Comment On Out of Service

Sociopath:

Gender in the brain is much more complicated than the male/female dichotomy that most people understand. An easy analogy (if we gloss over the nature vs nurture debates) is to say that true gender is a color on the rainbow, and most people only see it through a black and white television.

Sociopaths often don't have a strong gender identity of their own. They simply mirror the one you would prefer to see.

But I thought "black" and "white" were just social constructs, convenient abstractions invented by simple-minded people to try to explain a complex set of interrelated systems: how the sun produces light which travels through millions of miles of space, how light strikes an object and may be absorbed, reflected, or refracted off; how that reflected light impinges on the human eye, where it is converted to electrochemical impulses which are transmitted along the optic nerve to the brain; and how the brain that processes those messages to produce the sensations that we call "black" and "white".

So your statement is meaningless gibberish.

Curiously, though, any 5-year-old can instantly tell whether a particular piece of paper is black or white, and can usually quickly tell whether a given person is a boy or a girl. Even when they can't tell in a particular case, e.g. because it's too dark to see the colors or the person is deliberately disguising themself, the child still understands the difference.

It's amazing how little education it sometimes takes to make a person unable to recognize the obvious.

"SOME IDEAS ARE SO STUPID, ONLY INTELLECTUALS BELIEVE THEM." -- George Orwell

Well if they got 2 + 3 right, at least they've learned *something*.

J:

In humans, like most mamals, gender is genetic, not chromosomal. Hence the possibility of xx males, xy females, etc. They are rare but they do happen.

What is this? Some kind of transgender propaganda?

J:

In humans, like most mamals, gender is genetic, not chromosomal. Hence the possibility of xx males, xy females, etc. They are rare but they do happen.

Nice try, Mr. Fluffypaws. There is no way I'm convincing your veterinarian to give you a sex change.

I forget:

Really, the standard Male/Female options on most forms are the real WTF. So many people actually refuse to accept that gender neutrals and hermaphrodites actually exist. And for trans genders what is reported may not match the physical gender.

Why do they need to know what is in your pants anyway?

A useful distinction is commonly made between "sex" and "gender". "Sex" describes a person biologically--what's the hardware? "Gender" describes them socially--how do they present themselves to the world? For most of us these do coincide but tranvestites are a good example of people for whom they don't.

It's not clear why a law school admission form should be asking about either of those attributes though.

Did you ever notice how certain topics bring out the weirdos? e.g. Gender, autism, Ron Paul

Heaven forbid Congress' IT dept actually write their tour-request sight to protect against SQL injection. Just tell users not to use any SQL keywords.

my little phony:

My mom used to tell me a fable about a foolish man who buried something valuable and, to make doubly extra sure nobody found it, posted a sign on the spot that said "nothing is buried here".

That sign was out of service.

Sociopath:

Gender in the brain is much more complicated than the male/female dichotomy that most people understand.

So they should have used a slider bar control instead of a radio button?

captcha: abigo ... where did Abi go ... and is Abi really a girl?

KattMan:

Sociopath:

Gender in the brain is much more complicated than the male/female dichotomy that most people understand.

Then of course there is chromosonal gender, of which science has identified 5 separate genders, not 2 (xx,xy,xxy,xyy,xxx).

Strange, then, that we still only have two sets of reproductive organs.

Nice, a transexuality flamewar!

Wait, it's still not complete. We have a "THEY'RE JUST DISGUISED MEN", but we still need a good "THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS GENDER ITS ALL A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT" if we want this thread to reach 6 pages.

KattMan:

Sociopath:

Gender in the brain is much more complicated than the male/female dichotomy that most people understand.

Then of course there is chromosonal gender, of which science has identified 5 separate genders, not 2 (xx,xy,xxy,xyy,xxx).

Does xxx come with extra lady parts?

operagost:

KattMan:

Sociopath:

Gender in the brain is much more complicated than the male/female dichotomy that most people understand.

Then of course there is chromosonal gender, of which science has identified 5 separate genders, not 2 (xx,xy,xxy,xyy,xxx).

Strange, then, that we still only have two sets of reproductive organs.

Do you 2 of the same or one of each?

J:

In humans, like most mamals, gender is genetic, not chromosomal. Hence the possibility of xx males, xy females, etc. They are rare but they do happen.

