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SiddharthRoutFlag for India

asked on

Exhale Fun Thread, Number 1

Hello Gents and Ladies.

Welcome to the "Exhale Fun Thread"!!!

"All Work and No Play makes Jack a dull boy"

The Excel Forum lacked its own "Fun Thread" and we used to let our self loose in the "Excel Zone Expert Discussion" which dilutes the objective of that thread and hence the need for a separate "Fun Thread". This thread is especially for Excel, where experts can just chill out and relax when there is no rush in the forum or they would like to share something funny.

Now some of you might wonder that we already have a "Expert Lounge". I did visit it and to my surprise, the language used there was not to my liking nor did the humor appeal to me. :) Not that I can't speak that language. I can, but the objective is not that. In this fun thread, there should be some connection to the Excel zone so that we don't duplicate the Expert Lounge. For Example: "How many Excel Zone Experts does it take to change a light bulb?" and so on.

Hope we all participate in this. Please use the "Monitor" link above to subscribe to the thread without posting in it.

A big thanks to teylyn for coming up with this idea!!!

Sid

@teylyn: I am unable to set 0 points on this. Could you please help me with this?
Avatar of dlmille
dlmille
Flag of United States of America image

6 - 5 to describe different ways to get a handle to the light object, and one to screw it in.
The light bulb is not that funny, the real funny is :I am unable to set 0 points on this :D
Thanks,
Wellous
Avatar of SiddharthRout

ASKER

>>> the real funny is :I am unable to set 0 points on this :D

wellous: Do you have a formula or an API or VBA code to solve that? :)

Sid
Hi Sid,

Yes , sure for example Use of Rotating Variable ;)
Here you are , i guess it should work with the case , hehehehehehe
//

'activates the proper window containing necessary data (light) ;)
Dim filename as strange
Windows(filename).Activate
'finds and replaces a string with a space, leaving just the device name in its place
     Cells.Find(What:="Data Collected for Physical Device - /dev/rdsk/", After:= _
     ActiveCell, LookIn:=xlFormulas, LookAt:=xlPart, SearchOrder:=xlByRows, _
     SearchDirection:=xlNext, MatchCase:=False, SearchFormat:=False).Activate
          Cells.Replace What:="Data Collected for Physical Device - /dev/rdsk/", _
          Replacement:=" ", LookAt:=xlPart, SearchOrder:=xlByRows, MatchCase:= _
          False, SearchFormat:=False, ReplaceFormat:=False
                 
 'sets this found cell equal to the string dname
                    ActiveCell = dname
ThisWorkbook.Activate
                            Worksheets(dc).Activate
              Cells.Find(What:=dname & "'Response Time (ms)'", After:=ActiveCell, LookIn:=xlFormulas _, LookAt:=xlPart, SearchOrder:=xlByRows,SearchDirection:=xlNext, _
                        MatchCase:=False, SearchFormat:=False).Activate
                    ActiveCell.Offset(1, 0).Select
                        If ActiveCell.Cells.Value = check Or "0" Then
                            Range(Selection, Selection.End(xlDown)).Select
                        End If
                  Selection.PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteAll, Operation:=xlNone, SkipBlanks:= _
                    False, Transpose:=True

//

Best of Light ,
Wellous
Wellous, well that code won't work to chnage the points on this thread as the code starts of by looking for "Data Collected for Physical Device" which is not what we want here.

I think you mean this?

Private Sub ChangePointsTo0()
    Dim Userstatus As String
    
    Userstatus = GetStatus(ActiveUser)
    
    Select Case Userstatus
    
    Case "Moderator", "Zone Advisor"
        Call MagicWand(ChangePoints, 20, 0)
    Case Else
        MsgBox "oopsie daisies! you cannot change the points." & vbCrLf & _
        "The minimum you can set is for 20 points. Please contact" & vbCrLf & _
        "Moderator or Zone Advisor"
    End Select
End Sub

Open in new window


Sid
Avatar of Ingeborg Hawighorst (Microsoft MVP / EE MVE)
What's the latest time you've ever clocked off EE?

Did you ever really want to go to bed early for a change? -- Oh, just one quick check of the Excel zone to see if there's anything quick and easy to answer .... Hours later,  and you're still at it. Midnight rolls around, then 1 am, 2 am ...

Does that ever happen to you?

I think my top time was half past three a.m. -- that was a few weeks before I made the 1 million mark. (Of course I had to wake the kids, get them ready for school and go to work myself a few hours later). That was probably not one of my most productive days at work.

Honest: does your work sometimes suffer from late nights at EE??
>Honest: does your work sometimes suffer from late nights at EE??

Never - I'm retired
>Honest: does your work sometimes suffer from late nights at EE??

Particularly not if I count sheep when I'm going to sleep
>>>What's the latest time you've ever clocked off EE?

OFF EE: 7 hrs. When I was sleeping.
ON EE: 13 hrs. I was working as an Operations Manager in a BPO but last Oct, I realized that I was making more money from freelancing than from that job (mind you the OM's pay is pretty good in India), so I became a freelancer and now I work from home. My ffox has some fixed tabs that open automatically when I launch it. EE is one of them. It might appear that I am on EE forever but that is not the case :)

>>Did you ever really want to go to bed early for a change?
Yes. yesterday and today when the EE site was down :-/

>>>Honest: does your work sometimes suffer from late nights at EE??
Not at all. If it did, I wouldn't be here. ;-)

Sid
EE is dangerous...I'm still wondering why I came back.  After my 2-year addiction in 01-02, and years of therapy, I fell off the wagon and returned.
However, I trying really hard not to revert back to those late night hours.  I can stop any time I want.  10pm? No problem, um, well, maybe 11pm.  Geez, just a few more before bed.  Is it 2am already...ugh!
BTW, I hoe I'm still welcome here in spite if my response in Excel Zone Expert Discussion, Number 26 about the two guys checking out the girl...
According to teylyn's logic, better if you post it here. Should you do so, I'll then delete your post in the other thread.

