The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

2013-08-23 Reply Admin

OldCoder:
Dorian:
There is a German joke about Siemens "Technology": Does it have to work or can I offer you something by Siemens?
The biggest reason they're still in business is that they managed to bribe the right people at the right time and now businesses depend on them. Such a shame...

Captcha: quibus. Corruption is utiquibus.
Guess what? Siemens made a lot of new trains for the UK...

Perhaps I will walk.

I think the day after the recent Spanish rail disaster, one of the travel journalists on the TV pointed out that actually one of the safest forms of travel was on a British airliner, as they have had zero fatalities for several years. Crashes but not fatal.

no laughing matter · 2013-08-23 Reply Admin

SpewinCoffee:
Russell:
No! I missed Frist. :(

Good. Because that's annoying. Only small children do that.

Do you know what also is annoying?

Spewin coffee is annoying!

Although i protest to claims that it is no laughing matter!

2013-08-23 Reply Admin

QJo:
Hannes:
MP79:
I wonder how common airlines using access to power things really is. Then I stop wondering and start planning my next trip, by train.

Because trains are always punctual and there's never any kind of trouble when traveling by train, right?

In general, the rail travel experience is an improvement over the option to go by air. The actual transit time may not be as long, but the fuss and palaver either end tend to be considerably less. The scenery is usually more interesting, too.

Mind you, nothing quite matches the thrill and excitement of driving from one side of Europe to the other without a map.

If I can choose between traveling 2 hours by plane or traveling a whole day by train... yeah, I guess I will just chose the plane. Traveling from Germany to the UK by train can be a very long journey, haha.

2013-08-23 Reply Admin

Unknown:
Who won the coding contest?

I have a suspicion that they don't want to announce there were only 4 entries, and 2 just printed "FRIST".

The whole thing was really poorly done, and that's too bad.

Captcha: praesent -- But I heard from a reliable source that the praesent's daughter won the contest.

da Doctah · 2013-08-23 Reply Admin

pjt33:
The required city reminds me of the time I went along as translator to help someone open a bank account in Ecuador. City of birth was required for that (don't ask why, because I didn't), and the closest they had to London was Madrid.
Hey, better some incorrect data than a null value, right?

I don't know how many surveys I've had to fill out where I encounter something like the following:

Q17: Do you use tobacco products? A: Yes, No, Prefer not to answer (radio buttons)

I truthfuly select "No", and move on to the next question....

Q18: Which of the following tobacco products do you use? Select all that apply. A: Cigarettes, Cigars, Pipe tobacco, Chewing tobacco, Snuff (check boxes)

I can mark any combination of the five, but if I don't mark any at all it tells me I "failed to answer Q18" and won't let me proceed until I not only lie about Q18, but lie to someone who's been told in Q17 that any answer to Q18 is a lie.

I often wonder if this results in my entire survey later being thrown out as invalid.

2013-08-23 Reply Admin

They announced last week on G+ that they would announce the winner this week in this article's space.

2013-08-23 Reply Admin

Unknown:
They announced last week on G+ that they would announce the winner this week in this article's space.

It's too bad they don't have a website where they could post updates and announcements. Oh.

Captcha: opto -- I do NOT opto join that Google+ crap (but I imagine Google will require it pretty soon).

Manni_reloaded · 2013-08-23 Reply Admin

I don't think it's that bad to use Access for airport screens. It might not be the best choice, but it's not the same as, say, using Excel as a database or sending images inside a word document.
After all, pulling data from a database and showing it on screen are things it's supposed to be used for, right?

I know, right? Because the requirements for both kinds of systems are like totally the same. OMGLOLIGOTMYPERIOD

Can you guarantee the system displaying these screens is completely separate from the ones managing the air traffic controller screens? What version of Access is that, and are patches up to date? Any macro vulnerabilities in there? Access 97/2000/XP had an easily crackable password, I hope that doesn't give someone UPDATE/DELETE access to the underlying system.

Access isn't too bad when you're printing out an invoice for a small business. But a fucking airport??? Do you really want Access to display the status of traffic lights, FedEx shipment tracking, gun ownership records, voting poll results...

