• Sam (unregistered)

    Wonder what their customer support is like

  • Sam (unregistered) in reply to Sam
    Sam:
    Wonder what their customer support is like

    Refering to the ASS-HOL sku thing I mean

  • (cs)

    "Compact and bijou, Mostyn, compact and bijou"

  • lurker (unregistered)

    That's an airbrush job on the Osaka 'shop here' sign.

  • (cs)

    And besides, that house isn't even a WTF. Japan has an unbelievable population density.

  • Paul (unregistered)

    The last one reminds me of this - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcarlson/127632129/

  • (cs) in reply to Isuwen

    I've lived in Japan and know how tiny the appartments there are (If it has more than 2 rooms, it's called a "mansion", no kidding!). But that house is extreme even for Japanese standards. However, I suspect it might be a matter of (visual) perspective. If you look at how the sidewalk angles, and how wide the tall building behind is, then you realize that the rear end of the house is much wider than the one we're looking at, so it's not as tiny as it looks from that perspective.

  • (cs)

    Googled for the text in that Lexmark article. Found 4 results.

    The last one is that Amazon page.

    The second and third ones offer you a free trial to read the article.

    In the first Google result, you can read the whole article, no strings attached; though I don't think it is the "original". :)

    If you click Next on this page, you go to a page with « Bibliography for "Lexar Media expands product line with newly introduced Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick PRO Duo" »

    The bibliography? A link back to the first page...

  • dude (unregistered)

    Save yourself six bucks:

    http://lexar.com/newsroom/press/press_08_15_03.html

  • AdT (unregistered)
    Isuwen:
    And besides, that house isn't even a WTF. Japan has an unbelievable population density.

    I've heard that wealthy Japanese like to buy or rent large apartments and then not put anything in it apart from a few pieces of furniture that seem to be designed for much smaller flats.

    When guests are invited, this is like saying "Look how filthy rich I am - I can afford to waste this much precious space.".

    By the way, Amazon used to sell a Microsoft reader version of the U.S. Constitution with digital restrictions to prevent copying and printing.

    Not that I'd be surprised should Bush sell the copyright for the Constitution to The Walt Disney Company...

  • Cochrane (unregistered)

    The big question: Is the first one an accident, or did someone do it on purpose? Looks like the latter to me, but maybe ASS is an unwisely chosen acronym (the HOL would then stand for HOLux, obviously).

  • (cs) in reply to Cochrane
    Cochrane:
    The big question: Is the first one an accident, or did someone do it on purpose?

    There is always that about it... Kinda reminds me of the "tricks" in Word '95 (or '98?)

  • goo (unregistered) in reply to Cochrane

    Unfortunately, it seems to be the former -- if you look for the GPS devices on their page, you'll find that Qstarz and Wintec are the also in the ASS-based group. It might be an AcceSSory :-)

  • Konrad (unregistered)

    I'd be betting that the last one is a small shop rather than a house anyway, seems to have way too many signs to be a house. Upstairs is probably used as a store room/office.

    Also it is clearly wedge shaped rather than straight.

  • D (unregistered)

    I just question the following: Does ANYONE ever read what they made? I mean I see on J Lenno or whatnot these misspelled newspaper articles or whatever... I just question: "Don't people ever proofread?" I mean fine the SKU is ASS-HOL-#### So the question is, even if automatically generated, don't people ever see these things? I mean comon!!!!

    So sauce made out of shitake mushrooms will be called "Dip Shit"? It will happen ladies and gentlemen, I predict it!

    also, Did the guy buy 1000 shares for a penny? I want in!

    And i bet the amazon item was a scam to make ppl think its a memory card... its like that XBOX 360 BOX scam on ebay, i mean all the info was there but nooo people just plain-'ol bought it!

  • (cs)

    Maybe that building is based on early tardis prototypes, ya know? Larger inside than out. I'm betting the rental costs would make you think that way...

  • Jerk (unregistered)

    Some dope where I work called a group the "Automated Support Services Team"

    I think he wanted people to think A-Team...

  • Matt (unregistered)

    I once remember a catalogue for a Motorola Hands Free Car Kit UK Model, code

    MOTHFCKUK

    which always caught peoples' eyes...!

