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12:45 AM
Anyone looking for a job?
 
12:56 AM
not I! (:
 
@PopularDemand Stop trying to steal my prospective candidates!
 
@TimStone I may or may not be trying to steal your candidates. The position I'm thinking of is for robotics, specifically: "Software/embedded systems with a controls focus, mechanical design, quality (esp w/ medical device background), and electrical."
Does that conflict with you?
 
Carry on :P
 
aww. I wanted a battle between you two. ):
 
Your thirst for workplace violence disturbs me.
If Jeff starts hosting cage matches, I'll know whose idea it was.
 
1:04 AM
HEY @TIMSTONE
INSULT
 
RAH!
 
COUNTER-RETORT
 
OBLIGATORY PROFANITY
 
this is not living up to my expectations.
 
NOTATION THAT YOU CREATE A VACUUM
 
1:06 AM
FINISHING MOVE: summons @MichaelMrozek
 
@TimStone Argh, I was going to do that! But I can never get the button combo right.
He's just going to approve of @RebeccaChernoff's thirst for workplace violence in the end, though.
 
It's kind of like the Konami code, but at the end you have to chuck your controller at an innocent child to seal the deal.
 
(By the way, I was attempting to reference this inexplicably upvoted conversation but you fail.)
 
(I'll give myself -1)
 
@TimStone It's a shame the MSO Konami Kwestion was deleted. But at least nobody has to look at that grotesque face anymore.
 
1:09 AM
Hmm, I haven't eaten dinner yet, that's insanity on my part.
 
@TimStone Psh. I just had lunch two hours ago. Lightweight.
 
I don't remember if I ate lunch, so there!
 
NEW CHALLENGER APPEARS (note the lack of fanfare, or caring)
 
I'll give you bonus points if you brought food with you.
 
I did!
 
1:22 AM
Popular Demand has left the arena.
@drachenstern: Continue?
 
\o/
 
$0.25
this stupid game, the counter's broken. I put in a quarter and it keeps resetting to 10
 
(This game requires two quarters.)
 
well that's a dumb game
goes off in search of bubble gum
 
 
2 hours later…
3:52 AM
wtf linq? why not use "join" after "toarray" to do what arrays do? why must I use "aggregate" .... grrr
 
4:11 AM
eh?
 
eh eh?
 
I found this code:
...wait for it...
...I mean REALLY wait for it...
                    var a4 = new PartialTicketDetail[0];
                    if (charges != null)
                    {
                        a4 = charges.ToArray();
                    }

                    partialTicketModel.Details = a1.Concat(a2.Concat(a3.Concat(a4))).ToList();
Someone really doesn't want to figure LINQ out here.
 
lmao
I can think of like five ways to rewrite that
so sad
Also, this:
 
ooo
@drachenstern I can't, sadly :/
 
4:29 AM
is that really important?
 
No, not really.
Just takes space and is annoying to maintain
 
oh, not that
I meant the not knowing five ways
I agree, that's entirely difficult to maintain
 
@drachenstern Oh yeah, not knowing five isn't important ;)
 
var a4 = (charges!=null) ? charges.ToArray() : new PartialTicketDetail[0]; // which makes no sense
partialTicketModel.Details = a1.AddRange(a2).AddRange(a3).AddRange(a4).ToList();
if I am typing that right without a debugger that should work.
I know, shame on me for not knowing it exactly without a debugger. I'm practicing
actually, lemme edit that ...
 
You think this syntax would work?
            partialTicketModel.Details = (labor ?? new List<PartialTicketDetail>())
                .Concat(equipment ?? new List<PartialTicketDetail>())
                .Concat(material ?? new List<PartialTicketDetail>()
                .Concat(charges ?? new List<PartialTicketDetail>())).ToList();
 
4:40 AM
yes
that's what I was going to edit on the first line
change the check for null into a coalesce
 
Aha.
 
