Sorry -- we did say "signature." I was in a hurry as I was writing the base post.
As for weird answers from the programming question -- here are a few that I remember:
- "What's a linked list?" (bad answer) - Arguing about the definition of a Singly Linked list (they wanted to use the back pointers of a Doubly linked list) - A popular one was writing a routine that walked through the list but didn't actually reverse it - Another popular one was the "repeatedly walk to the end of the first list, remove the last node, then walk to the end of the 'new' list and put it onto the end of that one" -- correct but inefficient. - A variation on the above would be do do the same thing but create a COPY of each node as you put it into the other list - Walk the initial list, get a count, create an array of nodes, walk the list again setting the array elements to the corresponding node in the list, then walking the array backwards to get the reverse order - write a loop that tries to walk through the list and "switch" pointers (doable, but rarely done correctly, also lots of temp vars and pain involved) - one person that I recall tried to create a new node type with a previous pointer, went to a lot of work to copy things over, and then walk backwards reversing the next/prev links.
Some folks were careless and even if they got it reversed wouldn't check to make sure they'd cleared A's next ptr.
I always asked the person talk walk through their answer with a simple a->b->c linked list and tried to help them arrive at a working answer. Some people appreciated it and tried to make it correct. Some people got very annoyed - first because they were being asked to write something this trivial, and second because they walked through it and found they got it wrong.
In a previous life I gave a lot of interviews to prospective hires. The company had a standard set of interview questions to work from. One of last ones was to have the candidate write a short program fragment to solve a given problem. One of the popular problems was to write a routine to reverse a linked list. So given "a->b->c" return the list as "c->b->a". It was explained that the nodes were singly linked. Very basic. It was amazing the answers I'd get back. I didn't care so much about the code but whether the person COULD solve it. And whether they could solve it without duplicating the nodes, etc...
For java a question that was asked was "What is the proper format for the program main method?" Lots of folks couldn't properly answer that one -- most said "The IDE fills it in." (yes, we can start a flame war about that - but let's not - I'm just giving examples of what this company asked).
One NON-Programming question you should be prepared to answer is "What do you know about our company?" It was expected that you'd visited the website and knew a few basic things -- what the company did was a good start. Nothing in depth -- mainly just seeing if the person had taken the time to look. This was one of the first questions in the interview. If you couldn't answer it that was pretty much the end of the interview. Harsh maybe, but it was considered that if you didn't take the time to know the basics about a company you were interviewing with, well, there wasn't much reason to continue on. You didn't have to memorize the entire site, but knowing the very basics of "What does company X do?" was required to continue with the interview process.
My guess is that it is the only remaining exposed part of an alien ship. (which over the millenia has been covered up by blowing sand, aliens, old copies of slashcode.)
NewEgg is great. Along with great prices and fast shipping they have a great return policy. So if things don't work or aren't right it's easy to return them.
Their pricing on 200Gig SATA Seagate drives is great. (My latest acquisition)
Now the RIAA knows who to blame(sue) for all of the evil evil CDs/DVDs that have enabled high-quality (digital) copying. He even admits to having downloaded (off the air) television shows (wonder if he skipped the commercials?) and also having ripped music.
Note to the humor impared: the above was intended to be humorous.
The spec addresses issues like "devices that can't handle it." You just have to RTFS.
That 13W isn't always there. The device has to be POE enabled. The hub supplying power senses the device. It then measures a resistance across one of the pairs looking for a very specific resistance. That's what specifies IF PoE is wanted, and then there are different current limits you can request. The hub end is required to limit the current supplied and also monitor for faults (and if so disable the power).
The spec isn't just some yoyo hooking up an ac adapter to a supposedly unused pair and saying "it works.."
There's been a lot of hype about how the Nintendo DS is going to be in short supply here in the US.
I didn't make a reservation and Sunday morning I went over to Best Buy (here in Salt Lake City, Utah) and they had a big stack of the Nintendo DS systems. And they said they had lots more in back -- and laughed at the idea of a shortage.
Are there shortages? Or is it just hype to get publicity and increase the demand?
Give me a cold machine room to work in any day. Temp is kept at 66F. Humidity is properly regulated. Plenty of air moving. If you were really hot you could just pop a floor panel and bask in the forced air. The only downside was the sound (Cyber 730s, band printers, disks and tapedrives, modem racks with at least one fan losing a bearing, etc..)
