• (cs) in reply to Darryl S
    Darryl S:
    Steve The Cynic:
    One, sometimes called "term life insurance", is where you bet the insurance company that you will live at least ... that long, and you get the payout if you do.

    That...is not how term life insurance works. At least not in Canada and the US; insurance products vary country-to-country so maybe that's accurate somewhere else, I don't know.

    In North America, though, term life insurance just means that it covers you for a particular term (say, 20 years). If you live "at least ... that long", you get nothing. If you die, you (well, your beneficiaries) get the payout.

    This is in contrast to permanent life insurance, which covers you for your whole life (as long as you keep making the payments). Term insurance is cheaper, because it's not as risky for the insurance company (as long as the customer is relatively young).

    Hmm. The form of insurance I described does exist elsewhere, but evidently isn't called that. I must remember to verify this stuff a bit better. Sorry for the confusion.

  • (cs) in reply to emaN Your
    emaN Your:
    Torgo:
    Too many deliveries by Dick can lead to another type of delivery...

    It only takes once.

    In which case, "too many" and "one" would be synonymous...

  • Not Hans (unregistered) in reply to XXXXXX
    XXXXXX:
    What vendor is this that lets you choose the delivery method? I want to do business with them. I hate dealing with vendors who won't let me choose the delivery method. I have told customer service that I'll pay extra to choose the delivery method but they won't let me. It seems that no matter where I live, there is at least one local delivery service that is miserable to work with.

    -- Of late, I have had serious problems with UPS. They loose my packages. They stick "sorry we missed you" tags on the door without ringing the doorbell while I'm home. They have called the FBI on me when they lost $150 worth of shoes. I have to have UPS hold my deliveries for pick up at their distribution center in the worst part of town filled with abandoned buildings and no street lights or I never get them.

    I had UPS put in a restriction that they must get a signature when delivering packages. This was after they left a $200 box of software on my porch that walked off. I've had drivers hand me a package then run off to their truck. Then come walking back to get the signature.

  • Paul Neumann (unregistered) in reply to Valued Service
    Valued Service:
    ... Because they hide my packages somewhere on my property, and then slip something under the door. Of course, I ask them to do that.
    I had some bastard try that around the end of March. Hopping around my property hiding stuff. Really! Who orders a bunch of eggs and wants them hidden all around their property? Shot that bastard and had me some good ol' rabbit soup!
  • emaN Your (unregistered) in reply to The President's Daughter
    The President's Daughter:
    When I died they cancelled my life insurance without any issues. Reinstating it when I got better though was a different matter entirely.

    Oh, you'll be stone dead in a moment. You're not fooling anyone.

  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to Paul Neumann
    Paul Neumann:
    Valued Service:
    ... Because they hide my packages somewhere on my property, and then slip something under the door. Of course, I ask them to do that.
    I had some bastard try that around the end of March. Hopping around my property hiding stuff. Really! Who orders a bunch of eggs and wants them hidden all around their property? Shot that bastard and had me some good ol' rabbit soup!
    People who see imaginary creatures in their yard really shouldn't be allowed to own guns...
  • XXXXXX (unregistered) in reply to Not Hans
    Not Hans:
    XXXXXX:
    What vendor is this that lets you choose the delivery method? I want to do business with them. I hate dealing with vendors who won't let me choose the delivery method. I have told customer service that I'll pay extra to choose the delivery method but they won't let me. It seems that no matter where I live, there is at least one local delivery service that is miserable to work with.

    -- Of late, I have had serious problems with UPS. They loose my packages. They stick "sorry we missed you" tags on the door without ringing the doorbell while I'm home. They have called the FBI on me when they lost $150 worth of shoes. I have to have UPS hold my deliveries for pick up at their distribution center in the worst part of town filled with abandoned buildings and no street lights or I never get them.

    I had UPS put in a restriction that they must get a signature when delivering packages. This was after they left a $200 box of software on my porch that walked off. I've had drivers hand me a package then run off to their truck. Then come walking back to get the signature.

    I glad that works for you. Unfortunately, requiring signatures only works when UPS rings the doorbell. They actually drive to my house, put a "Sorry we missed you" sticker on the door, and drive away without ringing the bell. I have put doorbell instructions on the the door when I expect them. This has about a 50% chance of success.

    By the way, what online companies will let me choose the method of delivery? I really am curious.