Brad
You definitely are Rob :)

Sid
Brad, instead of deleting them would it be possible to merge/move those posts here?

Sid
I see. Who would be able to do that then? Perhaps I can request that person.

Sid
"A couple of EE guys were sitting discussing how to move some stuff around the board when a hot Expert walks past.  The first EE guys says to the second: 'Did you see that hot expert?'  The second EE guys says 'No where?'  There are several possible responses:

If the first guy is Sid:
'The hot Expert just a bit below me on the all-time Expert board'"

etc. :)
"I have many powers, but moving a comment isn't one of them"

Looks like a Harry Potter line :-)
Sid, no need to worry about moving posts and creating work for the mods. They have enough to do as it is. It looks like people are finding/liking this thread already, so let the comments in the other one just peter out in their own turn.
@Teylyn: Fair Enough :)
@byundt: Thank You.

Sid
>>Did you ever really want to go to bed early for a change? -- Oh, just one quick check of the Excel zone to see if there's anything quick and easy to answer .... Hours later,  and you're still at it. Midnight rolls around, then 1 am, 2 am ...

Night before last, I watched a movie with wife in bed, slept about 45 mins  - after movie, went downstairs for "water' then, "hmmm, say, I'll just take a look..."

I think the latest on a work nite till 4.30 am - slept till 7 and went to work. I finish one then say - maybe one more - then its 2, then 3, lol.
@David: Was the movie Excel-lent?

Sid
Did I mention that I created a simple version of Space Invaders in Excel?  For fun, I show it off when I teach my Excel beginner class, just to demonstrate some of the little-known powers of Excel (that most here are probably aware of.)

I should probably extend it and create a custom font with the proper characters then let them wander around the screen until the crush the shooter.

Left-arrow, Right-Arrow, Space-bar-fire!
Oh darn...I forgot the sound effects! Blast it!
It was the "Office" :)

No, really it was "Money Never Sleeps" and Le Boif was Excel-ent, and M. Douglas' latest facelift upgrade to Version 8.0 beta is not bad.

@rspahitz - I LOVED space invaders as a kid, lol.

Dave
Cool!  a place to upload my Excel-Invaders game after I clean it up a bit.  Thx Sid!
You are welcome. Why not upload it here as well ;)

Sid
Surely Excel and 'fun' are mutually exclusive.
I got 1000 points today...if I can just get 3 more O-pt questions to tack on, that would be 1,000,OOO points and I can be a genius like Sid :)
Just answer 5 (10 to be on a safer side) questions daily and you will be a genius in 55 days (approx 2 months) :)

Sid
I just realized a guy from defense services will always start his 'sub' with a "Private" !!!

Private BlahBlah()

End Sub

Sid
I'd rather have the Privates handle the Protected Functions around the Sub.  now, maybe a Private first-Class???
Attached is my silly little Invaders game.  Note that I have never actually won the game so I know it needs some tweaking.

You will probably need to run it full screen to play (or at least big enough so the whole game board appears before you begin.
Also note that it will open a little window that manages the timer so don't close that or the game stops.

For controls, left/right arrows move your ship (^) at the bottom; space bar will fire.

have fun with it :)

ExcelInvaders.xls
The way you declare your variables in VBA tells you what kind of profession you are in...

Journalist
Public Exposure

Open in new window


Artist
Public Nudity As Graphic

Open in new window


Chef
Dim Mouthful as Byte

Open in new window


Electrician
Static Electricity

Open in new window


Defense Personal
Private FirstClass

Open in new window


Human Rights
Dim Rights() as Double
Redim Rights(100)

Open in new window


Sid
Does anyone remember Excel 95 and the flight simulator module?  Anyone remember how to get into it?
It's Excel 97 not 95. You hit Goto and select X97:L97 then hold Ctrl and hit the chart button.
Or maybe ctrl+shift. It's been a while. Oh, and there's this sweet new tool called Google that let's you look up stuff like this on your own.  ;)
http://vsbabu.org/software/fsxls.html
Google?  sounds interesting...but isn't it spelled Googol?  maybe someday there will be a website where you can look up everything you need...

So XL97, huh? now where can I get me a copy of that...as I recall, it was "fixed" in an updated version so you need a specific serial number or something.

And I recall other Easter eggs in other version, like the one with the scrolling list of everyone who developed it and similar stuff.  Those were the fun days I guess.
does anyone know of any easter eggs in excel 2k10?
The powers at Microsoft stopped the practice of Easter eggs a number of releases ago. I just confirmed this - again - at the MVP Summit at Microsoft so don't hold your breath.
or so they "say" :)

teylyn - thanks for your call on grading earlier today :)

Dave
A relatively reliable source of Easter egg information:

   http://www.eeggs.com/tree/279.html
Nice link Kevin :)

Sid
Question:

Is it easier to type Excel 2010 or Excel 2K10?

Alternatively, why would someone actually want to type Excel 2K10?
XL 2KX (like Mac OSX?)
It is actually MMX, but nobody recognizes MMX..
>>>>Alternatively, why would someone actually want to type Excel 2K10?

On A Lighter Note:

Maybe because they are using a laptop and "K" is closer than "0". Unfortunately they cannot replace the 2nd 0 with "K" without changing it's meaning :) Maybe they would once Microsoft 2012 is released. Imagine 2K12.

Sid
Excel 14 does it for me. Shorter and easier. Don't talk to me about spooks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triskaidekaphobia)
>and "K" is closer than "0"

Is that a reason? You have weird hands or some strange typing habit/posture...
lol. Any typing posture, I find "k" closer than "0" in a laptop.