If the AC went out the environmental monitoring unit would set off loud bells throughout the entire building and things got fixed. Not like when the office gets hot these days and you're told "we'll have it fixed in a couple of days -- keep working."
Those were the days.. For those that remember the CDC Environmental panel you have to have fond memories of that innocuous button labelled "LAMP TEST". It tested a hell of a lot more than just the lights on that panel. As the unsuspecting operator usually found out during training.
I see this more as a way for Congress and the FAA to get free flights for their "important" members and friends/contributors. Just another way for them to add even more perks to their job. Ok, most FAA folks (aside from the higher ups) are pretty decent, but you think any low level FAA person (like the person most competent to assess a trip into space) will be allowed to fly? Ha!
Because Republicans control the Legislative branch (Congress/House). Since these are the folks that would be the ones to start the investigation it's not going to happen. It's not about the law, it's about the politics.
Clinton's BJ got investigated (along with impeachment) because the Republicans controlling the legislature had a chance to embarrass the Democrats (Clinton).
[TANGENT] A fascinating amendment would be that no person with a felony conviction would be allowed to hold public office. That would never happen. The thought of every candidate having to pass the equivalent of a DOD/DOE Secret background screening makes me laugh.
It seems to me that by the police being allowed to have a special "wiretap surcharge" put on the bill that just makes it easier for them to say "let's tap a whole bunch of folks and hope for the best, since it's free." What crap. At least now they have to put a little thought into the consequences (since it seems more and more a judge's signature isn't required). At least if it comes out of their "budget" they have to convince the government to up their budget. Besides, at least here in the US they are already crying "poverty" and confiscating everything worth anything criminals. Maybe a little better management of their money (rather than their tricked out shiney Ford Explorers, Crown Vics, Harleys, and other high end vehicles) would allow them a few more dollars to violate our supposed rights.
The next thing you know we'll start seeing a "Future Jail Surcharge" explicitly on your taxes -- viewed as an investment in "your possible future incarceration."
You don't list if you currently wear contacts or glasses. A word of warning if you wear Hard or Gas Permeable contacts (rigid type). Since they ARE rigid they reshape your eye. After you've used them for a while your eye starts to reshape a bit. Which is great. Right up until you decide it's time to STOP wearing them. It takes a while for your eye to gradually reshape -- up to a year depending on the doctor you talk to (and since it's your eyes I'd assume you'd want to be cautious...). So if you get the surgery done before your eye has totally relaxed the surgery will be a waste.
Another warning -- always get a second opinion (from a competent opthamologist) as to whether the thickness of your cornea is great enough to successfully do the surgery. In a story a while ago (cnn?) one of the major problems was that a doctor would attempt to do the surgery with a cornea that was too thin to work with.
I vote against Hatch every year. Unfortunatly he's part of the local political system and the LDS Church loves him so he won't be voted out.
And he knows it -- he really doesn't care what he does to the people of Utah (or the rest of you). He knows that nobody will hold him accountable. As long as he keeps getting his kickbacks from his big corporation buddies he's happy. Complaints from the "little people" (us) don't even register.
One of the best things he's managed to do is convince the local news outlets (the biggest being owned by the LDS Church) to never report on what he is doing in Congress (aside from when he gets voted "best dressed..") If the citizens of Utah were kept up to date about the legislation he proposes and what his votes are there would be a huge outcry for him to be tossed out on his ass. Supposedly the natives here (I'm not one of them) value things like privacy, personal rights, etc. All the things that Orrin's bills seek to take away.
As an EBay Scam victim myself all I can say after looking into it is that EBay supports scammers.
In my case I asked a seller about an existing auction (for a Sony Vaio Picturebook C1MZX). He answered the question and mentioned that he had a couple more for sale. His story checked out -- he had previously sold one with excellent feedback a couple of weeks earlier. And of course had good feedback. So foolishly I bought it (doing everything I caution others against - sending via WU, etc).. And "George Ward - 1703 Amherst St, Buffalo, NY 14214-2019 716-862-9606 jk_fan@earthlink.net ebayid 'jkfan' " delayed shipping, the phone was disconnected, the alternate number he gave me "866-537-7305" answers and says "goodbye". So in the end I'm screwed. As are other people who lost more than I did buying from the same "jkfan" scammer.
