't be the best person to help me with a EU law

so if you're getting contacted by a company, that should be freely shareable informatio

Crossed the river styx

@Nzall that's why I said something like avvo. I'm sure there are European based groups.

But, there's nothing wrong with an American, like me, causing trouble.

our laws are far more lax, and I could look them up on glassdoor, or yelp, et cetera.

Besides, all of their information was very easy for me to get.

I still think the DPA is my best bet for now. They're supposed to be the organization in Belgium who deals with GDPR violations

Crossed the river styx

@Nzall I doubt that Swiss law would apply anyway.

@Crossedtheriverstyx GDPR is an EU law

Crossed the river styx

1:32 PM

@Nzall be careful with reporting agencies, it's kind of like dealing with HR, it could come back to haunt you.

@Nzall does Belgium have something like the dutch Juridisch Loket maybe? a government-run organisation that provides basic legal advice?

I don't recall such an organisation from the time I lived in Belgium, but my memory has been known to be faulty

@Crossedtheriverstyx Meh. I think it's also important to show that I'm not going to let people just walk all over me. B&P contacted me multiple times even after my unsubscription request AND the request to remove my personal data in accordance with EU regulations.

and I currently got a steady job, and B&P is not the only recruitment company in Belgium

Crossed the river styx

1:57 PM

@Nzall Don't worry. I was able to do a bit of research.

@Crossedtheriverstyx I wanted to maintain some plausible deniability, but not anymore. What did you come up with?

Crossed the river styx

2:28 PM

@Nzall oh, just their location in Switzerland, their ratings on glassdoor, et cet :D

@Crossedtheriverstyx I think you got the wrong blake & partners. The group that contacted me has locations in Antwerp, Amsterdam, Brussels, Ghent and Luxemburg, but not in Switzerland

so please, don't start making any posts anywhere about them, because you might end up talking to the wrong company

Crossed the river styx

@Nzall no worries, got the right one

HA! Got em :D

Ripping off a name from a legit company too.

Hmmm, could be the same company.... going to look into it. I don't want to come afoul of these people either, or my friends, for that matter.

2:53 PM

@Crossedtheriverstyx blakeandpartners.com/en

that's their site AFAIK

Crossed the river styx

@Nzall yes, they seem to either be a subsidiary of, or using the reputation of the swiss company. They seem to have good reviews. Perhaps climbing up the ladder to someone in power who may not know of this branch's less than ethical activities may be a solution.

Martin Tournoij

3:33 PM

Could you undelete the first comment on this one @MaskedMan? workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/113051/…

IMHO that's a good one to keep, and many of the voters seemed to agree

Moorning

@DarkCygnus Hello, what's up?

@DarkCygnus cow's tricks?

I'm a bit sleepy today

got out of work around 930 pm yesterday

brb, going for some coffee

@MartinTournoij You could incorporate it into your answer if you find it useful.

3:45 PM

25

A: How can I deal with an applicant that still persists after being rejected?

Ignore anything that is unsolicited, anything else is just asking to continue the dialogue.

In a way I was expecting an answer from Kilisi... brilliant, just what I though by just reading the question title

@DarkCygnus He did one better.

6

A: Should I add middle-school achievements to my resume, as a person who attends high school?

Will potential employers be interested in any of my achievements from 8th grade No

OMG

Do you realize that without the quote that answer would have been automatically turned into a comment? hahaha

4:03 PM

Pet Peeve of today: People that write i instead of I

@DarkCygnus i hate that too

@DarkCygnus Not if he'd use some magic.

@DarkCygnus People who Capitalize in the Middle of sentences As well. ;)

@MaskedMan Where have you been all the time?

@AnneDaunted Oh, just chilling out in my pocket dimension.

4:08 PM

@MaskedMan Glad that you're back! Keep an eye out for Thanos - a trouble maker with a diamond. Don't know where he came from or if he'll come back.

@AnneDaunted It's a Gem.. not a Diamond...

It's the Power Stone

@AnneDaunted Oh, right, he's gone back to Titan. I asked him to fill in for me for a couple of days while I was away. He won't be coming back any time soon.

@DarkCygnus Thanks. I'm Marvel-illiterate.

So, can Mods change their names without the 30 day restriction?

@DarkCygnus Makes it even harder to accept that you didn't win, doesn't it?

@MaskedMan Glad that you are keeping us safe.

4:12 PM

hahaha

I am glad actually of the new mods we got :) so there is nothing for me to "accept" (it was quite evident I wasn't going to be elected)

@DarkCygnus Yes, I can even change your name if you want. ;)

So.... have you hammered a post already?

A couple of them. Anyway I had decided to stop casting close votes (following Joe's lead), now it becomes sort of mandatory to not cast close votes (or other votes) recklessly.

The only thing I regret is not going to have the Sheriff Gold badge in a year from now

@MaskedMan yeah, quite natural given the new powers

I don't understand that Gold Rush. A heart of gold is much more important!

