posted
A month or so ago I was talking to someone in a CS (computer science) class, he mentioned that he wrote his assignment in C# ( a programming language developed by Microsoft), and I asked if he knew if Microsoft had developed their .NET platform for any other systems yet (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, don’t worry, it’s not integral to the story). At this point someone a couple rows in front of us (this is all before class started) turned around and made the very loud comment the .NET sucked, and that anyone who programmed .NET was an idiot, and Microsoft. Well I was rather irritated with that comment, partially because he’d just insulted the guy sitting next to me who I quite liked, and partially because I’m sick of people who don’t know what they’re talking about blast Microsoft.
So I called him on it, and in response, he informed me that he had hacked into the entire Windows code (“it’s an easy hack”) and now understood the entire coding for the operating system and it was stupid and sucked. At that point I lost it, a completely ridiculous claim, even the project manager at Microsoft wouldn’t say he understood the entire Window’s code, the thing is millions of lines long; and I just railed on him for about 4 minutes verbally, especially when he answer my accusations of knowing nothing about Windows code by trying to make up a social life (or lack thereof) for me (“you don’t have a girlfriend or any real friends do you?”). So I utterly wasted him right in front of his friends, who by the end, we’re laughing at him, and apparently, some people sitting behind me watched this too, as evidenced by the fact that one of them came up to me after class and told me he was sick of this kid spouting off, “that was great, the way you smacked him down”.
Well right after I did it I felt really guilty. This kid may have been annoying, but he didn’t need to be berated like that, I should’ve let it slide. About the first thing that ran through my head after that was “what if this guys finds out I’m a member of the Church?” That would be his introduction to it! Plus I didn’t think I was at all acting in a way befitting a member of the Priesthood.
And while I was busy feeling guilty, part of me was very proud of the total, verbal annihilation I’d given him. Does anyone else ever get this? Both proud of what you’ve done, and guilt about doing it? And if so, what do you do about it?
quote: About the first thing that ran through my head after that was “what if this guys finds out I’m a member of the Church?” That would be his introduction to it! Plus I didn’t think I was at all acting in a way befitting a member of the Priesthood.
You're so cute, Hobbes. I know what Annie sees in you. Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Never waste time feeling proud or regreting, just act as the situation requires and go to the next situation. If you lost control then you need to refine your control, otherwise, drive on.
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1. I created a new folder on her desktop 2. I took a snapshot of the desktop and set it to the background image 3. I moved all of her folders and shortcuts from the active desktop and dropped it in the new folder I created 4. I dropped her task bar to the "hidden" position 5. I have my resume ready to email out.
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Trevor, you're officially an evil genius! That's great. There is a guy in my office who takes great delight in pranking people by messing with their machines when they leave them unlocked while they're away from their desk. If I ever see that he has mistakenly done that, I just may put your plan into action.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Clarifying, doing this to someone's computer tricks people into thinking their computer is working normally. They try to click on an icon and nothing happens. They click on another, no dice. So on and so on until they go nuts and call IT to fix the "problem."
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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I dunno, Hobbes, I don't have the gift of gab enough to totally ream someone out for 4 minutes.
The guy probably didn't have much self esteem, and you just shot to hell his only foundation for it. Now he'll either turn into an evil villain or sink into depression. Good job. Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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That or he just doesn't like Microsoft. I, as a Mac user, have held a grudge against Microsoft for about as long as I can remember. And now that I'm getting more into open source that grudge is just growing cuase of their "trusted computing" work.
But I would never claim to have hacked the Windows Source code... unless I had the hacked code there as evidense
Eh, nothing wrong with reaming out a guy who was asking for it though.
Edit: Trevor... that is... thats... BRILLIANT!! *starts plotting ways to put that to use as a senior prank at his school...*
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The last time I felt like this... Let me remember. It was like 2 years ago. I was at a friend of my hubby's place, and we were with a lot of his former school friends, and their spouse (when they didn't live with someone of the school. We were few who hadn't been in it). Well, everything was nice and turned well, until a girl I didn't know started to have fascist commentaries about how we should torture every criminal and kill them and if they live in awful conditions in prison (it can be the case here, Amnesty International tells every years that our prisons are the shame of any civilized country) it's their fault because they should have stayed on the good side and yadda yadda yadda. I haven't been able to shut my mouth. We "discussed" for half an hour and everybody (we were eating) was listening to us. I stayed calm, but I couldn't let someone speak this way without explaning what I knew about the subject, and try to make people think. It probably didn't change anything for her, but I think that at last the others thought about it a little. I felt totally guilty, because I did this with people I hardly knew and monopolized the attention by disagreeing with someone they knew better. I was sure Vinnie would be a little angry for that. So I felt exactly like Hobbes, guilty for my attitude, but proud to have said what needed to be said. And when Vincent told me he was proud of me because I had the courage to do that and stand to my opinions, I totally stopped to feel guilty. Beautiful day.
