radium.txt

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > radium.txt

Lowtax: Nov 16, 1999; by Skyl3lazer

quote:

(22:01:05) SAAssLowtax: did you tell Andrew that the redesign is done and has been up for four days and I obviously didn't like it or something?
(22:01:13) Radium: yeah, sent two links on new years day, and on Wednesday again... right now I have it down again to update previews and import the old frontpage images for all the articles
(22:01:36) Radium: I can put the cms part of it back up now though if you want to see it
(22:01:58) SAAssLowtax: well if it's not done then don't bother
(22:02:48) SAAssLowtax: how did you send the links? I went through my AIM logs, email, and SMS logs and never got anything
(22:03:11) Radium: on aim both times
(22:03:38) Radium: I've been sending messages all week though, just figured you were still ultra pissed off and ignoring me
(22:03:56) SAAssLowtax: okay well I guess it's another case of your AIM mysteriously not working correctly, since I've gotten no messages from you between 1/6 and 12/30
(22:03:58) Radium: I'm just going to stop using IM
(22:04:05) SAAssLowtax: might as well
(22:04:07) Radium: yeah, gently caress it
(22:06:42) SAAssLowtax: and I've never been "ignoring" you, I'm not sure why exactly you would think I would ignore the one thing I've been waiting to see completed for months
(22:07:04) Radium: I don't know what the hell is going on to tell you the truth
(22:07:31) SAAssLowtax: welcome to my world then
(22:07:38) Radium: I'm afraid to even say anything, have no idea if I should be working on what I thought I was supposed to work on, or just rush this out the door
(22:07:56) SAAssLowtax: "rush"?
(22:07:59) Radium: what does that even mean? I've been telling you I'll do whatever you want
(22:09:33) Radium: its driving me nuts, I'm strapped to the computer working pretty much all the time, and you act like I don't do anything because I'm not on aim
(22:10:00) SAAssLowtax: yes, and I don't know what the hell is going on with it, it's been almost finished "for days" for weeks and months now, it's been the only thing I've been asking you to do.
(22:10:50) Radium: I told you if you just want the redesign done I can just get it out of the way and not finish the new sasbi
(22:11:30) Radium: but I can't do all this new stuff on the old code... we don't have the hardware for it, there's no database server for the frontpage
(22:12:47) SAAssLowtax: but the redesign and sasbi are linked, and one in the same. and I've told you numerous times to tell me if there's something we absolutely have to buy, and I'll get it
(22:15:06) Radium: redesign is easy, just updating templates... already did the html/css crap
(22:17:38) Radium: this whole thing is silly
(22:17:50) SAAssLowtax: how is it silly?
(22:19:46) Radium: I'm working as much as humanly possible, if you want something done differently just let me know. Ever since around when kevin left I'm just not sure how to handle anything
(22:21:56) Radium: I'm constantly walking on eggshells trying to guess if what I'm doing is going to make you mad or not, I'm doing it now
(22:21:59) SAAssLowtax: Ken, think about it. What have been the two things I've been asking for for years now?
1) estimation of dates. Any coder anywhere has deadlines / estimated times of project dates. You can't give me them.
2) updates on what's going on. Any coder anywhere regularly tells the person who pays them what's going on. You say it's a waste of time and can't regularly give me them
(22:23:41) SAAssLowtax: and none of these are new issues, I brought them to your attention even pre-Kevin
(22:23:55) Radium: If you really want accurate estimations, I need detailed project plans like you'd have to provide any contractor, and I would need not to have to maintain 19 servers, multiple pieces of software, handle support mail, etc
(22:25:44) Radium: all of that stuff takes a decent amount of time, and I can't plan for it... like Thursday I worked from 7:30am till 5:30pm, got back on at 8pm and was up until after 7am
(22:27:22) Radium: and then I woke up after like 4-5 hours because I'm scared you're messaging me and getting pissed because I'm not replying instantly
(22:28:49) Radium: its like ever since things got stabilized and the constant parade of crises stopped, you think I'm not working because there is no crisis to see be resolved
(22:29:42) SAAssLowtax: are you seeing any of this from my point of view? are you even trying to understand why these are issues to me? you're absolutely delusional if you think the issue here is "I don't believe you are spending time working." When have I ever, ever, ever, EVER said that?
(22:33:29) Radium: yeah I see your point of view, but I swear as much as I would like to, I can't provide dates for these big projects. I'm not trying to piss you off or anything
(22:34:48) SAAssLowtax: listen, I don't want dates set in stone, I would never say "X needs to be done on Y or else you're fired." I understand poo poo comes up and delays stuff, that's life. But I would like to know what poo poo is coming up, how much it is delaying things, and basically what is going on. Same thing I've been saying for years now.
(22:36:53) SAAssLowtax: like for instance, you telling me now SASBI isn't done. Well I always assumed that was part of the redesign, which has been days away from completion for half a year now. Now I have absolutely no idea how much of that needs to be finished or how long that will take, or when the redesign will truly be done. No clue.
(22:39:08) Radium: I didn't tell you its not done, I took it down to redo previews and convert old article fields so I can remove it from the live database when it launches
(22:40:05) Radium: really, we just need to break things down into way smaller projects and I don't think any of this would be an issue
(22:40:56) SAAssLowtax: okay well I guess we have different opinions on the word "done," because I assumed it meant "completed and ready for testing," not "incomplete because previews need to be redone and old article fields need to be converted"

