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CodeSOD: A Base Nature

Once again, we take a look at the traditional "if (boolean) return true; else return false;" pattern. But today's, from RJ, offers us a bonus twist.

public override bool IsValid
{
   get
   {
      if (!base.IsValid)
         return false;

      return true;
   }
}

As promised, this is a useless conditional. return base.IsValid would do the job just as well. Except, that's the twist, isn't it. base is our superclass. We're overriding a method on our superclass to… just do what the base method does.

This entire function could just be deleted. No one would notice. And yet, it hasn't been. Everyone agrees that it should be, yet it hasn't been. No one's doing it. It just sits there, like a pimple, begging to be popped.

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Representative Line: How is an Array like a Banana?

Some time ago, poor Keith found himself working on an antique Classic ASP codebase. Classic ASP uses VBScript, which is like VisualBasic 6.0, but worse in most ways. That's not to say that VBScript code is automatically bad, but the language certainly doesn't help you write clean code.

In any case, the previous developer needed to make an 8 element array to store some data. Traditionally, in VBScript, you might declare it like so:

Dim params(8)

That's the easy, obvious way a normal developer might do it.

Keith's co-worker did this instead:

Dim params : params = Split(",,,,,,,", ",")

Yes, this creates an array using the Split function on a string of only commas. 7, to be exact. Which, when split, creates 8 empty substrings.

We make fun of stringly typed data a lot here, but this is an entirely new level of stringly typed initialization.

We can only hope that this code has finally been retired, but given that it was still in use well past the end-of-life for Classic ASP, it may continue to lurk out there, waiting for another hapless developer to stumble into its grasp.

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Morphing red blood cells help bats hibernate - and we could do it too

Animals that hibernate need a way to keep their blood flowing as their body temperature drops, and it seems that the mechanical properties of red blood cells may be key




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Battery-like device made from water and clay could be used on Mars

A new supercapacitor design that uses only water, clay and graphene could source material on Mars and be more sustainable and accessible than traditional batteries




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Your gut bacteria are at war - and force their enemies to switch sides

Rival tribes of bacteria armed with poison darts are fighting it out in your gut, with armies of traitors often winning the day




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Tiny battery made from silk hydrogel can run a mouse pacemaker

A lithium-ion battery made from three droplets of hydrogel is the smallest soft battery of its kind – and it could be used in biocompatible and biodegradable implants




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Quantum batteries could give off more energy than they store

Simulations suggest that when a quantum battery shares a quantum state with the device it is powering, the device can gain more charge than was stored in the battery to begin with




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Oldest tadpole fossil known to science dates back 161 million years

A fossil of a tadpole from Argentina is 161 million years old - and isn't that different from some modern species




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Heat can flow backwards in a gas so thin its particles never touch

A surprising reversal of our usual understanding of the second law of thermodynamics shows that it may be possible for heat to move in the “wrong” direction, flowing from a cold area to a warm one




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Vampire bats run on a treadmill to reveal their strange metabolism

Experiments where vampire bats were made to run on a treadmill have revealed how they extract energy from protein in their latest blood meal




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Marmots could have the solution to a long-running debate in evolution

When it comes to the survival of animals living in the wild, the characteristics of the group can matter as much as the traits of the individual, according to a study in marmots





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21 Funny Feline Memes Meowing Loud Until You Laugh Because They're Blissful Fluffy Babies

Hello cat pawrents, how are you? And how is your cat baby? Yes, cats are babies, and that's not even disputable. If you are indeed a cat pawrent you probably don't need further convincing, but even if you are a cat pawrent or not, just think about it - Babies are small, and cats are smol. Babies need someone to feed them, cats demand someone to feed them. Babies need to sleep to grow up, cats need to sleep… just to sleep, all the time. Babies need their poopies cleaned, cats also need their poopies cleaned. The only conclusion we can draw from all of that is that cats are babies.

Down below you can find some cat babies in meme form, proving once and for all that cats are not just babies - they are the babies of the internet. Yup, the entirety of the internet. Grab your cat baby and see these memes together for a greater effect.