Aren't there some things that might be important enough to get a more robust, secure back-end with a properly designed interface?

2013-08-23 Reply Admin

Manni_reloaded:
Access isn't too bad when you're printing out an invoice for a small business. But a fucking airport??? Do you really want Access to display the status of traffic lights, FedEx shipment tracking, gun ownership records, voting poll results...

At least it's a lot better than any of those "OpenOffice" (or "LibreOffice") products I used. "Unspecified error". Yes, thank you, LibreOffice...

2013-08-23 Reply Admin

Manni_reloaded:
I don't think it's that bad to use Access for airport screens. It might not be the best choice, but it's not the same as, say, using Excel as a database or sending images inside a word document.
After all, pulling data from a database and showing it on screen are things it's supposed to be used for, right?

I know, right? Because the requirements for both kinds of systems are like totally the same. OMGLOLIGOTMYPERIOD

Can you guarantee the system displaying these screens is completely separate from the ones managing the air traffic controller screens? What version of Access is that, and are patches up to date? Any macro vulnerabilities in there? Access 97/2000/XP had an easily crackable password, I hope that doesn't give someone UPDATE/DELETE access to the underlying system.

Access isn't too bad when you're printing out an invoice for a small business. But a fucking airport??? Do you really want Access to display the status of traffic lights, FedEx shipment tracking, gun ownership records, voting poll results...

Aren't there some things that might be important enough to get a more robust, secure back-end with a properly designed interface?

SQL Server/Oracle can make logins that only have data reader permissions, including those used by Access. Data could also be limited by providing whichever login Access is using to read the data access to stored procedures or views which would hide any of the underlying structure from Access entirely.

Access is not a fantastic option, but it is a simple one, and one a non-techy could update with new color schemes and fonts whenever the airport decides to change it's branding.

Zylon · 2013-08-23 Reply Admin

Jay:
This is why I generally avoid accusing someone of being stupid. If you say, "Hey, are you sure that that's right?" then if it turns out that in fact it is right, you can easily back down without looking like a jerk.

And if you're almost always correct when you question things like this, "Are you sure this is right?" basically comes to mean "This is wrong." Which is awesome, in a BOFH'y sort of way.

2013-08-24 Reply Admin

Given their near disaster in Melbourne...

Not that they're not great now, with absolutely no thanks to Siemens.

2013-08-24 Reply Admin

The Globrix one was probably caused by the use of a Javascript-blocker like NoScript, that sort of layout mess is pretty standard if they're relying on JS and you've got it disabled. Try again with JS allowed for the web page.

Loren Pechtel · 2013-08-24 Reply Admin

Jay:
If someone wants to be a polygamist, what law would stop him from sharing a house with any number of women, including them all in his will, signing powers-of-attorney and contracts to give them all the same legal rights and responsibilities that a wife would have, etc, as long as, what? As long as he doesn't get more than one marriage license or claim more than one as his wife on his income tax returns?

You're describing how the polygamist Mormons handle it.

Note that he can still claim her on his tax return if she doesn't work, just not as "wife".

2013-08-24 Reply Admin

MP79:
I wonder how common airlines using access to power things really is. Then I stop wondering and start planning my next trip, by train.

I've always thought that Access was horribly misused by people who (A) didn't know how to do database well, and (B) didn't know when an app crossed the threshhold of "Gee, this thing really ought to be in SQL Server with a proper front end."

When used properly, I think it is an excellent product and I'm quite fond of it. I've used it since its 1.0 beginnings and have been a SQL Server DBA since its v4 start on OS2/LanMan, so I know a thing or two about databases. The problem is idiots get it installed along with the rest of Office "Pro" and think that "Hey, designing databases is easy!"

My favorite Access horror inflicted by idiots was during my nine years doing IT for a major police department. We had a wonderful database for tracking applicants: sworn, civilians, and volunteers. One morning Sgt Gary that I worked with called me up frantically saying that numerous applicants had disappeared. I opened up the data MDB, started browsing tables, and everything appeared OK, then I noticed that some of the social security numbers didn't look like, they looked short. Turns out that Gary had a moment of ritual idiocy and decided that since social security numbers are numbers, they should be stored as integers, and all of the leading zeroes were lost.

