The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

They must have asked Tarantino's Hitler when the train would depart.

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

Sparr:
I usually amend EULAs before agreeing to them, getting rid of objectionable parts and such. A blank one is refreshingly acceptable, and I see those more often when installing software via WINE.

Unless you send those amendments to the software developer and receive a confirmation they accept, that mean nothing. Either you've accepted their EULA, or you're using the software illegally.

But getting a blank EULA without doing anything to cause it raises an interesting legal question. Is one free to assume only the restrictions in law apply? Or do you have the legal obligation to get the EULA? I wonder how would this fan out in court.

ekolis · 2012-02-17 Reply Admin

// infinite loop! while (stars >= 0) { getFreeCoffee(); stars -= 0; }

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

Obvious comment is obvious: http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/The-Applet-Redirect.aspx

I guess applet = cloud-database

Also, the way I read that sign is that the train leaves in -1 minutes.

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

AP2:
Sparr:
I usually amend EULAs before agreeing to them, getting rid of objectionable parts and such. A blank one is refreshingly acceptable, and I see those more often when installing software via WINE.
Unless you send those amendments to the software developer and receive a confirmation they accept, that mean nothing. Either you've accepted their EULA, or you're using the software illegally.

In civilized countries, a contract requires (1) a meeting of the minds, and (2) consideration -- something of value exchanged. So if you are a store owner, and you offer to sell me a box containing some papers and a CD for $39.99, and I agree to buy it at that price, we have a deal.

Notice that I have not given anything of value to the developer. Maybe you did, or will, but I didn't. Nor has the developer given anything of value to me. You did. The agreement is between you the store owner and me. I have no agreement with the developer because there has been neither a meeting of the minds nor consideration.

If you the store owner want to impose any additional conditions on me, you have to do so -- and get my consent -- before I hand over the money. You can't come running out of the store, follow me to my car, and say Oh by the way that thing you just bought isn't really yours.

EULAs are just there to scare you into giving up some of your rights.

Anyway how can they ever prove I "clicked here" to agree? Maybe it was someone else. Maybe I didn't click. (Tab and Enter often work.) Maybe there was a defect in how the dialog box handled an out of memory condition. Maybe they expected my OS to display their license agreement instead of automatically going right past it.

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

Larry:
If you are at St Pancras, there won't be a train that goes from there to St Pancras. Ever.

You never heard of a train turning around? It leaves St. Pancreas, heads to a siding, turns around and comes right back. St.Pancreas to St.Pancreas train.

Of course, only a real dedicated train-spotter would want to be on such a train just for the joys of seeing the rail yards while they turn the train around.

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

Amen to that brother.

They'd better spend their time and money developing a simple two page (or less) guide on how to use Windows to do the same rather than outsourcing some IT hack shop to whip up some piece of crap.

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

Anon:
Of course, only a real dedicated train-spotter would want to be on such a train just for the joys of seeing the rail yards while they turn the train around.

You might want to look into some better whack-off material.

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

It seems to me that Equifax is not identity theft protection but is actually identity theft notification. They do nothing to protect your identity but they do notify null.

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

Larry:
Anon:
Of course, only a real dedicated train-spotter would want to be on such a train just for the joys of seeing the rail yards while they turn the train around.
You might want to look into some better whack-off material.

You might want to look into some better reading comprehension. I said only "a real dedicated train-spotter" would find it interesting. I never claimed to be such a person.

Even as a kid, I never found trains very interesting.

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

Jerry:
AP2:
Sparr:
I usually amend EULAs before agreeing to them, getting rid of objectionable parts and such. A blank one is refreshingly acceptable, and I see those more often when installing software via WINE.
Unless you send those amendments to the software developer and receive a confirmation they accept, that mean nothing. Either you've accepted their EULA, or you're using the software illegally.
In civilized countries, a contract requires (1) a meeting of the minds, and (2) consideration -- something of value exchanged. So if you are a store owner, and you offer to sell me a box containing some papers and a CD for $39.99, and I agree to buy it at that price, we have a deal.
Notice that I have not given anything of value to the developer. Maybe you did, or will, but I didn't. Nor has the developer given anything of value to me. You did. The agreement is between you the store owner and me. I have no agreement with the developer because there has been neither a meeting of the minds nor consideration.

