It's Personal...

erik · Post by **erik** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 8:49 pm

Nope, head wasn't down or anything. Just eyes closed in both pics (well one-eye closed in both pics since it is a profile shot), head facing the monitors. If there was a movie-clip given including those shots I'm certain they would have been completely innocuous. I did have my feet propped up in one picture which made it look extra bad. We're very lax about formalities since we work in an closet away from foot traffic and patients, and our department is closed to the outside during our shift so we are isolated from everyone other than our department coworkers. My only legitimate offense was having inappropriate posture which is leagues and leagues away from gross negligence.

I really hope that if all goes well that I can return onto day shift instead of nights so I don't have to be next this crazy lady ever again, and if they have any real concern about me sleeping then that can give them comfort there. I've always been a night owl but I could become a morning person if necessary.

Glad to hear your drama has seemingly come to a close, Pseudo. I look forward to when I can say the same. =-)

erik · Post by **erik** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 6:28 pm

Welp, I got my letter in the mail today. Denied.

Near as I can tell, either I was in the impossible position of having to prove that I did not sleep at work ever, or there was simply no way they weren't going to fire be because of their liability if someone leaked misleading photos to media. Either way, it sure looks like they had no intention of reversing this decision and there was nothing I could have done to change their minds. Oh well. I just wish they were up front and said as much to me rather than making me stress about it for 2 months and put my life on hold since I didn't want to be applying to another job with this dark cloud hanging over me.

I just began sending in resumes now to other places (well one place first, I have others if this #1 backup doesn't pan out) where former co-workers are vouching for me. Life goes on.

fectin · Post by **fectin** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:18 pm

Koumei wrote:Well, looks like that $200 tablet I bought less than a year ago is giving out. The cord is fucked, it seems, so that's the end of literally all my art. And I was on track (ahead of schedule even) for my plan to upload at least one picture per day this year.

And for some shitty reason you can't sell organs in this country, only donate them - ha, fuck that, you want my kidney, you can fucking buy it for all the discomfort it causes. Yes, I totally would sell a kidney for say, five hundred bucks.

So I decided about the best I can do is set up a Pay Pal and tell everyone on the site I upload to that all future tits are held hostage until they pay up. Given that even the really bad quality commission-artists end up getting paid to do stuff? It could work.

Most manufacturers have at least a one year warranty. Even if they don't, it's worth your time to call up and sweet-talk them. It may also be worth looking into your credit card's policies. Some of them have warranties on the things you buy with them. That's weird, but nice.

Someone once gave up on a DOA keyboard-mouse set and gave them to me. I called the manufacturer, asked about it, talked to the guy for a while, and received a replacement set (that was Logitech). It was a gift, so I had literally no paper trail. No receipt, no transaction, nothing. There's no guarantee that yours would go the same, but if you don't ask the answer is always 'no.'

One tip on that: if they give you good customer service, say nice things about them. You don't have to give out details, but at least say they worked with you to make it right.

Pseudo Stupidity · Post by **Pseudo Stupidity** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:21 pm

That blows, Erik. Good luck getting a job at a less-shitty company with less-shitty coworkers. I hope you're fine during the awkward waiting period between jobs.

In the mean time, might I suggest indulging in some good ol' fashioned hedonistic video games and beer?

Surgo · Post by **Surgo** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 3:10 am

Does Monoprice exist in Australia? If so, they have their own branded tablets for like $40 USD that are close in quality to the more expensive Wacom stuff. I bought my wife one for a birthday present, I have no complaints at all.

erik · Post by **erik** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 4:51 am

Wow, that tablet looks pretty spiffy for the cost. Add one more thing on my list of minor luxuries to buy once I has incomes again. I'd always steered clear of drawing tablets because I couldn't justify the cost for my doodles, but forty-fifty bucks seems pretty reasonable for such a gadget that looks to have good reviews.

