IT/Software career thread: Invert binary trees for dollars.

Khane

Khane

Got something right about marriage
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Excel is actually nothing more than XML documents stylized by Microsoft's proprietary Excel software to look like spreadsheets in the Excel application (.xslx files are actually zip files that can be unzipped manually to see all the documents contained within). Working directly with the underlying XML is faster and easier once you get the hang of it.

I was being snide, but if manipulating Excel files in an automated fashion is something you'll be doing a lot of, you might want to take a look at that SDK and familiarize yourself with it. It will be daunting at first but in the long run will make your life a lot easier.
 
Khane

Khane

Got something right about marriage
20,312
13,959
Had a great conversation with our Deployment and Environment Admin today at the new (old) gig. He had created a new windows service when deploying some legacy BizTalk code to new servers and didn't have the right password so he locked the account out. We then started getting domain trust errors in the event logs as a result. He didn't want anyone to know he fucked up for some reason (everyone here has probably accidentally locked an account during their careers, it's not that big a deal) and tried to cover his tracks.

So when I gave him the timelines of when it happened he said "But I changed the password on 11/2, how did the accounts get locked before that?". Bro, you had to change the password because you were too stupid to go into AD and uncheck the "lock account" checkbox BECAUSE THE ACCOUNTS WERE ALREADY LOCKED. Turned into a 10 minute conversation where he just couldn't understand that. In the end he said "Well I guess it's a mystery then".

I love it.
 
ToeMissile

ToeMissile

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
<Gold Donor>
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Khane_sl said:
Excel is actually nothing more than XML documents stylized by Microsoft's proprietary Excel software to look like spreadsheets in the Excel application (.xslx files are actually zip files that can be unzipped manually to see all the documents contained within). Working directly with the underlying XML is faster and easier once you get the hang of it.

I was being snide, but if manipulating Excel files in an automated fashion is something you'll be doing a lot of, you might want to take a look at that SDK and familiarize yourself with it. It will be daunting at first but in the long run will make your life a lot easier.
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Most of the time I won't be a primary user of the spreadsheets I create/fix for people, though I may want to pull data from a few of them. Most of my time is spent creating/maintaining various dashboard-esqe reports and other projects, I mainly write SQL queries to dump data into excel and formula/format it up from there.
 
Noodleface

Noodleface

A Mod Real Quick
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So started the new job today. It's right in Cambridge, so hipster central. Here's some thoughts going from Emc to akamai.

Emc was huge. . Like super huge. This company is probably 10% of the size, but I already like the work culture better. It's a little more "new" and refreshing. They gave me stocks when I started, unlimited time off, office feels a little more open, inside the building it feels very modern and techy. Emc felt like the office was from the 1980s, dull colors, few tvs, etc. Also Emc had a million layers of management, everyday it felt like a new manager was being created for a new group.

In terms of software dev I'm doing UEFI BIOS which is what I did at Emc. At Emc the bios team was like 12 people, and we had probably 30ish people in firmware. We did a lot of crazy bios customizations for a variety of customers. Here is certainly we are content delivery, it's just us. So for the dev team it's just me. They brought me on as the bios expert. There's one dude who's been doing it for awhile, but really I'm replacing him.

I don't think I'll be following a dev model like scrum since it's just me. Anyone been in this position before? They don't even use git yet.

Manager is very laid back and hands off. Nice guy for sure. He doesn't even care what hours we work, he comes in at 10. Some guy comes in at noon.

I like it so far.

Maybe I'll see Vinen over there.
 
Vinen

Vinen

God is dead
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495
Noodlemod_sl said:
So started the new job today. It's right in Cambridge, so hipster central. Here's some thoughts going from Emc to akamai.

Emc was huge. . Like super huge. This company is probably 10% of the size, but I already like the work culture better. It's a little more "new" and refreshing. They gave me stocks when I started, unlimited time off, office feels a little more open, inside the building it feels very modern and techy. Emc felt like the office was from the 1980s, dull colors, few tvs, etc. Also Emc had a million layers of management, everyday it felt like a new manager was being created for a new group.

In terms of software dev I'm doing UEFI BIOS which is what I did at Emc. At Emc the bios team was like 12 people, and we had probably 30ish people in firmware. We did a lot of crazy bios customizations for a variety of customers. Here is certainly we are content delivery, it's just us. So for the dev team it's just me. They brought me on as the bios expert. There's one dude who's been doing it for awhile, but really I'm replacing him.

I don't think I'll be following a dev model like scrum since it's just me. Anyone been in this position before? They don't even use git yet.

Manager is very laid back and hands off. Nice guy for sure. He doesn't even care what hours we work, he comes in at 10. Some guy comes in at noon.

I like it so far.