Now since I bought "outside" of EBay they refuse to help beyond politely saying "you're fscked." So I made all the rounds reporting it to the police, IFFCFBI, etc.. Great. But funny how none of the auctions are listed as "fraudulent". EBay's response is "We have to leave it up for evidence." Actually what it does is provide the scammer with a way of creating a great history for himself so that he can continue with his scams. While ebay says this is left up for evidence, as the scammer deletes his ebay accounts the auctions and such disappear. So much for the evidence. Asking EBay for any kind of help is of course a waste of time.
This set of scammers has a pretty easy auction page to identify for their auctions -- pointing this out to ebay is met with silence. And they seem allow the auctions to continue (and having contacted some of the buyers the scams just keep on rolling...)
Oh, if you're buying Sony Vaio equipment off of ebay -- don't buy from folks in New York -- it's absolutely amazing how many fraudulent auctions for that stuff are listed as originating in NY.
So while EBay keeps lots of records and seems willing to give them out at the drop of a hat to any law enforcement folks, if you're one of the "little people" who wants to try and investigate (because the cops do the "file and forget" routine) EBay doesn't want to hear from you.
Autoupdates are nice if they work. But they are damned annoying when they don't. My lone WinXP box (used to talk to the HP Scanner and the Epson "I only work with my windows drivers" Color printer) is a good example. The HP Scanner software decided it needed to update itself. It's an annoying feature but I mistakenly said "ok". So after applying its updates the HP AutoUpdater now crashes whenever the screensaver kicks in. Nice AutoUpdateOfDeath...
Obviously I now have to take the time to go search the web for the solution and hope that it works without corrupting too much else.
I wonder how much time people waste "fixing" the updates that they download due to the incessant nagging of the applications?
Slashdot Mirror
It makes sense -- Less wires to heat up and burn down your house.
Wonder if there will be a human skin recycle bin like the paper recycle bin next to most printers.
And for those sensitive printouts it'll be a challenge to feed the skin/body part through a shredder.
Dumpster diving will be more interesting, that's for sure.
If you need to list an address in Chicago this one is quite popular:
1060 W. Addison
Chicago, IL 60613
(It worked for Jake and Elwood)
Sorry -- we did say "signature." I was in a hurry as I was writing the base post.
As for weird answers from the programming question -- here are a few that I remember:
- "What's a linked list?" (bad answer)
- Arguing about the definition of a Singly Linked list (they wanted to use the back pointers of a Doubly linked list)
- A popular one was writing a routine that walked through the list but didn't actually reverse it
- Another popular one was the "repeatedly walk to the end of the first list, remove the last node, then walk to the end of the 'new' list and put it onto the end of that one" -- correct but inefficient.
- A variation on the above would be do do the same thing but create a COPY of each node as you put it into the other list
- Walk the initial list, get a count, create an array of nodes, walk the list again setting the array elements to the corresponding node in the list, then walking the array backwards to get the reverse order
- write a loop that tries to walk through the list and "switch" pointers (doable, but rarely done correctly, also lots of temp vars and pain involved)
- one person that I recall tried to create a new node type with a previous pointer, went to a lot of work to copy things over, and then walk backwards reversing the next/prev links.
Some folks were careless and even if they got it reversed wouldn't check to make sure they'd cleared A's next ptr.
I always asked the person talk walk through their answer with a simple a->b->c linked list and tried to help them arrive at a working answer. Some people appreciated it and tried to make it correct. Some people got very annoyed - first because they were being asked to write something this trivial, and second because they walked through it and found they got it wrong.
Lots of people got it correct on the first try.
In a previous life I gave a lot of interviews to prospective hires. The company had a standard set of interview questions to work from. One of last ones was to have the candidate write a short program fragment to solve a given problem. One of the popular problems was to write a routine to reverse a linked list. So given "a->b->c" return the list as "c->b->a". It was explained that the nodes were singly linked. Very basic. It was amazing the answers I'd get back. I didn't care so much about the code but whether the person COULD solve it. And whether they could solve it without duplicating the nodes, etc...
For java a question that was asked was "What is the proper format for the program main method?" Lots of folks couldn't properly answer that one -- most said "The IDE fills it in." (yes, we can start a flame war about that - but let's not - I'm just giving examples of what this company asked).
