The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

chubertdev · 2014-02-17 Reply Admin

moz:
chubertdev:
And that does circle around to the point where regardless of if it's Saturday or Sunday, that doesn't make it a holiday.
Except when you're actually lying on a foreign beach.
Or, for the traditionalists, when you're actually going to church.

So I guess that atheist Americans have far fewer holidays. I guess that means that we're less likely to have our scheduled interfered with by this function.

2014-02-17 Reply Admin

faoileag:
"Dear John,
thank you for your fast delivery of IS_HOLIDAY. We will from now on apply that function to your account of our time-tracking system.

Please keep in mind that from now on, we will need an application for vaccation days, signed by the head of your department, should you prefer not to work on January 1st, July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day/Boxing Day.

Thank you for your cooperation, your friendly HR team"

I like your sarcasm, but I'm still confused. This is in a country that honours both July 4th and Boxing Day? Which Thanksgiving do they have?

Oh wait, I got it. It isn't a company. US diplomatic missions get both, US holidays and the host country's holidays.

2014-02-17 Reply Admin

TGV:
Oracle has another way of screwing this one up a little further. If the global NLS settings are different, 1 and 7 may refer to Monday and Sunday.
You can imagine my delight when I discovered this because the settings were different in test and production.

Global NLS settings? I'd say they should be different in different production sites.

2014-02-17 Reply Admin

Damien:
I.e. if I want to check for a Monday, today's date could be used as the "known good Monday".

"known good Monday"? File not found.

2014-02-17 Reply Admin

neminem:
Amusingly, one of the first things I did in my out-of-college, professional-programmer-now life was write a generic holiday-checker for an application. It had to be generic, so it included a handful of default holidays, but also the ability to create your own holidays, because different places have different holidays.

Then there were no default holidays at all. If I had to guess what comes closest to being a holiday everywhere in the world, it might be Jan. 1st. Even though Jan. 1st is computed in the Christian calendar, it is often a holiday in non-Christian countries. So I'd guess Jan. 1st comes closest to being a default holiday, but I wouldn't guess that it's valid *everywhere*.

neminem:
And that is when I learned that Easter has a crazy complicated algorithm for when it occurs

https://www.cs.drexel.edu/~mcs172/w06/lectures/10.2_enum/files/EasterDate.html

neminem:
but it's *nothing* compared to TRWTF, which is how you figure out when Chinese New Year lands

TRWTF is Jewish new year, whose practitioners can't even figure out which day it is so they take two days instead.

2014-02-17 Reply Admin

I guess you would not mind if you transferred 10% of your money to my bank-account g (Y)

2014-02-17 Reply Admin

Just in time, here's an interesting find that relates so well to today's WTF.

"Computer whizzes brainstorm for cash at hackathons" http://finance.yahoo.com/news/computer-whizzes-brainstorm-cash-hackathons-153443437.html

It used to be that "hacking" was just a type of crime, a computer break-in. But today, the term is also part of a growing — and perfectly legal — mainstay of the tech sector. [...] "A hackathon is the fastest way to actually do something about an idea," said Nima Adelkhani, organizer of the weekend-long Hack for Peace in the Middle East competition in San Francisco this month.

They got their history backwards, what hacking originally meant and what it was later corrupted to mean. But that's not TRWTF.

Yahoo gets recognition for the first official hackathon in 2005. And Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been largely credited with helping broaden the definitions by urging his staff to "hack" by "building something quickly or testing the boundaries of what can be done."

All righty. That must explain why my wife asks me the meaning of "Out of memory in line 0" and I try to explain to her that Facebook doesn't test their scripts. Sometimes she gets less visible errors. She and I have different ideas of what it means for Windows to freeze. She can usually solve her freezes by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc, looking for an Internet Explorer window that says Facebook, and killing it.

Same for Yahoo. You might notice that's a Yahoo news article I quoted from. I don't usually get visible errors. Sometimes I notice that Internet Explorer tasks are occupying around 3GB of RAM and it's time to close Yahoo windows.

