qid int64 1 74.7M | question stringlengths 12 33.8k | date stringlengths 10 10 | metadata list | response_j stringlengths 0 115k | response_k stringlengths 2 98.3k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2,730,865 | Background:
* I have a short list of strings.
* The number of strings is not always the same, but are nearly always of the order of a “handful”
* In our database will store these strings in a 2nd normalised table
* These strings are **never** changed once they are written to the database.
We wish to be able to match on these strings quickly in a query without the performance hit of doing lots of joins.
So I am thinking of storing a hash code of all these strings in the main table and including it in our index, so the joins are only processed by the database when the hash code matches.
So how do I get a good hashcode? I could:
* Xor the hash codes of all the string together
* Xor with multiply the result after each string (say by 31)
* Cat all the string together then get the hashcode
* Some other way
So what do people think?
---
In the end I just concatenate the strings and compute the hashcode for the concatenation, as it is simple and worked well enough.
*(If you care we are using .NET and SqlServer)*
---
**Bug!, Bug!**
[Quoting from Guidelines and rules for GetHashCode](http://ericlippert.com/2011/02/28/guidelines-and-rules-for-gethashcode/) by Eric Lippert
>
> The documentation for
> System.String.GetHashCode notes
> specifically that two identical
> strings can have different hash codes
> in different versions of the CLR, and
> in fact they do. Don't store string
> hashes in databases and expect them to
> be the same forever, because they
> won't be.
>
>
>
So String.GetHashcode() should not be used for this. | 2010/04/28 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/2730865",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/57159/"
] | I see no reason not to concatenate the strings and compute the hashcode for the concatenation.
As an analogy, say that I wanted to compute a MD5 checksum for a memory block, I wouldn't split the block up into smaller pieces and compute individual MD5 checksums for them and then combine them with some ad hoc method. | I hope this is unnecessary, but since you don't mention anything which sounds like you're only using the hashcodes for a first check and then later verifying that the strings are actually equal, I feel the need to warn you:
**Hashcode equality != value equality**
There will be lots of sets of strings which yield the identical hashcode, but won't always be equal. |
45,946 | In ancient Western times civilians were considered legitimate spoils of war for the victor. Sometime in Western Europe that seems to have changed. While Otto von Bismarck waged symbolic wars in Europe with very little casualties besides largely willing soldiers on the battlefields, colonial wars with indigenous people saw things like Indians scalping civilians, provoking hate in return for having broken the rules of war. In the Middle East today the ubiquitous use of suicide bombers, human shields, terror against civilians and the stateless warfare of some "rebel groups" indicates that they still do not make much of a difference between military and civilian targets or actors.
Where does this invention come from, that in war soldiers and civilians have different rights? For example that it is right to take a soldier as prisoner, but not a civilian.
Clarification: This is not a question about the formalism of official law, but about actual practice in warfare. Compare for example the European wars of the 1870s with today's wars in Syria and Palestine. I'm asking for the origin of the cultural valuation that a soldier has another status in war than a civilian has. von Bismarck didn't have the war aims to exterminate or enslave all Austrians and all the French, but that's the war aim of the Palestinians today with respect to their enemy the Israelis. And there's an ancient history behind that. When was that tradition broken to give rise to the special rights of civilians? | 2018/05/02 | [
"https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/45946",
"https://history.stackexchange.com",
"https://history.stackexchange.com/users/12990/"
] | First, let's clarify; declaring something illegal does not prevent people from doing that thing. Burglary is illegal, but it happens. Sexual harassment is illegal, but it happens. So all of the examples listed are... not really relevant to understanding or answering the question. The examples lead more to confusion than resolution.
Second you are citing examples from "ancient Western civilizations" (unspecified, I'm going to assume Rome), then from Bismarck - that is a gap of nearly 2000 years. The Romans were rather enthusiastic about genocide *Carthago delenda est!* During the anarchy, there are examples of people killing hostages and of people behaving with honor. During the [Hundred Years' War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_years_war), war on civilians was permitted; perhaps because the civilians were serfs, and therefore not entirely people. Richard the Lionheart was ransomed and treated with dignity, as were most nobles. During the Napoleonic era, the French pursued scientific mass murder of civilians. If you want an answer to this question, you're going to have to narrow down the scope to what impact international law had on a specific war. If you ask the same question about any legal principle, the answer is book length. "What is the history of rules against burglary from Rome to modern intellectual property?"
With that as prelude, I think it is fairly easy to identify some inflection points that are critical to the distinction between civilians and combatants:
* [Pope crowns Charlemagne](http://www.dw.com/en/charlemagne-is-crowned-emperor-december-25-800/a-4614858-1) - establishing a basis for law that is distinct from the person of the autocrat. (Arguably, the Roman tablets did this first, but I'm not sure they were ever more than a symbol, and any discussion would have to develop Augustus and Domitian.)
* [Grotius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Grotius), drew the distinction between law an natural law. (Again, one could argue the [*ius gentium*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_gentium) but I pick Grotius because he articulates that international law is not divine in origin (and therefore applies even to those that local gods do not love). One could argue the *ius civile* is similar, but I think Roman law is tied to Roman gods, and the Romans are not known for their fundamental respect of the civil rights of non-Roman citizens.)
* Some sources privilege the Roman Catholic Church's attempts to impose peace on various conflicts; I believe these are distinct.
Another inflection point is the creation of [war crimes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crime) and [crimes against humanity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimes_against_humanity). A third inflection point is the international prohibitions against [Letters of Marque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque) and perhaps a discussion of the [Condottieri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condottieri). All of these influenced international law on conflict and the treatment of civilians.
In every war, there are some who want peace; some who wish to mitigate the suffering. Advocates of peace imposed restrictions on the conduct of war (check for the rules against crossbows, or fighting on holy days, or the requirement for a just war, etc.). Given the breadth of your question (two millennia over the entire surface of the globe) that may be the only honest answer to the question. | I'd put forward there was an inflection point that occurred at some point during the 19th century. It's probably not a single event, and one could probably go on at length as to the precise reasons.
You can see clearcut evidence of this on the eve of the Boxer War. In response to the atrocities in China, the German Emperor infamously urged his troops to ['behave like Huns', triggering outrage across Europe](https://books.google.hu/books?id=A2cfZkU5aQgC&pg=PA873&lpg=PA873&dq=boxer+war+tell+troops+to+behave+like+huns&source=bl&ots=dfq_TCQqUN&sig=n_Hmp5ZK7F-SBtl6mf1rtuFZwv4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiD3ISoyPDaAhWKjSwKHVLDCoQQ6AEITDAD#v=onepage&q=boxer%20war%20tell%20troops%20to%20behave%20like%20huns&f=false) (p.873).
As little as a century or two earlier, it would have been so matter of factly - indeed expected - that troops would do so that it wouldn't have registered as something worth instructing. |
15,594 | I am reading in the book of Exodus chapter 3 (KJV) about the angel of the Lord appearing to Moses in the burning bush.It is written,
**Exodus 3:2**
>
> And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of
> the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with
> fire, and the bush was not consumed.
>
>
> **Exodus 3:3-4**
>
>
> **3** Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”
> **4** So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said,
> “Here I am.”
>
>
>
The angel and God are both in the midst of the bush.The angel arrived before God.
Does God stand beside the angel in the burning bush.? Or is the angel God.? How does the reader understand these scriptures,when considering Moses looked at the burning bush when the angel first appeared in it, and also considering what is written in the book of Exodus chapter 33:19-20 with reference to the "face of God."
See this [Question with reference to Exodus 3](https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/860/is-the-captain-of-the-lords-host-an-angel-or-god-himself). | 2015/02/01 | [
"https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/15594",
"https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com",
"https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/users/2572/"
] | The angel appears in the bush alone, we are told nothing of God being there. Angels appear to many in scripture without the presence of fire, so it seems unnecessary to think the bush is burning because if the angel, but rather it is an additional sign to Moses that it burned without being consumed.
Moses turning his face from the angel is not unusual either. In many other cases, such as Joshua, Isaiah and even Joseph in the New Testament, they bow, hide their face or are scared. As celestial beings it seems they can have a powerful effect unless they are purposely hiding their identity.
I'm leaving out the idea of a Theophany for the moment, which this case and others such as the appearance to Joshua before Jericho may have been.
God himself did not have to be present, not in a visible manifestation, to see Moses' response and to then speak to him either directly or through the angel.
Trying to figure out God's physical position here is unnecessary, he is everywhere and all-knowing.
As for the face of God, if he is not manifest and is simply speaking to him directly or through the angel, then there is no issue.
If this IS a Theophany, then things change only a little. We know where He is, in the bush, and we know Moses looked on Him. However, we have many possible Theophanies where He is most likely looked at and there isn't an issue in those cases either.
This may be part of a larger discussion, but it seems the appearance of God and Him revealing his Face or His Glory are not the same. He is able to hide or repress that glory in order to appear to men. Christians would hold Christ as the ultimate proof of that as he let go of it to become incarnate.
Edit: I will have to edit this tonight for scripture sources, but most everything here is derived from consistency with other passages, outside of Theophany information. | The Angel of the Lord(AOTL) or the Angel of God, is distinct from other angels in the bible and should not be confused with an a ordinary angel". In the Old testament the AOTL has the divine authority to forgive "transgressions",(Exodus 23:21); receive worship (Joshua 5:14)(Gen 18:2; Num 22:31) bless generations (Gen 22:18);create life (Genesis 16:10-13);consume sacrifice left at the altar (Judges 6:21)and to ascend in the very flame of that sacrifice (Judges 13:19). It was this very Angel who commended Abraham on behalf of not witholding "thine only son from me" (Gen 22:12).
Furthermore, one will find that the Lord's name is in this Angel of the Lord (Exodus 23:21). In the OT, His name is also secret (Judges 13:18), and yet Wonderful (Judges 13:18 ESV). The Angel of the Lord creates and seals covenants (Judges 2:1-5), and because there is no one greater than himself to swear by, therefore; he swears by "Himself"! (Heb 6:13)(Gen 22:16)
A theophany is witnessed of the Angel of the Lord when he tells Jacob, " I am the God of Bethel(Gen 31:11-13). He is the same Angel who introduced "himself" to Moses as the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob and who also appeared to Moses in the burning bush(Exodus 3:2). He led the Israelites out of Egypt by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night(Exodus 4:19)(Judges 2:1-5). Encounters with the Angel of the Lord has moved witnesses to fear that they have come "face-to-face-with God." (Gen 32:29, Judges 6:22)
In the book of Isaiah, we see the christophany of the Angel of the Lord as Isaiah acknowledges the presence of the Angel of the Lord as none other than our Savior Jesus "For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presene saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them and carried them all the days of old." (Isaiah 63:8-9)
We can understand Jesus having always been present when we read how he announced, "before Abraham was I am." (John 8:58) Certain listeners knew exactly what Jesus implied and were therefore offended just as some are offended even to this day.
The Angel of the Lord is the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8) and was always present and operated from eternity before unveiling His person in the flesh (John 1:1, John 1:14). |
15,594 | I am reading in the book of Exodus chapter 3 (KJV) about the angel of the Lord appearing to Moses in the burning bush.It is written,
**Exodus 3:2**
>
> And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of
> the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with
> fire, and the bush was not consumed.
>
>
> **Exodus 3:3-4**
>
>
> **3** Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”
> **4** So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said,
> “Here I am.”
>
>
>
The angel and God are both in the midst of the bush.The angel arrived before God.
Does God stand beside the angel in the burning bush.? Or is the angel God.? How does the reader understand these scriptures,when considering Moses looked at the burning bush when the angel first appeared in it, and also considering what is written in the book of Exodus chapter 33:19-20 with reference to the "face of God."
See this [Question with reference to Exodus 3](https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/860/is-the-captain-of-the-lords-host-an-angel-or-god-himself). | 2015/02/01 | [
"https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/15594",
"https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com",
"https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/users/2572/"
] | I agree with the earlier response that G-d was not standing with the angel in the burning bush. A common way by which G-d communicates with the Patriarchs in Genesis and Exodus is through an angel. As the Hebrew word מַלְאָךְ can mean either "angel" or "messenger," it is clear even in antiquity that G-d communicated through angels. A few examples will illustrate this concept. In Numbers 22, G-d speaks through the she-donkey to Balaam but we later see that an angel was present in the road. It is not clear that the angel played in role in controlling the she-donkey, although the presence of the angel would leave that open as a possibility. In Genesis 19, Lot encounter two messengers (שְׁנֵי מְלְאָכִים) who warn him of the impending doom of the city. Lot apparently could tell they were angels sent by G-d, since he prostrated himself. In this case, the angels do quite a bit of action, such as removing Lot and his family from the city.
In the case of Exodus 3:2-4, G-d was present only insofar that one of His angels was there in the bush. As the example with Balaam shows, G-d can create speech without being physically present there, so long as an angel is present. That an angel, but not G-d Himself, was present in the bush ties into Exodus 33:19-20. In Exodus 33:19-20, G-d says that no man can see His face directly and live. Hence the reason for using angels to communicate with the Patriarchs is clear. | The Angel of the Lord(AOTL) or the Angel of God, is distinct from other angels in the bible and should not be confused with an a ordinary angel". In the Old testament the AOTL has the divine authority to forgive "transgressions",(Exodus 23:21); receive worship (Joshua 5:14)(Gen 18:2; Num 22:31) bless generations (Gen 22:18);create life (Genesis 16:10-13);consume sacrifice left at the altar (Judges 6:21)and to ascend in the very flame of that sacrifice (Judges 13:19). It was this very Angel who commended Abraham on behalf of not witholding "thine only son from me" (Gen 22:12).
Furthermore, one will find that the Lord's name is in this Angel of the Lord (Exodus 23:21). In the OT, His name is also secret (Judges 13:18), and yet Wonderful (Judges 13:18 ESV). The Angel of the Lord creates and seals covenants (Judges 2:1-5), and because there is no one greater than himself to swear by, therefore; he swears by "Himself"! (Heb 6:13)(Gen 22:16)
A theophany is witnessed of the Angel of the Lord when he tells Jacob, " I am the God of Bethel(Gen 31:11-13). He is the same Angel who introduced "himself" to Moses as the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob and who also appeared to Moses in the burning bush(Exodus 3:2). He led the Israelites out of Egypt by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night(Exodus 4:19)(Judges 2:1-5). Encounters with the Angel of the Lord has moved witnesses to fear that they have come "face-to-face-with God." (Gen 32:29, Judges 6:22)
In the book of Isaiah, we see the christophany of the Angel of the Lord as Isaiah acknowledges the presence of the Angel of the Lord as none other than our Savior Jesus "For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presene saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them and carried them all the days of old." (Isaiah 63:8-9)
We can understand Jesus having always been present when we read how he announced, "before Abraham was I am." (John 8:58) Certain listeners knew exactly what Jesus implied and were therefore offended just as some are offended even to this day.
The Angel of the Lord is the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8) and was always present and operated from eternity before unveiling His person in the flesh (John 1:1, John 1:14). |
15,594 | I am reading in the book of Exodus chapter 3 (KJV) about the angel of the Lord appearing to Moses in the burning bush.It is written,
**Exodus 3:2**
>
> And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of
> the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with
> fire, and the bush was not consumed.
>
>
> **Exodus 3:3-4**
>
>
> **3** Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”
> **4** So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said,
> “Here I am.”
>
>
>
The angel and God are both in the midst of the bush.The angel arrived before God.
Does God stand beside the angel in the burning bush.? Or is the angel God.? How does the reader understand these scriptures,when considering Moses looked at the burning bush when the angel first appeared in it, and also considering what is written in the book of Exodus chapter 33:19-20 with reference to the "face of God."
See this [Question with reference to Exodus 3](https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/860/is-the-captain-of-the-lords-host-an-angel-or-god-himself). | 2015/02/01 | [
"https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/15594",
"https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com",
"https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/users/2572/"
] | When one has the understanding of a theophany/christophany , then the explanation of who was in the burning bush would be more easily understood, especially in the case of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. As in Daniel 3:24 it reads: "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. | The Angel of the Lord(AOTL) or the Angel of God, is distinct from other angels in the bible and should not be confused with an a ordinary angel". In the Old testament the AOTL has the divine authority to forgive "transgressions",(Exodus 23:21); receive worship (Joshua 5:14)(Gen 18:2; Num 22:31) bless generations (Gen 22:18);create life (Genesis 16:10-13);consume sacrifice left at the altar (Judges 6:21)and to ascend in the very flame of that sacrifice (Judges 13:19). It was this very Angel who commended Abraham on behalf of not witholding "thine only son from me" (Gen 22:12).
Furthermore, one will find that the Lord's name is in this Angel of the Lord (Exodus 23:21). In the OT, His name is also secret (Judges 13:18), and yet Wonderful (Judges 13:18 ESV). The Angel of the Lord creates and seals covenants (Judges 2:1-5), and because there is no one greater than himself to swear by, therefore; he swears by "Himself"! (Heb 6:13)(Gen 22:16)
A theophany is witnessed of the Angel of the Lord when he tells Jacob, " I am the God of Bethel(Gen 31:11-13). He is the same Angel who introduced "himself" to Moses as the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob and who also appeared to Moses in the burning bush(Exodus 3:2). He led the Israelites out of Egypt by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night(Exodus 4:19)(Judges 2:1-5). Encounters with the Angel of the Lord has moved witnesses to fear that they have come "face-to-face-with God." (Gen 32:29, Judges 6:22)
In the book of Isaiah, we see the christophany of the Angel of the Lord as Isaiah acknowledges the presence of the Angel of the Lord as none other than our Savior Jesus "For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presene saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them and carried them all the days of old." (Isaiah 63:8-9)
We can understand Jesus having always been present when we read how he announced, "before Abraham was I am." (John 8:58) Certain listeners knew exactly what Jesus implied and were therefore offended just as some are offended even to this day.
The Angel of the Lord is the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8) and was always present and operated from eternity before unveiling His person in the flesh (John 1:1, John 1:14). |
15,594 | I am reading in the book of Exodus chapter 3 (KJV) about the angel of the Lord appearing to Moses in the burning bush.It is written,
**Exodus 3:2**
>
> And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of
> the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with
> fire, and the bush was not consumed.
>
>
> **Exodus 3:3-4**
>
>
> **3** Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”
> **4** So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said,
> “Here I am.”
>
>
>
The angel and God are both in the midst of the bush.The angel arrived before God.
Does God stand beside the angel in the burning bush.? Or is the angel God.? How does the reader understand these scriptures,when considering Moses looked at the burning bush when the angel first appeared in it, and also considering what is written in the book of Exodus chapter 33:19-20 with reference to the "face of God."
See this [Question with reference to Exodus 3](https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/860/is-the-captain-of-the-lords-host-an-angel-or-god-himself). | 2015/02/01 | [
"https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/15594",
"https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com",
"https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/users/2572/"
] | There are a few times in the Old Testament where *the Angel of The Lord* seems to be alternating with God speaking, and/or with the Angel saying and promising things we would only expect the Lord to say or promise (of course in Old Testament “Lord” just refers to God), yet after answering as “I” in a Godlike manner, this Angel turns right around and says “The Lord” this and “The Lord” that.
There may be a correlation between when it goes like this and capitalization “Angel of The Lord”, but I’m not certain.
One is Gen 16:7 for ten verses or so. For example: “I” will multiply you. But it was the angel. And calls Him God of seeing. Later she says outright that she spoke to Yahweh. The text always refers to the speaker as the Angel.
Now another example, a big one. The situation at the Burning Bush was such that you literally just asked if God is “standing next to” an angel during the interaction with Moses.
But note: There are other examples. I don’t normally ever post a video link here, but this exact topic was [recently covered by Rev Winger](https://youtu.be/ryCyQ4N08Q0).
Since God is one, there is *a way* in which the whole triune Godhead was speaking.
Winger ultimately is asking:
**Did the second person of the Trinity run around calling himself *The Angel of the Lord* prior to our Savior arriving in the flesh?** | The Angel of the Lord(AOTL) or the Angel of God, is distinct from other angels in the bible and should not be confused with an a ordinary angel". In the Old testament the AOTL has the divine authority to forgive "transgressions",(Exodus 23:21); receive worship (Joshua 5:14)(Gen 18:2; Num 22:31) bless generations (Gen 22:18);create life (Genesis 16:10-13);consume sacrifice left at the altar (Judges 6:21)and to ascend in the very flame of that sacrifice (Judges 13:19). It was this very Angel who commended Abraham on behalf of not witholding "thine only son from me" (Gen 22:12).
Furthermore, one will find that the Lord's name is in this Angel of the Lord (Exodus 23:21). In the OT, His name is also secret (Judges 13:18), and yet Wonderful (Judges 13:18 ESV). The Angel of the Lord creates and seals covenants (Judges 2:1-5), and because there is no one greater than himself to swear by, therefore; he swears by "Himself"! (Heb 6:13)(Gen 22:16)
A theophany is witnessed of the Angel of the Lord when he tells Jacob, " I am the God of Bethel(Gen 31:11-13). He is the same Angel who introduced "himself" to Moses as the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob and who also appeared to Moses in the burning bush(Exodus 3:2). He led the Israelites out of Egypt by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night(Exodus 4:19)(Judges 2:1-5). Encounters with the Angel of the Lord has moved witnesses to fear that they have come "face-to-face-with God." (Gen 32:29, Judges 6:22)
In the book of Isaiah, we see the christophany of the Angel of the Lord as Isaiah acknowledges the presence of the Angel of the Lord as none other than our Savior Jesus "For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presene saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them and carried them all the days of old." (Isaiah 63:8-9)
We can understand Jesus having always been present when we read how he announced, "before Abraham was I am." (John 8:58) Certain listeners knew exactly what Jesus implied and were therefore offended just as some are offended even to this day.
The Angel of the Lord is the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8) and was always present and operated from eternity before unveiling His person in the flesh (John 1:1, John 1:14). |
56,427,168 | I work behind a corporate firewall. I need pymssql library to use some queries. I try installing via pip, which gives me the error:
>
> 'pip is configured with locations that require TLS/SSL, however the ssl module in Python is not available.'
>
>
>
I install openssl as mentioned by multiple answers in this site from <https://slproweb.com/products/Win32OpenSSL.html>. I get the same error even after installation.
I set http\_proxy and https\_proxy in the system variable and try again. I get the same error
I set the above proxies via command prompt and do a pip/easy\_install. Same issue
I try the --trusted host method in pip. Same issue.
After this, I download the package manually and do a python setup.py install, which gives me an error:
>
> 'Microsoft 14+ build tools are required'
>
>
>
I download the build tools, hoping this will solve the issue, But i get the same error
How can I solve this? I tried with proxy, without proxy and all combinations of the above. Why is my build tools installation not recognised?
Note: I do not have anaconda and i have never used it. | 2019/06/03 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/56427168",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/7255472/"
] | Ok figured this out after paying more attention to the error message. In packages\Umbraco.SqlServerCE.4.0.0.1\build\Umbraco.SqlServerCE.targets it needed the namepsace i added it there and now it builds.
Issue now is figuring out how to get updated package for that dependancy | I just wanted to expand on Ismail's answer.
His solution is correct however if you are wondering on how to add the namespace and get it running the file should look like this:
[Solution](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l6FBw.jpg) |
10,727,140 | I was wondering if there is a way to use my GPU to speed up the training of a network in PyBrain. | 2012/05/23 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/10727140",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/896317/"
] | Unless PyBrain is designed for that, you probably can't.
You might want to try running your trainer under PyPy if you aren't already -- it's significantly faster than CPython for some workloads. Perhaps this is one of those workloads. :) | Checkout Pylearn2: <https://github.com/lisa-lab/pylearn2>
It's a newer library and can run on GPU's with CUDA via cuda-convnet. |
1,091,669 | I need a JavaScript library, or Flash as well, which allows to connect events to "click" over "arcs" in graphics.
I've implemented my graphic through the JS-Graphs library, but I can only intercept the "click" event on "nodes", not on "arcs". | 2009/07/07 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/1091669",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/39339/"
] | If you're interesting in using Flex, you may also want to take a look at Josh' Tynjala's [Wires UI](http://joshblog.net/2008/11/10/open-source-flex-project-wires-ui-library/) library. | [WireIt](http://javascript.neyric.com/wireit/) might be similar to what you're looking for. However, they use the YUI library and Canvas, so YMMV. |
143,614 | The way google is presenting as of today is totally different and I can no longer get the image pages so you can scroll the images before selecting one you want to see. Now there are individual boxes that click through. The entire appearance makes it no longer usuable.. Is there I can do to revert back to the way it was previously? It shows perfectly on Firefox and nothing has changed there. | 2014/08/30 | [
"https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/143614",
"https://apple.stackexchange.com",
"https://apple.stackexchange.com/users/89211/"
] | I suspect it's an example of a new policy from Google, where they're deliberately showing old versions of their search pages if you use an out of date browser. You can find information about this from, for example, this [BBC news report](http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29012038).
It's probably a good idea to update Safari, for security reasons. This is what Google are trying to get you to do. But if you have a good reason to keep using 5.1.1, you can see an up-to-date Google homepage by changing the user agent string. There are instructions for doing this available online, e.g. [here](http://osxdaily.com/2013/01/16/change-user-agent-chrome-safari-firefox/). | First I recommend you should update your Safari app.
I just made a comparison using the same web site for Images.
My Safari (7.0.6) + Chrome + Firefox show exactly the same.
The top row shows the categories you can select (also as images).
You can scroll down true the images or select a category. |
72,621,032 | My code:
[enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FBkHr.png)
So the output is giving the very first line of the `results` list.
My question is how to cut in each "url" element in one run to get the same result? Assume for loop would do? | 2022/06/14 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/72621032",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/13813231/"
] | You need to map your proxy. And then iterate it. | Try seleniumwire with uc: [https://pypi.org/project/selenium-wire/#certificates:~:text=driver.wait\_for\_request()%20etc.-,Proxies,-If%20the%20site](https://pypi.org/project/selenium-wire/#certificates:%7E:text=driver.wait_for_request()%20etc.-,Proxies,-If%20the%20site)
Worked for me |
843,858 | I want other computers (they are in local network) go to Virtualbox Localhost. can you explain me what to do or at least give me article link.
in Virtualbox i have installed fedora19 and computers system is Windows 7. | 2014/11/23 | [
"https://superuser.com/questions/843858",
"https://superuser.com",
"https://superuser.com/users/392344/"
] | Guest in bridged mode will use same IP subnet as the host, other computers can access it directly. If it is in NAT mode, you can use port forwarding so when other computers access to specific port of the host, the traffic will forward to another port of the guest.
[Here](https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch06.html#natforward) is the Virtualbox documentation, but I think the best way to learn it is just try a few settings to experiment it. | You probably need to change the network adapter settings to bridged mode. Right now, it's probably set to NAT'ed mode. |
131,948 | I am a new (3 months) software developer in a smallish software company (10 people). I've been given a new project which has complex and poorly documented requirements, and I've been asked to speak to my boss (who is a company director) before I begin work so he can show me what to do. I did contact him, asking him to help me, and he said he would but the appointed time passed and I heard nothing.
We are spread over three sites and the promised monthly company meeting at the head office has only happened once: in January. We may get one in April, if we are lucky. I work at a site with only 3 people including me: we are all new starters and one guy is the project manager.
We have a lot of complex projects for customers in very varying different areas ranging from manufacturing and distribution to service industries. The developers also have to provide support (helpdesk) for the applications and we are currently very busy, recruiting for 1-2 members of staff as we are struggling with the support and taking on the new jobs.
In my previous job I worked for 3.5 years for a disorganised company with a boss who was often unavailable for days and who did things in a chaotic manner with no structure whatsoever. I left because I got so frustrated by the environment there, starting in my new workplace in December 2018.
I am in my mid 40s and have worked in IT for 15 years, 5 of those in programming. The issue is that my background is in desktop applications, and in this new job I have had to learn web development (CSS, ASP, HTML, Razor views etc etc etc). I have found this surprisingly challenging and despite my educational background (PhD) I've been quite slow in comparison to the experienced developers.
My personal life is chaotic as my teenage son has autism/ADHD, I have depression, my teenage daughter has anxiety/depression and my wife has unspecified/undiagnosed mental health issues. She has mentioned feeling suicidal to me several times and gets no real help. The environment at home is physically and mentally chaotic, with frequent crises and lots of extreme stress.
I sent this email to my boss this morning, after trying twice unsuccessfully to phone him. I CC'd four other people: three company directors and the project manager in my office. The purpose of CC'ing them was because previously I have complained to the boss about lack of communication (no company meeting as promised) and what I got was a frustrated verbal reply about them being busy. I wanted to make sure something actually gets done about these issues.
>
> Hi X
>
>
> I can't log in to Visual Studio again, so I can't do my job. The same situation existed yesterday. I struggled for maybe an hour
> myself trying to work out the problem and when I contacted you, you
> were able to say that it is due to the payment problem which will
> hopefully be resolved today. It hasn't, which I find quite worrying.
> I am filling in the time watching tutorials on CSS and reading the
> spec/documents for \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
>
>
> I was asked to look at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
> and the plan that I was given was that you would get back to me, but
> that's not happened. In fact there has been more than one occasion
> when you said you would get back to me and you have not been able to -
> the time just goes by without any contact. I guess due to the volume
> of support that you are all very very busy up at (head office). You
> have my sympathy and its great that we are recruiting more people. I
> am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication. Its also frustrating that I want to be
> productive and help you out by completing some of these tasks, but I
> can't.
>
>
> Kind regards,
> Phil
>
>
>
He replied with:
>
> Hi Phil,
>
>
> The problem with your Visual Studio account was fixed yesterday, you should have received an email which I have now
> resent. If you still haven't received it please let me know. I will be
> in the (your) office tomorrow morning, see you then.
>
>
> Regards,
> X
>
>
>
He is not a cheerful person and I am anticipating a bit of a backlash when we see him tomorrow. My question is this: **was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?** Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
**Edit:** I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not being fired.
Edit: The boss agreed with me that what I wrote was unprofessional and that it was a mistake to involve other people, particularly a non-director. He said it looked like I was trying to 'throw him under a bus'. I said it wasn't my intention to challenge his authority and that I let personal stress (without going into detail) cloud my judgement. He apologised to me for the lack of communication but said he is overworked. In future he said if I need to rant, rant to HIM and don't involve others - except in the rare case when I can't get the right answer out of him (which is unlikely to ever happen). He even said I can discuss personal stuff with him if I need a listening ear. It looks like the boss is a LOT nicer man than I thought. So it is a strong unofficial reprimand. I am embarrassed by my lack of professionalism but the only thing I can do moving forward is to ensure I act professionally in future and this will just be forgotten as a 'blip'. | 2019/03/19 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/131948",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/101531/"
] | >
> was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?
>
>
>
**yes**.. I understand that you were likely frustrated but CC-ing others in to what is basically a rant at your boss is unwise.
It absolutely comes across as you wanting to air your grievance and annoyance with him in front of others and as an attempt to "shame" him in the process. Giving your relatively new boss a public "Reason you suck" speech is not only unprofessional but can be rather career limiting!
I'd suggest apologizing to your boss next time you speak to him - explain that you were just a frustrated that day and you let it get the better of you. | It's so easy to parse the world in terms of justice—I have done so many times, myself. And if we are parsing the world that way, when someone does something that we perceive affects us negatively, it feels like an injustice. Suddenly a part of our brain says we have the high moral ground. Suddenly we feel like actions that expose, criticize, and put a very fine point on the issue are helpful and reasonable.
Unfortunately, most of the time we have not actually suffered a truly serious injustice. In the case of your employment, you are being paid to be valuable to the company. If things outside your control truly caused you to be unable to render that value, then you are blameless, so long as you communicated about it and asked for help. If you've done your job of doing all that you can to do your job, and you still can't do your job, then effectively, the company is paying you to sit around not doing your job, which is within its rights.
To start changing this way of thinking, I suggest that you read the book [*Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It*](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B014DUR7L2). Especially pay attention to the part of his story where he worked in a suicide hotline call center, and make a mental note to yourself: *all people* need you to treat them as if they are at-risk, and need your soft skills more than your brutal, hard, sharp logic. If logic is the job at hand, it still has to come after your attention to the people.