If you the store owner want to impose any additional conditions on me, you have to do so -- and get my consent -- before I hand over the money. You can't come running out of the store, follow me to my car, and say Oh by the way that thing you just bought isn't really yours.

EULAs are just there to scare you into giving up some of your rights.

Anyway how can they ever prove I "clicked here" to agree? Maybe it was someone else. Maybe I didn't click. (Tab and Enter often work.) Maybe there was a defect in how the dialog box handled an out of memory condition. Maybe they expected my OS to display their license agreement instead of automatically going right past it.

The store owner sells you a shiny piece of plastic for $40. If it is broken or scratched at the time of purchase, you can exchange it for another shiny piece of plastic.

Supposedly there is information on that cd that you want to access. EULAs are there to protect the creators of that information. By accessing that information, you are agreeing to the EULA (and sometimes whatever modifications to that EULA they later create.)

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

Ben Jammin:
EULAs are there to protect the creators of that information. By accessing that information, you are agreeing to the EULA (and sometimes whatever modifications to that EULA they later create.)

By reading this post, you agree that I am right.

I hope this illustration is sufficient to convince you that statements of the form "by doing this you agree to that" are absurd. No, I don't agree "by doing this" I agree by agreeing. If you and I haven't reached an agreement, there is no agreement. And, even if there is an agreement, if there is no consideration (things of value) exchanged by each party, there is no contract.

In civilized countries.

It may be different in your location, if, for example, you are ruled by a corporate-owned-government, also known as a "public private partnership" or in prior years, fascism.

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

The real WTF here is people confusing arrival time with departure time. A train might arrive in 2 minutes and leave in 9999 minutes...

If a train departs at exactly the same time that it arrives, then potential passengers should stand on the track while waiting to board to avoid missing the train.

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

I think Stack Builder was just attempting to draw out the state of Pennsylvania in text

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

I guess someone stole their identity, now they have null

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

All work and no play makes Jack a cloud-database ...

2012-02-17 Reply Admin

Or you may write us at null..

Occasionally I write something into /dev/null. Wasn't aware it's Equifax who receives it.

Matt Westwood · 2012-02-17 Reply Admin

Bernard Mergendeiler:
The 0.0 jackpot looks like some kind of shenanigans to me. A perod is the German thousands separator, not the decimal point. The decimal point in German is a comma. One million Euros would be written: 1.000.000,00 or more likely 1.000.000,--
Also the banner is much narrower than a reasonable length for the horizontally-displayed number field.

And while we're on German, think "nein, nein, nein, nein ..."

Matt Westwood · 2012-02-17 Reply Admin

Chris:
The photo is taken at St Pancras. So the poster was rushing to catch the train at St Pancras to somewhere (like Sheffield). Why the departure board needs to tell you that, I really don't know.

Might have been Nottingham. One of the few places north of Reading that I'd actually pay money to be transported to.

Pecos Bill · 2012-02-17 Reply Admin

Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9.....

Nothing like London honoring one of their finest..... The Beatles.

pbean · 2012-02-18 Reply Admin

Hmm I'm sad. I sent the xxxyyxyxx one in like 4 or 5 weeks ago, and was sad it wasn't posted. Now it's posted, but credited to someone else. Doesn't really motivate me to send in more stuff.

2012-02-18 Reply Admin

Pecos Bill:
Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9.....
Nothing like London honoring one of their finest..... The Beatles.

Good thing there's only one English town with "L".

2012-02-18 Reply Admin

bglanstrom:
Hmm I'm sad. I sent the xxxyyxyxx one in like 4 or 5 weeks ago, and was sad it wasn't posted. Now it's posted, but credited to someone else. Doesn't really motivate me to send in more stuff.

Don't worry. This happens all the time.

2012-02-18 Reply Admin

"Stack Builder" lives up to its name -- that's quite a stack of clouds it's built up.

As for the train times, the real WTF is the fact that they installed signs with too few characters in the display for the most common station name it needs to display. They knew in advance how many characters are in "London St. Pancras", so why install display systems that can't handle it?

2012-02-18 Reply Admin

The real WTF is Starbucks coffee...