One NON-Programming question you should be prepared to answer is "What do you know about our company?" It was expected that you'd visited the website and knew a few basic things -- what the company did was a good start. Nothing in depth -- mainly just seeing if the person had taken the time to look. This was one of the first questions in the interview. If you couldn't answer it that was pretty much the end of the interview. Harsh maybe, but it was considered that if you didn't take the time to know the basics about a company you were interviewing with, well, there wasn't much reason to continue on. You didn't have to memorize the entire site, but knowing the very basics of "What does company X do?" was required to continue with the interview process.
My guess is that it is the only remaining exposed part of an alien ship. (which over the millenia has been covered up by blowing sand, aliens, old copies of slashcode.)
"What's that? It's a rock." -- Con Air
NewEgg is great. Along with great prices and fast shipping they have a great return policy. So if things don't work or aren't right it's easy to return them.
Their pricing on 200Gig SATA Seagate drives is great. (My latest acquisition)
Now the RIAA knows who to blame(sue) for all of the evil evil CDs/DVDs that have enabled high-quality (digital) copying. He even admits to having downloaded (off the air) television shows (wonder if he skipped the commercials?) and also having ripped music.
Note to the humor impared: the above was intended to be humorous.
The spec addresses issues like "devices that can't handle it." You just have to RTFS.
That 13W isn't always there. The device has to be POE enabled. The hub supplying power senses the device. It then measures a resistance across one of the pairs looking for a very specific resistance. That's what specifies IF PoE is wanted, and then there are different current limits you can request. The hub end is required to limit the current supplied and also monitor for faults (and if so disable the power).
The spec isn't just some yoyo hooking up an ac adapter to a supposedly unused pair and saying "it works.."
I'm sure this will do wonders for the already outrageous cost of windshield replacements.
And of course there will be the whole aftermarket of MOD'd windshields.
So how does it deal with multiple gunshots coming from different shooters? (i.e., gunfight)
I can see that camera jumping back and forth trying to catch each shot.
There's been a lot of hype about how the Nintendo DS is going to be in short supply here in the US.
I didn't make a reservation and Sunday morning I went over to Best Buy (here in Salt Lake City, Utah) and they had a big stack of the Nintendo DS systems. And they said they had lots more in back -- and laughed at the idea of a shortage.
Are there shortages? Or is it just hype to get publicity and increase the demand?
Professor Hathaway: "Up the voltage"
Give me a cold machine room to work in any day. Temp is kept at 66F. Humidity is properly regulated. Plenty of air moving. If you were really hot you could just pop a floor panel and bask in the forced air. The only downside was the sound (Cyber 730s, band printers, disks and tapedrives, modem racks with at least one fan losing a bearing, etc..)
If the AC went out the environmental monitoring unit would set off loud bells throughout the entire building and things got fixed. Not like when the office gets hot these days and you're told "we'll have it fixed in a couple of days -- keep working."
Those were the days.. For those that remember the CDC Environmental panel you have to have fond memories of that innocuous button labelled "LAMP TEST". It tested a hell of a lot more than just the lights on that panel. As the unsuspecting operator usually found out during training.
I see this more as a way for Congress and the FAA to get free flights for their "important" members and friends/contributors. Just another way for them to add even more perks to their job. Ok, most FAA folks (aside from the higher ups) are pretty decent, but you think any low level FAA person (like the person most competent to assess a trip into space) will be allowed to fly? Ha!
Because Republicans control the Legislative branch (Congress/House). Since these are the folks that would be the ones to start the investigation it's not going to happen. It's not about the law, it's about the politics.
Clinton's BJ got investigated (along with impeachment) because the Republicans controlling the legislature had a chance to embarrass the Democrats (Clinton).
[TANGENT]
A fascinating amendment would be that no person with a felony conviction would be allowed to hold public office. That would never happen. The thought of every candidate having to pass the equivalent of a DOD/DOE Secret background screening makes me laugh.
"Don't worry, Citizen. We'll inform/arrest you when you break the secret laws. Trust us."
I'm sure my boss would like to see me spending my time running through the maze of the cube farm looking for cheese.
It seems to me that by the police being allowed to have a special "wiretap surcharge" put on the bill that just makes it easier for them to say "let's tap a whole bunch of folks and hope for the best, since it's free." What crap. At least now they have to put a little thought into the consequences (since it seems more and more a judge's signature isn't required). At least if it comes out of their "budget" they have to convince the government to up their budget. Besides, at least here in the US they are already crying "poverty" and confiscating everything worth anything criminals. Maybe a little better management of their money (rather than their tricked out shiney Ford Explorers, Crown Vics, Harleys, and other high end vehicles) would allow them a few more dollars to violate our supposed rights.
