• Bluesman (unregistered)

    Localization to the extreme.

  • Lex (unregistered)

    Just an answer: LOL. Highly "customized" software, ain't it?

  • (cs)

    So what is the WTF? A) Very userfriendly software, which tells you what to do. B) Quick response time of the company C) Friendly programmers?

    or ofcourse D) crappy GUI (but which isn't) E) wrongly labeled cables (can happen)

  • Me (unregistered)

    This is awesome. As a new reader of the blog, reviews of classic WTFs are always welcome.

    I can't help but imagine anyone whose name is not Tim using this software and wondering who Tim is -- but even better, just imagine anyone whose name is Tim, besides the original Tim who asked for the feature, getting this prompt.

  • (cs)

    They probably only had one customer.... Tim.

  • Me (unregistered) in reply to jmroth

    There are some who call him........Tim

  • Kef Schecter (unregistered)

    Does he have lots of sharp, pointy teeth?

  • Daniel (unregistered)

    Makes me think of the time before I was into programming. When browsing the internet in college (when I was about 17, in 1999) I would often get a "connection reset by peer" error. It took me several weeks and multiple emails to the IT department before I found out that "Peer" isn't actually an admin who's f*cking with me :-)

    (In Dutch, "Peter" is sometimes shortened to "Peer")

  • Jasper (unregistered)

    What is so WTF about this? Are you sure that the username "Tim" is hardcoded into the software? Maybe, if I would logon, it would display: "Hi Jasper, please ..." because it's getting the name of the logged in user from somewhere:

    "Hi $USERNAME, please ..."

    Maybe that's not how it's done here, but it COULD be less WTF-y than it seems. (I would still find it weird that software would be talking to me using my first name).

  • Jurgen (unregistered) in reply to Daniel
    Daniel:

    (In Dutch, "Peter" is sometimes shortened to "Peer")

    The real WTF(c)!

  • (cs) in reply to Daniel
    Daniel:
    Makes me think of the time before I was into programming. When browsing the internet in college (when I was about 17, in 1999) I would often get a "connection reset by peer" error. It took me several weeks and multiple emails to the IT department before I found out that "Peer" isn't actually an admin who's f*cking with me :-)
    Yeah, I remember that guy, mostly from IRC. I hear he still hangs around there. What a prat.
  • M (unregistered) in reply to Daniel
    Daniel:
    (In Dutch, "Peter" is sometimes shortened to "Peer")

    WTF?! I'm Dutch, and i've never heard of such shortening.

  • (cs) in reply to Daniel
    Daniel:
    (In Dutch, "Peter" is sometimes shortened to "Peer")

    Please define sometimes... I've never heard Peter being shortened that way (and yes I'm Dutch)

  • vtcodger (unregistered)

    Perhaps we have the Netherlands and Norway confused. http://library.thinkquest.org/12924/nr3.htm

  • MadJo@Work (unregistered) in reply to M

    I'm Dutch too, and one of my friends in the MAVO called himself Peer, even though his full name was Peter.

  • MadJo@Work (unregistered) in reply to Jasper
    Jasper:
    What is so WTF about this? Are you sure that the username "Tim" is hardcoded into the software? Maybe, if I would logon, it would display: "Hi Jasper, please ..." because it's getting the name of the logged in user from somewhere: 
    "Hi $USERNAME, please ..."

    Maybe that's not how it's done here, but it COULD be less WTF-y than it seems. (I would still find it weird that software would be talking to me using my first name).

    Yeah, that'd be very helpful:

    "Hi jongMar_13, please..." (not my real log-in name, but it's along the same way)

  • tumbleweedius (unregistered)

    Apparently the company is tektonix.

  • Da' Man (unregistered)

    *Feature is added to the "to do" list for our next version of a certain in-house tool (which, indeed, has only one user :-)

  • (cs)

    What are "Strangly-worded buttons"? It sounds like a (very) annoyed Scotsman was employed to do that part of the work.

  • (cs) in reply to Me
    Me:
    There are some who call him........Tim
    "Uh-- uh, so, uh, anything that you could do to, uh-- to help... would be... very... helpful."

    Amazing how many times this line has saved my ass when stuck in the middle of a D&D game.

  • Procedural (unregistered)

    Hello Tim. I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you, Tim.

    OK CANCEL RETRY

    (Not creepy at all)

  • Not Tim (unregistered)

    The following may be apocryphal, so anyone who can confirm or deny it wins a fabulous No-Prize ( to coin a phrase ) ...

    A very long time ago, the Atari 8-bit computers - the 400 and 800 - had "demonstration software" intended to run on the machine when on display in a shop.

    Part-way through the run, it would pause with a phrase something like: "For more information about these great features, just type in your name", then wait for some passerby to type in their name.

    But, apparently, if nothing was typed within a certain number of seconds, the demo would continue with the hardcoded name Neil.

    Why Neil ? Presumably Mike, (p)Rick and Vyvyan were overlooked.