  • Paul Neumann (unregistered) in reply to Steve The Cynic
    Steve The Cynic:
    Hmm. The form of insurance I described does exist elsewhere, but evidently isn't called that. I must remember to verify this stuff a bit better. Sorry for the confusion.
    [url=http://www.daveramsey.com/article/term-life-vs-whole-life-insurance/lifeandmoney_insurance/]Whole life is the term you are looking for.
  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to XXXXXX
    XXXXXX:
    I glad that works for you. Unfortunately, requiring signatures only works when UPS rings the doorbell. They actually drive to my house, put a "Sorry we missed you" sticker on the door, and drive away without ringing the bell. I have put doorbell instructions on the the door when I expect them. This has about a 50% chance of success.

    By the way, what online companies will let me choose the method of delivery? I really am curious.

    I have that "'m" you needed to put on your "I". Do you want it by snail mail, parcel service, e-mail, or pigeon?

  • Morry (unregistered)

    Reminds me of our SAP Human Resources system we had in Europe.
    I got a complaint that I needed to put in a proper phone number. I looked at it and everything seemed fine. then I printed out the HR report: Phone: -2024. Wha?

    In the phone field I put my phone number, in typical "international dialing" format: +41-01-953-1111

    Some system somewhere, being too smart for its own good, decided that it should calculate that formula out.

  • (cs)

    Phone numbers stored: Before 1995, when area codes always had a 1 or a 0 as the middle digit, you COULD get away with storing a phone number in 32 bits. It took a bit of work, but it did work.

    What you did was take out the middle digit of the area code and move it to the most significant digit. Then the number was ALWAYS less than 2,000,000,000. It then fit in a 32 bit (signed if you want it) number. I suspect that some clever coding (a list of area codes) might be able to do this today, but it would be a maintenance headache (aka a WTF) as area codes are added all the time.

    Of course this only applies to North American area codes, but where I live that is all that matters (or did at the time).

    Of course, one should really store phone numbers in text strings now, but memory wasn't that cheap "back then".

  • (cs) in reply to Valued Service
    Valued Service:
    Pays out on construction of person.
    Wouldn’t that be a third form of life insurance? That’s to say: insurance that pays out when life is created?
  • Loren Pechtel (unregistered) in reply to Geoff
    Geoff:
    Is the first one really a WTF? I mean that would be a sort of unimaginable oversight. Seems more likely to be a user training issue to me.

    I would anticipate at most Life insurance firms paying a benefit does not constitute "leaving the policy". The death event actually might make it impossible for anyone to "leave the policy" at that point the client can obviously no longer make and decisions about it, and the insurance company is not obligate to do whatever remaining administrative tasks are required and make the payout. So the correct status is probably something like "Benefit Paid" or "Contract Completed".

    Agreed. I don't see the WTF. A dead person can't drop a life insurance policy. It's either going to be paid or denied at that point.

  • Fernando (unregistered)

    It says "access code." Nowhere does it say "phone number." Which makes sense, as US phone numbers don't have twelve digits and can be used more than once in a year.

  • Anomaly (unregistered)

    Wow. I read all the comments to be sure but really? No one knows the difference between leaving a policy, cancelling/terminating a policy, and closing a policy?

    You can't leave an insurance if you die. Your policy can be terminated or cancelled and your estate might not get paid, but you can't leave. Leaving an insurance is a voluntary choice made by the Insured. You can't make a choice if you're dead.

    You would leave an insurance for reasons like cheaper rates at another company.

    Cancellations and terminations may be viewed jointly or separately depending on the organization.

    You can cancel your policy and not get other coverage, Or the company can cancel your policy because they no longer offer it in your area.

    The company terminates your policy for non-payment, or changing insurance regulations.

    If the policy has paid its amounts as described in the coverage documents and no longer has an interest (IE a lien, or loan, or the item was destroyed and no longer exists, like a totaled car, burned down house, a dead person), the policy is closed, it has finished its contract and closes.

    Cancelling coverage and closing a policy death is a viable option, but leaving a plan, or terminating coverage are not defined in a way that would allow death to be an acceptable option.

    With a legally binding contract such as insurance the word choice is unfortunately necessary to prevent ambiguity, but often times it introduces needlessly complex situations.

    captcha: illum, i hope this has been illuminating.