In the case of your boss, if you really couldn't do your job, it was time to just message him—what you had done, how you were stuck, and how you were attempting to proceed. If you see a pattern of not responding, then it is up to you to address it with the person who isn't responding.
And before you ever escalate again, you need to do a last-ditch communication (just like in the book) along the lines of "have you decided to not answer?" Perhaps much better in this case, "should I try to solve this problem on my own?" Make it a question where "no" is the answer you want. You want him to answer, you want his help.
As other answers have already said, please consider that you almost certainly need more emotional support. Do you have a big and strong enough support network? You are being pulled apart at home. You need people to talk to and share your problems and get advice and sympathy. Find a support group, or friends, or a therapist, or use your company's Employee Assistance Program to call someone, or go to a church and ask to talk to someone. Do *something*. When we feel like we're at the end of our rope, all of our random life circumstances can start to take on the sense of a life-and-death situation, even when they are nowhere near that. This puts us at risk of acting ineffectively or maladaptively, either of which will only hurt us more and push us closer to the end of our rope. You've got to take this seriously.
When you communicate with your boss, or anyone at your work, try to speak in these ways:
* "X came to my attention and I'm worried that Y might happen. Do you think it's worth investigating further?" (NOT "if someone doesn't do something about Y immediately the company will burn down tomorrow.")
* "I feel X about this situation that's happened a few times. My attempts to solve it so far have consisted of Y & Z, but they haven't appeared to work yet. Do you have any suggestions about how to proceed? This is affecting my work."
* "It seems like you X (or it seems like you Y)", and try to reflect back something that the person will really connect with. For your boss, it could be something like "it seems like you are really busy over there. Things must be crazy. Is there some way that I can get help with Z without distracting you from your important work?"
* Always ask "how ..." or "what ..." and don't start with who, when, where, and most especially NOT *why*. "How would you like me to proceed?" "What could I do to move forward?" "What do you think might be stopping this from working?" "Do you have ideas on how to solve this?"
It may seem unnatural, or unpleasant, but it is almost a guarantee that if you learn to start empathizing with people, making soft observations (e.g., "it seems like you *feeling*" instead of "you always do *negative interpretation*"), learning to synchronize with people, and so on, as I have briefly outlined, you will have far more success in your job and in life as well.
How do I know? Yeah, experience is the best teacher. The more I learn to be soft and not pushy, intense, accusatory, and so on, the better results I get in life. |
131,948 | I am a new (3 months) software developer in a smallish software company (10 people). I've been given a new project which has complex and poorly documented requirements, and I've been asked to speak to my boss (who is a company director) before I begin work so he can show me what to do. I did contact him, asking him to help me, and he said he would but the appointed time passed and I heard nothing.
We are spread over three sites and the promised monthly company meeting at the head office has only happened once: in January. We may get one in April, if we are lucky. I work at a site with only 3 people including me: we are all new starters and one guy is the project manager.
We have a lot of complex projects for customers in very varying different areas ranging from manufacturing and distribution to service industries. The developers also have to provide support (helpdesk) for the applications and we are currently very busy, recruiting for 1-2 members of staff as we are struggling with the support and taking on the new jobs.
In my previous job I worked for 3.5 years for a disorganised company with a boss who was often unavailable for days and who did things in a chaotic manner with no structure whatsoever. I left because I got so frustrated by the environment there, starting in my new workplace in December 2018.
I am in my mid 40s and have worked in IT for 15 years, 5 of those in programming. The issue is that my background is in desktop applications, and in this new job I have had to learn web development (CSS, ASP, HTML, Razor views etc etc etc). I have found this surprisingly challenging and despite my educational background (PhD) I've been quite slow in comparison to the experienced developers.
My personal life is chaotic as my teenage son has autism/ADHD, I have depression, my teenage daughter has anxiety/depression and my wife has unspecified/undiagnosed mental health issues. She has mentioned feeling suicidal to me several times and gets no real help. The environment at home is physically and mentally chaotic, with frequent crises and lots of extreme stress.
I sent this email to my boss this morning, after trying twice unsuccessfully to phone him. I CC'd four other people: three company directors and the project manager in my office. The purpose of CC'ing them was because previously I have complained to the boss about lack of communication (no company meeting as promised) and what I got was a frustrated verbal reply about them being busy. I wanted to make sure something actually gets done about these issues.
>
> Hi X
>
>
> I can't log in to Visual Studio again, so I can't do my job. The same situation existed yesterday. I struggled for maybe an hour
> myself trying to work out the problem and when I contacted you, you
> were able to say that it is due to the payment problem which will
> hopefully be resolved today. It hasn't, which I find quite worrying.
> I am filling in the time watching tutorials on CSS and reading the
> spec/documents for \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
>
>
> I was asked to look at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
> and the plan that I was given was that you would get back to me, but
> that's not happened. In fact there has been more than one occasion
> when you said you would get back to me and you have not been able to -
> the time just goes by without any contact. I guess due to the volume
> of support that you are all very very busy up at (head office). You
> have my sympathy and its great that we are recruiting more people. I
> am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication. Its also frustrating that I want to be
> productive and help you out by completing some of these tasks, but I
> can't.
>
>
> Kind regards,
> Phil
>
>
>
He replied with:
>
> Hi Phil,
>
>
> The problem with your Visual Studio account was fixed yesterday, you should have received an email which I have now
> resent. If you still haven't received it please let me know. I will be
> in the (your) office tomorrow morning, see you then.
>
>
> Regards,
> X
>
>
>
He is not a cheerful person and I am anticipating a bit of a backlash when we see him tomorrow. My question is this: **was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?** Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
**Edit:** I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not being fired.
Edit: The boss agreed with me that what I wrote was unprofessional and that it was a mistake to involve other people, particularly a non-director. He said it looked like I was trying to 'throw him under a bus'. I said it wasn't my intention to challenge his authority and that I let personal stress (without going into detail) cloud my judgement. He apologised to me for the lack of communication but said he is overworked. In future he said if I need to rant, rant to HIM and don't involve others - except in the rare case when I can't get the right answer out of him (which is unlikely to ever happen). He even said I can discuss personal stuff with him if I need a listening ear. It looks like the boss is a LOT nicer man than I thought. So it is a strong unofficial reprimand. I am embarrassed by my lack of professionalism but the only thing I can do moving forward is to ensure I act professionally in future and this will just be forgotten as a 'blip'. | 2019/03/19 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/131948",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/101531/"
] | It is not the best thing to do (actually, it was quite bad), but it is not a career-ending mistake provided you learn from this mistake and not make it a habit.
In these kinds of situations (i.e. something not working), you should:
* ask verbally (your colleagues or your boss) to whom you should report the problem in order to get support;
* keep in contact with the support person until the problem is solved;
* if the contact person does not want to help, notify your boss;
* if your boss does not want to help, notify directors.
**NOTE:** things take time, there might be many things in need to be fixed at the same time etc. **Do not assume** that if your problem was not fixed in XX time, then somebody does not want to help.
Actually, *"does not want to help"* usually means that the person tells you something along the meaning of: "Go away, I will not help you."
---
>
> My question is this: **was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email**? Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
>
>
>
You **were wrong**, you did not follow the rules of escalation properly. You should have sent it directly to your boss first. Usually you send copies of an e-mail 2-3 times (at least 1-3 days apart, depending on urgency), before adding more people to CC.
>
> I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not being fired.
>
>
>
It is good that you two had a discussion, that you apologized, and that you will not be fired. When you will talk face-to-face apologize again, and ask him if he is willing to help you better understand how to handle these kinds of situations in the future - hot the escalation process works in the company.
I know it is difficult, but you need to "forget" the emotions from home when you are at work. One mistake can be forgive. Maybe the second, and if you are lucky, the third. After that, you should not have much hope.
**Bottom line:** you survived this experience, and you should learn as much as possible from it.
If it is not a "secret", please tell us the final outcome, when you have it. I am surely curious about it. | It's so easy to parse the world in terms of justice—I have done so many times, myself. And if we are parsing the world that way, when someone does something that we perceive affects us negatively, it feels like an injustice. Suddenly a part of our brain says we have the high moral ground. Suddenly we feel like actions that expose, criticize, and put a very fine point on the issue are helpful and reasonable.
Unfortunately, most of the time we have not actually suffered a truly serious injustice. In the case of your employment, you are being paid to be valuable to the company. If things outside your control truly caused you to be unable to render that value, then you are blameless, so long as you communicated about it and asked for help. If you've done your job of doing all that you can to do your job, and you still can't do your job, then effectively, the company is paying you to sit around not doing your job, which is within its rights.
To start changing this way of thinking, I suggest that you read the book [*Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It*](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B014DUR7L2). Especially pay attention to the part of his story where he worked in a suicide hotline call center, and make a mental note to yourself: *all people* need you to treat them as if they are at-risk, and need your soft skills more than your brutal, hard, sharp logic. If logic is the job at hand, it still has to come after your attention to the people.
In the case of your boss, if you really couldn't do your job, it was time to just message him—what you had done, how you were stuck, and how you were attempting to proceed. If you see a pattern of not responding, then it is up to you to address it with the person who isn't responding.
And before you ever escalate again, you need to do a last-ditch communication (just like in the book) along the lines of "have you decided to not answer?" Perhaps much better in this case, "should I try to solve this problem on my own?" Make it a question where "no" is the answer you want. You want him to answer, you want his help.
As other answers have already said, please consider that you almost certainly need more emotional support. Do you have a big and strong enough support network? You are being pulled apart at home. You need people to talk to and share your problems and get advice and sympathy. Find a support group, or friends, or a therapist, or use your company's Employee Assistance Program to call someone, or go to a church and ask to talk to someone. Do *something*. When we feel like we're at the end of our rope, all of our random life circumstances can start to take on the sense of a life-and-death situation, even when they are nowhere near that. This puts us at risk of acting ineffectively or maladaptively, either of which will only hurt us more and push us closer to the end of our rope. You've got to take this seriously.
When you communicate with your boss, or anyone at your work, try to speak in these ways:
* "X came to my attention and I'm worried that Y might happen. Do you think it's worth investigating further?" (NOT "if someone doesn't do something about Y immediately the company will burn down tomorrow.")
* "I feel X about this situation that's happened a few times. My attempts to solve it so far have consisted of Y & Z, but they haven't appeared to work yet. Do you have any suggestions about how to proceed? This is affecting my work."
* "It seems like you X (or it seems like you Y)", and try to reflect back something that the person will really connect with. For your boss, it could be something like "it seems like you are really busy over there. Things must be crazy. Is there some way that I can get help with Z without distracting you from your important work?"
* Always ask "how ..." or "what ..." and don't start with who, when, where, and most especially NOT *why*. "How would you like me to proceed?" "What could I do to move forward?" "What do you think might be stopping this from working?" "Do you have ideas on how to solve this?"
It may seem unnatural, or unpleasant, but it is almost a guarantee that if you learn to start empathizing with people, making soft observations (e.g., "it seems like you *feeling*" instead of "you always do *negative interpretation*"), learning to synchronize with people, and so on, as I have briefly outlined, you will have far more success in your job and in life as well.
How do I know? Yeah, experience is the best teacher. The more I learn to be soft and not pushy, intense, accusatory, and so on, the better results I get in life. |
131,948 | I am a new (3 months) software developer in a smallish software company (10 people). I've been given a new project which has complex and poorly documented requirements, and I've been asked to speak to my boss (who is a company director) before I begin work so he can show me what to do. I did contact him, asking him to help me, and he said he would but the appointed time passed and I heard nothing.
We are spread over three sites and the promised monthly company meeting at the head office has only happened once: in January. We may get one in April, if we are lucky. I work at a site with only 3 people including me: we are all new starters and one guy is the project manager.
We have a lot of complex projects for customers in very varying different areas ranging from manufacturing and distribution to service industries. The developers also have to provide support (helpdesk) for the applications and we are currently very busy, recruiting for 1-2 members of staff as we are struggling with the support and taking on the new jobs.
In my previous job I worked for 3.5 years for a disorganised company with a boss who was often unavailable for days and who did things in a chaotic manner with no structure whatsoever. I left because I got so frustrated by the environment there, starting in my new workplace in December 2018.
I am in my mid 40s and have worked in IT for 15 years, 5 of those in programming. The issue is that my background is in desktop applications, and in this new job I have had to learn web development (CSS, ASP, HTML, Razor views etc etc etc). I have found this surprisingly challenging and despite my educational background (PhD) I've been quite slow in comparison to the experienced developers.
My personal life is chaotic as my teenage son has autism/ADHD, I have depression, my teenage daughter has anxiety/depression and my wife has unspecified/undiagnosed mental health issues. She has mentioned feeling suicidal to me several times and gets no real help. The environment at home is physically and mentally chaotic, with frequent crises and lots of extreme stress.
I sent this email to my boss this morning, after trying twice unsuccessfully to phone him. I CC'd four other people: three company directors and the project manager in my office. The purpose of CC'ing them was because previously I have complained to the boss about lack of communication (no company meeting as promised) and what I got was a frustrated verbal reply about them being busy. I wanted to make sure something actually gets done about these issues.
>
> Hi X
>
>
> I can't log in to Visual Studio again, so I can't do my job. The same situation existed yesterday. I struggled for maybe an hour
> myself trying to work out the problem and when I contacted you, you
> were able to say that it is due to the payment problem which will
> hopefully be resolved today. It hasn't, which I find quite worrying.
> I am filling in the time watching tutorials on CSS and reading the
> spec/documents for \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
>
>
> I was asked to look at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
> and the plan that I was given was that you would get back to me, but
> that's not happened. In fact there has been more than one occasion
> when you said you would get back to me and you have not been able to -
> the time just goes by without any contact. I guess due to the volume
> of support that you are all very very busy up at (head office). You
> have my sympathy and its great that we are recruiting more people. I
> am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication. Its also frustrating that I want to be
> productive and help you out by completing some of these tasks, but I
> can't.
>
>
> Kind regards,
> Phil
>
>
>
He replied with:
>
> Hi Phil,
>
>
> The problem with your Visual Studio account was fixed yesterday, you should have received an email which I have now
> resent. If you still haven't received it please let me know. I will be
> in the (your) office tomorrow morning, see you then.
>
>
> Regards,
> X
>
>
>
He is not a cheerful person and I am anticipating a bit of a backlash when we see him tomorrow. My question is this: **was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?** Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
**Edit:** I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not being fired.
Edit: The boss agreed with me that what I wrote was unprofessional and that it was a mistake to involve other people, particularly a non-director. He said it looked like I was trying to 'throw him under a bus'. I said it wasn't my intention to challenge his authority and that I let personal stress (without going into detail) cloud my judgement. He apologised to me for the lack of communication but said he is overworked. In future he said if I need to rant, rant to HIM and don't involve others - except in the rare case when I can't get the right answer out of him (which is unlikely to ever happen). He even said I can discuss personal stuff with him if I need a listening ear. It looks like the boss is a LOT nicer man than I thought. So it is a strong unofficial reprimand. I am embarrassed by my lack of professionalism but the only thing I can do moving forward is to ensure I act professionally in future and this will just be forgotten as a 'blip'. | 2019/03/19 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/131948",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/101531/"
] | Your frustration level is pretty high right now, and it definitely came out in that email. You should probably seriously consider if working in a small company on projects with complex and poorly documented requirements while learning new technology is something you should be doing. Some people thrive on that kind of nebulous situation, but most people don't. With your home situation, that is probably not a good fit.
I also have a son with autism/ADHD and that means I sometimes come in late, sometimes I leave early, and sometimes I need to work from home. Sometimes I even have a full-blown crisis to deal with. I discussed this with my managers before I agreed to be hired, because I wanted to be clear that my home life would sometimes require adjustments to my work schedule. It has never been a problem for me. If you haven't had that conversation with your employer, you need to have it now. You need to have that conversation will all your future employers.
The next thing you should do is go to your boss and ask for some period of time where you can focus on learning the stuff you need to know. I'd ask for a week or two, where you can put everything else on hold and spend your time doing tutorials, watching videos, taking online classes to learn CSS, ASP, HTML, Razor views etc etc etc. If you can fully focus on that and exclude all other responsibilities, it's likely that you will get yourself up to speed, your frustration will decrease, and the project can be successful again. If your boss says no, then I think the writing is on the wall. It's time to move on. | I disagree with the other answers here. You absolutely did the right thing. The history you recounted demonstrated a clear pattern of behavior of ignoring your issues - promised meetings that don't take place, phone calls that aren't returned, etc. And if you'd followed the advice here, there would have been no consequence for your latest email to be ignored again, so it would have been. I'm a little bit older than you and what I've learned (through lots of attempts at taking the passive approach as suggested here) is that no good comes (for you) from always seeking to put others before yourself who also seek to put themselves before others.
You only got a response because you shone a light on the poor job performance of your boss. Do you honestly believe he sent an email and it somehow got lost? Of course not. He's covering his behind for never having actually sent the email. Do you believe he's going to be at your office the next day by coincidence? Again, no; he's doing that to save face and make himself look like he's on top of a situation he's completely ignored.
You did indeed do the right thing. Your boss clearly has his own interests at heart rather than your own. Loyalty to one's commander comes with the understanding that the commander will provide everything their subordinates need to the best of their ability, never throw them under the bus, be quick to take blame and slow to take credit, etc. Your boss seems to have left your location to fend for themselves without even providing you working tools to do so.
Don't worry about getting fired - you're too short-handed as is and losing an employee will look bad for your boss right now. That's without considering what he fears will come up in the exit interview. And now he's on notice that he can't walk all over you - things will improve now. Heck, maybe you're the most qualified to be the project manager there. :-) |
131,948 | I am a new (3 months) software developer in a smallish software company (10 people). I've been given a new project which has complex and poorly documented requirements, and I've been asked to speak to my boss (who is a company director) before I begin work so he can show me what to do. I did contact him, asking him to help me, and he said he would but the appointed time passed and I heard nothing.
We are spread over three sites and the promised monthly company meeting at the head office has only happened once: in January. We may get one in April, if we are lucky. I work at a site with only 3 people including me: we are all new starters and one guy is the project manager.
We have a lot of complex projects for customers in very varying different areas ranging from manufacturing and distribution to service industries. The developers also have to provide support (helpdesk) for the applications and we are currently very busy, recruiting for 1-2 members of staff as we are struggling with the support and taking on the new jobs.
In my previous job I worked for 3.5 years for a disorganised company with a boss who was often unavailable for days and who did things in a chaotic manner with no structure whatsoever. I left because I got so frustrated by the environment there, starting in my new workplace in December 2018.
I am in my mid 40s and have worked in IT for 15 years, 5 of those in programming. The issue is that my background is in desktop applications, and in this new job I have had to learn web development (CSS, ASP, HTML, Razor views etc etc etc). I have found this surprisingly challenging and despite my educational background (PhD) I've been quite slow in comparison to the experienced developers.
My personal life is chaotic as my teenage son has autism/ADHD, I have depression, my teenage daughter has anxiety/depression and my wife has unspecified/undiagnosed mental health issues. She has mentioned feeling suicidal to me several times and gets no real help. The environment at home is physically and mentally chaotic, with frequent crises and lots of extreme stress.
I sent this email to my boss this morning, after trying twice unsuccessfully to phone him. I CC'd four other people: three company directors and the project manager in my office. The purpose of CC'ing them was because previously I have complained to the boss about lack of communication (no company meeting as promised) and what I got was a frustrated verbal reply about them being busy. I wanted to make sure something actually gets done about these issues.
>
> Hi X
>
>
> I can't log in to Visual Studio again, so I can't do my job. The same situation existed yesterday. I struggled for maybe an hour
> myself trying to work out the problem and when I contacted you, you
> were able to say that it is due to the payment problem which will
> hopefully be resolved today. It hasn't, which I find quite worrying.
> I am filling in the time watching tutorials on CSS and reading the
> spec/documents for \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
>
>
> I was asked to look at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
> and the plan that I was given was that you would get back to me, but
> that's not happened. In fact there has been more than one occasion
> when you said you would get back to me and you have not been able to -
> the time just goes by without any contact. I guess due to the volume
> of support that you are all very very busy up at (head office). You
> have my sympathy and its great that we are recruiting more people. I
> am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication. Its also frustrating that I want to be
> productive and help you out by completing some of these tasks, but I
> can't.
>
>
> Kind regards,
> Phil
>
>
>
He replied with:
>
> Hi Phil,
>
>
> The problem with your Visual Studio account was fixed yesterday, you should have received an email which I have now
> resent. If you still haven't received it please let me know. I will be
> in the (your) office tomorrow morning, see you then.
>
>
> Regards,
> X
>
>
>
He is not a cheerful person and I am anticipating a bit of a backlash when we see him tomorrow. My question is this: **was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?** Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
**Edit:** I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not being fired.
Edit: The boss agreed with me that what I wrote was unprofessional and that it was a mistake to involve other people, particularly a non-director. He said it looked like I was trying to 'throw him under a bus'. I said it wasn't my intention to challenge his authority and that I let personal stress (without going into detail) cloud my judgement. He apologised to me for the lack of communication but said he is overworked. In future he said if I need to rant, rant to HIM and don't involve others - except in the rare case when I can't get the right answer out of him (which is unlikely to ever happen). He even said I can discuss personal stuff with him if I need a listening ear. It looks like the boss is a LOT nicer man than I thought. So it is a strong unofficial reprimand. I am embarrassed by my lack of professionalism but the only thing I can do moving forward is to ensure I act professionally in future and this will just be forgotten as a 'blip'. | 2019/03/19 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/131948",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/101531/"
] | >
> was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?
>
>
>
Yes, you were wrong.
It's not clear what your goal was in copying others, but attempting to embarrass or undermine your boss is not a good career move.
>
> Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
>
>
>
Not maybe.
You clearly should have sent it to him directly. Even better would have been to call him and talk with him directly.
If you wish to succeed in this company, you are going to have to find a way to work well with others, including your boss. Use your face-to-face meeting tomorrow as an opportunity to discuss ways to better communicate. Talk about regular one-on-one meetings. Talk about when you should expect him to be available and when you shouldn't. And talk about what you should do when you need help immediately.
You should come out of the meeting with a clearer understand of what communication medium to use in each circumstance. And hopefully, you will know when it is necessary to include others and when it isn't.
>
> I am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication.
>
>
>
Think long and hard before your meeting and decide how much you want to talk about your home situation with your boss.
Unless you are on very good and friendly terms with your boss, the general advice is to leave home issues at home. I have had bosses that I would be okay with sharing my situation, and other bosses where I absolutely wouldn't share.
Consider how you want your boss to react if you share what you shared here in your question. Do you want him to be sympathetic and cut you some slack? Do you want him to change his behavior so that you aren't so anxious?
The big fear should be that your boss starts to think that you have so much on your plate outside of work that you aren't up to handling this job.
Only you have any insight into how your boss might react. Try to be prepared, think it through ahead of time, proceed with caution.
Good luck.
>
> I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the
> email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need
> to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not
> being fired.
>
>
>
That's good news. Hopefully you can both now put this behind you, and find a way toward better communication going forward. | Your frustration level is pretty high right now, and it definitely came out in that email. You should probably seriously consider if working in a small company on projects with complex and poorly documented requirements while learning new technology is something you should be doing. Some people thrive on that kind of nebulous situation, but most people don't. With your home situation, that is probably not a good fit.
I also have a son with autism/ADHD and that means I sometimes come in late, sometimes I leave early, and sometimes I need to work from home. Sometimes I even have a full-blown crisis to deal with. I discussed this with my managers before I agreed to be hired, because I wanted to be clear that my home life would sometimes require adjustments to my work schedule. It has never been a problem for me. If you haven't had that conversation with your employer, you need to have it now. You need to have that conversation will all your future employers.
The next thing you should do is go to your boss and ask for some period of time where you can focus on learning the stuff you need to know. I'd ask for a week or two, where you can put everything else on hold and spend your time doing tutorials, watching videos, taking online classes to learn CSS, ASP, HTML, Razor views etc etc etc. If you can fully focus on that and exclude all other responsibilities, it's likely that you will get yourself up to speed, your frustration will decrease, and the project can be successful again. If your boss says no, then I think the writing is on the wall. It's time to move on. |
131,948 | I am a new (3 months) software developer in a smallish software company (10 people). I've been given a new project which has complex and poorly documented requirements, and I've been asked to speak to my boss (who is a company director) before I begin work so he can show me what to do. I did contact him, asking him to help me, and he said he would but the appointed time passed and I heard nothing.
We are spread over three sites and the promised monthly company meeting at the head office has only happened once: in January. We may get one in April, if we are lucky. I work at a site with only 3 people including me: we are all new starters and one guy is the project manager.
We have a lot of complex projects for customers in very varying different areas ranging from manufacturing and distribution to service industries. The developers also have to provide support (helpdesk) for the applications and we are currently very busy, recruiting for 1-2 members of staff as we are struggling with the support and taking on the new jobs.
In my previous job I worked for 3.5 years for a disorganised company with a boss who was often unavailable for days and who did things in a chaotic manner with no structure whatsoever. I left because I got so frustrated by the environment there, starting in my new workplace in December 2018.
I am in my mid 40s and have worked in IT for 15 years, 5 of those in programming. The issue is that my background is in desktop applications, and in this new job I have had to learn web development (CSS, ASP, HTML, Razor views etc etc etc). I have found this surprisingly challenging and despite my educational background (PhD) I've been quite slow in comparison to the experienced developers.
My personal life is chaotic as my teenage son has autism/ADHD, I have depression, my teenage daughter has anxiety/depression and my wife has unspecified/undiagnosed mental health issues. She has mentioned feeling suicidal to me several times and gets no real help. The environment at home is physically and mentally chaotic, with frequent crises and lots of extreme stress.
I sent this email to my boss this morning, after trying twice unsuccessfully to phone him. I CC'd four other people: three company directors and the project manager in my office. The purpose of CC'ing them was because previously I have complained to the boss about lack of communication (no company meeting as promised) and what I got was a frustrated verbal reply about them being busy. I wanted to make sure something actually gets done about these issues.
>
> Hi X
>
>
> I can't log in to Visual Studio again, so I can't do my job. The same situation existed yesterday. I struggled for maybe an hour
> myself trying to work out the problem and when I contacted you, you
> were able to say that it is due to the payment problem which will
> hopefully be resolved today. It hasn't, which I find quite worrying.
> I am filling in the time watching tutorials on CSS and reading the
> spec/documents for \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
>
>
> I was asked to look at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
> and the plan that I was given was that you would get back to me, but
> that's not happened. In fact there has been more than one occasion
> when you said you would get back to me and you have not been able to -
> the time just goes by without any contact. I guess due to the volume
> of support that you are all very very busy up at (head office). You
> have my sympathy and its great that we are recruiting more people. I
> am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication. Its also frustrating that I want to be
> productive and help you out by completing some of these tasks, but I
> can't.
>
>
> Kind regards,
> Phil
>
>
>
He replied with:
>
> Hi Phil,
>
>
> The problem with your Visual Studio account was fixed yesterday, you should have received an email which I have now
> resent. If you still haven't received it please let me know. I will be
> in the (your) office tomorrow morning, see you then.
>
>
> Regards,
> X
>
>
>
He is not a cheerful person and I am anticipating a bit of a backlash when we see him tomorrow. My question is this: **was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?** Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
**Edit:** I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not being fired.
Edit: The boss agreed with me that what I wrote was unprofessional and that it was a mistake to involve other people, particularly a non-director. He said it looked like I was trying to 'throw him under a bus'. I said it wasn't my intention to challenge his authority and that I let personal stress (without going into detail) cloud my judgement. He apologised to me for the lack of communication but said he is overworked. In future he said if I need to rant, rant to HIM and don't involve others - except in the rare case when I can't get the right answer out of him (which is unlikely to ever happen). He even said I can discuss personal stuff with him if I need a listening ear. It looks like the boss is a LOT nicer man than I thought. So it is a strong unofficial reprimand. I am embarrassed by my lack of professionalism but the only thing I can do moving forward is to ensure I act professionally in future and this will just be forgotten as a 'blip'. | 2019/03/19 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/131948",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/101531/"
] | >
> was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?
>
>
>
Yes, you were wrong.
It's not clear what your goal was in copying others, but attempting to embarrass or undermine your boss is not a good career move.
>
> Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
>
>
>
Not maybe.
You clearly should have sent it to him directly. Even better would have been to call him and talk with him directly.
If you wish to succeed in this company, you are going to have to find a way to work well with others, including your boss. Use your face-to-face meeting tomorrow as an opportunity to discuss ways to better communicate. Talk about regular one-on-one meetings. Talk about when you should expect him to be available and when you shouldn't. And talk about what you should do when you need help immediately.
You should come out of the meeting with a clearer understand of what communication medium to use in each circumstance. And hopefully, you will know when it is necessary to include others and when it isn't.
>
> I am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication.
>
>
>
Think long and hard before your meeting and decide how much you want to talk about your home situation with your boss.
Unless you are on very good and friendly terms with your boss, the general advice is to leave home issues at home. I have had bosses that I would be okay with sharing my situation, and other bosses where I absolutely wouldn't share.
Consider how you want your boss to react if you share what you shared here in your question. Do you want him to be sympathetic and cut you some slack? Do you want him to change his behavior so that you aren't so anxious?
The big fear should be that your boss starts to think that you have so much on your plate outside of work that you aren't up to handling this job.
Only you have any insight into how your boss might react. Try to be prepared, think it through ahead of time, proceed with caution.
Good luck.
>
> I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the
> email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need
> to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not
> being fired.
>
>
>
That's good news. Hopefully you can both now put this behind you, and find a way toward better communication going forward. | >
> was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?
>
>
>
**yes**.. I understand that you were likely frustrated but CC-ing others in to what is basically a rant at your boss is unwise.
It absolutely comes across as you wanting to air your grievance and annoyance with him in front of others and as an attempt to "shame" him in the process. Giving your relatively new boss a public "Reason you suck" speech is not only unprofessional but can be rather career limiting!
I'd suggest apologizing to your boss next time you speak to him - explain that you were just a frustrated that day and you let it get the better of you. |
131,948 | I am a new (3 months) software developer in a smallish software company (10 people). I've been given a new project which has complex and poorly documented requirements, and I've been asked to speak to my boss (who is a company director) before I begin work so he can show me what to do. I did contact him, asking him to help me, and he said he would but the appointed time passed and I heard nothing.
We are spread over three sites and the promised monthly company meeting at the head office has only happened once: in January. We may get one in April, if we are lucky. I work at a site with only 3 people including me: we are all new starters and one guy is the project manager.
We have a lot of complex projects for customers in very varying different areas ranging from manufacturing and distribution to service industries. The developers also have to provide support (helpdesk) for the applications and we are currently very busy, recruiting for 1-2 members of staff as we are struggling with the support and taking on the new jobs.
In my previous job I worked for 3.5 years for a disorganised company with a boss who was often unavailable for days and who did things in a chaotic manner with no structure whatsoever. I left because I got so frustrated by the environment there, starting in my new workplace in December 2018.
I am in my mid 40s and have worked in IT for 15 years, 5 of those in programming. The issue is that my background is in desktop applications, and in this new job I have had to learn web development (CSS, ASP, HTML, Razor views etc etc etc). I have found this surprisingly challenging and despite my educational background (PhD) I've been quite slow in comparison to the experienced developers.
My personal life is chaotic as my teenage son has autism/ADHD, I have depression, my teenage daughter has anxiety/depression and my wife has unspecified/undiagnosed mental health issues. She has mentioned feeling suicidal to me several times and gets no real help. The environment at home is physically and mentally chaotic, with frequent crises and lots of extreme stress.
I sent this email to my boss this morning, after trying twice unsuccessfully to phone him. I CC'd four other people: three company directors and the project manager in my office. The purpose of CC'ing them was because previously I have complained to the boss about lack of communication (no company meeting as promised) and what I got was a frustrated verbal reply about them being busy. I wanted to make sure something actually gets done about these issues.