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:33 pm

Hm. This seems like a decent thread for it. This or the "fun classes" thread, but whatev.

I'm just finishing up a group project for a machine learning/artificial intelligence algorithms course. We did something on currency trading, and it's beginning to look like a consistently profitable AI trader is something you can cook up in 3-4 days with a basic background in math, a programming language of your choice, and wikipedia. It's seriously tempting to actually give that a shot in a real market. Even the more conservative programs were generating hundreds of dollars a day. Nothing an investment banker would care about, but a little guy like me? Oh hell yes.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:48 pm

1) Are you taking into account transaction fees?

2) Can you automate the process with a script online, or is the AI having to make suggestions to you?

3) How much of a "stake" are you risking?

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:15 pm

I didn't buy it with a credit card - I don't have a credit card, actually. I used a bank card to deduct the cost direct from my account.

At any rate, I made a bit over a hundred dollars doing commissions... and then my dad flat-out bought me a tablet - he subscribes to a service that emails him one special computer-related offer every day, and a tablet happened to come up. It's not a wacom, but other than having binary pressure sensitivity it works just fine. The nibs are larger and sturdier too, which is always nice.

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:30 pm

1) I'm not even sure what your options are for trading currencies as an amateur invester, and no idea what total fees you'd expect to incur from any given one. My own ignorance here is the biggest deterrent to giving this a shot.

2) That really depends on how I'd end up doing the trading. The actual AI's can be made their own little plug-and-chug components, and if I had an online trading platform with its own package of useful commands for getting data and making trades, the process would be easily automatable. If the trading platform has none of that shit, then I'd have to do it by hand.

3) Loooow. I've got no plans to throw a lot of money into this. I am a broke college student. I suspect the minimums for getting involved are high enough to scare me off.

Maybe I should just ask: let's pretend I wanted to take some of the algorithms we've cooked up and test them in real market conditions, preferably with zero at stake at first. Then wager a small sum and see what happens. How do I even start that? Anybody know anything helpful at all?

erik · Post by **erik** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:39 pm

Ancient History wrote:1) Are you taking into account transaction fees?

2) Can you automate the process with a script online, or is the AI having to make suggestions to you?

3) How much of a "stake" are you risking?

Also consider that the larger players have far more sophisticated programs to yours, gathering more data (like what all the offers are out there) and operating much more quickly due to closest possible proximity to the information (nanoseconds count!) and stronger processors using enormous stakes which can precisely affect the prices of shares to their gain.

It's gonna be interesting when the major Skynets out there start butting heads and have some unintended bugs.

[edit: minor helpful info that I can provide]
I think average fees that you are likely to find are in the neighborhood of $7 on each trade (once for buying, once for selling). I never looked into finding the lowest possible rates for day-trading tho.

Filing taxes on those trades can be a crazy headache. If I ever get into frequent trading I'm totally going to have a script that can transfer spreadsheet records of all my trades onto my tax forms.

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:53 pm

erik wrote:Also consider that the larger players have far more sophisticated programs to yours, gathering more data (like what all the offers are out there) and operating much more quickly due to closest possible proximity to the information (nanoseconds count!) and stronger processors using enormous stakes which can precisely affect the prices of shares to their gain.

Yeah, what they do is impressive, but you're not really competing with them. They don't eat up all the monies or anything. If I were another trading firm, jostling around to make hundreds of millions, billions of dollars, then I'd need to be very, very aware of that sort of thing.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 3:47 pm

toplessrobot.com does a contest every week, this week's is "Best nerd crossovers that never happened." Just wanted to share the lengthy entry I just submitted:

