The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Not sure I see the face-palm issue with the motion-detectors. Apparently they want to restrict use of the building by unauthorized people. Is that what you're objecting to? If not, how else do you propose they do this?

lizardfoot · 2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Raise your hand if you read Aleksandr's email with a Russian accent.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

this comment of 'frist' I personally found outdated.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

C - requires use source, requires follow compile rules

Yeah, well, so do we here at Employer Inc, so if that's a problem you may want to apply elsewhere.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

I think it's just because motion detectors are a stupid idea for a door, especially when management stresses how important security is.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

At our university, in rooms for the Computer Science students, they installed motion detectors like this. They had to disable them when students starting slipping paper over the top of the door to get access.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

I love the fact that (lack of) age is the first thing a consultant should have, I mean who would even take someone over thirty seriously?

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

I worked a place with those magnetic door latches and they were STRONG. You could not force the door open. How do I know? The (central computer controlled) lock system had an outage one day. The doors failed closed, in other words many people were locked inside a room for hours and could not open the door or get out any other way. It is fortunate there was no fire or other emergency. Even so when the door finally opened there was a rush to the bathrooms.

The company refused to improve the design, assuring that outages would be "rare". I left.

I have no problem with automated locks as long as there is a manual override from the inside to get out. When automated systems have full control, however, you're just begging for the Terminators to come.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Java is to also my choice of the many reasons. And this article of WTF emails I personally found outdated.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Chances are by the time you're 30 you've learned by experience at least one way how to / not to get screwed by an employer. Who would want to hire someone with that knowledge? It is so much harder to take advantage once they're armed with clue.

barfoo · 2013-02-20 Reply Admin

What's wrong with invalidemail.com? Invalids need email too, and it might even help their recovery to have communication with the world beyond the sanatorium.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

But it's secure!!:
At our university, in rooms for the Computer Science students, they installed motion detectors like this. They had to disable them when students starting slipping paper over the top of the door to get access.

We had this in our old office. Once some of us tried, just for fun, to get in without using our keys. We managed to get through the main door and our office door MacGyver style with the help of a newspaper, some cardboard, and a stapler. Very secure!

FragFrog · 2013-02-20 Reply Admin

justsomedudette:
I love the fact that (lack of) age is the first thing a consultant should have, I mean who would even take someone over thirty seriously?

I'll up you one: many companies will also not hire people (for low end jobs) that have a bachelors / masters degree.

The rationale being that those people tend to quit relatively soon because they can get a better job elsewhere. People without education or experience on the other hand will stay put for at least a few years because, well, were are they going to go?

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

I would defenetly choice to hire Aleksandr, except it is half true.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

I know all about Unit Tasting, can I apply?

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Eddy:
I know all about Unit Tasting

That's what she said

Phlip · 2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Thinking back on my Bachelor's, there were a few quite good parties, but I can't remember any of the pass-outs being quite "first class"... I guess I wouldn't be qualified for that job. Oh well.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Because if anyone walks within three feet of the door, it will automatically unlock. And that's assuming that the motion sensor is calibrated correctly. It's not very secure at all.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

me:
Once some of us tried, just for fun, to get in without using our keys. We managed to get through the main door and our office door MacGyver style with the help of a newspaper, some cardboard, and a stapler. Very secure!

Easy there cowboy. Sure the penalty for breaking and entering is probably just a few months probation, but if the company had any "intellectual property" in there they could have fucked you up for life. Circumventing a copyright protection system -- even a flimsy one -- is a serious offense.

Under the - fortunately killed but frequently arising in a fresh corpse - SOPA legislation you could get 5 years for copying a Michael Jackson song... one year more than the doctor who killed him.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

The SPAM email was a great double-bluff that the filters obviously fell for. It makes me tempted to put ***** RUBBISH COMMENT THAT SHOULDN'T BE FEATURED ***** just to see if you can't resist.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

shinyemptyhead:
Because if anyone walks within three feet of the door, it will automatically unlock. And that's assuming that the motion sensor is calibrated correctly. It's not very secure at all.

Presumably the motion sensor only triggers on movement inside the door? Where, we presume, the good people are? Who are exhorted not to let someone in without checking their badge?

I guess you all want to use your badge and PIN to get out, is that it? And what about when the lock fails closed as described earlier?

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Warren:
The SPAM email was a great double-bluff that the filters obviously fell for. It makes me tempted to put ***** RUBBISH COMMENT THAT SHOULDN'T BE FEATURED ***** just to see if you can't resist.

The mods here never fall for feature-me whores. As proof, note that my comment is also not featured.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Spam these days is deliberately written as obviously stupid as possible, to limit the number of intelligent people replying. If you're a spammer, you don't want to waste your time corresponding with someone with even half a clue.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Carl:
shinyemptyhead:
Because if anyone walks within three feet of the door, it will automatically unlock. And that's assuming that the motion sensor is calibrated correctly. It's not very secure at all.
Presumably the motion sensor only triggers on movement inside the door? Where, we presume, the good people are? Who are exhorted not to let someone in without checking their badge?
I guess you all want to use your badge and PIN to get out, is that it? And what about when the lock fails closed as described earlier?

