And so but anyway, did I ever tell you about my most humiliating experience as a skilled and successful computer programmer?
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Not, I repeat, my only great failure as a geek.
But, *damn*, that was humiliating.
I wrote an *excellent* program that *brilliantly* displayed data coming from hardware that didn't work.
It was a gig. I got paid. That's not the point. I was a pro, and pro's deliver *value*.
All I delivered was a good laugh.
@GeePawHill reminds me of my Dad's story about crossing the dateline and the equator at the same time: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qkj87gS9FDkfFcJB_ryqf1uE334f-k7W5h5G_mNxxmw/edit?usp=drivesdk
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Man, I had some fails in my time, but this one wasn't just a fail, it was fucking *embarrassing*.
"Build a special custom icebreaking display using the hardware on the ship, it'll be brilliant!"
The hardware doesn't work in the ice. Any actual icebreaker captain could have told me -- us -- that, had we -- they -- ever actually consulted one.
@GeePawHill here's an illustration of another good point : go on the field to see how shit works before coding any line of code that's suppose to fix that shit.
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R relay@relay.an.exchange shared this topic
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And, for the record, I have been a successful professional programmer, an independent, for 45 years. I've failed more times than most people have even tried.
Some days you get the bear.
Some days the bear gets you.
Find joy in it. Without joy, why are we even doing this shit?
@GeePawHill Thank you for sharing this story. It was a very good, insightful and entertaining read. My takeaway from this anecdote is: always consult a potential user of the software you are developing.
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@thirstybear Indeed. I keep re-posting it:
"Take the pledge, kids: I don't use LLMs for coding and I don't kiss boys who do."
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Upside: I saw many many seals, and a polar bear from a distance. The comedy officer was actually the helicopter maintenance guy, and I got a helicopter tour of an iceberg. All of that was rather awesome.
@GeePawHill the only safe way to see a polar bear. If you see one NOT from a distance, something's gone wrong, right?
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@GeePawHill @mayintoronto and talk to the end-user, who may not be the same person!
@pozorvlak @GeePawHill @mayintoronto
Thanks for sharing this entertaining story and the advice.
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And, for the record, I have been a successful professional programmer, an independent, for 45 years. I've failed more times than most people have even tried.
Some days you get the bear.
Some days the bear gets you.
Find joy in it. Without joy, why are we even doing this shit?
@GeePawHill as someone who once worked on calibrating software for inertial navigation units...
Yeah.
Your story is epic.
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And so but anyway, did I ever tell you about my most humiliating experience as a skilled and successful computer programmer?
@GeePawHill a good read, you made my lunch break, thanks!
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@GeePawHill @mayintoronto and talk to the end-user, who may not be the same person!
@pozorvlak @GeePawHill @mayintoronto Speaking as someone who has programmed any robot anywhere ever, another lesson is:
"Sensor fusion is hard."
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And so but anyway, did I ever tell you about my most humiliating experience as a skilled and successful computer programmer?
@GeePawHill wonderful story, thanks!
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And, for the record, I have been a successful professional programmer, an independent, for 45 years. I've failed more times than most people have even tried.
Some days you get the bear.
Some days the bear gets you.
Find joy in it. Without joy, why are we even doing this shit?
@GeePawHill This was an amazing read, thank you!
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The captain is totally ignoring this guy. He's not even spozed to be on the bridge, let alone covered in little patches (just circular bandaids, actually). But the rest of the crew is laughing their ass off.
And it's *funny*.
I mean, yeah, I was embarrassed, but, whatever, I got it. I took off my stupid patch.
We're getting to the ice, and getting to the ice is so amazingly cool, I didn't even mind the comedy officer making me the butt of the joke.
@GeePawHill getting made a butt of a joke like that by a comedy officer? I'd wear it like a patch of honor!
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And, for the record, I have been a successful professional programmer, an independent, for 45 years. I've failed more times than most people have even tried.
Some days you get the bear.
Some days the bear gets you.
Find joy in it. Without joy, why are we even doing this shit?
@GeePawHill That's a great story, thanks very much for sharing.
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And, for the record, I have been a successful professional programmer, an independent, for 45 years. I've failed more times than most people have even tried.
Some days you get the bear.
Some days the bear gets you.
Find joy in it. Without joy, why are we even doing this shit?
@GeePawHill what a fantastic lesson in humility. Much needed in our industry.
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@GeePawHill reminds me of my Dad's story about crossing the dateline and the equator at the same time: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qkj87gS9FDkfFcJB_ryqf1uE334f-k7W5h5G_mNxxmw/edit?usp=drivesdk
@pozorvlak @GeePawHill Sounds like quite a man.
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@GeePawHill This was an amazing read, thank you!
@GeePawHill It also reminded me of the gorgeous icebreakers I saw in Helsinki a few years ago.
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Man, I had some fails in my time, but this one wasn't just a fail, it was fucking *embarrassing*.
"Build a special custom icebreaking display using the hardware on the ship, it'll be brilliant!"
The hardware doesn't work in the ice. Any actual icebreaker captain could have told me -- us -- that, had we -- they -- ever actually consulted one.
@GeePawHill there was a story about a couple of scientists in WW2 assigned to improve U boat detection and destruction rates. 1 read reports and did calcs at a desk. The other went out on patrol and saw how hopeless reports were at conveying reality. It is a danger all disciplines of engineers can encounter and we often need to go and visit the 'workplace' to understand how the work is done and the reality of any equipment and automation. Oh, and add on human factors too.
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And, for the record, I have been a successful professional programmer, an independent, for 45 years. I've failed more times than most people have even tried.
Some days you get the bear.
Some days the bear gets you.
Find joy in it. Without joy, why are we even doing this shit?
@GeePawHill The challenging part for using PC hardware for icebreaker navigation (in the 1980s) was the amount of physical shock computers have to continuously survive. It is about the same if you have ~1000+ kg piece of metal on a long stick and drop that to swing down (from a side) to a box of PC hardware. First times the PC goes to the wall in pieces, because it can't last the impact. It takes a lot of engineering to make a PC case that can survive that amount of stress. It was done back in 1980s, with the hardware of those days (with traditional HDDs).
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And so but anyway, did I ever tell you about my most humiliating experience as a skilled and successful computer programmer?
@GeePawHill This is a great story. Thanks for sharing.
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Not, I repeat, my only great failure as a geek.
But, *damn*, that was humiliating.
I wrote an *excellent* program that *brilliantly* displayed data coming from hardware that didn't work.
It was a gig. I got paid. That's not the point. I was a pro, and pro's deliver *value*.
All I delivered was a good laugh.
@GeePawHill@mastodon.social Reminds me of a german engineering proverb "Wer misst, misst Mist", roughly "Measure and you shall have crap measurements".