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1-year-old siamese cat refuses to use the bathroom unless human accompanies him to the litter box, fed up feline owner seeks solutions: 'My cat demands bathroom reciprocity'

Cats are truly unique creatures. Much like us humans, each one has their own completely developed personality and quirks. Some cats are perpetual balls of energy, pausing from their mischief only to engage in a well deserved cat nap. Some cats are totally indifferent to your existence, you could provide them with treats, pets, the whole lot and still not receive much attention in return. And some cats need their favorite human to accompany them to the litter box any time they need to take care of business. The cat featured in the story we are covering today is the latter, and might we add, a total goofball. 

To be honest, this is a new one for us. We have yet to come across a cat who demands that their human be present during all bathroom activities. We've heard of cats who like to go to the bathroom while their humans are in the bathroom, to protect them from whatever evil lies dormant in the toilet, but yeah, this is a new one. What advice would you give to the original poster? All we can think of is to laugh and cry at the same time. 




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Walter Bagehot

"It is good to be without vices, but it is not good to be without temptations."




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Sunday At The Bar

Chores done Time for a beer I should cut back Maybe next year. Tires crunching gravel Engage parking brake Will tired feet to travel I have thirst to slake. Bright outside, inside dim Eyes adjust Disinhibited shouts, the usual din Here and there, a smattering of lust. Bartender, sleeves rolled up Looking at me and […]

The post Sunday At The Bar appeared first on Waiter Rant.




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Live Blogging the first Presidential debate

7:51: Right wingers are already saying that Biden 1) already knows all the questions and 2) is taking drugs. There are, to my knowledge, no performance enhancing drugs for mental awareness, and *I* know what the questions will be. 7:52: I’m still convinced that Trump will ignore the social distancing rule and immediately come over




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Final Presidential debate

8;18: Currently watching “Supernatural.” Feeling very relaxed. That’s gonna change. 8:59; Please don’t let Biden screw up. 9:03: So I wonder how long it will be before Trump tries shouting over Biden’s mic. 9:05: Oh yeah. I’m sure Trump will let Biden speak. 9:05: And literally the first sentence out of his mouth is a




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A Foggy Night in Mud Bay Town – DORK TOWER 28.10.24

This or any DORK TOWER strip is now available as a signed, high-quality print, from just $25!  CLICK HERE to find out more! HEY! Want to help keep DORK TOWER going? Then consider joining the DORK TOWER Patreon and ENLIST IN THE ARMY OF DORKNESS TODAY! (We have COOKIES!) (And SWAG!) (And GRATITUDE!)




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easy basque cheesecake

While I do not think that the internet necessarily needs another recipe for burnt Basque cheesecake, it turns out I did. And since you’re stuck with me for as long as you’re here, pull up a chair, because we can’t get enough of this one.

Read more »




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napa cabbage wedge with miso dressing

If you were to make a multi-part Venn diagram combining my favorite salad things, you could nestle this right in the center. It’s one part wedge salad, the fork and steak knife kind, something I am so into I talked my podcast co-host Kenji (okay, it wasn’t hard) into dedicating a whole episode to it. And it contains cabbage, and not just cabbage but Napa cabbage, which I think deserves more credit as a salad green. [This can be convenient to know as it often comes in heads large enough to feed a small family for a week.] Napa cabbage is a little leafy, a little crunchy, and yet kind of juicy too and I’ve used it, sliced thin, in everything from this Italian-style salad to a classic Caesar.
Read more »




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Get It Together, Bakeries

Wrecky minion Aryn took this photo October 23rd:

OCTOBER 23RD.

So this bakery is selling Christmas cakes two major holidays before Christmas. Which would be awesome for pranking that friend who passed out after drinking too much, but otherwise... da heck?

 

And if you think Christmas Creep is bad, wait'll you see Easter Creep:

A pink Easter Egg cake... made October 19th.

Because it's never too early to stock up on "decorated" egg cakes in October, you guys.

 

It actually gets worse when bakeries try to be seasonally appropriate:

Orange icing + crappy turtle pancake = "Fall!"

 

White pointy-headed "ghosts" + anything = FAIL!

Seriously, let's talk about all the ways this is a bad idea.

Oh yes, please, put them on white cupcakes. THAT HELPS SO MUCH.

 

Speaking of not helping, let's talk creepy clowns.

This was also spotted last week.

::shudder::

 

Although at least the clown is recognizable. What about this thing?

It was out last week, so... Dapper Halloween Alien? Count Unibrow? Evil Mystic Muppet?