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:31

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 10, 2024 17:00

rabble rabble: Mar 24, 2015; Nap Ghost

the idea that it's impossible to set dates to deliver large software projects completley boggles my mind. How does he think any work gets done in real companies?

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:44

DONKEY SALAMI: Jun 28, 2008; donkey? donkey?

A month? A year? Lowtaxes

With the unreasonable time units

Paleolithic era?

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:47

Lowtax: Nov 16, 1999; by Skyl3lazer

rabble rabble posted:

the idea that it's impossible to set dates to deliver large software projects completley boggles my mind. How does he think any work gets done in real companies?

It was my fault for never setting concrete dates for completion. Oh, except when I did, and he passed those dates every time and ended up taking 2x as long.

And then when I had portions of his code audited by a different coder, he was so confused as to what he was trying to accomplish and why and how and didn't have the first idea how to decipher it. I'm pretty sure he intentionally tried to do that for job security. And me, being the idiot and lovely rear end businessman, was kinda in a corner.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:47

Pimpcasso: Mar 13, 2002; VOLS BITCH

lowtax how much money did you give this con artist?

i don't even own a computer but I feel like I could do his job, ill even give you completion dates

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:47

Lowtax: Nov 16, 1999; by Skyl3lazer

quote:

(7:43 PM) Radium: forums gonna be blazing fast when this goes in
(7:44 PM) Lowtax: when
(7:44 PM) Radium: when its finished

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:48

Lowtax: Nov 16, 1999; by Skyl3lazer

Daedra posted:

lowtax how much money did you give this con artist?

i don't even own a computer but I feel like I could do his job, ill even give you completion dates

Too much, but he was the only "coder" I knew at the time and was a friend and once he started re-coding everything or adding his own weird obtuse poo poo, I was stuck with him. Just finally now, six years later and multiple other coders later, do we finally understand how everything he wrote works together.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:50

Dead Precedents: May 5, 2005; Precedents come and go, but death goes on forever.

Lowtax posted:

Too much, but he was the only "coder" I knew at the time and was a friend and once he started re-coding everything or adding his own weird obtuse poo poo, I was stuck with him. Just finally now, six years later and multiple other coders later, do we finally understand how everything he wrote works together.

I've known some coders like that. They make that poo poo so obscure it's indecipherable to anyone including themselves. They waste so much time on that bullshit that they could be doing actual work that keeps them from being fired.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:53

Lowtax: Nov 16, 1999; by Skyl3lazer

quote:

Conversation with 1575322 at 5/22/2006 7:00 PM on 19629905 (01)

(7:00 PM) Lowtax: you think you got problems, I'm so incompetent I actually decided to hire you!

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:55

Lowtax: Nov 16, 1999; by Skyl3lazer

quote:

Conversation with 1575322 at 9/7/2009 8:57:12 AM on 19629905 (icq)
(08:57:35) 19629905: well if you ever get a moment in the next week, I'd appreciate you dropping me a line to let me know of the search status

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:56

Lowtax: Nov 16, 1999; by Skyl3lazer

quote:

Conversation with 1575322 at 9/3/2009 8:57:56 AM on 19629905 (icq)
(08:58:13) 19629905: whenever you get back from wherever you are, could you please keep me in the loop and let me know what is going on

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:56

Flesh Forge: Jan 31, 2011; LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY DOG

How does someone put so much effort into actually doing so little? I am a super lazy person and I get tired just reading this stuff, I can't imagine WRITING all that dumb bullshit.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:58

Dead Precedents: May 5, 2005; Precedents come and go, but death goes on forever.

Do you still have any code samples of his work on the site?

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:58

Lowtax: Nov 16, 1999; by Skyl3lazer

Dead Precedents posted:

Do you still have any code samples of his work on the site?

