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Return of the Confessional

by theorbtwo (Prior)
on Jul 04, 2002 at 11:15 UTC ( [id://179427]=monkdiscuss: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??

I know this has been done before, but I think it's time again. As before, please feel free to post anonymously if you'd rather, or not post at all. But I think almost all of us could use a little reflection on how we can help to make Perl Monks a better place.

Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It has been 22 years since my last confession -- I'm not Christian.

  • I have not come to the defense of those I feel have been wronged, but instead post things like Return of the Confessional.
  • I have been an XP whore in order to gain levels.
  • I have gone to my nodelist everytime I see the "Ack! You have lost..." message
  • I have not learned enough Everything to be a useful pmdevil, but have instead squandered my powers to seem more informed on the CB.
  • I have put off posting things because I know they will be contriversial
  • I have fed the animals
  • I have refered to my Brothers in Perl as animals
  • I have been wary of others, even when they seem to be improving themseleves
  • I have not been effective as a peacemaker, because I have not put enough effort into it
  • I have stayed out of conversations that I think are vital to the site's survival as a place of joy and learning.
  • I'm sure I have done other wrongs. Please, point them out to me. In /msg.


We are using here a powerful strategy of synthesis: wishful thinking. -- The Wizard Book

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Return of the Confessional
by rob_au (Abbot) on Jul 05, 2002 at 01:00 UTC
    Okay, here's my list ...

    • I've not used strict.
    • I've used symbolic references.
    • I've abused the Quantum family of modules in my own code.
    • I've done all of the three above in the same piece of code.
    • I've shamelessly referenced my own nodes.
    • I've selectively used map in a void context.
    • I've deliberately written code that was highly dependent upon execution order as defined in perlop.
    • I've learnt from and applied obfuscation techniques learnt from theDamian's selfgol piece of code.
    • I've done the above in production code.
    • I'm looking forward to Perl 6.

     

      I've referenced my own nodes.

      Why is that bad?

      > I'm looking forward to Perl 6.
      
      Why is *that* bad?
      
      --
      mowgli
      
Re: Return of the Confessional
by Aristotle (Chancellor) on Jul 04, 2002 at 15:24 UTC
    I have gone to my nodelist everytime I see the "Ack! You have lost..." message

    How is this bad? I do that too, because I want to know what earned me downvotes. Not because I'm concerned of my precious XP, but because I'd like to know how I was out of line, or maybe just technically wrong.

    I have also backed out of posting things that might get downvotes - but these were, pretty much without exceptions, just smartwit jokes that might or might not have added to the discussion. Probably the latter. In those cases, I'd like to think the XP/voting mechanism successfully worked as a self control device to keep the site free of clutter.

    I certainly have not hesitated to post things that might be controversial, or in some cases just plain would get downvotes, when I felt they really needed to be said. On a related note, that is part of the reason I have a gripe with people who post criticism as anonymonks - if you stand by what you say, then own up to it.

    I feel there is no shame in admitting to enjoy seeing one's XP counter spin: it is nice to get recognition in some way, since getting "thank you" or "good point" or such as reply to every good node is an unrealistic scenario. But it depends on one's motives. While I enjoy this part of the site, XP is not what keeps me here and most certainly is not my purpose in posting. Was it yours? Maybe. Only you know. But I salute you for the courage to post this.

    Makeshifts last the longest.

Re: Return of the Confessional
by dthacker (Deacon) on Jul 05, 2002 at 18:45 UTC
    I confess
    • I'm more of social monk than a coding monk.
    • My XP is quite inflated compared to my perl skills.
    • I make too many wisecracks in the CB.
    • I sometimes feel like The path to mastery is beyond my ability to travel it.
    • I miss tilly far more than I ever thought I would miss someone in the online world.
    • I post too many opinions and not enough code
    • My home node image is too wide
    • I still haven't finished Ovid's CGI Tutorial
    I too am sure there are other sins. You can /msg me.