I was thinking if that made sense since I don't know what the partial ticketdetail does
but since that's all in english, it's SO much more maintainable.
public static string GetNextDatabaseName(Server srv, System.Configuration.Configuration config) {
   string LastDatabase = config.AppSettings.Settings["LastDatabase"].Value;
   string excludedDatabases = config.AppSettings.Settings["ExcludedDatabases"].Value;

    List<string> e = excludedDatabases.Split( ';' ).ToList(  );
    List<string> l = srv.Databases.Cast<Database>( ).Select( d => d.Name ).Except( e ).ToList( );

    //now save the list of databases in semicolon delimited format so we can check them later visually to know what ones we are using
 
*nod
 
I'm trying to decide if that's maintainable
I'm not entirely sure I want to keep that settings value update in there, I don't think it makes sense
but since I'm refactoring code I just wrote a couple hours ago, I am giving myself some slack on layering things up
I've already abstracted it into three separate methods, this is where I'm chewing on the code smell right now.
public static string GetNextDatabaseName(Server srv, System.Configuration.Configuration config) {
    string LastDatabase = config.AppSettings.Settings["LastDatabase"].Value;
    string excludedDatabases = config.AppSettings.Settings["ExcludedDatabases"].Value;

    List<string> e = excludedDatabases.Split( ';' ).ToList(  );
    List<string> l = srv.Databases.Cast<Database>( ).Select( d => d.Name ).Except( e ).ToList( );

    return l[( l.IndexOf( LastDatabase ) + 1 ) % l.Count];
}
I feel like this method should only do that right there
 
fun
 
4:45 AM
I'm still deciding
probably makes sense to give it the two lists and the last one and then return it, but that means I have to juggle more elsewhere, and currently I'm only maintaining the server and the config file in my main loop
 
5:02 AM
Hello
 
5:25 AM
Ah the joys of refactoring. Completely eliminated the need for that method anyways.
 
5:42 AM
hello
 
morning
 
mornin
Hey @balpha
Thanks for what you guys do with SEI and SO, I don't imagine we say how often we enjoy the hell out of this site and this experience and this network and etc.
 
I second that!
 
Thanks :) Getting payed for chatting and comment flame-war-ing is pretty nice, too
 
5:55 AM
hehe, I bet it is.
 
6:22 AM
oy the chat was gone for me :O
 
not just you
 
heh yea I know, it still was a shock :D
\o/ German SE is in private beta
of course I don't know any really good question right now, great
 
gmorning!
 
shakes a fist at Firefox and restarts it
 
6:45 AM
is it possible that the server is under attack?
 
THE ROMULANS ARE COMING!
 
:)
what server, anyway?
 
TO THE PHASERS!
@balpha honestly I don't know. It was a guess because of the connection problems to the chat
 
the load balancer is a bit flaky right now, we're looking at it -- but an attack would be my last guess
 
6:48 AM
ok thats good then :)
 
PLEASE NOTE It has been decreed that the starring of Oy is no longer appropriate. Thank you for your kind and prompt attention to this matter.
14
 
%6f%79
 
:D
doesn't have the balls to star it
 
I'm curious why he didn't go for 4F instead of 6F
 
6:56 AM
10 mins ago, by Octavian Damiean
oy
 
Oy doesn't look right, oy looks better
 
@balpha details shmetails
also, it's bedtime
well, it was about 2 hours ago, now it's just obscene ;)
 
oh and I do listen to the developers life, it is good stuff
 
morning
 
7:07 AM
but do you download it to an iPod? does it screw things up?
mine is, I'm not downloading to a PC first tho
 
I've never tried that
My iPhone is just full of Flight of the Conchords episodes right now
 
 
1 hour later…
8:29 AM
Mornin
 
You're always here.
 
plop
 
...
that guy
"You can accept your own answer tomorrow"
IT IS TOMORROW
 
9:05 AM
@ÓlafurWaage 6 more hours :)
 
 
2 hours later…
11:25 AM
@ÓlafurWaage that means 24+ more hours
 
11:52 AM
GRR
"You can accept your own answer in 22 hours"
 
Hi Guys
 
@Damodar did you really have to go ping Jeff about the problems you had? There are plenty of mods and guys on meta that helped you out. no ?
 