Setting aside the very real possibility of leaving your badge inside and locking yourself out, note that it triggers on any movement, not on some deliberate buzzing motion. So basically if I walk past a door, it will unlock. At that point the entire system becomes dependant on my challenging the person coming in - which, human nature being what it is, nobody will do after the first week. As they actually state in the email, in the name of improving security they have fitted expensive motion sensors that reduce their security, and which are less efficient than the normal "hold down button to unlock door" that everyone else on the planet uses..

Steve The Cynic · 2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Frank:
Not sure I see the face-palm issue with the motion-detectors. Apparently they want to restrict use of the building by unauthorized people. Is that what you're objecting to? If not, how else do you propose they do this?

Perhaps by having doors that don't unlock when someone walks past the inside? A better way would be to have normal fire-exit crash-bars so that passers-by and loiterers on the inside can't unlock the doors merely by their presence.

Or like the door downstairs that gives access to the building. On the outside, there's a keypad that serves either to unlock the door or to call the reception area of one or other of the companies in the building. On the inside, there's a small button that can unlock the door.

For me, though, the other half of the WTF is the unlock timer. From swiping your card and entering your PIN, you have just three seconds to get the door open enough to not be grabbed by the locking electromagnets.

Steve The Cynic · 2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Carl:
I guess you all want to use your badge and PIN to get out, is that it? And what about when the lock fails closed as described earlier?

If a door has a window, and its lock fails closed, you use a chair, hammer, or other large object (e.g. the GAU-8 you carry in your back pocket for moments like this) to open the window. Of course, the window doesn't close easily after you've opened it with a chair, but if there's a raging fire behind you, do you really care about that?

TheLazyHase · 2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Steve The Cynic:
Carl:
I guess you all want to use your badge and PIN to get out, is that it? And what about when the lock fails closed as described earlier?
If a door has a window, and its lock fails closed, you use a chair, hammer, or other large object (e.g. the GAU-8 you carry in your back pocket for moments like this) to open the window. Of course, the window doesn't close easily after you've opened it with a chair, but if there's a raging fire behind you, do you really care about that?

Have you ever been in a panicked mob ? If yes, you would understand why that kind of door (the one who cannot be opened if there is an outage) are forbidden in Europa - and I belive in America too.

When you have a fire behind you - and, more importantly, hundred of other people fleeing the same thing - you'd better be able to open the door without hurdle, 'cause you may not be able to backtrack to a windows. In fact, even a door which need to have free space on the inside to open (because of the way the hinge are placed) can cause death in thoses situations.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

I would dearly love to see Burnt Tongue unanonymized. Hello age discrimination lawsuit.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

I once had a cubicle in the corner of a large cubicle farm area. The exit door was opposite the cubicle opening. It was already bad enough how cold it would get in the winter when the door was opened, then a couple of months later they added one of those motion sensors to the door. Every time I turned my head or whatever, CLICK. CLICK.

I got them to re-arrange my cubicle so that the opening was on the other side of the corner.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

shinyemptyhead:
Setting aside the very real possibility of leaving your badge inside and locking yourself out, note that it triggers on any movement, not on some deliberate buzzing motion.

I hope they don't suffer from rodents , cause their doors will automatically open/close at night. Fun to get the neighbors spooked though. If the sensors are sensitive, even some flies or insects could be triggering it. It would be hilarious to see how management fixes thatone.

email: to all subject: security To increase security, please kill any and all insects or moving things on sight. To aid in this mission critical endeavor, we have bought top notch, brand new, fly squatters.

email 2: to all subject: security There are to many insects left alive, for this we have decided to issue a bonus to those that kill the most insects. Please kill all insects on sight for security!!!

On the bright side, if they have a fire, and they have sprinklers. All doors will open when the sprinklers activate :)

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Other than the horrible English, I don't quite see the problem with the last one. They want somebody with a 1st class degree. That's how degrees are ranked in the UK, 1st class, upper 2nd, lower 2nd, 3rd, or pass. (Mine's a first, thank you very much).

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

One WTF is lost on non-russian readers: gender of Aleksandr Batukhtina.

Aleksandr is male name, Batukhtina is surname in female form.

Also, I find this captcha outdated.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

When exiting the facility, you no longer need to push the door handles.

So...was this really a problem before?

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

TheLazyHase:
Have you ever been in a panicked mob ? If yes, you would understand why that kind of door (the one who cannot be opened if there is an outage) are forbidden in Europa - and I belive in America too.

Yep, illegal in America thanks in part to the Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston back in 1942. Amazing what a disaster can do to cause change.

no laughing matter · 2013-02-20 Reply Admin

I used to be a professional C++ programmer.

But then i took a pointer to the knee!

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Anon:
Other than the horrible English, I don't quite see the problem with the last one. They want somebody with a 1st class degree.

The job for which they want the first class degree involves "Tasting" (hence the joke about a burnt tongue). Understand now?

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Anon:
Other than the horrible English, I don't quite see the problem with the last one. They want somebody with a 1st class degree. That's how degrees are ranked in the UK, 1st class, upper 2nd, lower 2nd, 3rd, or pass. (Mine's a first, thank you very much).

