The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

Gurth · 2014-01-17 Reply Admin

Herr Otto Flick:
there is no such place as Belgium - it is the bits of the Netherlands that they aren't allowed to have combined with the bit of France no-one wants.

Other than the province of Luxembourg, the French-speaking parts of Belgium were historically part of the Netherlands (before that was used to refer to a country in the modern sense) as much as the Dutch-speaking parts were.

2014-01-17 Reply Admin

Dave:
Very nice of you, I'm sure. But what about the people who actually call themselves Belgien,

Ah. That guy in the Agatha Christie books. Hercule Poirot, wasn't it?

Dave:
who live in or near Eupen and speak German (Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens)? They live in Belgium too!

And are usually completely ignored although German is 3rd official language in Belgium. A fact that even King Philippe recognized in 2013 by holding his Xmas speech not only in Flemish and French but also in German.

Perhaps if the german minority in Belgium founded a party that advocates independence from Belgium they would get wider recognition. Especially if they would seek to become an independant state, separate from Germany as well.

da Doctah · 2014-01-17 Reply Admin

QJo:
Belgium is famous for its love of chips. (Sorry, that's "french fries" to you cross-ponders, or are you still having to call them "freedom fries"?)

There are some Belgians here asking for chips with mayonnaise:

[image]

2014-01-17 Reply Admin

da Doctah:
QJo:
Belgium is famous for its love of chips. (Sorry, that's "french fries" to you cross-ponders, or are you still having to call them "freedom fries"?)

There are some Belgians here asking for chips with mayonnaise:

[image]

No, no. That's just the NSA looking for terrorists. Pay them no mind.

2014-01-17 Reply Admin

Now if only Poland had renamed itself "Poland (do not invade)" ...

2014-01-17 Reply Admin

And here I thought that the "(DO NOT USE)" is there because "Belgium" is, of course, the rudest word in the universe.

2014-01-17 Reply Admin

faoileag:
Herr Otto Flick:
It's a bogus country invented to stand between France and Germany.
Your knowledge of geography is quite appalling. The common frontier between Germany and France is longer than the one between Germany and Belgium.

Hanzo would disagree.

herby · 2014-01-17 Reply Admin

ochrist:
About the non-use of Belgium. Maybe they read VisitBritain’s Advice On How To Avoid Offending Foreigners:
http://www.ibtimes.com/visitbritains-advice-how-avoid-offending-foreigners-backfires-1528986

"Belgians: Don’t try to talk to these visitors about their country’s politics or language divisions."

Intriguing that they don't mention anything about silly people from the USA. Maybe we can't be offended. Of course, I had a long discussion with a night clerk at a hotel I stayed at in November 2001. We exchanged comments on the IRA vs. Osama's Crew. It was interesting, and I wasn't offended (no he in my estimation).

Look, the only person from Belgum I know is Hercule Poirot. He is an interesting character, no?

2014-01-17 Reply Admin

mara:
No, no. That's just the NSA looking for terrorists. Pay them no mind.

That looks like an interesting allocation of government resources.

2014-01-17 Reply Admin

herby:
Intriguing that they don't mention anything about silly people from the USA. Maybe we can't be offended. Of course, I had a long discussion with a night clerk at a hotel I stayed at in November 2001. We exchanged comments on the IRA vs. Osama's Crew. It was interesting, and I wasn't offended (no he in my estimation).

There are plenty of ways to offend us USAians. It is just that nobody else much cares if they do any more.

chubertdev · 2014-01-17 Reply Admin

Chris:
herby:
Intriguing that they don't mention anything about silly people from the USA. Maybe we can't be offended. Of course, I had a long discussion with a night clerk at a hotel I stayed at in November 2001. We exchanged comments on the IRA vs. Osama's Crew. It was interesting, and I wasn't offended (no he in my estimation).

There are plenty of ways to offend us USAians. It is just that nobody else much cares if they do any more.

Call them a liberal! Actual liberals will be offended by anything, and non-liberals will be offended by the label.

2014-01-17 Reply Admin

QJo:
Kristof Provost:
Not talking to Belgians about politics is a really good idea. Either they're offended (for one or more of a multitude of reasons) or they'll try to explain it to you. The second is by far the most scary possibility.
Talk about beer instead.

Or chips. Belgium is famous for its love of chips. (Sorry, that's "french fries" to you cross-ponders, or are you still having to call them "freedom fries"?)

