Where's my double-ration of rum?

[Former Member]

In the old days of sailing ships, sailors who crossed the equator for the first time were given an extra shot of rum, or something like that.

Well, I just received my first OSS note back from SAP for an SAP coding error that I personally discovered. And to me, that's a career equator.

So, who's pouring there in Walldorf?

(We all know who's drinking .... heh heh heh ...)

Oh yeah, as long as I'm here, I want to mention the new site the gov (US) is hosting for me:

http://strucclue.ornl.gov

I'm hoping something comes of it that may eventually involve SDN members (no - don't misinterpret! that's not a job offer!)

Also, I've started really working on the WIKI segment at:

Emerging Technologies->Scripting Languages and Bioinformatics

I'll be posting some more coding problems soon, but I've got to get a lot of background information into the WIKI first.

Edited by: David Halitsky on May 29, 2008 4:33 AM

Edited by: David Halitsky on May 29, 2008 4:37 AM

[Former Member]

Congratz. I will buy you a double-ration, son.

[Former Member]

Hi Christian -

Thanks very much!!!

But - I hope you meant that you'll buy me the double-shot because of the new web-site at Oak Ridge, not because I found my first SAP coding error.

Because - there are some really NASTY SDN'ers here (like Chris Solomon heh heh heh) who will tell you that if you buy a double-shot for everyone who finds an SAP coding error, you will soon have to declare bankruptcy!

(Note to Chris S - just kidding just kidding ...)

[Former Member]

Hi David,

Do you get a double tot if you caused the coding error?

Cheers

Gareth

[Former Member]

Hi Gareth -

Since I was talking about SAP coding errors, I wouldn't know because I don't work for SAP.

But you raise an interesting question - how does one "cause" coding errors - by bad architecting, misconceived functional objectives, what ???

Best djh

[Former Member]

Hi Dave,

I did some contract work on a local (Aust) SAP product many years ago and discovered most of our issues were caused by specs reflecting what the customers believed we should think they are doing. On delivery it was found there was a difference between the spec and reality. Kind of like saying "There was no trouble" instead of "After we apologised and returned the giant chicken suit the police agreed not to arrest us".

The other big problem was the time and too-ing and fro-ing needed before an issue logged with OSS actually got back to the programmers. We were quite happy to admit we were falliable, but those ahead of us in the train thought we were omniscient.

But the Y2K reminded me of a coding error on an ADABAS system a little while before where we would get an abend on any Friday where the date was a prime. The cause was a routine which tried to determine a leap year where the "too-clever" approach had been taken.

Generally it shows as a programmer there is but a short step between being a rooster and being a feather duster.

Regards

Gareth

[Former Member]

I agree Gareth - and you know what' amazing?

After at least thirty years of various PLC's, SDM's, etc., the social engineering is still no better.

In the case of the Hubble telescope, we know what the deal was. Corning was angling for the "fix it" contract.

But how about the Mars vehicle - where the Yanks gave the Brits specs in "foot-pountds" and the Brits read them in "meters-kilograms" (or whatever the details were ...)

[former_member184657]

talking of "foot-pounds" and "meters-kilograms" reminds me of "quarter pound with cheese" and "royale with cheese"

pk

Edited by: prashanth kishan on Jun 11, 2008 8:29 AM

[Former Member]

Yes, but do you put mayo on your french fries?

[Former Member]

Mike -

Ewwwwwww! What a thought!

However my honey has to make two bowls of mashed potatoes whenever she cooks, because she likes to cream hers with a little mayo and I can't stand the taste. I'm a straight butter/milk guy myself.

Regards

djh

[Former Member]

PK -

Is that for real? Do they sell "quarter-pounders" as "royales" in metric countries?

Regards

djh

[matt]

It's for real. France, Switzerland and Germany have "Royal" instead of quarter pounder.

[Former Member]

Matthew -

Thanks for confirming.

That's the neat thing about SDN - you can find out stuff like that you never would have known otherwise.

Reminds me of that Coke ad - "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" - just kidding - it really should be "I'd like to buy the world XI" ...

BTW - that's actually why I started the poetry thread - I thought it would be interesting for folks from different cultures to contribute famous poems from their societies - even in English translations (because English is the "lingua franca" of SDN.)

Best

djh

[former_member46]

David, Israel has has Royales too and most people like to dip their fries here in a combination of mayo with ketchup but for me the most important point is that the ketchup is Heinz. I grew up on Heinz and anything else just tastes weird

[Former Member]

Hi,

>It's for real. France, Switzerland and Germany have "Royal" instead of quarter pounder.

I confirm too. In France nobody would understand what is a "quarter pounder". It's also very nearly impossible to pronounce with a French accent !

I'm sure some kids think now "rouaillale chise" is a French word !

Nevertheless as a republic since 1789, we love all which is Royal !

Regards,

Olivier

[matt]

How about "un quart-livre"? Or in German, "ein viertelpfunde.".