Sid
OK and KO - almost opposite in meaning
Randomocity
"Fill in" and "Fill out" have same meaning. So do flammable and inflammable.

"Startling" is the only nine-letter English word that can be reduced to a one letter word by removing one character at a time, with each residue still being an English word.
>>>>"Startling" is the only nine-letter English word that can be reduced to a one letter word by removing one character at a time, with each residue still being an English word.

Two more.

sparkling and splashing also bear this property.

Sid
Brad's post has me thinking.

I know shared workbooks are bad but can we use them to create a 2 player Scrabble?

Sid
Ok Here is an interesting one!

If you were to DIM Excel Zone Members then how would you do that?

Dim Rorya As Collection
Dim Barry As WorksheetFunction
Dim teylyn As ChartObject
Dim Kevin As Legend
'Brettdj
Dim Dave As Filter
'dlmille
Dim Dave As Adjustments
Dim richard As AboveAverage
Dim Tracy As Action
Dim Sid As ErrObject '<~~~ lolz
Dim Tommy As Double
Dim Brad As CommandBar
Dim aiki As DocumentInspector
Dim Rob As FreeformBuilder

Open in new window


Sid
Sid, no wonder you hit the million mark so fast...you have WAYYYY too much time on your hands.  Thanks for all the fun :)
That's the best part working from home. ;)

Sid
So you are working hard and we are hardly working
>>If you were to DIM Excel Zone Members then how would you do that?
>>
>>[list that doesn't include me]


So what, do I defy description or something?

:)
>>>So you are working hard and we are hardly working

You said it. I didn't say that :)

>>>So what, do I defy description or something?

No. I had thought of

Dim Patrick as AddIn

but was now convinced and hence was looking for more options. :)

Sid
Oops a typo...

>>>but was now convinced and hence was looking for more options. :)

but was not convinced and hence was looking for more options. :)

Sid
dim Patrick as SmartDocument
Nice one!

Sid
I forgot altogether about MS word :)

Sid
>>>>I'm bored.
@Kevin: That's one of the traits when you are a LEGEND ;)

I now know that I DIMMED you correctly :)

Sid
Either that or he finds mere mortals dim.
Still bored.

Also slightly disappointed in the inability of some [one] of my peers to be able to socialize in a mature and respectful manner.

But then what would our beloved moderators do on their beer breaks after working the piles of mundane drivel in CS General.

Wouldn't it be nice [Eric/Mark/Lillian] if we had a function in zones such as Excel that provided a place to let our hair down and have a little fun without subjecting ourselves to the insanity in the lounges? A function such a continuous blog or thread that didn't have to look and behave like a question?

Where is Nigel now that we so desperately need some real wit?
>>>>Also slightly disappointed in the inability of some [one] of my peers to be able to socialize in a mature and respectful manner.

Bored and Hurt?

Sid
Your imagination appears to be unaffected by the [now expunged] posts of the past.

I am disappointed when I witness unevolved behavior from socially dysfunctional people.

I am bored when I cease to be mentally or emotionally stimulated by the people around me.

I am hurt when my doggie dies.
>>>>Your imagination appears to be unaffected by the [now expunged] posts of the past.

Whoa! AIM?

Sid
or rather WLM?

Sid
re 2010 vs 2k10: with one finger hovering over the 0 and one over the 1 and 2,  I  personally prefer 2010. Much faster to type for a semi-touch type person.

Although I like MMX!
>I am disappointed when I witness unevolved behavior from socially dysfunctional people.

>>>>Alternatively, why would someone actually want to type Excel 2K10?

Let me clear that up. :) In our office, the common term used is office 2k10 so by force of habit, i wrote it thus. but excel 2010 is totally acceptable... ;)  
MMXXL? (or MMXXLt when refrerring to templates :) )
Or MMXXLM if it has macros.
MMXXLM? That actually still looks like roman numerals. Doesn't quite fit all the rules, but I read it as 2970. That must be the year that MS will topple.
>Let me clear that up. :) In our office, the common term used is office 2k10 so by force of habit, i wrote it thus. but excel 2010 is totally acceptable... ;)

Like I said, why would anyone want to type 2K10 instead of 2010?

Possible answers:

a) I want to be cute.

b) I want to be different.

c) I want to follow the crowd [of those desiring to be cute and/or different].

d) I want to avoid keystrokes [e.g., I don't have a f'ing clue why I do what I do].

Why would someone want to type 2010 instead of 2K10?

a) I want to refer to the product as it is publicly named to avoid any confusion [e.g., I have no desire to be cute, be different, or follow those that desire to be].

b) ?
zorvek, 2k10 also reinforces the fact that you are talking about the year whereas 2010 could be the cost of your new laptop.  however, I still find it disturbing.  I prefer '10...before 2011, it was tougher to say "way back in 5" than "way back in 95" or way back in 2 thousand 5"...and 2k5 at least saved a keystroke...now you save nothing and make it tougher to validate.
tommy wrote, in  35097464 "You reading that thread where I'm trying to convince those guys that they can't use statistical analysis and data mining to predict winning lottery numbers? That one's been fun so far."

So you CAN'T predict lottery results?  No wonder my algorithms haven't gotten my the jackpot yet.  I thought I had a bug in them.  I kept getting off by 1 number each time so I thought I was using the 0-based indexing.
>>>I kept getting off by 1 number each time so I thought I was using the 0-based indexing.

Next time Use numbers which are off by 1 and you will win the lottery. ;)

And yes, do remember to share the lottery winnings with us :)

Sid
I tried that but then they were off by 2, darn it!
When I win, I'll plan a get-together in Hawaii to celebrate.
>2k10 also reinforces the fact that you are talking about the year whereas 2010 could be the cost of your new laptop

Gee, we're in an Excel forum discussing Excel topics, and I don't think we're confused when someone says "Hey, remember the oil spill in 2010?"

