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RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

paul.knibbs — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:57:35 GMT

[quote][b]ChrisP-374390 (9/29/2011)[/b]You're probably right. But what hope is there for code magpies when there are such enablers as 1TB external hard drives?:ermm:[/quote]My "code magpie" tendencies are limited by my obsession with always having backups of everything--so a 1Tb external drive would be fine, but I'd need another one to keep a copy of what's on the first one!

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

ChrisP-374390 — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:14:52 GMT

[quote][b]Stephanie J Brown (9/29/2011)[/b][hr]There's therapy for this, right? [/quote]You're probably right. But what hope is there for code magpies when there are such enablers as 1TB external hard drives?:ermm:CP

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

Stephanie J Brown — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:09:14 GMT

Junk drawer(s), junk box(es), junk shed(s), junk garage(s), junk storage unit(s), junk house(s)...There's therapy for this, right? And a TV show... :hehe:

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

ChrisP-374390 — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:55:08 GMT

[quote][b]Nicole Bowman (9/29/2011)[/b][hr]Hi everyone, my name is Nicole and I am a code magpie. There, I have admitted I have a problem but I am sure that the code will come in handy some time... well maybe not code for Access 97. OK, perhaps I do need to clean up a little! At least I only have one junk drawer in the kitchen! Oh, wait I have numerous drawers in my bedroom and ... Oh well perhaps October really is the month of garbage collection. Lucky we (Australians) have a long weekend this weekend! Yippee!Cheers,[/quote]With you there, Nicole! As an Aussie, you would know a few of us have Sheds. For the uninitiated, these are large devices designed to contain the tsunami of stuff, with a roof to keep off the rain. Mine is approx 4mx2mx2.5m, and chokkers, even after a recent clean-out. Not a good enough place to store all those CDs with old code (Access 97 included, dBase3, clipper, an install disks for NT4, SQL server 7 and the like...), those are inside in a cupboard. And this Labour day, I have no intention of exploring either.Ever heard that nice explanation about Junk and Stuff?Stuff is junk that you can't throw out, junk is stuff that you can.

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

Evil Kraig F — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:37:03 GMT

PASS: The big name thing we tell our bosses we're going to for our hidden agendas... Code Magpie's Anonymous. Remember, meetings are at 8, 10, and 12, both days.

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

Nicole Bowman — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:13:05 GMT

Hi everyone, my name is Nicole and I am a code magpie. There, I have admitted I have a problem but I am sure that the code will come in handy some time... well maybe not code for Access 97. OK, perhaps I do need to clean up a little! At least I only have one junk drawer in the kitchen! Oh, wait I have numerous drawers in my bedroom and ... Oh well perhaps October really is the month of garbage collection. Lucky we (Australians) have a long weekend this weekend! Yippee!Cheers,

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

djackson 22568 — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:46:55 GMT

I want to know how you get by with a single junk drawer! I have at least one in the kitchen, 3-4 in my home office, and I am not even going to talk about the kids rooms!

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

GSquared — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:31:13 GMT

[quote][b]majorbloodnock (9/29/2011)[/b][hr]I think that justifies us coining the phrase "code magpie"[/quote]ME LIKE!

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

majorbloodnock — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:15:45 GMT

I think that justifies us coining the phrase "code magpie"

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

Miles Neale — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:09:38 GMT

[quote][b]SQLRNNR (9/29/2011)[/b][hr][quote][b]Charles Kincaid (9/29/2011)[/b][hr]Everybody should have at least 1 junk database. We have junk drawers and junk folders - why not a junk database?[/quote]Truth? I have a development SQL Server my workstation that has junk tables, data, scripts, test stuff from years ago and who knows what all. I also have complete code libraries and copies of old source code locally so I can cut and paste to my hearts content. Some might call this junk. But to me they are the potential treasures and reminders of lessons learned and pain experienced as I learned. Also there are things that the business has not gotten to yet that I have done research on and have made work that are waiting in the winds. I have them here so I can find them instead of rebuild them. They are valuable, time saving, mental reminders, and golden technological moments from times past that can be reused now or later. We are all junk collectors.

