4 ms·

This week, I'm using my super power to replace a sign-up sheet in a clipboard that once hung on an office door. Is there any menial task I cannot defeat? I am I

by qjz 16y ago

This week, I'm using my super power to replace a sign-up sheet in a clipboard that once hung on an office door. Is there any menial task I cannot defeat? I am Invincible!

ms4720 16y ago
clean the bathroom comes to mind and make pot of good stew is another.
- wladimir 16y ago
  If only some programmable general purpose robot was available, programming could do that too :) Currently you'll need electronics and mechanical superpowers as well.
m0th87 16y ago
That's along the lines of what most programmers do, and each defeat is chipping away at inefficiency. You're doing your part in the greatest productivity revolution in history :)
- marcusbooster 16y ago
  So something that could be done by anyone with a paper, pen, and the technical know-how to operate a ruler, is now replaced by someone with a specialized domain knowledge that is creating something that will need to be maintained and likely obsolete in a few years. And they call this progress.
  - davidw 16y ago
    Perhaps I could interest in you in a sales position with my company, http://73primenumbers.com http://73primenumbers.com ?:-)
    - makmanalp 16y ago
      Are Enron, Bernie Madoff and Worldcom really your clients? Might need a fix up there :)
      - davidw 16y ago
        I guess I should update that and add Bear Stearns.
  - rickmb 16y ago
    The ultimate superpower of IT-consultants is the power to make people forget to ask the question "why?".
  - m0th87 16y ago
    Maybe the list is for a public event, and they don't want people to call in or come to the office just to add their names. Maybe the list got too long and difficult to manage. Maybe the maintainer of the list wants to search for specific people without scanning the entire list. Maybe the maintainer wanted to be able to email attendants without manually entering all the names. I don't know the specifics of the project, so perhaps you're right. My point was not specific to the project; I was simply trying to allude to the fact that you don't have to be writing the software for rocket ships for it to be useful and productive.
  - k3dz 16y ago
    Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done. -Andy Rooney
- jcromartie 16y ago
  However I feel like our "productivity revolution" is for naught, when we still end up working ourselves to death and having no free time to show for it. Whatever happened to "computers will make our lives easier?" For whom? When does it pay off? When does the programmer get to rest?
  - mcav 16y ago
    Step into the 1970s, and try doing some of these things: - Professional-quality publishing (text, images, printing) - Sending text/images to your friend in another state - Looking up any kind of information (Library trip?) - Buying things that aren't at your local grocer (Mail-order?) Try this experiment: Spend a week doing everything without a computer. How productive are you, compared to before? How often did you find yourself wishing you had a computer to help you?
    - tedunangst 16y ago
      Step into the 1970s and not need to do those things. If you had to type stuff on a typewriter, you didn't spend hours picking out a pretty font, you used the one you got: the typewriter font. Nobody cared if your publishing wasn't professional quality, theirs wasn't either. You didn't IM your friends inane updates regarding your current thoughts on whatever Sarah Palin said five minutes ago, you sent them actually interesting letters. For that matter, you didn't have 1000 "friends", you had 10 real friends. When someone asked "Who was that guy, in that movie? You know, the guy?", you didn't look up imdb.com on your smartphone while everyone watches you type on a tiny screen, you said "dunno" and moved on with your life. You didn't spend ten minutes debating between buying the 4ft or 6ft USB cables and finding the best price online because you didn't need to buy USB cables. Yeah, things have changed, but progressed? Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to go back, but that's more to do with being accustomed to this lifestyle, not because it's particularly better. We do more because we're expected to do more, and we're expected to do more because somebody else started doing more. "Even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat."
      - artmageddon 16y ago
- Natsu 16y ago
  > You're doing your part in the greatest productivity revolution in history :) Yeah, but we still have to deal with the anti-programmers who create negative productivity with their grotty code before we're in the clear :)
cageface 16y ago
It hit me one day last year that all I ever did at my job was create virtual paperwork.
nollidge 16y ago
Everything I've ever programmed was a replacement for an Excel spreadsheet.
Groxx 16y ago
I still have to push the button down to make toast, and watch it like a hawk so I don't make charcoal. Feeling ambitious?