Or..."I just got a new Samsung flat screen high def for 2010!"

Or..."Dude, are you using 2010 or 2007?"

Put another way, why on Earth are you concerned about whether or not we're talking about the year or cost or whatever? Consider:

"Hey, remember the oil spill in 2K10?"

"I just got a new Samsung flat screen high def for 2K10!"

"Dude, are you using 2K10 or 2K07?"

Anyone still confused?

It makes some [very limited] sense to type 2K instead of 2000. Why? Fewer keystrokes as in WTF and OMG and LOL and on and on. IM shorthand. The kids do it. Immature adults who don't respect the English language or who are challenged in some way do it. Some of these shorthand acronyms are actually becoming standard English "words" like LOL. But this isn't that unusual. History is riddled with such example such as "US", "et al", "e.g.", and "i.e." It happens. But 2K10 versus 2010?
I wasn't disagreeing with you...I even gave the same example with 2K5.
People get in bad habits.  Y2K was fine...2K1 was silly but 1/2 acceptable.  then the habits started and people carried it on way to long into 2K10...bad habits die hard.  let's all go back to 2010 :)
If they're still doing it in 89 years and saying 2k100, I'm going to laugh. Hard.
So XL97, huh? now where can I get me a copy of that
I have a copy that works. My brother bought it for me at the thift store for $5. Just happened to see it and remembered me telling him about the old EE (easter egg, not this website). I'd upload the install files somewhere but that would be technically illegal. Would MS really care? Would the mods delete the link? Hmm....
Yes Tommy That would be illegal.

Sid
Religiously: Thou shall not to K the Numbers...
I never knew that this technology existed untill I read today's newspaper.

This is simply amazing!

http://www.intendix.com/

Imagine controlling Excel using this?

Sid
Just thought of this ;-)

A wife divorced her husband because he was having ExcelCalulation problem.

Sid
ROLF!

sId
And Sid, you wondered why I labeled your humor as sometimes dubious?

T
What is funny is watching Sid talk to himself.

Hey, Sid, www.match.com!
Nutsch, Kevin: Spoilsports!

:)

Sid
Sid: Deprived of Fresh Air.
Fresh Air? In Mumbai? :)

NAH! I am better off inside!

Sid
Grab a cab and take a week-end trip to Nashik Valley, or a ferry to Elephanta, you deserve it.

T
Ferry to Elephanta seems promising :)

Thank God you didn't suggest Laddakh or Gangtok.

Where in India are you originally from?

Sid
France, by the Belgian border.

T
>>> "originally" from?

You must be currently staying there but you or your ancestors were in India once?

Sid
Though I am posting in the Fun Zone but what I am going to comment is serious and not intended to be funny at all.

I have been thinking about this for a long time now. Specially after watching the movie "2012" and reading up on the Mayan Calendar. Considering the latest calamities, be it the earthquakes or Tsunamis, are we approaching towards the end of the world? It definitely is a horrifying thought.

I saw the pictures on the Internet on what happened in japan and I am truly shocked. Especially this one

http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/mar2011/0/0/image-1-for-tsunami-strikes-japan-gallery-957590373.jpg

Even for a country used to quakes, this one was horrific! The apocalyptic images of surging water and uncontrolled conflagration broadcast by Jap TV resembles the scenes from the above mentioned movie. And now I believe that there are tsunami alerts in US and South America? If it is then I hope the US Govt takes appropriate measures so that the damages are bare minimum.

Sid
I'm just off the coast of San Diego (southern CA, just north of Mexico).  I got a pre-recorded call this morning (probably from the City or County) notifying me of a tsunami alert.  Not sure how I got on their phone tree but it was a welcome message.
Luckily, the waves came in during low tide and rose the water up to about the normal high-tide level.  If the moon had been overhead, it could have been a bit worse (although not directly affecting me about about 100 feet above sea level.)
I heard that areas up north were more affected with up to 8-foot (2.5m) waves.
Ya ya. Some not-so-bright people built harbors in bays with narrow inlets (Santa Cruz and Crescent City) where the surges caused faster then normal water flow in and out of the harbors and poorly constructed docks fell apart and allowed boats to drift and gently bump into other boats. One dude in Crescent City was standing too close to the water and he and his two buddies were pulled into the current. He is missing but his two buddies made it back to shore. Beyond that the entire Western US coast saw a few waves a foot or two higher than normal. Woohoo.

Now Hawaii had a little more water damage but no one was hurt and it will be a few weeks as the water, mud, and sand are cleaned up.
>>> If the moon had been overhead, it could have been a bit worse (although not directly affecting me about about 100 feet above sea level.)

March 19 is the Super Moon day. Supermoons are closer to Earth and occur every 10to 20 years - the most recent being 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005. On that day the moon will be 356, 577 kilometers from the earth, the closest it has been since 1992. I also read it on the internet that many weather bloggers noted that the last monster tsunami in Asia on Boxing Day 2004 was just a week before the Jan 2005 supermoon...

Sid
By the time the tsunami had reached New Zealand, the highest waves were 40 cm / 15 in

These pictures are mind numbing. Our own earthquake of a few weeks ago pales in comparison. I'm not ready to believe in the overall gloom and doom scenario, though.
I wasn't hinting at that these calamities are caused by supermoon but the co-incidence that these events happen approx a week before the supermoon. :)

December 2004 tsunami (A week before January 10, 2005 supermoon)
March 2011 tsunami (A week before March 19, 2011 supermoon)

Sid
On the news they were throwing out the idea of the moon possibly causing this...I was wondering what the heck they were talking about.
BTW...I saw  somewhat large earthquake off the coast of Oregon about a week ago, then came the 7.1 in Japan, just east of the 8.9.  I looked at the ring-of-fire map and wondered if the Oregon quake may have jarred something that cause the western edge of the plate to slip east toward the hole left near Oregon.  So many factors in these things.  Maybe that combined with the extra pull from the moon and maybe some sun spots and a meteor coming past Pluto...
Maybe that combined with the extra pull from the moon and maybe some sun spots and a meteor coming past Pluto..

