• Potato (unregistered)

    That Areoplan thing is the worst. Air Canada does that so they can collect information not just from those who are enticed by getting points but also those who want to save a few dollars here and there. Though to that end, I guess one could certainly call it a WTF.

  • a flaming pineapple (unregistered)

    Anyone else notice that there is a decimal point in the average number of bad blocks? Eyesight + font choice fail.

  • Rumen's Boss (unregistered)
    bullqueer:
    a flaming homosexual:
    Anyone else notice that there is a decimal point in the average number of bad blocks? Eyesight + font choice fail.

    Oh my god, you are such a genius!

    You are quite correct, in fact, the average number is 212 2/7, which makes the only problem the fact that the programmer forgot to put a limit on the number of digits after the decimal point. Thus not really a WTF :(

    Also, why would anyone want to delete Portal 2 from their computer.... oh wait, they own a mac.... never mind

  • (cs) in reply to Jay
    Jay:
    I've seen many movies and TV shows where I find myself wanting to shout at the hero, "Why don't you just call the police?" or "Why don't you just tell her you love her?" or some such obvious, easy solution to his problem.
    In cop shows, how do the cops know to go to the crime scene? Somebody called and reported the crime. How did all of the married characters end up together? At some point they admitted their love for each other. If you pay attention, you'll find that there are many characters in movies/TV who do just what you think they should; the story just never focuses on them.

    It's not as interesting when characters are so predictable. Some of the greatest characters make choices and behave in ways that conflict with their personalities or what "normal" people expect. Many heroes are regarded as bad guys, and many villains have good intentions. Sure, less-rounded characters often support them, but stories centering around complex characters seem to be more successful and interesting.

  • Masaaki (unregistered)

    If you correctly deduce the rest of the Steam message, there will be cake. Otherwise, you will recieve an 'Unsatisfactory' mark on your test, followed by death. Good luck!

  • (cs)

    All he knew was that the murderer only had one arm. He told the police that and it didn't help. So he had to escape from the law and solve the murder himself. Pretty good movie!

  • monkeyPushButton (unregistered) in reply to Robb
    Robb:
    Jay:
    Which reminds me: Why is it that in movies when someone has just sufferred a fatal wound, and he is trying to gasp out the vital information before he dies, that he never says, "I was killed by Fred Mullins who lives at 307 Dover Ave." Instead he always says something like, "Beware the man with the steely eyes". Then somehow the brilliant detective has to figure out who this is.
    Because only you would pay to see a movie where the killer is revealed in the first 5 minutes?
    Never watched Columbo?

    "Oh, just one more thing..."

  • Get Bent, Franklin (unregistered) in reply to BentFranklin
    BentFranklin:
    All he knew was that the murderer only had one testicle. He told the police that and it didn't help. So he had to escape from the law and solve the murder himself. Pretty good movie!

    This would be a more interesting movie. Imagine the situation wherein the killer is revealed. Are they in a sauna? Football team group shower? Our hero is a doctor and the killer shows up for a prostate exam?

    The possibilities are tantalizing.

  • ideo (unregistered)

    Dicky programmer Andy worked for all those firms.

  • (cs) in reply to boog
    boog:
    It's not as interesting when characters are so predictable. Some of the greatest characters make choices and behave in ways that conflict with their personalities or what "normal" people expect. Many heroes are regarded as bad guys, and many villains have good intentions. Sure, less-rounded characters often support them, but stories centering around complex characters seem to be more successful and interesting.

    No...that's just what they'll be expecting us to do!

  • (cs) in reply to boog
    boog:
    476371?
    Hey, at least he has a 50/50 chance of being right.

    No no no. It's 1/16. (Or is it 1/256? Maybe 1/9...)

  • (cs) in reply to SQLDave
    SQLDave:
    boog:
    476371?
    Hey, at least he has a 50/50 chance of being right.

    No no no. It's 1/16. (Or is it 1/256? Maybe 1/9...)

    Sorry, I forgot math there for a moment. You are correct sir.
  • (cs)

    $0 bills! What will the government come up with next!