Easy fix, slapped Gary's hands, and no further problems.

Right now I'm using Access to do some web site log diving to find out who was responsible for getting my sites suspended and also analyzing my cell phone records to see if going to pre-paid phones would save a significant amount of money.

Access is, IMO, a great tool. WHEN USED PROPERLY.

2013-08-24 Reply Admin

MP79:
I wonder how common airlines using access to power things really is. Then I stop wondering and start planning my next trip, by train.

The last time I travelled by train (not long ago!), the boarding process consisted of a man holding up a picket sign reading "CHICAGO" and calling out names of passengers with reservations so that a Chinese woman could lead them to their seats.

They probably at least had the sense to store that list of passengers in a SQL database, though.

Matt Westwood · 2013-08-24 Reply Admin

Wayne West:
MP79:
I wonder how common airlines using access to power things really is. Then I stop wondering and start planning my next trip, by train.

I've always thought that Access was horribly misused by people who (A) didn't know how to do database well, and (B) didn't know when an app crossed the threshhold of "Gee, this thing really ought to be in SQL Server with a proper front end."

When used properly, I think it is an excellent product and I'm quite fond of it. I've used it since its 1.0 beginnings and have been a SQL Server DBA since its v4 start on OS2/LanMan, so I know a thing or two about databases. The problem is idiots get it installed along with the rest of Office "Pro" and think that "Hey, designing databases is easy!"

My favorite Access horror inflicted by idiots was during my nine years doing IT for a major police department. We had a wonderful database for tracking applicants: sworn, civilians, and volunteers. One morning Sgt Gary that I worked with called me up frantically saying that numerous applicants had disappeared. I opened up the data MDB, started browsing tables, and everything appeared OK, then I noticed that some of the social security numbers didn't look like, they looked short. Turns out that Gary had a moment of ritual idiocy and decided that since social security numbers are numbers, they should be stored as integers, and all of the leading zeroes were lost.

Easy fix, slapped Gary's hands, and no further problems.

Right now I'm using Access to do some web site log diving to find out who was responsible for getting my sites suspended and also analyzing my cell phone records to see if going to pre-paid phones would save a significant amount of money.

Access is, IMO, a great tool. WHEN USED PROPERLY.

"Turns out that Gary had a moment of ritual idiocy and decided that since social security numbers are numbers, they should be stored as integers, and all of the leading zeroes were lost."

To those who are having difficulty following this, the above is nothing to do with whether or not Access is being used. The above is blethering stupidity whatever system is used to store the numbers.

Get this rule into your heads, kids: define a sequence of characters as an integer only if you're going to do arithmetic on it.

It doesn't matter if you know your fields are going to hold only 1 to 5, you still only define it as a string. You never know whether you're going to need to expand it to hold, e.g. "5a", "5b", etc.

The silliest stupidest and most common stupid of the lot is using an integer to hold a telephone number. Despite Jon Bentley's clixby kludge to sort them into order in microseconds, it's a bad idea.

2013-08-24 Reply Admin

Thanks, that was really helpful. I have another question for you. What does the "Your answer is required before you can continue" message mean?

2013-08-24 Reply Admin

When I asked the airline to provide access, that is NOT what I meant.

2013-08-25 Reply Admin

Hannes:
MP79:
I wonder how common airlines using access to power things really is. Then I stop wondering and start planning my next trip, by train.

Because trains are always punctual and there's never any kind of trouble when traveling by train, right?

Because with trains you won't fall out of the sky if they screw up.

2013-08-25 Reply Admin

faoileag:
So in that list they have Sunderland and Newcastle-under-Lyme, but not Newcastle-upon-Tyne. That might cause a few raised eyebrows... (guess which of the three has the largest population).

Actually, to be brutal, they could have just used "London" and "Somewhere else" :-)

2013-08-25 Reply Admin

bozo:
Thanks, that was really helpful. I have another question for you. What does the "Your answer is required before you can continue" message mean?