Haha, no, a few of us felt compelled to talk about "freedom fries" but it was a brief compulsion that was over with in about a week.

Unlike, you know, the incessant compulsion some people have to talk about fries vs. chips or rugby vs. football vs. gridiron, how great the metric system is, etc. I suspect that compulsion will continue for as long as their (unnamed!) country continues to suck.

2014-01-17 Reply Admin

herby:
ochrist:
About the non-use of Belgium. Maybe they read VisitBritain’s Advice On How To Avoid Offending Foreigners:
http://www.ibtimes.com/visitbritains-advice-how-avoid-offending-foreigners-backfires-1528986

"Belgians: Don’t try to talk to these visitors about their country’s politics or language divisions."

Intriguing that they don't mention anything about silly people from the USA. Maybe we can't be offended. Of course, I had a long discussion with a night clerk at a hotel I stayed at in November 2001. We exchanged comments on the IRA vs. Osama's Crew. It was interesting, and I wasn't offended (no he in my estimation).

Look, the only person from Belgum I know is Hercule Poirot. He is an interesting character, no?

Adolphe Sax

2014-01-17 Reply Admin

I'm really pleased to see something from Iceland here... or not, I'm not sure!

tin · 2014-01-17 Reply Admin

RichP:
miquelfire:
I always wonder why there's so many PHP sites running under IIS.
The faint hope of someday being allowed to have your web based system live on another OS?
At least in some small offices, "THE SERVER" is windows based and thou shalt host custom web based apps on "THE SERVER".

In that situation, wouldn't the average person end up installing WAMP or XAMPP or similar? 90% of servers I've seen IIS on are simply hosting something like this: [image]

da Doctah · 2014-01-17 Reply Admin

QJo:
herby:
Look, the only person from Belgum I know is Hercule Poirot. He is an interesting character, no?

Adolphe Sax

Tintin.

2014-01-18 Reply Admin

Bjartur:
I'm really pleased to see something from Iceland here... or not, I'm not sure!

There's more to Iceland than Björk?

2014-01-18 Reply Admin

That's not Reykjavik airport (RKV). It's Keflavik airport (KEF). Both are under REK, much like Gatwick, Heathrow and more are under LON, but they are distinct - and the better part of an hour apart.

This confusion has caused people to miss flights from RKV, having booked, say, a flight to Greenland within an hour of their arrival at KEF in the mistaken belief the two are the same...

2014-01-18 Reply Admin

faoileag:
Dave:
Very nice of you, I'm sure. But what about the people who actually call themselves Belgien,
Ah. That guy in the Agatha Christie books. Hercule Poirot, wasn't it?
Dave:
who live in or near Eupen and speak German (Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens)? They live in Belgium too!
And are usually completely ignored although German is 3rd official language in Belgium. A fact that even King Philippe recognized in 2013 by holding his Xmas speech not only in Flemish and French but also in German.
Perhaps if the german minority in Belgium founded a party that advocates independence from Belgium they would get wider recognition. Especially if they would seek to become an independant state, separate from Germany as well.

They've sorta already tried that -- google for "Neutral Moresnet."

Unfortunately the zinc ran out. However, having visited it, I can assure you that Neutral Moresnet would make a fine (Esperanto-speaking) country, even today.

2014-01-18 Reply Admin

Greenland:
Bjartur:
I'm really pleased to see something from Iceland here... or not, I'm not sure!

There's more to Iceland than Björk?

Sigur Rós

2014-01-18 Reply Admin

faoileag:
Dave:
Very nice of you, I'm sure. But what about the people who actually call themselves Belgien,
Ah. That guy in the Agatha Christie books. Hercule Poirot, wasn't it?
Dave:
who live in or near Eupen and speak German (Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens)? They live in Belgium too!
And are usually completely ignored although German is 3rd official language in Belgium. A fact that even King Philippe recognized in 2013 by holding his Xmas speech not only in Flemish and French but also in German.
Perhaps if the german minority in Belgium founded a party that advocates independence from Belgium they would get wider recognition. Especially if they would seek to become an independant state, separate from Germany as well.

Makes a change for it not to be English. Let's hear it for les Belges. All nations ought to follow their line and completely do away with government through sheer apathy and having more important things (e.g. chips, beer and saxophones) to think about.