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

SQLRNNR — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 09:08:02 GMT

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

sturner — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 09:01:42 GMT

Speaking of junk drawers.... how many unused tables and stored procedures exist in some of our production databases that have been out there for years?I have one in particular that predates me by a decade and is full of stuff that probably haven't been used in a long time. We need to take inventory in this database and clean it up because it has turned into a "junk drawer". :w00t:

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

Eric M Russell — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 08:27:05 GMT

[quote][b]Charles Kincaid (9/29/2011)[/b][hr]You said; "Aren’t we all destined to have so much uncategorized stuff and as long as we limit it to one drawer, does it matter?"So, getting back to database design, I guess that one EAV might not be that bad. Maybe two. Three? Well, why not?One table to hold all rowsBut there's no way to find them.One thing to hold all user thingsAnd through obfuscation blind them.Sorry J.R.R.[/quote]Years ago I was tasked with maintaining a proprietary in-house CRM database, and one of the requirements was to allow the users to create ad-hoc fields for entering data that wasn't covered by columns in the primary client/prospect table. So rather than users entering free form notes, they would occasionally (at their own discretion) create a new field called "Spouse's birthday", assuming the field didn't already exist in the dropdown listbox. The data contained in these "fields" was just extended attributes that would be useful to the client manager when an account profile was opened. Other popular applications may contain the same in XML columns, text search indexes, or in an external EAV database. You're right that this would be the database equivalent of the "junk drawer", but so long as the data is relevent and easily accessible, it's not really junk.

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

Charles Kincaid — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:50:57 GMT

You said; "Aren’t we all destined to have so much uncategorized stuff and as long as we limit it to one drawer, does it matter?"So, getting back to database design, I guess that one EAV might not be that bad. Maybe two. Three? Well, why not?One table to hold all rowsBut there's no way to find them.One thing to hold all user thingsAnd through obfuscation blind them.Sorry J.R.R.

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

JP Dakota — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:48:23 GMT

My physical junk drawer includes: toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, pens, utility knife, spare meds (in case i forget to take them at home), otc pain meds, dark chocolate, spare USB charger (universal), cups of fruit with long expiration dates, cash, headphones, an Atkins bar and dry erase markers.My virtual junk drawer (OneNote) includes CYA email messages, scripts, project maps, blogs I wrote, process docs, attendance tracking, research docs, jokes, vendor info and presentation notes.I'm not sure that all of that stuff is junk, but its what I keep.

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

paul s-306273 — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:39:50 GMT

Why does nobody have a deck of cards?I've got 5 in my work drawer and approximately 60 (yes, 60 brand new decks) in a box at home.That's not really junk though...

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

Mike Palecek — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:11:06 GMT

My start menu starts to look like a junk drawer. I find useful programs (at the time) and install them and never seem to want to uninstall them so they stick around, although Microsoft is pretty bad too, MS Office, MS SQL Server 2005, MS SQL Server 2008, Visual Studio verions from 2003 to present etc.When I run out of disk space will go through some of them and see what I can get rid off, but I could use just about everything someday so I look else where for the drive space.

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

Eric M Russell — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:07:01 GMT

[quote][b]paul.jones (9/29/2011)[/b][hr]When one colleague left we found, along with the usual selection of pens and stuff, some crackers and a range of individually wrapped cheese portions.Unfortunately it took us a while to find them...:sick:[/quote]It's also interesting to peruse the virtual junk folders a former employee whose job and workstation one has just taken over. Illegal music downloads, porn, a resume; no wonder they were let go. So it's best to keep the junk out of your work trunk.

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

GSquared — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:47:45 GMT

I have virtual junk drawers full of database scripts and notes from old projects, but when it comes to hardware, I tend to throw things away pretty aggressively.

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

jay-h — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:32:30 GMT

When I moved in my cube I found a TI desktop hexadecimal calculator from the 80s

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

majorbloodnock — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:31:09 GMT

[quote][b]tsceurman (9/29/2011)[/b][hr][quote][b]majorbloodnock (9/29/2011)[/b][hr]For the record, though, the drawers in my pedestal contain the following unexpected items:[li]Ink cartridges and blotting paper - I do have a fountain pen, but it's been years since I last used it.[/li][li]A bottle of shampoo[/li][li][b]Two spare ties[/b][/li][li]Half a bottle of soy sauce[/li][li]A spray tin of Ralgex[/li][/quote]For whatever reason, I read that item as two spare TIRES, and was impressed by the size of your desk drawers.It's been a long week.....[/quote]Nope, they're round my waist.

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

tsceurman — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:25:28 GMT

[quote][b]majorbloodnock (9/29/2011)[/b][hr]For the record, though, the drawers in my pedestal contain the following unexpected items:[li]Ink cartridges and blotting paper - I do have a fountain pen, but it's been years since I last used it.[/li][li]A bottle of shampoo[/li][li][b]Two spare ties[/b][/li][li]Half a bottle of soy sauce[/li][li]A spray tin of Ralgex[/li][/quote]For whatever reason, I read that item as two spare TIRES, and was impressed by the size of your desk drawers.It's been a long week.....