[ December 15, 2004, 03:49 AM: Message edited by: Anna ]
Posts: 3526 | Registered: Oct 2001
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You should also move it to one side (or the top) of the screen, so she can't just accidently over shoot where she thinks the start bar is and get it to pop up.
quote: And while I was busy feeling guilty, part of me was very proud of the total, verbal annihilation I’d given him. Does anyone else ever get this?
I get this all the time, this cut-to-the-quick blasting. There's a guy in my branch here at school that takes every opportunity he can to just shut me down. I'll give you an example: I'm not a math-minded person and it's a subject that I do not excel at. Last year I took a math class and in the course of taking the class, I received a lot of help from a friend of mine. This person in my branch has never been able to let me live that down. He throws it in my face every chance he gets. You can't even say the word "math" in his presence without him making numerous 'jokes' at my expense. And this is just one of the ways he verbally abusing me. Just one. I know my self-esteem has suffered a great deal and I'll probably end up in therapy for the rest of my life thanks to this guy.
quote:I get this all the time, this cut-to-the-quick blasting. There's a guy in my branch here at school that takes every opportunity he can to just shut me down. I'll give you an example: I'm not a math-minded person and it's a subject that I do not excel at. Last year I took a math class and in the course of taking the class, I received a lot of help from a friend of mine. This person in my branch has never been able to let me live that down. He throws it in my face every chance he gets. You can't even say the word "math" in his presence without him making numerous 'jokes' at my expense. And this is just one of the ways he verbally abusing me. Just one. I know my self-esteem has suffered a great deal and I'll probably end up in therapy for the rest of my life thanks to this guy.
Hey! That was fun, brotherly teasing. Besides, I stopped now. ::angelic look::
Farmgirl, you're sweet, but sometimes I do lose my self control.
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For the record, Microsoft hasn't put out any official ports to other platforms of .NET. However, Mono is a project (open source) to get it going on Linux, and maybe other platforms.
From all accounts, .NET is Java done "a bit better" (largely due to more sane organization of libraries). Of course, despite it's supposed platform agnosticism, it really only runs fully on Windows, and while the spec is open and available, I haven't heard much in the way of Microsoft actually helping 3rd-parties port .NET to non-Windows OSes.
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Hobbes, this has been an issue more than once for me. It becomes especially difficult to figure out how to apologize without seeming to admit, implictly or explicitly, that what I said was wrong. Some issues I don't care whether someone thinks that I was wrong, but usually those issues don't spark my verbal temper.
(Added: Not necessarily for the smackdown, although I think he probably deserved it and if you restricted yourself to comments about his comment and not his person, I think you're fine.)
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Hobbes, it sounds - from the way you describe it - that he probably needed a good put down. However, I can also understand feeling guilty about it.
If you do feel the need to apologize, and I think it might be a good idea, I would advise you to be careful what you apologize for. Are you sorry you said something? Are you sorry for what you said? Or are you sorry for doing it in public? Be very clear with yourself what part of it you're actually sorry for. And then, if you apologize, only apologize for that bit. Don't say that you're sorry for something you're not.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote: Eh, nothing wrong with reaming out a guy who was asking for it though.
I completely disagree. Just because somebody is asking for it doesn't mean they deserve it. And even if they do deserve it, that's not good enough reason to give it to them.
As I think back to all the crap I have "asked for", I realize how fortunate I am not have not allways gotten what I deserved.
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When I do something like Hobbes does, I sometimes can tell myself that they *did* deserve it, and that it might actually knock some sense into them. (Actually, I don't really believe that it's possible to knock sense into anybody, but there are times when I convince myself that it is.)
Even in those times, it's not worth it, because of how it effects me. It encourages an ugly part of my character, and it makes me unhappy.
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I think the danger here is not so much your disabusing him of his mistaken notions (I trust that you didn't humiliate ad hominem-ly *makes a face over that construction*), but...well, the pride part. It's satisfying to smack somebody down, but you don't want become someone you don't like to do it. That's cold comfort.
Obviously, he has a tenuous grasp of reality, because your girlfriend adores you and you're spilling over here with friends. Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Hobbes, It would improve MY view of the LDS to see a gentle, intelligent person such as yourself show a bit of backbone and smackdown someone being abusive to others. Fellow members may not see it the same way, but that's okay. You can't please everybody. Certainly Christ wouldn't want you to, since that isn't the point. At least I think it isn't. He didn't seem too concerned with having everyone think well of him.
But I'm just a heathen. What do I know? Posts: 1664 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Dag, I usually go with, "I apologize for the way I spoke to you yesterday. My comments were not appropriate because they were not respectful. I believe that you were incorrect and was hurt at the way you spoke, but that is no excuse for me speaking to you in that tone, especially in public. I know it can be humiliating when someone goes off on you like that in public, and I try to live by the rule of 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. My comments weren't living by that rule, and so I hope you will forgive me."
It also has the plus of reiterating that the way they spoke was not appropriate, either.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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