:o where?
 
12:07 PM
I saw he made a room somewhere on chat
 
@ÓlafurWaage Told ya
 
He stole your name!
 
evading chat ban again.
 
12:12 PM
oh boy
and what a question quality
close voted and flagged as low quality ...
yup it is a second account again
 
@OctavianDamiean when the mainerror account was created which mod helped you nuke it?
 
@Reno : i never asked for is Jeff here :)
@Reno : I just say hi dude
 
@Reno I actually didn't report it. I think Drachenstern did.
 
ah I see ... I'll talk to him tomorrow
 
Any moderator out here?
how about to merge into
http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/90634/merge-net-generics-into-generics
bump
5
Q: Merge [.net-generics] into [generics]?

abatishchevIs .net-generics really required? Should it be merged into more general generics, with appropriate synonym added?

 
12:27 PM
@Reno : abatishchev is asking for moderator
 
account nuked yay.
 
One thing I don't understand. Why don't they just use another software to chat?
 
12:49 PM
irc?
 
well that'd one alternative yes
 
irc is definitely more dead the alive
maybe i'm wrong
but that's kind of charm of modem lines
 
@abatishchev no you're actually wrong on that. I can only talk about the Ubuntu world where it is the main communication channel
 
25
Q: What does chat offer that IRC does not?

CasebashWhy do we have our own separate chat system rather than going with IRC? What does the current chat client offer that IRC can't and what benefits could this choice have in the future?

 
@MichaelMrozek that is still not a reason to always try to get around a ban just to chat on this platform.
 
1:01 PM
@OctavianDamiean Oh, I misunderstood your question; I haven't read the backlog yet. I thought you were asking why all of us were using webchat instead of IRC
 
@MichaelMrozek oh no. I love this chat, I wouldn't argue about its validity. :)
 
0
Q: need to handle special character validation using javascript

Special characters <,>,%,'',"",$,^ are not allowed in a textbox. I need to put a validation check to restrict these characters on submit along with the null check. I wrote entire validation code in a function and calling it on click of submit but the function is not recognised on click. Ple...

This question has 12k views. sigh...
 
4
Q: CSS Positioning Question - Tables vs. Absolute vs. DL

BaerI'd like to align label/value pairs in the center using CSS without using absolute positioning or tables (see screen shot). In that screen shot I positioned the value (ie. $4,500/wk) absolute and then floated the label right up against it. But absolute doesn't work so well in IE and I've heard ...

VtC too localized please, with the broken screenshot it isn't useful for anyone (even though this question is generating traffic)
0
Q: HOw to acheive this intent control??

Ashik Chollangiin ma app thr will be terms and conditions activity which shows some conditions along with ok and cancel buttons!! and when user presses ok button app will go further activities and will go on running... next time when User starts this app Terms and conditions activity must not run as its already...

Barely English...?
 
@YiJiang ow. my eyes, they buuuuurn.
 
1:13 PM
@YiJiang I'm sure this question would be better if they used Google Translate...
 
oy ... Android tag :'(
that question was also asked so many times :(
I'll have to change to another tag ...
 
@OctavianDamiean Close as dupe then please
 
@YiJiang I'm on it already
 
Whatever you do, don't go for web development questions, especially front end
0
Q: ie compatibility mode cons

Michal BernhardWhat are cons of force a web site viewed in IE to compatible mode? Say we force IE9 to IE8 compatiblity mode? Performance drawbacks Can't use any new IE9 specific features like html5/css3/svg Why? We run legacy web app which is developed since 2000 so it's a mess ball fighting to be compa...

 
no I'm thinking about C or Python, especially Python would be nice
 
1:16 PM
Subjective? Too localized?
 
oh god
so I'm not the only one?
it is already hard to find the right dupe, there are so many
 
Well, now I'm facing the situation where 2 people have offered me jobs..
 
that is a good situation! :)
 
and considering I also have a part-time job on weekends that doesn't really require a ton of effort, I'd consider myself in the money
 
 
1 hour later…
2:53 PM
ah those are questions I love
> How we can create a PUSH Notification based app in Android
the only possible answer is Yes
 
3:05 PM
@OctavianDamiean With the compilers, and the documentations.
 
