General Questions Thread

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Okay I just found myself a nice long-term PT job at a music shop after hopping around for months doing temps. Pay isn't that high but the environment is nice and quiet, and everything is good other than the goddamned point-of-sales system which look like a 1980-ish sales DOS - it is bloody hard to use and has no rollbacks, so I am effectively screwed for a wrong entry.

As I am having serious trouble trying not to key in the wrong keys on that crap piece of programming, I was scrutinized by my colleague and manager for lacking "common sense". I enjoy this job because only 1/10 out of the customers I meet are assholes, the environment is peaceful, and I don't want to quit or get sacked because of the lack of this "common sense".

Is there anywhere I can learn this damn thing so I can click into this group of "normal" people? Or should I just quit this job and hop onto another?

Any examples? Common sense is a very broad and often misconcepted term.

[Vexx]

"Common sense" equals "you agree with me" in most applications. It is often used by people who actually have very poor decision-making abilities or just go along with whatever "truths" they've been indoctrinated with.

Using F4 instead of F8 on a keyboard is not "common sense". Most POS sales systems really are Pieces Of Shit. They are NOT intuitive. You're going to simply have to treat the thing as an arcane set of magic spells and memorize the incantations exactly. My wife uses a multi-million dollar system at a multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical and it is a ROYAL piece of arcane shit. It takes six months to be marginally useful on it and that's only because you sit with a lot of other people also banging away at it.

Frankly, if this job pays your bills I'd stick with it. A happy job is much more important than a best-paying job. If you network well, it could also grow into a FT or possibly other work to supplement.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

Stay in this job and go learn to play this instrument:

I used to be able to until I broke my wrist.

Originally Posted by Jinto

Any examples? Common sense is a very broad and often misconcepted term.

Not much other than the instructions of "behaviing properly" and "knowing what to do automatically when there are no customers around".

Originally Posted by Vexx

"Common sense" equals "you agree with me" in most applications. It is often used by people who actually have very poor decision-making abilities or just go along with whatever "truths" they've been indoctrinated with.

Using F4 instead of F8 on a keyboard is not "common sense". Most POS sales systems really are Pieces Of Shit. They are NOT intuitive. You're going to simply have to treat the thing as an arcane set of magic spells and memorize the incantations exactly. My wife uses a multi-million dollar system at a multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical and it is a ROYAL piece of arcane shit. It takes six months to be marginally useful on it and that's only because you sit with a lot of other people also banging away at it.

The previous POS I encountered at another sales job is pretty straightforward - a Linux/UNIX-based system with tracebacks, refund, and void functions running on the Windows XP.

This one is DOS-based and looks like a job done by the lowest bidder hiring half-crap paper qualification holders with no programming plans; although I am amateurish when it comes to programming I know a half-past-six job when I see one.

Frankly, if this job pays your bills I'd stick with it. A happy job is much more important than a best-paying job. If you network well, it could also grow into a FT or possibly other work to supplement.

I still don't know much about my colleagues and subordinates - I like the job environment because it is peaceful and I plan to stick with it from the start. Bill-paying is not a problem because I have money from a chain of temp jobs I take up when I am not in school (which usually I don't go, I ask my project groupmates to check my attendance ), the real problem is the people I work with everyday.

There is nothing more sickening than working with logocrats who don't even understand the idea of "political correctness" - it is a politically engineered term, and as good as the concept sounds, there is hardly any detail in a whole bunch of "unjargons" that expresses real-time information.

I already pissed off my manager and a popular FT colleague during my second day of work - customers are not that bad since it is a music shop, and more refined people tend to know how to appreciate the stuff they play. Still, it is a sales line and logocrats are bound to be the majority.

Well you guys should know me from the way I post - I don't mince my words and I only send ambiguious messages when I am being sarcastic/caustic. Maybe that could be a good starting point to really understand what this "common sense" context that is widely used by the modern aloof homus novus which I swear the Eloi are more mentally capable than.

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Not much other than the instructions of "behaviing properly" and "knowing what to do automatically when there are no customers around".

Sounds more like a "We are too lazy to teach you what you need to know to do your job right, but don't want a high paying salesman who knows his stuff from decorating the shop to customer satisfaction analysis, but we have always been perfect in what we do, and what we do is the definition of common sense." argument.