  • Sannois (unregistered) in reply to Morry

    International dialling? That's not international dialling! This is international dialling: +41 (0)195-31111

    Or -31111, if you tego.

  • (cs) in reply to Torgo
    Torgo:
    Too many deliveries by Dick can lead to another type of delivery...
    Yes, a bold claim that they "ship your order by almost any means possible", but the delivery by stork option is missing!
  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to no laughing matter
    no laughing matter:
    Torgo:
    Too many deliveries by Dick can lead to another type of delivery...
    Yes, a bold claim that they "ship your order by almost any means possible", but the delivery by stork option is missing!
    We're all adults here, we know that delivery by stork is just code for delivery by dick.
  • poker joker (unregistered) in reply to cellocgw
    cellocgw:
    MacFrog:
    Then, exactly, what does "Delivery by Dick" mean...?

    If you have to ask...

    ...then please bend over for demonstration.

  • (cs) in reply to anonymous
    anonymous:
    We're all adults here, we know that delivery by stork is just code for delivery by dick.
    But the page that Leigh was visiting might be targetting children as well.
  • Wrexham (unregistered) in reply to anonymous
    anonymous:
    We're all adults here, we know that delivery by stork is just code for delivery by dick.
    No, the dick and the stork don't deliver the same thing at all.
  • Norman Diamond (unregistered) in reply to Pock Suppet
    Pock Suppet:
    anonymous:
    and then decline to offer the renewal because the client is now too "high-risk" to insure.
    Too high risk? Surely there's minimal risk of the policy holder dying yet again...I'd like to see the actuarial tables on that.
    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/10/dead-man-walking-judge-tells-man-he-must-stay-legally-dead/

    OK, he stays legally dead, but what happens when he dies again?

  • Taco (unregistered) in reply to MacFrog

    I think this method is for fluids only

  • sulis (unregistered) in reply to faoileag

    I think a zombie should be allowed to transfer to an undeath insurance policy. Although it would probably be more expensive, risk from shotguns and axes seems to increase.

  • (cs) in reply to MacFrog
    MacFrog:
    Then, exactly, what does "Delivery by Dick" mean...?
    It's for when you want to "deliver her the D".
  • Anonymous (unregistered) in reply to anonymous
    anonymous:
    Which is why any insurance policy that ignores pre-existing medical conditions (such as death) is stupid.
    Death is NOT a medical condition. It's a symptom.
  • Peter Wolff (unregistered)

    This is the very first time I see a number represented in octal floating point format in a productive setting!

  • JFor (unregistered) in reply to Morry

    You can win sum of them, sum of the time...

  • (cs)
    "I sure hope I don't have to contact tech support," writes Farokh, "My phone doesn't have an 'E' or '+' key."

    Someone should have used the f format specifier instead of e or g.

  • Henry Troup (unregistered) in reply to Steve The Cynic

    Also in Canada ; the term type of life insurance with savings option is available, but much more expensive. Pay twice as much, at the end of the term, get the summer of premiums back. My investment advisor suggested it's not good value for money.

  • Delivery options (unregistered)

    How could you not resist "Delivery by Dick"?

    Not sure exactly what this would mean in practice, but it might well surprise the neighbours.

  • Mort (unregistered) in reply to Morry

    Well, to be honest, that's not really a valid format. It would be either +41019531111 or 0041019531111 Hyphens in phone numbers is a very american thing :)

  • (cs) in reply to VinDuv
    VinDuv:
    The TV BSOD made me remember another error I’ve seen on some random cable TV channel, circa 2000 (I think): A "test card" (probably this one) with the Windows 98 error dialog “This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, contact the program vendor.” on front.

    I guess their test card program had crashed...

    After a few minutes, someone (or a watchdog) reset the system: Windows restarted (showing the blue Active Desktop™-enabled desktop for a few seconds), the test card program relaunched... and re-crashed right away.

    That's not actually a BSOD screen though. For Windows NT, that's actually the boot screen. No fancy logos or anything, just the version and SP number.

  • Essex Kitten (unregistered) 
    header("HTTP/1.1 405 Method Not Allowed");

    Not really a IIS WTF.

  • GillesG (unregistered)

    Not sure I want to know what "Delivery by Dick" is...