Maybe I'll see Vinen over there.
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We should meet up for drinks sometime. Kendall is super-easy for me to get to so I'd just work there for the day.
Although, I prefer Harvard Square.
 
moontayle

moontayle

Golden Squire
4,302
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Noodlemod_sl said:
So started the new job today. It's right in Cambridge, so hipster central. Here's some thoughts going from Emc to akamai.

Emc was huge. . Like super huge. This company is probably 10% of the size, but I already like the work culture better. It's a little more "new" and refreshing. They gave me stocks when I started, unlimited time off, office feels a little more open, inside the building it feels very modern and techy. Emc felt like the office was from the 1980s, dull colors, few tvs, etc. Also Emc had a million layers of management, everyday it felt like a new manager was being created for a new group.

In terms of software dev I'm doing UEFI BIOS which is what I did at Emc. At Emc the bios team was like 12 people, and we had probably 30ish people in firmware. We did a lot of crazy bios customizations for a variety of customers. Here is certainly we are content delivery, it's just us. So for the dev team it's just me. They brought me on as the bios expert. There's one dude who's been doing it for awhile, but really I'm replacing him.

I don't think I'll be following a dev model like scrum since it's just me. Anyone been in this position before? They don't even use git yet.

Manager is very laid back and hands off. Nice guy for sure. He doesn't even care what hours we work, he comes in at 10. Some guy comes in at noon.

I like it so far.

Maybe I'll see Vinen over there.
Click to expand...
Culture is the thing I had the hardest time adjusting to when I changed jobs earlier this year. I had the opposite happen to me, went from super open as to when I started as long as I worked my 8 hours, to a set schedule with sign in/out for arrival, leaving, and lunchtime. In some ways I'm still adjusting.

Best of luck at your new place.
 
Noodleface

Noodleface

A Mod Real Quick
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Thanks. Yeah, I didn't mind the EMC culture while I was there - but now that I'm somewhere with something a little more open it would be tough to go back.

Also MacBook was a great choice. It's so good to look at the screen.
 
T

Tenks

Bronze Knight of the Realm
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We have quite a few layers where I work but it doesn't really get in the way of getting my stuff done. I know some people threw a massive shitfit when they basically locked production down so they were not allowed to make on-the-fly changes to prod. Personally I thought that was a good thing. Especially since said people accidentally shut down our search engine or introduced new bugs by just yolo'ing in prod. The only thing that really gets in my way is all the e-tickets and bullshit to get an install rolling. And if you forget something on your ticket its the end of the world.
 
Vinen

Vinen

God is dead
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495
Tenks_sl said:
We have quite a few layers where I work but it doesn't really get in the way of getting my stuff done. I know some people threw a massive shitfit when they basically locked production down so they were not allowed to make on-the-fly changes to prod. Personally I thought that was a good thing. Especially since said people accidentally shut down our search engine or introduced new bugs by just yolo'ing in prod. The only thing that really gets in my way is all the e-tickets and bullshit to get an install rolling. And if you forget something on your ticket its the end of the world.
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Layers are companies are hilarious. In-effective managers and people who work for them who are afraid to challenge them drive causes so many issues.

The one advantage I have is I report to a Senior Director so there are not many levels above me within the Business unit I work in.
 
moontayle

moontayle

Golden Squire
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Just spent three days diving deep into an issue exposed by a customer. One of those situations where if they're using things in the manner in which we intended, there's no problem. So it's actually kind of surprising that it took this long for the issue to rear its head considering this has been in production for two years now. The fix I put in is working but I probably went through three different fixes, each of which exposed more problems with the approach the previous developer implemented, before I got here.

So I'm feeling a hell of a lot more confident in my skills as a developer than I was when I started. I think being dropped into the fire was the best thing for me.
 
moontayle

moontayle

Golden Squire
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Because investigating wasn't the word that came to mind? I've made clear the shit code I inherited. Felt more like that scene in Jurassic Park where that one chick is elbow deep in triceratops shit trying to figure out why its sick.
 
Vinen

Vinen

God is dead
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495
moontayle_sl said:
Because investigating wasn't the word that came to mind? I've made clear the shit code I inherited. Felt more like that scene in Jurassic Park where that one chick is elbow deep in triceratops shit trying to figure out why its sick.
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Deep dive came to mind because you've been infected with terrible buzzwords. I recommend an exorcism.
 
moontayle

moontayle

Golden Squire
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Probably been spending too much time watching developer seminars.

I apologize for this grievous offense to common sense wording and will seek simpler ways to express myself in the future.
 
Vinen

Vinen

God is dead
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495
Tenks_sl said:
A third of those aren't even buzz words
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Agreed. I just randomly googled for an article which included deep dive.

Deep dive to me means a "Technical" explanation of a product/feature which can be presented at a Marketing Conference (ex: VMworld).
 
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