Matt Westwood · 2012-02-18 Reply Admin

pbean:
Hmm I'm sad. I sent the xxxyyxyxx one in like 4 or 5 weeks ago, and was sad it wasn't posted. Now it's posted, but credited to someone else. Doesn't really motivate me to send in more stuff.

In my head that played itself back using Stewie Griffin's voice.

2012-02-18 Reply Admin

Jerry:
Ben Jammin:
EULAs are there to protect the creators of that information. By accessing that information, you are agreeing to the EULA (and sometimes whatever modifications to that EULA they later create.)
By reading this post, you agree that I am right.
I hope this illustration is sufficient to convince you that statements of the form "by doing this you agree to that" are absurd. No, I don't agree "by doing this" I agree by agreeing. If you and I haven't reached an agreement, there is no agreement. And, even if there is an agreement, if there is no consideration (things of value) exchanged by each party, there is no contract.

In civilized countries.

It may be different in your location, if, for example, you are ruled by a corporate-owned-government, also known as a "public private partnership" or in prior years, fascism.

Your example isn't legally enforceable, as I had no way to back out. You can back out with an EULA: cancel the install, box it back up, return to the shop. If the shop won't take it back, complain to the company that made it. An EULA that applies when you open the box, but isn't readily available outside the box is just like your example, yes. Courts tend to not like them, though.

2012-02-19 Reply Admin

foo:
Synchronos:
Do you Brits really say "train AT St. Pancras" when you are heading TO St. Pancras? If not, you know TRWTF (tm): telling people at platform which is the station they are at, rather than telling where the train is heading.
Or, more likely, bad editing.

I'm not a brit, and I barely know where my pancreas are, but....

Perhaps the route is called London-St Pancras and he was at St Pancras Station hoping to travel to London on the next service

2012-02-19 Reply Admin

Gerome:
foo:
Synchronos:
Do you Brits really say "train AT St. Pancras" when you are heading TO St. Pancras? If not, you know TRWTF (tm): telling people at platform which is the station they are at, rather than telling where the train is heading.
Or, more likely, bad editing.
I'm not a brit, and I barely know where my pancreas are, but....
Perhaps the route is called London-St Pancras and he was at St Pancras Station hoping to travel to London on the next service

Or perhap snot, having now foiund London St Pancras International Rail stop on Google Maps

2012-02-19 Reply Admin

Fred:
ishmael:
Is Starbucks setting itself up now as an ostaria?
1. Starbucks is not just in Australia. 2. That's not how you spell it anyway.

Starbucks is no longer in Australia (didn't they go broke or someit?)

2012-02-19 Reply Admin

Anketam:
oh yeah:
9999th post!
I hate to break it to you but you are actually the 352,553rd* post
The actual 9999th post would have been by Fregas: "oh god kill me now!"

http://thedailywtf.com/Comments/Party_Like_It_0x27_s_1969.aspx#32236

Assuming linear and incremental usage of post numbers and factoring in that the first post started at 22,237 (minor WTF there).

Did you take into account that there may be some missing numbers in the middle too...?

2012-02-19 Reply Admin

AP2:
Sparr:
I usually amend EULAs before agreeing to them, getting rid of objectionable parts and such. A blank one is refreshingly acceptable, and I see those more often when installing software via WINE.
Unless you send those amendments to the software developer and receive a confirmation they accept, that mean nothing. Either you've accepted their EULA, or you're using the software illegally.
But getting a blank EULA without doing anything to cause it raises an interesting legal question. Is one free to assume only the restrictions in law apply? Or do you have the legal obligation to get the EULA? I wonder how would this fan out in court.

Didn't someone basically rule the EULA's aren't worth the paper their written on in most of the Western world?

2012-02-19 Reply Admin

Anon:
Larry:
If you are at St Pancras, there won't be a train that goes from there to St Pancras. Ever.

You never heard of a train turning around? It leaves St. Pancreas, heads to a siding, turns around and comes right back. St.Pancreas to St.Pancreas train.

Of course, only a real dedicated train-spotter would want to be on such a train just for the joys of seeing the rail yards while they turn the train around.