@badpssockpuppet I copied you comment from yesterday File - > New Project :D
 
@OctavianDamiean Link!
 
in Android on Stack Overflow Chat, 34 mins ago, by Octavian Damiean
@AlexMathew in Eclipse, File -> New Android Project
 

Every plz-to-send-me-teh-codez question, ever.

37 mins ago, 1 minute total – 7 messages, 2 users, 1 star

Bookmarked 7 secs ago by badp

4
It's dangerous to go alone. Take this.
 
funny and sad at the same time
in Android on Stack Overflow Chat, 37 mins ago, by Alex Mathew
@OctavianDamiean basically i developed an app. which is using HTTP Protocol to send data over a MYSQL server and Android using PHP as intermediate language
you've obviously not read the really interesting part :)
 
3:20 PM
@badpssockpuppet you mean you didn't write to code for him? that's not how SO...wait, yes it is.
 
@OctavianDamiean I did, but it's almost English
 
14 hours ago, by Popular Demand
Anyone looking for a job?
@Popular Actually, yes!
 
@Pekkasothertrollingaccount It's about creating a PUSH notification based app in Android
(scroll up to get joke and fake amusement)
 
3:35 PM
@Pekkasothertrollingaccount Did you see the description below that post?
Unrelated: the Free Stuff Gods are mocking me. I was deprived of ice cream yesterday, and now:
> This afternoon from 4pm to 6pm, ... Food and beverages will be provided and free GSA laser pointers will be handed out! After the event, a free happy hour will be held at Mikey's from 7pm to 9pm.
14 hours ago, by Popular Demand
@TimStone I may or may not be trying to steal your candidates. The position I'm thinking of is for robotics, specifically: "Software/embedded systems with a controls focus, mechanical design, quality (esp w/ medical device background), and electrical."
 
plop
 
3:53 PM
@badpssockpuppet I can do that!
I can learn it. I know a site where I can ask if I get stuck.
@PopularDemand No, I didn't read much further :)
 
@Pekkasothertrollingaccount How fortunate, then, that I have pasted it in just five messages above this one!
 
@PopularDemand that was really funny
 
@Pekkasothertrollingaccount Huh?
 
@PopularDemand the send-meh-teh-codez thing
 
@Pekkasothertrollingaccount I think you meant to address @badp.
 
3:57 PM
@PopularDemand I'm confused. But I have to un-confuse it later :) gotta go!
 
But anyways, do let me know if you're at all interested in that job, and I can send you slightly more information.
Ah, okay.
 
4:08 PM
Yay! Fedora 15!
 
:/ Fedora
I mean I'm happy for them getting a new version released but still Fedora? :/
 
@OctavianDamiean What's wrong with Fedora? (Serious question, I've never used it.)
 
Cool, distro flamewar! Bring it on, Ubuntu boy! COME ON COME ON COME ON!
 
I remember hating Fedora, but I'm not sure why. Odds are I didn't have any good reasons
 
@MichaelMrozek Sounds about right for you.
 
4:14 PM
@PopularDemand Oh well I don't think anything is wrong with it, or at leas I wouldn't express it like that. It is just their package management is, well, lets call it archaic,
gosh ... spelling is hard today
@balpha heh :D
 
It's also a stupid name.
Not cool like Ubuntu.
 
and of course there are no animals in Fedora :D
well actually what Fedora really lacks is a solid (for human beings easy to use) package manager and the kick-ass community which is behind Ubuntu
 
@MichaelMrozek Yum, probably :P
 
Ubuntu is cooler. :P
 
that of course is the most important argument :D
 
4:25 PM
@badpssockpuppet Probably; that's the main reason to choose one distro over another
 
it is orange, not blue
 
Slackware ftw
It's at version 13.37
 
hum...
 
oh you weren't making that up! It really is lol :D
 
4:31 PM
@mootinator Psh. Wake me up when it's at version 313.37.
 
