Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

news.ycombinator.com

261–270 of 794 posts

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#261

After the first lecture of my first programming course in college, I went to the Professor Tewksbury and started to tell him about a simulator I was writing to help other students check their work. He holds up his hand to stop me speaking, says “you have an A. Don’t come to class anymore.” So, I never went to class or did any of the assigned work, instead working on the simulator in my dormroom. At the end of the ter…

During my tenure in college, had a professor that would write 10s or 100s of line of code to do things that could literally be done in one or two. Pointed this out to him a couple of times, not that I had been a dev for 15 years at this point. Everytime he squashed anything I said. Comes to end of semester project. Within 24 hours of him handing it out, myself and team handed in final solution, which absolutely worke…

I tried to place out of an intro-to-programming course in a back-to-school bout of scholastic achievement. I wasn't allowed to test out of it despite the coursewor being rote and that anyone with 2 seconds looking at my CV could see I did not need it. Anyway - they released the assignments on day 1. I turned them in on day 2. I still had to go to class. Stupid.

My "filesystems and database design" class was basically howto use mysql. It's a shame, I was more interested in actual file system and database design

Just stupid stuff like that made me drop the academic bullshit and skip into the real world.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#262
post #195

I once worked on an in-house ERP system which had been developed over about 15 years by various developers. It was the engine of the entire company, everything passed through it. The CFO and some senior leadership erroneously blamed it for their shortcomings/used it as a scapegoat. When new management took charge, an initiative was started to replace the system with an industry standard solution. Both myself and the…

What happened to the CFO?

Hmmm, maybe check his LinkedIn where he brags about the successful transition and ERP migration he led at that company.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#263

I once worked on an in-house ERP system which had been developed over about 15 years by various developers. It was the engine of the entire company, everything passed through it. The CFO and some senior leadership erroneously blamed it for their shortcomings/used it as a scapegoat. When new management took charge, an initiative was started to replace the system with an industry standard solution. Both myself and the…

Consulting: If you're not part of the solution, be part of the problem.

Or to put it in other terms, the boxer who throws the fight also gets paid very well.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#264
Spent months building an application that I knew would never ever be used by anyone. It was actually highly stressful as for some reason it was considered a big opportunity and I was pressured to deliver quicker. I was young and didn't know how to deal with that.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#266
post #195

I once worked on an in-house ERP system which had been developed over about 15 years by various developers. It was the engine of the entire company, everything passed through it. The CFO and some senior leadership erroneously blamed it for their shortcomings/used it as a scapegoat. When new management took charge, an initiative was started to replace the system with an industry standard solution. Both myself and the…

What happened to the CFO?

probably got hired by the vendor

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#267

Well, this has nothing to do with programming and goes way beyond being merely "useless"; yet it might offer some perspective on your question and perhaps help you relativise things. There's a global industry involving thousands of healthcare professionals, lawyers, judges, police officers, and child protection workers who have spent 50 years prosecuting tens of thousands of parents and caregivers for allegedly shaki…

You're doing important work. Thank you!

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#268

This is old, but my most pointless project: The CEO wanted a screen in every hall that showed the company "EnGUAGEment meter". Users would have to go to the app, choose from 10 or so canned messages like "Feeling productive", "Ready to conquer the day", and other such HR speak the CEO (or rather the HR committee he put on the important business of picking the list) felt was motivational. This would update a page that…

Bill Lumbergh approves of this!

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#269

Well, this has nothing to do with programming and goes way beyond being merely "useless"; yet it might offer some perspective on your question and perhaps help you relativise things. There's a global industry involving thousands of healthcare professionals, lawyers, judges, police officers, and child protection workers who have spent 50 years prosecuting tens of thousands of parents and caregivers for allegedly shaki…

The guy that realized that washing your hand prevents mother and babies from dying in child birth was ignored and he got insane. I dunno what my point is. Maybe that these things are some sort of grind?

He didn't go insane, but the doctors he challenged forcibly had him committed

> In 1865, János Balassa wrote a document referring Semmelweis to a mental institution. On 30 July, Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra lured him, under the pretense of visiting one of Hebra's "new Institutes", to a Viennese insane asylum located in Lazarettgasse. Semmelweis surmised what was happening and tried to leave. He was severely beaten by several guards, secured in a straitjacket, and confined to a darkened cell. Apart from the straitjacket, treatments at the mental institution included dousing with cold water and administering castor oil, a laxative. He died after two weeks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#270

This is old, but my most pointless project: The CEO wanted a screen in every hall that showed the company "EnGUAGEment meter". Users would have to go to the app, choose from 10 or so canned messages like "Feeling productive", "Ready to conquer the day", and other such HR speak the CEO (or rather the HR committee he put on the important business of picking the list) felt was motivational. This would update a page that…

This is the funniest thing I think I've read all day.

Thank you.

Post reply on HN