Chromosomes *are* genes (or rather, they're made of genes). ;-) And there are more of them than just the ones that determine our sex.

XY females are interesting. Chromosome-wise, they are male, but most of the time, this is caused by a genetic defect that makes their cells unresponsive to the hormone testosterone. (Incidentally, with respect to XY female athletes, this doesn't mean they have an unfair advantage; it actually means they have a disadvantage, because it means anabolic steroids, natural or injected, have no affect on them.) Most of them don't learn this until adulthood. Some don't find out until they try to have children and, upon seeking medical advice, discover that they lack a uterus. A genetic test will reveal why.

XX males result from a mishap in the process of producing the haploid DNA of a sperm cell, where an X gets the SRY gene. SRY normally lives only on the Y chromosome, and it's the gene responsible for maleness. It is extremely rare. As with XY females, they are sterile.

Surplus Xes also result from mishaps in production of gametes, where an extra chromosome goes along for the ride.

Another interesting gender issue isn't genetic at all -- it's called chimerism. Named for the mythical chimera, a human chimera is actually their own fraternal twin. It's unknown how often it happens, since logically most would never find out as it usually doesn't cause problems. Two fertilized eggs happen to implant very near one another, or bump into each other on the way. If this happens before either one has started to differentiate, they may develop as a single individual, with the various stem cells sorting themselves out into skin, blood, organs, etc. and not minding that different ones have different DNA. Sometimes, you get situations where a person has bicolored skin, if the two original embryos were destined to have different skin color and both ended up contributing stem cells to the skin. Some are discovered via failed paternity tests, which are always especially shocking when it's the *mother* who fails the test. If her ovaries came from one embryo and her blood from another embryo, a traditional paternity test will suggest that she is the *aunt* of her own child. And in a way, she is. She's also the mother.

And sometimes chimerism can produce intersex conditions. One case was a man who saw a doctor to find the cause of his infertility. They found a very low sperm count, and upon further investigation, found his estrogen levels were very high for a man. He had what he'd always believed was an undescended testicle with what pediatricians had said was a twisted vas deferens. It wasn't that at all -- ultrasound revealed that it was an ovary, and the twisted vas deferens was actually a fallopian tube with sort of a bit of something that might have grown into a uterus, if it had had a chance. Genetic tests revealed the ovary to be the sister of his one teste, and various other tissues were biopsied; it seemed the two sets of DNA were pretty well scattered through his body. He was his own twin.

That's probably rare. But it does happen -- probably more than we realize, since it is usually only discovered by accident.

frits:

Did you ever notice how certain topics bring out the weirdos? e.g. Gender, autism, Ron Paul

Hey! Please try to show some sensitivity. My son is an autistic Ron Paul supporter with a gender, and let me tell you it is no laughing matter!

Nick:

frits:

Did you ever notice how certain topics bring out the weirdos? e.g. Gender, autism, Ron Paul

Hey! Please try to show some sensitivity. My son is an autistic Ron Paul supporter with a gender, and let me tell you it is no laughing matter!

You think you've got it bad? My son is an autistic transgendered Ron Paul [Neumann], and it's a riot!

Seriously though, Paul 2012 FTW!

Ooooooooooo my!:

TRWTF is that someone with an ø in their name expects to use computers!

<3

Your Grammar:

People have sex.

Some people have sex. (Did you forget where you're posting?)

Eric:

http://gawker.com/gary-peters/

TRWTF is a web page that requires me to allow Javascript from two separate domains just to display the text of the article.

What is the first letter of the city in which you were born?

It says "Select one", so obviously the right answer is 1.

I think the two-booleans form made some sense. The form's answers would be interpreted as follows:

True / False = Female
False / True = Male
False / False = Asexual
True / True = Hermaphrodite

Of course, if they *really* wanted capture all of the nuances completely, they'd use a pair of sliders (0-100%) instead of a pair of boolean options. Or have you do an interpretive dance, or something.

Jay:

After all, the best training to enable one to determine, say, how to design a safe automobile, or what energy resources are most worth developing, is four years of law school followed by a lifetime giving speeches.

You have a point there, but the lawmakers have come up with a way to handle that problem: they simply have their lobbyists write the laws for them.