by qjz 16y ago

This week, I'm using my super power to replace a sign-up sheet in a clipboard that once hung on an office door. Is there any menial task I cannot defeat? I am Invincible!

ms4720 16y ago

clean the bathroom comes to mind and make pot of good stew is another.

wladimir 16y ago
If only some programmable general purpose robot was available, programming could do that too :) Currently you'll need electronics and mechanical superpowers as well.

m0th87 16y ago

That's along the lines of what most programmers do, and each defeat is chipping away at inefficiency. You're doing your part in the greatest productivity revolution in history :)

marcusbooster 16y ago
So something that could be done by anyone with a paper, pen, and the technical know-how to operate a ruler, is now replaced by someone with a specialized domain knowledge that is creating something that will need to be maintained and likely obsolete in a few years. And they call this progress.
- davidw 16y ago
  Perhaps I could interest in you in a sales position with my company, http://73primenumbers.com http://73primenumbers.com ?:-)
  - makmanalp 16y ago
    Are Enron, Bernie Madoff and Worldcom really your clients? Might need a fix up there :)
    - davidw 16y ago
      I guess I should update that and add Bear Stearns.
- rickmb 16y ago
  The ultimate superpower of IT-consultants is the power to make people forget to ask the question "why?".
- m0th87 16y ago
  Maybe the list is for a public event, and they don't want people to call in or come to the office just to add their names. Maybe the list got too long and difficult to manage. Maybe the maintainer of the list wants to search for specific people without scanning the entire list. Maybe the maintainer wanted to be able to email attendants without manually entering all the names. I don't know the specifics of the project, so perhaps you're right. My point was not specific to the project; I was simply trying to allude to the fact that you don't have to be writing the software for rocket ships for it to be useful and productive.
- k3dz 16y ago
  Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done. -Andy Rooney
jcromartie 16y ago
However I feel like our "productivity revolution" is for naught, when we still end up working ourselves to death and having no free time to show for it. Whatever happened to "computers will make our lives easier?" For whom? When does it pay off? When does the programmer get to rest?
- mcav 16y ago
  Step into the 1970s, and try doing some of these things: - Professional-quality publishing (text, images, printing) - Sending text/images to your friend in another state - Looking up any kind of information (Library trip?) - Buying things that aren't at your local grocer (Mail-order?) Try this experiment: Spend a week doing everything without a computer. How productive are you, compared to before? How often did you find yourself wishing you had a computer to help you?
  - tedunangst 16y ago
    Step into the 1970s and not need to do those things. If you had to type stuff on a typewriter, you didn't spend hours picking out a pretty font, you used the one you got: the typewriter font. Nobody cared if your publishing wasn't professional quality, theirs wasn't either. You didn't IM your friends inane updates regarding your current thoughts on whatever Sarah Palin said five minutes ago, you sent them actually interesting letters. For that matter, you didn't have 1000 "friends", you had 10 real friends. When someone asked "Who was that guy, in that movie? You know, the guy?", you didn't look up imdb.com on your smartphone while everyone watches you type on a tiny screen, you said "dunno" and moved on with your life. You didn't spend ten minutes debating between buying the 4ft or 6ft USB cables and finding the best price online because you didn't need to buy USB cables. Yeah, things have changed, but progressed? Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to go back, but that's more to do with being accustomed to this lifestyle, not because it's particularly better. We do more because we're expected to do more, and we're expected to do more because somebody else started doing more. "Even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat."
    - artmageddon 16y ago
Natsu 16y ago
> You're doing your part in the greatest productivity revolution in history :) Yeah, but we still have to deal with the anti-programmers who create negative productivity with their grotty code before we're in the clear :)

cageface 16y ago

It hit me one day last year that all I ever did at my job was create virtual paperwork.

nollidge 16y ago

Everything I've ever programmed was a replacement for an Excel spreadsheet.

Groxx 16y ago

I still have to push the button down to make toast, and watch it like a hawk so I don't make charcoal. Feeling ambitious?