@badpssockpuppet I remember not too long ago I was trying to install something on a test CentOS environment, and the process ended with me going "WTF do you mean you can't find that package? Screw you yum!"
 
The best linux distro is Windows 7. :-)
is a Mac user anyway
 
@badpssockpuppet The last time I tried using yum, it broke itself, by, I dunno, black magic. I let it run, went out to do something, and when I got back yum won't work any more...
 
@YiJiang You shouldn't have run yum self-destruct, obviously.
 
Ok let's make a SO distro :P
 
4:38 PM
Also, @PopularDemand, a little delayed, but your answer to that file dialog question is still on its way.
 
\o/ Indexed!
 
@TimStone Cool. Another challenger tried and failed since yesterday.
 
@YiJiang I'm confused. Is the thing that I know almost complete?
 
@drachenstern More than you could ever dream of knowing is still merely a speck compared to "all information ever."
 
@PopularDemand ahhhh, thanks
I thought it was in some way tied to asking the questions, as indicated at the bottom
 
4:41 PM
Yeah, Indexed... plays fast and loose with the rules of diagramming, sometimes.
 
Hello
 
I still check it every day, but I'm not too excited about it.
 
link me? I seem to be missing out on something culturally relevant
 
thanks
 
4:50 PM
I rarely get entries as of late
I loved it for a while, then it became meh.
 
@PopularDemand Is this one of your website?
 
re: today's xkcd ...
 
Eheh :P
 
Could've just written a script to do it
 
4:59 PM
not as much fun to be like "ah-ha Randall, I've got you now!"
 
@Mvy No.
 
@PopularDemand Shh, take credit it for it while you can.
 
@TimStone hit skype
 
@drachenstern What did Skype ever do to me? That seems a bit rash.
 
@TimStone you haven't used skype very often then have you?
I'm pretty sure it's one of the weakest points on my box
but anyways .. back to working
 
5:06 PM
@drachenstern Well, what do you expect from a M$ product?</joke>
 
Lol.. you saw that one : The real reason behind the skype deal? 9gag.com/gag/119251?ref=fb
 
hahahahahaha
 
5:24 PM
@balpha Hitting error cat on the suggested edits review list
<!-- Actual error:
The query processor could not start the necessary thread resources for parallel query execution.-->
 
well, then stop doing that
hitting cats is not nice
 
Seriously, hitting cats is perverse.
 
@balpha But those edits! They need approving!
 
indeed, poor cat
 
@balpha Well I'll just... hit the SO developer until the problem is resolved then
Ah well, I see that the necessary thread resources have been started after I stop hitting the error cat and query processor
 
5:29 PM
@YiJiang Violence is not the answer.
 
Dry thunderstorm at 1am in the morning. Brilliant, just brilliant. Curse you Zeus!
 
5:39 PM
in Java on Stack Overflow Chat, 1 min ago, by Lord Torgamus
Is it a normal property of final method variables that they may continue to exist even after the method has completed? I have test code that says it is, but I don't see documentation of this in the Java Language Specification.
 
Variables declared within the scope of a method that are not static should not continue to exist outside of the scope of the method. If they do persist, and they are not static, then that is a bug. If you declare a static variable within a method you deserve to be shot.
 
@drachenstern How certain are you of this? I really don't want to open a "why does this code work" SO question....
 
@drachenstern Java doesn't support local statics like that anyway
 
I'd like to see the test code if possible.
 
@PopularDemand What does your test code do?
Java doesn't guarantee that destructors get called when all references are lost (or ever, really), so if you're watching a variable go out of scope without finalize() executing, that's probably why
 
5:48 PM
Argh, I wish I had written the test code on a machine with an Internet connection.
(I am reasonably sure that "I'm missing something" is to blame; I just don't know what it is that I'm missing.)
 
Does it still exists after calling the gc()?
 
System.gc() is not guaranteed to do anything at all.
 
man I suck today
 
Sorry. I trained my FGITW skills in the early days of SO.
 