4:16 PM

I'm a badge-whore

badger, badger, badger....

@DarkCygnus This might make you feel better. I am now "permanently" ineligible for the Marshall badge.

Damn it, I should have raised about 200 more flags before the election results. :(

Those who plan to contest the next election, hurry up and start flagging. ... Oh, actually don't, that just increases my share of the mod work. :P

Im actually half way to Marshall

and 100 more votes to Electorate

4:31 PM

@Crossedtheriverstyx Update: I forwarded the GDPR request/unsubscribe link to the Belgian DPA along with some background information

Crossed the river styx

4:45 PM

@MaskedMan don't worry, I'm doin' plenty of marshaling. :D

They should probably hand out a "grand marshal" badge at 1000 flags. :P

Crossed the river styx

@MaskedMan if they did, I'd likely have it in six months, much nastiness of late.

5:09 PM

781 flags raised, not sure if that is good or bad...

Crossed the river styx

5:27 PM

Going back to Kilisi's latest masterpiece. I think there is a reason he can get away with so much

@Neo You're ahead of me, but not by much

@Crossedtheriverstyx That's likely also the reason why I won the election so convincingly.

5:43 PM

@Crossedtheriverstyx At this point I am not in competition with anyone here.

@MaskedMan Nice perk to be able to rename yourself again.

@DarkCygnus Me too LOL

@Neo high-five sir

6:01 PM

@Neo Would you like to be Mister Sort of Positive again? ;)

@DarkCygnus me three.

I like Mister Anderson better...

Crossed the river styx

@MaskedMan I think you got a boost after certain people went after me. You got a bit of the outrage vote.

I stumbled upon a meta SE post that calling someone a whore (as in repwhore/badgewhore) was a violation of Be Nice policy, because nobody would find that respectful ... and I thought "I wonder about that". ;)

@Crossedtheriverstyx You were not the only target sir, I promise.

@Crossedtheriverstyx Yes, that was definitely a significant factor. I really wish it hadn't gone as far as it did.

6:05 PM

@MaskedMan Me too.

@MaskedMan No thanks. I like Neo. I think I will keep it forever. ( or at least 30 days )

Crossed the river styx

@Neo I didn't see too many of the swipes taken at you. Were they deleted? And who was that annoying, seen once per year, user who was nipping at your heels?

@Crossedtheriverstyx HMMMM I have to be PC and say no comment. If I ever want a shot at Mod again I will be keeping quiet on specifics.

After this weekend of boating and binge drinking I will be over it. ;-)

@Crossedtheriverstyx I will say it came from the place that shall not be named.

Crossed the river styx

@Neo Yes, I was appalled at some of the attacks myself.

@Neo Does deletion of your mod Q&A have anything to do with it?

There was some confusion because the link to your answer broke as a result, so after consulting with a fellow mod, I annotated the link to remove the confusion.

@MaskedMan That was for my own selfish satisfaction. I did not want that available to certain low rep scu.... errrr users.

@MaskedMan You can edit me out of the Q&A entirely if you like.

6:12 PM

Should you ever decide to undelete your Q&A, please undo the link annotation as well. Although I suspect that is unlikely to ever happen. ;)

@MaskedMan Probably not. It will be a long while before this place needs another moderator.

@MaskedMan I won't be undeleting, and I hope a mod hammer does fall to make it visible again.

@Neo Unfortunately that won't do. That's what I would have ordinarily done. But since your nomination itself wasn't withdrawn, that messes up the count of the candidates, which apparently causes some issues.

@MaskedMan I see, feel free to do what is best for the community sir.

Crossed the river styx

I don't have issues, I have the whole freaking subscritpiton!

@MaskedMan Hold on I will fix it.

6:15 PM

@Neo lol, you are back to your "sir" business. :p

This moderation duty is much harder than I thought. :(

Crossed the river styx

Now my SO is POed at me too. Excuse me while I go make a few preachers curse

@MaskedMan LOL

@MaskedMan If the snarky comments were removed I could be convinced to undelete it. I would also like it locked so no further bombs can be thrown.

Anyway I am starting to recover from the shocking result, as described here workplace.meta.stackexchange.com/a/5268/3192 :P

@Crossedtheriverstyx I caught what you did, nice. :-)

:44929922 I suppose we take the path that requires the least amount of work, like true IT guys. Just leave it as it is and forget about it. If someone raises any issues in future, we will deal with it.

Crossed the river styx

6:18 PM

@MaskedMan I've been looking for some outrage and irrirtation, but I think they're making their voices hear by saying nothing. Most obvious are the ones NOT congratulating you.

@MaskedMan Consider permission granted. Although I suspect the "confused person" knows what they are doing.

Well, FWIW, the user who posted the most "interesting" comments on your post deleted their account.

Crossed the river styx

@Neo a certain confused person had a sudden flurry of activity, but has vanished back to the other place.