The next thing you know we'll start seeing a "Future Jail Surcharge" explicitly on your taxes -- viewed as an investment in "your possible future incarceration."
The Bass Fishing games..
I guess to me "real" fishing is more about being out with friends and drinking beer than it is trying to outwit a fish.
Your brain has been slashdotted!
You don't list if you currently wear contacts or glasses. A word of warning if you wear Hard or Gas Permeable contacts (rigid type). Since they ARE rigid they reshape your eye. After you've used them for a while your eye starts to reshape a bit. Which is great. Right up until you decide it's time to STOP wearing them. It takes a while for your eye to gradually reshape -- up to a year depending on the doctor you talk to (and since it's your eyes I'd assume you'd want to be cautious...). So if you get the surgery done before your eye has totally relaxed the surgery will be a waste.
Another warning -- always get a second opinion (from a competent opthamologist) as to whether the thickness of your cornea is great enough to successfully do the surgery. In a story a while ago (cnn?) one of the major problems was that a doctor would attempt to do the surgery with a cornea that was too thin to work with.
I vote against Hatch every year. Unfortunatly he's part of the local political system and the LDS Church loves him so he won't be voted out.
And he knows it -- he really doesn't care what he does to the people of Utah (or the rest of you). He knows that nobody will hold him accountable. As long as he keeps getting his kickbacks from his big corporation buddies he's happy. Complaints from the "little people" (us) don't even register.
One of the best things he's managed to do is convince the local news outlets (the biggest being owned by the LDS Church) to never report on what he is doing in Congress (aside from when he gets voted "best dressed..") If the citizens of Utah were kept up to date about the legislation he proposes and what his votes are there would be a huge outcry for him to be tossed out on his ass. Supposedly the natives here (I'm not one of them) value things like privacy, personal rights, etc. All the things that Orrin's bills seek to take away.
As an EBay Scam victim myself all I can say after looking into it is that EBay supports scammers.
In my case I asked a seller about an existing auction (for a Sony Vaio Picturebook C1MZX). He answered the question and mentioned that he had a couple more for sale. His story checked out -- he had previously sold one with excellent feedback a couple of weeks earlier. And of course had good feedback. So foolishly I bought it (doing everything I caution others against - sending via WU, etc).. And "George Ward - 1703 Amherst St, Buffalo, NY 14214-2019 716-862-9606 jk_fan@earthlink.net ebayid 'jkfan' " delayed shipping, the phone was disconnected, the alternate number he gave me "866-537-7305" answers and says "goodbye". So in the end I'm screwed. As are other people who lost more than I did buying from the same "jkfan" scammer.
Now since I bought "outside" of EBay they refuse to help beyond politely saying "you're fscked." So I made all the rounds reporting it to the police, IFFCFBI, etc.. Great. But funny how none of the auctions are listed as "fraudulent". EBay's response is "We have to leave it up for evidence." Actually what it does is provide the scammer with a way of creating a great history for himself so that he can continue with his scams. While ebay says this is left up for evidence, as the scammer deletes his ebay accounts the auctions and such disappear. So much for the evidence. Asking EBay for any kind of help is of course a waste of time.
This set of scammers has a pretty easy auction page to identify for their auctions -- pointing this out to ebay is met with silence. And they seem allow the auctions to continue (and having contacted some of the buyers the scams just keep on rolling...)
Oh, if you're buying Sony Vaio equipment off of ebay -- don't buy from folks in New York -- it's absolutely amazing how many fraudulent auctions for that stuff are listed as originating in NY.
So while EBay keeps lots of records and seems willing to give them out at the drop of a hat to any law enforcement folks, if you're one of the "little people" who wants to try and investigate (because the cops do the "file and forget" routine) EBay doesn't want to hear from you.
Autoupdates are nice if they work. But they are damned annoying when they don't. My lone WinXP box (used to talk to the HP Scanner and the Epson "I only work with my windows drivers" Color printer) is a good example. The HP Scanner software decided it needed to update itself. It's an annoying feature but I mistakenly said "ok". So after applying its updates the HP AutoUpdater now crashes whenever the screensaver kicks in. Nice AutoUpdateOfDeath...
Obviously I now have to take the time to go search the web for the solution and hope that it works without corrupting too much else.
I wonder how much time people waste "fixing" the updates that they download due to the incessant nagging of the applications?