2014-01-18 Reply Admin

Reminds me of seeing a dual pack of printer ink for 399NOK in a electronics store. Price for a single pack? 199NOK. So you'd have to pay 1NOK more for the dual pack.

To the store's defense, I guess I wouldn't expect the store manager to think carefully through the price for every single product in the store, so things like that would slip through.

2014-01-19 Reply Admin

Mythril:
Reminds me of seeing a dual pack of printer ink for 399NOK in a electronics store. Price for a single pack? 199NOK. So you'd have to pay 1NOK more for the dual pack.
To the store's defense, I guess I wouldn't expect the store manager to think carefully through the price for every single product in the store, so things like that would slip through.

Never overestimate the ability of the average person (or even programmer) to do basic arithmetic.

2014-01-19 Reply Admin

QJo:
Adolphe Sax

Eddy Merckx. Won the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia five times each without using drugs.

2014-01-19 Reply Admin

Vinni's WTF is very mild. $9.99 per month for 6 months (3 +3) = $59.94....so you lose 1c

Of course, the suggestion that there's 3 months free is interesting, but presumably it's normally $20 a month, so they're trying to suggest that this works oiut to $9.99 a month....

It's maybe excessive marketing, but not quite the WTF being suggested.

2014-01-19 Reply Admin

herby:
ochrist:
About the non-use of Belgium. Maybe they read VisitBritain’s Advice On How To Avoid Offending Foreigners:
http://www.ibtimes.com/visitbritains-advice-how-avoid-offending-foreigners-backfires-1528986

"Belgians: Don’t try to talk to these visitors about their country’s politics or language divisions."

Intriguing that they don't mention anything about silly people from the USA. Maybe we can't be offended. Of course, I had a long discussion with a night clerk at a hotel I stayed at in November 2001. We exchanged comments on the IRA vs. Osama's Crew. It was interesting, and I wasn't offended (no he in my estimation).

Look, the only person from Belgum I know is Hercule Poirot. He is an interesting character, no?

They just don't talk to those rude yankee pricks.

2014-01-19 Reply Admin

Meep:
QJo:
Kristof Provost:
Not talking to Belgians about politics is a really good idea. Either they're offended (for one or more of a multitude of reasons) or they'll try to explain it to you. The second is by far the most scary possibility.
Talk about beer instead.

Or chips. Belgium is famous for its love of chips. (Sorry, that's "french fries" to you cross-ponders, or are you still having to call them "freedom fries"?)

Haha, no, a few of us felt compelled to talk about "freedom fries" but it was a brief compulsion that was over with in about a week.

Unlike, you know, the incessant compulsion some people have to talk about fries vs. chips or league vs union vs soccer vs. football vs. gridiron vs futsal, how great the metric system is, etc. I suspect that compulsion will continue for as long as their (unnamed!) country continues to suck.

FTFY

2014-01-19 Reply Admin

Mythril:
Reminds me of seeing a dual pack of printer ink for 399NOK in a electronics store. Price for a single pack? 199NOK. So you'd have to pay 1NOK more for the dual pack.
To the store's defense, I guess I wouldn't expect the store manager to think carefully through the price for every single product in the store, so things like that would slip through.

TRWTF is printer cartridges. It's cheaper to buiy a new printer than a printer cartridge. An no, I don't for a minute believe the crap about they ship with almost empty cartridges - firstly because I get good use out of them, and secondly because it just doesn't make sense - why would a printer company got to the effort of partially filling a print cartridge just so their customers get annoyed at how quickly the thing runs out (a user will assume it ships full, so if it runs out quickly they'll blame the printer for consuming too much ink).

2014-01-19 Reply Admin

gnasher729:
QJo:
Adolphe Sax

Eddy Merckx. Won the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia five times each without being caught using banned drugs.

not saying he did, just don't know that you can be certain he didn't

random_garbage · 2014-01-19 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
Steve The Cynic:
The today-only price is not only a bad figure for three months plus three free at 9.99 a month, but it's also poor value for six months at 9.99 a month (should be 59.94).
Of course, what it probably means (and we aren't shown anywhere) is that the normal price is 19.99 a month, in which case we are getting it for half-price.

So I guess that makes TRWTF either the submitter or the editors...
Indeed. It's a minor WTF, in that it's not clear why it's a deal.

I assumed that last line was supposed to be

"Today only: $59.95 value for only $29.97"

or something like that, and got truncated instead of wrapped...

