Have this ever happened to you?

[ceninan]

The disciple was searching Google for enlightenment. Suddenly, amongst the chaos, a light could be seen. Finally - a topic he could relate to! Would he finally learn truth? He reads the whole thread - all of the many, many pages. Truly an ardous undertaking. But the disciple knows it will all be worth it in the end. He is patient and relentless. Eventually he reaches the end, exhausted. Yet, he has not achieved his answer! Dejected - but nevertheless determined - he sits down to think. For a long time he sits there. Many trails must he overcome. Much must he endure. After meditating over the truth for what seems like an eternity he eventually reaches the conclusion. It is so simple! Overjoyed, he decides to share it with the people who helped him come this far. With slight annoyance, the master - for indeed, he is no longer a disciple - realizes that he has to register. Not stopped by such trivial matters in his crusade of enlightenment, he readily does so. He types his reply with the burning fervor of righteousness. His zeal makes his fingers blaze. Finally he will save these people from their plight! His keyboard melts as he refutes all misguided claims and answers the questions of those who are lost. Filled with a sense of accomplishment, he looks at his post one final time before sending out his message of truth. And he sees the date. Not the current date - oh no! What he sees is something much more horrifying. What he sees is the date when the thread breathed it's last breath. With growing despair, he realizes that the thread couldn't possibly have made it this long without sustenance. Of course, with the master's newfound knowledge, even death no longer has to be the end. Alas, he decides to let the dead rest in peace. Anguished, he wonders what it was all for. What was the point of all his efforts? He is lost. Lost, once more.

Ever read a really long thread, or signed up to a forum to post your reply, only to realize that said thread is long dead? This just happened to me. Not quite as dramatic as the above though. Hi, I guess

[subquantum]

Oh, what's worse is when you're searching for something, find a thread, read through it, and then see that it was /you/ who answered the problem in the first place, many years ago. It's the same ashamed, sick feeling you get when reading really old code you wrote. (It's even worse if the code in question is VB6 :p)

[jacmoe]

Hi, Ceninan!
Yes, a true classic!
And a nice read.

[ceninan]

subquantum: Fortunately, that hasn't really happened to me yet. Perhaps I haven't been around long enough, or I subconsciously keep away because of the terrible shame. I usually blatantly deny I wrote any code that is more than a day old. And just as well, because I often don't understand what is going on myself. Indeed, I could probably come back to a code years later and not realize that it was me who wrote it. Of course, I would remark on the ingenuity of whoever wrote it .

jacmoe: Considering how often it happens to me, I knew I wasn't alone! Perhaps I'll lurk around a bit, now that I'm registered and all. Unfortunately I don't have time to play around with Ogre right now, though I have enjoyed doing so in the past. Regrettably, over time I have become more and more allergic to C++, so if I do come back "for real" it will more likely be as an artist - I'm nowhere near good enough yet though.