  • Psuedonymous (unregistered) in reply to Steve The Cynic
    Steve The Cynic:
    The structural integrity of modern cars is a WTF in its own right. I once owned a small hatchback (by a curious coincidence, the replacement for the roof-parked one) that was gently rear-ended by a young woman who didn't leave enough time to stop in the somewhat slick conditions. I took it to the local dealership to have them do a basic check, and it was OK, but the mechanic said that you basically get three levels of damage, depending on how heavy the impact was: 1. No damage of significance, some scratches on the plastic bumper, perhaps. 2. The bumper is cracked (easy to replace, but not necessarily cheap) and the small panel that carries the fixed part of the hatch's latch is bent out of place so you can't close the hatch. This is repairable, but is not cheap. 3. The impact splits the weld at the bottom of that panel. This is basically unrepairable at a reasonable cost, and insurance companies will write off the car.

    The transitions from 1 to 2 and then to 3 are abrupt and at far lower collision speeds than you might expect.

    It's not a WTF, it's just a change in design criteria. Modern cars are designed to absorb as much energy as possibly by directing it into tearing, distorting and crumpling the bodywork and parts of the frame, because that is then energy that does not go into its squishy cargo. The drawback of this is that your car is irreparably damaged at what appear to be light bumps (as until a crash the sacrificial components are integral structural components). The benefit is that with a modern car, you have a damn good chance of walking away from a crash with little to no injury at lower speeds, and at higher speeds you are pretty likely to survive with only damage to extremities. An older car may be perfectly fine to drive away from a low-speed accident, but you may not be so happy with the bruising or broken limbs. You may have to be poured out of a high-speed crash.

  • (cs) in reply to Steve The Cynic
    Steve The Cynic:
    Sam:
    I think the WTF is that the staff at the company cant close a life policy if the person dies...
    Be careful of the two forms of life insurance. One, sometimes called "term life insurance", is where you bet the insurance company that you will live at least ... that long, and you get the payout if you do.

    The other, perhaps better called "death insurance", is where you bet the insurance company that you will die during the valid period of the policy, and if you "win" (by dying, duh), your estate gets the payout.

    I'm not an insurance expert, but this sounds wrong. Term life insurance just means it is valid only for that term, and any premiums paid aren't returned to the holder at the end of the term. A permanent life insurance policy is more like an annuity-- I won't go any further as that's where my knowledge is shaky. But I've never heard of a type of policy where you "lose" if you die too soon.

  • (cs) in reply to XXXXXX
    XXXXXX:
    Of late, I have had serious problems with UPS. They loose my packages. They stick "sorry we missed you" tags on the door without ringing the doorbell while I'm home.
    They do this with pretty much 100% of residential addresses now. Unless you're standing in your yard, they will ding-dong-ditch (though probably without even the courtesy of the ding-dong).
  • (cs) in reply to Kyanar
    Kyanar:
    VinDuv:
    The TV BSOD made me remember another error I’ve seen on some random cable TV channel, circa 2000 (I think): A "test card" (probably this one) with the Windows 98 error dialog “This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, contact the program vendor.” on front.

    I guess their test card program had crashed...

    After a few minutes, someone (or a watchdog) reset the system: Windows restarted (showing the blue Active Desktop™-enabled desktop for a few seconds), the test card program relaunched... and re-crashed right away.

    That's not actually a BSOD screen though. For Windows NT, that's actually the boot screen. No fancy logos or anything, just the version and SP number.

    And the thrill you get from running an OS that went EOL 9 years ago.

  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to no laughing matter
    no laughing matter:
    anonymous:
    We're all adults here, we know that delivery by stork is just code for delivery by dick.
    But the page that Leigh was visiting might be targetting children as well.
    In that case they could have left off all of those choices and had the delivery options be "Your parents", "Your grandparents", "Santa's sleigh", and "Stork".
  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to Wrexham
    Wrexham:
    anonymous:
    We're all adults here, we know that delivery by stork is just code for delivery by dick.
    No, the dick and the stork don't deliver the same thing at all.
    There's a time shift of about nine months, but it's the same thing in the end. And do you really think that the kids didn't notice the huge basketball stuffed up mum's shirt that mysteriously disappeared the day Mr. Stork dropped the baby off? Perhaps in ye olden days when pregnant women were confined to bed at the earliest detectable stages of pregnancy, that explanation would have worked, but now you're left explaining the big lump in mommy's tummy. Did the stork put that there, too? I rest my case.
  • (cs)

    So TRWTF is any of the comments that claim that one of these is not a WTF for some inane reason.