    No doubt the Republicans created these so that...

    ... companies can use them to pay wages. ... rich people can use them to pay taxes. ... people can get the full value of their 401K from their mutual fund. ... the IRS can send tax refunds to poor people. ... Social Security and Medicare won't go broke.

  • (cs) in reply to a flaming pineapple
    a flaming pineapple:
    Anyone else notice that there is a decimal point in the average number of bad blocks? Eyesight + font choice fail.

    I noticed. I also thought it interesting that the number is 1486/7. (.285714 is 1/7th)

    1486 blocks on 7 transfers, maybe? Not much activity.

    Anyway, it was silly not to round it. 212.3 is all you need to know.

  • (cs) in reply to Coyne
    Coyne:
    a flaming pineapple:
    Anyone else notice that there is a decimal point in the average number of bad blocks? Eyesight + font choice fail.

    I noticed. I also thought it interesting that the number is 1486/7. (.285714 is 1/7th)

    1486 blocks on 7 transfers, maybe? Not much activity.

    Anyway, it was silly not to round it. 212.3 is all you need to know.

    If we are going to quibble (and we are...)

    .285714... is 2/7, not 1/7.

    212.3 is still four significant digits which is probably way too much here. A better choice is probably "200-ish"

  • (cs) in reply to Becuzz
    Becuzz:
    Well, duh. This is obviously just another test. If you succeed there will be cake. Otherwise, deadly neuro-toxin.

    You already destroyed the neuro-toxin generator. Now what?

  • (cs)

    The opening item in today's assortment reminded of nothing so much as this little tidbit from 1967.

  • DonaldK (unregistered) in reply to da Doctah
    da Doctah:
    The opening item in today's assortment reminded of nothing so much as this little tidbit from 1967.

    Wow well spotted... Thanks for sharing!

  • (cs) in reply to boog
    boog:
    Jay:
    I've seen many movies and TV shows where I find myself wanting to shout at the hero, "Why don't you just call the police?" or "Why don't you just tell her you love her?" or some such obvious, easy solution to his problem.
    In cop shows, how do the cops know to go to the crime scene? Somebody called and reported the crime. How did all of the married characters end up together? At some point they admitted their love for each other. If you pay attention, you'll find that there are many characters in movies/TV who do just what you think they should; the story just never focuses on them.

    It's not as interesting when characters are so predictable. Some of the greatest characters make choices and behave in ways that conflict with their personalities or what "normal" people expect. Many heroes are regarded as bad guys, and many villains have good intentions. Sure, less-rounded characters often support them, but stories centering around complex characters seem to be more successful and interesting.

    You may be missing the point. What I understand Jay to mean is that in too many dramatic presentations the author has not properly thought up a believable plot, and in order to generate "drama", he/she has to resort to artificial means of generating dramatic tension. In the worst cases it causes a story to degenerate into pantomime of the "He's behind you!" variety.

  • Chaos215bar2 (unregistered) in reply to Matt Westwood
    Matt Westwood:
    You may be missing the point. What I understand Jay to mean is that in too many dramatic presentations the author has not properly thought up a believable plot, and in order to generate "drama", he/she has to resort to artificial means of generating dramatic tension. In the worst cases it causes a story to degenerate into pantomime of the "He's behind you!" variety.

    Yes! I don't think we're talking characters people doing unusual things. That's perfectly fine. We're talking about characters either doing things that don't make any sense, yet are necessary to support the rest of the plot, or ignoring some glaringly obvious easy solution to a problem for no apparent reason. Nothing makes we want to stop watching a show or walk out of a movie more.

  • foo (unregistered) in reply to EvanED
    EvanED:
    Well, the answer to "476371?" obviously depends on whether the questionnaire was using C convention (in which case the answer is "yes") or command-line exit status convention (in which case the answer is "no").

    Really, the person writing the question should have specified.

    You're half-way there. But exit status is often limited to 8 bit, so 476371 is out of range, and "yes" is correct.

    So they're testing your general knowledge of C, process invocation and integer ranges, all in one question and without losing many words (any words in fact). Genius!