Still, if you can ignore their rants try to adapt to their business model as fast as possible. You might learn a thing or two... Besides it is a good soft skill when you can gather knowledge in a very subtile way from people who are too much into their stuff to realize that what they do is not common sense or known to everyone but a lot of special knowledge and procedures that needs to be understood.

And by the way...
That skill is also a very important in (software) engineering/development. Because, if you do not understand the processes and the needs of the people you create your tool for (stakeholder analysis), your final tool will be something between a failure (worst case) or not optimal to use (best case) for the client it was developed for.
Now in most cases people tend not to waste their time explaining what they do and why they do it the way they do it. Sometimes they do not even see the processes as anything special anymore because it is daily routine and hence forget to tell you about it (yet it often is an important part of what they do).

So, part of the skill is to observe and to analyze processes (you have to actively spend time on that and quickly understand it). And to have the social skills to ask for the stuff that cannot be analyzed/observed that easily, but in a way that shows you are interested in the matter without annoying the person who is asked (not coming across as "know it all"... not interupting an explanation that drifts off a little bit... showing affinity as in proactively pursuing knowledge to understand the topic and become better in what you do for the benefit of the client/colleagues).

[thevil1]

OK, what are regions when it comes to DVDs, and videos? I've been seeing a lot of talk evolving around this stuff, but I have no idea how it works.

[mindovermatter]

from what I know, they put 'regions' on DVDs to help stop pirating (I don't think it's worked though). Basically, a DVD you buy in Europe won't work on a DVD player that you bought in the US, won't work on a DVD player your bought in Japan, etc and vice-versa.

[thevil1]

Originally Posted by mindovermatter

from what I know, they put 'regions' on DVDs to help stop pirating (I don't think it's worked though). Basically, a DVD you buy in Europe won't work on a DVD player that you bought in the US, won't work on a DVD player your bought in Japan, etc and vice-versa.

So how are the regions split up?
Is it possible to buy a blank CD/DVD that's compatible with all the regions?

[mindovermatter]

Originally Posted by thevil1

So how are the regions split up?
Is it possible to buy a blank CD/DVD that's compatible with all the regions?

This, I do not know without using google.
And use it now, I will not

[Kudryavka]

I'm looking for a few famous pictures, can anyone name them and/or post pics of them?

First is one of the Beatles (I believe) crossing the street. I think it was for an album cover.

Second is the picture of a group of American soldiers in WWII struggling to raise an American flag. I think it was at Iwojima, or at least during the island hopping towards the Japanese mainland. There's also a statue of this pic somewhere.

Third is a picture of a girl on the brink of death, trapped waist high in dirty water from a flood that wiped out her home. Her eyes are black, literally, and I think she's smiling a little.

[mindovermatter]

here is the second one you asked for
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasure...at0005.11s.jpg

and here's the first
http://www.popartuk.com/g/l/lglp0597...les-poster.jpg


do you have any more info about the third one, like where or when it was taken?

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by thevil1

So how are the regions split up?
Is it possible to buy a blank CD/DVD that's compatible with all the regions?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code

I believe this doesn't apply to blank DVDs (CDs aren't region-coded), though the NTSC/PAL issue may still be of importance to you, depending on what you want to use it for.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by mindovermatter

here is the second one you asked for
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasure...at0005.11s.jpg

and here's the first
http://www.popartuk.com/g/l/lglp0597...les-poster.jpg


do you have any more info about the third one, like where or when it was taken?

It was the late 20th century, and I think it was in South America. It was right after a natural disaster wiped out a village, and there were many people talking to the trapped girl. People tried to save her, but I guess she was caught up above the hips or something, so they had to let her die there. I also remember that within her last hours, people say she was hallucinating about being late for school.

[Fahd]

Originally Posted by mindovermatter

from what I know, they put 'regions' on DVDs to help stop pirating (I don't think it's worked though). Basically, a DVD you buy in Europe won't work on a DVD player that you bought in the US, won't work on a DVD player your bought in Japan, etc and vice-versa.

