The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

Hmmmm · 2012-09-20 Reply Admin

Abico:
I've looked at just enough JavaScript written by people who have very little understanding of the language, or indeed, programming in general, to totally misinfer what an abomination it is

FTFY

I, on the other hand, have looked at enough Javascript written by decent programmers with a good understanding of the underlying principles of the language to know that the vast majority of the perceived issues with the language are actually caused by the environments the language runs in (i.e. the browsers) rather than the language itself. There were a few dodgy design decisions made in the early versions that it is now mostly stuck with but no more (and no more serious) than in most other languages.

2012-09-20 Reply Admin

Hmmmm:
Abico:
I've looked at just enough JavaScript written by people who have very little understanding of the language, or indeed, programming in general, to totally misinfer what an abomination it is

FTFY

I, on the other hand, have looked at enough Javascript written by decent programmers with a good understanding of the underlying principles of the language to know that the vast majority of the perceived issues with the language are actually caused by the environments the language runs in (i.e. the browsers) rather than the language itself. There were a few dodgy design decisions made in the early versions that it is now mostly stuck with but no more (and no more serious) than in most other languages.

Maybe so.

It probably doesn't help my prejudice that my current assignment is replacing a particular JS script with a standalone program because running the script in the client program is way too slow and requires multiple instances of the client. That's the client's fault. But it demonstrates why I have little use for something like JS.

Yazeran · 2012-09-20 Reply Admin

cg:
jugis / quibus; what a fsckhead!
When is the last time you coded in assembly language? How about even in straight C?

When is the last time you coded source for a language rather than just used a language?

Do you know the difference between a spinlock, a semaphore, and a mutex?

Do you understand the electronics behind an address line change from a 0 to a 1?

When is the last time you coded at ring 0?

When is the last time you coded for an embedded processor like keyboard or wifi?

Do you understand how the speed of light limits the length of transmission lines in very high speed processors?

Do you understand the reason that silicon must be doped for standard bipolar and FET transistors to work?

All of these things and uncountable more are performed regularly so that people like you don't have to know about them.

I have coded in HTML, I have coded scripts that code HTML, but I don't presume that everyone has had the time in their long life to learn and use everything.

You must be really young to be so foolish. That is the reason they don't allow people so young to high office.

Sorry (everyone else) for the rant, but a man's got to know his limits.

Is it bad that I can actually answer yes to about half of those.... ;-)

Yours Yazeran

Plan: To go to Mars one day with a hammer.

2012-09-20 Reply Admin

I thought 8 was backspace, and 9 was TAB.

2012-09-20 Reply Admin

JJ:
With the prevalence of the Web over the last 18+ years, if you are a programmer and haven't taken any kind of look into HTML then you are what I consider to be the worst kind of programmer: the uninquisitive kind.
I'm not talking about javascript. I'm not talking about XML. I'm not talking about CSS. I'm talking about plain old HTML. And I don't care if your job involves writing microcode for some embedded chip that won't get within a mile of a Web browser; the fact that you're on this site mean you're exposed to HTML on a regular basis. I just don't get how anyone could not care.

(I do, however, get that there are people who don't care. And I form an opinion of them based on that.)

With the prevalence of anti-lock brakes over the last 30+ years, if you are a mechanical engineer and haven't taken any kind of look into anti-lock brakes then you are what I consider to be the worst kind of engineer: the uninquisitive kind.

I'm not talking about traction control systems. I'm not talking about gyroscopic sensors. I'm talking about plain old anti-lock brakes. And I don't care if your job involves designing speedboat enginges that won't get within a mile of an anti-lock brake; the fact that you drive a car mean you're exposed to anti-lock brakes on a regular basis. I just don't get how anyone could not care.

Exercises for the reader:

Do you think that there might be mechanical engineers in the world who have never studied the design of anti-lock brakes, even though they themselves almost surely drive cars that have anti-lock brakes on them?
Do you think that there might be programmers in the world who have never studied the design of websites, even though they themselves use the Internet?
Is everyone in the world who does not have the same interests and work in the same specialty that you do necessarily and obviously a moron? Or is it possible that there are other explanations for this bizarre behavior?
Can you think of any reason why any sane human being would have tastes and preferences different from yours? Is it because they're not smart enough to do what you do, or just because they are ignorant of how much better your tastes are?

no laughing matter · 2012-09-20 Reply Admin

daef:
bigger article 'bout the same bank (GERMAN) http://www.infogurke.de/2010/07/erfahrungen-mit-bank-of-scotland/

The author also took a deeper look at the Javascript of the site:

/*—————————————————————————–
This source is part of the FLEXCUBE@ Java App Server Software System and is
copyrighted by i-flex Solutions Limited.