To "hack" by "building something quickly" wasn't exactly the original slang meaning that this profession attached to the word. Once upon a time it meant building something that worked, by unorthodox means, and executing quickly regardless of whether it was built quickly. But now I guess it does mean building WTFs quickly, as shown in today's WTF and that news article.

da Doctah · 2014-02-17 Reply Admin

Damien:
That's why I tend to write code that compares the values with "known good" values of the correct day. I.e. if I want to check for a Monday, today's date could be used as the "known good Monday". That way I don't have to care (or enforce) any particular NLS settings.

Big old fail.

Today (Monday) was a holiday in the US. It's "President's Day", commemorating the birthday of one or more presidents none of whom were born on this date.

Also, the week runs from Sunday to Saturday, so all you troublemakers who want it to start on Monday just knock it off. If I have a stick, that stick has two ends, separated from one another by the entire length of the stick. Same with weeks. QED.

Scarlet Manuka · 2014-02-18 Reply Admin

faoileag:
Pock Suppet:
Steve The Cynic:
(Here in France, some public holidays are on fixed dates (examples: Jan-1 (New Year's), May-1 (+/- Labour Day), May-8 (VE Day), Dec-25 (Xmas)). They remain on their respective fixed dates, even if those dates are weekends.)
It's not uncommon to get the nearest weekday off if the holiday lands on a weekend.
"not uncommon" as in "the USA and the UK are doing this, so it's not uncommon"?

Australia does much the same thing. Holidays that aren't on fixed dates are always on Mondays. Holidays that have fixed base dates are on the base date if it is a weekday, or on the subsequent Monday if the base date falls on a weekend.

random_garbage · 2014-02-18 Reply Admin

Scarlet Manuka:
Australia does much the same thing. Holidays that aren't on fixed dates are always on Mondays. Holidays that have fixed base dates are on the base date if it is a weekday, or on the subsequent Monday if the base date falls on a weekend.

Except for Melbourne Cup!

Addendum (2014-02-18 03:20): Whoops - highlighted the wrong Monday...

2014-02-18 Reply Admin

'YesNo'? Well, they'd actually need varchar(12) so 'FileNotFound' can be returned.

2014-02-18 Reply Admin

The real WTF is that transactions between banks don’t work on weekends and holydays.

2014-02-18 Reply Admin

Norman Diamond:
I like your sarcasm, but I'm still confused. This is in a country that honours both July 4th and Boxing Day? Which Thanksgiving do they have?

Blame it on the amount of research done on my side re Boxing Day (none). Note to self: next time, google the facts before writing a post.

Kivi · 2014-02-18 Reply Admin

Hasse de great:
If you take every possible holy day from all places and religions you only need to work a few days per year.

[citation needed]

JimM · 2014-02-18 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
Worf:
... Except well, banks are increasingly open on Saturdays and some have gone so far to offer limited hour banking on Sundays as well.

And that does circle around to the point where regardless of if it's Saturday or Sunday, that doesn't make it a holiday.

Do not confuse "a day the bank is open" with a "banking day", nor a "banking holiday" with "a day the bank is closed". Your bank maybe be serving customers on a Sunday, but I can guarantee you that it isn't doing any banking ;)

2014-02-18 Reply Admin

da Doctah:
Damien:
That's why I tend to write code that compares the values with "known good" values of the correct day. I.e. if I want to check for a Monday, today's date could be used as the "known good Monday". That way I don't have to care (or enforce) any particular NLS settings.
Big old fail.
Today (Monday) was a holiday in the US. It's "President's Day", commemorating the birthday of one or more presidents none of whom were born on this date.

What exactly does any of that have to do with the quoted text?

da Doctah:
Also, the week runs from Sunday to Saturday, so all you troublemakers who want it to start on Monday just knock it off. If I have a stick, that stick has two ends, separated from one another by the entire length of the stick. Same with weeks. QED.