>
> Hi X
>
>
> I can't log in to Visual Studio again, so I can't do my job. The same situation existed yesterday. I struggled for maybe an hour
> myself trying to work out the problem and when I contacted you, you
> were able to say that it is due to the payment problem which will
> hopefully be resolved today. It hasn't, which I find quite worrying.
> I am filling in the time watching tutorials on CSS and reading the
> spec/documents for \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
>
>
> I was asked to look at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
> and the plan that I was given was that you would get back to me, but
> that's not happened. In fact there has been more than one occasion
> when you said you would get back to me and you have not been able to -
> the time just goes by without any contact. I guess due to the volume
> of support that you are all very very busy up at (head office). You
> have my sympathy and its great that we are recruiting more people. I
> am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication. Its also frustrating that I want to be
> productive and help you out by completing some of these tasks, but I
> can't.
>
>
> Kind regards,
> Phil
>
>
>
He replied with:
>
> Hi Phil,
>
>
> The problem with your Visual Studio account was fixed yesterday, you should have received an email which I have now
> resent. If you still haven't received it please let me know. I will be
> in the (your) office tomorrow morning, see you then.
>
>
> Regards,
> X
>
>
>
He is not a cheerful person and I am anticipating a bit of a backlash when we see him tomorrow. My question is this: **was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?** Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
**Edit:** I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not being fired.
Edit: The boss agreed with me that what I wrote was unprofessional and that it was a mistake to involve other people, particularly a non-director. He said it looked like I was trying to 'throw him under a bus'. I said it wasn't my intention to challenge his authority and that I let personal stress (without going into detail) cloud my judgement. He apologised to me for the lack of communication but said he is overworked. In future he said if I need to rant, rant to HIM and don't involve others - except in the rare case when I can't get the right answer out of him (which is unlikely to ever happen). He even said I can discuss personal stuff with him if I need a listening ear. It looks like the boss is a LOT nicer man than I thought. So it is a strong unofficial reprimand. I am embarrassed by my lack of professionalism but the only thing I can do moving forward is to ensure I act professionally in future and this will just be forgotten as a 'blip'. | 2019/03/19 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/131948",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/101531/"
] | >
> was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?
>
>
>
Yes, you were wrong.
It's not clear what your goal was in copying others, but attempting to embarrass or undermine your boss is not a good career move.
>
> Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
>
>
>
Not maybe.
You clearly should have sent it to him directly. Even better would have been to call him and talk with him directly.
If you wish to succeed in this company, you are going to have to find a way to work well with others, including your boss. Use your face-to-face meeting tomorrow as an opportunity to discuss ways to better communicate. Talk about regular one-on-one meetings. Talk about when you should expect him to be available and when you shouldn't. And talk about what you should do when you need help immediately.
You should come out of the meeting with a clearer understand of what communication medium to use in each circumstance. And hopefully, you will know when it is necessary to include others and when it isn't.
>
> I am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication.
>
>
>
Think long and hard before your meeting and decide how much you want to talk about your home situation with your boss.
Unless you are on very good and friendly terms with your boss, the general advice is to leave home issues at home. I have had bosses that I would be okay with sharing my situation, and other bosses where I absolutely wouldn't share.
Consider how you want your boss to react if you share what you shared here in your question. Do you want him to be sympathetic and cut you some slack? Do you want him to change his behavior so that you aren't so anxious?
The big fear should be that your boss starts to think that you have so much on your plate outside of work that you aren't up to handling this job.
Only you have any insight into how your boss might react. Try to be prepared, think it through ahead of time, proceed with caution.
Good luck.
>
> I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the
> email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need
> to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not
> being fired.
>
>
>
That's good news. Hopefully you can both now put this behind you, and find a way toward better communication going forward. | It is not the best thing to do (actually, it was quite bad), but it is not a career-ending mistake provided you learn from this mistake and not make it a habit.
In these kinds of situations (i.e. something not working), you should:
* ask verbally (your colleagues or your boss) to whom you should report the problem in order to get support;
* keep in contact with the support person until the problem is solved;
* if the contact person does not want to help, notify your boss;
* if your boss does not want to help, notify directors.
**NOTE:** things take time, there might be many things in need to be fixed at the same time etc. **Do not assume** that if your problem was not fixed in XX time, then somebody does not want to help.
Actually, *"does not want to help"* usually means that the person tells you something along the meaning of: "Go away, I will not help you."
---
>
> My question is this: **was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email**? Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
>
>
>
You **were wrong**, you did not follow the rules of escalation properly. You should have sent it directly to your boss first. Usually you send copies of an e-mail 2-3 times (at least 1-3 days apart, depending on urgency), before adding more people to CC.
>
> I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not being fired.
>
>
>
It is good that you two had a discussion, that you apologized, and that you will not be fired. When you will talk face-to-face apologize again, and ask him if he is willing to help you better understand how to handle these kinds of situations in the future - hot the escalation process works in the company.
I know it is difficult, but you need to "forget" the emotions from home when you are at work. One mistake can be forgive. Maybe the second, and if you are lucky, the third. After that, you should not have much hope.
**Bottom line:** you survived this experience, and you should learn as much as possible from it.
If it is not a "secret", please tell us the final outcome, when you have it. I am surely curious about it. |
131,948 | I am a new (3 months) software developer in a smallish software company (10 people). I've been given a new project which has complex and poorly documented requirements, and I've been asked to speak to my boss (who is a company director) before I begin work so he can show me what to do. I did contact him, asking him to help me, and he said he would but the appointed time passed and I heard nothing.
We are spread over three sites and the promised monthly company meeting at the head office has only happened once: in January. We may get one in April, if we are lucky. I work at a site with only 3 people including me: we are all new starters and one guy is the project manager.
We have a lot of complex projects for customers in very varying different areas ranging from manufacturing and distribution to service industries. The developers also have to provide support (helpdesk) for the applications and we are currently very busy, recruiting for 1-2 members of staff as we are struggling with the support and taking on the new jobs.
In my previous job I worked for 3.5 years for a disorganised company with a boss who was often unavailable for days and who did things in a chaotic manner with no structure whatsoever. I left because I got so frustrated by the environment there, starting in my new workplace in December 2018.
I am in my mid 40s and have worked in IT for 15 years, 5 of those in programming. The issue is that my background is in desktop applications, and in this new job I have had to learn web development (CSS, ASP, HTML, Razor views etc etc etc). I have found this surprisingly challenging and despite my educational background (PhD) I've been quite slow in comparison to the experienced developers.
My personal life is chaotic as my teenage son has autism/ADHD, I have depression, my teenage daughter has anxiety/depression and my wife has unspecified/undiagnosed mental health issues. She has mentioned feeling suicidal to me several times and gets no real help. The environment at home is physically and mentally chaotic, with frequent crises and lots of extreme stress.
I sent this email to my boss this morning, after trying twice unsuccessfully to phone him. I CC'd four other people: three company directors and the project manager in my office. The purpose of CC'ing them was because previously I have complained to the boss about lack of communication (no company meeting as promised) and what I got was a frustrated verbal reply about them being busy. I wanted to make sure something actually gets done about these issues.
>
> Hi X
>
>
> I can't log in to Visual Studio again, so I can't do my job. The same situation existed yesterday. I struggled for maybe an hour
> myself trying to work out the problem and when I contacted you, you
> were able to say that it is due to the payment problem which will
> hopefully be resolved today. It hasn't, which I find quite worrying.
> I am filling in the time watching tutorials on CSS and reading the
> spec/documents for \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
>
>
> I was asked to look at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
> and the plan that I was given was that you would get back to me, but
> that's not happened. In fact there has been more than one occasion
> when you said you would get back to me and you have not been able to -
> the time just goes by without any contact. I guess due to the volume
> of support that you are all very very busy up at (head office). You
> have my sympathy and its great that we are recruiting more people. I
> am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication. Its also frustrating that I want to be
> productive and help you out by completing some of these tasks, but I
> can't.
>
>
> Kind regards,
> Phil
>
>
>
He replied with:
>
> Hi Phil,
>
>
> The problem with your Visual Studio account was fixed yesterday, you should have received an email which I have now
> resent. If you still haven't received it please let me know. I will be
> in the (your) office tomorrow morning, see you then.
>
>
> Regards,
> X
>
>
>
He is not a cheerful person and I am anticipating a bit of a backlash when we see him tomorrow. My question is this: **was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?** Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
**Edit:** I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not being fired.
Edit: The boss agreed with me that what I wrote was unprofessional and that it was a mistake to involve other people, particularly a non-director. He said it looked like I was trying to 'throw him under a bus'. I said it wasn't my intention to challenge his authority and that I let personal stress (without going into detail) cloud my judgement. He apologised to me for the lack of communication but said he is overworked. In future he said if I need to rant, rant to HIM and don't involve others - except in the rare case when I can't get the right answer out of him (which is unlikely to ever happen). He even said I can discuss personal stuff with him if I need a listening ear. It looks like the boss is a LOT nicer man than I thought. So it is a strong unofficial reprimand. I am embarrassed by my lack of professionalism but the only thing I can do moving forward is to ensure I act professionally in future and this will just be forgotten as a 'blip'. | 2019/03/19 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/131948",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/101531/"
] | It's so easy to parse the world in terms of justice—I have done so many times, myself. And if we are parsing the world that way, when someone does something that we perceive affects us negatively, it feels like an injustice. Suddenly a part of our brain says we have the high moral ground. Suddenly we feel like actions that expose, criticize, and put a very fine point on the issue are helpful and reasonable.
Unfortunately, most of the time we have not actually suffered a truly serious injustice. In the case of your employment, you are being paid to be valuable to the company. If things outside your control truly caused you to be unable to render that value, then you are blameless, so long as you communicated about it and asked for help. If you've done your job of doing all that you can to do your job, and you still can't do your job, then effectively, the company is paying you to sit around not doing your job, which is within its rights.
To start changing this way of thinking, I suggest that you read the book [*Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It*](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B014DUR7L2). Especially pay attention to the part of his story where he worked in a suicide hotline call center, and make a mental note to yourself: *all people* need you to treat them as if they are at-risk, and need your soft skills more than your brutal, hard, sharp logic. If logic is the job at hand, it still has to come after your attention to the people.
In the case of your boss, if you really couldn't do your job, it was time to just message him—what you had done, how you were stuck, and how you were attempting to proceed. If you see a pattern of not responding, then it is up to you to address it with the person who isn't responding.
And before you ever escalate again, you need to do a last-ditch communication (just like in the book) along the lines of "have you decided to not answer?" Perhaps much better in this case, "should I try to solve this problem on my own?" Make it a question where "no" is the answer you want. You want him to answer, you want his help.
As other answers have already said, please consider that you almost certainly need more emotional support. Do you have a big and strong enough support network? You are being pulled apart at home. You need people to talk to and share your problems and get advice and sympathy. Find a support group, or friends, or a therapist, or use your company's Employee Assistance Program to call someone, or go to a church and ask to talk to someone. Do *something*. When we feel like we're at the end of our rope, all of our random life circumstances can start to take on the sense of a life-and-death situation, even when they are nowhere near that. This puts us at risk of acting ineffectively or maladaptively, either of which will only hurt us more and push us closer to the end of our rope. You've got to take this seriously.
When you communicate with your boss, or anyone at your work, try to speak in these ways:
* "X came to my attention and I'm worried that Y might happen. Do you think it's worth investigating further?" (NOT "if someone doesn't do something about Y immediately the company will burn down tomorrow.")
* "I feel X about this situation that's happened a few times. My attempts to solve it so far have consisted of Y & Z, but they haven't appeared to work yet. Do you have any suggestions about how to proceed? This is affecting my work."
* "It seems like you X (or it seems like you Y)", and try to reflect back something that the person will really connect with. For your boss, it could be something like "it seems like you are really busy over there. Things must be crazy. Is there some way that I can get help with Z without distracting you from your important work?"
* Always ask "how ..." or "what ..." and don't start with who, when, where, and most especially NOT *why*. "How would you like me to proceed?" "What could I do to move forward?" "What do you think might be stopping this from working?" "Do you have ideas on how to solve this?"
It may seem unnatural, or unpleasant, but it is almost a guarantee that if you learn to start empathizing with people, making soft observations (e.g., "it seems like you *feeling*" instead of "you always do *negative interpretation*"), learning to synchronize with people, and so on, as I have briefly outlined, you will have far more success in your job and in life as well.
How do I know? Yeah, experience is the best teacher. The more I learn to be soft and not pushy, intense, accusatory, and so on, the better results I get in life. | I disagree with the other answers here. You absolutely did the right thing. The history you recounted demonstrated a clear pattern of behavior of ignoring your issues - promised meetings that don't take place, phone calls that aren't returned, etc. And if you'd followed the advice here, there would have been no consequence for your latest email to be ignored again, so it would have been. I'm a little bit older than you and what I've learned (through lots of attempts at taking the passive approach as suggested here) is that no good comes (for you) from always seeking to put others before yourself who also seek to put themselves before others.
You only got a response because you shone a light on the poor job performance of your boss. Do you honestly believe he sent an email and it somehow got lost? Of course not. He's covering his behind for never having actually sent the email. Do you believe he's going to be at your office the next day by coincidence? Again, no; he's doing that to save face and make himself look like he's on top of a situation he's completely ignored.
You did indeed do the right thing. Your boss clearly has his own interests at heart rather than your own. Loyalty to one's commander comes with the understanding that the commander will provide everything their subordinates need to the best of their ability, never throw them under the bus, be quick to take blame and slow to take credit, etc. Your boss seems to have left your location to fend for themselves without even providing you working tools to do so.
Don't worry about getting fired - you're too short-handed as is and losing an employee will look bad for your boss right now. That's without considering what he fears will come up in the exit interview. And now he's on notice that he can't walk all over you - things will improve now. Heck, maybe you're the most qualified to be the project manager there. :-) |
131,948 | I am a new (3 months) software developer in a smallish software company (10 people). I've been given a new project which has complex and poorly documented requirements, and I've been asked to speak to my boss (who is a company director) before I begin work so he can show me what to do. I did contact him, asking him to help me, and he said he would but the appointed time passed and I heard nothing.
We are spread over three sites and the promised monthly company meeting at the head office has only happened once: in January. We may get one in April, if we are lucky. I work at a site with only 3 people including me: we are all new starters and one guy is the project manager.
We have a lot of complex projects for customers in very varying different areas ranging from manufacturing and distribution to service industries. The developers also have to provide support (helpdesk) for the applications and we are currently very busy, recruiting for 1-2 members of staff as we are struggling with the support and taking on the new jobs.
In my previous job I worked for 3.5 years for a disorganised company with a boss who was often unavailable for days and who did things in a chaotic manner with no structure whatsoever. I left because I got so frustrated by the environment there, starting in my new workplace in December 2018.
I am in my mid 40s and have worked in IT for 15 years, 5 of those in programming. The issue is that my background is in desktop applications, and in this new job I have had to learn web development (CSS, ASP, HTML, Razor views etc etc etc). I have found this surprisingly challenging and despite my educational background (PhD) I've been quite slow in comparison to the experienced developers.
My personal life is chaotic as my teenage son has autism/ADHD, I have depression, my teenage daughter has anxiety/depression and my wife has unspecified/undiagnosed mental health issues. She has mentioned feeling suicidal to me several times and gets no real help. The environment at home is physically and mentally chaotic, with frequent crises and lots of extreme stress.
I sent this email to my boss this morning, after trying twice unsuccessfully to phone him. I CC'd four other people: three company directors and the project manager in my office. The purpose of CC'ing them was because previously I have complained to the boss about lack of communication (no company meeting as promised) and what I got was a frustrated verbal reply about them being busy. I wanted to make sure something actually gets done about these issues.
>
> Hi X
>
>
> I can't log in to Visual Studio again, so I can't do my job. The same situation existed yesterday. I struggled for maybe an hour
> myself trying to work out the problem and when I contacted you, you
> were able to say that it is due to the payment problem which will
> hopefully be resolved today. It hasn't, which I find quite worrying.
> I am filling in the time watching tutorials on CSS and reading the
> spec/documents for \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
>
>
> I was asked to look at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
> and the plan that I was given was that you would get back to me, but
> that's not happened. In fact there has been more than one occasion
> when you said you would get back to me and you have not been able to -
> the time just goes by without any contact. I guess due to the volume
> of support that you are all very very busy up at (head office). You
> have my sympathy and its great that we are recruiting more people. I
> am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication. Its also frustrating that I want to be
> productive and help you out by completing some of these tasks, but I
> can't.
>
>
> Kind regards,
> Phil
>
>
>
He replied with:
>
> Hi Phil,
>
>
> The problem with your Visual Studio account was fixed yesterday, you should have received an email which I have now
> resent. If you still haven't received it please let me know. I will be
> in the (your) office tomorrow morning, see you then.
>
>
> Regards,
> X
>
>
>
He is not a cheerful person and I am anticipating a bit of a backlash when we see him tomorrow. My question is this: **was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?** Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
**Edit:** I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not being fired.
Edit: The boss agreed with me that what I wrote was unprofessional and that it was a mistake to involve other people, particularly a non-director. He said it looked like I was trying to 'throw him under a bus'. I said it wasn't my intention to challenge his authority and that I let personal stress (without going into detail) cloud my judgement. He apologised to me for the lack of communication but said he is overworked. In future he said if I need to rant, rant to HIM and don't involve others - except in the rare case when I can't get the right answer out of him (which is unlikely to ever happen). He even said I can discuss personal stuff with him if I need a listening ear. It looks like the boss is a LOT nicer man than I thought. So it is a strong unofficial reprimand. I am embarrassed by my lack of professionalism but the only thing I can do moving forward is to ensure I act professionally in future and this will just be forgotten as a 'blip'. | 2019/03/19 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/131948",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/101531/"
] | Your frustration level is pretty high right now, and it definitely came out in that email. You should probably seriously consider if working in a small company on projects with complex and poorly documented requirements while learning new technology is something you should be doing. Some people thrive on that kind of nebulous situation, but most people don't. With your home situation, that is probably not a good fit.
I also have a son with autism/ADHD and that means I sometimes come in late, sometimes I leave early, and sometimes I need to work from home. Sometimes I even have a full-blown crisis to deal with. I discussed this with my managers before I agreed to be hired, because I wanted to be clear that my home life would sometimes require adjustments to my work schedule. It has never been a problem for me. If you haven't had that conversation with your employer, you need to have it now. You need to have that conversation will all your future employers.
The next thing you should do is go to your boss and ask for some period of time where you can focus on learning the stuff you need to know. I'd ask for a week or two, where you can put everything else on hold and spend your time doing tutorials, watching videos, taking online classes to learn CSS, ASP, HTML, Razor views etc etc etc. If you can fully focus on that and exclude all other responsibilities, it's likely that you will get yourself up to speed, your frustration will decrease, and the project can be successful again. If your boss says no, then I think the writing is on the wall. It's time to move on. | It's so easy to parse the world in terms of justice—I have done so many times, myself. And if we are parsing the world that way, when someone does something that we perceive affects us negatively, it feels like an injustice. Suddenly a part of our brain says we have the high moral ground. Suddenly we feel like actions that expose, criticize, and put a very fine point on the issue are helpful and reasonable.
Unfortunately, most of the time we have not actually suffered a truly serious injustice. In the case of your employment, you are being paid to be valuable to the company. If things outside your control truly caused you to be unable to render that value, then you are blameless, so long as you communicated about it and asked for help. If you've done your job of doing all that you can to do your job, and you still can't do your job, then effectively, the company is paying you to sit around not doing your job, which is within its rights.
To start changing this way of thinking, I suggest that you read the book [*Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It*](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B014DUR7L2). Especially pay attention to the part of his story where he worked in a suicide hotline call center, and make a mental note to yourself: *all people* need you to treat them as if they are at-risk, and need your soft skills more than your brutal, hard, sharp logic. If logic is the job at hand, it still has to come after your attention to the people.
In the case of your boss, if you really couldn't do your job, it was time to just message him—what you had done, how you were stuck, and how you were attempting to proceed. If you see a pattern of not responding, then it is up to you to address it with the person who isn't responding.
And before you ever escalate again, you need to do a last-ditch communication (just like in the book) along the lines of "have you decided to not answer?" Perhaps much better in this case, "should I try to solve this problem on my own?" Make it a question where "no" is the answer you want. You want him to answer, you want his help.
As other answers have already said, please consider that you almost certainly need more emotional support. Do you have a big and strong enough support network? You are being pulled apart at home. You need people to talk to and share your problems and get advice and sympathy. Find a support group, or friends, or a therapist, or use your company's Employee Assistance Program to call someone, or go to a church and ask to talk to someone. Do *something*. When we feel like we're at the end of our rope, all of our random life circumstances can start to take on the sense of a life-and-death situation, even when they are nowhere near that. This puts us at risk of acting ineffectively or maladaptively, either of which will only hurt us more and push us closer to the end of our rope. You've got to take this seriously.
When you communicate with your boss, or anyone at your work, try to speak in these ways:
* "X came to my attention and I'm worried that Y might happen. Do you think it's worth investigating further?" (NOT "if someone doesn't do something about Y immediately the company will burn down tomorrow.")
* "I feel X about this situation that's happened a few times. My attempts to solve it so far have consisted of Y & Z, but they haven't appeared to work yet. Do you have any suggestions about how to proceed? This is affecting my work."
* "It seems like you X (or it seems like you Y)", and try to reflect back something that the person will really connect with. For your boss, it could be something like "it seems like you are really busy over there. Things must be crazy. Is there some way that I can get help with Z without distracting you from your important work?"
* Always ask "how ..." or "what ..." and don't start with who, when, where, and most especially NOT *why*. "How would you like me to proceed?" "What could I do to move forward?" "What do you think might be stopping this from working?" "Do you have ideas on how to solve this?"
It may seem unnatural, or unpleasant, but it is almost a guarantee that if you learn to start empathizing with people, making soft observations (e.g., "it seems like you *feeling*" instead of "you always do *negative interpretation*"), learning to synchronize with people, and so on, as I have briefly outlined, you will have far more success in your job and in life as well.
How do I know? Yeah, experience is the best teacher. The more I learn to be soft and not pushy, intense, accusatory, and so on, the better results I get in life. |
131,948 | I am a new (3 months) software developer in a smallish software company (10 people). I've been given a new project which has complex and poorly documented requirements, and I've been asked to speak to my boss (who is a company director) before I begin work so he can show me what to do. I did contact him, asking him to help me, and he said he would but the appointed time passed and I heard nothing.
We are spread over three sites and the promised monthly company meeting at the head office has only happened once: in January. We may get one in April, if we are lucky. I work at a site with only 3 people including me: we are all new starters and one guy is the project manager.
We have a lot of complex projects for customers in very varying different areas ranging from manufacturing and distribution to service industries. The developers also have to provide support (helpdesk) for the applications and we are currently very busy, recruiting for 1-2 members of staff as we are struggling with the support and taking on the new jobs.
In my previous job I worked for 3.5 years for a disorganised company with a boss who was often unavailable for days and who did things in a chaotic manner with no structure whatsoever. I left because I got so frustrated by the environment there, starting in my new workplace in December 2018.
I am in my mid 40s and have worked in IT for 15 years, 5 of those in programming. The issue is that my background is in desktop applications, and in this new job I have had to learn web development (CSS, ASP, HTML, Razor views etc etc etc). I have found this surprisingly challenging and despite my educational background (PhD) I've been quite slow in comparison to the experienced developers.
My personal life is chaotic as my teenage son has autism/ADHD, I have depression, my teenage daughter has anxiety/depression and my wife has unspecified/undiagnosed mental health issues. She has mentioned feeling suicidal to me several times and gets no real help. The environment at home is physically and mentally chaotic, with frequent crises and lots of extreme stress.
I sent this email to my boss this morning, after trying twice unsuccessfully to phone him. I CC'd four other people: three company directors and the project manager in my office. The purpose of CC'ing them was because previously I have complained to the boss about lack of communication (no company meeting as promised) and what I got was a frustrated verbal reply about them being busy. I wanted to make sure something actually gets done about these issues.
>
> Hi X
>
>
> I can't log in to Visual Studio again, so I can't do my job. The same situation existed yesterday. I struggled for maybe an hour
> myself trying to work out the problem and when I contacted you, you
> were able to say that it is due to the payment problem which will
> hopefully be resolved today. It hasn't, which I find quite worrying.
> I am filling in the time watching tutorials on CSS and reading the
> spec/documents for \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
>
>
> I was asked to look at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
> and the plan that I was given was that you would get back to me, but
> that's not happened. In fact there has been more than one occasion
> when you said you would get back to me and you have not been able to -
> the time just goes by without any contact. I guess due to the volume
> of support that you are all very very busy up at (head office). You
> have my sympathy and its great that we are recruiting more people. I
> am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication. Its also frustrating that I want to be
> productive and help you out by completing some of these tasks, but I
> can't.
>
>
> Kind regards,
> Phil
>
>
>
He replied with:
>
> Hi Phil,
>
>
> The problem with your Visual Studio account was fixed yesterday, you should have received an email which I have now
> resent. If you still haven't received it please let me know. I will be
> in the (your) office tomorrow morning, see you then.
>
>
> Regards,
> X
>
>
>
He is not a cheerful person and I am anticipating a bit of a backlash when we see him tomorrow. My question is this: **was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?** Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
**Edit:** I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not being fired.
Edit: The boss agreed with me that what I wrote was unprofessional and that it was a mistake to involve other people, particularly a non-director. He said it looked like I was trying to 'throw him under a bus'. I said it wasn't my intention to challenge his authority and that I let personal stress (without going into detail) cloud my judgement. He apologised to me for the lack of communication but said he is overworked. In future he said if I need to rant, rant to HIM and don't involve others - except in the rare case when I can't get the right answer out of him (which is unlikely to ever happen). He even said I can discuss personal stuff with him if I need a listening ear. It looks like the boss is a LOT nicer man than I thought. So it is a strong unofficial reprimand. I am embarrassed by my lack of professionalism but the only thing I can do moving forward is to ensure I act professionally in future and this will just be forgotten as a 'blip'. | 2019/03/19 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/131948",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/101531/"
] | >
> was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?
>
>
>
**yes**.. I understand that you were likely frustrated but CC-ing others in to what is basically a rant at your boss is unwise.
It absolutely comes across as you wanting to air your grievance and annoyance with him in front of others and as an attempt to "shame" him in the process. Giving your relatively new boss a public "Reason you suck" speech is not only unprofessional but can be rather career limiting!
I'd suggest apologizing to your boss next time you speak to him - explain that you were just a frustrated that day and you let it get the better of you. | I disagree with the other answers here. You absolutely did the right thing. The history you recounted demonstrated a clear pattern of behavior of ignoring your issues - promised meetings that don't take place, phone calls that aren't returned, etc. And if you'd followed the advice here, there would have been no consequence for your latest email to be ignored again, so it would have been. I'm a little bit older than you and what I've learned (through lots of attempts at taking the passive approach as suggested here) is that no good comes (for you) from always seeking to put others before yourself who also seek to put themselves before others.
You only got a response because you shone a light on the poor job performance of your boss. Do you honestly believe he sent an email and it somehow got lost? Of course not. He's covering his behind for never having actually sent the email. Do you believe he's going to be at your office the next day by coincidence? Again, no; he's doing that to save face and make himself look like he's on top of a situation he's completely ignored.
You did indeed do the right thing. Your boss clearly has his own interests at heart rather than your own. Loyalty to one's commander comes with the understanding that the commander will provide everything their subordinates need to the best of their ability, never throw them under the bus, be quick to take blame and slow to take credit, etc. Your boss seems to have left your location to fend for themselves without even providing you working tools to do so.
Don't worry about getting fired - you're too short-handed as is and losing an employee will look bad for your boss right now. That's without considering what he fears will come up in the exit interview. And now he's on notice that he can't walk all over you - things will improve now. Heck, maybe you're the most qualified to be the project manager there. :-) |
131,948 | I am a new (3 months) software developer in a smallish software company (10 people). I've been given a new project which has complex and poorly documented requirements, and I've been asked to speak to my boss (who is a company director) before I begin work so he can show me what to do. I did contact him, asking him to help me, and he said he would but the appointed time passed and I heard nothing.
We are spread over three sites and the promised monthly company meeting at the head office has only happened once: in January. We may get one in April, if we are lucky. I work at a site with only 3 people including me: we are all new starters and one guy is the project manager.
We have a lot of complex projects for customers in very varying different areas ranging from manufacturing and distribution to service industries. The developers also have to provide support (helpdesk) for the applications and we are currently very busy, recruiting for 1-2 members of staff as we are struggling with the support and taking on the new jobs.
In my previous job I worked for 3.5 years for a disorganised company with a boss who was often unavailable for days and who did things in a chaotic manner with no structure whatsoever. I left because I got so frustrated by the environment there, starting in my new workplace in December 2018.
I am in my mid 40s and have worked in IT for 15 years, 5 of those in programming. The issue is that my background is in desktop applications, and in this new job I have had to learn web development (CSS, ASP, HTML, Razor views etc etc etc). I have found this surprisingly challenging and despite my educational background (PhD) I've been quite slow in comparison to the experienced developers.
My personal life is chaotic as my teenage son has autism/ADHD, I have depression, my teenage daughter has anxiety/depression and my wife has unspecified/undiagnosed mental health issues. She has mentioned feeling suicidal to me several times and gets no real help. The environment at home is physically and mentally chaotic, with frequent crises and lots of extreme stress.
I sent this email to my boss this morning, after trying twice unsuccessfully to phone him. I CC'd four other people: three company directors and the project manager in my office. The purpose of CC'ing them was because previously I have complained to the boss about lack of communication (no company meeting as promised) and what I got was a frustrated verbal reply about them being busy. I wanted to make sure something actually gets done about these issues.
>
> Hi X
>
>
> I can't log in to Visual Studio again, so I can't do my job. The same situation existed yesterday. I struggled for maybe an hour
> myself trying to work out the problem and when I contacted you, you
> were able to say that it is due to the payment problem which will
> hopefully be resolved today. It hasn't, which I find quite worrying.
> I am filling in the time watching tutorials on CSS and reading the
> spec/documents for \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
>
>
> I was asked to look at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
> and the plan that I was given was that you would get back to me, but
> that's not happened. In fact there has been more than one occasion
> when you said you would get back to me and you have not been able to -
> the time just goes by without any contact. I guess due to the volume
> of support that you are all very very busy up at (head office). You
> have my sympathy and its great that we are recruiting more people. I
> am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication. Its also frustrating that I want to be
> productive and help you out by completing some of these tasks, but I
> can't.
>
>
> Kind regards,
> Phil
>
>
>
He replied with:
>
> Hi Phil,
>
>
> The problem with your Visual Studio account was fixed yesterday, you should have received an email which I have now
> resent. If you still haven't received it please let me know. I will be
> in the (your) office tomorrow morning, see you then.
>
>
> Regards,
> X
>
>
>
He is not a cheerful person and I am anticipating a bit of a backlash when we see him tomorrow. My question is this: **was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?** Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
**Edit:** I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not being fired.
Edit: The boss agreed with me that what I wrote was unprofessional and that it was a mistake to involve other people, particularly a non-director. He said it looked like I was trying to 'throw him under a bus'. I said it wasn't my intention to challenge his authority and that I let personal stress (without going into detail) cloud my judgement. He apologised to me for the lack of communication but said he is overworked. In future he said if I need to rant, rant to HIM and don't involve others - except in the rare case when I can't get the right answer out of him (which is unlikely to ever happen). He even said I can discuss personal stuff with him if I need a listening ear. It looks like the boss is a LOT nicer man than I thought. So it is a strong unofficial reprimand. I am embarrassed by my lack of professionalism but the only thing I can do moving forward is to ensure I act professionally in future and this will just be forgotten as a 'blip'. | 2019/03/19 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/131948",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/101531/"
] | >
> was I wrong in copying in the other directors in the email?
>
>
>
Yes, you were wrong.
It's not clear what your goal was in copying others, but attempting to embarrass or undermine your boss is not a good career move.
>
> Maybe I should have sent it directly to him first.
>
>
>
Not maybe.
You clearly should have sent it to him directly. Even better would have been to call him and talk with him directly.