Plu to earth pprox  5billion km. - so unlikely to sffect us
oh..not Pluto...just the tiny meteor next to Pluto :P
No. Pluto isn't a planet anymore so it doesn't have gravity.
>>>Pluto isn't a planet anymore

So I guess

My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets

now becomes

My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us, Nevermind!

Sid
and does that mean that Planet X is still waiting to be found?
Has anyone installed WOT - the Web of Trust tool?

Apparently, Experts-exchange is not highly rated by this site. some people are biased and have provided irrelevant comments too.

I have flagged the following as incorrect -

http://goo.gl/xEdwn 
http://goo.gl/pRwE1
http://goo.gl/4tx1E
http://goo.gl/YtVrf 

Thanks,
Ardhendu
http://securitygarden.blogspot.com/2008/04/bah-experts-exchange-scam-artists.html

lolzzzz

They disabled putting more posts.

Wish I could say what I wanted...

Rory/Patricab/Pari: Great comments by you guys there!

I never thought MVPs could be dumb. Corrine is so dumb that even after Rory/Patrick and Pari informed that you can become a member by answering questions, he/she is still arguing that he doesn't want to give his credit card information... I hope he is the only dumb MVP out there. If I find few more like him/her, my faith in MVP program will shake tremendously. I have interacted with more than 50 mvp's and thank god he/she is the only one whom I have found dumb and lacking common sense.

Sid
Oh! I forgot to add .. EE... You Rock!

Sid
"A palabras necias, oidos sordos."
I think that everybody knows someone like Corrine...
She is always right, has a better comment, has a bigger car, has a better place.... and of course, everybody have a hidden pourpouse behind what He/She says.
Regards,
Roberto.
pari, where did you find this bogus review site?  Obviously they don't understand the collaborative effort that leads to successful results.  Sure you can search for answers free through search engines but 80% of the time I do that it takes me hours and the answers don't work, and I have no way to ask questions about how to fix it.   They just don't get it.
And the part about security risk?  I suppose that's possible, but the EE support team does a good job of working with the experts to remove any threats that are found.
I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I think we sometimes get caught up in the nice world we have here and forget how beneficial this site really is to others. Scam?  Hardly. However, I have always wondered if the owners take advantage of the fact that we experts get a bit of a high from working out a solution, sharing our knowledge and seeing people accept the answers (which is why we get annoyed when users accept something that we feel won't help them or if they didn't ask the right question...) But at least I have a T-shirt on the way :)
Thanks to the other zones folks check alongside Excel, I just about have enought T-shirts for a B-Ball team :)  I'm getting one in every size for my family of 5.

Frankly, I've been touting E-E at work here, these past few months.

Dave
I've been touting EE in my classes since at least 2004, including having a reference in my reply-signature for e-mails to students.
Not everyone needs to pay a monthly fee for this service but it's probably worthwhile for companies that have ongoing tech projects.
doesn't matter what anyone says, EE is the best.

http://santabarbara.bbb.org/Business-Report/Experts-Exchange-6002311

BBB has given it a A+ rating.
Dudes! Let's be clear here. EE DOES screw with Google and DOES present information to Google that is NOT readily available to the masses. Yes, the fee does not go to the experts and is used to make a better web site and keep the lights on, we therefore make our contributions for free and Microsoft recognizes that when evaluating MVP qualifications. But make no mistake, EE IS gaming Google and the Google searches by presenting information in the organic listings that is only available by fee.

Also know that EE was free years ago and up until a year or two ago had a limited membership subscription that was free. When that was terminated then the crap started really hitting the fan amongst the purists.

EE is NOT a free site. It is a good site but it is NOT a free site and that is the basic gripe that Corrine and others have.
Good to know zorvek.  I'd been out of touch for a few years (back then, there was still the free version.)  I thought they still had the minimal free version for users, but I guess it was being abused by people just creating new e-mail accounts to get in.  So now I get to pay for it by answering questions then I get my questions answered for the fee of my time :)
Let's be clear, the limited membership wasn't terminated because of scammers, it was terminated to increase profits and get more members to pony up the cash.

Don't get me wrong, I prefer EE over any other site because it is well-maintained and the points are fun. But I have issues with how it presents itself to the public.
Hmmm...I wonder if they actually increased revenues by driving away the individuals who used to find the site, get some benefit and put in a good word to others (who may decide to pay) versus losing this customer base and leaving a set of people who bad mouth it because you can't see the solutions without paying for them...apparently EE is making enough money right now that it doesn't care about this...
Ardhendu,

not read the comments but there hav been beeen adverse comments floating aound bout ee for a long time. they're silly at best.Almost always ill-infomed.

Patrick

>>>It is a good site but it is NOT a free site and that is the basic gripe that Corrine and others have.

Corrine or any other who feel that EE is not a free site need to then take time to answer just 2-3 questions a month to keep it free rather than bitching about it. I answer approx 10 questions A DAY so I am sure answering 2-3 questions A MONTH won't affect their health. :)

For years I came across EE threads in Google when I wanted an answer but was frustrated because I couldn't see it but at no point of time I bitched about this site nor did I had a blog which supported the hatred towards this site or as a matter of fact any site.

>>>But I have issues with how it presents itself to the public.

Yes, Sadly, I do agree with that. :(

Sid
>Corrine or any other who feel that EE is not a free site need to then take time to answer just 2-3 questions a month to keep it free rather than bitching about it. I answer approx 10 questions A DAY so I am sure answering 2-3 questions A MONTH won't affect their health.