With a first class degree, one would hope you were above trolling.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Anon:
When exiting the facility, you no longer need to push the door handles.

So...was this really a problem before?

The thin glass security doors kept breaking when people pushed them too hard. ;P

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

But it's secure!!:
At our university, in rooms for the Computer Science students, they installed motion detectors like this. They had to disable them when students starting slipping paper over the top of the door to get access.

Yeah this. At my university they took accommodation security very seriously. They installed big metal vault-like doors that were so heavy it was hard to push open. After 6pm they would automatically lock and a pass was needed to unlock the doors for a few seconds to get in. Trying to exit the building however, there was the motion sensor system inside that would automatically unlock them. I guessed this for the case of evacuation/emergency, can't have students burning to death or being ripped open by a madman because the doors wouldn't unlock (aww). Although it does have a bad side effect that you can exit the building at night easily and only find you have forgotten your pass when you can't get back in.

Anyway despite this heavy security, the door was so big and metal that when they installed it, it didn't fit flush with the ceiling, there was a ~5mm gap. They didn't bother filling that in.

From being stuck outside without a pass one night I discovered this gap and found out that by tearing out the middle section of an A4 sheet of paper I could produce a C shaped tool that could pass through the gap and hook round onto the front of the sensor. Click.

The flyers littering the walls served as a renewable source of "keys" for whenever I forgot my pass, which was a lot given I didn't really need it anymore.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

I've seen some spam filters that work by tagging messages detected as spam by adding "SPAM" to the subject line. They expect you to configure your mail client to take whatever action you want on messages that have been tagged.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

I hope that when the fire alarm goes off the magnetic trun off.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

TheLazyHase:
Steve The Cynic:
Carl:
I guess you all want to use your badge and PIN to get out, is that it? And what about when the lock fails closed as described earlier?
If a door has a window, and its lock fails closed, you use a chair, hammer, or other large object (e.g. the GAU-8 you carry in your back pocket for moments like this) to open the window. Of course, the window doesn't close easily after you've opened it with a chair, but if there's a raging fire behind you, do you really care about that?

Have you ever been in a panicked mob ? If yes, you would understand why that kind of door (the one who cannot be opened if there is an outage) are forbidden in Europa - and I belive in America too.

When you have a fire behind you - and, more importantly, hundred of other people fleeing the same thing - you'd better be able to open the door without hurdle, 'cause you may not be able to backtrack to a windows. In fact, even a door which need to have free space on the inside to open (because of the way the hinge are placed) can cause death in thoses situations.

I believe humans are forbidden from building anything on Europa, not just doors.

NMe · 2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Anon:
I've seen some spam filters that work by tagging messages detected as spam by adding "*****SPAM*****" to the subject line. They expect you to configure your mail client to take whatever action you want on messages that have been tagged.

This is indeed just a spam filter that adds that designation to the subject line. Spam filters work by giving points to an email and if the points go above a certain threshold, they mark it as possible spam in this way but still deliver it. If the points go above an even higher threshold, the mail gets deleted.

So in short: not a WTF, just a loosely configured spam filter.

GoatRider · 2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Detect this:
I worked a place with those magnetic door latches and they were STRONG. You could not force the door open. How do I know? The (central computer controlled) lock system had an outage one day. The doors failed closed, in other words many people were locked inside a room for hours and could not open the door or get out any other way. It is fortunate there was no fire or other emergency. Even so when the door finally opened there was a rush to the bathrooms.
The company refused to improve the design, assuring that outages would be "rare". I left.

I have no problem with automated locks as long as there is a manual override from the inside to get out. When automated systems have full control, however, you're just begging for the Terminators to come.

Tell the fire marshal this story. That will get it fixed real fast.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Ok, I'll say it

I don't get the Motion Detector one?

My experience is that's a fairly common setup. Am I missing something?

DCRoss · 2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Russian:
One WTF is lost on non-russian readers: gender of Aleksandr Batukhtina.
Aleksandr is male name, Batukhtina is surname in female form.

That was just a problem with anonymization. His real name is Manuel Garcia O'Kelly-Davis.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Russian:
Aleksandr is male name, Batukhtina is surname in female form.

Good spot.

This reminds me of back when I used to know Alanis Morissette, before the gender reassignment.

Alan Morris, good bloke.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

I too have strong fillings in strong russian teeth neccessary to crush imperialist swines!

operagost · 2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Detect this:
I worked a place with those magnetic door latches and they were STRONG. You could not force the door open. How do I know? The (central computer controlled) lock system had an outage one day. The doors failed closed, in other words many people were locked inside a room for hours and could not open the door or get out any other way. It is fortunate there was no fire or other emergency. Even so when the door finally opened there was a rush to the bathrooms.
The company refused to improve the design, assuring that outages would be "rare". I left.

I would have called the fire chief, myself.

2013-02-20 Reply Admin

Didn't see anyone mention that requiring under a certain age, I believe, is illegal in the US for the purposes of employment. Could be wrong, but I think I'm not.

Best of Email: Automated Insecurity, Outdated Vacancy, and a Burnt Tongue

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