If you wish to succeed in this company, you are going to have to find a way to work well with others, including your boss. Use your face-to-face meeting tomorrow as an opportunity to discuss ways to better communicate. Talk about regular one-on-one meetings. Talk about when you should expect him to be available and when you shouldn't. And talk about what you should do when you need help immediately.
You should come out of the meeting with a clearer understand of what communication medium to use in each circumstance. And hopefully, you will know when it is necessary to include others and when it isn't.
>
> I am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and
> it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment
> with poor communication.
>
>
>
Think long and hard before your meeting and decide how much you want to talk about your home situation with your boss.
Unless you are on very good and friendly terms with your boss, the general advice is to leave home issues at home. I have had bosses that I would be okay with sharing my situation, and other bosses where I absolutely wouldn't share.
Consider how you want your boss to react if you share what you shared here in your question. Do you want him to be sympathetic and cut you some slack? Do you want him to change his behavior so that you aren't so anxious?
The big fear should be that your boss starts to think that you have so much on your plate outside of work that you aren't up to handling this job.
Only you have any insight into how your boss might react. Try to be prepared, think it through ahead of time, proceed with caution.
Good luck.
>
> I spoke to the boss on the phone today and apologised for sending the
> email, I said that I overreacted. He said that I did and that we need
> to have a conversation in person. He also made it clear that I am not
> being fired.
>
>
>
That's good news. Hopefully you can both now put this behind you, and find a way toward better communication going forward. | **Yes, you were definitely wrong to CC this e-mail.** There are several problems here. Let's take a look:
>
> Hi X I can't log in to Visual Studio again, so I can't do my job.
>
>
>
This may be true, or it may not. There are other editors you could use, such as the free Visual Studio Code, especially if you're primarily editing HTML and CSS. Did you consider focusing on these aspects of the app so you could be productive while you waited to get access to Visual Studio?
>
> The same situation existed yesterday. I struggled for maybe an hour myself trying to work out the problem and when I contacted you, you were able to say that it is due to the payment problem which will hopefully be resolved today. It hasn't, which I find quite worrying.
>
>
>
Your boss probably has quite a lot of things going on. If it isn't his top priority to get you to work, that doesn't mean you need to harass him about it.
>
> I am filling in the time watching tutorials on CSS and reading the spec/documents for \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
>
>
>
This is good; it shows that you're trying to be productive. It's not as good as if you were to find an alternative editor so you could work on the actual product, but it's better than nothing.
>
> I was asked to look at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ and the plan that I was given was that you would get back to me, but that's not happened. In fact there has been more than one occasion when you said you would get back to me and you have not been able to - the time just goes by without any contact.
>
>
>
**Now you're making accusations and criticisms, and worse, you're making them to an audience. To be frank, you're lucky you weren't fired or otherwise reprimanded after sending an e-mail like this.** (Your reprimand may be coming tomorrow.)
>
> I guess due to the volume of support that you are all very very busy up at (head office). You have my sympathy and its great that we are recruiting more people.
>
>
>
This is an attempt at a save after the accusations, but it would've been far better not to make them in the first place.
>
> I am under quite a lot of stress in my personal life at the moment and it makes me very anxious when I work in an unstructured environment with poor communication.
>
>
>
**This is unprofessional, especially to put in an e-mail to a wide audience.** Your job is to do your job regardless of the circumstances in your personal life. Granted, that's not always possible, but if things at home are causing problems in the workplace, that's something to discuss with your boss privately, not to air in an e-mail of this sort. The "unstructured environment with poor communication" phrase is rather insulting to your boss and others who work there and is bound to put them on the defensive.
>
> Its also frustrating that I want to be productive and help you out by completing some of these tasks, but I can't. Kind regards, \_\_\_
>
>
>
With some reworking this could be a reasonable thing to say, but as it is, it makes you sound rather powerless. Not a good look.
Now to other matters. You say you're slow compared to the other developers; does that mean there are other developers in your company? If so, you should be soliciting their help. They might also have suggested installing an alternate editor to get you started while waiting for Visual Studio.
As for the CC:, for future reference, **when you CC other people on a communication directed at one person, it's usually a passive-aggressive act.** It's the e-mail equivalent of having a loud argument out in the middle of the office where everyone can hear. In some ways it might even be worse, since it's permanently written.
**Your job at this point is to *apologize*.** Sending that e-mail was presumptuous and rude and puts your boss in a bad light. When your boss meets with you tomorrow, the first words out of your mouth should be an apology for sending the e-mail and losing your cool, and some indication that you were able to work around the problem (e.g. with an alternate editor). You are probably on thin ice at this point unless your boss has great reserves of patience, so focus on patching up the rift you've caused. |
3,498,945 | I need to implement authentication in a php app but using fingerprint as part of credentials.
So, sincerely I'm kind of lost here.
1) Do I need a product (reader) with javascript SDK? I've seen some using ActiveX but obviously this will work just for IE. I would like a cross-browser solution here.
2) On server side, I suppose I'll natively call some C/C++/Java libs from my php code. Is it right?
As you can see, any paper/orientation you could give me would be appreciated. | 2010/08/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3498945",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/347527/"
] | Jaison, "you cannot do it" and "PHP" don't belong in the same sentence.
Berserkpi, you *can* do this in PHP, but only parts of it. I don't know about the hardware but I can generalize the parameters of your project.
Fingerprinting is going to have to be done on some sort of client machine. That means a fingerprint-reading device hooked up to something like a computer, probably through a USB or other serial connection.
I can't tell you how that fingerprinting is going to work, but you'll need to get a program running on the machine that submits your fingerprints for authentication. Those fingerprints are going to be sent to a server, probably through a POST request and a PHP API you've set up. This is going to be the toughest part.
The tough part is that you need those prints to be consistant -- w/web apps you don't get in with a password that kinds of looks like your password; either the user can be authenticated or the password is rejected. With fingerprints that may not be the case.
Whatever it is, so long as it's consistant you can consider it more or less like an MD5 hash. You match it against a hashed version you store in your database and if it matches you authenticate her by generating a token (maybe another MD5) hash that is good for an hour or so. | You cannot do this using PHP - it's a scripting language.
However, you can use .NET technologies like C# or VB for hardware porting.
My idea:
1. Handle authentication using .NET technologies.
2. Pass the authentication result to PHP using ASP like embedding result in XML/JSON
I don't know how much success rate you will get from this solution, but it's worth a try. |
3,498,945 | I need to implement authentication in a php app but using fingerprint as part of credentials.
So, sincerely I'm kind of lost here.
1) Do I need a product (reader) with javascript SDK? I've seen some using ActiveX but obviously this will work just for IE. I would like a cross-browser solution here.
2) On server side, I suppose I'll natively call some C/C++/Java libs from my php code. Is it right?
As you can see, any paper/orientation you could give me would be appreciated. | 2010/08/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3498945",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/347527/"
] | we made a small app using c# to handle fingerprint scanning and converted the output to binary file.
theoretically it shd be compared with wats available on the server and returns a result which determines if the user gets authenticated or not.
another method is to use a windows app that works with the fingerprint hardware and posses a simple web browser.
once the user gets authenticated it will call a url with and arg that only the coder knows. | You cannot do this using PHP - it's a scripting language.
However, you can use .NET technologies like C# or VB for hardware porting.
My idea:
1. Handle authentication using .NET technologies.
2. Pass the authentication result to PHP using ASP like embedding result in XML/JSON
I don't know how much success rate you will get from this solution, but it's worth a try. |
3,498,945 | I need to implement authentication in a php app but using fingerprint as part of credentials.
So, sincerely I'm kind of lost here.
1) Do I need a product (reader) with javascript SDK? I've seen some using ActiveX but obviously this will work just for IE. I would like a cross-browser solution here.
2) On server side, I suppose I'll natively call some C/C++/Java libs from my php code. Is it right?
As you can see, any paper/orientation you could give me would be appreciated. | 2010/08/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3498945",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/347527/"
] | i have came across a library, [php\_zklib](https://github.com/dnaextrim/php_zklib)
it does seem to work with biometric devices. But Problem is there is no documentation of it over the internet..
I have seen someone Using Fingerprint device for attendance using this library. | You cannot do this using PHP - it's a scripting language.
However, you can use .NET technologies like C# or VB for hardware porting.
My idea:
1. Handle authentication using .NET technologies.
2. Pass the authentication result to PHP using ASP like embedding result in XML/JSON
I don't know how much success rate you will get from this solution, but it's worth a try. |
3,498,945 | I need to implement authentication in a php app but using fingerprint as part of credentials.
So, sincerely I'm kind of lost here.
1) Do I need a product (reader) with javascript SDK? I've seen some using ActiveX but obviously this will work just for IE. I would like a cross-browser solution here.
2) On server side, I suppose I'll natively call some C/C++/Java libs from my php code. Is it right?
As you can see, any paper/orientation you could give me would be appreciated. | 2010/08/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3498945",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/347527/"
] | Look at here. They have Java, PHP, web app aupported SDK and hardware for biometric authentication.
<http://www.m2sys.com/bioplugin/> | You cannot do this using PHP - it's a scripting language.
However, you can use .NET technologies like C# or VB for hardware porting.
My idea:
1. Handle authentication using .NET technologies.
2. Pass the authentication result to PHP using ASP like embedding result in XML/JSON
I don't know how much success rate you will get from this solution, but it's worth a try. |
3,498,945 | I need to implement authentication in a php app but using fingerprint as part of credentials.
So, sincerely I'm kind of lost here.
1) Do I need a product (reader) with javascript SDK? I've seen some using ActiveX but obviously this will work just for IE. I would like a cross-browser solution here.
2) On server side, I suppose I'll natively call some C/C++/Java libs from my php code. Is it right?
As you can see, any paper/orientation you could give me would be appreciated. | 2010/08/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3498945",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/347527/"
] | Jaison, "you cannot do it" and "PHP" don't belong in the same sentence.
Berserkpi, you *can* do this in PHP, but only parts of it. I don't know about the hardware but I can generalize the parameters of your project.
Fingerprinting is going to have to be done on some sort of client machine. That means a fingerprint-reading device hooked up to something like a computer, probably through a USB or other serial connection.
I can't tell you how that fingerprinting is going to work, but you'll need to get a program running on the machine that submits your fingerprints for authentication. Those fingerprints are going to be sent to a server, probably through a POST request and a PHP API you've set up. This is going to be the toughest part.
The tough part is that you need those prints to be consistant -- w/web apps you don't get in with a password that kinds of looks like your password; either the user can be authenticated or the password is rejected. With fingerprints that may not be the case.
Whatever it is, so long as it's consistant you can consider it more or less like an MD5 hash. You match it against a hashed version you store in your database and if it matches you authenticate her by generating a token (maybe another MD5) hash that is good for an hour or so. | we made a small app using c# to handle fingerprint scanning and converted the output to binary file.
theoretically it shd be compared with wats available on the server and returns a result which determines if the user gets authenticated or not.
another method is to use a windows app that works with the fingerprint hardware and posses a simple web browser.
once the user gets authenticated it will call a url with and arg that only the coder knows. |
3,498,945 | I need to implement authentication in a php app but using fingerprint as part of credentials.
So, sincerely I'm kind of lost here.
1) Do I need a product (reader) with javascript SDK? I've seen some using ActiveX but obviously this will work just for IE. I would like a cross-browser solution here.
2) On server side, I suppose I'll natively call some C/C++/Java libs from my php code. Is it right?
As you can see, any paper/orientation you could give me would be appreciated. | 2010/08/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3498945",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/347527/"
] | Jaison, "you cannot do it" and "PHP" don't belong in the same sentence.
Berserkpi, you *can* do this in PHP, but only parts of it. I don't know about the hardware but I can generalize the parameters of your project.
Fingerprinting is going to have to be done on some sort of client machine. That means a fingerprint-reading device hooked up to something like a computer, probably through a USB or other serial connection.
I can't tell you how that fingerprinting is going to work, but you'll need to get a program running on the machine that submits your fingerprints for authentication. Those fingerprints are going to be sent to a server, probably through a POST request and a PHP API you've set up. This is going to be the toughest part.
The tough part is that you need those prints to be consistant -- w/web apps you don't get in with a password that kinds of looks like your password; either the user can be authenticated or the password is rejected. With fingerprints that may not be the case.
Whatever it is, so long as it's consistant you can consider it more or less like an MD5 hash. You match it against a hashed version you store in your database and if it matches you authenticate her by generating a token (maybe another MD5) hash that is good for an hour or so. | i have came across a library, [php\_zklib](https://github.com/dnaextrim/php_zklib)
it does seem to work with biometric devices. But Problem is there is no documentation of it over the internet..
I have seen someone Using Fingerprint device for attendance using this library. |
3,498,945 | I need to implement authentication in a php app but using fingerprint as part of credentials.
So, sincerely I'm kind of lost here.
1) Do I need a product (reader) with javascript SDK? I've seen some using ActiveX but obviously this will work just for IE. I would like a cross-browser solution here.
2) On server side, I suppose I'll natively call some C/C++/Java libs from my php code. Is it right?
As you can see, any paper/orientation you could give me would be appreciated. | 2010/08/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3498945",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/347527/"
] | Jaison, "you cannot do it" and "PHP" don't belong in the same sentence.
Berserkpi, you *can* do this in PHP, but only parts of it. I don't know about the hardware but I can generalize the parameters of your project.
Fingerprinting is going to have to be done on some sort of client machine. That means a fingerprint-reading device hooked up to something like a computer, probably through a USB or other serial connection.
I can't tell you how that fingerprinting is going to work, but you'll need to get a program running on the machine that submits your fingerprints for authentication. Those fingerprints are going to be sent to a server, probably through a POST request and a PHP API you've set up. This is going to be the toughest part.
The tough part is that you need those prints to be consistant -- w/web apps you don't get in with a password that kinds of looks like your password; either the user can be authenticated or the password is rejected. With fingerprints that may not be the case.
Whatever it is, so long as it's consistant you can consider it more or less like an MD5 hash. You match it against a hashed version you store in your database and if it matches you authenticate her by generating a token (maybe another MD5) hash that is good for an hour or so. | Look at here. They have Java, PHP, web app aupported SDK and hardware for biometric authentication.
<http://www.m2sys.com/bioplugin/> |
64,716 | >
> Drax: You, Quill, are my friend. This dumb tree is my friend. And this green whore is now my...
>
>
> Gamora: You must stop!
>
>
>
Drax's statement seems incongruous with reality and his character.
* There isn't so much as single kiss in the entire movie, including involving Gamora.
* Drax's speech is precise and literal.
* Drax isn't generally disrespectful toward women
* Gamora resists Peter's advances, saying that she isn't one of the dumb girls he seduces.
* While Gamora's attire is not entirely modest, it is not out of the norm either. (Drax himself is half-naked throughout the entire movie.)
* At the time he says this, Drax has no motivation to disparage Gamora. His only intention could be honesty.
* In jail, Rocket suggests Gamora work out an "exchange" with the guards for a control device, since they find her attractive. Gamora says, "You must be joking."
Why did Drax call Gamora a whore? | 2014/08/03 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/64716",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/24067/"
] | ### Because the prisoners were calling Gamora a "green whore" when she first entered the prison yard, and Drax is incredibly literal. He has no clue they were using it as an insult; he thinks that's what she actually was.
* The problem is if you weren't really listening it was easy to miss,there was a lot going on in that scene.
* When Drax says it again later in the scene you mention, it is far away enough from the initial event, it may not even register as part of a running gag and can come off extremely insensitive to Gamora (and movie viewers who watched her).
**Writer/director James Gunn has answered this question:**
>
> **[Gunn on Drax calling Gamora a whore](http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=58710):** I know some of you don't like Drax calling Gamora a whore. But he heard people saying that to her in the Kyln. So don't blame him, blame me... Because that's what they called her in the Kyln and that's what he thinks she is.
>
>
> | >
> Whore, noun:
>
>
> [Definition of WHORE](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whore)
>
>
> 1 : A woman who engages in sexual acts for money : prostitute ; also : a promiscuous or immoral woman
>
> 2 : A male who engages in sexual acts for money
>
> 3 : A venal or unscrupulous person
>
> Merriam-Webster Dictionary
>
>
>
If Drax does truly say things literally he would have said it in the third definition of this word. He believed that she was a venal or unscrupulous person
In reference to her background, how many she has killed, who raised her, it would all make sense that it fits the third definition. |
105 | Is it possible to reliably run a Pi in an airtight (watertight) case or is some form of ventilation required for cooling? I'm assuming it doesn't chuck out too much heat, but am wondering whether running it indefinitely this way may cause issues. | 2012/06/12 | [
"https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/105",
"https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com",
"https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/users/93/"
] | There are **no ventilation or cooling requirements.**
This has been verified by an RPi admin [here](http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1701). | Based on my test Raspberry Pi runs relatively cool even when the CPU is 100% loaded for longer periods, so I think there shouldn't be a problem (I did not try loading the GPU though). |
105 | Is it possible to reliably run a Pi in an airtight (watertight) case or is some form of ventilation required for cooling? I'm assuming it doesn't chuck out too much heat, but am wondering whether running it indefinitely this way may cause issues. | 2012/06/12 | [
"https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/105",
"https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com",
"https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/users/93/"
] | Based on my test Raspberry Pi runs relatively cool even when the CPU is 100% loaded for longer periods, so I think there shouldn't be a problem (I did not try loading the GPU though). | According to [this test](https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2019/raspberry-pi-microsd-card-performance-comparison-2019) the USB 3.0 controller on Raspberry Pi 4 cannot work at full speed if there is no fan. The slow down without a fan could be 2-3 times. In the test the maximum speed was 346 MB/s for USB 3.0 (for comparison, it was 44 MB/s for an SD card). So depending on your speed requirements and how often you need it, you may or may not need active cooling. |
105 | Is it possible to reliably run a Pi in an airtight (watertight) case or is some form of ventilation required for cooling? I'm assuming it doesn't chuck out too much heat, but am wondering whether running it indefinitely this way may cause issues. | 2012/06/12 | [
"https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/105",
"https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com",
"https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/users/93/"
] | There are **no ventilation or cooling requirements.**
This has been verified by an RPi admin [here](http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1701). | According to [this test](https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2019/raspberry-pi-microsd-card-performance-comparison-2019) the USB 3.0 controller on Raspberry Pi 4 cannot work at full speed if there is no fan. The slow down without a fan could be 2-3 times. In the test the maximum speed was 346 MB/s for USB 3.0 (for comparison, it was 44 MB/s for an SD card). So depending on your speed requirements and how often you need it, you may or may not need active cooling. |
117,025 | I used pc decrapifier to uninstall lots of programs because revo uninstaller takes a lot of your time just to uninstall a single program. Can I remove the registry keys and folders left behind by pc decrapifier using revo uninstaller?
Or do you know of any application that function like decrapifier and revo? | 2010/03/06 | [
"https://superuser.com/questions/117025",
"https://superuser.com",
"https://superuser.com/users/23950/"
] | Yes, Revo can get rid of the registry entries. Depending on which scan mode you use, it can look into more places in the registry for a deeper scan:
[**CCleaner**](http://www.ccleaner.com/) also performs registry scanning for old entries lying around. | As I understand, OP wanted to clean the Registry after the UNINSTALL OF APPLICATION has already been made before opening Revo.
Accepted answer doesn't answer that. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem possible doable directly. However:
A) Re-install that target application and uninstall again, now with REVO.
OR
B) use CCleaner (or alike) to clean registry generally. |
3,617,766 | Is there any logger to asp.net like the System.ServiceModel.MessageLogging used in WCF? | 2010/09/01 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3617766",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/373433/"
] | You could use log4net for this... [log4net Website](http://logging.apache.org/log4net/index.html) | Not sure what you are actually asking for. There is [ASP.NET tracing](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0x5wc973.aspx) and [trace.axd](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/wwh16c6c.aspx) handler to browsing traces. |
3,617,766 | Is there any logger to asp.net like the System.ServiceModel.MessageLogging used in WCF? | 2010/09/01 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3617766",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/373433/"
] | There is health monitoring: <http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff650305.aspx>. It has a bunch of predefined events, plus you can create your own custom events for tracking purposes. | You could use log4net for this... [log4net Website](http://logging.apache.org/log4net/index.html) |
3,617,766 | Is there any logger to asp.net like the System.ServiceModel.MessageLogging used in WCF? | 2010/09/01 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3617766",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/373433/"
] | You could use log4net for this... [log4net Website](http://logging.apache.org/log4net/index.html) | After having used it myself, I'd like to suggest [ELMAH](http://code.google.com/p/elmah/):
>
> ELMAH (Error Logging Modules and
> Handlers) is an application-wide error
> logging facility that is completely
> pluggable. It can be dynamically added
> to a running ASP.NET web application,
> or even all ASP.NET web applications
> on a machine, without any need for
> re-compilation or re-deployment.
>
>
> |
3,617,766 | Is there any logger to asp.net like the System.ServiceModel.MessageLogging used in WCF? | 2010/09/01 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3617766",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/373433/"
] | There is health monitoring: <http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff650305.aspx>. It has a bunch of predefined events, plus you can create your own custom events for tracking purposes. | Not sure what you are actually asking for. There is [ASP.NET tracing](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0x5wc973.aspx) and [trace.axd](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/wwh16c6c.aspx) handler to browsing traces. |
3,617,766 | Is there any logger to asp.net like the System.ServiceModel.MessageLogging used in WCF? | 2010/09/01 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3617766",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/373433/"
] | There is health monitoring: <http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff650305.aspx>. It has a bunch of predefined events, plus you can create your own custom events for tracking purposes. | After having used it myself, I'd like to suggest [ELMAH](http://code.google.com/p/elmah/):
>
> ELMAH (Error Logging Modules and
> Handlers) is an application-wide error
> logging facility that is completely
> pluggable. It can be dynamically added
> to a running ASP.NET web application,
> or even all ASP.NET web applications
> on a machine, without any need for
> re-compilation or re-deployment.
>
>
> |
7,954 | In real world, business initiatives always take higher priority as there are associated ROIs and deliver something tangible to the users. But there are technical initiatives and projects that need to be done to keep up with the different versions of software, upgrading to a newer platforms, architecture re-factoring etc.,
1. How can we plan, prioritize and manage such competing initiatives?
2. Is there a model to quantify technical debt and its impact to the business? | 2012/11/01 | [
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/questions/7954",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/users/4731/"
] | I'm going to pick on @jmort253's answer, because I disagree.
ROI initiatives aren't the only kinds of project, nor should they be. Chris Matts (the analyst behind BDD, Feature Injection and Real Options) found that 80% of one of his CIO's projects were concerned with protecting existing customer revenue, rather than trying to increase it - essentially, stopping their customers leaving for a competitor.
A lot of projects also simply provide *options* for the future. These are often very hard to price, but very, very expensive if they're not done.
Most technical initiatives are done for this reason; to provide the business with options to change in the future. Some of them have more direct business concerns which are more easily phrased, like increasing current system performance to cope with growing demand. Others may be relevant to different parts of the business - changing from Fortran to Python to attract better talent and make it easier to recruit - but in the long run, that's still about having options in the future.
**Technical Debt is, and should be, a PM's concern**
Chris Matts and Steve Freeman [came up with a lovely analogy](http://www.higherorderlogic.com/2010/07/bad-code-isnt-technical-debt-its-an-unhedged-call-option/). "It's not like a credit card. It's like an unhedged call option. It's like you've promised to sell all these chocolate Santas at Christmas, and then suddenly one year the price of chocolate is really high, and you have to sell the Santas anyway because you made that commitment, and now you're bust." As long as nobody makes the call, technical debt doesn't matter.
The problem is that every project has something new about it, or that project wouldn't be happening (see ["Waltzing with Bears"](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0932633609)). So every project has changes that get made as discoveries happen as a result of feedback from the new thing (see [the complex domain in Cynefi](http://lizkeogh.com/2012/03/11/cynefin-for-devs/)n). And every project is therefore seriously at risk from being called.
(Every project is also difficult to estimate for this reason; you can't estimate something you've never done before.)
**The option to change is usually an unstated a business goal**
I worked with one company that had a single class of 10,000 lines that took Visual Studio 5 minutes to load. When the business found out what poor quality code had been produced, they said, "Why would you ever do that? We expected you to push back if we were making you do that!"
This unstated goal is also, usually, the *core goal* of most projects which are replacing legacy systems. The legacy systems have become too unwieldy, and can't be changed to meet new requirements and architectural demand, so a new system is created. If I had a shiny English pound for every time I've seen a replacement system team abandon the core goal in order to meet some arbitrary deadline, I wouldn't need to work again.
By calling out this unstated goal as an explicit one, everyone involved on the project can talk about it rather than assuming it's happening.
**Educate the business about the cost of technical debt**
Technical debt only happens in the face of time pressure (or as a result of bad habit or lack of skill, which are a different problem, solved by having time to learn how to do the job well... so, time pressure).
By keeping track of the growing cost of the debt and making the business aware of it, you can help to show them the value of the options they're losing. This could include things like your best developers leaving, and the cost of re-hiring; how much extra time the devs reckon it took to create a new feature as a result of technical debt; how much more effective the team is when they're given the chance to take pride in their work instead of bowing to business pressure.
Also educate them about [the alignment trap](http://www.ebizq.net/blogs/agile_enterprise/2009/11/dont-fall-in-the-alignment-trap.php). "Companies in which IT was highly aligned with business but not effective were considerably worse off than companies in which IT was less aligned and merely kept the systems running."
**Pay back technical debt one piece at a time**
In this place I agree with @jmort253. It's even better if you can avoid falling into debt in the first place, but usually there are different skill sets on a team, people learning to code well, etc. - so having the ability to refactor as you go and help educate other developers is more important than getting it right up-front.
If the team feel pressured to churn out new features, though, they'll very quickly abandon the technical debt. It can't be seen or measured easily, and as such is usually the first victim of any pressure.
A PM's responsibility in this situation is to push back, educate, and help the business cut scope instead. | Fascinating discussion, and very relevant to me. I believe that technical debt is a PM's concern.
One could argue that a project is a coordinated effort to produce a specific outcome/change; if the project produces the outcome, the project is successful, and technical debt doesn't enter into the equation. But I think that is shortsighted; at a minimum, the PM is obliged during the closeout procedures to document lessons learned and update the corporate process assets. Technical debt should fall into that category. Beyond that, the PM has an ethical obligation to do the best for the company within the constraints, and leaving a company saddled with unknown, undocumented technical debt is unconscionable.
Alternatively we could consider that technical debit is a quality control problem. Technical debt is a aberration that falls within control limits, but if it can be eliminated, the quality (and presumably value) of the product rises.
Multiple ways to look at the problem, but each of them convinces me that although the PM can ignore technical debt, prudence dictates that the PM estimate, document and manage technical debt.
I think the key challenge is establishing the value of technical debt. I think that companies/industries/teams should establish reference values and refine as they go. Just as the PM is obliged to assess & estimate the impact of every proposed change on schedule/scope/quality, the PM should assess & estimate the impact of technical debt. I think that an interesting corrallary to @Jmort253's question is "Change proposals go to the CCB. Who is accountable for changes that are intrinsically outside the scope of the project?"
As I said, excellent, thought provoking question. |
7,954 | In real world, business initiatives always take higher priority as there are associated ROIs and deliver something tangible to the users. But there are technical initiatives and projects that need to be done to keep up with the different versions of software, upgrading to a newer platforms, architecture re-factoring etc.,
1. How can we plan, prioritize and manage such competing initiatives?
2. Is there a model to quantify technical debt and its impact to the business? | 2012/11/01 | [
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/questions/7954",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/users/4731/"
] | I tend to disagree with the basic assumption that technical initiatives are not business initiatives. They may be different from rolling out a new product or an advertising campaign, but:
* They have a business benefits... be it regulatory compliance, improving efficiencies, making the customer experience better, etc
* They have business costs... training, systems development, etc
* They have business risks... what if stakeholders don't like the changes, what if their costs are more than expected, what if their benefits are less, etc
Where technical initiatives tend to have problems is that they aren't easily understood by decision makers who tend to come from the marketing/sales/"business" side of the house. Basically they aren't as "sexy" as a new marketing campaign or partnership.
The best approach to getting a better focus on "technical debt" is to do a thorough business case for addressing it. How much will addressing the debt cost in time, money and effort? What is the payback period given the expected labor savings, increased sales, increased customer retention, increased market share, etc once the initiative is implemented? How does this compare to the costs and benefits of maintaining the status quo? Getting this information together will take some time and effort, but if it is done well it should be obvious to you whether or not the technical debt needs to be paid *now* or if payment can be deferred. | I know there's an answer for this and I mostly agree with @Lunivore and @jmort253 answers but I thought I would chime in on how I have seen and heard technical debt handled?
In our company we recently started trying to allocate dedicated week-long sprints that we focus on technical debt. Unfortunately this hasn't worked super well when there are certain features that go over the course of multiple sprints, in which case it's impossible to prioritize low-priority fixes vs features that need to ship.
Kind of building on above, I believe **it's important to show and communicate communicate how technical debt is affecting the team's velocity**. This naturally starts with being able to know what your team's velocity is, and then showing it is simply a matter of process.
Recently we have started costing out all issues with [story points](https://agilefaq.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/what-is-a-story-point/) (whether it be features and the small tasks associated with features, or just nitpicky bug fixes) everything is costed out with a certain value. After a period of time, our manager is now able to give a ballpark range of how much bandwidth each engineer has and how much time they can allocate to fixing certain bugs. When we first started this, it was naturally really bumpy because we would forget that there was more to a task so its generally better to overestimate than underestimate.
After some time though, we were able to give a good sense of what we can fit into the sprint and what we can't and we have been given dedicated time to fix bugs that makes sense (hey you have this feature but from what was costed out you seem to have time for some small bugs?). I think we are still working on a good rhythm and we have juggled between alternating people to fix bugs or just dedicating time for the entire team (especially useful if you have new devs) -- maybe I'll chime in again when we have narrowed that down but we have definitely seen an improvement in how fast we do things when given the time to fix the things that no one sees and it's nice that everyone can "see" it too now.
In regards to responsibility, I don't necessarily think it's the PM's responsibility? Our **engineering manager and tech lead drives managing technical debt** while our PM drives the projects and timeline of features. That being said, **it's important there is dedicated time for the PM and the manager to coordinate and set expectations**. |
7,954 | In real world, business initiatives always take higher priority as there are associated ROIs and deliver something tangible to the users. But there are technical initiatives and projects that need to be done to keep up with the different versions of software, upgrading to a newer platforms, architecture re-factoring etc.,
1. How can we plan, prioritize and manage such competing initiatives?
2. Is there a model to quantify technical debt and its impact to the business? | 2012/11/01 | [
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/questions/7954",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/users/4731/"
] | I'm going to pick on @jmort253's answer, because I disagree.
ROI initiatives aren't the only kinds of project, nor should they be. Chris Matts (the analyst behind BDD, Feature Injection and Real Options) found that 80% of one of his CIO's projects were concerned with protecting existing customer revenue, rather than trying to increase it - essentially, stopping their customers leaving for a competitor.
A lot of projects also simply provide *options* for the future. These are often very hard to price, but very, very expensive if they're not done.
Most technical initiatives are done for this reason; to provide the business with options to change in the future. Some of them have more direct business concerns which are more easily phrased, like increasing current system performance to cope with growing demand. Others may be relevant to different parts of the business - changing from Fortran to Python to attract better talent and make it easier to recruit - but in the long run, that's still about having options in the future.
**Technical Debt is, and should be, a PM's concern**
Chris Matts and Steve Freeman [came up with a lovely analogy](http://www.higherorderlogic.com/2010/07/bad-code-isnt-technical-debt-its-an-unhedged-call-option/). "It's not like a credit card. It's like an unhedged call option. It's like you've promised to sell all these chocolate Santas at Christmas, and then suddenly one year the price of chocolate is really high, and you have to sell the Santas anyway because you made that commitment, and now you're bust." As long as nobody makes the call, technical debt doesn't matter.
The problem is that every project has something new about it, or that project wouldn't be happening (see ["Waltzing with Bears"](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0932633609)). So every project has changes that get made as discoveries happen as a result of feedback from the new thing (see [the complex domain in Cynefi](http://lizkeogh.com/2012/03/11/cynefin-for-devs/)n). And every project is therefore seriously at risk from being called.