Oooh, "Evil Mystic Muppet" would be an awesome band name.

 

Thanks to Aryn W., Elizabeth C., Robbie C., Anony M., Julie R., Alexa M., & Jenny E for reminding us it's just two more months 'til Christmas.

*****

The only way I approve of celebrating Christmas this early is by wearing one of these:

Unisex Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Look closely at the "chestnuts" on the right, bahaha. There are tons more to choose from at the link, so happy browsing.

*****

And from my other blog, Epbot:




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Wreckin' On The Dock Of The Bay

Sittin' in the morning sun

(oops)

I like wreckin' 'til the evening comes!

 

Stuffin' some flotsam in.

Grab another cake and do it again.

Yeah...

 

I'm thinkin' they'll be dockin' my pay.

I thought that's what they wanted to say!

Oooo -oo -oo -ooo

I'm thinkin' they'll be dockin' my pay...

Meh, looks fine. (Hiiii-iiine.)

 

The cake you want'll bore ya.

Thought I'd go a disco way.

 

I got nothin' against George.

It's just I'm tired of frosting him all day.

So...

I'm thinkin' they'll be dockin' my pay.

No one could read the French, anyway!

Ooh!

Maybe they'll be dockin' my pay...

Nah, it's fine.

 

Thankfully, our faithful Wreckporters -- Laurel G., Anna C., Kate P., Stacey W., Sammi K., Kathryn R., Bath C., Sylvie C., and Teresa P. -- weren't wasting time. Now, I think I'm supposed to end this with harmonic whistling, so here goes...

::whistles badly for 3 seconds::

Nope, hang on, I found a prettier option:

A rainbow whistling tea kettle? YES PLEASE.

*****

And from my other blog, Epbot:




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Three Times Customers Told Bakers Exactly Where To Stick It

I know we've all been tempted sometimes, minions, but these people actually did it.

UP TOP!

ON THE TRAY!

IN THE FLAY!

Er, flag. She meant flag. But I guess this works.

And extra credit to the teacher who did NOT tell her baker where to stick it, but instead handed over a notepad with all her kids' names on it, so the baker could just copy them on to the cake.

Sadly, the baker stuck it anyway:

Right where the sun won't shine!

(You know, because they're inside.)

Thanks to Annie, Trinity L., Kaye P., & Molly H. for teaching us all a lesson on following directions.

Also teachers, if you're looking for a new notepad, I'm really liking these:

Everything Is Fine Notepads

*****

And from my other blog, Epbot:





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Tribal Alliance Against Frauds Says Colby Wilkens is Not Indigenous

Here is a news report that absolutely dropped my jaw: the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds (TAAF) has released a report that debut romance author Colby Wilkens, whose bio says she is of Choctaw and Cherokee descent, has no Native ancestry.  The TAAF “is an intertribal anti-fraud non-profit whistleblower organization comprised of allies and citizens of Tribes whose sovereignty has been formally acknowledged.” Wilkens is the author of If I Stopped Haunting You, which released last week … Continue reading Tribal Alliance Against Frauds Says Colby Wilkens is Not Indigenous





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Come Back To Me

I want spicy M&Ms!!!!




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Bargaining Table

Yay could have had the conversation entirely within their head, but they were trying to impress Roko




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Barely Survivable Affection




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tip more for bad service

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: tip more for bad service


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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back in my day we died

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: back in my day we died


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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bring back the long s

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: bring back the long s


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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ill probably be normal

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: ill probably be normal


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!





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'As the breadwinner, you hold all the leverage': Husband refuses to spend $2,000 on wedding gift for wife's friend, wife tallies up his recreational finances

It seems that both parties are at fault here. On the one hand, you have the Redditor, who is the breadwinner of the family. He recently brought home a bonus of $3,000, a bonus that his wife wanted to be mostly used to pay for a wedding gift for her friend. Now, this friend frequently extends financial generosity to the Redditor's wife when they socialize together. It makes logical sense that the wife would want to pay her friend back for all the meals and financial assistance her friend provided to her over the years during difficult times. However, spending $2K out of your husband's $3K bonus on a necklace does not seem like the kind of idea her husband would be happy with. Naturally, this started a heated argument between the two spouses.

