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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 13th, 2023

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  • And at least at my workplace, a lot of work processes use poorly-designed Excel spreadsheets for critical tasks, because it’s such a simple way to manipulate data.

    I also find that when I need to do more complicated data analysis, Excel starts to become limited, and I find Python to be a more powerful and flexible tool.

    Capability is a double edged sword. Any tool that is capable of doing something is going to be used by someone to do that thing, regardless of whether it should be. Excel gets abused and used for things that it shouldn’t be frequently in corporate environments because of its capabilities. I can understand being frustrated by that.

    I use Excel for reporting and analytics because it makes manipulating and visualizing data very easy. Especially if you know what you’re doing. No need to write a UI or worry about portability between workstations, etc. At the end of the day it’s a tool. A very capable one. Like any tool, it’s not the right one for every job.



  • jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.workstoMemes@lemmy.mlI hate excel so much
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    22 days ago

    You’re entitled to your opinion but I would say Excel is one of the best, if not THE best spreadsheet application ever produced. It’s one thing that Microsoft actually got mostly right and one of the only reasons I still pay for an Office 365 subscription.

    If you’re just creating simple spreadsheets, there’s plenty of other options out there.

    But, if you’re a power user doing a lot of complex data analytics, Excel is still the king.

    My main gripe is that I still have to use VBA for a lot of stuff behind the scenes. Yuck.


  • If you can stand the fuss, buy corded tools and skip the brand loyalty that comes with batteries.

    Just want to second this. A good quality corded tool can last you a decade or two, even with moderate use. You’ll probably be replacing your cordless tool batteries within 5 years.

    The only cordless tools I have are a drill, lawn mower, and chainsaw. That’s only because I use them often enough to justify it.


  • My dad told me a story once that I think resonates here. When he was a young man, he stole a bunch of tools from his former employer. He knew it was wrong. Eventually, it began to bother him and he knew that there was no way he could live with what he had done unless he tried to make it right as best he could.

    He took all the tools back to his old boss, fully expecting to go to jail, and told him that he was sorry for stealing from him. To my dad’s amazement, his old boss just kind of stared at him in disbelief, accepted his apology, and sent him on his way.

    A sincere apology is the first step in taking responsibility for your actions. It takes a dose of humility to go to someone you’ve wronged and tell them, sincerely, that you acknowledge that what you did was wrong and you are sorry for your actions.

    The second step is being ready and willing to accept the consequences for your actions. Whatever those may be. The third is to do the right thing next time.

    A personal philosophy that I try to live by and one that I try to teach my kids is, “Don’t do anything you’re going to have to lie about. And if you do, don’t lie about it. And if you do, come clean and make it right as soon as possible.” If you’re really a good person with integrity, living with your own lies or misdeeds eventually gets to be a heavy load. Apologies don’t make everything ok and they don’t undo your actions. But, they are an important first step in accepting responsibility for your actions and acknowledging the harm that you’ve caused.













  • Every time I think about hosting my own mail server, I think back to the many, many, many times I’ve had to troubleshoot corporate email systems over the years. From small ones that ran on duct tape and prayers to big ones that were robust, high dollar systems.

    98% of the time, the reason the messages aren’t coming or going is something either really obscure or really stupid. Email itself isn’t that complicated and it’s a legacy communications medium at this point. But it’s had so much stuff piled on top of it for spam and fraud prevention, out of necessity, and that’s where the major headaches come from. Honestly, it’s one service that to me it’s worth paying someone else to deal with.