0
A: Formatting Sandbox

Popular Demandpublic class MainClass { public static void main(String[] args) { MainClass mainClass = new MainClass(); Object obj = mainClass.getMethodInnerClass(); System.out.println(obj.toString()); } Object getMethodInnerClass() { final String methodLocalVar = "f...

I just pasted the code into that "answer," for those who are interested.
 
5:53 PM
Oh. Inner classes don't behave like you expect, that's all.
You've just captured the variable.
It's like a closure, although I believe the semantics are slightly different.
 
@mmyers any idea what section of the JLS I should be looking at?
 
I'm checking chapter 8, Classes. Haven't got it yet.
 
> However, local variables from the surrounding method may be referred to without error (provided they are marked final).
 
@TimStone Ah, 8.1.3. I was just two sentences away from that.
Odd that it doesn't explain why, but I guess the JLS doesn't have to explain why.
 
Yeah, I guess the better sentence comes before that anyway:
> Any local variable, formal method parameter or exception handler parameter used but not declared in an inner class must be declared final. Any local variable, used but not declared in an inner class must be definitely assigned (§16) before the body of the inner class.
Ah, I suspect it's because of the definite assignment.
 
6:05 PM
@TimStone Probably, but I would still think (incorrectly, obviously) that it's in the stack frame that gets blown away when the method completes.
I guess that's the part that's giving me trouble.
 
@PopularDemand The inner class reserves space for the variable itself.
Oh, I may have lied a bit there, one sec.
 
@TimStone I would think that would be covered in 4.5.4, Final variables, but it's not (or I'm blind).
 
Well, it's not really a final thing.
The compiler generates a synthetic field on your inner class that stores the variable that you referenced from the outer local scope, so your initial variable should be considered gone, but there's still a reference within the inner class.
Knowing the JLS, it's quite possible that this wasn't actually described anywhere, heh.
 
@TimStone Hm. Java Compiler Spec, then?
I'm far less familiar with that.
@TimStone Where did you find this info?
 
I just looked at the class files to see what instructions were generated. In your specific example, it actually goes one step farther and just adds the literal string value to the constant pool of the inner class.
But if you had a final method parameter, let's say, it creates a synthetic field on the class to store whatever the incoming value happens to be.
 
6:20 PM
@PopularDemand Have you ever looked at the generated bytecode? It tells you a lot of these things (not officially, just practically).
 
Now I'm tempted to ask that question just so you can answer it. Would you like the 25 rep?
@mmyers No, but I will keep that in mind for future questions like this one.
 
(Got called away to a mini-briefing on advanced degree possibilities. Blugh.)
 
I'm about to jump on a call, but maybe afterward ;)
 
@TimStone Well, let me know.
 
(for reference)
 
6:23 PM
Real men do it with javap -c.
 
I've been meaning to upgrade to Real Man status from Manly Man, I'll keep that in mind.
 
Wow, that is... not easy to read. My hat's off to you both.
 
8
Q: Open Java *.Class Files

cpuguruI'm trying to figure out what a Java applet's Class file is doing under the hood. Opening it up w/ Notepad or Textpad just shows a bunch of gobbley-gook. Any way to wrangle it back into a somewhat readable format so's I can try to figure out what it's doing? Environment == Windows w/ VS 200...

@PopularDemand Just takes a little practice. Here's a really, really old article to give the basics: javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-09-1996/jw-09-bytecodes.html
 
@mmyers Much appreciated. Man, what would I do without SO (and, by extension, you people)?
 
Is that a rhetorical question?
 
6:34 PM
@mmyers If you have the correct answer, I'll happily reward you with a star.
 
psst! banana.
 
Hmm. What's the exchange rate these days?
 
@mmyers Between what and what?
 
Stars and bananas, of course.
 
You're welcome to have up to three real-world bananas if you stop by.
No stars required.
 
6:41 PM
I've ruined the moment. Never mind.
 
6:53 PM
Last question on meta is 3h old...
 
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