  • GLaDOS (unregistered) in reply to immibis
    immibis:
    Becuzz:
    Well, duh. This is obviously just another test. If you succeed there will be cake. Otherwise, deadly neuro-toxin.

    You already destroyed the neuro-toxin generator. Now what?

    Fortunately, the cake contains fish-shaped neuro-toxins.
  • (cs) in reply to Mythran
    Mythran:
    476371

    What is 476372 - 1?

    Answering a question with another question? .... <strokes chin> I like it... cunning, very cunning.
  • (cs) in reply to DaveK
    DaveK:
    Mythran:
    476371

    What is 476372 - 1?

    Answering a question with another question? .... <strokes chin> I like it... cunning, very cunning.
    What do you get if you multiply six by nine?
  • (cs) in reply to Watson
    Watson:
    DaveK:
    Mythran:
    476371

    What is 476372 - 1?

    Answering a question with another question? .... <strokes chin> I like it... cunning, very cunning.
    What do you get if you multiply six by nine?

    Okay, I'll bite, just in case nobody else has heard this tired old "joke": 42. In base 13.

    Another example of a stupid plot device. Note how there are four Ys in the sentence "What do you get if you multiply six by nine?" How can Arthur and Ford possibly have made that sentence out of a scrabble set?

  • (cs) in reply to Matt Westwood
    Matt Westwood:
    Watson:
    DaveK:
    Mythran:
    476371

    What is 476372 - 1?

    Answering a question with another question? .... <strokes chin> I like it... cunning, very cunning.
    What do you get if you multiply six by nine?

    Okay, I'll bite, just in case nobody else has heard this tired old "joke": 42. In base 13.

    Another example of a stupid plot device. Note how there are four Ys in the sentence "What do you get if you multiply six by nine?" How can Arthur and Ford possibly have made that sentence out of a scrabble set?

    Arthur made the Scrabble set. He probably had four 'Y's in it for the same reason that made him think it was worth making one to civilise the natives with.

  • foo (unregistered) in reply to Watson
    Watson:
    Matt Westwood:
    Watson:
    What do you get if you multiply six by nine?

    Okay, I'll bite, just in case nobody else has heard this tired old "joke": 42. In base 13.

    2 million years old, in fact.

    Watson:
    Matt Westwood:
    Another example of a stupid plot device. Note how there are four Ys in the sentence "What do you get if you multiply six by nine?" How can Arthur and Ford possibly have made that sentence out of a scrabble set?
    Arthur made the Scrabble set. He probably had four 'Y's in it for the same reason that made him think it was worth making one to civilise the natives with.
    Some of them were "F"s and "T"s turned the wrong way. (What do you know about Arthur's handwriting?)
  • Josh (unregistered)

    TRWTF is that this article isn't in Error'd

  • (cs) in reply to Watson
    Watson:
    Matt Westwood:
    Watson:
    DaveK:
    Mythran:
    476371

    What is 476372 - 1?

    Answering a question with another question? .... <strokes chin> I like it... cunning, very cunning.
    What do you get if you multiply six by nine?

    Okay, I'll bite, just in case nobody else has heard this tired old "joke": 42. In base 13.

    Another example of a stupid plot device. Note how there are four Ys in the sentence "What do you get if you multiply six by nine?" How can Arthur and Ford possibly have made that sentence out of a scrabble set?

    Arthur made the Scrabble set. He probably had four 'Y's in it for the same reason that made him think it was worth making one to civilise the natives with.
    As in: Y, Y, Y, Y did he bother. Y, Y, Y, Y did Douglas Adams bother, come to that?

  • pecus (unregistered) in reply to Jay
    Jay:
    intergalacticz:
    eVil:
    That steam message isn't really much of a wtf. Although the string is truncated, enough information is imparted at the beginning for you to understand what they're telling you - that you're about to delete stuff that the game needs.

    Additionally, one can easily deduce the information that is missing from the info that is present... eg, that you'll have to first re-download the game content to use it. The second bit is superfluous.