That gender selection form is closer to being correct than most. Though the real correct answer is "who cares?"

harperska:

KattMan:

Sociopath:

Gender in the brain is much more complicated than the male/female dichotomy that most people understand.

Then of course there is chromosonal gender, of which science has identified 5 separate genders, not 2 (xx,xy,xxy,xyy,xxx).

Despite there being more than 2 possible combinations of x and y chromosomes, there are only two chromosomal genders. 'Genetically female' is defined as 'no y chromosome', and 'genetically male' is defined as 'at least one y chromosome'.

And what about those of us with half a y chromosome, hmmmm?

My son is an autistic Ron Paul supporter with a gender, and let me tell you it is no laughing matter!

You could have put that more simply: "My child is a Ron Paul supporter."

Peter should have anonymised his address better. The fraction of Peters is just under 1% and there are about 200 households on the Baliëndijk. That leaves only a handful of Peters and only one of them has a last name short enough to fit in the black box.

"alter declare delete drop insert select update"

I TRUNCATE thee.

Jeremy Friesner:

I think the two-booleans form made some sense. The form's answers would be interpreted as follows:

True / False = Female
False / True = Male
False / False = Asexual
True / True = Hermaphrodite

Of course, if they *really* wanted capture all of the nuances completely, they'd use a pair of sliders (0-100%) instead of a pair of boolean options. Or have you do an interpretive dance, or something.

What about nullable types? Look like you have ignored nullbale type. The form itself is completely incomplete.

Jay:

Curiously, though, any 5-year-old can instantly tell whether a particular piece of paper is black or white, and can usually quickly tell whether a given person is a boy or a girl. Even when they can't tell in a particular case, e.g. because it's too dark to see the colors or the person is deliberately disguising themself, the child still understands the difference.

You've nailed it!! So that's where the real problem is: people with a mental capacity of 5 year olds are making instant decisions that affect those unfortunate "obviously boys" and "obviously girls". And you seem to advocate that, even. I'm kind of glad you seem to be a lucky heterosexual who doesn't have to deal with 5 year olds in adult bodies all the time. Lucky you, indeed.

The MSDNAA one occurs due to poor management, or the lack of it. Contracts are department, not school based, and departments get to choose the name they'll be under in the listings. And when contracts are renewed, department might be added under a different name. I could venture a guess that "Is dept" is Information Systems department.

Kasper:

Once upon a time I informed a company that they had an SQL injection flaw in their website. After they had been pretending not to hear me for a couple of months, they finally responded, that they didn't actually need to fix it, because they had a firewall.

Later I learned that on their webforum, it was impossible to discuss SQL, since writing any SQL keyword in a comment would trigger a message saying there was an invalid character in your message, though never saying which one it was.

Guess which of the pictures reminded me of that incident.

The girl in the skimpy bikini?

Oops, sorry, that's in my *other* browser window.

Imagine a communication and the presence of forbidden words...

"OK, whom did you select for the Bin Laden job?"
"I'm sorry, Sir, I can't tell you."
"WTF?! I'm your commander!"
"You used a forbidden word, Sir."
"Can you at least give me an update?"
"No Sir, sorry Sir, you used a forbidden word again."
"Groan... have you at least found him?"
"Yes Sir, we're entering the compound now."
"OK, drop him."
"I'm sorry Sir, I can't comply. You used another forbidden word."
"Son, listen to me. We are about to alter history. Just do it."
"Really sorry Sir, but I'm under strict orders not to accept any forbidden words."
"For goodness' sake! I'm about to declare victory in the War on Terror, and you're giving me this crap?"
"It's the forbidden words, Sir."
"You know what you can do? You can insert your forbidden words up your..."
"I'm afraid we have to abandon the operation now, Sir. You used too many forbidden words."

This happened in 2005.

The first one means that you are supposed to use sign language to say 'Out of Service'

Kuba:

Jay:

Curiously, though, any 5-year-old can instantly tell whether a particular piece of paper is black or white, and can usually quickly tell whether a given person is a boy or a girl. Even when they can't tell in a particular case, e.g. because it's too dark to see the colors or the person is deliberately disguising themself, the child still understands the difference.

You've nailed it!! So that's where the real problem is: people with a mental capacity of 5 year olds are making instant decisions that affect those unfortunate "obviously boys" and "obviously girls". And you seem to advocate that, even. I'm kind of glad you seem to be a lucky heterosexual who doesn't have to deal with 5 year olds in adult bodies all the time. Lucky you, indeed.