Chris has been gone for 2 days now. I hope he comes back. I actually thought he would win along with SNOW.

workplace.stackexchange.com/q/113283/73791

WTH

6:20 PM

@Neo I thought the same. Like I said, I would have been happy getting 10 third choice votes out of the 500-odd.

@MaskedMan Interesting....my comment stands well. 1. You have more enemies than you think and 2. The internet remembers.

@MaskedMan see that

Crossed the river styx

Well that was mature.

that user James just got out of a suspension

@MaskedMan I was happy to get a few votes. I was not happy with the other side effects.

Crossed the river styx

6:21 PM

and should go right back in

and is asking for a new one

He will get one for that, I promise you.

He may get kicked out.

Crossed the river styx

@Neo did I miss much of what was going your way? I got some hectoring from one particularly appalling user with an axe to grind, but I didn't see how many were targeting you.

@Crossedtheriverstyx The attacks on me were more intelligently done than the ones you endured.

BEEP your tone policing
Kiss my BEEP. Your tone policing is infinitely more offensive than any words a person could use.

This will earn James a new vacation I bet.

Crossed the river styx

@Neo yeah the attacks on me were as subtle as a sledge-hammer. But, as Milton wrote. (he) who overcomes By force, hath overcome but half his foe.

@Neo I don't know what the problem with that user is, but it will surely be recommended by a nice vacation

6:31 PM

Wikipedia:Give 'em enough rope

As the old saying goes "Give 'em enough rope, and they'll hang themselves." Sometimes this is the best approach when dealing with blocked users. If they are pleading to be unblocked and swearing up and down that they understand and won't repeat whatever it was that got them blocked, rather than arguing the finer points of the original block or demanding further explanation, it may be better to just unblock them and make it clear that this is their last chance. If they mean what they say, then unblocking will be the right thing to do, and if they don't, they'll be blocked again soon enough. ��2...

I am actually surprised he still isn't suspended LOL. His first one was for his insistence on using foul language.

what are our moderators doing anyway LOL @MaskedMan ( totally kidding )

Crossed the river styx

@DarkCygnus you never argue the finer points of being blocked.

@Crossedtheriverstyx Yours was WAY more public no doubt.

Haters gonna hate

Crossed the river styx

NO FAIR! I got blocked from chat for posting the title of a book.

6:34 PM

Life isn't fair

@DarkCygnus No it is not.

Crossed the river styx

You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe.

— Marcus Cole, Babylon 5

@Crossedtheriverstyx LOL

Crossed the river styx

It's true, If life were fair, I'd have to come to the conclusion that I actually did deserve what life has given me.

yey, we are going to order Chinese food to the office :D

Crossed the river styx

6:37 PM

My friend Yong Shi would always complain that his mother always cooked the same thing every night..... Chinese food.

"Hey ma? What are we having for dinner tonight? Wait, don't tell me, Chinese food."

@Neo yeah, now I see it. They went after me with a frontal assault, for you it was more undermining

@Crossedtheriverstyx Yep to equally effective campaigns.

@Neo It will be taken care of appropriately is all I can say for now. :)

Crossed the river styx

@Neo yeah, but they're not going to be happy with the results, regardless, the serious mic-drop moment when the results were announced

was deafening in it's silence

I have faith in our mods to handle it accordingly. Not sure what was going through the users head AGAIN.

Crossed the river styx

6:55 PM

@Neo I wouldn't mind a little payback to the saboteurs either, but Karma will have to handle that one.

@Crossedtheriverstyx Yep

Crossed the river styx

7:11 PM

"My shoes are too tight. But it doesn't matter, because I have forgotten how to dance." I never understood what that meant until now. My shoes are too tight, and I have forgotten how to dance.

@Crossedtheriverstyx I love your thumbnail. Am I correctly identifying Jordan Peterson wearing rodeo chaps whilst riding on a lobster?

Crossed the river styx

7:27 PM

@Lumberjack that is it EXACTLY! I bought his book too. Great read.

7:47 PM

Evening all, I see everyone's favourite rebel has used his first post out of the penalty box to eloquently apologise for his past crossings of the line. Oh wait no he didn't he posted a foul mouthed rant and not even a good one.

I assume our bejewelled comrades will be taking steps?

link?

Crossed the river styx

workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/113283

@dwizum here ^^^^^^^^^^^^

Can't see it. Oh well.

you should have said,

@dwizum this^^^^^^^^^^

8:19 PM

2 hours ago, by Masked Man

@Neo It will be taken care of appropriately is all I can say for now. :)

8:51 PM

@MaskedMan how did you escape Thanos' basement?

They reached a ... compromise

« first day (2242 days earlier) ← previous day next day → last day (2149 days later) »

Transcript for

Jun '181

The Water Cooler

General chit-chat for workplace.stackexchange.com. Feel free t...

ask-your-manager use-headphones

join this room
about this room

00:00

06:00

12:00

18:00

all times are UTC

site design / logo © 2024 Stack Exchange Inc; legal

mobile