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phil.o wrote: big warning in bold letters: 'Do not push this button!'
In all major languages of the world 
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“Arthur Dent: What happens if I press this button?
Ford Prefect: I wouldn't-
Arthur Dent: Oh.
Ford Prefect: What happened?
Arthur Dent: A sign lit up, saying 'Please do not press this button again.”
--- DNA, H2G2 Radio script
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Why testing matters as well.
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At least that's how I felt. I had to perform 371.52 - 60.41 - 64.40. I have a whopping headache so didn't feel like doing it in my head, so I did it old school. With pen and paper. I'm talking without a calculator.
I'm not making this up.
And I ended up with the right answer. First. Time. Without cheating.
The thing that shocked me the most is just how long it's been since I've actually used my brain to work out something as trivial as subtraction. It's actually a little scary. Our kids are screwed.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Chris Maunder wrote: Our kids are screwed.
Sad, but true.
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Could be.
(I did it in my head, and got it right - but I checked it on a calculator!  )
In the days before barcoded products, I used to add up the prices in my trolley / basket while bored waiting at the checkout, and hand over the exact amount. Even then, I got some strange looks from checkout girls (for they were all females on the checkout in those days) who needed the machine to tell them how much change to give. 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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(true story)
I once went through a checkout line in my local WalMart, and I had to show the cashier how to count out my change.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Gary Wheeler wrote: in my local WalMart
Well, there's your problem... 
The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill
America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde
Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin
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I know, but you'd think that counting out change would be one of the minimum required abilities for the job.
Software Zen: delete this;
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It isn't.
You hire something that is not too bad to look at, have someone experienced show them how the big calculator works, presto.
Both cheaper and easier; and with all moving to paying with plastic (credit or debit), it is a topic that is easily skipped during the 'on the job training'.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Eddy Vluggen wrote: You hire something that is not too bad to look at
He did say it was Walmart. They do not have that requirement. 
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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A favourite trick of mine is - for example - to give the cashier £70 for a bill of £66.32, then after they've entered the £70 into the till tell them "Oh I've got the 32p if you want it."
Then wait for their brains to explode...
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I did and still do a lot because when I was a little boy I often "designed" things in my head before falling asleep, now I design other things while I'm on the train or before falling asleep. You know, things as game mechanics (for games tha probably will never be) and... stuff.
Things that often involve multiplication, divisions, powers and even square roots (of course I approximate) or areas and volume calculations. I'm credited to be a fast calculator in facts 
Geek code v 3.12 {
GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- r++>+++ y+++*
Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
}
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver
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Sounds like you and my Mom both read the same How to Troll Cashiers book. Her favorite trick when she has a new one is to go "$123" before they scan the first item. Hers is a running total as she fills the cart.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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Chris Maunder wrote: With pen and paper.
You didn't do it in your head? Lazy. 
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Would this be a bad time to point out that that's arithmetic and not really mathematics at all then?
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Pah! Mathematics is derived from the Arithmetic base class!
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Hah!
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I have a passing knowledge of the topic.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Don't be so integralist about it, why differentiate so much when it's a simple derivation!
Geek code v 3.12 {
GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- r++>+++ y+++*
Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
}
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver
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So... did you calculate 371.52 - 60.41 - 64.40 or (371.52 - 60.41) - 64.40?
There are two types of people in this world: those that pronounce GIF with a soft G, and those who do not deserve to speak words, ever.
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Don't confuse the poor guy, let him bask in his glory for a minute or two
Every day, thousands of innocent plants are killed by vegetarians.
Help end the violence EAT BACON
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Old school.
-1-1-1
371.52
- 60.41
- 64.40
========
246.71
--------
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Yeah, baby!!! 
There are two types of people in this world: those that pronounce GIF with a soft G, and those who do not deserve to speak words, ever.
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I calculated 371.52 - (60.41 + 60.40)
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