[...]

i-flex Solutions Limited.
10-11, SDF I, SEEPZ, Andheri (East),
Mumbai – 400 096.
India

Copyright 2004 i-flex Solutions Limited.

Modification History

Date Version Author Description
__________ ___________ _______________ ________________________________________
10/11/2006 1 Rupesh N Initial Version
09/03/2009 2 SaurabhV Added the code to disable text selection in mozilla
10/03/2009 3 Priti D Disabled Shift+F6 key(address bar visible)
——————————————————————————*/

Let the Nageshes commence!

2012-09-20 Reply Admin

Abico:
Hmmmm:
Abico:
I've looked at just enough JavaScript written by people who have very little understanding of the language, or indeed, programming in general, to totally misinfer what an abomination it is

FTFY

I, on the other hand, have looked at enough Javascript written by decent programmers with a good understanding of the underlying principles of the language to know that the vast majority of the perceived issues with the language are actually caused by the environments the language runs in (i.e. the browsers) rather than the language itself. There were a few dodgy design decisions made in the early versions that it is now mostly stuck with but no more (and no more serious) than in most other languages.
Maybe so.

It probably doesn't help my prejudice that my current assignment is replacing a particular JS script with a standalone program because running the script in the client program is way too slow and requires multiple instances of the client. That's the client's fault. But it demonstrates why I have little use for something like JS.

JavaScript is relatively good as it is. It's the environment (browser, or your custom client) that sucks in interpreting and executing it. Perfect proof: Safari and Chrome execute SAME script noticeably faster than IE. Firefox is in between.

2012-09-20 Reply Admin

Yazeran:
cg:
jugis / quibus; what a fsckhead!
When is the last time you coded in assembly language? How about even in straight C?

When is the last time you coded source for a language rather than just used a language?

Do you know the difference between a spinlock, a semaphore, and a mutex?

Do you understand the electronics behind an address line change from a 0 to a 1?

When is the last time you coded at ring 0?

When is the last time you coded for an embedded processor like keyboard or wifi?

Do you understand how the speed of light limits the length of transmission lines in very high speed processors?

Do you understand the reason that silicon must be doped for standard bipolar and FET transistors to work?

All of these things and uncountable more are performed regularly so that people like you don't have to know about them.

I have coded in HTML, I have coded scripts that code HTML, but I don't presume that everyone has had the time in their long life to learn and use everything.

You must be really young to be so foolish. That is the reason they don't allow people so young to high office.

Sorry (everyone else) for the rant, but a man's got to know his limits.

Is it bad that I can actually answer yes to about half of those.... ;-)

Yours Yazeran

Plan: To go to Mars one day with a hammer.

Oooo - doctor Yazeran, of course

2012-09-20 Reply Admin

jay:
JJ:
With the prevalence of the Web over the last 18+ years, if you are a programmer and haven't taken any kind of look into HTML then you are what I consider to be the worst kind of programmer: the uninquisitive kind.
I'm not talking about javascript. I'm not talking about XML. I'm not talking about CSS. I'm talking about plain old HTML. And I don't care if your job involves writing microcode for some embedded chip that won't get within a mile of a Web browser; the fact that you're on this site mean you're exposed to HTML on a regular basis. I just don't get how anyone could not care.

(I do, however, get that there are people who don't care. And I form an opinion of them based on that.)

With the prevalence of anti-lock brakes over the last 30+ years, if you are a mechanical engineer and haven't taken any kind of look into anti-lock brakes then you are what I consider to be the worst kind of engineer: the uninquisitive kind.

I'm not talking about traction control systems. I'm not talking about gyroscopic sensors. I'm talking about plain old anti-lock brakes. And I don't care if your job involves designing speedboat enginges that won't get within a mile of an anti-lock brake; the fact that you drive a car mean you're exposed to anti-lock brakes on a regular basis. I just don't get how anyone could not care.

Exercises for the reader:

Do you think that there might be mechanical engineers in the world who have never studied the design of anti-lock brakes, even though they themselves almost surely drive cars that have anti-lock brakes on them?

Do you think that there might be programmers in the world who have never studied the design of websites, even though they themselves use the Internet?

Is everyone in the world who does not have the same interests and work in the same specialty that you do necessarily and obviously a moron? Or is it possible that there are other explanations for this bizarre behavior?

Can you think of any reason why any sane human being would have tastes and preferences different from yours? Is it because they're not smart enough to do what you do, or just because they are ignorant of how much better your tastes are?

Dude, we're discussing tools here, not product of tools. We're discussing laziness of a general programmer to notice a tool (language, markup) that they see a product of every single day - every single day.