If it was called "the weekends" you might have a point, but it isn't. It's the weekend, singular, meaning it happens at the end of the week, therefore the week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday.

You really are quite stupid, aren't you?

chubertdev · 2014-02-18 Reply Admin

sino:
If it was called "the weekends" you might have a point, but it isn't. It's the weekend, singular, meaning it happens at the end of the week, therefore the week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday.
You really are quite stupid, aren't you?

The start is an end.

2014-02-18 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
sino:
If it was called "the weekends" you might have a point, but it isn't. It's the weekend, singular, meaning it happens at the end of the week, therefore the week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday.
You really are quite stupid, aren't you?

The start is an end.

sino:
You really are quite stupid, aren't you?

chubertdev · 2014-02-18 Reply Admin

acsi:
chubertdev:
sino:
If it was called "the weekends" you might have a point, but it isn't. It's the weekend, singular, meaning it happens at the end of the week, therefore the week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday.
You really are quite stupid, aren't you?

The start is an end.

sino:
You really are quite stupid, aren't you?

define:end

the furthest or most extreme part or point of something.

how does your foot taste?

2014-02-18 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
define:end

the furthest or most extreme part or point of something.

Protip: the "2" means that that's one of multiple possible meanings (and probably not even the most common). In an astonishing coincidence, it also isn't the meaning that's used in the term "weekend".

chubertdev:
how does your foot taste?

Go eat shit and tell me how that tastes, fucktard.

2014-02-18 Reply Admin

JimM:
Do not confuse "a day the bank is open" with a "banking day", nor a "banking holiday" with "a day the bank is closed". Your bank maybe be serving customers on a Sunday, but I can guarantee you that it isn't doing any banking ;)

That depends on which country he's in, or in some countries it depends on which part of the country.

2014-02-18 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
acsi:
chubertdev:
sino:
If it was called "the weekends" you might have a point, but it isn't. It's the weekend, singular, meaning it happens at the end of the week, therefore the week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday.
You really are quite stupid, aren't you?
The start is an end.
sino:
You really are quite stupid, aren't you?
define:end

the furthest or most extreme part or point of something.

how does your foot taste?

Like an end.

Your turn to answer. Why is a rear end called a rear end instead of a rear middle?

2014-02-18 Reply Admin

Why is little endian called little endian when it's really little beginnian? Why is big endian called big endian when it's really big beginnian?

chubertdev · 2014-02-18 Reply Admin

causa:
chubertdev:
define:end

the furthest or most extreme part or point of something.
Protip: the "2" means that that's one of multiple possible meanings (and probably not even the most common). In an astonishing coincidence, it also isn't the meaning that's used in the term "weekend".
chubertdev:
how does your foot taste?
Go eat shit and tell me how that tastes, fucktard.

because a weekend has nothing in common with a bookend.

are you really so devoted to making yourself look stupid?

chubertdev · 2014-02-18 Reply Admin

Norman Diamond:
chubertdev:
acsi:
chubertdev:
sino:
If it was called "the weekends" you might have a point, but it isn't. It's the weekend, singular, meaning it happens at the end of the week, therefore the week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday.
You really are quite stupid, aren't you?
The start is an end.
sino:
You really are quite stupid, aren't you?
define:end

the furthest or most extreme part or point of something.

how does your foot taste?
Like an end.

Your turn to answer. Why is a rear end called a rear end instead of a rear middle?

middle of the vertical axis, not horizontal front/back axis

I'm pretty sure it's on the end of the horizontal front/back axis. so yeah. that's why it's called a rear end, Normy. :)

2014-02-19 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
Norman Diamond:
chubertdev:
acsi:
chubertdev:
sino:
If it was called "the weekends" you might have a point, but it isn't. It's the weekend, singular, meaning it happens at the end of the week, therefore the week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday.
You really are quite stupid, aren't you?
The start is an end.
sino:
You really are quite stupid, aren't you?
define:end

the furthest or most extreme part or point of something.

how does your foot taste?
Like an end.