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

Ian Massi — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:23:33 GMT

The last couple of people to sit at the desk I'm using left quite suddenly so there were a lot of thing that accumulated. I keep batteries in there as well as those after meal candies that I get at restaurants but don't usually eat. In the various drawers and compartments of my desk you'd find:SQL Server 2008 R2 and Visual Studio 2010 DVDsStaplersPhone and ethernet cablesEmpty file folders (they used to be full, but during a blackout I brought all their contents to the shredder box after the boss looked them over)Empty binders (contents also shredded)Blank timesheets from the era when people recorded time on paper to get paidA branded winter coat, still wrapped in plastic

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

the Angell — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 05:37:53 GMT

My junk drawer has a slew of plastic shopping bags that I tossed in there after bringing something to the office. Why do I keep those?But the biggest item I have is one of those neck cushions with batteries to massage the tension away. It was an office Christmas gift from a team member. [img] http://i.walmartimages.com/i/mp/MP/10/00/30/89/MP10003089476_P255045_500X500.jpg[/img]Haven't used it in years!

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

paul.knibbs — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:31:02 GMT

Junk drawer? Lightweight. My entire back bedroom in my house is my junk room where I throw anything I don't know what to do with... :-D

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

majorbloodnock — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:13:57 GMT

I do have a drawer at work for odd and ends, but I wouldn't call it a junk drawer. All my junk is on my desk. A cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind; an empty desk.......There is something satisfying, though, when someone is in a fix and needing an obscure or arcane item, to be able to rummage around your desk or drawer, find something that'll fit the bill and thus become the object of relieved gratitude. Are those rare moments worth the hassle of acting like a magpie for the rest of the time? No idea, but I do anyway.For the record, though, the drawers in my pedestal contain the following unexpected items:[li]Ink cartridges and blotting paper - I do have a fountain pen, but it's been years since I last used it.[/li][li]A bottle of shampoo[/li][li]Two spare ties[/li][li]Half a bottle of soy sauce[/li][li]A spray tin of Ralgex[/li]

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

paul.jones — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:07:40 GMT

When one colleague left we found, along with the usual selection of pens and stuff, some crackers and a range of individually wrapped cheese portions.Unfortunately it took us a while to find them...:sick:

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

colin.freely — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:07:00 GMT

It's not a Junk drawer, its a man drawer.http://youtu.be/RgUpDGAIdds

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

liebesiech — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 02:46:35 GMT

[quote][b]Jon-413357 (9/29/2011)[/b][hr]I have a small junk drawer with pens, pencils (why so many??? :-P) keys, business cards, paracetamol, staples etc. and I have a big junk drawer with bigger stuff like spare (old) mouses, empty mouse boxes (huh?), multiple utp-cables, a hat (wtf...), a small ball which was thrown at me years ago (hahahha). [/quote]ha, ha, that's funny! Well, I have some power adapters and mouses as well but I regard them as valuable items ;-)

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

Jon-413357 — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 02:22:26 GMT

I have a small junk drawer with pens, pencils (why so many??? :-P) keys, business cards, paracetamol, staples etc. and I have a big junk drawer with bigger stuff like spare (old) mouses, empty mouse boxes (huh?), multiple utp-cables, a hat (wtf...), a small ball which was thrown at me years ago (hahahha). And I even have a junk drawer from the former owner of my desk. :-POh man... I have to clean up a bit, this is so evil!Yup I also have a ton of unused scripts. October will be a good month for collecting garbage. :hehe:

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

Cadavre — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 02:00:24 GMT

I have no junk drawer. . . no, seriously.I do have "junk scripts" on a file server though, loads of them that may or may not be useful :)

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

paul s-306273 — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:34:06 GMT

Junk drawers are useful so that you can utter 'Ah, that's where it is...'.

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

liebesiech — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:08:29 GMT

I even found some UAT (user acceptance test) sign-off's (wet signature on paper!) which were soooo important to collect. After the project nobody dared to file them properly and they rot in my drawer. :-DOtherwise, I try to keep my drawer's clean.

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

matt.bowler — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 00:46:05 GMT

I hear that! I have a handfull of scripts that I use every day, and folder upon folders of 'one day I'll sit down and sort thorugh this' scripts :)

RE: What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

SQLRNNR — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:46:47 GMT

How many of us keep that "junk drawer" full of scripts that seem like they could be useful. Just collect a ton of scripts and maybe you will use it and maybe not.

What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?

Andy Warren — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:06:16 GMT

Comments posted to this topic are about the item [B]What’s In Your (Junk) Drawers?[/B]