Of course, we want to avoid adult bodies in 5 year olds.

The MSDNAA is not a WTF - IS Dept is Information Services, and the names are *shock horror* entered by the school/college/university staff, so they can misspell when they register.

There is no survey running.
Disagree. You've asked my this question, so you have just surveyed me.

8rooklyn.

CXIIX:

I was born in 0regon so I think I'm OK. People from 0hio, and 0klahoma and aren't complaining. Same goes for 1daho, 1llinoise 1ndiana 10wa and 1ouisiana.

Don't forget 5outh Carolina, 5outh Dakota, 7ennessee and 7exas. If you're feeling creative, 4labama, 4rizona and 4rkansas.

(I've deliberately left out 4laska because the chances of them actually getting that far into a website are slim...)

Those can be pretty easily collapsed into 2 phenotypes, depending on the pressence of the y chromosone. After all, multiple x's will be disabled by the cell (women are not different enough from men that a duplicate active chromosone wouldn't completely screw things up).

North Bus:

I mean, Down's Syndrome is a trisomy of chromosome 13 -- but such a condition is considered a chromosomal anomaly, not a seperate subspecies. Sex-chromosome anomalies are quite similar.

Males and females generally are not considered separate subspecies either...

The real WTF is the lack of proper punctuation in your SQL injection attacks. You are supposed to do it like this.

Ahem... ');DROP TABLE ALL_COMMENTS;--

taixzo:

North Bus:

I mean, Down's Syndrome is a trisomy of chromosome 13 -- but such a condition is considered a chromosomal anomaly, not a seperate subspecies. Sex-chromosome anomalies are quite similar.

Males and females generally are not considered separate subspecies either...

You never met my missus.

(I'll go get my coat)

This is not the SQL Injection vulnerability you're looking for...

Dont bother ringing it up, it's for a duck

Stevie D:

CXIIX:

I was born in 0regon so I think I'm OK. People from 0hio, and 0klahoma and aren't complaining. Same goes for 1daho, 1llinoise 1ndiana 10wa and 1ouisiana.

Don't forget 5outh Carolina, 5outh Dakota, 7ennessee and 7exas. If you're feeling creative, 4labama, 4rizona and 4rkansas.

(I've deliberately left out 4laska because the chances of them actually getting that far into a website are slim...)

Oh, of course. I live in 1000ichigan.

mood9:

The MSDNAA one occurs due to poor management, or the lack of it. Contracts are department, not school based, and departments get to choose the name they'll be under in the listings. And when contracts are renewed, department might be added under a different name. I could venture a guess that "Is dept" is Information Systems department.

I would have thought that a lack of poor management would be a good thing.

"MSDN Academic Alliance"

It's like a drug pusher. The first one's free!

Jeremy Friesner:

Jay:

After all, the best training to enable one to determine, say, how to design a safe automobile, or what energy resources are most worth developing, is four years of law school followed by a lifetime giving speeches.

You have a point there, but the lawmakers have come up with a way to handle that problem: they simply have their lobbyists write the laws for them.

Unfortunately, this is all too true

So the sametime developers decided to reduce the number of messages by combining two of them into one.
That's probably one of the least WTF things about Lotus Notes. It's barely worth a mention.

Jay:

Stevie D:

CXIIX:

I was born in 0regon so I think I'm OK. People from 0hio, and 0klahoma and aren't complaining. Same goes for 1daho, 1llinoise 1ndiana 10wa and 1ouisiana.

Don't forget 5outh Carolina, 5outh Dakota, 7ennessee and 7exas. If you're feeling creative, 4labama, 4rizona and 4rkansas.

(I've deliberately left out 4laska because the chances of them actually getting that far into a website are slim...)

Oh, of course. I live in 1099higan.

FTFY

Lol, these are funny. Sounds like they got deployed before they were tested fully.

TRUNCATE TABLE peters_email;

there's no WTF, have you never heard of androgyny?

North Bus:

I mean, Down's Syndrome is a trisomy of chromosome 13 -- but such a condition is considered a chromosomal anomaly, not a seperate subspecies. Sex-chromosome anomalies are quite similar.

Chromosome 21 actually