The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

Bananas:
ThomasP:
TRWTF is the eleventh message being 111.
The eleventh message is probably not 111. TRWTF is the submitter stating that it is. Off by one. Let's hope he doesn't do C programming for a living.

It's NOT off by one. The zeroth message was for 100, the first for 101, ... the eleventh for 111, ...

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

F:
Bananas:
ThomasP:
TRWTF is the eleventh message being 111.
The eleventh message is probably not 111. TRWTF is the submitter stating that it is. Off by one. Let's hope he doesn't do C programming for a living.

It's NOT off by one. The zeroth message was for 100, the first for 101, ... the eleventh for 111, ...

I seeth that which thou hath doneth there.

captcha: pecus -- I really have to pecus I have been drinking a lot of coffee, water, and beer.

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

Frist to say TRWTF is Alex Papa. Oh, akismet by the way, whatever the shit that is supposed to mean on this site.

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

TGV:
Nobody noticed the counting error and started monopolizing this thread with it? I'm disappointed.

Whatever makes you totally certain the software did not skip a number? Is TGV your new alias on this site, Mr. Nagesh?

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

Totally OT:
Teamwork is great, right? Bring a diverse group of skills together and we all win, right?
So I'm in a project where I'm assigned all the tasks, because nobody else knows how to do them. But I have five people micromanaging every step (not counting my actual manager). And I have to use a large collection of spreadsheets so they can see what's going on, because they don't understand databases.

Bottom line this is going to take 10 times more work, plus salary for the five do-nothings, and even still, be more error prone than if I just wrote a bit of code against a database.

But at least we're working as a team! Yay team! Should get me high marks on my annual review. Giving other people a reason to exist.

Did you get the memo about the cover sheets for the TPS reports? Maybe I should just send you a new copy, anyway....

johnckirk · 2012-02-10 Reply Admin

I read an interesting article recently about the "exorbitant Amazon price" situation: http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=358

In this case, I assume that there was another seller who triggered the algorithm, but they've now backed out and left the single high price.

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

Here's a direct link for directions from Cleveland to Untitled Polygon:

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=40.74244435113701~-82.34050422906875&lvl=8&dir=0&sty=r&rtp=pos.41.504711_-81.690742_Cleveland%2C%20OH___e_~pos.39.965153_-82.933548_Untitled%20Polygon%2C%20OH___e_&mode=D&rtop=0~0~0~&form=LMLTCC

no laughing matter · 2012-02-10 Reply Admin

F:
Bananas:
ThomasP:
TRWTF is the eleventh message being 111.
The eleventh message is probably not 111. TRWTF is the submitter stating that it is. Off by one. Let's hope he doesn't do C programming for a living.

It's NOT off by one. The zeroth message was for 100, the first for 101, ... the eleventh for 111, ...

Learn to read! The article clearly states:

Trevor:
"This was message 11. The first was 100, the second 101, ...

ochrist · 2012-02-10 Reply Admin

J-L:
If you were building a starship (a la Star Trek), would you be willing to test the craft's self-destruct sequence all the way, or would you opt instead to shut it down a few seconds before the starship explodes?

The European Space Agency (ESA) might have an answer to that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_(spacecraft)

(I was told about this yesterday by the trainer on a course about IT testing - ISTQB - as an example of a bug)

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

J-L:
The "Eject the disk, and then try to eject the disk again" phrase reminds me of a discussion I had about how many products aren't thoroughly tested in scenarios that involve the end of the product's life.

That reminds me of my former life in QA. I was quite surprised that I was the only one to find the bug that the system crashed when shutting it down. Everyone else was just pulling the plug or resetting the system.

(awesome that my captcha had already been filled in before, so it autofilled for me)

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

AP2:
Anketam:
There is already a methodology for testing this, it is called QA. This scenario plays itself in many other fields which involve reliability of items that destroy themselves when used, like emergency flares, rockets, emergeny rafts, and more. How they test them is by taking a meaningful sample and testing them all the way. Assuming the testing goes well then QA will come back and say something to the affect that: "We can say with a 95% confidence that said item will function as designed 99.9% of the time (or whatever the target is)." Can item still fail at the most critical moment, yes, but it has been proven statisticly to be negligible.

That only works for cheap mass produced products, which is not the case the example given (the Star Trek Enterprise), of which only zero were built (because it's a fucking TV show), or similar constructions. If you're building a skyscraper or a transcontinental plane, you can't build hundreds of them just so you have a statistically valid sample to test.

FTFY

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

frits:
[image] Is that a Labview UI?
For shame...

Horribly out-of-date 1980's UI? Check. Yep, that'll be LabVIEW.

There are some things LabVIEW is good for, UIs ain't one of them.

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

Jay:
Hey, as you brought up Star Trek's self-destruct mechanism, something about the movie where they use it really baffled me.
A small alien ship attacks the Enterprise. Kirk cleverly fools them into sending a boarding party that appears to be about six people. He and the crew then escape after setting the self-destruct, thus killing the boarding party. He and the crew then celebrate how this brilliant ploy resulted in their defeating the enemy.