(Every project is also difficult to estimate for this reason; you can't estimate something you've never done before.)
**The option to change is usually an unstated a business goal**
I worked with one company that had a single class of 10,000 lines that took Visual Studio 5 minutes to load. When the business found out what poor quality code had been produced, they said, "Why would you ever do that? We expected you to push back if we were making you do that!"
This unstated goal is also, usually, the *core goal* of most projects which are replacing legacy systems. The legacy systems have become too unwieldy, and can't be changed to meet new requirements and architectural demand, so a new system is created. If I had a shiny English pound for every time I've seen a replacement system team abandon the core goal in order to meet some arbitrary deadline, I wouldn't need to work again.
By calling out this unstated goal as an explicit one, everyone involved on the project can talk about it rather than assuming it's happening.
**Educate the business about the cost of technical debt**
Technical debt only happens in the face of time pressure (or as a result of bad habit or lack of skill, which are a different problem, solved by having time to learn how to do the job well... so, time pressure).
By keeping track of the growing cost of the debt and making the business aware of it, you can help to show them the value of the options they're losing. This could include things like your best developers leaving, and the cost of re-hiring; how much extra time the devs reckon it took to create a new feature as a result of technical debt; how much more effective the team is when they're given the chance to take pride in their work instead of bowing to business pressure.
Also educate them about [the alignment trap](http://www.ebizq.net/blogs/agile_enterprise/2009/11/dont-fall-in-the-alignment-trap.php). "Companies in which IT was highly aligned with business but not effective were considerably worse off than companies in which IT was less aligned and merely kept the systems running."
**Pay back technical debt one piece at a time**
In this place I agree with @jmort253. It's even better if you can avoid falling into debt in the first place, but usually there are different skill sets on a team, people learning to code well, etc. - so having the ability to refactor as you go and help educate other developers is more important than getting it right up-front.
If the team feel pressured to churn out new features, though, they'll very quickly abandon the technical debt. It can't be seen or measured easily, and as such is usually the first victim of any pressure.
A PM's responsibility in this situation is to push back, educate, and help the business cut scope instead. | I would start by **Identifying the ROI that the technical debt delivers** and discussing this with the business. If you can describe both value work and what John Seddon calls 'Failure Demand' in the same terms and using the same metrics then you can agree how to split your capacity across them.
**Example - Architectural Refactoring**
We have a piece of configuration information which is baked into an app (I know, I know...). This config can go unchanged for weeks and then suddenly need changing.
If the config doesn't get changed then ads stop appearing in an application and we stop making revenue from it.
The quick and dirty solution is to change the config in the code and redeploy. This is repetitive and error prone and ultimately not sustainable.
The sustainable solution would be to factor our the config from the code and provide a mechanism for changing it independently from the code. This will take longer the first time round but will then make future config changes much quicker and less error prone.
Guess which one we have done twice already? That's right the quick and dirty. This is because the ROI on the feature is immediately visible or rather, the Cost of Delay were the work not to be done is very high.
The sell we have to make to the business is, let us spend time refactoring this to address the technical debt. That way, next time we need to change the config it will be quicker than it currently is, so quicker ROI in the future, but we will need to take some capacity away now to address the technical debt. It is deferred ROI.
**Example - Architectural Refactoring as complexity increases**
Sometimes it is hard to describe the technical debt to the business, to them it is just an implementation detail or something you should not have accrued in the first place.
For example, as something grows in complexity it requires refactoring. In this case I do one of two things.
I either cover the cost of the refactoring in the delivery of the feature which has required us to go back and look at the code in question. I always call this out to the business either to tell them that the feature will take longer to deliver than similar features have in the past, because we have reached a point where we need to refactor.
Again I describe this to them as deferred ROI. There will be a greater upfront cost but by doing the refactoring now, future work in this area will be cheaper.
The other approach I take is to treat the development team as a customer of itself and reserve a percentage of capacity, agreed with the business, in each iteration for reduction of technical debt.
**Example - Platform Upgrade**
For the example you give of upgrading to a newer platform I would again look at how you can describe this in terms of ROI, or impact on ROI.
If the existing platform is no longer supported by the vendor then the business is exposed to the risk of defects discovered in that version of the platform not getting fixed and so impacting on business functionality which depends on it.
This impact will be an increase in failure demand, that is, customers will be less able to get value out of what you as a business provide as problems with the underlying platform are getting in the way. This can be articulated as lost revenue, or potential lost revenue so the ROI is to upgrade the underlying platform.
Prioritising such an upgrade can again be done by looking at the Cost of Delay. If you were not to upgrade the platform would there be any impact on your existing products and services? Would it prevent you from launching new ones?
If problems in the existing platform are generating failure demand now then the Cost of Delay is high and you have a compelling ROI based argument for doing the work sooner rather than later.
If you are currently unaffected by problems in the existing platform but need to upgrade in order to add new functionality then the ROI of the new functionality will determine the ROI of upgrading the platform. |
7,954 | In real world, business initiatives always take higher priority as there are associated ROIs and deliver something tangible to the users. But there are technical initiatives and projects that need to be done to keep up with the different versions of software, upgrading to a newer platforms, architecture re-factoring etc.,
1. How can we plan, prioritize and manage such competing initiatives?
2. Is there a model to quantify technical debt and its impact to the business? | 2012/11/01 | [
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/questions/7954",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/users/4731/"
] | I'm going to pick on @jmort253's answer, because I disagree.
ROI initiatives aren't the only kinds of project, nor should they be. Chris Matts (the analyst behind BDD, Feature Injection and Real Options) found that 80% of one of his CIO's projects were concerned with protecting existing customer revenue, rather than trying to increase it - essentially, stopping their customers leaving for a competitor.
A lot of projects also simply provide *options* for the future. These are often very hard to price, but very, very expensive if they're not done.
Most technical initiatives are done for this reason; to provide the business with options to change in the future. Some of them have more direct business concerns which are more easily phrased, like increasing current system performance to cope with growing demand. Others may be relevant to different parts of the business - changing from Fortran to Python to attract better talent and make it easier to recruit - but in the long run, that's still about having options in the future.
**Technical Debt is, and should be, a PM's concern**
Chris Matts and Steve Freeman [came up with a lovely analogy](http://www.higherorderlogic.com/2010/07/bad-code-isnt-technical-debt-its-an-unhedged-call-option/). "It's not like a credit card. It's like an unhedged call option. It's like you've promised to sell all these chocolate Santas at Christmas, and then suddenly one year the price of chocolate is really high, and you have to sell the Santas anyway because you made that commitment, and now you're bust." As long as nobody makes the call, technical debt doesn't matter.
The problem is that every project has something new about it, or that project wouldn't be happening (see ["Waltzing with Bears"](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0932633609)). So every project has changes that get made as discoveries happen as a result of feedback from the new thing (see [the complex domain in Cynefi](http://lizkeogh.com/2012/03/11/cynefin-for-devs/)n). And every project is therefore seriously at risk from being called.
(Every project is also difficult to estimate for this reason; you can't estimate something you've never done before.)
**The option to change is usually an unstated a business goal**
I worked with one company that had a single class of 10,000 lines that took Visual Studio 5 minutes to load. When the business found out what poor quality code had been produced, they said, "Why would you ever do that? We expected you to push back if we were making you do that!"
This unstated goal is also, usually, the *core goal* of most projects which are replacing legacy systems. The legacy systems have become too unwieldy, and can't be changed to meet new requirements and architectural demand, so a new system is created. If I had a shiny English pound for every time I've seen a replacement system team abandon the core goal in order to meet some arbitrary deadline, I wouldn't need to work again.
By calling out this unstated goal as an explicit one, everyone involved on the project can talk about it rather than assuming it's happening.
**Educate the business about the cost of technical debt**
Technical debt only happens in the face of time pressure (or as a result of bad habit or lack of skill, which are a different problem, solved by having time to learn how to do the job well... so, time pressure).
By keeping track of the growing cost of the debt and making the business aware of it, you can help to show them the value of the options they're losing. This could include things like your best developers leaving, and the cost of re-hiring; how much extra time the devs reckon it took to create a new feature as a result of technical debt; how much more effective the team is when they're given the chance to take pride in their work instead of bowing to business pressure.
Also educate them about [the alignment trap](http://www.ebizq.net/blogs/agile_enterprise/2009/11/dont-fall-in-the-alignment-trap.php). "Companies in which IT was highly aligned with business but not effective were considerably worse off than companies in which IT was less aligned and merely kept the systems running."
**Pay back technical debt one piece at a time**
In this place I agree with @jmort253. It's even better if you can avoid falling into debt in the first place, but usually there are different skill sets on a team, people learning to code well, etc. - so having the ability to refactor as you go and help educate other developers is more important than getting it right up-front.
If the team feel pressured to churn out new features, though, they'll very quickly abandon the technical debt. It can't be seen or measured easily, and as such is usually the first victim of any pressure.
A PM's responsibility in this situation is to push back, educate, and help the business cut scope instead. | I tend to disagree with the basic assumption that technical initiatives are not business initiatives. They may be different from rolling out a new product or an advertising campaign, but:
* They have a business benefits... be it regulatory compliance, improving efficiencies, making the customer experience better, etc
* They have business costs... training, systems development, etc
* They have business risks... what if stakeholders don't like the changes, what if their costs are more than expected, what if their benefits are less, etc
Where technical initiatives tend to have problems is that they aren't easily understood by decision makers who tend to come from the marketing/sales/"business" side of the house. Basically they aren't as "sexy" as a new marketing campaign or partnership.
The best approach to getting a better focus on "technical debt" is to do a thorough business case for addressing it. How much will addressing the debt cost in time, money and effort? What is the payback period given the expected labor savings, increased sales, increased customer retention, increased market share, etc once the initiative is implemented? How does this compare to the costs and benefits of maintaining the status quo? Getting this information together will take some time and effort, but if it is done well it should be obvious to you whether or not the technical debt needs to be paid *now* or if payment can be deferred. |
7,954 | In real world, business initiatives always take higher priority as there are associated ROIs and deliver something tangible to the users. But there are technical initiatives and projects that need to be done to keep up with the different versions of software, upgrading to a newer platforms, architecture re-factoring etc.,
1. How can we plan, prioritize and manage such competing initiatives?
2. Is there a model to quantify technical debt and its impact to the business? | 2012/11/01 | [
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/questions/7954",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/users/4731/"
] | **Technical Debt isn't a PM's Responsibility:**
-----------------------------------------------
As a project manager, the short answer is, you don't. This is really a job for the technical team, which includes functional managers and the actual developers working on the project. If you're doing project management correctly, then you should be getting all of your estimates from the developers themselves.
However, if it becomes a noticeable detriment to productivity, it may become a project management issue.
**Focus Primarily on Business Goals:**
--------------------------------------
However, here is where this can get tricky and why sometimes it is helpful for a project manager to have enough experience in the subject matter to know the difference between a good estimate and a bad estimate. New developers, fresh out of college and eager to apply their newfound knowledge, will sometimes be the first to suggest a complete rewrite to the database layer because it's a cluttered mess.
Sure, the job may have been to write a feature that lets the customer service team sort customer data by creation date, something that helps the team improve retention efforts, but this eager dev attempts to take the issue scope to another level. By prioritizing technical debt the wrong way, the actual feature being developed is removed from focus, and management is justified in stopping this in its tracks. If revenue isn't being generated from a development operation, then there's a problem with the balance.
**Pay Back Technical Debt One Piece at a Time:**
------------------------------------------------
As a developer, I've worked with some code that I've had a pretty strong opinion about. When I told my project manager about it, he said he didn't care. He didn't want to think about it, and that it was my job to include this in the estimates in a way that didn't conflict with business goals. I've been doing that ever since, and I manage my own technical debt while still keeping management happy with the progress. In many cases, it actually makes the development faster because the impediments that would normally slow me down are removed.
Ultimately, the solution to managing technical debt and balancing it with company initiatives is to break it up into manageable, bite-sized chunks. If the database layer needs a rewrite, start with the new feature. Add it in a manner that scales, and then next time a new feature is added fix a little bit more. You should only commit to paying back a small portion of technical debt so that it doesn't stand out as a red flag to management, similar to how you should only pay down enough of your debt to where you can still pay your rent and eat your meals. ;)
In short, the way to balance technical debt against business goals and initiatives is to [refactor as you go](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/02/paying-down-your-technical-debt.html). The code will never be perfect, and that isn't the goal. Instead, the goal is to manage the technical debt to keep it from becoming an impediment, because when it impedes progress and becomes a threat to the project, then it *is* a project management issue. | Fascinating discussion, and very relevant to me. I believe that technical debt is a PM's concern.
One could argue that a project is a coordinated effort to produce a specific outcome/change; if the project produces the outcome, the project is successful, and technical debt doesn't enter into the equation. But I think that is shortsighted; at a minimum, the PM is obliged during the closeout procedures to document lessons learned and update the corporate process assets. Technical debt should fall into that category. Beyond that, the PM has an ethical obligation to do the best for the company within the constraints, and leaving a company saddled with unknown, undocumented technical debt is unconscionable.
Alternatively we could consider that technical debit is a quality control problem. Technical debt is a aberration that falls within control limits, but if it can be eliminated, the quality (and presumably value) of the product rises.
Multiple ways to look at the problem, but each of them convinces me that although the PM can ignore technical debt, prudence dictates that the PM estimate, document and manage technical debt.
I think the key challenge is establishing the value of technical debt. I think that companies/industries/teams should establish reference values and refine as they go. Just as the PM is obliged to assess & estimate the impact of every proposed change on schedule/scope/quality, the PM should assess & estimate the impact of technical debt. I think that an interesting corrallary to @Jmort253's question is "Change proposals go to the CCB. Who is accountable for changes that are intrinsically outside the scope of the project?"
As I said, excellent, thought provoking question. |
7,954 | In real world, business initiatives always take higher priority as there are associated ROIs and deliver something tangible to the users. But there are technical initiatives and projects that need to be done to keep up with the different versions of software, upgrading to a newer platforms, architecture re-factoring etc.,
1. How can we plan, prioritize and manage such competing initiatives?
2. Is there a model to quantify technical debt and its impact to the business? | 2012/11/01 | [
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/questions/7954",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/users/4731/"
] | **Technical Debt isn't a PM's Responsibility:**
-----------------------------------------------
As a project manager, the short answer is, you don't. This is really a job for the technical team, which includes functional managers and the actual developers working on the project. If you're doing project management correctly, then you should be getting all of your estimates from the developers themselves.
However, if it becomes a noticeable detriment to productivity, it may become a project management issue.
**Focus Primarily on Business Goals:**
--------------------------------------
However, here is where this can get tricky and why sometimes it is helpful for a project manager to have enough experience in the subject matter to know the difference between a good estimate and a bad estimate. New developers, fresh out of college and eager to apply their newfound knowledge, will sometimes be the first to suggest a complete rewrite to the database layer because it's a cluttered mess.
Sure, the job may have been to write a feature that lets the customer service team sort customer data by creation date, something that helps the team improve retention efforts, but this eager dev attempts to take the issue scope to another level. By prioritizing technical debt the wrong way, the actual feature being developed is removed from focus, and management is justified in stopping this in its tracks. If revenue isn't being generated from a development operation, then there's a problem with the balance.
**Pay Back Technical Debt One Piece at a Time:**
------------------------------------------------
As a developer, I've worked with some code that I've had a pretty strong opinion about. When I told my project manager about it, he said he didn't care. He didn't want to think about it, and that it was my job to include this in the estimates in a way that didn't conflict with business goals. I've been doing that ever since, and I manage my own technical debt while still keeping management happy with the progress. In many cases, it actually makes the development faster because the impediments that would normally slow me down are removed.
Ultimately, the solution to managing technical debt and balancing it with company initiatives is to break it up into manageable, bite-sized chunks. If the database layer needs a rewrite, start with the new feature. Add it in a manner that scales, and then next time a new feature is added fix a little bit more. You should only commit to paying back a small portion of technical debt so that it doesn't stand out as a red flag to management, similar to how you should only pay down enough of your debt to where you can still pay your rent and eat your meals. ;)
In short, the way to balance technical debt against business goals and initiatives is to [refactor as you go](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/02/paying-down-your-technical-debt.html). The code will never be perfect, and that isn't the goal. Instead, the goal is to manage the technical debt to keep it from becoming an impediment, because when it impedes progress and becomes a threat to the project, then it *is* a project management issue. | I know there's an answer for this and I mostly agree with @Lunivore and @jmort253 answers but I thought I would chime in on how I have seen and heard technical debt handled?
In our company we recently started trying to allocate dedicated week-long sprints that we focus on technical debt. Unfortunately this hasn't worked super well when there are certain features that go over the course of multiple sprints, in which case it's impossible to prioritize low-priority fixes vs features that need to ship.
Kind of building on above, I believe **it's important to show and communicate communicate how technical debt is affecting the team's velocity**. This naturally starts with being able to know what your team's velocity is, and then showing it is simply a matter of process.
Recently we have started costing out all issues with [story points](https://agilefaq.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/what-is-a-story-point/) (whether it be features and the small tasks associated with features, or just nitpicky bug fixes) everything is costed out with a certain value. After a period of time, our manager is now able to give a ballpark range of how much bandwidth each engineer has and how much time they can allocate to fixing certain bugs. When we first started this, it was naturally really bumpy because we would forget that there was more to a task so its generally better to overestimate than underestimate.
After some time though, we were able to give a good sense of what we can fit into the sprint and what we can't and we have been given dedicated time to fix bugs that makes sense (hey you have this feature but from what was costed out you seem to have time for some small bugs?). I think we are still working on a good rhythm and we have juggled between alternating people to fix bugs or just dedicating time for the entire team (especially useful if you have new devs) -- maybe I'll chime in again when we have narrowed that down but we have definitely seen an improvement in how fast we do things when given the time to fix the things that no one sees and it's nice that everyone can "see" it too now.
In regards to responsibility, I don't necessarily think it's the PM's responsibility? Our **engineering manager and tech lead drives managing technical debt** while our PM drives the projects and timeline of features. That being said, **it's important there is dedicated time for the PM and the manager to coordinate and set expectations**. |
7,954 | In real world, business initiatives always take higher priority as there are associated ROIs and deliver something tangible to the users. But there are technical initiatives and projects that need to be done to keep up with the different versions of software, upgrading to a newer platforms, architecture re-factoring etc.,
1. How can we plan, prioritize and manage such competing initiatives?
2. Is there a model to quantify technical debt and its impact to the business? | 2012/11/01 | [
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/questions/7954",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/users/4731/"
] | I'm going to pick on @jmort253's answer, because I disagree.
ROI initiatives aren't the only kinds of project, nor should they be. Chris Matts (the analyst behind BDD, Feature Injection and Real Options) found that 80% of one of his CIO's projects were concerned with protecting existing customer revenue, rather than trying to increase it - essentially, stopping their customers leaving for a competitor.
A lot of projects also simply provide *options* for the future. These are often very hard to price, but very, very expensive if they're not done.
Most technical initiatives are done for this reason; to provide the business with options to change in the future. Some of them have more direct business concerns which are more easily phrased, like increasing current system performance to cope with growing demand. Others may be relevant to different parts of the business - changing from Fortran to Python to attract better talent and make it easier to recruit - but in the long run, that's still about having options in the future.
**Technical Debt is, and should be, a PM's concern**
Chris Matts and Steve Freeman [came up with a lovely analogy](http://www.higherorderlogic.com/2010/07/bad-code-isnt-technical-debt-its-an-unhedged-call-option/). "It's not like a credit card. It's like an unhedged call option. It's like you've promised to sell all these chocolate Santas at Christmas, and then suddenly one year the price of chocolate is really high, and you have to sell the Santas anyway because you made that commitment, and now you're bust." As long as nobody makes the call, technical debt doesn't matter.
The problem is that every project has something new about it, or that project wouldn't be happening (see ["Waltzing with Bears"](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0932633609)). So every project has changes that get made as discoveries happen as a result of feedback from the new thing (see [the complex domain in Cynefi](http://lizkeogh.com/2012/03/11/cynefin-for-devs/)n). And every project is therefore seriously at risk from being called.
(Every project is also difficult to estimate for this reason; you can't estimate something you've never done before.)
**The option to change is usually an unstated a business goal**
I worked with one company that had a single class of 10,000 lines that took Visual Studio 5 minutes to load. When the business found out what poor quality code had been produced, they said, "Why would you ever do that? We expected you to push back if we were making you do that!"
This unstated goal is also, usually, the *core goal* of most projects which are replacing legacy systems. The legacy systems have become too unwieldy, and can't be changed to meet new requirements and architectural demand, so a new system is created. If I had a shiny English pound for every time I've seen a replacement system team abandon the core goal in order to meet some arbitrary deadline, I wouldn't need to work again.
By calling out this unstated goal as an explicit one, everyone involved on the project can talk about it rather than assuming it's happening.
**Educate the business about the cost of technical debt**
Technical debt only happens in the face of time pressure (or as a result of bad habit or lack of skill, which are a different problem, solved by having time to learn how to do the job well... so, time pressure).
By keeping track of the growing cost of the debt and making the business aware of it, you can help to show them the value of the options they're losing. This could include things like your best developers leaving, and the cost of re-hiring; how much extra time the devs reckon it took to create a new feature as a result of technical debt; how much more effective the team is when they're given the chance to take pride in their work instead of bowing to business pressure.
Also educate them about [the alignment trap](http://www.ebizq.net/blogs/agile_enterprise/2009/11/dont-fall-in-the-alignment-trap.php). "Companies in which IT was highly aligned with business but not effective were considerably worse off than companies in which IT was less aligned and merely kept the systems running."
**Pay back technical debt one piece at a time**
In this place I agree with @jmort253. It's even better if you can avoid falling into debt in the first place, but usually there are different skill sets on a team, people learning to code well, etc. - so having the ability to refactor as you go and help educate other developers is more important than getting it right up-front.
If the team feel pressured to churn out new features, though, they'll very quickly abandon the technical debt. It can't be seen or measured easily, and as such is usually the first victim of any pressure.
A PM's responsibility in this situation is to push back, educate, and help the business cut scope instead. | I know there's an answer for this and I mostly agree with @Lunivore and @jmort253 answers but I thought I would chime in on how I have seen and heard technical debt handled?
In our company we recently started trying to allocate dedicated week-long sprints that we focus on technical debt. Unfortunately this hasn't worked super well when there are certain features that go over the course of multiple sprints, in which case it's impossible to prioritize low-priority fixes vs features that need to ship.
Kind of building on above, I believe **it's important to show and communicate communicate how technical debt is affecting the team's velocity**. This naturally starts with being able to know what your team's velocity is, and then showing it is simply a matter of process.
Recently we have started costing out all issues with [story points](https://agilefaq.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/what-is-a-story-point/) (whether it be features and the small tasks associated with features, or just nitpicky bug fixes) everything is costed out with a certain value. After a period of time, our manager is now able to give a ballpark range of how much bandwidth each engineer has and how much time they can allocate to fixing certain bugs. When we first started this, it was naturally really bumpy because we would forget that there was more to a task so its generally better to overestimate than underestimate.
After some time though, we were able to give a good sense of what we can fit into the sprint and what we can't and we have been given dedicated time to fix bugs that makes sense (hey you have this feature but from what was costed out you seem to have time for some small bugs?). I think we are still working on a good rhythm and we have juggled between alternating people to fix bugs or just dedicating time for the entire team (especially useful if you have new devs) -- maybe I'll chime in again when we have narrowed that down but we have definitely seen an improvement in how fast we do things when given the time to fix the things that no one sees and it's nice that everyone can "see" it too now.
In regards to responsibility, I don't necessarily think it's the PM's responsibility? Our **engineering manager and tech lead drives managing technical debt** while our PM drives the projects and timeline of features. That being said, **it's important there is dedicated time for the PM and the manager to coordinate and set expectations**. |
7,954 | In real world, business initiatives always take higher priority as there are associated ROIs and deliver something tangible to the users. But there are technical initiatives and projects that need to be done to keep up with the different versions of software, upgrading to a newer platforms, architecture re-factoring etc.,
1. How can we plan, prioritize and manage such competing initiatives?
2. Is there a model to quantify technical debt and its impact to the business? | 2012/11/01 | [
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/questions/7954",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/users/4731/"
] | I tend to disagree with the basic assumption that technical initiatives are not business initiatives. They may be different from rolling out a new product or an advertising campaign, but:
* They have a business benefits... be it regulatory compliance, improving efficiencies, making the customer experience better, etc
* They have business costs... training, systems development, etc
* They have business risks... what if stakeholders don't like the changes, what if their costs are more than expected, what if their benefits are less, etc
Where technical initiatives tend to have problems is that they aren't easily understood by decision makers who tend to come from the marketing/sales/"business" side of the house. Basically they aren't as "sexy" as a new marketing campaign or partnership.
The best approach to getting a better focus on "technical debt" is to do a thorough business case for addressing it. How much will addressing the debt cost in time, money and effort? What is the payback period given the expected labor savings, increased sales, increased customer retention, increased market share, etc once the initiative is implemented? How does this compare to the costs and benefits of maintaining the status quo? Getting this information together will take some time and effort, but if it is done well it should be obvious to you whether or not the technical debt needs to be paid *now* or if payment can be deferred. | I would start by **Identifying the ROI that the technical debt delivers** and discussing this with the business. If you can describe both value work and what John Seddon calls 'Failure Demand' in the same terms and using the same metrics then you can agree how to split your capacity across them.
**Example - Architectural Refactoring**
We have a piece of configuration information which is baked into an app (I know, I know...). This config can go unchanged for weeks and then suddenly need changing.
If the config doesn't get changed then ads stop appearing in an application and we stop making revenue from it.
The quick and dirty solution is to change the config in the code and redeploy. This is repetitive and error prone and ultimately not sustainable.
The sustainable solution would be to factor our the config from the code and provide a mechanism for changing it independently from the code. This will take longer the first time round but will then make future config changes much quicker and less error prone.
Guess which one we have done twice already? That's right the quick and dirty. This is because the ROI on the feature is immediately visible or rather, the Cost of Delay were the work not to be done is very high.
The sell we have to make to the business is, let us spend time refactoring this to address the technical debt. That way, next time we need to change the config it will be quicker than it currently is, so quicker ROI in the future, but we will need to take some capacity away now to address the technical debt. It is deferred ROI.
**Example - Architectural Refactoring as complexity increases**
Sometimes it is hard to describe the technical debt to the business, to them it is just an implementation detail or something you should not have accrued in the first place.
For example, as something grows in complexity it requires refactoring. In this case I do one of two things.
I either cover the cost of the refactoring in the delivery of the feature which has required us to go back and look at the code in question. I always call this out to the business either to tell them that the feature will take longer to deliver than similar features have in the past, because we have reached a point where we need to refactor.
Again I describe this to them as deferred ROI. There will be a greater upfront cost but by doing the refactoring now, future work in this area will be cheaper.
The other approach I take is to treat the development team as a customer of itself and reserve a percentage of capacity, agreed with the business, in each iteration for reduction of technical debt.
**Example - Platform Upgrade**
For the example you give of upgrading to a newer platform I would again look at how you can describe this in terms of ROI, or impact on ROI.
If the existing platform is no longer supported by the vendor then the business is exposed to the risk of defects discovered in that version of the platform not getting fixed and so impacting on business functionality which depends on it.
This impact will be an increase in failure demand, that is, customers will be less able to get value out of what you as a business provide as problems with the underlying platform are getting in the way. This can be articulated as lost revenue, or potential lost revenue so the ROI is to upgrade the underlying platform.
Prioritising such an upgrade can again be done by looking at the Cost of Delay. If you were not to upgrade the platform would there be any impact on your existing products and services? Would it prevent you from launching new ones?
If problems in the existing platform are generating failure demand now then the Cost of Delay is high and you have a compelling ROI based argument for doing the work sooner rather than later.
If you are currently unaffected by problems in the existing platform but need to upgrade in order to add new functionality then the ROI of the new functionality will determine the ROI of upgrading the platform. |
7,954 | In real world, business initiatives always take higher priority as there are associated ROIs and deliver something tangible to the users. But there are technical initiatives and projects that need to be done to keep up with the different versions of software, upgrading to a newer platforms, architecture re-factoring etc.,
1. How can we plan, prioritize and manage such competing initiatives?
2. Is there a model to quantify technical debt and its impact to the business? | 2012/11/01 | [
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/questions/7954",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/users/4731/"
] | I would start by **Identifying the ROI that the technical debt delivers** and discussing this with the business. If you can describe both value work and what John Seddon calls 'Failure Demand' in the same terms and using the same metrics then you can agree how to split your capacity across them.
**Example - Architectural Refactoring**
We have a piece of configuration information which is baked into an app (I know, I know...). This config can go unchanged for weeks and then suddenly need changing.
If the config doesn't get changed then ads stop appearing in an application and we stop making revenue from it.
The quick and dirty solution is to change the config in the code and redeploy. This is repetitive and error prone and ultimately not sustainable.
The sustainable solution would be to factor our the config from the code and provide a mechanism for changing it independently from the code. This will take longer the first time round but will then make future config changes much quicker and less error prone.
Guess which one we have done twice already? That's right the quick and dirty. This is because the ROI on the feature is immediately visible or rather, the Cost of Delay were the work not to be done is very high.
The sell we have to make to the business is, let us spend time refactoring this to address the technical debt. That way, next time we need to change the config it will be quicker than it currently is, so quicker ROI in the future, but we will need to take some capacity away now to address the technical debt. It is deferred ROI.
**Example - Architectural Refactoring as complexity increases**
Sometimes it is hard to describe the technical debt to the business, to them it is just an implementation detail or something you should not have accrued in the first place.
For example, as something grows in complexity it requires refactoring. In this case I do one of two things.
I either cover the cost of the refactoring in the delivery of the feature which has required us to go back and look at the code in question. I always call this out to the business either to tell them that the feature will take longer to deliver than similar features have in the past, because we have reached a point where we need to refactor.
Again I describe this to them as deferred ROI. There will be a greater upfront cost but by doing the refactoring now, future work in this area will be cheaper.
The other approach I take is to treat the development team as a customer of itself and reserve a percentage of capacity, agreed with the business, in each iteration for reduction of technical debt.
**Example - Platform Upgrade**
For the example you give of upgrading to a newer platform I would again look at how you can describe this in terms of ROI, or impact on ROI.
If the existing platform is no longer supported by the vendor then the business is exposed to the risk of defects discovered in that version of the platform not getting fixed and so impacting on business functionality which depends on it.
This impact will be an increase in failure demand, that is, customers will be less able to get value out of what you as a business provide as problems with the underlying platform are getting in the way. This can be articulated as lost revenue, or potential lost revenue so the ROI is to upgrade the underlying platform.
Prioritising such an upgrade can again be done by looking at the Cost of Delay. If you were not to upgrade the platform would there be any impact on your existing products and services? Would it prevent you from launching new ones?
If problems in the existing platform are generating failure demand now then the Cost of Delay is high and you have a compelling ROI based argument for doing the work sooner rather than later.
If you are currently unaffected by problems in the existing platform but need to upgrade in order to add new functionality then the ROI of the new functionality will determine the ROI of upgrading the platform. | I know there's an answer for this and I mostly agree with @Lunivore and @jmort253 answers but I thought I would chime in on how I have seen and heard technical debt handled?
In our company we recently started trying to allocate dedicated week-long sprints that we focus on technical debt. Unfortunately this hasn't worked super well when there are certain features that go over the course of multiple sprints, in which case it's impossible to prioritize low-priority fixes vs features that need to ship.
Kind of building on above, I believe **it's important to show and communicate communicate how technical debt is affecting the team's velocity**. This naturally starts with being able to know what your team's velocity is, and then showing it is simply a matter of process.
Recently we have started costing out all issues with [story points](https://agilefaq.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/what-is-a-story-point/) (whether it be features and the small tasks associated with features, or just nitpicky bug fixes) everything is costed out with a certain value. After a period of time, our manager is now able to give a ballpark range of how much bandwidth each engineer has and how much time they can allocate to fixing certain bugs. When we first started this, it was naturally really bumpy because we would forget that there was more to a task so its generally better to overestimate than underestimate.