This conflict led to the wife tallying up all her husband's expenses on recreational activities, such as hobbies or the two cars he owns. Clearly, he is not the most generous spouse either, especially since his wife still needs help with her personal finances from her friend. Keep scrolling below to see what people had to say to this guy in the comments section. For more, check out this post about a 40-year-old who was passed over for a promotion in favor of a younger coworker.




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'Not a single person ever paid me back': Man loans friends over $18,000, friends avoid repaying him for years

This person is lending out way too much money to their friends! There's only so much you can do for your friends before you're officially the one being taken advantage of. After all, friendship is supposed to be a give-and-take. You laugh together and cry together. You listen to their troubles and they listen to yours. If it's not reciprocal, it can leave one or both of you with conflicting feelings. You might start to wonder why you're always the one who has to pay the bill at the end of a meal because your friend keeps insisting they've fallen on hard times. Or in this person's case, you might accidentally loan your friends thousands of dollars over time, leaving you with an entire friend group who owes you big.

This person, u/mastagoose, has learned the hard way that they need to be cautious when mixing money with friendship. There's that common rule that states that if you're going to loan someone money, just give it as a gift, and don't expect to get it back. That way, there won't be any hard feelings when you notice your friend wearing a new outfit or buying an expensive meal, knowing that they haven't paid you back. This guy not only hasn't forgotten about their numerous loans to friends, but they made a list about it, and the people of the internet were not exactly kind to them. Instead, they were repeatedly told that they should stop lending people money ASAP. Maybe they'll take the internet's advice! 

Up next, read about one 22-year-old employee who "decided to start including the Chairman/CEO…on all emails" in order to get their coworkers to reply to their emails. 




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Mother bans adult daughter from family Thanksgiving after she refuses to host the event: 'I made it very clear she needed to stay true to her word and if she dumped it on someone else she wouldn't be going to Thanksgiving'

Hosting events is a lot of work; there's a house to be cleaned, food to be prepped, and a lot of general setup that needs to be taken care of. When it's family, it's even more so to do—it's probably a good idea to hide the things your family won't approve of and save yourself the judgment.

Family hosting schedules help to ease the burden of any one person having to host too often, and the reality is that for a member of the family to drop from hosting duties places a disproportionate amount of responsibility on the other members of the family to host additional events.

The problem is this assumes that each member of the family is equally able to host in the first place. The reality is this is never the case. Some people, usually older members of the family, have homes with more space for hosting more people and the space to store the things necessary for hosting a large family. Many of us, particularly in our younger adult years, live in spaces that we'd be horrified to let our family into.




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Prying Karen criticizes a baby-faced 20-year-old mom at the store and lectures her about 'teen pregnancy,' the mom snaps and teaches her a lesson of her own: ‘I made her regret it’

Moms are usually an infinite pit of mercy, grace, and patience, but when a new mom is just released from the hospital post-birth and some old bat at the store decides to give her a hard time about her precious tiny human, the gloves might come off a little.

Perhaps a mother's grace is earned throughout their child's life. Untrained in the ways of well-grounded motherhood, this 20-year-old mom, u/Feathers137 the original poster (OP) of this story, was in the grocery store trying to buy some formula for her newborn when an older woman came over to her. Expecting the older lady to coo over her new baby–as many older folks do–she smiled and allowed her to approach, but what this uncouth Karen said in return shocked everyone standing in Aisle 18. 

Quite frankly, if anyone said this sort of comment to me (unprompted) in public, I think I'd need to be escorted out of the premises by security to avoid some sort of physical altercation. But maybe that's because I don't possess that uber-top-secret mom patience potion yet… So when OP encountered the rudest, most shamelessly abrasive woman in the world who was fixated on forcing her beliefs on a new mom in the dairy section, she dropped an epic comeback that made this Karen cry over spilled milk.




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'This is the first time I have ever asked to have some time off': 22-year-old babysitter gets denied vacation time for her sister's wedding, boss tries to guilt trip babysitter into skipping it

This kind of boss is just the worst, as this flustered nanny can tell you. 

Taking time off at your job can be awkward at times, especially if you're close friends with your boss. You might feel obligated to tell them everything you're planning to do with this time off. This person certainly did, but they at least had a great reason for requesting a few days off. U/Nannyneedabreak writes that as a babysitter for two kids, ages 6 and 8, she gave her boss a generous warning that she'd be gone for a few days. She gave this boss an incredible seven months of notice that she would be out of town for just four days! That's way more generous than most employees would be. 