Use the quote button (not reply) if you're trying to call someone out as being a goose. Otherwise we have no idea who you're targeting.

Captcha: damnun. Just like a bignum, only more annoying.

2013-08-26 Reply Admin

Popeye:
What the fuck is wrong with that airport! It uses fucking MS Access to show arrivals?
Where is that?

Holy shit what do they use for for air traffic control?

Radios and binoculars, probably.

Alex Papadumbass · 2013-08-26 Reply Admin

JustSomeGuy:
Use the quote button (not reply) if you're trying to call someone out as being a goose. Otherwise we have no idea who you're targeting.
Captcha: damnun. Just like a bignum, only more annoying.

Why is the poor design of this site his fault? If the Reply button is useless, just get rid of it already. Too bad, I am Alex Papadumbass, not Papadi-whatever.

2013-08-26 Reply Admin

Meep:
Hannes:
MP79:
I wonder how common airlines using access to power things really is. Then I stop wondering and start planning my next trip, by train.

Because trains are always punctual and there's never any kind of trouble when traveling by train, right?

Because with trains you won't fall out of the sky if they screw up.

I'm pretty sure that's of great comfort for the relatives of every person that died in a train crash.

2013-08-26 Reply Admin

If you think that globirx site is a WTF, try using NoScript for a while.

2013-08-26 Reply Admin

Wayne West:
MP79:
I wonder how common airlines using access to power things really is. Then I stop wondering and start planning my next trip, by train.

I've always thought that Access was horribly misused by people who (A) didn't know how to do database well, and (B) didn't know when an app crossed the threshhold of "Gee, this thing really ought to be in SQL Server with a proper front end."

When used properly, I think it is an excellent product and I'm quite fond of it. I've used it since its 1.0 beginnings and have been a SQL Server DBA since its v4 start on OS2/LanMan, so I know a thing or two about databases. The problem is idiots get it installed along with the rest of Office "Pro" and think that "Hey, designing databases is easy!"

My favorite Access horror inflicted by idiots was during my nine years doing IT for a major police department. We had a wonderful database for tracking applicants: sworn, civilians, and volunteers. One morning Sgt Gary that I worked with called me up frantically saying that numerous applicants had disappeared. I opened up the data MDB, started browsing tables, and everything appeared OK, then I noticed that some of the social security numbers didn't look like, they looked short. Turns out that Gary had a moment of ritual idiocy and decided that since social security numbers are numbers, they should be stored as integers, and all of the leading zeroes were lost.

Easy fix, slapped Gary's hands, and no further problems.

Right now I'm using Access to do some web site log diving to find out who was responsible for getting my sites suspended and also analyzing my cell phone records to see if going to pre-paid phones would save a significant amount of money.

Access is, IMO, a great tool. WHEN USED PROPERLY.

Access is a Swiss Army knife, and Swiss Army knives are awesome, but sometimes you really need a chainsaw.

2013-08-26 Reply Admin

Wayne West:
MP79:
I wonder how common airlines using access to power things really is. Then I stop wondering and start planning my next trip, by train.

I've always thought that Access was horribly misused by people who (A) didn't know how to do database well, and (B) didn't know when an app crossed the threshhold of "Gee, this thing really ought to be in SQL Server with a proper front end."

When used properly, I think it is an excellent product and I'm quite fond of it. I've used it since its 1.0 beginnings and have been a SQL Server DBA since its v4 start on OS2/LanMan, so I know a thing or two about databases. The problem is idiots get it installed along with the rest of Office "Pro" and think that "Hey, designing databases is easy!"

My favorite Access horror inflicted by idiots was during my nine years doing IT for a major police department. We had a wonderful database for tracking applicants: sworn, civilians, and volunteers. One morning Sgt Gary that I worked with called me up frantically saying that numerous applicants had disappeared. I opened up the data MDB, started browsing tables, and everything appeared OK, then I noticed that some of the social security numbers didn't look like, they looked short. Turns out that Gary had a moment of ritual idiocy and decided that since social security numbers are numbers, they should be stored as integers, and all of the leading zeroes were lost.

Easy fix, slapped Gary's hands, and no further problems.