Your turn to answer. Why is a rear end called a rear end instead of a rear middle?

middle of the vertical axis, not horizontal front/back axis

I'm pretty sure it's on the end of the horizontal front/back axis. so yeah. that's why it's called a rear end, Normy. :)

OK. Which end is the end of the earth?

Cbuttius · 2014-02-19 Reply Admin

Norman Diamond:
TRWTF is Jewish new year, whose practitioners can't even figure out which day it is so they take two days instead.

The festival falls on the first date of the lunar month, and in the old tradition, the new moon had to be declared by the court from witness reports.

As a result they needed to know when the moon would be sighted, but had to observe the laws of festivals on the night after the 29th day anyway. Months are always either 29 or 30 days thus the 2-day observation, 29 and 30 days after the previous "New Moon".

The possible "WTF" is that when they fixed the calendar they gave Ellul 29 days so instead of Rosh Hashanah being 30th Ellul and 1st Tishri, it is observed on 1st and 2nd Tishri, although this leads to 10 days of penitence which would be 11 if they did the above, which would confuse people because Yom Kippur is on the 10th day of the month and not the 11th.

Cbuttius · 2014-02-19 Reply Admin

Apart from one-off dates it is possible to construct most of the UK public holidays by a simple formula:

First date in January that isn't a Saturday or Sunday. (So could be 2nd or 3rd January)
First Monday in May.
Last Monday in May
Last Monday in August.
25th and 26th December. If 25th December is a Saturday then 27th and 28th. If 25th December is a Sunday then 26th and 27th. If 25th December is a Friday then 25th and 28th.

The only ones that are harder to calculate are Good Friday and Easter Monday as they depend on the lunar calendar and unlike Pesach are fixed to specific weekdays too. The cycle is approximately 19 years, although I think the Easter cycle might be 353 years which is slightly more accurate than 19.

Easter is the same time as Pesach except in the 3 latest years of the Jewish cycle which are the 3 earliest in the Easter cycle. The Jewish calendar just had its earliest year last year and will have its 2nd latest in 2016, but that will be the 2nd earliest in the Easter cycle.

2014-02-19 Reply Admin

JonC:
The UK doesn't go for the nearest weekday option.
(...)

Dec 25th and 26th are holidays, unless either or both of them fall on a weekend. Then days the following week are used as holidays in lieu of the weekend days.

These statements are contradictory.

By your explanation of how Christmas and Boxing Day are handled, the UK does go for the nearest weekday option.

nerd4sale · 2014-02-19 Reply Admin

Norman Diamond:
TGV:
Oracle has another way of screwing this one up a little further. If the global NLS settings are different, 1 and 7 may refer to Monday and Sunday.
You can imagine my delight when I discovered this because the settings were different in test and production.
Global NLS settings? I'd say they should be different in different production sites.

Exactly. That's what they're FOR. But there are always some idiots who just take a stab at coding something without looking up these well-documented issues, and don't use the ISO day-of-week, where Monday is always day 1.

chubertdev · 2014-02-19 Reply Admin

Norman Diamond:
chubertdev:
Norman Diamond:
chubertdev:
acsi:
chubertdev:
sino:
If it was called "the weekends" you might have a point, but it isn't. It's the weekend, singular, meaning it happens at the end of the week, therefore the week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday.
You really are quite stupid, aren't you?
The start is an end.
sino:
You really are quite stupid, aren't you?
define:end

the furthest or most extreme part or point of something.

how does your foot taste?
Like an end.

Your turn to answer. Why is a rear end called a rear end instead of a rear middle?

middle of the vertical axis, not horizontal front/back axis

I'm pretty sure it's on the end of the horizontal front/back axis. so yeah. that's why it's called a rear end, Normy. :)
OK. Which end is the end of the earth?

The one that Christians believe in.

2014-02-19 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
because a weekend has nothing in common with a bookend.