2012-09-20 Reply Admin

tation:
jay:
JJ:
With the prevalence of the Web over the last 18+ years, if you are a programmer and haven't taken any kind of look into HTML then you are what I consider to be the worst kind of programmer: the uninquisitive kind.
I'm not talking about javascript. I'm not talking about XML. I'm not talking about CSS. I'm talking about plain old HTML. And I don't care if your job involves writing microcode for some embedded chip that won't get within a mile of a Web browser; the fact that you're on this site mean you're exposed to HTML on a regular basis. I just don't get how anyone could not care.

(I do, however, get that there are people who don't care. And I form an opinion of them based on that.)

With the prevalence of anti-lock brakes over the last 30+ years, if you are a mechanical engineer and haven't taken any kind of look into anti-lock brakes then you are what I consider to be the worst kind of engineer: the uninquisitive kind.

I'm not talking about traction control systems. I'm not talking about gyroscopic sensors. I'm talking about plain old anti-lock brakes. And I don't care if your job involves designing speedboat enginges that won't get within a mile of an anti-lock brake; the fact that you drive a car mean you're exposed to anti-lock brakes on a regular basis. I just don't get how anyone could not care.

Exercises for the reader:

Do you think that there might be mechanical engineers in the world who have never studied the design of anti-lock brakes, even though they themselves almost surely drive cars that have anti-lock brakes on them?

Do you think that there might be programmers in the world who have never studied the design of websites, even though they themselves use the Internet?

Is everyone in the world who does not have the same interests and work in the same specialty that you do necessarily and obviously a moron? Or is it possible that there are other explanations for this bizarre behavior?

Can you think of any reason why any sane human being would have tastes and preferences different from yours? Is it because they're not smart enough to do what you do, or just because they are ignorant of how much better your tastes are?

Dude, we're discussing tools here, not product of tools. We're discussing laziness of a general programmer to notice a tool (language, markup) that they see a product of every single day - every single day.

And again I argue: by your logic, any developer who has never looked at OS code or their processor's instruction set is lazy.

2012-09-20 Reply Admin

Abico:
tation:
jay:
JJ:
With the prevalence of the Web over the last 18+ years, if you are a programmer and haven't taken any kind of look into HTML then you are what I consider to be the worst kind of programmer: the uninquisitive kind.
I'm not talking about javascript. I'm not talking about XML. I'm not talking about CSS. I'm talking about plain old HTML. And I don't care if your job involves writing microcode for some embedded chip that won't get within a mile of a Web browser; the fact that you're on this site mean you're exposed to HTML on a regular basis. I just don't get how anyone could not care.

(I do, however, get that there are people who don't care. And I form an opinion of them based on that.)

With the prevalence of anti-lock brakes over the last 30+ years, if you are a mechanical engineer and haven't taken any kind of look into anti-lock brakes then you are what I consider to be the worst kind of engineer: the uninquisitive kind.

I'm not talking about traction control systems. I'm not talking about gyroscopic sensors. I'm talking about plain old anti-lock brakes. And I don't care if your job involves designing speedboat enginges that won't get within a mile of an anti-lock brake; the fact that you drive a car mean you're exposed to anti-lock brakes on a regular basis. I just don't get how anyone could not care.

Exercises for the reader:

Do you think that there might be mechanical engineers in the world who have never studied the design of anti-lock brakes, even though they themselves almost surely drive cars that have anti-lock brakes on them?

Do you think that there might be programmers in the world who have never studied the design of websites, even though they themselves use the Internet?

Is everyone in the world who does not have the same interests and work in the same specialty that you do necessarily and obviously a moron? Or is it possible that there are other explanations for this bizarre behavior?

Can you think of any reason why any sane human being would have tastes and preferences different from yours? Is it because they're not smart enough to do what you do, or just because they are ignorant of how much better your tastes are?

Dude, we're discussing tools here, not product of tools. We're discussing laziness of a general programmer to notice a tool (language, markup) that they see a product of every single day - every single day.
And again I argue: by your logic, any developer who has never looked at OS code or their processor's instruction set is lazy.

Yes - every developer is lazy.

Maurits · 2012-09-20 Reply Admin

erat:
Yes - every developer is lazy.

At least, laziness is one of the three great virtus of a programmer.

Larry Wall:
We will encourage you to develop the three great virtues of a programmer: laziness, impatience, and hubris.

2012-09-21 Reply Admin

Looks like you are advertising a phishing scam.

This is NOT the Bank of Scotlands website: banking dot bankofscotland dot de

2012-09-21 Reply Admin

The variable

event

is even undefined! The parameter's name in the function header is

, not

event

.