  • (cs) in reply to AdT
    AdT:
    Not that I'd be surprised should Bush sell the copyright for the Constitution to The Walt Disney Company...
    The Bono Act was passed during the Clinton administration. So should Hillary win in 2008, you can look forward to something like that happening.
  • (cs) in reply to Cochrane
    Cochrane:
    The big question: Is the first one an accident, or did someone do it on purpose? Looks like the latter to me, but maybe ASS is an unwisely chosen acronym (the HOL would then stand for HOLux, obviously).

    'ASS' would be short for 'assembly'. In production of electronic doohickeys, it's not uncommon to differentiate component-level parts, filled board-level parts, and modular/finished assemblies.

  • (cs)

    The REAL WTF is the comments on Amazon..

    (7 votes, five stars) This is one of my favorite press releases! I've worn out more than one copy of it over the years! It's amazing how the author (unknown!) manages to weave such a compelling story in so little space. I won't give away the ending except to say that more gentle readers should keep a Kleenex box near!

    (2 votes, five stars) I have read my share of press releases, but nothing that could have prepared me for this. Make sure you have some free time when you start - you're not going to want to walk away until you've read every one of the nearly 400 words.

  • nobody (unregistered)

    I think the picture is refering to the green flag that say "WTF"...

    Looks that that building is right at a junction between a main road and a side road at an sharp angle. I have a picture of a similar (rare) high rise taken in Hong Kong.

  • Kemp (unregistered) in reply to D
    D:
    So sauce made out of shitake mushrooms will be called "Dip Shit"? It will happen ladies and gentlemen, I predict it!

    I've seen a few when I was on checkouts. "Large On" was large onions of course, but I seem to have forgotten the rest. I really should have written them down as we had some classics and I'm sure some were deliberate. There was one something like "Spread Butt" for spreadable butter. The best thing is we got a new till system that allowed sensible length names for things, but whoever controlled the entry still obsessively abbreviated.

    nobody:
    I think the picture is refering to the green flag that say "WTF"...

    Yeah, I was wondering how no-one saw that.

  • (cs) in reply to Cochrane

    Probably an accident. I used to work for a wireless billing company. At one point, the rate plans would have a 3-character code. Wireless companies would typically use the first two characters as a category of rate plan and the last character as variations of that plan. The plans would be collectively be referred to using the first two digits. So, if there was two family plans, they would probably be labeled as FA1 and FA2 and referred to the "FA" plans.

    One of our customers had free usage plans, appropriately starting with "FU". My coworkers and I would laugh every time our customer would talk about the F-U plans. :)

  • Thomas (unregistered)

    They don't seem to sell the Holux GPS I own, but if they did (and SKU'd it the same) I would be the proud owner of an ASS-HOL-GR240.

  • Kemp (unregistered) in reply to Thomas
    Thomas:
    They don't seem to sell the Holux GPS I own, but if they did (and SKU'd it the same) I would be the proud owner of an ASS-HOL-GR240.

    Every time I glance quickly at the page I think I see "holy grail" around your product code =P

  • Isaac (unregistered)

    ObQuote:

    "I knew it! I'm surrounded by assholes!"

    • Dark Helmet, Spaceballs

    Captcha: "darwin", to prove I'm not a robot. Maybe I'm a robot that's evolved. =)

  • Hognoxious (unregistered) in reply to AdT
    AdT:
    Not that I'd be surprised should Bush sell the copyright for the Constitution to The Walt Disney Company...
    Why not? He doesn't seem to use it much.

    Captcha: Simply more fun and games!

  • Hognoxious (unregistered) in reply to AdT
    AdT:
    Not that I'd be surprised should Bush sell the copyright for the Constitution to The Walt Disney Company...
    If you're not using something there's no point hanging onto it.
  • ilahdus (unregistered) in reply to Konrad
    Konrad:
    I'd be betting that the last one is a small shop rather than a house anyway, seems to have way too many signs to be a house. Upstairs is probably used as a store room/office.

    You might be half right. There are still lots of shops in Japan where the family (or an old couple) lives in the house, and one or a couple of rooms in first floor serves as a restaurant or a shop.

    But in this case that's just guessing. The house does not have that many (or any) signs. The WTF-sign is on a regular street pole -- the sun blind on the left might or might not be of that house. But anyway that's besides the point: houses of that scale are maybe not typical in Japan but not so rare either. As the population density is high (as someone already pointed out), and most of the cities are not build in a grid, there are plenty of (fulfilled) opportunities to build weird shaped houses. Although I give it's maybe rare to see a house that is both so tiny and weird shaped, it's easily explainable and not a WTF.