    The message stops mid sentence. I agree that a reasonable person could read for understanding, and know what to do next. The two buttons give it away. However, the WTF is that the message stops right when the message appears to begin giving you instructions. It is funny. Good lord.

    It's like in half the murder mysteries ever written, where the dying man always says, "I have to deliver a vital message! The secret is ... uggh" and he's dead.

    Which reminds me: Why is it that in movies when someone has just sufferred a fatal wound, and he is trying to gasp out the vital information before he dies, that he never says, "I was killed by Fred Mullins who lives at 307 Dover Ave." Instead he always says something like, "Beware the man with the steely eyes". Then somehow the brilliant detective has to figure out who this is.

    Because not too many people would pay to see a movie that only goes for 5 minutes.

  • damnum (unregistered) in reply to Jay
    Jay:
    Gay:
    Jay:
    It's like in half the murder mysteries ever written, where the dying man always says, "I have to deliver a vital message! The secret is ... uggh" and he's dead.

    Which reminds me: Why is it that in movies when someone has just sufferred a fatal wound, and he is trying to gasp out the vital information before he dies, that he never says, "I was killed by Fred Mullins who lives at 307 Dover Ave." Instead he always says something like, "Beware the man with the steely eyes". Then somehow the brilliant detective has to figure out who this is.

    I'm so glad you pointed that out.

    Yes, I much prefer movies where there's no plot. The guy just gives the name in the first ten minutes and then the cops show up at the perp's house.

    Well, I'd prefer a story where the challenge facing the hero is one that's believable, and not an artifical challenge that the writers had to force in.

    Like, I've seen many movies and TV shows where I find myself wanting to shout at the hero, "Why don't you just call the police?" or "Why don't you just tell her you love her?" or some such obvious, easy solution to his problem. But the hero doesn't do the obvious thing but instead does something completely stupid which does nothing to solve his problem. And it's pretty obvious that the only reason why the hero doesn't do the obvious thing is because if he did, the movie would be over in 5 minutes.

    I'd even buy it if they'd throw in SOME reason why the obvious solution doesn't work. Like, have the guy call the police and the policeman comes to the scene, and then it turns out that the policeman has been paid off by the criminals so he just calls back to the station and says, "No, nothing going on here, just some kook." Etc.

    Right.... a believable movie....Wouldn't be very interesting, would it?

    "Lady goes Shopping" or "Student catches train" or "Dickhead posts on TDWTF"

  • nobis (unregistered) in reply to a flaming pineapple
    a flaming pineapple:
    Anyone else notice that there is a decimal point in the average number of bad blocks? Eyesight + font choice fail.
    I suspect the person sending it in did....hence the 'exact' in the description
  • old joke (unregistered) in reply to Matt Westwood
    Matt Westwood:
    boog:
    Jay:
    I've seen many movies and TV shows where I find myself wanting to shout at the hero, "Why don't you just call the police?" or "Why don't you just tell her you love her?" or some such obvious, easy solution to his problem.
    In cop shows, how do the cops know to go to the crime scene? Somebody called and reported the crime. How did all of the married characters end up together? At some point they admitted their love for each other. If you pay attention, you'll find that there are many characters in movies/TV who do just what you think they should; the story just never focuses on them.

    It's not as interesting when characters are so predictable. Some of the greatest characters make choices and behave in ways that conflict with their personalities or what "normal" people expect. Many heroes are regarded as bad guys, and many villains have good intentions. Sure, less-rounded characters often support them, but stories centering around complex characters seem to be more successful and interesting.

    You may be missing the point. What I understand Jay to mean is that in too many dramatic presentations the author has not properly thought up a believable plot, and in order to generate "drama", he/she has to resort to artificial means of generating dramatic tension. In the worst cases it causes a story to degenerate into pantomime of the "He's behind you!" variety.

    I agree.

    Take Harry Potter as an example - Although the plot is reasonably believable, JK hasn't really made believable characters. As if a 'ranga would have TWO friends...

  • jimmy (unregistered) in reply to Watson
    Watson:
    Matt Westwood:
    Watson:
    DaveK:
    Mythran:
    476371

    What is 476372 - 1?