After some time though, we were able to give a good sense of what we can fit into the sprint and what we can't and we have been given dedicated time to fix bugs that makes sense (hey you have this feature but from what was costed out you seem to have time for some small bugs?). I think we are still working on a good rhythm and we have juggled between alternating people to fix bugs or just dedicating time for the entire team (especially useful if you have new devs) -- maybe I'll chime in again when we have narrowed that down but we have definitely seen an improvement in how fast we do things when given the time to fix the things that no one sees and it's nice that everyone can "see" it too now.
In regards to responsibility, I don't necessarily think it's the PM's responsibility? Our **engineering manager and tech lead drives managing technical debt** while our PM drives the projects and timeline of features. That being said, **it's important there is dedicated time for the PM and the manager to coordinate and set expectations**. |
7,954 | In real world, business initiatives always take higher priority as there are associated ROIs and deliver something tangible to the users. But there are technical initiatives and projects that need to be done to keep up with the different versions of software, upgrading to a newer platforms, architecture re-factoring etc.,
1. How can we plan, prioritize and manage such competing initiatives?
2. Is there a model to quantify technical debt and its impact to the business? | 2012/11/01 | [
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/questions/7954",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/users/4731/"
] | **Technical Debt isn't a PM's Responsibility:**
-----------------------------------------------
As a project manager, the short answer is, you don't. This is really a job for the technical team, which includes functional managers and the actual developers working on the project. If you're doing project management correctly, then you should be getting all of your estimates from the developers themselves.
However, if it becomes a noticeable detriment to productivity, it may become a project management issue.
**Focus Primarily on Business Goals:**
--------------------------------------
However, here is where this can get tricky and why sometimes it is helpful for a project manager to have enough experience in the subject matter to know the difference between a good estimate and a bad estimate. New developers, fresh out of college and eager to apply their newfound knowledge, will sometimes be the first to suggest a complete rewrite to the database layer because it's a cluttered mess.
Sure, the job may have been to write a feature that lets the customer service team sort customer data by creation date, something that helps the team improve retention efforts, but this eager dev attempts to take the issue scope to another level. By prioritizing technical debt the wrong way, the actual feature being developed is removed from focus, and management is justified in stopping this in its tracks. If revenue isn't being generated from a development operation, then there's a problem with the balance.
**Pay Back Technical Debt One Piece at a Time:**
------------------------------------------------
As a developer, I've worked with some code that I've had a pretty strong opinion about. When I told my project manager about it, he said he didn't care. He didn't want to think about it, and that it was my job to include this in the estimates in a way that didn't conflict with business goals. I've been doing that ever since, and I manage my own technical debt while still keeping management happy with the progress. In many cases, it actually makes the development faster because the impediments that would normally slow me down are removed.
Ultimately, the solution to managing technical debt and balancing it with company initiatives is to break it up into manageable, bite-sized chunks. If the database layer needs a rewrite, start with the new feature. Add it in a manner that scales, and then next time a new feature is added fix a little bit more. You should only commit to paying back a small portion of technical debt so that it doesn't stand out as a red flag to management, similar to how you should only pay down enough of your debt to where you can still pay your rent and eat your meals. ;)
In short, the way to balance technical debt against business goals and initiatives is to [refactor as you go](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/02/paying-down-your-technical-debt.html). The code will never be perfect, and that isn't the goal. Instead, the goal is to manage the technical debt to keep it from becoming an impediment, because when it impedes progress and becomes a threat to the project, then it *is* a project management issue. | I would start by **Identifying the ROI that the technical debt delivers** and discussing this with the business. If you can describe both value work and what John Seddon calls 'Failure Demand' in the same terms and using the same metrics then you can agree how to split your capacity across them.
**Example - Architectural Refactoring**
We have a piece of configuration information which is baked into an app (I know, I know...). This config can go unchanged for weeks and then suddenly need changing.
If the config doesn't get changed then ads stop appearing in an application and we stop making revenue from it.
The quick and dirty solution is to change the config in the code and redeploy. This is repetitive and error prone and ultimately not sustainable.
The sustainable solution would be to factor our the config from the code and provide a mechanism for changing it independently from the code. This will take longer the first time round but will then make future config changes much quicker and less error prone.
Guess which one we have done twice already? That's right the quick and dirty. This is because the ROI on the feature is immediately visible or rather, the Cost of Delay were the work not to be done is very high.
The sell we have to make to the business is, let us spend time refactoring this to address the technical debt. That way, next time we need to change the config it will be quicker than it currently is, so quicker ROI in the future, but we will need to take some capacity away now to address the technical debt. It is deferred ROI.
**Example - Architectural Refactoring as complexity increases**
Sometimes it is hard to describe the technical debt to the business, to them it is just an implementation detail or something you should not have accrued in the first place.
For example, as something grows in complexity it requires refactoring. In this case I do one of two things.
I either cover the cost of the refactoring in the delivery of the feature which has required us to go back and look at the code in question. I always call this out to the business either to tell them that the feature will take longer to deliver than similar features have in the past, because we have reached a point where we need to refactor.
Again I describe this to them as deferred ROI. There will be a greater upfront cost but by doing the refactoring now, future work in this area will be cheaper.
The other approach I take is to treat the development team as a customer of itself and reserve a percentage of capacity, agreed with the business, in each iteration for reduction of technical debt.
**Example - Platform Upgrade**
For the example you give of upgrading to a newer platform I would again look at how you can describe this in terms of ROI, or impact on ROI.
If the existing platform is no longer supported by the vendor then the business is exposed to the risk of defects discovered in that version of the platform not getting fixed and so impacting on business functionality which depends on it.
This impact will be an increase in failure demand, that is, customers will be less able to get value out of what you as a business provide as problems with the underlying platform are getting in the way. This can be articulated as lost revenue, or potential lost revenue so the ROI is to upgrade the underlying platform.
Prioritising such an upgrade can again be done by looking at the Cost of Delay. If you were not to upgrade the platform would there be any impact on your existing products and services? Would it prevent you from launching new ones?
If problems in the existing platform are generating failure demand now then the Cost of Delay is high and you have a compelling ROI based argument for doing the work sooner rather than later.
If you are currently unaffected by problems in the existing platform but need to upgrade in order to add new functionality then the ROI of the new functionality will determine the ROI of upgrading the platform. |
23,472 | Can I use a nonbasic land that taps and gives me either a red or white mana if I only have red mana in my deck? | 2015/03/19 | [
"https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/23472",
"https://boardgames.stackexchange.com",
"https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/users/12155/"
] | Yes, as long as you're not playing Commander
--------------------------------------------
In normal decks, you can use whatever (format legal) cards you want in any combination. You can play a Plains in an all Red deck if you really want to, though it's probably a bad idea.
If you're playing [Commander](http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Commander_%28format%29), there is an additional rule that says that cards must match the color identity of the commander. This means that your cards can't have any mana symbols anywhere on them that don't match one of your commander's colors. In this case, if your commander isn't at least partially white, then you can't use a land that could tap for white mana. | Quoting from the [basic rulebook](https://media.wizards.com/images/magic/resources/rules/EN_MTGM14_PrintedRulebook_LR.pdf), page 15 ("Building Your Own Deck"):
>
> You build [your deck] using whichever **Magic** cards you want. There are two rules: your deck must have at least 60 cards, and your deck can't have more than four copies of any single card (except for basic lands).
>
>
>
This only applies to "Constructed" games - the "Limited" format follows slightly different rules; also certain tournament formats may restrict cards to only come from certain sets, and may also ban or restrict specific cards, as per [the banned/restricted list](https://web.archive.org/web/20151004123057/http://archive.wizards.com:80/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=judge/resources/banned). However, outside of the Commander format there are no rules preventing you from including multi-colour lands unless they are specifically in one of those lists.
If you do include one of those lands, there are a few things to note:
1. It does exactly what it says on it - so if it says "T: Add W or R to your mana pool", then you may tap it to add *either* one white mana *or* one red mana to your mana pool. If your deck has no use for white mana, then you probably won't ever choose to do so, but there's nothing stopping you from doing so.
2. The land is not a basic land of any type (unless some card specifies otherwise). So even if it produces W/R mana, it is *not* a Plains *or* a Mountain (or an Island, Swamp or Forest).
3. As stated above, since it is not a basic land you can not have more than four copies in your deck, or more than one copy if it is on the restricted list for the format you are playing. |
55,797 | I'm trying to design a visual representation of a child's sleep schedule for a given week.
I was thinking of making a chart with the time of day on the y-axis and the days of the week on the x-axis and then blocking in the time intervals much like a calendar app would.
What are some alternate ways of representing this data that might result in a better user experience? Keep in mind that all 24 hours of the day have to be visible unlike most workday calendars because kids sleep at all hours.
**EDIT:** Another option, I suppose is a [bubble chart](http://www.highcharts.com/demo/bubble), with the bubble plotted at the midpoint of the sleep duration and the size of the bubble indicating the length of the sleep. | 2014/04/15 | [
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/55797",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/users/23162/"
] | I agree with [Charles](https://ux.stackexchange.com/users/19574/charles-wesley); the same chart but with the axes reversed makes more sense to me. I tend to think of time in terms of timelines, which your chart just isn't doing for me right now. I also think you want some way to indicate continuities within broken time chunks, so it's clear that the kid didn't wake up briefly at midnight.
[download bmml source](/plugins/mockups/download?image=http%3a%2f%2fi.stack.imgur.com%2fdlXyG.png) – Wireframes created with [Balsamiq Mockups](http://www.balsamiq.com/products/mockups)
It's also worth thinking about presentation in terms of how your users will find the data most useful. For instance, you might allow your users to set the time at which a 'day' begins so that they can get meaningful stats about how much their child slept on an average day. Ergo, if the child is always awake by 10am, you have the day start at 10am (and adjust the display accordingly) so that the night's sleep is all linked to a single day. | Another alternative - one that gets rid of the discontinuity at midnight (or 10am) - would be a spiral visualization, with one day per circuit.
Here's a picture of a spiral visualisation from [an earlier UX answer](https://ux.stackexchange.com/a/4113/376) of mine:
You could use 24 hours per circuit, and show history over 7 or 10 days easily. The same time of day always shows at the same angle, so patterns are immediately visible. I'd probably set things up with noon at the top and midnight at the bottom, giving 6am on the left and 9pm on the right.
*Disclosure:* I encountered these visualizations while working at a company founded by [Andrew Cardno](http://www.bis2.net/about_us/management); there may be IP issues if you are working on something commercial. |
56,875 | Say you are working in an office where English is not a native language for people but some English terms are used very often (e.g. an IT department). And your boss always pronounces English terms incorrectly.
The question. Is it appropriate to pronounce the terms correctly when speaking to the boss or one should use his wrong pronunciation for any reasons.
It seems to me a bit uncomfortable to use the fixed pronunciation just after his incorrect wording (right in the next sentence). He may find this offensive I think. He may think that I'm either too dumb to remember how it's pronounced after one second after his saying or I'm trying to teach him.
P.S. Trying to tell him how it's pronounced correctly is not an option. Please avoid this advice. Thank you. | 2015/10/31 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/56875",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/5415/"
] | First and foremost, **you don't need to correct every mistake**. Focusing on his pronunciation is likely causing you to miss some of the message he is trying to communicate to you.
If your manager interacts with other English-speaking professionals, you would be doing him a favor by helping him learn to pronounce things correctly. Pronounce things correctly yourself, even if he just pronounced it incorrectly in the previous sentence. It will be subtle, but over time it might work. **Of course, you need to be absolutely sure your pronunciation is correct, too.**
If your boss thinks he's right and you're not, your response might be something along the lines of, *"Oh? I've always pronounced it this way. Let me go check it out and see if I've been doing it wrong."* Then you can double check and let him know what you found.
In the end, it's not the end of the world to mispronounce things, except when the mistake could lead to an entirely different understanding of the speaker's message. In that case, it's good to repeat back what you heard, so he knows you got his message. | It's less important how he pronounces it then it is that you understand him. Lots of people have lots of different accents. There is no reason I can think of for a person to mispronounce on purpose.
So I would just pronounce the word/s correctly as I know them. I live in a country where my accent is very different, over time my accent has changed a bit, but it wasn't a conscious change, just the natural one that comes from your environment. In any case it has never really impacted on my ability to communicate in English which is the norm for technical discussions.
If I tried to imitate their accents when talking to them, they would probably think I'm trying to be funny. As far as which pronunciation is correct, mine is in most places. But in their country theirs is, so it's relative to the situation. The important thing is we're mutually intelligible. The native language here does not have all the same sounds as English, so for them to pronounce my way would be very difficult for some. Much as I will always speak their language with an accent. |
56,875 | Say you are working in an office where English is not a native language for people but some English terms are used very often (e.g. an IT department). And your boss always pronounces English terms incorrectly.
The question. Is it appropriate to pronounce the terms correctly when speaking to the boss or one should use his wrong pronunciation for any reasons.
It seems to me a bit uncomfortable to use the fixed pronunciation just after his incorrect wording (right in the next sentence). He may find this offensive I think. He may think that I'm either too dumb to remember how it's pronounced after one second after his saying or I'm trying to teach him.
P.S. Trying to tell him how it's pronounced correctly is not an option. Please avoid this advice. Thank you. | 2015/10/31 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/56875",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/5415/"
] | As long as you are not gratuitously using the words, you should always aim at correct pronunciation. Knowingly imitating an incorrect pronunciation is dishonorable and groveling behavior. Correct behavior is to pronounce words correctly and ignore other people who may be pronouncing the word incorrectly.
The only thing to avoid would be unnecessarily using a word you know to be pronounced incorrectly by someone else. Repeatedly or unnecessarily speaking such a word could be construed as an attempt to humiliate the other person. Therefore, you should only use the word when absolutely necessary and avoid using such a word needlessly. | First and foremost, **you don't need to correct every mistake**. Focusing on his pronunciation is likely causing you to miss some of the message he is trying to communicate to you.
If your manager interacts with other English-speaking professionals, you would be doing him a favor by helping him learn to pronounce things correctly. Pronounce things correctly yourself, even if he just pronounced it incorrectly in the previous sentence. It will be subtle, but over time it might work. **Of course, you need to be absolutely sure your pronunciation is correct, too.**
If your boss thinks he's right and you're not, your response might be something along the lines of, *"Oh? I've always pronounced it this way. Let me go check it out and see if I've been doing it wrong."* Then you can double check and let him know what you found.
In the end, it's not the end of the world to mispronounce things, except when the mistake could lead to an entirely different understanding of the speaker's message. In that case, it's good to repeat back what you heard, so he knows you got his message. |
56,875 | Say you are working in an office where English is not a native language for people but some English terms are used very often (e.g. an IT department). And your boss always pronounces English terms incorrectly.
The question. Is it appropriate to pronounce the terms correctly when speaking to the boss or one should use his wrong pronunciation for any reasons.
It seems to me a bit uncomfortable to use the fixed pronunciation just after his incorrect wording (right in the next sentence). He may find this offensive I think. He may think that I'm either too dumb to remember how it's pronounced after one second after his saying or I'm trying to teach him.
P.S. Trying to tell him how it's pronounced correctly is not an option. Please avoid this advice. Thank you. | 2015/10/31 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/56875",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/5415/"
] | First and foremost, **you don't need to correct every mistake**. Focusing on his pronunciation is likely causing you to miss some of the message he is trying to communicate to you.
If your manager interacts with other English-speaking professionals, you would be doing him a favor by helping him learn to pronounce things correctly. Pronounce things correctly yourself, even if he just pronounced it incorrectly in the previous sentence. It will be subtle, but over time it might work. **Of course, you need to be absolutely sure your pronunciation is correct, too.**
If your boss thinks he's right and you're not, your response might be something along the lines of, *"Oh? I've always pronounced it this way. Let me go check it out and see if I've been doing it wrong."* Then you can double check and let him know what you found.
In the end, it's not the end of the world to mispronounce things, except when the mistake could lead to an entirely different understanding of the speaker's message. In that case, it's good to repeat back what you heard, so he knows you got his message. | This answer becomes trivial if you stop thinking of him pronouncing it **wrongly** and instead that he is pronouncing it **in his accent** which doesn't have to be the same as yours.
I have Australian friends who say "dahta" and "dahtabayse" while I say "dayta" and "daytabase". I don't adjust my pronunciation to match theirs. They don't take my pronunciation as a correction to them. And there are plenty of opinions about how to say GIF, SQL, etc -- tech terms don't always have single pronunciations.
You worry that if he says "do we have the dahta?" and you say "yes, we have tons of dayta" that he'll feel rebuked. Why should he? Different doesn't mean wrong. If you feel funny, take refuge in pronouns (eg it, them) or substitutes (the language, the framework, the platform, the library.) If it's been that recent since your boss said the word, it's available as an easy referent using these sorts of words.
The only reason to change your own pronunciation is if everyone on your team and in your area says it differently than you (and the inventors, and possibly the majority of the internet) and you are starting to feel bad, not as someone correcting others, but as someone who isn't acting according to the norms of your group. You haven't provided any examples so it's hard to know if that needs to happen in your case. |
56,875 | Say you are working in an office where English is not a native language for people but some English terms are used very often (e.g. an IT department). And your boss always pronounces English terms incorrectly.
The question. Is it appropriate to pronounce the terms correctly when speaking to the boss or one should use his wrong pronunciation for any reasons.
It seems to me a bit uncomfortable to use the fixed pronunciation just after his incorrect wording (right in the next sentence). He may find this offensive I think. He may think that I'm either too dumb to remember how it's pronounced after one second after his saying or I'm trying to teach him.
P.S. Trying to tell him how it's pronounced correctly is not an option. Please avoid this advice. Thank you. | 2015/10/31 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/56875",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/5415/"
] | First and foremost, **you don't need to correct every mistake**. Focusing on his pronunciation is likely causing you to miss some of the message he is trying to communicate to you.
If your manager interacts with other English-speaking professionals, you would be doing him a favor by helping him learn to pronounce things correctly. Pronounce things correctly yourself, even if he just pronounced it incorrectly in the previous sentence. It will be subtle, but over time it might work. **Of course, you need to be absolutely sure your pronunciation is correct, too.**
If your boss thinks he's right and you're not, your response might be something along the lines of, *"Oh? I've always pronounced it this way. Let me go check it out and see if I've been doing it wrong."* Then you can double check and let him know what you found.
In the end, it's not the end of the world to mispronounce things, except when the mistake could lead to an entirely different understanding of the speaker's message. In that case, it's good to repeat back what you heard, so he knows you got his message. | I'm going to answer this question as the person who mispronounces words. I'm a native English speaker but have started picking up French late in life. I can follow a conversation and speak short sentences. I slaughter the pronunciation of words; a native or fluent speaker can understand me though.
I personally prefer if native French speakers use proper pronunciation around me. **Foremost because I couldn't understand them if they used my own mispronunciation.** A secondary reason is maybe, through some odd osmosis or asking outright, I'll pick up the correct pronunciation over time. |
56,875 | Say you are working in an office where English is not a native language for people but some English terms are used very often (e.g. an IT department). And your boss always pronounces English terms incorrectly.
The question. Is it appropriate to pronounce the terms correctly when speaking to the boss or one should use his wrong pronunciation for any reasons.
It seems to me a bit uncomfortable to use the fixed pronunciation just after his incorrect wording (right in the next sentence). He may find this offensive I think. He may think that I'm either too dumb to remember how it's pronounced after one second after his saying or I'm trying to teach him.
P.S. Trying to tell him how it's pronounced correctly is not an option. Please avoid this advice. Thank you. | 2015/10/31 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/56875",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/5415/"
] | As long as you are not gratuitously using the words, you should always aim at correct pronunciation. Knowingly imitating an incorrect pronunciation is dishonorable and groveling behavior. Correct behavior is to pronounce words correctly and ignore other people who may be pronouncing the word incorrectly.
The only thing to avoid would be unnecessarily using a word you know to be pronounced incorrectly by someone else. Repeatedly or unnecessarily speaking such a word could be construed as an attempt to humiliate the other person. Therefore, you should only use the word when absolutely necessary and avoid using such a word needlessly. | It's less important how he pronounces it then it is that you understand him. Lots of people have lots of different accents. There is no reason I can think of for a person to mispronounce on purpose.
So I would just pronounce the word/s correctly as I know them. I live in a country where my accent is very different, over time my accent has changed a bit, but it wasn't a conscious change, just the natural one that comes from your environment. In any case it has never really impacted on my ability to communicate in English which is the norm for technical discussions.
If I tried to imitate their accents when talking to them, they would probably think I'm trying to be funny. As far as which pronunciation is correct, mine is in most places. But in their country theirs is, so it's relative to the situation. The important thing is we're mutually intelligible. The native language here does not have all the same sounds as English, so for them to pronounce my way would be very difficult for some. Much as I will always speak their language with an accent. |
56,875 | Say you are working in an office where English is not a native language for people but some English terms are used very often (e.g. an IT department). And your boss always pronounces English terms incorrectly.
The question. Is it appropriate to pronounce the terms correctly when speaking to the boss or one should use his wrong pronunciation for any reasons.
It seems to me a bit uncomfortable to use the fixed pronunciation just after his incorrect wording (right in the next sentence). He may find this offensive I think. He may think that I'm either too dumb to remember how it's pronounced after one second after his saying or I'm trying to teach him.
P.S. Trying to tell him how it's pronounced correctly is not an option. Please avoid this advice. Thank you. | 2015/10/31 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/56875",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/5415/"
] | It's less important how he pronounces it then it is that you understand him. Lots of people have lots of different accents. There is no reason I can think of for a person to mispronounce on purpose.
So I would just pronounce the word/s correctly as I know them. I live in a country where my accent is very different, over time my accent has changed a bit, but it wasn't a conscious change, just the natural one that comes from your environment. In any case it has never really impacted on my ability to communicate in English which is the norm for technical discussions.
If I tried to imitate their accents when talking to them, they would probably think I'm trying to be funny. As far as which pronunciation is correct, mine is in most places. But in their country theirs is, so it's relative to the situation. The important thing is we're mutually intelligible. The native language here does not have all the same sounds as English, so for them to pronounce my way would be very difficult for some. Much as I will always speak their language with an accent. | I'm going to answer this question as the person who mispronounces words. I'm a native English speaker but have started picking up French late in life. I can follow a conversation and speak short sentences. I slaughter the pronunciation of words; a native or fluent speaker can understand me though.
I personally prefer if native French speakers use proper pronunciation around me. **Foremost because I couldn't understand them if they used my own mispronunciation.** A secondary reason is maybe, through some odd osmosis or asking outright, I'll pick up the correct pronunciation over time. |
56,875 | Say you are working in an office where English is not a native language for people but some English terms are used very often (e.g. an IT department). And your boss always pronounces English terms incorrectly.
The question. Is it appropriate to pronounce the terms correctly when speaking to the boss or one should use his wrong pronunciation for any reasons.
It seems to me a bit uncomfortable to use the fixed pronunciation just after his incorrect wording (right in the next sentence). He may find this offensive I think. He may think that I'm either too dumb to remember how it's pronounced after one second after his saying or I'm trying to teach him.
P.S. Trying to tell him how it's pronounced correctly is not an option. Please avoid this advice. Thank you. | 2015/10/31 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/56875",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/5415/"
] | As long as you are not gratuitously using the words, you should always aim at correct pronunciation. Knowingly imitating an incorrect pronunciation is dishonorable and groveling behavior. Correct behavior is to pronounce words correctly and ignore other people who may be pronouncing the word incorrectly.
The only thing to avoid would be unnecessarily using a word you know to be pronounced incorrectly by someone else. Repeatedly or unnecessarily speaking such a word could be construed as an attempt to humiliate the other person. Therefore, you should only use the word when absolutely necessary and avoid using such a word needlessly. | This answer becomes trivial if you stop thinking of him pronouncing it **wrongly** and instead that he is pronouncing it **in his accent** which doesn't have to be the same as yours.
I have Australian friends who say "dahta" and "dahtabayse" while I say "dayta" and "daytabase". I don't adjust my pronunciation to match theirs. They don't take my pronunciation as a correction to them. And there are plenty of opinions about how to say GIF, SQL, etc -- tech terms don't always have single pronunciations.
You worry that if he says "do we have the dahta?" and you say "yes, we have tons of dayta" that he'll feel rebuked. Why should he? Different doesn't mean wrong. If you feel funny, take refuge in pronouns (eg it, them) or substitutes (the language, the framework, the platform, the library.) If it's been that recent since your boss said the word, it's available as an easy referent using these sorts of words.
The only reason to change your own pronunciation is if everyone on your team and in your area says it differently than you (and the inventors, and possibly the majority of the internet) and you are starting to feel bad, not as someone correcting others, but as someone who isn't acting according to the norms of your group. You haven't provided any examples so it's hard to know if that needs to happen in your case. |
56,875 | Say you are working in an office where English is not a native language for people but some English terms are used very often (e.g. an IT department). And your boss always pronounces English terms incorrectly.
The question. Is it appropriate to pronounce the terms correctly when speaking to the boss or one should use his wrong pronunciation for any reasons.
It seems to me a bit uncomfortable to use the fixed pronunciation just after his incorrect wording (right in the next sentence). He may find this offensive I think. He may think that I'm either too dumb to remember how it's pronounced after one second after his saying or I'm trying to teach him.
P.S. Trying to tell him how it's pronounced correctly is not an option. Please avoid this advice. Thank you. | 2015/10/31 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/56875",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/5415/"
] | As long as you are not gratuitously using the words, you should always aim at correct pronunciation. Knowingly imitating an incorrect pronunciation is dishonorable and groveling behavior. Correct behavior is to pronounce words correctly and ignore other people who may be pronouncing the word incorrectly.
The only thing to avoid would be unnecessarily using a word you know to be pronounced incorrectly by someone else. Repeatedly or unnecessarily speaking such a word could be construed as an attempt to humiliate the other person. Therefore, you should only use the word when absolutely necessary and avoid using such a word needlessly. | I'm going to answer this question as the person who mispronounces words. I'm a native English speaker but have started picking up French late in life. I can follow a conversation and speak short sentences. I slaughter the pronunciation of words; a native or fluent speaker can understand me though.
I personally prefer if native French speakers use proper pronunciation around me. **Foremost because I couldn't understand them if they used my own mispronunciation.** A secondary reason is maybe, through some odd osmosis or asking outright, I'll pick up the correct pronunciation over time. |
56,875 | Say you are working in an office where English is not a native language for people but some English terms are used very often (e.g. an IT department). And your boss always pronounces English terms incorrectly.
The question. Is it appropriate to pronounce the terms correctly when speaking to the boss or one should use his wrong pronunciation for any reasons.
It seems to me a bit uncomfortable to use the fixed pronunciation just after his incorrect wording (right in the next sentence). He may find this offensive I think. He may think that I'm either too dumb to remember how it's pronounced after one second after his saying or I'm trying to teach him.
P.S. Trying to tell him how it's pronounced correctly is not an option. Please avoid this advice. Thank you. | 2015/10/31 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/56875",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/5415/"
] | This answer becomes trivial if you stop thinking of him pronouncing it **wrongly** and instead that he is pronouncing it **in his accent** which doesn't have to be the same as yours.
I have Australian friends who say "dahta" and "dahtabayse" while I say "dayta" and "daytabase". I don't adjust my pronunciation to match theirs. They don't take my pronunciation as a correction to them. And there are plenty of opinions about how to say GIF, SQL, etc -- tech terms don't always have single pronunciations.
You worry that if he says "do we have the dahta?" and you say "yes, we have tons of dayta" that he'll feel rebuked. Why should he? Different doesn't mean wrong. If you feel funny, take refuge in pronouns (eg it, them) or substitutes (the language, the framework, the platform, the library.) If it's been that recent since your boss said the word, it's available as an easy referent using these sorts of words.
The only reason to change your own pronunciation is if everyone on your team and in your area says it differently than you (and the inventors, and possibly the majority of the internet) and you are starting to feel bad, not as someone correcting others, but as someone who isn't acting according to the norms of your group. You haven't provided any examples so it's hard to know if that needs to happen in your case. | I'm going to answer this question as the person who mispronounces words. I'm a native English speaker but have started picking up French late in life. I can follow a conversation and speak short sentences. I slaughter the pronunciation of words; a native or fluent speaker can understand me though.
I personally prefer if native French speakers use proper pronunciation around me. **Foremost because I couldn't understand them if they used my own mispronunciation.** A secondary reason is maybe, through some odd osmosis or asking outright, I'll pick up the correct pronunciation over time. |
16,926,578 | I'm trying to create a chat for a site and I'm wondering if the db solution is the best one in case of a large amount of users.
In case the db is an acceptable solution I would like to know which is the best way to design it:
1. Is one table enough to store all the messages from all the users? Do I have to store each message everytime a user send it (like a simple "hello" in one record)?
2. Do I have to create a separate tables for each chat?
Obviously assuming that the indexing and the partitioning are made.
I'm scared about the performance at this stage (db level). Then I can concentrate better to the middleware section and manage it there. | 2013/06/04 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/16926578",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/2453201/"
] | MySQL is not ment for realtime
------------------------------
MySQL is clearly not the best solution for a chat: You have no reason to work on years of backlog to get the most current messages, nor do you want to fire a query per second for every active user. The overhead of a relational database is not to be ignored.
Check out redis
---------------
I would go with [redis](http://try.redis.io/): It is an advanced key-value storage with capabilities of realtime interaction (PUB/SUB), automatic expire, and it is definitely faster than MySQL when it comes to loads of simple data.
**Edit:** Yes, it has all it´s data in ram. A Gb of ram would be enough for about every book in every libary of the world. That said, MySql also uses ram caching (query caching). And redis is ACID. (Oversimplified: You can enable saving to disk.)
MySql hints, if you stick to it
-------------------------------
If you yet decide to go with MySQL, you will have to write every single line into the DB for others to be visible. More explicit, you need a commit on every message. Make sure that you have some sort of cleanup mechanism, e.g. a cronjob moving all messages older than a day into some archive-tables.
cache!
------
Imagine 100 users in your room, each checking every 3 seconds for new messages. 300 queries per second? (Ok, decent servers can handle this, but you asked for a good solution) Go another way: Have a memcached /redis-saved flag "Last message id". Change it every time someone writes something to the chat. Now make the client submit it´s last-known message id. If you´ve got a hit, exit immediately even without MySql starting up. If you are really good, you can make PHP even make to return the appropriate ETag.
Long polls
----------
As it comes to the frontend client: **Do not fire a reload or ajax request every n seconds!** Inform yourself about Websocket and **long polls**. That is a technique where the browser opens a site that will not immediately return a result, but will keep the connection open untill there is something to report (or timeout occurs)
Edit: OP´s comment asking what programming language to use
----------------------------------------------------------
That depends on your knowledge. I would go with PHP and redis, but that is because I know them well. If you prefer Java, use it. If you have no preference: Java is more versatile, php is easier to start learning. There is no objective one-size-fits-all-answer. | use NOSQL as it store data as a file it is good for large database |
16,926,578 | I'm trying to create a chat for a site and I'm wondering if the db solution is the best one in case of a large amount of users.
In case the db is an acceptable solution I would like to know which is the best way to design it:
1. Is one table enough to store all the messages from all the users? Do I have to store each message everytime a user send it (like a simple "hello" in one record)?
2. Do I have to create a separate tables for each chat?
Obviously assuming that the indexing and the partitioning are made.
I'm scared about the performance at this stage (db level). Then I can concentrate better to the middleware section and manage it there. | 2013/06/04 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/16926578",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/2453201/"
] | MySQL is not ment for realtime
------------------------------
MySQL is clearly not the best solution for a chat: You have no reason to work on years of backlog to get the most current messages, nor do you want to fire a query per second for every active user. The overhead of a relational database is not to be ignored.
Check out redis
---------------
I would go with [redis](http://try.redis.io/): It is an advanced key-value storage with capabilities of realtime interaction (PUB/SUB), automatic expire, and it is definitely faster than MySQL when it comes to loads of simple data.