    Personally I still think apartment houses here, 7-8 stores high, only one room (3-4 meters or so) wide are quite cute from outside. Wouldn't want to live in one, though. :-)

    (pardon my non-native English)

  • (cs) in reply to Nazlfrag
    Nazlfrag:
    The REAL WTF is the comments on Amazon..

    (7 votes, five stars) This is one of my favorite press releases! I've worn out more than one copy of it over the years! It's amazing how the author (unknown!) manages to weave such a compelling story in so little space. I won't give away the ending except to say that more gentle readers should keep a Kleenex box near!

    (2 votes, five stars) I have read my share of press releases, but nothing that could have prepared me for this. Make sure you have some free time when you start - you're not going to want to walk away until you've read every one of the nearly 400 words.

    Can you say "paid-for comments"?

  • (cs) in reply to exdevlin
    exdevlin:
    Nazlfrag:
    The REAL WTF is the comments on Amazon..

    (7 votes, five stars) This is one of my favorite press releases! I've worn out more than one copy of it over the years! It's amazing how the author (unknown!) manages to weave such a compelling story in so little space. I won't give away the ending except to say that more gentle readers should keep a Kleenex box near!

    (2 votes, five stars) I have read my share of press releases, but nothing that could have prepared me for this. Make sure you have some free time when you start - you're not going to want to walk away until you've read every one of the nearly 400 words.

    Can you say "paid-for comments"?

    Can you say "sarcasm"?

  • (cs) in reply to batasrki
    batasrki:
    exdevlin:
    Nazlfrag:
    The REAL WTF is the comments on Amazon..

    (7 votes, five stars) This is one of my favorite press releases! I've worn out more than one copy of it over the years! It's amazing how the author (unknown!) manages to weave such a compelling story in so little space. I won't give away the ending except to say that more gentle readers should keep a Kleenex box near!

    (2 votes, five stars) I have read my share of press releases, but nothing that could have prepared me for this. Make sure you have some free time when you start - you're not going to want to walk away until you've read every one of the nearly 400 words.

    Can you say "paid-for comments"?

    Can you say "sarcasm"?

    hehe, they're hillarious whoever did them. Look at the dates (same as wtf post), they were obviously added by WTF readers.

  • Anonymouse (unregistered) in reply to batasrki
    batasrki:
    exdevlin:
    Nazlfrag:
    The REAL WTF is the comments on Amazon..

    (7 votes, five stars) This is one of my favorite press releases! I've worn out more than one copy of it over the years! It's amazing how the author (unknown!) manages to weave such a compelling story in so little space. I won't give away the ending except to say that more gentle readers should keep a Kleenex box near!

    (2 votes, five stars) I have read my share of press releases, but nothing that could have prepared me for this. Make sure you have some free time when you start - you're not going to want to walk away until you've read every one of the nearly 400 words.

    Can you say "paid-for comments"?

    Can you say "sarcasm"?

    SARS Chasm??

  • (cs) in reply to D
    D:
    I just question the following: Does ANYONE ever read what they made? I mean I see on J Lenno or whatnot these misspelled newspaper articles or whatever... I just question: "Don't people ever proofread?" I mean fine the SKU is ASS-HOL-#### So the question is, even if automatically generated, don't people ever see these things? I mean comon!!!!

    I know, just a simple proof read and they would have recognized that they are forgetting an 'E'...

  • Me (unregistered) in reply to Kemp
    Kemp:
    D:
    So sauce made out of shitake mushrooms will be called "Dip Shit"? It will happen ladies and gentlemen, I predict it!

    I've seen a few when I was on checkouts. "Large On" was large onions of course, but I seem to have forgotten the rest. I really should have written them down as we had some classics and I'm sure some were deliberate. There was one something like "Spread Butt" for spreadable butter. The best thing is we got a new till system that allowed sensible length names for things, but whoever controlled the entry still obsessively abbreviated.

    On a recent shopping trip, I bought some "berries, rasp".

  • (cs) in reply to Nazlfrag

    10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

    Nazlfrag:
    (2 votes, five stars) I have read my share of press releases, but nothing that could have prepared me for this. Make sure you have some free time when you start - you're not going to want to walk away until you've read every one of the nearly 400 words.