Right now I'm using Access to do some web site log diving to find out who was responsible for getting my sites suspended and also analyzing my cell phone records to see if going to pre-paid phones would save a significant amount of money.

Access is, IMO, a great tool. WHEN USED PROPERLY.

Okay, I'll give you that. If someone tries to use a can opener to perform brain surgery, and the patient dies, is it legitimate to say that that manufacturers of the can opener are a bunch of idiots because they didn't produce a tool suitable for performing brain surgery?

chubertdev · 2013-08-26 Reply Admin

Matt Westwood:
"Turns out that Gary had a moment of ritual idiocy and decided that since social security numbers are numbers, they should be stored as integers, and all of the leading zeroes were lost."
To those who are having difficulty following this, the above is nothing to do with whether or not Access is being used. The above is blethering stupidity whatever system is used to store the numbers.

Get this rule into your heads, kids: define a sequence of characters as an integer only if you're going to do arithmetic on it.

It doesn't matter if you know your fields are going to hold only 1 to 5, you still only define it as a string. You never know whether you're going to need to expand it to hold, e.g. "5a", "5b", etc.

The silliest stupidest and most common stupid of the lot is using an integer to hold a telephone number. Despite Jon Bentley's clixby kludge to sort them into order in microseconds, it's a bad idea.

90% true. do you use strings for ID columns?

chubertdev · 2013-08-26 Reply Admin

Manni_reloaded:
I don't think it's that bad to use Access for airport screens. It might not be the best choice, but it's not the same as, say, using Excel as a database or sending images inside a word document.
After all, pulling data from a database and showing it on screen are things it's supposed to be used for, right?

I know, right? Because the requirements for both kinds of systems are like totally the same. OMGLOLIGOTMYPERIOD

Can you guarantee the system displaying these screens is completely separate from the ones managing the air traffic controller screens? What version of Access is that, and are patches up to date? Any macro vulnerabilities in there? Access 97/2000/XP had an easily crackable password, I hope that doesn't give someone UPDATE/DELETE access to the underlying system.

Access isn't too bad when you're printing out an invoice for a small business. But a fucking airport??? Do you really want Access to display the status of traffic lights, FedEx shipment tracking, gun ownership records, voting poll results...

Aren't there some things that might be important enough to get a more robust, secure back-end with a properly designed interface?

I like how you're treating the arrivals/departures app as a public-facing system.

chubertdev · 2013-08-26 Reply Admin

QJo:
rick:
faoileag:
So in that list they have Sunderland and Newcastle-under-Lyme, but not Newcastle-upon-Tyne. That might cause a few raised eyebrows... (guess which of the three has the largest population).

the order of the list appears to be another WTF as it doesn't appear to be by population size or alphabetical or anything else usefull

I have just been working on a project where the requirement is to select the telephone international dialling code by means of a drop-down. The contents of this drop-down are held in a database held at the customer's site. We have already pointed out that this list is not complete. So far so good. Next thing we hear is that we are to present the elements of the drop-down in alphabetical order of the name (in English) of the nations whose dialling codes they are.

You can see where this is going: the numbers are to be presented in the order: 355, 213, 244 1-264, 54, 374, 61, 43, 994 ...(snip)... 41, 1, 598, 998, 58, 84, 967, 381, 260, 263, 850.

We suggested to the customer that this might not be optimal: how is the user supposed to find the appropriate code apart from searching through the entire drop-down? But no, that's what they want, because they can't think of how on earth we'd implement it in any other way - it would be "too complicated". When we suggested that it would be less tedious for the customer to type it in, they demurred on that one as well, on some spurious grounds ("they might type the wrong numbers in" or something).

We also have an instruction on that page: "Please enter your phone number without the leading zero" because if you do enter the leading zero it will cause the payment software to crash. So why don't we just quietly remove that initial zero as the user enters it? In fact we did this, but again the customer told us to remove this extra useful function.

These are not the worst offences against humanity that they have asked us to program. We have requested that our own company logo be removed from the solution we have been paid to provide, because we don't want our name to be associated with it.