  • (cs)

    This reminds me of Peter Molyneux's Black and White. Apparently (if you had used a particular name to register) the game would whisper your name quietly from time to time. I thought I was going bonkers before my roomate confirmed that he kept hearing his name periodically.

  • fred (unregistered)

    it is just a user friendly feature designed by a moron

  • Dazed (unregistered) in reply to M
    M:
    Daniel:
    (In Dutch, "Peter" is sometimes shortened to "Peer")
    WTF?! I'm Dutch, and i've never heard of such shortening.
    My Dutch wife confirms that she has indeed met it. It's pretty uncommon though.
  • Delyan (unregistered) in reply to MadJo@Work

    You can always query for the actual person's name which on most OS can be different from the username. Even Linux has this type of separation (though it's hardly unified across desktop environments).

  • TimmyT (unregistered) in reply to Not Tim
    Not Tim:
    The following may be apocryphal, so anyone who can confirm or deny it wins a fabulous No-Prize ( to coin a phrase ) ...

    A very long time ago, the Atari 8-bit computers - the 400 and 800 - had "demonstration software" intended to run on the machine when on display in a shop.

    Part-way through the run, it would pause with a phrase something like: "For more information about these great features, just type in your name", then wait for some passerby to type in their name.

    But, apparently, if nothing was typed within a certain number of seconds, the demo would continue with the hardcoded name Neil.

    Why Neil ? Presumably Mike, (p)Rick and Vyvyan were overlooked.

    Back in those days, '81-'82 or so, I was about 12 and had mostly mastered BASIC on Atari/Commodore/TRS-80 computers so when I went to the mall and passed by Radio Shack, they always had one of those computers on display. Being the 12-year-old punk that I was, I would go to the terminal and type in a short BASIC program that would sit there and prompt for your name, and regardless of what you typed in (except for my name of course) it would respond with "<name> is a crappy name! Your parents should be shot!" or something along those lines. Then we would sit on the bench just outside and wait for some unsuspecting grandma and her grandson to fall for it. Hilarity ensued, and watching the store employees scratch their heads was the icing on the cake! Good times, good times...

  • Me (unregistered) in reply to Kef Schecter

    Look at the bones man.

  • daza21 (unregistered)

    I live in Holland and I've seen Piers and Pieters but never Peers. But, apparently you do learn something new today...

    I'd be looking to kick that sysadmin Peer's ass too for resetting my connection.

  • dutch guy (unregistered)

    im from holland too and here down south we are used to call people peer :D

    so people do it but it just seem to depend on which region

  • MrBump (unregistered)

    "call them Initech" just make sure your TPS reports are done

  • NotSoSeriousSam (unregistered)

    Looks like a Delphi app.

  • Noah (unregistered) in reply to Not Tim

    Nice reference to The Young Ones :)

    Not Tim:
    Why Neil ? Presumably Mike, (p)Rick and Vyvyan were overlooked.
  • Meh (unregistered)

    I'd love my software to address me by name.

  • (cs) in reply to tezoatlipoca
    tezoatlipoca:
    This reminds me of Peter Molyneux's Black and White. Apparently (if you had used a particular name to register) the game would whisper your name quietly from time to time. I thought I was going bonkers before my roomate confirmed that he kept hearing his name periodically.

    I knew this would happen when I played the game, but I didn't know it was going to use the same ghostly voice that said "Death" every time a villager died. Hearing my name in such a context was kinda creepy.

  • Muad-Dib (unregistered)

    [HAL 9000 Voice] I'm sorry, I can't let you do that Tim. [/HAL 900 Voice]

  • Byzantine_Squirrel (unregistered) in reply to TimmyT
    Being the 12-year-old punk that I was, I would go to the terminal and type in a short BASIC program that would sit there and prompt for your name, and regardless of what you typed in (except for my name of course) it would respond with "<name> is a crappy name! Your parents should be shot!" or something along those lines.

    It's funny, because I used to do the same sort of thing, except instead of being 12 I was 10 or 11, and instead of Ataris and Commodes it was ZX81s, and instead of prompting for a name it would play Space Invaders. But other than that, it was pretty much the same.

  • Procedural (unregistered) in reply to Byzantine_Squirrel
    Byzantine_Squirrel:
    Being the 12-year-old punk that I was, I would go to the terminal and type in a short BASIC program that would sit there and prompt for your name, and regardless of what you typed in (except for my name of course) it would respond with "<name> is a crappy name! Your parents should be shot!" or something along those lines.

    It's funny, because I used to do the same sort of thing, except instead of being 12 I was 10 or 11, and instead of Ataris and Commodes it was ZX81s, and instead of prompting for a name it would play Space Invaders. But other than that, it was pretty much the same.

    Wonderful comment.