  • Friedrice The Great (unregistered) in reply to C-Derb
    C-Derb:
    XXXXXX:
    What vendor is this that lets you choose the delivery method? I want to do business with them. I hate dealing with vendors who won't let me choose the delivery method. I have told customer service that I'll pay extra to choose the delivery method but they won't let me. It seems that no matter where I live, there is at least one local delivery service that is miserable to work with.

    -- Of late, I have had serious problems with UPS. They loose my packages. They stick "sorry we missed you" tags on the door without ringing the doorbell while I'm home. They have called the FBI on me when they lost $150 worth of shoes. I have to have UPS hold my deliveries for pick up at their distribution center in the worst part of town filled with abandoned buildings and no street lights or I never get them.

    Most companies have exclusive contracts with a single delivery carrier. They've negotiated better shipping rates by agreeing to use UPS (or whatever) and only UPS. That's why you don't get a choice. At most places.

    One company charged me ~$120 to ship a laptop I had ordered to me via UPS. When it failed to work as advertised, they sent me an RMI number, but I had to pay to ship it back. It only cost me ~$62 to ship it back via UPS.

    I think they need a better shipping contract negotiator.

  • Dodgy Dave (unregistered) in reply to Friedrice The Great
    Friedrice The Great:
    One company charged me ~$120 to ship a laptop I had ordered to me via UPS. When it failed to work as advertised, they sent me an RMI number, but I had to pay to ship it back. It only cost me ~$62 to ship it back via UPS.

    I think they need a better shipping contract negotiator.

    Better rates for them. Not for you.

    You don't see the backhander^W UPS customer bonus.

  • Arcorann (unregistered) in reply to operagost
    operagost:
    Steve The Cynic:
    Sam:
    I think the WTF is that the staff at the company cant close a life policy if the person dies...
    Be careful of the two forms of life insurance. One, sometimes called "term life insurance", is where you bet the insurance company that you will live at least ... that long, and you get the payout if you do.

    The other, perhaps better called "death insurance", is where you bet the insurance company that you will die during the valid period of the policy, and if you "win" (by dying, duh), your estate gets the payout.

    I'm not an insurance expert, but this sounds wrong. Term life insurance just means it is valid only for that term, and any premiums paid aren't returned to the holder at the end of the term. A permanent life insurance policy is more like an annuity-- I won't go any further as that's where my knowledge is shaky. But I've never heard of a type of policy where you "lose" if you die too soon.
    What he's thinking of is a "pure endowment", which pays out after n years contingent on the assured's survival.

    Standard types of insurance policies: *Pure endowment (pays after n years contingent on assured's survival) *Endowment assurance (pays after n years or on death of assured, whichever is earlier) *Term assurance (pays on death of assured if it occurs within n years) *Whole life assurance (pays on death of assured) *Annuities (pays regularly while assured survives)

    So there are some cases in which closing due to death is required without an associated payout.

  • CCCCC (unregistered)

    I was wondering what the "Delivery by Dick" option would get you... some guy named Richard that works there, or a surly belligerent driver??

    I suspect the Windows NT4 screen is an antiquated system at the hotel used to broadcast Powerpoint-like content to hotel guests, possibly about services available, local attractions, etc. We used to have something similar at my company running on Win2K. It had been crashed for months before someone actually noticed it.

  • martbean (unregistered)

    Am I missing something on the IIS/GET one? The error says the GET request method isn't allowed and later says that GET is an allowed response method. Two different things, no?

  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to martbean
    martbean:
    Am I missing something on the IIS/GET one? The error says the GET *request* method isn't allowed and later says that GET is an allowed *response* method. Two different things, no?
    No, there is only one HTTP method for the connection, and it is specified by the HTTP request. The HTTP response does not have a method, but its contents are determined by the method of the request. And supporting the GET method is mandatory, per the RFC:

    http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec5.html

    The methods GET and HEAD MUST be supported by all general-purpose servers. All other methods are OPTIONAL...

  • lenswipe (unregistered) in reply to Morry

    Sounds like the system was interpreting the phone number as integers and then performing the requested calculation of 41-1-953-1111 rather than treating it as a string...

  • Jake (unregistered)

    Wait a minute... Delivery by Dick??

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