    Answering a question with another question? .... <strokes chin> I like it... cunning, very cunning.
    What do you get if you multiply six by nine?

    Okay, I'll bite, just in case nobody else has heard this tired old "joke": 42. In base 13.

    Another example of a stupid plot device. Note how there are four Ys in the sentence "What do you get if you multiply six by nine?" How can Arthur and Ford possibly have made that sentence out of a scrabble set?

    Arthur made the Scrabble set. He probably had four 'Y's in it for the same reason that made him think it was worth making one to civilise the natives with.
    By Jove, you're right. Films/Books with inconsistent plots are so annoying. I'll never read any more Douglas Addams

  • Cad (unregistered)

    Shouldn't this be in the Error'd section?

  • Xythar (unregistered)

    The Portal one is especially funny because Portal uses that kind of humour (suggesting that you're about to be told something very important, then the message cuts off) all the time.

  • illum (unregistered) in reply to Xythar
    Xythar:
    The Portal one is especially funny because Portal uses that kind of humour (suggesting that you're about to be told something very important, then the message cuts off) all the time.
    I agree I like the bit where
  • doctor_of_common_sense (unregistered) in reply to illum
    illum:
    Xythar:
    The Portal one is especially funny because Portal uses that kind of humour (suggesting that you're about to be told something very important, then the message cuts off) all the time.
    I agree I like the bit where

    on TDWTF a 2 bit hack is flummoxed by a 32 bit int. Funny ain't it? () Yes () No

  • (cs)

    The real WTF is playing games on a Mac.

    Well, not really. The real WTF is that Valve decided to write their own UI. Never mind that I've set my set my desktop colours to some beige/light brown, to match the wallpaper of five extremely cute sleeping little kittens, Steam always appears in this menacing black/gray 'colour' scheme. OK, you can change it to other menacing combinations, but never to what you've actually set your system to and what all applications (with the exception of Steam) are using.

  • Mr.'; Drop Database -- (unregistered)

    14636926425432121 in hexadecimal is 0x34003500310039, which appears to be a UTF-16 representation of the string "4519". That's certainly a creative way to print a string.

  • Anonymous Cow-Herd (unregistered) in reply to Watson
    Watson:
    DaveK:
    Mythran:
    476371

    What is 476372 - 1?

    Answering a question with another question? .... <strokes chin> I like it... cunning, very cunning.
    What do you get if you multiply six by nine?
    I always thought something was fundamentally wrong with the universe.
  • Anonymous Cow-Herd (unregistered) in reply to Severity One
    Severity One:
    The real WTF is that Valve decided to write their own UI.
    They're not the worst offender by far *cough*Adobe*cough*
  • Kuli (unregistered)

    The job question "476371" is quite clear:

    They're offering you an annual salary, and you have to decide whether you accept.

  • itsmo (unregistered) in reply to Robb
    Robb:
    Jay:
    intergalacticz:
    eVil:
    That steam message isn't really much of a wtf. Although the string is truncated, enough information is imparted at the beginning for you to understand what they're telling you - that you're about to delete stuff that the game needs.

    Additionally, one can easily deduce the information that is missing from the info that is present... eg, that you'll have to first re-download the game content to use it. The second bit is superfluous.

    The message stops mid sentence. I agree that a reasonable person could read for understanding, and know what to do next. The two buttons give it away. However, the WTF is that the message stops right when the message appears to begin giving you instructions. It is funny. Good lord.

    It's like in half the murder mysteries ever written, where the dying man always says, "I have to deliver a vital message! The secret is ... uggh" and he's dead.

    Which reminds me: Why is it that in movies when someone has just sufferred a fatal wound, and he is trying to gasp out the vital information before he dies, that he never says, "I was killed by Fred Mullins who lives at 307 Dover Ave." Instead he always says something like, "Beware the man with the steely eyes". Then somehow the brilliant detective has to figure out who this is.

    Because only you would pay to see a movie where the killer is revealed in the first 5 minutes?

    Like Columbo?