    Do you still have microwave keyboard syndrome too ? Do you still have nightmares that the stack of junk and duct tape holding the memory extender in place will wobble and you'll lose your program ? Do you still find old cassettes wondering what's so precious on it that you kept it only to find your wife, pets, and other startled neighbours trying to yell at you through the random whistles and warble ?

  • T.C (unregistered)

    Comic book store guy saids:

    Worst user interface everrr!

  • Auron (unregistered) in reply to tezoatlipoca
    tezoatlipoca:
    This reminds me of Peter Molyneux's Black and White. Apparently (if you had used a particular name to register) the game would whisper your name quietly from time to time. I thought I was going bonkers before my roomate confirmed that he kept hearing his name periodically.

    At last, a confirmation this is true and I was not crazy :P. It is amazing because I am from Spain and this feature was also localized to Spanish (altogether with the voices and the text). The first time I heard the computer saying my name repeatedly, I closed the game in fear :S. Now it sounds funny XD

  • (cs)

    This comment was initially posted the last time this same article was posted.

  • Rhialto (unregistered) in reply to Kefer
    Kefer:
    Daniel:
    (In Dutch, "Peter" is sometimes shortened to "Peer")

    Please define sometimes... I've never heard Peter being shortened that way (and yes I'm Dutch)

    See the famous book by W.G. van der Hulst: "Peerke en zijn kameraden" (Peerke and his peers) at http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/huls013peer01_01/

  • Lee K-T (unregistered) in reply to Rhialto
    Rhialto:
    Kefer:
    Daniel:
    (In Dutch, "Peter" is sometimes shortened to "Peer")

    Please define sometimes... I've never heard Peter being shortened that way (and yes I'm Dutch)

    See the famous book by W.G. van der Hulst: "Peerke en zijn kameraden" (Peerke and his peers) at http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/huls013peer01_01/

    Wow, that look horny!

  • Byzantine_Squirrel (unregistered) in reply to Procedural
    Procedural:
    Byzantine_Squirrel:
    It's funny, because I used to do the same sort of thing, except instead of being 12 I was 10 or 11, and instead of Ataris and Commodes it was ZX81s, and instead of prompting for a name it would play Space Invaders. But other than that, it was pretty much the same.

    Wonderful comment.

    Do you still have microwave keyboard syndrome too ? Do you still have nightmares that the stack of junk and duct tape holding the memory extender in place will wobble and you'll lose your program ? Do you still find old cassettes wondering what's so precious on it that you kept it only to find your wife, pets, and other startled neighbours trying to yell at you through the random whistles and warble ?

    I not only have microwave keyboard syndrome, I still have a microwave keyboard! I have a ZX81 (actually a couple. About four. Five.) which I bought a few years ago just for, you know, fun. The RAM pack still wobbles and crashes, the cassettes still wail and screech, and though my neighbours have never complained, I'm sure I've become considerably more deaf than I was. "Monster Maze 3D" on a grown-up stereo is pretty loud.

  • k1 (unregistered)

    If you think about it, probably Initech had make a quick patch to the software, compiled and delivered at Tim. Then they probably modify it to be suitable for the upgraded version to be sended to (or downloaded by) their customers.

    CYA

  • IByte (unregistered) in reply to M
    M:
    Daniel:
    (In Dutch, "Peter" is sometimes shortened to "Peer")

    WTF?! I'm Dutch, and i've never heard of such shortening.

    Neither have I; perhaps it's a regional thing. The only Peer I know anyway is that reporter Peer Ulijn, and I have no idea whether he's actually called Peter.

  • Princehal (unregistered)

    A WTF this is not.

  • me (unregistered) in reply to IByte
    IByte:
    M:
    Daniel:
    (In Dutch, "Peter" is sometimes shortened to "Peer")

    WTF?! I'm Dutch, and i've never heard of such shortening.

    Neither have I; perhaps it's a regional thing. The only Peer I know anyway is that reporter Peer Ulijn, and I have no idea whether he's actually called Peter.

    The german ex-secretary of finance is called "Peer Steinbrück". See this funny Bash quote (in german): http://german-bash.org/56006

  • FIA (unregistered) in reply to Byzantine_Squirrel
    Byzantine_Squirrel:
    -snip-

    I not only have microwave keyboard syndrome, I still have a microwave keyboard! I have a ZX81 (actually a couple. About four. Five.) which I bought a few years ago just for, you know, fun. The RAM pack still wobbles and crashes ...

    Crashy rampack, pfft. You using that Sinclair crap? You need a memotech memopak 64k rampack, which came with it's own piece of sticky velcro (and was actually shaped to fit the back of the computer too.) Never once had any issues with it. :)

    Ahhh, technologix...

  • Lee (unregistered)

    I thought this was great. I did something similar as a gag to a client. I don't remember exactly what the validation was, but I created a pop-up that addressed her by name. I made several messages that would say something like "I'm sorry K********, I can't let you do that" with a starfield image in the background. She loved it! (and I think she purposely left things off the form just to see what would show up)

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