Posts by Matt Korth

Dilettante dev wrote rubbish, left no logs, and had no idea why his app wasn't working

Re: The code was well structured but ...

> His replacement found it easier to rewrite the code from scratch rather than attempt to figure out what it actually did.

Been there. Done that. My manager asked me to evaluate some data migration code written by *her* boss, involving Microsoft Access .mde files and a database with a single table, where the columns were Data1 through Data75. Looked at that database, looked at the code (VBA, naturally), tried to figure it out, and went back to my boss and said that the code was beyond hope and should be rewritten.

It turned out that her boss had been embezzling - those migrations were supposed to have been contracted out, and he was pocketing the cash and writing the stuff himself.

How many Microsoft missteps were forks that were just a bit of fun?

Re: Don't mention Visual Source Safe

Oddly enough, I just use You Poor Bastard!

https://github.com/SirkleZero/you-poor-bastard

Your pacemaker should be running open source software

Re: Certifications for Medical Devices

I work on pharmacovigilance software, and this is essentially correct. You're describing the requirements for validation.

You *can* update the state of the device. You can patch the OS. You can update the code. *But* if you do so, you have to revalidate it with the new configuration - basically, produce a whole metric craptonne (it's 10% bigger than an Imperial crapton) of documentation that the device, with its new configuration, still meets its formal specifications. This can be done by either the manufacturer, or the user, but it *does* have to be done to comply with medical regulations. It's a royal pain.

There's nothing preventing you from making the software open source, but the issue is that you can't just update it at random and remain in compliance.

Millions of Xfinity customers' info, hashed passwords feared stolen in cyberattack

Ah, yes, "strongly recommends" enabling MFA (or, as they call it, "two-step verification").

Of course, they want to do it using texts. Let me use an OTP app, then maybe.

Google crams more AI into search as Apple, Samsung sniff around Bing

Re: Leave Google Alone

Tears before bedtime? There'll be tears before I'm done with work. I've already had loads of experience with Google deciding they know what I'm searching for better than I do... witness trying to find info about converting from a WPF Visual to a Windows metafile, and Google assuming that WPF should be WMF, because .wmf is the extension for a Windows Metafile, and clearly that's what I must be looking for...

Beer icon, because I'll need it in copious quantites.

Ad man: Mozilla 'radicals' and 'extremists' want to wreck internet economy

Re: Clueless

"There's already at least one browser that knows how to block cookies from selective sources. It's called Mozilla Firefox. It's not a default state and the user has to select this option manually but the option is there."

For now.

At one point, Mozilla made changes to how that particular feature worked. The changes were incredibly annoying, and provoked a bug report/change request. In the Bugzilla discussion, the Mozilla devs made their distaste for that feature plain. I strongly suspect that if they start blocking 3rd-party cookies by default, that feature will go away.

Sozzled Americans nagged by talking urinal cake

Hmm. I do wonder if New Holland Brewing Company (which is in Holland, Michigan, which is in Ottawa County) will have these.

Beer, because there's only one way to find out...

Quitting your job? Here's how not to do it

References

"I find it odd that people think references are really that terse. I've never seen one like that. They are either glowing, or basic, and you read-between-the-lines quite well on the basic ones because they are *crafted* so that you can. Maybe it's just my industry but I'd be very suspicious of a terse one-line reference. And I've worked mostly on the basis of my references for my whole working career."

At the last large company I worked for, it was in fact policy - written in the employee handbook - that you were not to give out work references. All requests for references were to be referred to HR, and HR would only confirm that yes, the person asking for references had been employed there from date X to date Y. They might have added positions within the company, and dates for those, but I'm not sure about that.

Beer because, well, I think I'll go get a pint. I usually needed one when I had to deal with the (outsourced) HR at that company...

Bah, humbug! Virgin Media censors Charles D**kens

Looks like another...

...clbuttic mistake to me.

Microsoft responds to IE8 'privacy quashed' report

Which goes to show...

...exactly how much I've been looking into the private browsing settings on Firefox and Chrome. :P

Fail, because, well...

I hate to point this out...

...but Firefox (which I'm using to post this) also requires its equivalent to MSIE's InPrivate browsing to be turned on, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that if Chrome has an equivalent, it *also* needs to be turned on.

Microsoft may suck, but in this case, they don't suck more than anyone else seems to.

Google Buzz accused of EPIC FAIL

It already is...

...asking if you want Buzz added. I got a(n interstitial) prompt when logging in today, asking if I wanted to use Google Buzz.

Mind you, if someone asks if I want buzz added, it's usually one of the bartenders at my local...

Microsoft releases Vista SP2 to manufacturing

Windows Search

"' faster and more relevant Search 4.0'

Is this really essential?"

Indeed. Now it looks like I once again need to worry about Microsoft deciding that I *must* want to use Windows Search and doing their usual routine of install, start service, start service automatically at boot. This despite the fact that I've deliberately (and with malice) told Windows Search not to run on my computer...