Mastodawn

When I expect resistance from coworkers, I make deliberate errors like misattributing the "great power / great responsibility" line to Superman instead of Spiderman. People focus on correcting that when I circulate the draft, leaving the main proposal alone.

ƧƿѦςɛ♏ѦਹѤʞ 4d ago

@fesshole
Politics 101
#sociology

@fesshole aka a Queen's Duck
https://bwiggs.com/notebook/queens-duck/

The Queen's Duck

Brian Wigginton

@fesshole confusingly this seems to have become known as an Atwood's Duck as it surfaced in @codinghorror's "New Programming Jargon" blog post, which was a curated list of anecdotes from StackOverflow users. The duck anecdote came from StackOverflow user kyoryu.

@jackeric @fesshole @codinghorror And someone here just referenced it as "Wigginton's Duck", so from now on it shall be know as Jack's Duck, so as to continue the attribution chain.

dealingwith 4d ago

@jackeric and I just learned via that post that "Refuctoring" was coined by @jasongorman

Stuck Here 4d ago

Haha I worked with a consultant who did something similar. He was responsible for building cinemas in the Midwest portion of the USA. When he completed a cinema and ticked off all of the boxes he'd go around and unscrew some light bulbs, pull some carpet to leave a wrinkle, and leave protective film on one of the poster cases. He did this so the dumbass execs didn't make him redo a row of seating because they thought it at the wrong angle or something.

Morgane deSiv 4d ago

@MyWoolyMastadon Makes me think about how many teachers (at least in France) consider that perfection does not exist. They have clear documentation on what is cause to take points away. If they can't find anything they will nonetheless take at least half a point away just to not give the best possible grade (usually 20).
That consultant knows that clients/managers NEED something to criticize like french teachers.

Stuck Here 4d ago

So true. In HS and in college I knew of educators who adhered to the same principle you mentioned.

The Doctor 4d ago

@MyWoolyMastadon @MorganedeSiv Same. In particular an English teacher who used to use calipers to measure line spacing and font size. Everybody hated her.

Stuck Here 4d ago

@drwho @MorganedeSiv
Oh, good lord! I promise you her fellow teachers hated her as much as yhe students did.

The Doctor 4d ago

@MyWoolyMastadon @MorganedeSiv From what I was able to tell, they didn't like her much, either.

NatTheCat 4d ago

@drwho i beg your fucking pardon???? that is nuts wtf

The Doctor 4d ago

@InfosecFemthing She was. Parents hated her, too.

@drwho I think my one particular English teacher was after you graduated, but she insisted an outline had to be one sentence per line…and the essay was just a deletion of the new lines. 5 paragraph essay. 5 sentences each (intro, 3 supporting, closing). Exactly 25 sentences.

I recall an Eng teacher in the GATE office telling a distraught student that her essay was actually excellent. I told her style is forbidden.

@MyWoolyMastadon @MorganedeSiv

anyGould 4d ago

@MorganedeSiv @MyWoolyMastadon Had a HS teacher who was reduced once to "the pen is the wrong shade of blue". (Luckily he only pulled that nonsense on small quizes, not big exams. And otherwise was a fantastic teacher - just possibly a bit too heavy on Memento Mori)

@fesshole I knew this as "The Hairy Hand". A designer took a photo of a mockup and accidentally had a bit of a hand visible in the picture. The client (apparently well known for fussing) accepted the design but asked "that hairy hand in the corner, that is not part of it is it? get rid of that and you can go ahead with the design". The designer recognised this for what it was, hence "The Hairy Hand".

@fesshole Wigginton's Duck!

Passwordsarehard4 4d ago

@fesshole evil, you’re a regular Rex Luther ain’t you?

Average Punk Rock Loser 4d ago

@fesshole

Missed a great opportunity to have a wrong quote in this fess.

"Fly, you fools!" - Capt. Picard

Jim Nelson 4d ago

@fesshole I think of this as using bikeshedding to your advantage.

Le Néandertal se sent las, las 4d ago

@fesshole this is how you write a scientific paper too: leave an obvious thing for the reviewer to ask for

Steve Holden 4d ago

@fesshole Cool - you. must have read "Parkinson's Law?" People just love to bikeshed.

Tuukka R 3d ago

The Russian visa rules are built in such a manner that...
Personal connections to the embassy are important when getting a visa. They are essentially bribe collection bureaus.

The area near the embassy of the Russia in Helsinki used to be full of these Russia-specialized travel agents. Because that's how the Russia works.

Nimona RESISTS 1d ago

@fesshole Not only are you misattributing the quote, but you've left the Marvel universe and moved it to DC! Totally egregious!