Forcing the member to answer a few questions a month does not make the site free. This is the most common cause of problems in the world today: lack of empathy. The typical Google searcher is NOT an expert, does not know how to answer a technical question, and does not have the time to answer a technical question. This is one area in which I agree with Corrine, she is considering the context within which the individual with an issue and without the ability to solve it on their own finds themselves. It's not about Corrine. It's not about you or me. It's about them.
>>>>she is considering the context within which the individual with an issue and without the ability to solve it on their own finds themselves. It's not about Corrine. It's not about you or me. It's about them.

If that is the case then there are plenty of free sites for them. This in the end is absolute business. It's as simple as the fact that if you can't afford MS OFFICE, get yourself OpenOffice but don't blame Microsoft for making money. ;)

Sid
>If that is the case then there are plenty of free sites for them.

And therein lies the crux of Corrine's argument. The Internet (and the MVP program) is based primarily on the cost-free exchange of information. EE is NOT free but puts forth teasers via Google that suggests they are. Read her post again and you will see that she makes a rather compelling case. Most of our posts in response failed to realize this and focused on how great EE is. Corrine's argument is not that EE provides crummy information (although she does gripe a little on a few bad answers), it's that it is pretending to be free when it isn't.

We can argue all day long about what is really free. Those supposedly free sites are really not free when you consider the advertising displayed on the vast majority of said sites. And Google is certainly looking for profit too. MVPs are made MVPs based on books published and classes taught as well as assistance provided on free sites. Those books and classes are certainly not free. Even StackOverflow, supposedly a free site created by a few disgruntled EE experts, is really just a front for a thriving consulting business for which they are paid handsomely.
Hi Kevin,

>>It is a good site but it is NOT a free site and that is the basic gripe that Corrine and others have.    

Totally agree... BUT... what I read ALSO shows Corrine with another basic gripe (and is why I dislike her point of view at all): The help you will find in EE is Bad or will be just links to another sites... Totally false as I see it.... (At least in the Excel, Access and SQL areas which are my three main answer sources in EE).

Cheers,
Roberto.
Also, the biggest issue I have when my membership expires is that I cannot get my answer when I need it.  I have to find some questions that I may be able to answer.  Hope that I've answered some that other users find appealing, and wait until I get enough points to qualify as an expert, then go find some button somewhere to allow me to get access to the things I need.  This can take 2-3 days before it happens, (especially if I only answer 2-3 questions rather than dozens) and by then, I've been fired for not having an immediate answer to the question that Google told me I could find on EE.
>The help you will find in EE is Bad or will be just links to another sites... Totally false as I see it

Really? This happened two days ago:

   https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/26891260/Formula-to-get-workbook-name-on-a-cell-excel-2003.html

The badgers refer to these guys as Google Monkeys. The phenomenon occurs here more than elsewhere because of the competitive nature of this site with the points. It happens and it's been an issue in the past. The competition also encourages quick and dirty posts with followup posts later to clean up the mess. It's worse here than most other sites.

Anything else?
>The competition also encourages quick and dirty posts with followup posts later to clean up the mess

Agreed. I assume it's already been discussed whether an expert could call dibs on a question for a couple minutes to be able to answer properly without fearing losing the first in advantage?

T

PS: The exhale fun thread is now in Excel zone experts discussion mode. How long until the reverse happens.
>I assume it's already been discussed whether an expert could call dibs on a question for a couple minutes to be able to answer properly without fearing losing the first in advantage?

We have explored this many times. We have considered many different ideas but keep coming up with unworkable solutions.

The one possibility that does have some merit is an expert rating system. Such a system allows askers to rate experts on qualitative attributes versus quantitative attributes. Attributes such as:

- How easy was the expert to understand?
- How complete were the expert's posts?
- How responsive was the expert?
- How well did the expert respond to your followup questions?
- How well did the expert collaborate with the other experts?

The results are accumulated and kept private. Only aggregate anonymous results are presented to the expert. Results are used to give the expert awards such as a title, a badge, and/or extra benefits such as increased award points. The challenge is not the math but getting askers to rate experts. As I stated above, askers are in a different place than we are and don't really care much about anything other than getting their questions answered. If we can come up with a way of motivating askers to rate experts then we might make this work.

>The exhale fun thread is now in Excel zone experts discussion mode. How long until the reverse happens.

Nothing personal, Sid, but this thread is a bit redundant.
I think this particular thread is making it redundant.  It "feels" like a bunch of folks are becoming a bit uptight and its time to relax a bit and "exhale"!

If I put myself on the user side (which I am most of the time, outside of my expert area), I would see it as a drag to have to answer all those questions for each question asked.  I question whether "was this comment helpful" even adds value.

There are a significant number of E-E users that use the resource on a daily basis (or seems like) and they're not the ones griping on another site (my assertion).  However, if you want feedback for continuous improvement and image management (putting my Marketing hat back on), why not ask these questions as part of an interim/periodic survey?

I would be more likely to fairly and honestly assess when I'm not under the gun to deliver my work, as opposed to being subjected to what would become "noise" after a while.

-----------------  On a more serious note --------------------

..
..
..

Oh... sorry, I was inhaling....

How may E-E experts does it take to change a light bulb?


:)

Cheers,

Dave
Question: How many Experts does it take to write an Excel formula?
Answer: Post a question asking for one in the Excel zone - the easier the better, ignore it for a few hours or a week, and then tabulate the fun.
Now, that's hilarious!!!
>>>Oh... sorry, I was inhaling....
How may E-E experts does it take to change a light bulb?

>>>>Post a question asking for one in the Excel zone - the easier the better, ignore it for a few hours or a week, and then tabulate the fun.

Thanks for bringing back life to this thread :)

>>>Nothing personal, Sid, but this thread is a bit redundant.

