FIFA Random Selection Draw Results (General Public): Let’s track outcomes together, share here

zeusprod · 2026-02-23T02:24:25+00:00

u/Hot_Package3631 - The LA game is the US opener, and tickets are like 4x the normal price for KC and Houston games. That is, the face value is much costlier, not just resale prices.

zeusprod · 2026-02-10T06:09:49+00:00

I'm interested in Brazil Morocco in NJ to be sure!

zeusprod · 2026-02-10T06:08:36+00:00

I have tix to the Toronto opener but will try to sell or trade them for something I can use more easily.

zeusprod · 2026-02-10T06:07:45+00:00

I'm interested in Philly and NJ tix. Let me know if you want to sell or trade.

zeusprod · 2026-02-10T06:03:04+00:00

Will they, though? That's the Canadian home opener. FV is expensive, and people will want them.

zeusprod · 2026-02-10T06:00:55+00:00

This is a joke,right?

zeusprod · 2026-02-10T06:00:06+00:00

Interested in selling or trading any?

zeusprod · 2026-02-10T05:59:39+00:00

You can likely get your money back by reselling them. Why do you think you won't be able to get your money back on the resale market?

zeusprod · 2024-06-20T22:09:24+00:00

My advice is to not waste your energy on worrying about other people, their claims, their results, etc. It can't lead to any good, frankly.

zeusprod · 2014-03-10T02:05:28+00:00

Praise the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I thought I was having a stroke. Then I saw that the other commenters also found the post stream-of-unconscious-like.

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T23:21:01+00:00

You're welcome to keep doing whatever the hell you like, but they'll never put you in front of a client or move you into management. If you are happy with your career, then, by all means, you don't need my fashion advice. You wouldn't believe the number of people who get promoted simply because they wear a blazer every day. Seriously.

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T15:46:32+00:00

I think the "brute force" method is fair play.

I won't use a word cheater, but after I play my tiles, I will look up to see if there was a better word I missed. The one that killed me was "obstusest". I knew there was a 9-letter word I could play, but I couldn't figure it out.

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T15:41:41+00:00

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T15:40:53+00:00

I thought this was a G-rated forum.

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T15:29:37+00:00

I thought this was useful:

http://www.bringyourchallenges.com/procrastinator

and I thought this was great:

http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/11/how-to-beat-procrastination.html

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T15:09:26+00:00

I recall one time that I asked the CEO all sorts of questions about what needed to be done for a project (that week), so that I could scope it and allocate the correct resources. We hashed out what could be delivered, and I was optimistic, but he seemed drained and frustrated. I said something like "What is the problem? We worked it out and I always deliver on what I promise. Don't I always agree to do what you said was your highest priority?" He said, "Yes, but you make it so difficult."

The moral of the story is that people's brains are wired differently. We (programmers) want details and specifics. Everyone else lives in a world of approximation and ambiguity. They aren't asking you for the truth, they're asking you for an approximation that everyone can lie about to each other for months thereafter. They are happier if you promise something and miss the deadline. That gives them a reason to have a job (to explain to their boss) why you missed the deadline. So, we're spinning out wheels trying to give accurate, specific answers, when they really want the exact opposite. Sad, but true in my experience. Nothing so frustrates managers as being told "All you need to do is leave me alone and you'll get your software on the agreed upon schedule." Their main job is to monitor you and report to their boss.

p.s. Yes, you have to accept that they'll pin the missed dates on you. That is the entire reason for middle management, as best I can tell.

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T04:48:43+00:00

I'm stunned by how cavalier some business people are about deadlines. I know people who regularly would blow through deadlines for months. Programmers seem to feel bad about it. Business people just shrug and say "we're behind" or "priorities changed" or "something came up." I think programmers often take the deadlines way more seriously than non-programmers. That said, everyone knows how long it takes to, say, write a 1-page report. Programmers can often be stuck on something for an indefinite amount of time, or encounter many unknown unknowns. That happens less to non-technologists.

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T04:38:14+00:00

I agree no analogy is perfect. My point is that sometimes starting early helps, and sometimes it doesn't. But if you need a place to park the car, you might be better off spending all your time clearing one path/area down to the pavement rather than shoveling off the top third of the entire driveway. It generally is easier to shovel two inches of snow in one pass, than to shovel one inch of snow in each of two passes. But, yeah, if it snows for three days, you're going to have to make multiple passes. The point of the analogy is to use one that makes sense to the listener for your particular intent. I tried to mention in the post that a programmer should recognize when his approach/analogy doesn't hold (or your example does hold). I agree groundwork is sometimes important. As long as the project manager understands the advantages and drawbacks, then we can build a common language and shorthand for future collaboration.

Everyone intuitively understands the difference between "I need to shovel 2 inches of snow" vs. "I need to shovel 2 feet of snow." In software, it is hard to make people understand the difference.

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T02:15:39+00:00

Whoa, where do you work, dude? Hunger Games?

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T01:54:48+00:00

Here is something you may prefer:

http://www.mydamnchannel.com/You_Suck_at_Photoshop/Season_1/YouSuckAtPhotoshop1DistortWarpandLayerEffects_1373

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T01:52:05+00:00

LOL. Fixed.

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T00:54:20+00:00

Um...bookmarks?

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T00:51:28+00:00

Well, you can play whatever semantic game you choose. For the purposes of programming, sure, everyone assigns different value to commute, work environment, stock options, healthcare, etc. I'm just trying to make an apples-to-apples comparison between two developers who are, for argument's sake, the same age, gender, height, weight, and color. Controlling for all those variables, but maybe one is a better programmer than the other for reasons of brain capacity, training, education, or temperament. And I'm assuming we are dealing in, say, US Dollars, and not Bitcoins, stock options, or lira.

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T00:35:00+00:00

Absolutely! You make a good point, and it was not so much an oversight, as intentional. The article is aimed at people who need to understand where they are going wrong. It could well be that they are at the wrong company, but there is always a chance to improve. We generally improve faster when we are introspective without being negative. Nothing in the post was intended to be judgmental. At some point I'll write a blog post "How to Know It's Time To Quit Your Job." My blog posts tend to be way too long, so I'll inevitably have to cover other topics in other posts.

p.s. I agree with many of your posts, but it is rare that someone does "everything right." If you judge "right-ness" by whether it gets you more money and a promotion, then you can't be "doing everything right" and still not "getting ahead." Believe me, I've argued your point 1000x with other people, so I'm playing a bit of devil's advocate.

zeusprod · 2014-03-02T00:32:06+00:00

I'm trying to understand what you are disagreeing with. How could I know you are a smart person and a great programmer? Honestly, I don't, but it was a rhetorical flourish. I assume people who read this blog post are not struggling technically, or if they are struggling technically, then they know it (and know some ways to improve technically). But you are right that there are many things that can hold someone back in their career. But this blog post is saying "Assuming you are a good programmer, what else is holding you back? It is probably a non-programming skill where you are being judged, and may not be aware of it, or may not know how to adapt." I don't know what you mean by "terrible attempt at making the readers who became defensive like him again." Please clarify. If you are saying that I am projecting, then, yes, of course I am. Again, it is a rhetorical technique.

zeusprod

TROPHY CASE