This woman shared that she also reminded her boss about that important date at least once per month. Still her, boss insisted she cancel the trip when the date got close. Come on, lady, there are other babysitters in the world! Just ask for a reference to someone else, and let this woman go to her sister's once in a lifetime event. 

Up next, this non-HOA homeowner is refusing to take down their holiday lights, and told the HOA member to "just get off my property… I've just had enough."




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'Boss claims that me quitting will result in the business closing': Worker gives 2-week-notice after basically running the company they work for for their boss, prompting boss's total meltdown

It is truly mind-boggling how some employers will treat the workers who are essential to the success and operation of their business. They gamble that they can pay them below market rates and keep them exactly where they are and that their workers will continue to be milked like the cash cow that they are… After taking on increasing responsibility in their boss's small business, this worker knew it was time to move on to greener pastures. They did what they thought was the right thing and gave their boss their two-week notice, prompting a meltdown that they could not have anticipated. 

As commenters in the original thread noted, this begs so many questions. Like, if they were so important to the business why didn't their boss recognize that and reward them for it? Surely, there were chances and opportunities for their boss to give them a promotion or even a partnership in the business that they were so essential to. Still, their boss's general laissez-faire attitude and seeming reluctance to lift a finger to support their own business has spelled their own doom. It seems that they were totally complacent and happy to let the employee do all the work while they raked in all the profits.




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Dad gets back at teenage stepdaughters for making his 16-year-old daughter sleep on the floor of their hotel room: 'I gave my daughter an entire room for herself'

Who knew that evil stepsisters were still a thing? One would think these two teenagers would get a grip and be kind to the Cinderella of this story, rather than lean into the Evil Stepsister caricature. Unfortunately, however, they could not help themselves.

This Redditor was traveling with his family for a memorial service, and his wife booked a hotel room for his daughter Shiloh and two stepdaughters to share. Things went a bit south when the stepdaughters insisted that Shiloh sleep on the floor. When the original poster (OP) discovered that this was going on, he told Shiloh to pack her things and immediately booked her a separate hotel room.

This ultimately backfired as the two stepdaughters went crying and complaining to OP's wife (their mother), accusing OP of playing favorites. The fact that OP's wife had the audacity to not hear and empathize with her husband's side of the story leads us to believe that this second marriage is unlikely to work out. For more stories like this, check out this post about some Thanksgiving drama.




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Stage mom of 16-year-old divorces husband via email, CC's his entire family and friend group: '[He's] unable to adapt to any change'

There's divorce, and then there's burning every bridge you've ever built! This stage mom of a 16-year-old is sharing her story about what happened when she and her husband decided to call it quits via email, and it is a messy story. 

I suppose every divorce is messy in its own way. Some couples face cheating allegations, with one partner losing trust in their spouse. Others realize they're just not compatible anymore, and have different life goals. And of course, it's always more complicated when family is involved, whether that's having a bunch of kids or having parents who live at home (or both). 

It's not like you can totally keep the public out of the loop when you divorce your spouse. You'll have to pack up everything you own and move, sign legal documents, and face big life changes. Still, the way this stage mom went about it had people on the r/AITAH subreddit calling her out for her behavior. Check out the full story below and see if you side with her or her husband. 

Up next, read about these employees who got fired almost as soon as they started the job, like one dude who refused to wear safety gear, telling the supervisor "no" to his face! 




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Talibantastic!




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leans over backwards




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Debateable




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Screaming Barfies

A term used mostly by [ice climbers] to describe the feeling of having your hands go numb only to come back to feeling with [extreme pain]. The terminology coming from when your hands are coming back to feeling you want to scream and [barf] at the same time.




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The gift of a three-month sabbatical

It was late winter when my sabbatical began, and it’s late spring as it comes to an end. Next week I return to my post after three months’ paid leave, courtesy of Automattic’s sabbatical benefit. Three months. A season. With full pay, and zero work responsibilities. In a job full of rewards, this is perhaps the greatest […]

The post The gift of a three-month sabbatical appeared first on Zeldman on Web and Interaction Design.




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Chris Mason: Badenoch will need all her political savvy to transform Tory fortunes

Kemi Badenoch is a political fighter and she now has a battle on her hands to rebuild her party.