This is one thing that I always throw back on clients. They LOVE to give specs with "list of Xs", whether it's a list of tests, cities, area codes, etc. I say, "I need this list from you, you're not getting anything from me until you give me a precise list of which entries you want."

2013-08-26 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
Matt Westwood:
"Turns out that Gary had a moment of ritual idiocy and decided that since social security numbers are numbers, they should be stored as integers, and all of the leading zeroes were lost."
To those who are having difficulty following this, the above is nothing to do with whether or not Access is being used. The above is blethering stupidity whatever system is used to store the numbers.

Get this rule into your heads, kids: define a sequence of characters as an integer only if you're going to do arithmetic on it.

It doesn't matter if you know your fields are going to hold only 1 to 5, you still only define it as a string. You never know whether you're going to need to expand it to hold, e.g. "5a", "5b", etc.

The silliest stupidest and most common stupid of the lot is using an integer to hold a telephone number. Despite Jon Bentley's clixby kludge to sort them into order in microseconds, it's a bad idea.

90% true. do you use strings for ID columns?

When you say ID, do you mean a name that the users choose to identify themselves, xor the hidden primary key?

AUTO INCREMENT = arithmetic.

chubertdev · 2013-08-26 Reply Admin

anonymous:
chubertdev:
Matt Westwood:
"Turns out that Gary had a moment of ritual idiocy and decided that since social security numbers are numbers, they should be stored as integers, and all of the leading zeroes were lost."
To those who are having difficulty following this, the above is nothing to do with whether or not Access is being used. The above is blethering stupidity whatever system is used to store the numbers.

Get this rule into your heads, kids: define a sequence of characters as an integer only if you're going to do arithmetic on it.

It doesn't matter if you know your fields are going to hold only 1 to 5, you still only define it as a string. You never know whether you're going to need to expand it to hold, e.g. "5a", "5b", etc.

The silliest stupidest and most common stupid of the lot is using an integer to hold a telephone number. Despite Jon Bentley's clixby kludge to sort them into order in microseconds, it's a bad idea.

90% true. do you use strings for ID columns?
When you say ID, do you mean a name that the users choose to identify themselves, xor the hidden primary key?

AUTO INCREMENT = arithmetic.

hmmm, that makes me wondering about auto incrementing hexadecimal numbers.

chubertdev · 2013-08-26 Reply Admin

anonymous:
chubertdev:
Matt Westwood:
"Turns out that Gary had a moment of ritual idiocy and decided that since social security numbers are numbers, they should be stored as integers, and all of the leading zeroes were lost."
To those who are having difficulty following this, the above is nothing to do with whether or not Access is being used. The above is blethering stupidity whatever system is used to store the numbers.

Get this rule into your heads, kids: define a sequence of characters as an integer only if you're going to do arithmetic on it.

It doesn't matter if you know your fields are going to hold only 1 to 5, you still only define it as a string. You never know whether you're going to need to expand it to hold, e.g. "5a", "5b", etc.

The silliest stupidest and most common stupid of the lot is using an integer to hold a telephone number. Despite Jon Bentley's clixby kludge to sort them into order in microseconds, it's a bad idea.

90% true. do you use strings for ID columns?
When you say ID, do you mean a name that the users choose to identify themselves, xor the hidden primary key?

AUTO INCREMENT = arithmetic.

Also, not all fields are auto incrementing.

Addendum (2013-08-26 16:55): *identity fields

2013-08-27 Reply Admin

aWTFmaker:
Popeye:
Holy shit what do they use for for air traffic control?
QBasic

http://www.scybolt.com/ti/qbasic2.html#atc

2013-08-27 Reply Admin

Alex Papadumbass:
GWO:
So, what do you think the phrase "IF ANY" means?
Clue: it means you can leave it blank to say "None of the above"

So, what do you think you should do with that error message in red? Clue: Read it.

It's okay to be dumb. It's okay to be rude. Just don't be both at the same time.

Bah, if you're going to be dumb or rude, you may as well be both, along with arrogant. That gives you the perfect storm to prove your oxygen-wasting status :-)

pscs · 2013-08-27 Reply Admin

"Which city do you live in?" questions are annoying if you live in the UK (and many other countries).