As The Tardis flies through space, The Tenth Doctor looks out a window and sees a wondrous sight-A great, enormous turtle flying through the void of space, four rather large in their own right elephants standing on it's shell, baring a disc shaped world, water pouring over the rim, but the oceans never empty.
He takes Tardis down, and lands in Ankh Morpork, specifically the Shades, where he and Rose are almost accosted by some very unpleasant men, shortly before Commander Vimes and Carrot run past, pursuing a fleeing suspect. They then realize there's more going on as they follow and find it is a troll the men were pursuing, who, in a fit of absolute desperation, attempts to pick up the Tardis and use it as a club. He is confused when it teleports a short distance away.
The Doctor and his Companion are then brought before Vetinari, because while they have yet to break any laws (even to Vimes' mind, which can usually find something illegal a person's done), there is the strangeness of the teleporting box. The UU Wizards are summoned, and can't make heads or tales of it either, and indeed have no real clue what a "Police Call Box" even is, other than, in broadest terms, a box that calls the police. Vimes of course expresses the cynical opinion that whatever it's purpose is, it's common use is for providing people a place to widdle.
Vetinari of course has his usual mysterious insight into things, and drums up some reason that the Doctor should do something for him. Perhaps threatening to destroy The Tardis (and of course, somehow knowing that this can't be done, but provides the proper pretenses). He of course sends Rincewind as well, because his life hasn't been hellish enough in the past week.

So Vimes, Rincewind, and The Doctor and his Companion, with Angua along as a special advisor and liason run off to Uberwald at the behest of Vetinari, tasked with helping The Colonal, an Ankh Morporkian noble, who'd been selected as an ambassador to that country, it seems that the man had offended some local aristocrats and, while quite a fighter, was not so young as he used to be, and given that the various creatures of the night were attacking the Ankh Morpork embassy, it was AM soil, and Vetinari could actually do this. However, as they take on the rather straight forward task of helping an old soldier fight off supernatural bats and wolves enough for the Uberwaldian noble to give up, they come across a previously unknown type of fairy which has just recently appeared, and is now being mercilessly killed, sold, eaten, and all manner of other unpleasantness. This fairy, is, of course, an alien species that happened to land on the Disc, and due to inability to communicate, the Uberwaldians assumed it was just a strange, animal intelligence creature, suitable for food or pets.

Amethyst_Butterfly · Post by **Amethyst_Butterfly** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 10:46 pm

Maj wrote:Thanks, Riot. I actually closed my Chase account today because everything's gone through. I took all my money (which wasn't nothing because my tax return came through) and dropped it off in my new account. Instead of paying a monthly fee, my checking account now gains interest!

I may be looking at doing the same thing. I have been very happy with my current bank, but they are making a lot of changes that will be effective in June. They will be charging 8-15 dollars a month for accounts, and the current methods of being exempt from the fees won't work anymore. I'm not sure if my accounts will still be able to qualify or not. I really hate changing bank information though, ugh. Two accounts would be a federal pain in the ass to change, so I really hope it will work.

Parthenon · Post by **Parthenon** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:53 pm

Heres something amusing: my macbook charger:

My macbook charger sort of working (a finger is needed to keep the contacts touching):

It sort of broke a while back so I cut it apart and soldered it together. Then it broke again and I cut it further up and soldered it again. And again.

I think I "fixed" it about 6 times altogether. More stubbornness than anything else. I've finally gotten round to replacing it.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 1:55 am

Well, I believe I got my employer sued.

I was mopping a floor and this man stepped out onto said freshly-mopped, promptly fell onto his ass.

He's claiming the caution signs weren't out when it turns out, I'm well-known for being particular about having all of them in place before the mop touches the floor. And actually had them in place. And wasn't doing anything different than the usual procedure, which has never caused any problems before.

So, yeah, after consulting with my boss and the guy in charge of the building's maintenance, I'm personally safe and have been assured of this (well, as far as they can tell). The Big Boss GSA Guy says that the man who fell is a chronic complainer, so it isn't surprising he'd try to sue. I still hate that he fell, mind you.