  • Frank Columbo (unregistered) in reply to itsmo
    itsmo:
    Robb:
    Jay:
    intergalacticz:
    eVil:
    That steam message isn't really much of a wtf. Although the string is truncated, enough information is imparted at the beginning for you to understand what they're telling you - that you're about to delete stuff that the game needs.

    Additionally, one can easily deduce the information that is missing from the info that is present... eg, that you'll have to first re-download the game content to use it. The second bit is superfluous.

    The message stops mid sentence. I agree that a reasonable person could read for understanding, and know what to do next. The two buttons give it away. However, the WTF is that the message stops right when the message appears to begin giving you instructions. It is funny. Good lord.

    It's like in half the murder mysteries ever written, where the dying man always says, "I have to deliver a vital message! The secret is ... uggh" and he's dead.

    Which reminds me: Why is it that in movies when someone has just sufferred a fatal wound, and he is trying to gasp out the vital information before he dies, that he never says, "I was killed by Fred Mullins who lives at 307 Dover Ave." Instead he always says something like, "Beware the man with the steely eyes". Then somehow the brilliant detective has to figure out who this is.

    Because only you would pay to see a movie where the killer is revealed in the first 5 minutes?

    Like Columbo?

    Now then, sir, I'm sure I've heard that exact same comment from someone else. Officer, did I hear that? I think I did. Could you read back the comments for me please?

  • (cs) in reply to Gay
    Gay:
    Jay:
    It's like in half the murder mysteries ever written, where the dying man always says, "I have to deliver a vital message! The secret is ... uggh" and he's dead.

    Which reminds me: Why is it that in movies when someone has just sufferred a fatal wound, and he is trying to gasp out the vital information before he dies, that he never says, "I was killed by Fred Mullins who lives at 307 Dover Ave." Instead he always says something like, "Beware the man with the steely eyes". Then somehow the brilliant detective has to figure out who this is.

    I'm so glad you pointed that out.

    Yes, I much prefer movies where there's no plot. The guy just gives the name in the first ten minutes and then the cops show up at the perp's house.

    Oh, you haven't watched Columbo then?

  • Gary (unregistered)

    I'm curious how many $0.00 bills the machine was planning to give out.

  • QJo (unregistered) in reply to old joke
    old joke:
    Matt Westwood:
    boog:
    Jay:
    I've seen many movies and TV shows where I find myself wanting to shout at the hero, "Why don't you just call the police?" or "Why don't you just tell her you love her?" or some such obvious, easy solution to his problem.
    In cop shows, how do the cops know to go to the crime scene? Somebody called and reported the crime. How did all of the married characters end up together? At some point they admitted their love for each other. If you pay attention, you'll find that there are many characters in movies/TV who do just what you think they should; the story just never focuses on them.

    It's not as interesting when characters are so predictable. Some of the greatest characters make choices and behave in ways that conflict with their personalities or what "normal" people expect. Many heroes are regarded as bad guys, and many villains have good intentions. Sure, less-rounded characters often support them, but stories centering around complex characters seem to be more successful and interesting.

    You may be missing the point. What I understand Jay to mean is that in too many dramatic presentations the author has not properly thought up a believable plot, and in order to generate "drama", he/she has to resort to artificial means of generating dramatic tension. In the worst cases it causes a story to degenerate into pantomime of the "He's behind you!" variety.

    I agree.

    Take Harry Potter as an example - Although the plot is reasonably believable, JK hasn't really made believable characters. As if a 'ranga would have TWO friends...

    +1: Googled "ranga", got "Fanta pants". Sprayed my coffee.

  • Job Huntard (unregistered)

    You're offering 476371 as a job?

    No thanks. I want a career, not odd jobs.

  • Get Bent, Franklin (unregistered) in reply to QJo
    QJo:
    old joke:
    I agree.

    Take Harry Potter as an example - Although the plot is fairly realistic, JK hasn't really made believable characters. As if a 'ranga would have TWO friends...

    +1: Googled "ranga", got "Fanta pants". Sprayed my coffee.

    +1: Clicked "Images" got... images. Strangled my penguin.

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