Many people in the UK do not live in a city, or even in a local authority area with a city - eg if you live in the Calderdale local authority area, the administrative TOWN is Halifax, the nearest city is Bradford, but you have no relationship with Bradford at all. Your local taxes are paid to the TOWN of Halifax; your refuse is collected by the TOWN of Halifax, etc.

Your postal address is even less to do with a 'city' as well. For instance, if you live in Cornholme, your post town is Todmorden, your postcode is OL14 (based on Oldham, a town in the Oldham local authority), but your local authority is Calderdale, and your administrative town is Halifax (whose postcode is HX1). The towns of Halifax, Oldham or ANY city will not appear in your postal address.

In this case, your nearest city could be Manchester, or Bradford or some other random city depending on how you feel, none of which have any relevance to getting anything delivered to you, and inclusion of which in your address will almost certainly cause confusion rather than assistance.

So, anyone out there who is asking for address details internationally, do NOT, EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES ask for a 'city' - not everywhere is like the USA you know! You'll just get garbage if you ask for something that doesn't make any sense.

If you're asking specifically for a UK address, ask for a 'Post town', not a "city", but if you are asking generically, then just give generic 'address' boxes.

For 'survey' purposes in the UK, ask for a county and/or local authority area (and do not confuse them - eg Calderdale is a local authority area, West Yorkshire is the county - they are very different things). Asking me for my 'city' will just give you random information as there is no 'city' I am linked to.

2013-08-31 Reply Admin

pscs:
"Which city do you live in?" questions are annoying if you live in the UK (and many other countries).
Many people in the UK do not live in a city, or even in a local authority area with a city - eg if you live in the Calderdale local authority area, the administrative TOWN is Halifax, the nearest city is Bradford, but you have no relationship with Bradford at all. Your local taxes are paid to the TOWN of Halifax; your refuse is collected by the TOWN of Halifax, etc.

Your postal address is even less to do with a 'city' as well. For instance, if you live in Cornholme, your post town is Todmorden, your postcode is OL14 (based on Oldham, a town in the Oldham local authority), but your local authority is Calderdale, and your administrative town is Halifax (whose postcode is HX1). The towns of Halifax, Oldham or ANY city will not appear in your postal address.

In this case, your nearest city could be Manchester, or Bradford or some other random city depending on how you feel, none of which have any relevance to getting anything delivered to you, and inclusion of which in your address will almost certainly cause confusion rather than assistance.

So, anyone out there who is asking for address details internationally, do NOT, EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES ask for a 'city' - not everywhere is like the USA you know! You'll just get garbage if you ask for something that doesn't make any sense.

If you're asking specifically for a UK address, ask for a 'Post town', not a "city", but if you are asking generically, then just give generic 'address' boxes.

For 'survey' purposes in the UK, ask for a county and/or local authority area (and do not confuse them - eg Calderdale is a local authority area, West Yorkshire is the county - they are very different things). Asking me for my 'city' will just give you random information as there is no 'city' I am linked to.

Much as I agree with you, you are in the Leeds City Region None of this excuses putting Newcastle-under-lyme on a list of cities while leaving Newcastle-on-tyne off

2013-09-03 Reply Admin

On the back end, no. Larger airlines have data management practices that are amazing, if a little maintained-into-existence. But they use Access a lot as a database client... which is not really all that unreasonable.

2013-09-09 Reply Admin

Agreed. NEVER try to store phone numbers as an integer. My phone number is 867-5309.6

2013-09-09 Reply Admin

TortoiseWrath:
MP79:
I wonder how common airlines using access to power things really is. Then I stop wondering and start planning my next trip, by train.

The last time I travelled by train (not long ago!), the boarding process consisted of a man holding up a picket sign reading "CHICAGO" and calling out names of passengers with reservations so that a Chinese woman could lead them to their seats.

They probably at least had the sense to store that list of passengers in a SQL database, though.

The last time I traveled by train (last December) the boarding process consisted of a man opening a door so people could get on.

You WILL Live in One of These Cities—OR ELSE!

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