2012-09-21 Reply Admin

So, can someone explain why https: banking.bankofscotland<.>de embeds a doubleclick.net iframe and www.bankofscotland<.>de an iframe of marketing company quisma plus javascript tracking code from webtrekk.net ?

Maybe they want to make sure their customer funds get robbed if the server at any of those companies is compromised?

I can understand that they contract a third party for their analytics, but rinning their javascript? Sending their data to their servers?

If bankofscotland01.webtrekk.net was a local install of BOS in their domain, it would still be a WTF, but but it resolves to the same server as www.webtrekk.com, so it's the third party server. Maybe they also track the money you have in your account? You know, just for analytics.

2012-09-21 Reply Admin

erat:
Yes - every developer is lazy.

Well....okay, fair enough.

2012-09-21 Reply Admin

jay:
With the prevalence of anti-lock brakes over the last 30+ years, if you are a mechanical engineer and haven't taken any kind of look into anti-lock brakes then you are what I consider to be the worst kind of engineer: the uninquisitive kind.

Seems reasonable enough. I would think that any remotely competent mechanical engineer even tangentially connected to the motor industry would have some idea of how an ABS works.

jay:
1. Do you think that there might be mechanical engineers in the world who have never studied the design of anti-lock brakes, even though they themselves almost surely drive cars that have anti-lock brakes on them?

Thats a shit analogy.

"Do I think that there might be mechanical engineers in the motor industry who have never studied the use of modern car manufacturing techniques?" would be a much better analogy.

(And the answer would be "yes - just look at Renaults". But I digress.)

jay:
3. Is everyone in the world who does not have the same interests and work in the same specialty that you do necessarily and obviously a moron? Or is it possible that there are other explanations for this bizarre behavior?

What, you mean like not having the basic ability to spot fallacious reasoning, faulty assumptions and loaded questions?

Yes, I think those people are all morons.

2012-09-22 Reply Admin

amet:
JavaScript is relatively good as it is. It's the environment (browser, or your custom client) that sucks in interpreting and executing it. Perfect proof: Safari and Chrome execute SAME script noticeably faster than IE. Firefox is in between.

Actually, it seems that IE is a little bit better at JS than FF/Safari (I'm, not sure about Chrome) because it picks up [real] errors that the aforementioned do not. {This assumes that you're one of the "errors should be reported" mind, rather than [as exemplified by PHP] "I don't care about errors, JUST GO!" mind.}

I wish I could remember the exact details of the case I found this out, but as I recall it had to do with some syntax ambiguity.

2012-09-22 Reply Admin

Wladimir Palant saved my life. And the Internet.

2012-09-23 Reply Admin

I don't expect worse from RBS. They have vertically integrated the WTF in their operation.

For example, as a student in Scotland I opened an account with them, left the UK, and am once again residing here but in the South this time, and I'm still proud owner of a student account. RBS which is smaller than NatWest has anyway in the meantime bought that bank, and their infrastructure (backoffice, website up to fonts but not colours, Xiring encryption for homebanking, ..) is exactly the same. However, RBS will not merge the two banks --- instead RBS has last year sold its English and Welsh shops to the Santander bank.

Effect? My nearest local bank is about 8h by train Northward, and my savings account is inexplicably at Santander. Once in a blue moon I can reach my savings from the RBS online login, but normally it points me to Santander to set up an account.

2012-09-26 Reply Admin

Hmmmm:
Abico:
I've looked at just enough JavaScript written by people who have very little understanding of the language, or indeed, programming in general, to totally misinfer what an abomination it is

FTFY

I, on the other hand, have looked at enough Javascript written by decent programmers with a good understanding of the underlying principles of the language to know that the vast majority of the perceived issues with the language are actually caused by the environments the language runs in (i.e. the browsers) rather than the language itself. There were a few dodgy design decisions made in the early versions that it is now mostly stuck with but no more (and no more serious) than in most other languages.

Yeah the multiple versions of browsers and specs, building on a stateless protocol, the security problems, the really lame early Javascript all made web programming seem undesirable, a mess. We all wanted to stay the hell away. Javascript performance and support in browsers has come a long way baby. It feels awfully "sporty" for server-side use, when you could go with strongly-typed Java or something, but it's neat to use the same language on server and client side for once. There are some nice libs too, like the node.js stuff or jQuery. Good mobile support. Joe Bob says check it out.

2012-09-27 Reply Admin

Ryan E:
I really like the function above that one in the js file:
function returnFalse () {return false;}

Why just use false, when you can returnFalse()?

Don't ask "why" questions, they only cause more trouble.

2012-10-15 Reply Admin

This actually looks a lot like generated code, instead of human written code.

2013-11-05 Reply Admin

The same ABP that takes money from Google to allow their ads through.

Bank of Scotland's Keyboard Trap

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