    LOL!

    Addendum (2007-09-04 12:11): With reviews like this, it might actually sell!

  • (cs) in reply to nobody
    nobody:
    I think the picture is refering to the green flag that say "WTF"...

    Looks that that building is right at a junction between a main road and a side road at an sharp angle. I have a picture of a similar (rare) high rise taken in Hong Kong.

    Hahah... how many of us didn't catch that in the picture [raises hand].

  • Paul (unregistered) in reply to nobody
    nobody:
    I think the picture is refering to the green flag that say "WTF"...

    Which is why I provided the link to the picture of "WTF Mac Store" (I use a Mac, by the way).

    As for proofreading, a while ago we got a copy of "Goodnight, Sweet Butterflies" for our daughter. When we got it home, we noticed the price was on a sticker on the back, with the name of the book, abbreviated to ...

    ... yes, you've guessed it "Goodnight Sweet Butt"

  • Andy Goth (unregistered) in reply to Kemp
    Kemp:
    There was one something like "Spread Butt" for spreadable butter.
    I once ordered a small shrimp cocktail at a restaurant, and the (handwritten) check said "sm. cock". I'll never eat at that restaurant again!
  • AdT (unregistered) in reply to operagost
    operagost:
    The Bono Act was passed during the Clinton administration. So should Hillary win in 2008, you can look forward to something like that happening.

    Thank you very much for mentioning her. I had just eaten.

    The first Walt Disney Act (1976) was signed by Ford (R), the second was signed by Clinton (D) and now if the third was signed by Bush (R) it would go to show that both parties are just largely interchangeable corporate lackeys.

    Captcha: dubya (I swear!)

  • Jean Naimard (unregistered)

    The Tokyo wedge house is no mean extraordinary. Here’s one a [long] day’s drive from the U.S. federal capital:

    [image]

    And by no means there the land is expensive; beyond the brick house, all houses on the street have lavish gardens…

    (This is the house featured in the novel The Tin Flute).

  • MrPlow (unregistered) in reply to AdT
    AdT:
    When guests are invited, this is like saying "Look how filthy rich I am - I can afford to waste this much precious space.".

    One can see the same thing in high end clothes retailers in this country. A room that could hold two 30' long double sided racks like one would see at Target or Walmart instead has 8 fixtures on each of the two long walls, each holding about 4-6 items.

  • bw (unregistered)

    The building isn't the WTF folks. Look a little harder.

  • Worf (unregistered)

    Well, sheesh, Vancouver, BC, has the current world record World's Skinniest Building at under 1 1/2 metres wide (2 metres on the second floor, when you count the bay windows)...

    Now, it is long, though, but it looks like it grew onto the sidewalk...

  • James (unregistered)

    You have to click through to the Amazon product page -- the only tag on the item is "wtf"!

  • Max (unregistered) in reply to Paul

    In my elementary school library, my friend once found a book called "Grasshopper," but the barcode sticker had covered up the "Gr."

  • (cs)

    I just went to the site and the SKUs have been changed to GPS-HOL-####

  • A. Nonymous (unregistered) in reply to Strider
    Strider:
    batasrki:
    exdevlin:
    Nazlfrag:
    The REAL WTF is the comments on Amazon..

    (7 votes, five stars) This is one of my favorite press releases! I've worn out more than one copy of it over the years! It's amazing how the author (unknown!) manages to weave such a compelling story in so little space. I won't give away the ending except to say that more gentle readers should keep a Kleenex box near!

    (2 votes, five stars) I have read my share of press releases, but nothing that could have prepared me for this. Make sure you have some free time when you start - you're not going to want to walk away until you've read every one of the nearly 400 words.

    Can you say "paid-for comments"?

    Can you say "sarcasm"?

    hehe, they're hillarious whoever did them. Look at the dates (same as wtf post), they were obviously added by WTF readers.

    Finding bizarre items in the Amazon catalog and posting fake reviews for them is a well-regarded pastime; anyone remember the personal tank they were selling (which I can't find at the moment)? Even people inside the company get into it... not that I know anything about that.

  • (cs) in reply to D
    D:
    So sauce made out of shitake mushrooms will be called "Dip Shit"? It will happen ladies and gentlemen, I predict it!
    Unlikely, because they're called "shiitake".

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