    Dave


    Code On!
Re: Return of the Confessional
by mt2k (Hermit) on Jul 06, 2002 at 21:14 UTC
    Oh my... this could be a long list... Here goes:

    • Perl coding sins:
      • I have been known to use the dreaded dot-star in many of my regexes.
      • I have definitely been known to script completely insecure code.
      • To add on to the last one, I have been known to exclude warnings and use strict from my code.
      • Most of the code I write is for use with the internet (ie: CGI scripts) and I never use taint checks
      • I admit to asking many homework questions (especially before I created my first user account here) that could have been answered via perldoc.
    • Social sins:
      • I have been known to take constructive criticism as personal insults.
      • I admit to testing other monks' patience in the CB as well as with my posts.
      • I also admit to momentarily giving up and walking away when things weren't running smoothly.
      • I have gained XP I did not deserve by simply logging in and throwing votes around (long time ago).
      • As an addition to that last sin, I have about as much XP as some other users who have contributed much more to the community than I.
      • I have been known to do my best to exploit features on the site more than anybody else. (you know, font tags in posts, javascript, style sheets, HTML in the chatterbox...)
      • I admit to having registered additional user accounts for the sole purpose of being able to ask for help in the chatterbox without anybody knowing it was me. Also, for being able to login and continue chatting after being /borg'ed.
      • Taking things too heavy and over-reacting (ie: the pic on my home node. I would like to apologize to BUU for that one).
      • Let's throw the testing other monks' patience in there again. I know I have done this one time and time again. I'm sorry :(
      • Suggested by jcwren: "Not closing <li> entities in unordered list HTML"

    Penance: Something personal I just had to do... I had it posted here, but later felt it seemed like gloating about it. So I removed it. Just know that it is something I deserved, but that doesn't affect me too much ;)

    I hope this makes up for everything...

Re: Return of the Confessional
by erikharrison (Deacon) on Jul 06, 2002 at 05:16 UTC

    Trying not to qualify my statements or turn this into a gag. . .

    • I have not taken Erudil's vow of silence.
    • I have downvoted BUU unfairly.
    • I have upvoted BUU unfairly to compensate, throwing the rep system even farther out of kilter.
    • I have cared more about my percieved ability than actual ability.
    • I have pondered the possible rep of this node, and the resultant XP.
    • I have wasted time being envious of Ovid instead of learning from him and others.
    • I have been afraid to post this confession.

    I have posted less and thought more as time goes on, but to take the process further, and atone, I'll take that vow now, and hope that you, my brothers and sisters, will hold me to it.

    Cheers,
    Erik

    Light a man a fire, he's warm for a day. Catch a man on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life. - Terry Pratchet

Re: Return of the Confessional
by CodeHound (Beadle) on Jul 05, 2002 at 09:35 UTC
    Funny, but interesting at the same time.
    Here's my sin:
    • I did not reply to many questions for which I had an answer, in the fear that it was not high-level and downvotable.
      My List:
    • I to have not provided my answer for fear that my code is not quality, or my answer is not the best. Instead, I have waited till a few answers were provided, then remember what I saw for future use..
    • I'll admit to not learning Perl with the llama book, instead, I thought I could jump straight to the Camel Book.
    • I'll admit to XP Whoring in the CB, ONCE, that's ALL.
    • I'll admit to /msg'ing a Particular Monk who I hold in high esteem for their knowledge and coolness, instead of asking the masses for help.

      Oh, damn, I just remembered a few more things..

    • I have been known to use <br> tag's in posts, and for a while, even had the nasty buggers in my .sig
    • Although its not really my fault, I have JavaScript enabled in IE 5.5. I can't really help it because our admins here are quite strict about things, and have restricted access to most of our settings..

      Aside from all that, I can't think of anything. WHEW, I feel slightly better now..

      /msg me if you think of anything else that I may be responsible for, that I haven't realized yet..

      --~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--

      perl -e '$a="3567"; $b=hex($a); printf("%2X\n",$a);'

Re: Return of the Confessional
by crazyinsomniac (Prior) on Jul 06, 2002 at 04:58 UTC
Re: Return of the Confessional
by rattusillegitimus (Friar) on Jul 07, 2002 at 04:10 UTC

    Bless me father, for I have sinned. As rodents do not typically confess, it's been pretty much forever since my last confession. In addition to the multitude of sins already mentioned by my brethren...

