Hi Adrian,

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't have that luxury. I am well aware of how much some third-party DBs suck, and how awful it can be to be stuck with them.

That makes knowledge of what bitmasks are and how they can be operated a Good Thing for those in a similar position as you currently are - but it still doesn't make it right to advertise the use of bitmasks as if they are a Good Thing in themselves.

(Note - I don't think that the QOTD actually "advertises" the use of bitmasks, but it does teach people about them without the "don't do this unless forced to by crappy third-party software" disclaimer that I think ought to be attached here).