Oddly enough, though, I offered help and everything when he was on his back on the floor. He refused it (gave me a hate-filled look in the process), said he seemed to be fine, reassured all involved that he was indeed fine, got up under his own power, splashed some water on his face in the bathroom, and went on downstairs under his own power and walking fine.

It still didn't stop me from having to write up an incident report (which I'm apparently good at) and didn't stop him from apparently spending all day in a conference about this 'incident'.

So, yeah. Yay.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 2:34 am

Well, I got stabbed in the face today - and it solves problems as usual. Specifically, the cracked tooth has now been removed.

Turns out I have problem teeth: the roots are just about wider than the actual teeth, and firmly planted, and they don't even nicely separate into two distinct roots per tooth, being kind of fused (individually - I don't mean each tooth is fused to the next via the roots). Which made it difficult to remove. But they managed it.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:32 am

Just finished with my final piece of classwork for this academic quarter. Now I'm free to pursue some frivolous projects I've dropped. I also have more time to think about how I feel about my grandmother dying around a week ago.

I'm a little surprised at how little I seem to be reacting right now. Perhaps it is because I never saw the body (she lives in another city), so it just feels like an idea right now. Oh well. The best thing I can do right now is take care of my own responsibilities and help other family members grieve.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:20 am

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:13 pm

It kinda got me like that, myself.

I'm sorry, man.

fectin · Post by **fectin** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:00 pm

Koumei wrote:Well, I got stabbed in the face today - and it solves problems as usual. Specifically, the cracked tooth has now been removed.

Turns out I have problem teeth: the roots are just about wider than the actual teeth, and firmly planted, and they don't even nicely separate into two distinct roots per tooth, being kind of fused (individually - I don't mean each tooth is fused to the next via the roots). Which made it difficult to remove. But they managed it.

Awsome.

Keep the roots, crown them with silver, and bite werewolves.

erik · Post by **erik** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 9:36 pm

Sorry for your loss Avo. I'm terrible with consolation so I'll leave it at that.

I've been tending a couple sick toddlers since Monday evening and as of last night my wife has come down with it too after assisting with vomit cleanup. My mom just found out that from the church musical/brunch (yes, I'm atheist, but the kids love singing and I love potluck) that we took them to on Sunday apparently at least 30 people (which is at least 1/3 attending) came down with a really nasty stomach bug with vomiting and diarrhea. There's strong suspicions of norovirus being to blame. Nasty little fucker.

Looks like it followed us home to tagged my dad who didn't attend. My mom and I appear invulnerable however. She credits our superior health care worker hygiene, but if it is as contagious as norovirus then I was exposed up to my eyeballs. So I credit my indomitable immune system.

My 3 year old did go to pre-school on Monday but he didn't show any symptoms until that evening. He even had a doctor checkup that afternoon and was energetic and happy at that time. I've been reading up and it sounds like you aren't usually contagious before you start feeling symptoms, and until 3+ days after you are better. I'm hopeful that he didn't spread it to school. So no more school for him this week. He's been throwing up like a boss while his little brother only barfed twice the first day but has been blasting through diapers and outfits alike to the tune of 6-9 a day. The boys are finally feeling a bit better today, but mommy is down for the count.

I used to not do well around other people's poop and vomit, but now I've got a fairly cast iron stomach, so that's come in handy.

In good news, I've got a couple interviews next week. I'm hopeful that one or both of them may go well. I might take both jobs since one is only Sundays and the other is Mon-Thur.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 9:43 pm

My manager called me the other day to arrange a "talk." I'm fully expecting my pink slip and last paycheck to be handed to me when i go in to talk to her ~20 min from now.

I'm not too upset, because i hate the job. I'm just a bit bummed about the loss of income. Fortunately I had just put in applications for 9 positions at other places the day before, and another that night.

erik · Post by **erik** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 9:48 pm

Good luck Prak, in this job and the next. =-)

Doom · Post by **Doom** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:24 pm

Yah, looks like it's not exactly unexpected and unplanned for.