But yeah, the .94 vs .95 thing confuses me too...

2014-01-19 Reply Admin

What's the WTF with the shipping label? Looks fine to me.

2014-01-20 Reply Admin

miquelfire:
I always wonder why there's so many PHP sites running under IIS.

TRWTF, right there.

+1

Severity One · 2014-01-20 Reply Admin

It's a well-known fact that Belgium does not exist: http://zapatopi.net/belgium/

That's why you're not supposed to use it.

2014-01-20 Reply Admin

Someone:
What's the WTF with the shipping label? Looks fine to me.

"4.47767E+11" is a strange address

(Although, to be honest, so is "447767000000" )

2014-01-20 Reply Admin

USAians = United States of Americaians?

2014-01-20 Reply Admin

Valued Service:
Don't make the ok sign in South America. In several countries there, it's considered a bad hand signal equivalent to flipping people off.

I spent two years in Brazil and my wife is Brazilian. The ok hand gesture used to have the same connotation as flipping the birdie, but American tv and movies have taken away the shock value among the younger generation.

2014-01-20 Reply Admin

da Doctah:
QJo:
herby:
Look, the only person from Belgum I know is Hercule Poirot. He is an interesting character, no?

Adolphe Sax
Tintin.

Jean-Claude Van Damme Audrey Hepburn Jacques Rogge Jacques Brel Father Damien

chubertdev · 2014-01-20 Reply Admin

Forsese:
Mythril:
Reminds me of seeing a dual pack of printer ink for 399NOK in a electronics store. Price for a single pack? 199NOK. So you'd have to pay 1NOK more for the dual pack.
To the store's defense, I guess I wouldn't expect the store manager to think carefully through the price for every single product in the store, so things like that would slip through.
TRWTF is printer cartridges. It's cheaper to buiy a new printer than a printer cartridge. An no, I don't for a minute believe the crap about they ship with almost empty cartridges - firstly because I get good use out of them, and secondly because it just doesn't make sense - why would a printer company got to the effort of partially filling a print cartridge just so their customers get annoyed at how quickly the thing runs out (a user will assume it ships full, so if it runs out quickly they'll blame the printer for consuming too much ink).

The cartridges that printers ship with are partial capacity. My fiancee went to refill them at Costco, and they told her it wouldn't be much help, because of that fact.

2014-01-20 Reply Admin

I prefer Fahrenheit for anything my skin will be in contact with or anything I'm breathing, and prefer Kelvin for any technical work. No other temperature scales are worth using. Fahrenheit works well because 0-100 represents about the range where humans can live without climate control or special gear, and Kelvin because it's the temperature scale for use with SI units. Celsius and Rankine are just annoying.

2014-01-20 Reply Admin

Sir Galahad the pure:
Now if only Poland had renamed itself "Poland (do not invade)" ...

If it renamed itself "404 not found" maybe no other country's military navigation systems could locate it.

2014-01-21 Reply Admin

Belgian beer is REALLY scary.

2014-01-22 Reply Admin

Jim:
Vinni's WTF is very mild. $9.99 per month for 6 months (3 +3) = $59.94....so you lose 1c
Of course, the suggestion that there's 3 months free is interesting, but presumably it's normally $20 a month, so they're trying to suggest that this works oiut to $9.99 a month....

It's maybe excessive marketing, but not quite the WTF being suggested.

The "3 months free" part could get them in some deep shit with advertising standards boards in many countries. No matter what their regular price is, they're advertising "9.99/mo" and they'd be held to that and 3 free months, yet the bottom number is clearly 6 fully paid months. I'm surprised most people are so overthinking the possible cause of this that they miss the obvious WTF.

lolwtf · 2014-01-25 Reply Admin

miquelfire:
I always wonder why there's so many PHP sites running under IIS.

Because if you're going to do it wrong, you may as well do it completely wrong.

2014-01-29 Reply Admin

Scorpion:
faoileag:
It's not only Belgians Costco seems to be unhappy about becoming members - the same warning also appears next to Poland and Portugal.
Sigh. There are duplicates of Belgium, Poland, and Portugal. One of each is marked (do not use). How very droll.

Just curious about one thing... I've spent some time poking around in CostCo's site, but couldn't find the actual place that yielded that screenshot. Would either of you two be so kind as to give us the direct URL?

Discriminatory Savings

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