Um, yes, that's what I've been saying all along. Bookends can be placed at either end of a row of books, which is the meaning of "end" that you've been advocating. "Weekend", on the other hand, refers to the "final part" sense of the word.

chubertdev:
are you really so devoted to making yourself look stupid?

Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness (although I suppose by your "logic" I should say the it's that end of madness).

2014-02-19 Reply Admin

jjh:
JonC:
The UK doesn't go for the nearest weekday option.
(...)

Dec 25th and 26th are holidays, unless either or both of them fall on a weekend. Then days the following week are used as holidays in lieu of the weekend days.
These statements are contradictory.

By your explanation of how Christmas and Boxing Day are handled, the UK does go for the nearest weekday option.

"following" != "nearest"

2014-02-19 Reply Admin

Norman Diamond:
TGV:
Oracle has another way of screwing this one up a little further. If the global NLS settings are different, 1 and 7 may refer to Monday and Sunday.
You can imagine my delight when I discovered this because the settings were different in test and production.
Global NLS settings? I'd say they should be different in different production sites.

Yes, and precisely that fact implies that it's a WTF for the meanings of the "day of week" values to change depending on those settings.

chubertdev · 2014-02-19 Reply Admin

minim:
chubertdev:
because a weekend has nothing in common with a bookend.
Um, yes, that's what I've been saying all along. Bookends can be placed at either end of a row of books, which is the meaning of "end" that you've been advocating. "Weekend", on the other hand, refers to the "final part" sense of the word.

I really like the proof that you've shown. It was quite convincing. Lazy troll is lazy.

2014-02-19 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
I really like the proof that you've shown. It was quite convincing. Lazy troll is lazy.

I have a fun new game for you to try.

2014-02-19 Reply Admin

jjh:
JonC:
The UK doesn't go for the nearest weekday option.
(...)

Dec 25th and 26th are holidays, unless either or both of them fall on a weekend. Then days the following week are used as holidays in lieu of the weekend days.
These statements are contradictory.

By your explanation of how Christmas and Boxing Day are handled, the UK does go for the nearest weekday option.

No. If December 25th and 26th are Saturday and Sunday, then the nearest weekdays would be Friday 24th and Monday 27th. However, the actual holidays taken in lieu are Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th.

2014-02-19 Reply Admin

Cbuttius:
Apart from one-off dates it is possible to construct most of the UK public holidays by a simple formula:

First date in January that isn't a Saturday or Sunday. (So could be 2nd or 3rd January)

First Monday in May.

Last Monday in May

Last Monday in August.

25th and 26th December. If 25th December is a Saturday then 27th and 28th. If 25th December is a Sunday then 26th and 27th. If 25th December is a Friday then 25th and 28th.

The only ones that are harder to calculate are Good Friday and Easter Monday as they depend on the lunar calendar and unlike Pesach are fixed to specific weekdays too. The cycle is approximately 19 years, although I think the Easter cycle might be 353 years which is slightly more accurate than 19.

Easter is the same time as Pesach except in the 3 latest years of the Jewish cycle which are the 3 earliest in the Easter cycle. The Jewish calendar just had its earliest year last year and will have its 2nd latest in 2016, but that will be the 2nd earliest in the Easter cycle.

All right that's enough. I need to resurrect Sir Sanford Fleming and put him to work on dates.

chubertdev · 2014-02-19 Reply Admin

capio:
chubertdev:
I really like the proof that you've shown. It was quite convincing. Lazy troll is lazy.
I have a fun new game for you to try.

Oh, you enjoy it? Sounds like you suck at it, though.

2014-02-20 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
capio:
I have a fun new game for you to try.

Oh, you enjoy it? Sounds like you suck at it, though.

It's more of a spectator sport for me.

2014-02-20 Reply Admin

Unicorns & rainbows show up if you click on 'MySQL' in first paragraph.

2014-02-21 Reply Admin

This is to make it forward compatible for changing 'No' to 'Maybe'

Christmas is Cancelled

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