Thanks for bringing sense to this thread. This discussion could have gone for days. Yeah, that is because we became so engrossed in what Corrine thinks! Corine and others, EE and it's rating system etc can be left for the experts discussion zone.

Back to the 'Fun' part of it.

Coming up shortly with more fun scenarios...

Sid
Google monkeys... I like the concept :-)
Maybe I'm lucky and the monkeys do not answered me so often.
>But I have issues with how it presents itself to the public.


pity you didnt' voice your concerns loud and clear at the 2010 conference.
I've been voicing my concerns privately for over five years. I live three hours North of San Luis Obispo and visit the town frequently. I prefer not to make a fuss at the shows.
i be surprised at kevin's sentiment. a genuine pov for a change.

for a lady (https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/26856971/Excel-Zone-Expert-Discussion-Number-26.html?anchorAnswerId=35171156#a35171156) .. that's... quite unexpected!

but i fully agree, the bit about "only a few questions" is crock. how many outsiders do you think can squeeze in 3 answers in a month with sid/rory/kevin/everyone-else on the hunt?

Google played along because it was the only site in town covering so many zones, but it was only a matter of time until the competition came along and took the cake home (EE's no longer Google results #1 for most queries).

The site has transformed in the last few years from

- anyone (experts) can get answers from their peers
- anyone else (joe blogg) can get anwers for free

to

- unlimited questions for minimal fee
- committed high quality experts (good) and point-conscious Google monkeys (this tarnishes the site image, and even causes copyright/plagiarism issues) competing to answer

Anyone who pretends this site is a "free" site is kidding

Quality : yes it has
Lousy/stolen material : ditto
Free : nope
Games Google: yup

If you've read all of this, no wonder you are here - you have too much free time.  Now get back to exhaling!
I was in a rush, but meant to also add..

I have nothing against the EE's business model. If I had I wouldn't have been here so long (relative). It takes some money from some people and provides a place for Experts to provide good answers.

If you're happy for your contributed results to be displayed to the general public at page 9 (1280x800 display) from Google searches (search for "how to pivot sql data", the EE page comes in 6th on page 3, where it used to come in at #1 on page 1 [log out of EE first]), then it is your contribution after all.  You are the Expert and you choose how to use your time.

I don't have statistics, but my number-from-the-ether guesstimate is that >90% of new EE questions are from paying customers, as opposed to peers (Experts).  From the newsletters, it is also clear that most paying customers don't even ask, they just pay to see answers without ads or scrolling to page 9 (for only a small reasonable fee).

Here's another interesting one: "view excel files side by side" - item #3 on page 7.  Someone can correct me, but this demotion of EE on Google must be really recent, because even last year, I can recall EE featuring very highly on Google searches.

It's your time - if helping customers (who pay a small fee to a company) is virtuous to you, you're a better (wo)man.

The points game is addictive though :)
zorvek,

I would like you to logout of EE, delete your cookie, then google any topic that you know is on EE. Your content or belonging to anyone else on EE. When you hit the EE results click on the link.  Once you get there, page to the bottom of the page. (A long thread, especially, is great.)

Then do this equation:

The average internet user (the attention span of a gnat) * the 95%+ of payers (who rely on search and keep the lights on) / number of active experts (probably less 500) * the number of neglected question alerts.

When you look at those numbers, it gets to be overwhelming. And you can see your answer without paying a dime.
All is known and promoted on the various blogs as is the Google cache. Just proves more how much of a "scam" it is. A scam is anything that presents itself as one thing for a fee but is really something different.

I've told EE a number of times that a better (and more forthright) policy would be to take the top small percentage of solutions and make them public to Google and everyone else. Everything else should be hidden from Google as they are from everyone else. Then present more clear and direct marketing about the abundance of additional solutions and access to Experts as the value add when the price is paid. They would probably get the same or better results without the negative publicity.
Posting links to other pages on this and other sites is not a bad thing as long as the links are vetted and presented in a way that demonstrates they have been vetted as well as providing a means to find the page when the URL changes. What is not condoned is re-posting the work of others without proper crediting of the source. Hence providing links, when done with thought and good intentions, is an excellent alternative to re-posting content.

It was determined some years ago that the correct way to post a link to another page was to include a brief description of the page contents along with both the title of the page and the link. The description demonstrates that the page was vetted and the title provides a means of finding the page in the event the URL changes.
zorvek: you missed the 'LOL', I guess. :)

Sid
I was simply pulling your leg ;)

Sid
No, I didn't. I am responding to the general notion that links are a bad thing. They are a good thing when properly posted.
This is just leading nowhere: http://deadendlink.com/
Google Monkeys, "Unite!"

How much time will it take 1,000 monkeys at keyboards (with x-tra large coffee cups, always filled, plenty of bananas, and MTV playing the latest "groove" on the flatscreen) to write the Windows 7 operating system?

And, how soon from that point till SP3?

Let's see...it has taken Microsoft about 91,392,475 person years to build what they have today which, according to Bill, becomes "crummy" the moment the next version is released. So it should take them monkeys about 3 or 4 years? My logic is whacked and I'm probably smoking way too much hooch but it sounds funny so I posted it.
Real Windows Vista developers produced (on average) 1000 lines of code per year. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/philipsu/archive/2006/06/14/631438.aspx

Since Vista was around 45 million lines of code, equating your monkeys to the professionals means that you'll need 45 years plus who knows how many rolls of baling wire and cases of Band-Aids to produce Windows Vista.
1,000 lines of code! A YEAR! Dang! I produce that every few weeks!
Heck...some of us produce that much just to solve one EE member's problems using VBA to replicate a formula that exists in Excel but the user really wants VBA :)
Well if you're totally lost -- you need to know about this 404 or this one.
What is your forte in Excel?

Is it Formulas, Charts, Pivots or VBA or all of them?