**Edit:** Yes, it has all it´s data in ram. A Gb of ram would be enough for about every book in every libary of the world. That said, MySql also uses ram caching (query caching). And redis is ACID. (Oversimplified: You can enable saving to disk.)
MySql hints, if you stick to it
-------------------------------
If you yet decide to go with MySQL, you will have to write every single line into the DB for others to be visible. More explicit, you need a commit on every message. Make sure that you have some sort of cleanup mechanism, e.g. a cronjob moving all messages older than a day into some archive-tables.
cache!
------
Imagine 100 users in your room, each checking every 3 seconds for new messages. 300 queries per second? (Ok, decent servers can handle this, but you asked for a good solution) Go another way: Have a memcached /redis-saved flag "Last message id". Change it every time someone writes something to the chat. Now make the client submit it´s last-known message id. If you´ve got a hit, exit immediately even without MySql starting up. If you are really good, you can make PHP even make to return the appropriate ETag.
Long polls
----------
As it comes to the frontend client: **Do not fire a reload or ajax request every n seconds!** Inform yourself about Websocket and **long polls**. That is a technique where the browser opens a site that will not immediately return a result, but will keep the connection open untill there is something to report (or timeout occurs)
Edit: OP´s comment asking what programming language to use
----------------------------------------------------------
That depends on your knowledge. I would go with PHP and redis, but that is because I know them well. If you prefer Java, use it. If you have no preference: Java is more versatile, php is easier to start learning. There is no objective one-size-fits-all-answer. | Determine what features you want. A few I can think of right off that might make a difference:
* Do you want to store the stream at all? (If not, then your DB needs are minimal.)
* How much of the stream do you want accessible to users? One day? A week? All of it? (You can offload messages periodically to maintain history for yourself, but also keep the publicly-accessible DB small.)
* How many messages per minute / hour / day can a user post? (Hint: not as many as they want)
* Do you want threading, or just one long stream that everyone can see? (Increases complexity)
* Do you want users to be able to send private messages? (Increases complexity)
* How often is the chat refreshed in the browser? (The more it's refreshed, the larger the load on the server) |
4,467 | We often hear that in practice, not enough data of sufficient quality, consistency, recency, etc. is available for feeding into mathematical optimization models. Example: my university wanted to plan/optimize their weekly timetable using an integer program, but they did not know the number of rooms (let alone capacities, availabilities, equipment, location, etc.), they did not know the preferences of professors, nor which courses they actually taught (the system listed them as "responsible" for a course which did not imply that they were actually teaching that course!); they didn't know the number of students to expect in a course. I could contribute a lot of such stories.
Now, many companies (truthfully) claim that they collect data. E.g., sensor data from production, temperatures, filling rates, number of faulty products per hour, web clicks, customer orders, energy prices, etc., etc. I can't really grasp what makes we reject such data as "suitable" for optimization, and I am looking for a definition of what "different kind of data" needs to be collected in order to feed a typical mathematical program for e.g., timetabling, production planning, facility layout, or designing tariff zones. I thought for a while that the notion I am looking for is "actionable", but this doesn't capture it. Ideally, I would like to contrast this "optimization data" to data that is typically fed into machine learning algorithms (which extrapolate, cluster, predict, find trends, anomalies, patterns, etc.).
How would you call the number of students in a course, the availabilities of teachers, the capacities of rooms, the data that a course belongs to a certain curriculum? | 2020/06/30 | [
"https://or.stackexchange.com/questions/4467",
"https://or.stackexchange.com",
"https://or.stackexchange.com/users/354/"
] | I would call them decision-relevant data, because most optimization problems in practice help people do decisions better, which they already do in a heuristic fashion. This puts the focus on the decision and what is needed to effectively make this decision.
Alternatives would be system-describing data/system-boundary data, because the data defines the boundaries of the feasible states of the system/the boundaries of feasible decision.
On the other hand the data in machine learning i would call historical observational data, because you often have observable states of the system from the past.
I find it difficult to draw a line, that this data is for optimization and that data is for machine learning, because often data can be used for both.
In your example with the timetable for the university courses you could for example not have the capacity of each room, but instead the average number of students per room for each day in the last year. This data would at a first glance be rather machine learning data, but you could use it to derive an estimate for the capacity to feed it to your optimization model.
I agree that pure observable data is often useless for optimization problems, because you only observe feasible states, but have no data on how much you can deviate from these and what are the effects on the deviation and optimizing is basically putting the system in an unseen state than before. | I think, answers provided so far are great. When talking to professionals in the field, I second Nikos and call them "parameters" and cross my fingers they know the difference between a parameter and a variable (which is a bleeding wound between the OR profession in Industrial Engineering and OR profession in Business Administration). On the other hand, practitioners usually have a hugely different understanding of what "data" mean. They call every number or descriptive text gathered "data," which is hard to argue as they are right by the definition of *data* being like: "Come, come, whoever you are [Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi]."
To kindly express the notion in my mind "I cannot do this so-called optimization stuff without you giving me the right data, dude!" I would just tell the practitioner: "I need the *problem data*" and define what I mean by it. Have I been successful so far? I don't know, I am only 30... I need to collect more data to answer whether this was a successful approach :) |
4,467 | We often hear that in practice, not enough data of sufficient quality, consistency, recency, etc. is available for feeding into mathematical optimization models. Example: my university wanted to plan/optimize their weekly timetable using an integer program, but they did not know the number of rooms (let alone capacities, availabilities, equipment, location, etc.), they did not know the preferences of professors, nor which courses they actually taught (the system listed them as "responsible" for a course which did not imply that they were actually teaching that course!); they didn't know the number of students to expect in a course. I could contribute a lot of such stories.
Now, many companies (truthfully) claim that they collect data. E.g., sensor data from production, temperatures, filling rates, number of faulty products per hour, web clicks, customer orders, energy prices, etc., etc. I can't really grasp what makes we reject such data as "suitable" for optimization, and I am looking for a definition of what "different kind of data" needs to be collected in order to feed a typical mathematical program for e.g., timetabling, production planning, facility layout, or designing tariff zones. I thought for a while that the notion I am looking for is "actionable", but this doesn't capture it. Ideally, I would like to contrast this "optimization data" to data that is typically fed into machine learning algorithms (which extrapolate, cluster, predict, find trends, anomalies, patterns, etc.).
How would you call the number of students in a course, the availabilities of teachers, the capacities of rooms, the data that a course belongs to a certain curriculum? | 2020/06/30 | [
"https://or.stackexchange.com/questions/4467",
"https://or.stackexchange.com",
"https://or.stackexchange.com/users/354/"
] | I would just call it "planning data". I think it might be easier to convince an administrator that "planning data" needs to be recorded/captured than to sell them on "<insert techno-jargon phrase here> data". Administrators grasp what planning is (whether or not they are adept at doing it), and at some visceral level they probably realize that *not* planning is bad (which might make them a bit more inclined to make an effort to collect the data). If "planning data" does not do much to distinguish this sort of data from other sorts (salary data, student/faculty ratio, ...), perhaps that's a good thing. They already understand the relevance of the other data, and that it needs to be collected, so by association they might realize this data is also important. | I think, answers provided so far are great. When talking to professionals in the field, I second Nikos and call them "parameters" and cross my fingers they know the difference between a parameter and a variable (which is a bleeding wound between the OR profession in Industrial Engineering and OR profession in Business Administration). On the other hand, practitioners usually have a hugely different understanding of what "data" mean. They call every number or descriptive text gathered "data," which is hard to argue as they are right by the definition of *data* being like: "Come, come, whoever you are [Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi]."
To kindly express the notion in my mind "I cannot do this so-called optimization stuff without you giving me the right data, dude!" I would just tell the practitioner: "I need the *problem data*" and define what I mean by it. Have I been successful so far? I don't know, I am only 30... I need to collect more data to answer whether this was a successful approach :) |
4,467 | We often hear that in practice, not enough data of sufficient quality, consistency, recency, etc. is available for feeding into mathematical optimization models. Example: my university wanted to plan/optimize their weekly timetable using an integer program, but they did not know the number of rooms (let alone capacities, availabilities, equipment, location, etc.), they did not know the preferences of professors, nor which courses they actually taught (the system listed them as "responsible" for a course which did not imply that they were actually teaching that course!); they didn't know the number of students to expect in a course. I could contribute a lot of such stories.
Now, many companies (truthfully) claim that they collect data. E.g., sensor data from production, temperatures, filling rates, number of faulty products per hour, web clicks, customer orders, energy prices, etc., etc. I can't really grasp what makes we reject such data as "suitable" for optimization, and I am looking for a definition of what "different kind of data" needs to be collected in order to feed a typical mathematical program for e.g., timetabling, production planning, facility layout, or designing tariff zones. I thought for a while that the notion I am looking for is "actionable", but this doesn't capture it. Ideally, I would like to contrast this "optimization data" to data that is typically fed into machine learning algorithms (which extrapolate, cluster, predict, find trends, anomalies, patterns, etc.).
How would you call the number of students in a course, the availabilities of teachers, the capacities of rooms, the data that a course belongs to a certain curriculum? | 2020/06/30 | [
"https://or.stackexchange.com/questions/4467",
"https://or.stackexchange.com",
"https://or.stackexchange.com/users/354/"
] | Adhering to the rules of encapsulation, I would simply call it "parameters". If we're thinking of an optimisation model and, as you said, what changes is the number of things (number of students, number of classrooms, a table with the teachers' schedule, etc.), that's what we call usually parameters in optimisation modelling so I don't see a reason to use a different term.
If we wanted to make the name more descriptive, I would attach a problem-specific prefix there, e.g., "planning parameters".
I like this term because it indicates that the math would be the same (assuming that's the case here) even if those numbers change.
I would avoid the word "data" because it's too broad - we also use "data" to formulate the math. | I think, answers provided so far are great. When talking to professionals in the field, I second Nikos and call them "parameters" and cross my fingers they know the difference between a parameter and a variable (which is a bleeding wound between the OR profession in Industrial Engineering and OR profession in Business Administration). On the other hand, practitioners usually have a hugely different understanding of what "data" mean. They call every number or descriptive text gathered "data," which is hard to argue as they are right by the definition of *data* being like: "Come, come, whoever you are [Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi]."
To kindly express the notion in my mind "I cannot do this so-called optimization stuff without you giving me the right data, dude!" I would just tell the practitioner: "I need the *problem data*" and define what I mean by it. Have I been successful so far? I don't know, I am only 30... I need to collect more data to answer whether this was a successful approach :) |
644,043 | I was sifting through some stuff I got from a friend whose uncle was a professor of electrical engineering and found a few of these 2.54 mm pitch prototyping cables (commonly known as 'Dupont' cables) which are female-to-female but have a removable male pin.
I've looked for variations of the cable name with the word 'removable' but have had no luck. I can find plenty of male-to-male cables but I believe all those male pins are part of the crimped connector and not removable, but I may be wrong.
I can probably get regular female-to-female cables and get the pins separately as well.
How can I find and purchase either the female-to-female cables with the detachable pins, or the detachable pins alone?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l4Rct.jpg)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/22Z0I.jpg) | 2022/11/26 | [
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/644043",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/users/10065/"
] | I believe this is a female single-pin connector along with a single 25 mil square pin, probably taken out of a pin header like this one:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/RDACD.png)
([image source](https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/harwin-inc/M20-9990345/3728227), just a random part on digikey)
They don't come out easily, but with pliers and a bit of force you can pull the individual pins out.
As an aside, I'm not sure why people call these Dupont connectors. As far as I can determine, Dupont never actually made them. The largest manufacturer of them today is probably either Amphenol, TE Connectivity, or maybe Molex. | I suspect that the pin has broken off the rest of the contact inside the housing - I haven't seen that sort of contact with an intentionally-removable pin.
The contacts for those plastic housings should be readily available from anyone selling the housings. There will be both male and female insertable contacts - you crimp the contact on the wire before inserting it in the connector housing.
Connector housings, both single and multi-pin, and matching contacts, should be available from electronic distributors like Digikey or Mouser (in US and Canada - other companies elsewhere).
There are many variations between makers - don't use company A's contacts in company B's housings. |
47,348 | Since for my [last question](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/47334/16806), I did not get a satisfactory answer I am reducing the question to its barebones.
What is the difference between 'Witnessing' and 'Mindfulness' from the context of meditation? I mean when I am looking at the sunset without any thoughts in mind and feel a oneness, am I witnessing the sunset or I am being mindful of the eye-consciousness?
In the [Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta MN 10](https://suttacentral.net/mn10/en/sujato?layout=plain&reference=none¬es=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin#mn10:2.1) the word mindfulness is used, can I replace it with the word, 'Witnessing' without changing the meaning? | 2022/06/01 | [
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/47348",
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com",
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/users/16806/"
] | sati ("mindfulness") is one of the most commonly misunderstood teachings.
It's been distorted by psychotherapy agendas, and even experienced Buddhist teachers have wildly divergent understandings.
If you want the perspective from the original suttas:
There's an implicit object of sati, and that's the Dharma, the Buddha's teaching that leads to nirvana.
One always remembers to apply the Dharma. All the time.
The fourth frame of sati, seeing Dharma as Dharma, is commonly misunderstood to be seeing thoughts (the dhamma that the mind/mano cognizes/viññāna).
But the primary role of seeing Dharma as Dharma, is living each moment in accordance with the Buddha's Dharma, and the dhamma-thoughts cognized by the mind are subservient to that primary objective.
More detail here:
<http://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2022/12/two-ways-in-which-sati-mindfulness-is.html> | Maybe see the Quora thread on Osho's "witness": <https://www.quora.com/What-is-witness-meditation-as-described-by-Osho>
I can only tell from my personal experience: I've read books where "witnessing" was used synonymously with perceiving with mindfullness (sati) and without follow-up thoughts (<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_proliferation>)
Your sunset example seems to be a mix of different elements: The basic perception process goes from the object (external) to the eye sense organ to perception to sign (nimitta), but then stopping there (if you are right that there is no mental proliferation).
The feeling of oneness seems to be a separate, second perception from your "internal sense organ". However, it's unclear if the source of this feeling is directly the eye-consciousness, if it is mediated by the perception of "beauty", or if it's the result of a separate associative process based on the memories of what Osho told you about oneness.
You may also have a look at oneness and it's background: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondualism>
However, attaining advaita usually takes years of meditation practice. Perception of beauty is said (by Sangharakshita somewhere) to provide a glimpse of it. |
47,348 | Since for my [last question](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/47334/16806), I did not get a satisfactory answer I am reducing the question to its barebones.
What is the difference between 'Witnessing' and 'Mindfulness' from the context of meditation? I mean when I am looking at the sunset without any thoughts in mind and feel a oneness, am I witnessing the sunset or I am being mindful of the eye-consciousness?
In the [Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta MN 10](https://suttacentral.net/mn10/en/sujato?layout=plain&reference=none¬es=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin#mn10:2.1) the word mindfulness is used, can I replace it with the word, 'Witnessing' without changing the meaning? | 2022/06/01 | [
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/47348",
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com",
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/users/16806/"
] | the other answers are already good so I'll just add this quote from [wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakshi_(witness)) regarding witness:
>
> "When form is the object of observation or drshyam, then the eye is
> the observer or drk; when the eye is the object of observation, then
> the mind is the observer; when the pulsations of the mind are the
> objects of observation, then Sakshi or the Witnessing-Self is the real
> observer; and it is always the observer, and, being self-luminous, can
> never be the object of observation. When the notion and the attachment
> that one is the physical body is dissolved, and the Supreme Self is
> realized, wherever one goes, there one experiences Samadhi. "
>
>
>
of course I don't see how the eye can be the object of observation but that's just me...i'm not a god | Maybe see the Quora thread on Osho's "witness": <https://www.quora.com/What-is-witness-meditation-as-described-by-Osho>
I can only tell from my personal experience: I've read books where "witnessing" was used synonymously with perceiving with mindfullness (sati) and without follow-up thoughts (<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_proliferation>)
Your sunset example seems to be a mix of different elements: The basic perception process goes from the object (external) to the eye sense organ to perception to sign (nimitta), but then stopping there (if you are right that there is no mental proliferation).
The feeling of oneness seems to be a separate, second perception from your "internal sense organ". However, it's unclear if the source of this feeling is directly the eye-consciousness, if it is mediated by the perception of "beauty", or if it's the result of a separate associative process based on the memories of what Osho told you about oneness.
You may also have a look at oneness and it's background: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondualism>
However, attaining advaita usually takes years of meditation practice. Perception of beauty is said (by Sangharakshita somewhere) to provide a glimpse of it. |
47,348 | Since for my [last question](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/47334/16806), I did not get a satisfactory answer I am reducing the question to its barebones.
What is the difference between 'Witnessing' and 'Mindfulness' from the context of meditation? I mean when I am looking at the sunset without any thoughts in mind and feel a oneness, am I witnessing the sunset or I am being mindful of the eye-consciousness?
In the [Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta MN 10](https://suttacentral.net/mn10/en/sujato?layout=plain&reference=none¬es=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin#mn10:2.1) the word mindfulness is used, can I replace it with the word, 'Witnessing' without changing the meaning? | 2022/06/01 | [
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/47348",
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com",
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/users/16806/"
] | sati ("mindfulness") is one of the most commonly misunderstood teachings.
It's been distorted by psychotherapy agendas, and even experienced Buddhist teachers have wildly divergent understandings.
If you want the perspective from the original suttas:
There's an implicit object of sati, and that's the Dharma, the Buddha's teaching that leads to nirvana.
One always remembers to apply the Dharma. All the time.
The fourth frame of sati, seeing Dharma as Dharma, is commonly misunderstood to be seeing thoughts (the dhamma that the mind/mano cognizes/viññāna).
But the primary role of seeing Dharma as Dharma, is living each moment in accordance with the Buddha's Dharma, and the dhamma-thoughts cognized by the mind are subservient to that primary objective.
More detail here:
<http://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2022/12/two-ways-in-which-sati-mindfulness-is.html> | Mindfulness is situational awareness of the body and its context, which occurs effortlessly at all times. Precisely where that awareness occurs, I have no idea. Awareness isn't the best term, as there is no such thing as awareness, but I don't have another convenient word, at this time. Regardless, when it fully opens up, you are safe there. True mindfulness is the pinnacle of what Buddha taught. Knowing your body and its context leads to the end of suffering. This is why Thich Nhat Hanh called it *the safe island of mindfulness.* This is not a mindfulness that is performed by cognizant effort, however, when introduced to the idea of being mindful, one is lavished with a range of various mindfulness-based techniques, which may or may not be helpful.
Therefore, if we look at this in progressive terms, we might be able to find an answer to your question. In the beginning, as one approaches the practice of being mindful, one must exert themselves. This very exertion gives mindfulness a definition which makes it stand out from other things - it becomes a routine task, a behaviour that one must perform.
This is the preamble phase where a lot of discernment takes place, or what you might call *witnessing*. In this preliminary phase, the mind is going through a preparation, from which sensory preoccupations begin to diminish leading to disenchantment.
During that preparation, many questions will arise about the nature of mindfulness, mostly what it actually is, and are you doing it right. These, too, need to become part of what is discerned (or witnessed). Witnessing isn't the best term as it suggests one must push aside thoughts, feelings & sensations so that the witnessing can take place. However, these discernable things must remain intimately close, closer than close. The quality of attention that is used to discern passing phenomena (thoughts, feelings & sensations) is crucial to the whole practice.
In Zen terms, this is called 'sweeping' (popular in the Caodong school) and one sweeps with such persistence and regularity that the great empty sky suddenly opens up and all distinctions dissolve. Why is that? Because the discerning mind becomes disenchanted by what it has become caught inside of and seeks freedom as if all by itself.
Over in the Theravada tradition, in the [Anguttara Nikaya](http://www.buddha-vacana.org/sutta/anguttara/06/an06-054.html) and Buddhagosa's [Path Of Purification, Page 684](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/PathofPurification2011.pdf) a simile of a crow was used to illustrate the meaning of *tathāgatako*, which I colloquially translate as *'gone, mate!'.* The crow symbolizes the disenchantment of the mind brought about by unrelenting mindfulness practice, and how it searches for another place of rest, which in Buddhist parlance is called Nirvana. It is here where one truly understands mindfulness, but not from the perspective of *doing*, hence it no longer becomes a task. One might say it is now the ordinary part of daily life.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0w5sWm.png)
[The 7 Stages of Purification - Page 107](https://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/bm7insight.pdf) |
47,348 | Since for my [last question](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/47334/16806), I did not get a satisfactory answer I am reducing the question to its barebones.
What is the difference between 'Witnessing' and 'Mindfulness' from the context of meditation? I mean when I am looking at the sunset without any thoughts in mind and feel a oneness, am I witnessing the sunset or I am being mindful of the eye-consciousness?
In the [Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta MN 10](https://suttacentral.net/mn10/en/sujato?layout=plain&reference=none¬es=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin#mn10:2.1) the word mindfulness is used, can I replace it with the word, 'Witnessing' without changing the meaning? | 2022/06/01 | [
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/47348",
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com",
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/users/16806/"
] | the other answers are already good so I'll just add this quote from [wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakshi_(witness)) regarding witness:
>
> "When form is the object of observation or drshyam, then the eye is
> the observer or drk; when the eye is the object of observation, then
> the mind is the observer; when the pulsations of the mind are the
> objects of observation, then Sakshi or the Witnessing-Self is the real
> observer; and it is always the observer, and, being self-luminous, can
> never be the object of observation. When the notion and the attachment
> that one is the physical body is dissolved, and the Supreme Self is
> realized, wherever one goes, there one experiences Samadhi. "
>
>
>
of course I don't see how the eye can be the object of observation but that's just me...i'm not a god | Mindfulness is situational awareness of the body and its context, which occurs effortlessly at all times. Precisely where that awareness occurs, I have no idea. Awareness isn't the best term, as there is no such thing as awareness, but I don't have another convenient word, at this time. Regardless, when it fully opens up, you are safe there. True mindfulness is the pinnacle of what Buddha taught. Knowing your body and its context leads to the end of suffering. This is why Thich Nhat Hanh called it *the safe island of mindfulness.* This is not a mindfulness that is performed by cognizant effort, however, when introduced to the idea of being mindful, one is lavished with a range of various mindfulness-based techniques, which may or may not be helpful.
Therefore, if we look at this in progressive terms, we might be able to find an answer to your question. In the beginning, as one approaches the practice of being mindful, one must exert themselves. This very exertion gives mindfulness a definition which makes it stand out from other things - it becomes a routine task, a behaviour that one must perform.
This is the preamble phase where a lot of discernment takes place, or what you might call *witnessing*. In this preliminary phase, the mind is going through a preparation, from which sensory preoccupations begin to diminish leading to disenchantment.
During that preparation, many questions will arise about the nature of mindfulness, mostly what it actually is, and are you doing it right. These, too, need to become part of what is discerned (or witnessed). Witnessing isn't the best term as it suggests one must push aside thoughts, feelings & sensations so that the witnessing can take place. However, these discernable things must remain intimately close, closer than close. The quality of attention that is used to discern passing phenomena (thoughts, feelings & sensations) is crucial to the whole practice.
In Zen terms, this is called 'sweeping' (popular in the Caodong school) and one sweeps with such persistence and regularity that the great empty sky suddenly opens up and all distinctions dissolve. Why is that? Because the discerning mind becomes disenchanted by what it has become caught inside of and seeks freedom as if all by itself.
Over in the Theravada tradition, in the [Anguttara Nikaya](http://www.buddha-vacana.org/sutta/anguttara/06/an06-054.html) and Buddhagosa's [Path Of Purification, Page 684](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/PathofPurification2011.pdf) a simile of a crow was used to illustrate the meaning of *tathāgatako*, which I colloquially translate as *'gone, mate!'.* The crow symbolizes the disenchantment of the mind brought about by unrelenting mindfulness practice, and how it searches for another place of rest, which in Buddhist parlance is called Nirvana. It is here where one truly understands mindfulness, but not from the perspective of *doing*, hence it no longer becomes a task. One might say it is now the ordinary part of daily life.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0w5sWm.png)
[The 7 Stages of Purification - Page 107](https://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/bm7insight.pdf) |
735,915 | Is it possible to use the built in ASP.NET membership provider to secure a web service?
I have a SQL Server database already setup with my membership and now I want to provide a web service that only members are allowed to use. Is it possible to authenticate against this (if so how?) or do I need to have a seperate type of authentication for the web services? | 2009/04/09 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/735915",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/53020/"
] | There actually is a solution, it turns out: WebRequest.PreAuthenticate
Check out an [article](http://www.west-wind.com/Weblog/posts/243915.aspx) by Rick Strahl. | This "double handshake" is a integral part of NTLM's challenge response model. Your only option would be to change the authentication type.
Alternatively, you try re-using the connection for web service calls. |
174,835 | I am playing Minecraft with the [Oceancraft](http://www.minecraftmods.com/oceancraft/) mod installed. Among other things, this adds quicksand, which if you step in you begin to sink and slowly suffocate.
Once you have stepped in quicksand - is there any way to avoid your untimely demise? I've tried walking out of it but when I get to the last block I can't jump over it. I've also tried digging up the neighboring blocks and the offending quicksand itself but I still drown.
Is there any way to avoid drowning in quicksand if you haven't managed to avoid it? | 2014/07/04 | [
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/174835",
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com",
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com/users/16659/"
] | If I meet Quicksand on any map, it mostly appears like
So if you stepped in it you can easily dig the 2 neighboring blocks in a depth of 2, kinda like this.
And the you can easily walk off the quicksand the direction you dug.
The most important part is the depth of two blocks to dig, if you just dig one block, it's too high to walk off. | If you have a fast shovel like an efficiency II or a diamond shovel, it is sometimes possible to dig the quicksand you're stuck in, and a jump boost like the Famguide mod's Familiar Rana or a jump boost II beacon can allow you to escape if you don't sink too deep, but a fast shovel will do. But you must try before you sink too deep. If you sink too deep, it's not possible to escape. |
174,835 | I am playing Minecraft with the [Oceancraft](http://www.minecraftmods.com/oceancraft/) mod installed. Among other things, this adds quicksand, which if you step in you begin to sink and slowly suffocate.
Once you have stepped in quicksand - is there any way to avoid your untimely demise? I've tried walking out of it but when I get to the last block I can't jump over it. I've also tried digging up the neighboring blocks and the offending quicksand itself but I still drown.
Is there any way to avoid drowning in quicksand if you haven't managed to avoid it? | 2014/07/04 | [
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/174835",
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com",
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com/users/16659/"
] | If I meet Quicksand on any map, it mostly appears like
So if you stepped in it you can easily dig the 2 neighboring blocks in a depth of 2, kinda like this.
And the you can easily walk off the quicksand the direction you dug.
The most important part is the depth of two blocks to dig, if you just dig one block, it's too high to walk off. | Placing a torch in quicksand on adjacent blocks briefly clears the quicksand, long enough to help you escape. |
6,402,339 | I would like to implement a robust IPC solution between a single JVM applet and a C++ application running on the same machine. What is the best approach for doing so?
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Thanks! | 2011/06/19 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/6402339",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/805320/"
] | sockets are about your best (only reasonable?) choice. although if you are running an applet, you will have to deal with access permissions issues (signing the applet will probably solve these). | Sockets as a transport protocol.
JSON as a message protocol, with optional length header or trailing zero if required. |
35,815,261 | Hybrid apps are obviously a bit new, so it's hard to find good information on this. I know that I need to allow cross origin resource sharing on my server side pages, but this clearly adds a security flaw. On a phonegap/cordova app, I only have client-side control with ajax calls to my server-side page. This means that anyone can access my php pages. This means that anyone can essentially mimic my app by accessing all my data like account info, etc. My question is how can I confirm that only my app is accessing these pages? Please provide specific coding examples. | 2016/03/05 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/35815261",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/3822526/"
] | I answered your question, and many others like it, in this blog post: [Client authenticity is not the server's problem](https://paragonie.com/blog/2016/03/client-authenticity-is-not-server-s-problem).
>
> One of the most basic rules of application security is **input validation**. The reason this rule is so fundamental is because your server only has control (and visibility) over the software running on itself. Every other device on the Internet is a black box that you can communicate with over networking protocols. You can't see what it's doing, you only see the messages that it sends.
>
>
>
...
>
> The server should remain agnostic to the client.
>
>
> The software on the client and the software on the server should have a mutual distrust towards each other. Any messages that the server receives should be validated for correctness and handled with care. Data should never be mixed with code if you can help it.
>
>
>
...
>
> The take-away is: Instead of trying to control your users, focus on making their misbehavior inconsequential to the stability and integrity of your server.
>
>
> | This question is asked here every day.
What you want to do is logically impossible. There is no solution. You cannot control the client. |
2,870,686 | I use TAB and Shift-Tab in Visual Studio to indent an entire selection. This does nothing in Eclipse, and I can't seem to find another way to do it.
Update: I wasn't really paying all that much attention to this initially and did not ask the question correctly.
I now realized that it is in XML files where TAB still does not indent a selection. I did not find a setting for this in the properties, so I assume it is not possible. | 2010/05/20 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/2870686",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/58880/"
] | ctrl + i ---> it is for making accurate indentation to a block of source code. | Go to Window Menu -> Preferences -> Java -> Editor -> Typing and make sure the `'Tab key adjusts the indentation of the current line' checkbox is ticked. |
600,645 | I have a unity gain differential op amp, using a grounded dual supply, with both inputs AC coupled.
Does the inverting input need a dedicated path to ground or can the DC bias current find its way to ground via the power supply?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/N8nUx.gif)
I've searched around and haven't been able to find much regarding this particular configuration. Most of the information I've found talks about single supplies and/or op amps with only one input AC coupled.
If it matters, the op-amp I'll be using is a TL07X. | 2021/12/16 | [
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/600645",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/users/303305/"
] | >
> *Does the inverting input need a dedicated path to ground or can the DC
> bias current find its way to ground via the power supply?*
>
>
>
If the bias current is (say) 10 nA then that flows through R3 and creates a DC error at the input to the device of 470 μV. That will also appear at the output because the DC gain of your circuit is unity due to using input capacitors.
However, because you have a net resistance of 47 kΩ in the non-inverting input, the effect of this bias-induced offset voltage is much reduced (see offset current below).
You should also ideally consider the offset current (usually about ten times lower on this type of op-amp than bias current). This adds another 10% worst case to the numbers above.
But, those offsets all pale to insignificance given the typical input offset voltage (3 mV) that a TL07x produces. | You're fine, the inverting input has a path for bias current through the feedback resistor, and of course the non-inverting input has the resistor to ground.
Both inputs have a dc path to ground, which is the important consideration. |
600,645 | I have a unity gain differential op amp, using a grounded dual supply, with both inputs AC coupled.
Does the inverting input need a dedicated path to ground or can the DC bias current find its way to ground via the power supply?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/N8nUx.gif)
I've searched around and haven't been able to find much regarding this particular configuration. Most of the information I've found talks about single supplies and/or op amps with only one input AC coupled.
If it matters, the op-amp I'll be using is a TL07X. | 2021/12/16 | [
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/600645",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/users/303305/"
] | You're fine, the inverting input has a path for bias current through the feedback resistor, and of course the non-inverting input has the resistor to ground.
Both inputs have a dc path to ground, which is the important consideration. | The best way to understand and explain circuits in an intuitive way is to show where currents flow (see [my Codidact paper 1](https://electrical.codidact.com/posts/284816)) and what voltages are in circuits ([my Codidact paper 2](https://electrical.codidact.com/posts/284860)).
Here the OP is interested in where the input bias currents flow. That is why I have shown in my Fig. 1 only their paths on a simplified conceptual circuit diagram of a part of an internal op-amp structure.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/s13f5.jpg)
Fig. 1. A conceptual op-amp circuit diagram with input bias currents visualized.
It can be supplemented with (thicker) loops representing the collector currents flowing in the input and output stage (see my Fig. 2).
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/OoAEc.jpg)
Fig. 2. A conceptual op-amp circuit diagram with all currents visualized.
It is interesting to see that the input bias current I- entering the inverting op-amp input is provided by both the positive power supply V+ and negative V- (connected in series) while the input bias current I+ entering the non-inverting input is provided only by the negative power supply V-. |
600,645 | I have a unity gain differential op amp, using a grounded dual supply, with both inputs AC coupled.