    • I have installed and used an XP Whoring Utility (one not written in Perl, no less).
    • I have written ASP/VBScript.
    • I have believed (very briefly) that my VBScript handled a problem better than Perl.
    • I have strayed from the path and believed that a Perl-free work environment was an excuse to walk away from Perl at home.

    I know not what penance is most appropriate, particularly for the mortal sins, but I shall strive to never stray from the true path again.

Re: Return of the Confessional
by smitz (Chaplain) on Jul 10, 2002 at 07:49 UTC
    I have some new sins that wheigh heave(n)ly on my shoulders:
    • I have asked Questions in the CB, then browsed other sites, not checking back on the CB untill much later, then asking again.
    • I called Olecram silly names when I should have just ignored him
    • The first link I click each morning is Worst Nodes.
    • And the real Jalapeno: I downvoted saints' replies to my own Questions cos they used map and I didn't understand.
    I will re-write 1000 lines of my oldest code in my stater of castigation.

    SMiTZ
    P.S. Shouldn't all confessioners state how they will repent?
Re: Return of the Confessional
by $name (Pilgrim) on Jul 29, 2002 at 22:04 UTC
    Confession " Even now I curse the day-and yet I think Few come within the compass of my curse- Wherein I did not some notorious ill: As kill a man, or else devise his death, Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it, Accuse some innocent, and forswear myself, Set deadly enmity between two friends, Make poor men's cattle break their necks, Set fire on barns and haystalks in the night, And bid the owners quench them with their tears. Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their graves, And set them upright at their dear friends' door, Even when their sorrows almost was forgot, And on their skins, as on the bark of trees, Have with my knife carved in Roman letters, "Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead." But I have done a thousand dreadful things, As willingly as one would kill a fly, And nothing grieves me heartily indeed, But that I cannot do ten thousand more."
    Shakespeare.

    Oh ya, Im guilty of that other perl type stuff too ;)
    But somehow it dosent seem all that bad hmm...

    MGW Aplications Developer QuinnTeam Inc.
Re: Return of the Confessional
by Foncé (Scribe) on Sep 18, 2002 at 13:01 UTC
    My confession is much like choeppner's...in fact, I will assume his for my first two sins. However, I have a few additions.
    • I have coveted my brother and sister monks' (...nuns?) XP.
    • I am insanely guilty of absorbing too much and helping too litle, for fear of my inexperience.
    • I have said, 'w00t,' in the ChatterBox. For this I am ashamed.
    • For whatever else I have done, I ask my bretheren to mention.

    To attempt to redeem myself, I shall read the Holy Llama in its entirety, beginning henceforth.
    ---------- Foncé
Re: Return of the Confessional
by choeppner (Pilgrim) on Jul 20, 2002 at 03:55 UTC
    Forgive me father, for I have sinned....

    (I hope this makes me feel better.)

    * I lurk way too much, absorbing more than I contribute.
    * I have coveted others XP.

    What is my pentance?

    (I do feel better)

      Thou shalt answer SOPWs accuratly and without undue belitting.

      (Which I should do more often myself -- I often don't do simple research to be able to answer.)

      You've already done the most important part of confessing: thinking about what you think is wrong to do here, and what you've done of it.


      Confession: It does an Immortal Body good.

        Oh no. Thou Shall Belittle and Besmirch all who refuse to RTFM, especially if they know how.
Re: Return of the Confessional
by BrentDax (Hermit) on Jul 20, 2002 at 18:30 UTC
    Forgive me father, for I have sinned...

    I have posted bragging of my exploits.

    I have put off projects indefinately when I hit a hard part.

    I have favored my own designs over those of others, and once (unnecessarily, as it turned out) benchmarked two unevenly optimized implementation to "prove" that my design was "better".

    I have probably sinned in other ways that I cannot recall now.

    =cut
    --Brent Dax
    There is no sig.

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