Sid
text in cells :P

I'd probably say VBA followed by formulas.  But I've learned over the years that formulas are safer to use so I always try to solve problems that way first.  Oh, and Data Validation is fun as well as Conditional Formatting.
My area of expertise is mainly Fill colors.
rspahitz: Yeah formulas are faster in when compared to VBA. Wish I was as good as Barry :)

nutsch: Wow...Holi to acchi gayi hogi aapki...

Sid
I'm Google monkey wanabe...
nutsch...related to fill colors...I noticed that if I use the 2010 fill colors and try to save as a 2003 file, it complains that I have an incompatibility.  it seems that the "standard" fill colors have now changed.  ugh!
I liked the chart where you could pick any of 6 shades of R,G,B, etc.  Now it seems that they have all sorts of pastel colors. ugh x 2!
Sid: holi mubarak

r: indeed

Thomas
Hey...what's a simple way to get the column letter-name from a cell?  I used this but it seems there should be a function for it...

Split(activeCell.Address, "$")(1)

If ActiveCell.Column is 1, I get A; if it's 27, I get AA.

Is there a "preferred" way to get this?  Or maybe a more creative/fun way to get this?
I always use this.

'~~>Usage MsgBox ReturnName(34)
Function ReturnName(ByVal num As Integer) As String
    ReturnName = Split(Cells(, num).Address, "$")(1)
End Function

Open in new window


Sid
I guess Patrick would use Regexp.
I just hoped there was a built-in function to take a number and convert to to column.  Looks like maybe the Address is the way to go.

I just wasn't sure if there is a case where the Address property would ever omit the "$", causing the split to fail.

Thanks! :)
Now back to the fun at hand.

Has anyone done any "real" projects with the gradient colors in 2007/10?
Address(true, true) gives $ in front of both column and row; Address(true, false) gives one; Address(false, false) has no $; etc. (true, true) is default, so don't worry. It will always be there.

Unless they change the defaults in a newer version. Or use Location instead of Address.
Cool!  Thanks.  I didn't realize Address was a function (rather than property).  And I forgot about Location. :)
I meant if they decide to change the word Address to Location in a future release. I was referencing the earlier discussion on how they keep messing things up by making seemingly (to them) minor changes between versions. I don't think Location is anything yet (for a Range).
When Microsoft considers whether or not to add new functionality they look at the number of users in their audience who will use it. They also look at whether or not the function can be simulated and how easy the simulation is. The need for the column name is so rare it and the simulated function so easy that it will never happen.

I'm wondering, why does anyone want the column name anyway? I have never had a need for it other than answering questions on EE.
It's definitely not common, but if, for example, you're writing a report that shows the user what column contains a value, it's nice to show "AC12" rather than row 12, column 29.

Similarly, if you add a spin button to allow the user to select a column, the spin button can hold the column number and add code to show the corresponding column name as the spin changes.

Besides, EE comes from the real world, although I often question whether many of the users know anything about good design.

If you are trying to populate cell formulae dynamically from the VBA then Address could come in handy especially if you have a dynamic number of columns.
Wow. I needed some punctuation in that last post that wasn't there. I attached the missing characters.
, -
>If you are trying to populate cell formulae dynamically from the VBA then Address could come in handy especially if you have a dynamic number of columns.

That's bad programming. I do this all the time and use column numbers exclusively. It's more efficient anyway and you can do math with column numbers.

>you're writing a report that shows the user what column contains a value, it's nice to show "AC12" rather than row 12, column 29...if you add a spin button to allow the user to select a column, the spin button can hold the column number and add code to show the corresponding column name as the spin changes.

These are somewhat realistic needs. However, two thoughts come to mind: first, you are a developer and the number of developers building such tools for users is very small compared to the total number of users. And, being a developer, you are more than capable of building simulators. Second, showing the user column letters on a report is probably bad design. If I ever was faced with such a possibility I would reconsider my architecture and UI. Users do not think in terms of column numbers, they think in terms of column names or what is in the column. Forcing them to think in terms of column letters means something is wrong with the UI. You can do better than that.
That's what I was saying...at lot of it is design issues.  Unfortunately, Excel users (rather than developers) get to know how things work (because it's so easy) then start acting like power users without really knowing what they're doing.  This allows them to talk to bosses about things that make the boss think they know what they're talking about then the developers are obliged to follow the bosses orders to do bad designs because the "power users" told them that's how it should be.  I've tried to educate the bosses, but they don't listen to me...and then I usually move on to another company because they simply don't respect my expertise.  (Do I really have to prove this to them when I'm the one who keeps bailing them out of bad situations? Geez!)

Anyway, sometimes when I need to "build a cell reference" I'll take the easy way and use "R"&row&"C"&column rather than get the column name.  I don't like to do this either but it' often convenient for little projects.  For bigger projects, I'll used named references or column headings.

Build a class that you initialize with a table range and then use that class object to access the table using any of many different methods. Pop it into any and all projects and you no longer have to worry about rows and columns.

I get the boss thing. Unfortunate when it happens and we just have to work within the boundaries.
Now I am getting bored. You guys have got the fun thread and expert zone mixed up...

:-|

Sid
Sid, maybe it's time for Exhale Number 2 ....
If you close this one and start a new one, I or someone else will set the points to zero. This one's getting a bit slow to load, anyway.

cheers, teylyn
oooh-oooh...I wanna get the points for this one :)
Rob I tried closing the thread and giving the points to you but I guess us mortals cannot close "0" point threads :)

Sid
Link to Exhale fun, Number 2 will be posted here shortly.
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:) we're going to soon see the article about rsphahitz:

The JuggerWannabe rspahitz has been a member since who-knows-when, is an expert in just-about-everything and has commented on 3,345,334,100 questions for a total of (0) points.

:0
Next Exhale Fun Thread: http:Q_26923688.html