[JanStallkamp]

I think a "Viertelpfünder" would be the best translation. (I love umlauts. We should have ABAP commands with umlauts in their name. If SELECT would be WÄHLE we would face way less fewer stupid question as nobody would be able to type them. g)

I can imagine that the problem with the name quarter pounder in germany is that there are some rules that it is not allowed to use the pound as a weight any more in business. At the butcher's you will order 'half a pound' of meat but all prices have to be based on kilogram. I remind a story where a computer store was sued because they offered 21 inch monitors without giving their size in cm.

I'm not ordering a quarter pounder very often but I think the name here is "Hamburger Royal TS". The TS stands for tomato and salad.

/Jan

[Former Member]

> That's the neat thing about SDN - you can find out stuff like that you never would have known otherwise.

So you have not seen [Pulp Fiction|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_Fiction_%28film%29]?

[martin_nooteboom]

>

> PK - 
> 
> Is that for real? Do they sell "quarter-pounders" as "royales" in metric countries?
> 
> Regards
> djh

Not all metric countries. In The Netherlands it's a quarter-pounder, but then we're the guys who put may on our french fries.

Regards,

Martin

[former_member184657]

@ David. it was just an allusion to Pulp Fiction.

Thanks Julius. for not letting it go unnoticed

pk

[matt]

Yes, sorry. Viertelpfünder ( I like umlauts too, and accents: éàèüöäÄÜÖ all easily accessible from my keyboard - but the "pipe" for javascript or java logical OR, is not... ). But Pfünder is also Swiss German for "grantee". How about Viertelstampfer

I've found that ordering a pfund or livre of anything isn't a problem. You just get half a kilo. Mind you, I was in the UK last summer, having a drink with my father. He asked if I'd like a nother drink - I said yes, I'll have a half-litre... he looked at me and said "we call them pints over here". Doh!

[Former Member]

@ prashanth:

Pulp Fiction is a fantastic movie. I got your comment, but I think me adding in the part about the mayo and french fries didn't click with others.

[Former Member]

French fries are said to be Belgian in France !

[former_member184657]

@Mike: Yeah true!!!

They drown in that $hit man!!!

pk

[ThomasZloch]

My favourite is Dr. Doolittle, followed closely by Dr. Bolognesi. Special price for Dr. James being listed right above Dr. Bond.

Otherwise, not my industry, I'm afraid.

Anyway, good luck with that project.

Cheers

Dr. Zloch

[Former Member]

Heh David,

Love your work.

Shouldn't ANON be Dr Who?

Sincerely,

Dr Pepper

[Former Member]

Hi Thomas - thanks for taking a look. I

If bio-informatics is an "industry", then it's still pretty much a "cottage" industry, compared say, to petrochemicals or retailing.

But an intrepid band of SDN'ers is soon going to change that ...

Regards

djh

[Former Member]

Hi Chester - thanks to you as well for taking a look.

Regarding "anon", yes - you''re correct.

I shall change it anon, as the Bard would have said.

[Former Member]

Depends on how far you go back - the last 50-90 years they actually shave all the hair off one of your legs the first time you cross and on the return trip they shave the other. Rum was last used in mid 1800's

So If you like I'll mail you one of those disposable razors Other variations involve shaving the head.

"It's called "Crossing the Line." Those who "have" are called Shellbacks those who "have not" are Pollywogs or simply wogs."

[Former Member]

Craig -

That was great! How did you happen to know all that ? Are you a sea-bouffe?

Looking forward to the razor.

[Former Member]

Navy brat - father was career, brother and most of my friends from High School were all in I was "almost" in but decided Nuclear Physics and being locked in Submarine was just not for me.

[Former Member]

Craig -

Well, I can only say that SAP's gain may have been the world's loss.

Who knows? You could have been another Jimmy Carter.

[Former Member]

Growing up I always heard ".... than Carter's got Liver pills" doesn't at first inspire great thoughts guess I am showing my age now though.

[Former Member]

Carter's Little Liver Pills - yes - I didn't think you'd be old enough even to have parents who remember them.

But for the benefit of those SDNers who may not be old enough to remember, Jimmy Carter was a Navy submariner intimately involved with the development of the US nuclear sub program (like the Nautilus) under Admiral I-forget-his-name:

http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/jec/jcnavy.phtml

[Former Member]

I'm not that young

Have they opened the files yet on all of that? Enough time should of pasted by now I think.

[Former Member]

Craig -

If I answer you either way, I'll have to shoot you because a 'yes' or a 'no' would both mean that there are files. And whether or not there even are files is of course, a crypto matter ...

But about Roswell NM ...

[Former Member]

Certainly it's not for the normal. You either have to be abnormal or supernormal. I couldn't take it. I remember the days I was relegated to the bunker when we were manoevering the English Channel and the ship was getting tossed around like a football.

Coming to rituals I guess it changes everytime and for every event. When I crossed the Suez canal and the international date line the ritual involved a cocktail prepared by the chief cook in addition to underwear on trouser attire for some crew and officers. It was yuk. But mainly it's not as elaborate an affair it was during my seniors' days. These days I hear they got no time for all this at all. Especially the container carriers hit ports almost once a week.

Bala

[Former Member]

As the saying goes if your security clearance is high enough you'll see my record is perfectly clean right?