Does the inverting input need a dedicated path to ground or can the DC bias current find its way to ground via the power supply?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/N8nUx.gif)
I've searched around and haven't been able to find much regarding this particular configuration. Most of the information I've found talks about single supplies and/or op amps with only one input AC coupled.
If it matters, the op-amp I'll be using is a TL07X. | 2021/12/16 | [
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/600645",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/users/303305/"
] | >
> *Does the inverting input need a dedicated path to ground or can the DC
> bias current find its way to ground via the power supply?*
>
>
>
If the bias current is (say) 10 nA then that flows through R3 and creates a DC error at the input to the device of 470 μV. That will also appear at the output because the DC gain of your circuit is unity due to using input capacitors.
However, because you have a net resistance of 47 kΩ in the non-inverting input, the effect of this bias-induced offset voltage is much reduced (see offset current below).
You should also ideally consider the offset current (usually about ten times lower on this type of op-amp than bias current). This adds another 10% worst case to the numbers above.
But, those offsets all pale to insignificance given the typical input offset voltage (3 mV) that a TL07x produces. | The best way to understand and explain circuits in an intuitive way is to show where currents flow (see [my Codidact paper 1](https://electrical.codidact.com/posts/284816)) and what voltages are in circuits ([my Codidact paper 2](https://electrical.codidact.com/posts/284860)).
Here the OP is interested in where the input bias currents flow. That is why I have shown in my Fig. 1 only their paths on a simplified conceptual circuit diagram of a part of an internal op-amp structure.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/s13f5.jpg)
Fig. 1. A conceptual op-amp circuit diagram with input bias currents visualized.
It can be supplemented with (thicker) loops representing the collector currents flowing in the input and output stage (see my Fig. 2).
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/OoAEc.jpg)
Fig. 2. A conceptual op-amp circuit diagram with all currents visualized.
It is interesting to see that the input bias current I- entering the inverting op-amp input is provided by both the positive power supply V+ and negative V- (connected in series) while the input bias current I+ entering the non-inverting input is provided only by the negative power supply V-. |
405,341 | I saw a user who asked this question [i wanna know more this Fibonacci's operating Principles](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/66270493/i-wanna-know-more-this-fibonaccis-operating-principles#66270493) who then voted to close his own question.
What results from a person closing their own question rather than just deleting it? Are there some question/answer rep points possibly awarded on such question (Not a case here... but potentially...) Why would a person vote to close their own question?
Are the impacts on the close vote queue and re-open queue review negligible?
I wonder about that particular use case... Should it instead automatically trigger a delete of the question?
I think if a user wants to close its own question... It is equal to delete it. But I may miss some aspects too. | 2021/02/19 | [
"https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/405341",
"https://meta.stackoverflow.com",
"https://meta.stackoverflow.com/users/2159528/"
] | This post has an answer [When is it OK to delete your own question?](https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/281849/when-is-it-ok-to-delete-your-own-question) that has some good points about not deleting a question.
Rather than automatically trigger a delete instead offer that as an option should a person try to close their own question. That way a person gets to make the decision as to whether to just close the question or to actually delete it.
What would be interesting would be to allow a person who creates a question to also be able to close it themselves just as a person can also delete it by themselves. For instance if someone finds out their post is a duplicate, they could just go ahead and close as duplicate. [Why do you have the option to vote to close your own question? Why would you ever do that?](https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/345429/why-do-you-have-the-option-to-vote-to-close-your-own-question-why-would-you-eve)
If a question is closed, it can still be seen by anyone, anyone can edit it, and anyone can ask for it to be reopened.
Closing a question can discourage voting on the question, giving the person asking it breathing space to think and edit the question. At the same time people can give feedback through comments.
However Owner Hold has been proposed in the past as an alternative to deleting a question. See this discussion [Putting your own question on Owner-Hold](https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/284262/putting-your-own-question-on-owner-hold) with an answer that begins
>
> There is already a feature for this, it is called delete. You can edit
> when a post is deleted, all comments, voting, and answers are locked,
> and it does not show up anywhere.
>
>
> | Guiding users to delete content sounds like a bad idea.
I don't think there is serious misunderstanding of what "close" and "delete" mean even for new users and I'm pretty sure number of "self-close" vote is very small to deserve any additional work even if there is some value in it (I'm not interested in the exact numbers as I don't think it should be implemented even if there is enough close votes, but the feature request can be improved by actual usage numbers).
At least half of close reasons are not about "this is not suitable for SO ever" but either "need to be improved by OP" or "resolved in a way that answers should not be added to this post". Only "belongs to another SE site" and blatant recommendations requests deserve deletion (and many recommendation requests actually fine if reworded to follow rules).
Guiding users toward removal of the content imply that it is something that SO/SE actually encourages. This is not the case as it is generally preferable to improve content rather than remove.
And guiding new users toward deletion of the content may push them toward question ban, especially if that was for a question that was "resolved in a way unlikely to help future users" with an answer.
Overall I would prefer users to be guided toward close, improve and re-open rather than delete and re-ask. |
405,341 | I saw a user who asked this question [i wanna know more this Fibonacci's operating Principles](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/66270493/i-wanna-know-more-this-fibonaccis-operating-principles#66270493) who then voted to close his own question.
What results from a person closing their own question rather than just deleting it? Are there some question/answer rep points possibly awarded on such question (Not a case here... but potentially...) Why would a person vote to close their own question?
Are the impacts on the close vote queue and re-open queue review negligible?
I wonder about that particular use case... Should it instead automatically trigger a delete of the question?
I think if a user wants to close its own question... It is equal to delete it. But I may miss some aspects too. | 2021/02/19 | [
"https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/405341",
"https://meta.stackoverflow.com",
"https://meta.stackoverflow.com/users/2159528/"
] | This post has an answer [When is it OK to delete your own question?](https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/281849/when-is-it-ok-to-delete-your-own-question) that has some good points about not deleting a question.
Rather than automatically trigger a delete instead offer that as an option should a person try to close their own question. That way a person gets to make the decision as to whether to just close the question or to actually delete it.
What would be interesting would be to allow a person who creates a question to also be able to close it themselves just as a person can also delete it by themselves. For instance if someone finds out their post is a duplicate, they could just go ahead and close as duplicate. [Why do you have the option to vote to close your own question? Why would you ever do that?](https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/345429/why-do-you-have-the-option-to-vote-to-close-your-own-question-why-would-you-eve)
If a question is closed, it can still be seen by anyone, anyone can edit it, and anyone can ask for it to be reopened.
Closing a question can discourage voting on the question, giving the person asking it breathing space to think and edit the question. At the same time people can give feedback through comments.
However Owner Hold has been proposed in the past as an alternative to deleting a question. See this discussion [Putting your own question on Owner-Hold](https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/284262/putting-your-own-question-on-owner-hold) with an answer that begins
>
> There is already a feature for this, it is called delete. You can edit
> when a post is deleted, all comments, voting, and answers are locked,
> and it does not show up anywhere.
>
>
> | I think, no - if the user has the intent to delete the question, but he can not, it has a reason (mostly, to not lose the work of the answerers). If the user has no intent to delete his question, but wants to close it on some reason, then he gets his vote to close it.
I think, what could be done better:
1. Users might get decisive close votes to their own questions, if they want to close it on some reason.
2. The most likely cause of the intent that the user wants to delete his own question, is that it was deeply downvoted. Currently, deeply downvoted questions can be disassociated from the user's profile, but it requires the /contact form (i.e. a CM can do it manually). This process could (should) be automatized. |
405,341 | I saw a user who asked this question [i wanna know more this Fibonacci's operating Principles](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/66270493/i-wanna-know-more-this-fibonaccis-operating-principles#66270493) who then voted to close his own question.
What results from a person closing their own question rather than just deleting it? Are there some question/answer rep points possibly awarded on such question (Not a case here... but potentially...) Why would a person vote to close their own question?
Are the impacts on the close vote queue and re-open queue review negligible?
I wonder about that particular use case... Should it instead automatically trigger a delete of the question?
I think if a user wants to close its own question... It is equal to delete it. But I may miss some aspects too. | 2021/02/19 | [
"https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/405341",
"https://meta.stackoverflow.com",
"https://meta.stackoverflow.com/users/2159528/"
] | Guiding users to delete content sounds like a bad idea.
I don't think there is serious misunderstanding of what "close" and "delete" mean even for new users and I'm pretty sure number of "self-close" vote is very small to deserve any additional work even if there is some value in it (I'm not interested in the exact numbers as I don't think it should be implemented even if there is enough close votes, but the feature request can be improved by actual usage numbers).
At least half of close reasons are not about "this is not suitable for SO ever" but either "need to be improved by OP" or "resolved in a way that answers should not be added to this post". Only "belongs to another SE site" and blatant recommendations requests deserve deletion (and many recommendation requests actually fine if reworded to follow rules).
Guiding users toward removal of the content imply that it is something that SO/SE actually encourages. This is not the case as it is generally preferable to improve content rather than remove.
And guiding new users toward deletion of the content may push them toward question ban, especially if that was for a question that was "resolved in a way unlikely to help future users" with an answer.
Overall I would prefer users to be guided toward close, improve and re-open rather than delete and re-ask. | I think, no - if the user has the intent to delete the question, but he can not, it has a reason (mostly, to not lose the work of the answerers). If the user has no intent to delete his question, but wants to close it on some reason, then he gets his vote to close it.
I think, what could be done better:
1. Users might get decisive close votes to their own questions, if they want to close it on some reason.
2. The most likely cause of the intent that the user wants to delete his own question, is that it was deeply downvoted. Currently, deeply downvoted questions can be disassociated from the user's profile, but it requires the /contact form (i.e. a CM can do it manually). This process could (should) be automatized. |
30,031,388 | I'd like to know about other patterns that could be more efficient than the use of factories. | 2015/05/04 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/30031388",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/4333314/"
] | You could use a memory pool, the boost one is pretty good:
<http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_58_0/libs/pool/doc/html/boost_pool/pool.html>
And every client could configure the maximum size of the pool.
Allocations and deallocations will be really fast,and you will drop your factory implementation | Measure first. If you haven't proved that your allocator is a performance problem then you shouldn't optimize it away. Your solution to not free memory back may in fact perform worse (e.g., if you're using a simple free-list, you might be spending a lot of time on cache misses when you traverse the list).
If memory allocation is a bottleneck, look into better allocators. TCMalloc is pretty good, and there are commercial and cross-platform solutions available if you want to pay lots of money.
But use a profiler and measure before you do anything drastic. |
105,239 | Creating a character to do an animation but have been very unsuccessful in getting clothes to act like they are on the character. Created him in Make Human. Exported with just s shirt on so I could use that to make his robe/gown. Copied shirt and created gown. Tried many videos and even though none were that similar to mine I tried them all and it partially works when gimbal moves. Anyone else make and rig clothes in similar manner?
[](https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/b/4719/)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FYyyw.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/GWAl4.png) | 2018/03/29 | [
"https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/105239",
"https://blender.stackexchange.com",
"https://blender.stackexchange.com/users/54502/"
] | Array modifiers will duplicate the uv of the original mesh so any texture you are using on the base mesh will automatically duplicate it over to the array. If you are wanting for each segment to have its own individual texture then you will have to apply the modifier first before you can make adjustments individually. | Once the array has been applied, unwrap using Follow Active Quads and then arrange the resultant UV map (by positioning, rotating, scaling the entire island) so that one ‘face’ is scaled and positioned to fit the whole image. This should result in the image repeating identically for each face. |
33,641 | What constitutes a Streak Bonus? This is in relation to obtaining the Combat Efficiency Ribbon, which states that you have to obtain 3 Streak Bonuses in a round. | 2011/10/29 | [
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/33641",
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com",
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com/users/306/"
] | Combat Efficiency Ribbon
500 XP Bonus. Get 3 Kill Streaks in one round. To get a streak, you need to kill 8 times in a row without dying yourself. Get 3 Kill Streaks of 8 to unlock this ribbon, try playing on infantry heavy maps to increase your chances early on.
Per <http://www.gamefront.com/battlefield-3-ribbons-guide/> | After 5 kills without dying, every 3rd thereafter is considered to extend the 'streak'.
Thus, to get three in a row, it would be 14 kills. (5 +3 +3 +3 = 14) |
33,641 | What constitutes a Streak Bonus? This is in relation to obtaining the Combat Efficiency Ribbon, which states that you have to obtain 3 Streak Bonuses in a round. | 2011/10/29 | [
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/33641",
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com",
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com/users/306/"
] | The wording on the bonus is really silly (same goes for the Nemesis ribbon). Once you get 5 kills, you're considered to be a on Combat Efficiency streak. Your 6th kill gives you a 1 streak bonus, 7th kill gives you 2 streak bonus and 8th gives you a 3 streak bonus and hence the ribbon.
It is possible to get multiple ribbons in the one life. Once you have got the first one, (I think) you will get the next one for every 3 subsequent kills in that life.
So if you go on a 23 kill streak you are going to 6 get of these ribbons (8 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3) | Combat Efficiency Ribbon
500 XP Bonus. Get 3 Kill Streaks in one round. To get a streak, you need to kill 8 times in a row without dying yourself. Get 3 Kill Streaks of 8 to unlock this ribbon, try playing on infantry heavy maps to increase your chances early on.
Per <http://www.gamefront.com/battlefield-3-ribbons-guide/> |
33,641 | What constitutes a Streak Bonus? This is in relation to obtaining the Combat Efficiency Ribbon, which states that you have to obtain 3 Streak Bonuses in a round. | 2011/10/29 | [
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/33641",
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com",
"https://gaming.stackexchange.com/users/306/"
] | The wording on the bonus is really silly (same goes for the Nemesis ribbon). Once you get 5 kills, you're considered to be a on Combat Efficiency streak. Your 6th kill gives you a 1 streak bonus, 7th kill gives you 2 streak bonus and 8th gives you a 3 streak bonus and hence the ribbon.
It is possible to get multiple ribbons in the one life. Once you have got the first one, (I think) you will get the next one for every 3 subsequent kills in that life.
So if you go on a 23 kill streak you are going to 6 get of these ribbons (8 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3) | After 5 kills without dying, every 3rd thereafter is considered to extend the 'streak'.
Thus, to get three in a row, it would be 14 kills. (5 +3 +3 +3 = 14) |
315,796 | I intend to setup a samba share server that all user can write files to but they can not delete files was put in that folder.
Which configuration is suitable for me!
Thanks in advanced! | 2011/09/27 | [
"https://serverfault.com/questions/315796",
"https://serverfault.com",
"https://serverfault.com/users/9401/"
] | The user needs to have the linux file system rwx permissions on the directory the file is in, to be able to delete files in the directory.
You can achieve this by default in a few different ways, for new files one method is the use of default create masks so all new files and folders will have the correct linux file system permissions. | As far as I know it isn't done with samba, but with linux. You should assign the sticky flag to the main share directory with chmod. For example, if you're sharing /home/foo you should execute "chmod +t /home/foo/".
Also I suggest to use the linux ACL system or the default creation mask in samba configuration to propagate automatically this behaviour to subdirectories. |
54,972 | I bought a tablet Samsung Nexus 10, it came with latest Android 4.3 installed. Android 4.2 and higher supports multiple user accounts which is awesome.
My question is, if let's say I have Facebook application installed on two accounts, does it install it two times (taking 2x place necessary) or is it efficient and it installs it once and changes only login settings for separate users? | 2013/10/12 | [
"https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/54972",
"https://android.stackexchange.com",
"https://android.stackexchange.com/users/43182/"
] | The second user will have to explicitly install the wanted app (in your example: Facebook) – as otherwise all accounts' app drawers would be cluttered with a bunch of apps not wanted by everybody, except for those who installed them. But if the app already had been installed before by another account, it will rather be a "fake install" (i.e. it appears as if the app would be installed anew, but it's not downloaded again from Playstore, and thus doesn't consume "double space").
One side-effect to that is: whenever a user decides to *update* the app, that update applies to all other accounts of the device as well. | You can install facebook once and log in with different user/pwd to have different setting for different account |
54,972 | I bought a tablet Samsung Nexus 10, it came with latest Android 4.3 installed. Android 4.2 and higher supports multiple user accounts which is awesome.
My question is, if let's say I have Facebook application installed on two accounts, does it install it two times (taking 2x place necessary) or is it efficient and it installs it once and changes only login settings for separate users? | 2013/10/12 | [
"https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/54972",
"https://android.stackexchange.com",
"https://android.stackexchange.com/users/43182/"
] | The second user will have to explicitly install the wanted app (in your example: Facebook) – as otherwise all accounts' app drawers would be cluttered with a bunch of apps not wanted by everybody, except for those who installed them. But if the app already had been installed before by another account, it will rather be a "fake install" (i.e. it appears as if the app would be installed anew, but it's not downloaded again from Playstore, and thus doesn't consume "double space").
One side-effect to that is: whenever a user decides to *update* the app, that update applies to all other accounts of the device as well. | A couple of points for those swinging in from Google..
Uninstalling an app in one user account doesn't remove it from the other, unless you use Titanium or similar, in which case it is GONE.
If you install an app at the Play Store web site, it installs into the *primary* user "desktop", even if you are logged into another desktop using the exact same account on your Android device. Theoretically, it should quickly appear in your "My Apps" list, so it's easy enough to install into the second user desktop.
So if you installed an app and see no notification or icon, this is why. Switch to the primary desktop and there it is! |
14,790,137 | I'd really like to use case classes' copy feature in my project, but unfortunately I also need inheritance, which doesn't work well with case classes.
So, I'm wondering if it's possible to write a macro which will generate a method for creating copy-with-changes object for an arbitrary class. What stops me there at the moment is the fact that AFAIK macros don't support named parameters. Has anyone found a way around that or, alternatively, can suggest other way for easy creating of copies which use inheritance? | 2013/02/09 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/14790137",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/2052791/"
] | That will be possible with type macros and/or annotation macros. The current macros do not support this.
Do look at lenses work, though. There's quite a few macro-based versions around, such as Shapeless. | You could also take a look at <https://github.com/dicarlo2/ScalaEquals> |
170,286 | A changeling's Change Appearance states:
>
> You also can't appear as a creature of a different size than you, and your basic shape stays the same; if you’re bipedal, you can’t use this trait to become quadrupedal, for instance.
>
>
>
But seeing that with a druid's Wild Shape can change you into a creature that is quadrupedal and a differerent size than yourself, does this mean that after that you can change into another quadrupedal creature of that same size?
Let's say you are a normal 2 legged medium changeling and you Wild Shape into a 4 legged large [saber-toothed tiger](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/saber-toothed-tiger). Does that mean that you could use the Change Appearance feature of the changeling to change into another 4 legged walking large creature like a [dire wolf](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/dire-wolf)? Could you also Change Appearance into a creature outside of the possible druid Wild Shapes? For example a creature with a higher CR? | 2020/06/11 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/170286",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/45589/"
] | According to RAW, you can't Change Appearance while Wild Shaped
===============================================================
The rules for Wild Shape states concerning racial features is:
>
> You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them *if the new form is physically capable of doing so*. However, you can’t use any of your special senses, such as darkvision, unless your new form also has that sense. [Emphasis mine]
>
>
>
The crux is the highlighted clause: The creature assumed by Wild Shape is usually not physically capable of changing its appearance in the same way a Changeling can. This would mean the racial ability can't be used simultaneously with Wild Shape. | It is at the GM's discretion.
=============================
The rules are somewhat unclear on this. While it is rather clear that *basic shape* was meant to refer to the changeling's, the part you cite somewhat contradicts this, by suggesting that a transformation quadruped -> quadruped works, especially so, since a changeling will by default never be a quadruped.
I'd rule against the latter because RAI seems clear to me. If you rule otherwise, there is no reason to restrict the possibilities to wild shape forms so long as shape and size conform to the changeling's rules, such as one large quadruped to another one.
**The CR is irrelevant when using change appearance**
However you decide, the changeling's trait does not change any mechanics, only the appearance. If you decide that quadrupeds can be interchanged, you can transform from a riding horse to an owlbear for example, but the statistics then are still those of the horse. |
170,286 | A changeling's Change Appearance states:
>
> You also can't appear as a creature of a different size than you, and your basic shape stays the same; if you’re bipedal, you can’t use this trait to become quadrupedal, for instance.
>
>
>
But seeing that with a druid's Wild Shape can change you into a creature that is quadrupedal and a differerent size than yourself, does this mean that after that you can change into another quadrupedal creature of that same size?
Let's say you are a normal 2 legged medium changeling and you Wild Shape into a 4 legged large [saber-toothed tiger](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/saber-toothed-tiger). Does that mean that you could use the Change Appearance feature of the changeling to change into another 4 legged walking large creature like a [dire wolf](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/dire-wolf)? Could you also Change Appearance into a creature outside of the possible druid Wild Shapes? For example a creature with a higher CR? | 2020/06/11 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/170286",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/45589/"
] | It is at the GM's discretion.
=============================
The rules are somewhat unclear on this. While it is rather clear that *basic shape* was meant to refer to the changeling's, the part you cite somewhat contradicts this, by suggesting that a transformation quadruped -> quadruped works, especially so, since a changeling will by default never be a quadruped.
I'd rule against the latter because RAI seems clear to me. If you rule otherwise, there is no reason to restrict the possibilities to wild shape forms so long as shape and size conform to the changeling's rules, such as one large quadruped to another one.
**The CR is irrelevant when using change appearance**
However you decide, the changeling's trait does not change any mechanics, only the appearance. If you decide that quadrupeds can be interchanged, you can transform from a riding horse to an owlbear for example, but the statistics then are still those of the horse. | I would argue that there is no restriction from a Changeling using Shapechanger while in Wild Shape.
If the verbiage that is italicized above is relevant, then it would also prevent the druid from using a second use of Wild Shape while in a wild shape form, and it has already been clarified that this is possible:
[https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/96375/can-a-druid-wildshape-again-whilst-still-in-animal-form#:~:text=A%20druid%20can%20Wild%20Shape%20to%20a%20new%20form%20without%20reverting](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/96375/can-a-druid-wildshape-again-whilst-still-in-animal-form#:%7E:text=A%20druid%20can%20Wild%20Shape%20to%20a%20new%20form%20without%20reverting).
Also, Keith Baker (who created Eberron) speaks about a Changeling Druid here: <http://keith-baker.com/faq-changelings/> |
170,286 | A changeling's Change Appearance states:
>
> You also can't appear as a creature of a different size than you, and your basic shape stays the same; if you’re bipedal, you can’t use this trait to become quadrupedal, for instance.
>
>
>
But seeing that with a druid's Wild Shape can change you into a creature that is quadrupedal and a differerent size than yourself, does this mean that after that you can change into another quadrupedal creature of that same size?
Let's say you are a normal 2 legged medium changeling and you Wild Shape into a 4 legged large [saber-toothed tiger](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/saber-toothed-tiger). Does that mean that you could use the Change Appearance feature of the changeling to change into another 4 legged walking large creature like a [dire wolf](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/dire-wolf)? Could you also Change Appearance into a creature outside of the possible druid Wild Shapes? For example a creature with a higher CR? | 2020/06/11 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/170286",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/45589/"
] | According to RAW, you can't Change Appearance while Wild Shaped
===============================================================
The rules for Wild Shape states concerning racial features is:
>
> You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them *if the new form is physically capable of doing so*. However, you can’t use any of your special senses, such as darkvision, unless your new form also has that sense. [Emphasis mine]
>
>
>
The crux is the highlighted clause: The creature assumed by Wild Shape is usually not physically capable of changing its appearance in the same way a Changeling can. This would mean the racial ability can't be used simultaneously with Wild Shape. | I would argue that there is no restriction from a Changeling using Shapechanger while in Wild Shape.
If the verbiage that is italicized above is relevant, then it would also prevent the druid from using a second use of Wild Shape while in a wild shape form, and it has already been clarified that this is possible:
[https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/96375/can-a-druid-wildshape-again-whilst-still-in-animal-form#:~:text=A%20druid%20can%20Wild%20Shape%20to%20a%20new%20form%20without%20reverting](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/96375/can-a-druid-wildshape-again-whilst-still-in-animal-form#:%7E:text=A%20druid%20can%20Wild%20Shape%20to%20a%20new%20form%20without%20reverting).
Also, Keith Baker (who created Eberron) speaks about a Changeling Druid here: <http://keith-baker.com/faq-changelings/> |
3,446,208 | I have just started web development.I want to make a screen to do basic add modify and delete operation.
The screen I've designed will have 3 tabs which will be add , display and delete.When I click on any of this tab a sub-screen should open for doing the operation accordingly. Another I thing I want to do is , I've a text field when I enter a number in it , I want to check for validation and tell him immediately if he's correct or not.
What controls I need to know to do this or how should I go about doing this? | 2010/08/10 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3446208",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/415477/"
] | Follow this tutorial on ASP.NET MVC to get started in ASP.NET web development.
<http://nerddinnerbook.s3.amazonaws.com/Intro.htm>
The tutorial will show you how to create a database for your application and how to interact with it in code. It shows how to create views (web pages) and actions for Add, Read, Update and Delete operations. | Hmmm... Controls to use. How about a [FormView](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.formview.aspx) or [DetailsView](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.detailsview.aspx), possibly a [DataGrid](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.datagrid.aspx) and definitely some validators.. [RegularExpression](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.regularexpressionvalidator.aspx) and [Required](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.requiredfieldvalidator.aspx)...
And maybe watch some Asp.Net vidos... There are plenty here: <http://www.asp.net/web-forms> <--- This is where you should start.
Or you could use [MVC](http://www.asp.net/mvc) or [Dynamic Data](http://www.asp.net/dynamicdata)
Lots of choices... |
511,214 | I'm looking for a word to refer to the visual appearance of a word only. I'll use an example to help explain what I mean:
"bow" can refer to the action of bowing to someone, or to a bow that I add when wrapping a gift. "bow" and "bow" are homographs because they are spelled the same way, though they have different meanings and pronunciations, and we consider them two different words.
Then, define a "qword" as an ordered set of letters (and diacritical marks) combined according to the conventions of English.
"bow" and "bow" are two different words, but the same qword, since they are both "b", "o", and "w" combined in the same way and in the same order.
And "résumé" and "resume" are different qwords since they appear differently in written English, though people often write "resume" when they mean "résumé", and we have no trouble understanding what they mean.
Is there an existing English noun that means the same thing as "qword"? If there is none, a compound word or phrase would also be fine. | 2019/09/11 | [
"https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/511214",
"https://english.stackexchange.com",
"https://english.stackexchange.com/users/57530/"
] | *bow* is a "string", to start with.
We are looking at "meaningful strings" in the context of the English language.
A "meaningful string" *can* have more than one meaning.
To be precise we could say a "meaningful character string". | Homograph is what you want:
>
> What are homonyms, homophones, and homographs?
> Homonym can be troublesome because it may refer to three distinct classes of words. Homonyms may be words with identical pronunciations but different spellings and meanings, such as to, too, and two. Or they may be words with both identical pronunciations and identical spellings but different meanings, such as quail (the bird) and quail (to cringe). Finally, they may be words that are spelled alike but are different in pronunciation and meaning, such as the bow of a ship and bow that shoots arrows. The first and second types are sometimes called homophones, and the second and third types are sometimes called homographs--which makes naming the second type a bit confusing. Some language scholars prefer to limit homonym to the third type.
>
>
>
<https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homograph>
From MW |
20,758,380 | I have some images that I want to use in my application ( 150 - 200 of them ).
What's the best place to store them?
* assets folder
* drawable
* why there | 2013/12/24 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/20758380",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/677024/"
] | if you must put these images into your application pack, choose drawable that images will be compressed.
if you can download when required, store them in sd card is recommend. | You should read the Android article about [Supporting Different Screen Sizes](http://developer.android.com/training/multiscreen/screensizes.html), they show you the benefits of using the Android frame work for that task. If you wish to use assets folder or other solutions like dynamically download the images from your site, it's up to you to write your own implementation to handle all the problems that are describe in the article. |
20,758,380 | I have some images that I want to use in my application ( 150 - 200 of them ).
What's the best place to store them?
* assets folder
* drawable
* why there | 2013/12/24 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/20758380",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/677024/"
] | **I don't think so there is bit difference in performance of using these two folders**, I think using drawable folder you can get easily images (All will be indexed in the R file, which makes it much faster (and much easier!) to load them.), and If you want to use it from asset then you have to use AssetManager then using AssetFileDescriptor you have to get those images.
1. Assets can also be organized into a folder hierarchy, which is not supported by resources. It's a different way of managing data. Although resources cover most of the cases, assets have their occasional use.
2. In the res/drawable directory each file is given a pre-compiled ID which can be accessed easily through R.id.[res id]. This is useful to quickly and easily access images, sounds, icons...
and for more details go to this link:[Resources-vs-assets-in-android](http://www.gani.com.au/2010/06/resources-vs-assets-in-android/) | if you must put these images into your application pack, choose drawable that images will be compressed.
if you can download when required, store them in sd card is recommend. |
20,758,380 | I have some images that I want to use in my application ( 150 - 200 of them ).
What's the best place to store them?
* assets folder
* drawable
* why there | 2013/12/24 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/20758380",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/677024/"
] | **I don't think so there is bit difference in performance of using these two folders**, I think using drawable folder you can get easily images (All will be indexed in the R file, which makes it much faster (and much easier!) to load them.), and If you want to use it from asset then you have to use AssetManager then using AssetFileDescriptor you have to get those images.
1. Assets can also be organized into a folder hierarchy, which is not supported by resources. It's a different way of managing data. Although resources cover most of the cases, assets have their occasional use.
2. In the res/drawable directory each file is given a pre-compiled ID which can be accessed easily through R.id.[res id]. This is useful to quickly and easily access images, sounds, icons...
and for more details go to this link:[Resources-vs-assets-in-android](http://www.gani.com.au/2010/06/resources-vs-assets-in-android/) | You should read the Android article about [Supporting Different Screen Sizes](http://developer.android.com/training/multiscreen/screensizes.html), they show you the benefits of using the Android frame work for that task. If you wish to use assets folder or other solutions like dynamically download the images from your site, it's up to you to write your own implementation to handle all the problems that are describe in the article. |
148,433 | I am looking for a way to replace my phone as a 2FA method. U2F is not universally supported. Most services that I use support TOTP (Google Authenticator), and so I thought the Yubikey would support loading the TOTP secret and, upon press of a button, somehow detect the web site I am on, generate the code, and enter it, without additional software involved. Apparently, this does not work. But could it? Or is there hardware that supports this use case? | 2017/01/15 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/148433",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/57381/"
] | The hardware token detects the website you're on, generates an appropriate code, and submits it directly without the user typing anything? That sounds a lot like u2f.
The reason why you don't see this offered is the same reason why only a few sites support u2f: it would require the browser to interact directly with the hardware token, and at the moment only Google Chrome is able to connect to USB devices. Other vendors don't see it as an important feature to include. Sad, because it solves phishing more or less entirely.
So no, this doesn't exist as you describe if you're not willing to use u2f. There's stuff like LastPass which can do something of what you ask, but that's a browser extension not a hardware token. | @tylerl is not completely right here. (Especially since U2F requires additional software ;-)
The yubikey can work independently of the any driver and any website. So the yubikey will not detect a website, if not in U2F mode.
A full blown yubikey has the following modes:
* PGP
* U2F
* AES yubico mode
* HOTP
* Challenge Response (can be used as TOTP)
* Static password
I guess what you are amining at should be HOTP. Which is the event based mode defined in RFC 4226. TOTP is based on HOTP with time being the counter.
You can initialize the yubikey in HOTP mode and write the secret key to the yubikey. The yubikey will then work as a normal keyboard and emit the OTP value whenever you touch the button. Not matter if you are on the right website, in a browser or in notepad. => completely without any additional software and completly without the website caring about you using a yubikey.
I think there are only two challenges here:
1. The website/application where you want to use this should support HOTP, not only TOTP.
2. The yubikey only has two slots for this. I.e. you could only use the yubikey with two websites/applications. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.