I believe they like to call themselves 'Gunzels' (althgough I think the locomotive driver's often call them "foamers" - reference to the fact they run around foaming at the mouth over the fact they managed to catch engine 5346 with the moon behind it)

2012-02-19 Reply Admin

pbean:
Hmm I'm sad. I sent the xxxyyxyxx one in like 4 or 5 weeks ago, and was sad it wasn't posted. Now it's posted, but credited to someone else. Doesn't really motivate me to send in more stuff.

Sorry mate, out of tissues. Maybe they'll have some in your next class....

2012-02-19 Reply Admin

pbean:
Hmm I'm sad. I sent the xxxyyxyxx one in like 4 or 5 weeks ago, and was sad it wasn't posted. Now it's posted, but credited to someone else. Doesn't really motivate me to send in more stuff.

Sorry mate, out of tissues. Maybe they'll have some in your next class....

Severity One · 2012-02-20 Reply Admin

"I got this error when trying to upgrade PostgreSQL using its 'Stack Builder' package installation tool," writes David, "I guess these guys must really like cloud computing!"

Obviously, this was not unit tested properly.

Anonymouse · 2012-02-20 Reply Admin

Bernard Mergendeiler:
The 0.0 jackpot looks like some kind of shenanigans to me. A perod is the German thousands separator, not the decimal point. The decimal point in German is a comma. One million Euros would be written: 1.000.000,00 or more likely 1.000.000,--

Oh, yes, because everyone, everywhere always knows exactly how to use punctuation correctly, like, for, example, comma's, and apostrophe's.

2012-02-20 Reply Admin

Pecos Bill:
Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9.....
Nothing like London honoring one of their finest..... The Beatles.

I can't decide if that's ignorance or a deliberate attempt to annoy Liverpudlians. Or the Liverpudlian who reads this site because I think it will be a set that small.

2012-02-20 Reply Admin

Iain:
Pecos Bill:
Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9.....
Nothing like London honoring one of their finest..... The Beatles.

I can't decide if that's ignorance or a deliberate attempt to annoy Liverpudlians. Or the Liverpudlian who reads this site because I think it will be a set that small.

My God, I misread that and (for some strange reason) thought you were referring to Lilliputians (who would be small even if in great numbers)...

2012-02-21 Reply Admin

Gulliver:
Iain:
Pecos Bill:
Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9..... Number 9.....
Nothing like London honoring one of their finest..... The Beatles.

I can't decide if that's ignorance or a deliberate attempt to annoy Liverpudlians. Or the Liverpudlian who reads this site because I think it will be a set that small.
My God, I misread that and (for some strange reason) thought you were referring to Lilliputians (who would be small even if in great numbers)...

No he means scousers

2012-02-21 Reply Admin

Bernard Mergendeiler:
The 0.0 jackpot looks like some kind of shenanigans to me. A perod is the German thousands separator, not the decimal point. The decimal point in German is a comma. One million Euros would be written: 1.000.000,00 or more likely 1.000.000,--

You're absolutely right. However, the banner is for a Swiss lottery and we use the period as a decimal separator. Localization is a bitch.

2012-02-23 Reply Admin

That cloud path is ALMOST long enough to make it all the way up the beanstalk, to the giant's castle.

2012-02-23 Reply Admin

Recursive Reclusive:
TRWTF is Samsung KIES; horrible, horrible piece of crapware. Adds nothing and just gets in the way. Plain folder access is better in every way.

It adds the ability to update firmware, which is nice. Other than that, um... yeah.

2012-02-23 Reply Admin

Would have been frist, but I had to wait 9999 minutes for my train.

2012-02-26 Reply Admin

Tortoise:
Recursive Reclusive:
TRWTF is Samsung KIES; horrible, horrible piece of crapware. Adds nothing and just gets in the way. Plain folder access is better in every way.
It adds the ability to update firmware, which is nice. Other than that, um... yeah.

It is *supposed* to add the ability to update firmware. And it did even work the first time I tried it, but all subsequent times it didn't work. Wasn't able to connect to my phone. Wasn't for a lack of trying on my part.

Finally I gave up and installed alternative firmware. The phone works better now, and I don't need KIES anymore.

2012-03-03 Reply Admin

Assign train orders 1: London St Pancras (wait for full load) 2: London St Pancras

And that's how the Transport Tycoon AI was applied to real life™.

Departing in 9999 Minutes

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