Region protection has absolutely nothing to do with piracy. It's about price discrimination, i.e. being able to charge different prices in different markets without people in more expensive regions being able to import discs from abroad. Also it allows release dates of discs to be staggered, such that some regions will see the disc a few days/weeks/months before others. Finally, it allows sub-licensing: The producer can have different distributors selling the disc in different regions. Region protection gives these distributors a guaranteed market.

This is all nice in theory, but given that multi-region DVD players have been around for awhile, it's nothing more than a hassle now.

[mindovermatter]

ah, I see. thanks for clearing that up for me

[thevil1]

How is the word 'anime' pronounced? The way I, and most people I know pronounce it is 'A' (as in the name "Ann"), 'ni' (as in "knitting"), 'me' (as in the month 'May'). I'm just wondering if this is the correct way of pronouncing it.

[Dist]

In Kuragehime, there was this girl who was putting up a poster ( forgot her name ) with some kind of spray. How does that work, and can you actually buy something like that from somewhere online ?

Alternatively, what methods should I use, or what do you people use for putting up posters ? The posters that come from Megami Magazine and Nyantype are quite heavy, and they fall off if I use double sided sticky tape. Thing is, I don't want to see whatever is used to keep it on the walls. It looks ugly that way D:. Doesn't matter whether the poster can or can't be removed safely afterwards.

[Shingai-san]

Get some Elmers Spray Adhesive. You can buy it in Wal-Mart, Micheals, Office Depot, Staples, or any store like these pretty much. It relatively cheap, like $6 or so for a 4 OZ can. I have a poster I put up about 2 years ago that still is on the wall, has not fell of or anything... I took it off after I made this post and no peeling.m

[Dist]

I live in Finland, so you need to point me to a shop where you can purchase them and have them shipped overseas D:

I hope there is a shop like that ...

[tabito]

Originally Posted by Komari

It was the late 20th century, and I think it was in South America. It was right after a natural disaster wiped out a village, and there were many people talking to the trapped girl. People tried to save her, but I guess she was caught up above the hips or something, so they had to let her die there. I also remember that within her last hours, people say she was hallucinating about being late for school.

I guess this is the picture you look for.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ra_Sanchez.jpg

You can find other pictures and videos if you search by Omayra Sanchez.

[SaintessHeart]

I think I have cracked.

Today is my second official day at work, and Miss Royale (that FT girl that I pissed off last week) is my trainer again. Of course she accused me of being slow, so I just simply treated her like a Christmas Cake (any accusations or nagging, I simply smile and say "Hm, ok."). As it wears on and the manager joins in, I started going "back to the basics" - everything written in block letters, SAF style (royally pissed her off, she claims that nobody can read that - never dated a guy who served or never dated a guy before?), stopped smiling, and started visual survey in a small music store.

The worst thing is that, one of my jolly loud-mouthed colleagues just went "Hey!" and I almost did a quickdraw (in army terms, reach for the sidearm). I stopped short when I brushed against my pen (clipped to my jeans), but he caught my sharp movement, so I made up an excuse that I almost dropped my pen - the last thing I want to become is a laughingstock for going "Stop or I'll shoot!". And when I was closing up for the day, all the cash calculated seems to follow the mandate of an OCD accountancy team - everything has to be stapled properly, no cursive handwriting, no block letters, 7 cannot be written with a stroke through it (WTF), etc.

After I am out of the army, I am glad I am out. Now after a few months, with my family in a mess, stacked with school projects and an idiot syllabus for a goddamn piece of paper called a Diploma, and this job with "a number one christmas cake princess", I wish I was back pulling guard shifts and passing papers up a bureaucratic ladder - at least the woe can be shared and everyone covers each others' asses.

An ex-commando I once worked with was right - when the shit falls one doesn't rise up to the occasion, he falls back to the basics. And how he has been trained will be how he will move - what a stroke of genius to act like a trooper in a music store.

Should I just quit my job and go back to jumping from one temp to another?

P.S The POS system has been proven to be built by either a retard or the lowest bidder - IT HAS NO REFUND FUNCTION, and it requires one to process the transaction FIRST before keying in the mode of payment (in most systems, it is the other way round)! Which part of the management hired the whiz kid to build such a backward piece of shit?