I'll ask ZDR if there are any entertaining bits of coding. According to him, the issue was that he either tried to over-engineer or under-engineer everything or do something that still cannot be determined.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:59

Comfy Fleece Sweater: Apr 2, 2013; You see, but you do not observe.

(22:07:04) Radium: I don't know what the hell is going on to tell you the truth

A real quote by radium

# ? Mar 3, 2016 07:59

Pimpcasso: Mar 13, 2002; VOLS BITCH

atleast he set the bar low for future coders of yours

kind of makes him a true friend of ZDR

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:00

Lowtax: Nov 16, 1999; by Skyl3lazer

Daedra posted:

atleast he set the bar low for future coders of yours

kind of makes him a true friend of ZDR

ZDR is like the greatest person ever.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:01

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

Lowtax posted:

Too much, but he was the only "coder" I knew at the time and was a friend and once he started re-coding everything or adding his own weird obtuse poo poo, I was stuck with him. Just finally now, six years later and multiple other coders later, do we finally understand how everything he wrote works together.

Choochacacko died from code-induced madness, didn't he?

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:04

Comfy Fleece Sweater: Apr 2, 2013; You see, but you do not observe.

The funny thing is I remember some people seriously complaining about radium and making fun of him at the time but most likely they were banned

I think Lowtax got 3DRealms'd by radium

I remember going to his blog and reading about how amazing Titan was going to be and I thought it was all delusional bullshit but I said "ehhh I'm sure Lowtax knows what he's doing he's not dumb" yikes

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:05

Ytlaya: Nov 13, 2005

Can he not do something like put all the SA forums code in a private Github repository and add you as an admin so that you'll see any time he commits new code? That way you can know for sure if he's actually working, since there's no legitimate excuse for him to not be regularly committing changes if he's actually doing work. It's how we're able to keep our non-programmer boss up to speed at my job.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:05

Pimpcasso: Mar 13, 2002; VOLS BITCH

Ytlaya posted:

Can he not do something like put all the SA forums code in a private Github repository and add you as an admin so that you'll see any time he commits new code? That way you can know for sure if he's actually working, since there's no legitimate excuse for him to not be regularly committing changes if he's actually doing work. It's how we're able to keep our non-programmer boss up to speed at my job.

drat son radium long gone

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:07

CountingCrows: Apr 17, 2001

haha, I've always wondered the story behind what the hell was up with the search function

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:14

The Bible: May 8, 2010

Lowtax posted:

This doesn't make sense. Why does he think this is impossible?

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:15

Son of Rodney: Feb 22, 2006; ohmygodohmygodohmygod

Lowtax: radium the people are getting restless, i need an eta on those upgrades!

Radium: lowtax we've talked about this, i dont like giving etas! Also I've smoked about 5g of dank weed today, so my time perception is all over the place in any case

Lowtax: bu-

Radium: quit nagging me, rich!

Lowtax radium plz

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:18

Comfy Fleece Sweater: Apr 2, 2013; You see, but you do not observe.

The Bible posted:

This doesn't make sense. Why does he think this is impossible?

"8:27 AM) Radium: I mean, I cant do work on the code and not have it output things... but since our templates are in a database live all the time, well..."

I'm no programmer but isn't it trivial to set up a sort of dev environment where you can test these templates on a dummy database instead of the live site?

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:19

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

The Bible posted:

This doesn't make sense. Why does he think this is impossible?

turns out that Radium wasn't good at his work hth

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:21

theultimo: Aug 2, 2004; An RSS feed bot who makes questionable purchasing decisions.; Pillbug

Jeez, I waited for Titan forever

And search

But drat, I know coders like this. Job security in the fed govt that's for sure.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:31

Baloogan: Dec 5, 2004; Fun Shoe

Lowtax posted:

ZDR is like the greatest person ever.

ya ZDR is the best admin/robot/whatever he is the forusm have ever had

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:32

Gazpacho: Jun 18, 2004; by Fluffdaddy; Slippery Tilde

Ytlaya posted:

Can he not do something like put all the SA forums code in a private Github repository

lol

when choochacacko came in the code either wasn't in source control, or radium just didn't choose to tell him where

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:37

Grandma Panic!: Nov 4, 2006

lowtax can u do a limited run of SA gear like CNST hats and other stupid poo poo? I will actually probably buy one thing unless it causes everything to crash again when I hit submit.

quadedit: did you or anyone you hire afterwards find any of Radium's code that was somehow beautifully elegant?

Grandma Panic! fucked around with this message at 08:46 on Mar 3, 2016

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:41

Gasbraai: Oct 25, 2010; Lictor my Dictor

I hope radium wrote unit tests for the work he did so that someone else can take over and know when they introduce a regression, then again, its PHP so fat chance I guess.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 08:46