But, umm, the Enterprise is supposed to be one of the biggest, most powerful ships in the fleet. Comparable to, say, an aircraft carrier in a 21st century navy.

Suppose that a band of Somali pirates attacked a U.S. aircraft carrier. So the captain evacuates the crew from the ship and lures six of the pirates on board, and then he blows up and sinks the aircraft carrier, taking the six pirates down with it. He then reports back to the Pentagon, "Admiral, through a clever trick, we managed to kill six Somali pirates, at the cost of only one multi-billion dollar aircraft carrier!" Do you think he'd get a medal for that? Or would they be amazed at the incredible idiocy of sacrificing one of the most powerful and expensive ships in the fleet to kill a mere SIX enemy soldiers?

Versus letting the 6 Somali pirates abscond with an aircraft carrier, it might be preferable to scuttle it. Of course, the better option would be to just shoot the pirates before they get anywhere close to the ship.

pauly · 2012-02-10 Reply Admin

NageshIsTheGreatestWhatTheFuckOnThisSite:
TGV:
Nobody noticed the counting error and started monopolizing this thread with it? I'm disappointed.

Whatever makes you totally certain the software did not skip a number? Is TGV your new alias on this site, Mr. Nagesh?

The (unregistered) Nagesh are clones of the original.

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

fennec:
If you want Amazon insanity, just look up the tag wtf. It's hard to beat the Example of one of my images on the side of a truck from $1,294,117,630,223,910.00.

Ooh! Thanks for the link! I've been looking all over for a Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank, and at just $666,666 it's a total steal!!!

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

or me, 5 years ago, deliberately not using Quote. People who write computer programs should learn developing as well as programming, and learn with experience.

TRWTF is the low quality trolling & unoriginal memes that, if ever funny, lost it.

Nagesh is the SpectateSwamp of our time, be grateful we don't get to see his idea of WTF-free code.

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

Like driving around in an iron:
fennec:
If you want Amazon insanity, just look up the tag wtf. It's hard to beat the Example of one of my images on the side of a truck from $1,294,117,630,223,910.00.
Ooh! Thanks for the link! I've been looking all over for a Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank, and at just $666,666 it's a total steal!!!

let me know when you've bought it and i'll do you a spiffing custom blessing for, well.. just send be a signed blank cheque and we can negotiate from there.

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

I suspect that the "untitled polygon" may have been leftovers from the Pentagon considering a relocation effort.

Shagen · 2012-02-10 Reply Admin

DrBen:
TRWTF is a neighborhood named "Milo Grogan." Maybe they should have left that polygon untitled, too.

"Grogan" is Aussie slang for excrement: "gonna pinch off a grogan". "Milo" is well known in australia as brand of malted chocolate drink powder, also a chocolate bar made with this powder. So "Milo Grogan" does not a pleasant mind-picture make.

2012-02-10 Reply Admin

Ryan B:
Here's a direct link for directions from Cleveland to Untitled Polygon:
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=40.74244435113701~-82.34050422906875&lvl=8&dir=0&sty=r&rtp=pos.41.504711_-81.690742_Cleveland%2C%20OH___e_~pos.39.965153_-82.933548_Untitled%20Polygon%2C%20OH___e_&mode=D&rtop=0~0~0~&form=LMLTCC

TRWTF is:

Bing Maps can't do what you want
Driving directions are not available in your market right now. We're sorry for the inconvenience.

But TRRWTF is that directions suddenly work when switching my "market"/language/country to English - USA.

2012-02-11 Reply Admin

AP2:
Anketam:
There is already a methodology for testing this, it is called QA. This scenario plays itself in many other fields which involve reliability of items that destroy themselves when used, like emergency flares, rockets, emergeny rafts, and more. How they test them is by taking a meaningful sample and testing them all the way. Assuming the testing goes well then QA will come back and say something to the affect that: "We can say with a 95% confidence that said item will function as designed 99.9% of the time (or whatever the target is)." Can item still fail at the most critical moment, yes, but it has been proven statisticly to be negligible.

That only works for cheap mass produced products, which is not the case the example given (the Star Trek Enterprise), of which only 8 were built, or similar constructions. If you're building a skyscraper or a transcontinental plane, you can't build hundreds of them just so you have a statistically valid sample to test.

8?

What do you think the alternate Universe/s are for?

2012-02-11 Reply Admin

Anketam:
Even with our current nuke missiles they have been tested underground to make sure that they work, so if we ever did need them (which I hope is never) they would work. After all last thing you want is a dud in one of those missiles that would be one hell of an oops.

Not at all. The purpose of nuke missiles is deterrence. If you ever get to the point of launching them, it means they have already failed their primary purpose. At that point, it doesn't matter much whether they detonate.

The reason you test them is to make them credible, not reliable.

2012-02-11 Reply Admin

It is me.:
Frist.
Had to say that.

Frist fact about frist: http://urbandictionary.com/#define?term=frist (around the middle) :::

The Urban Dictionary:
Frist: A variation of "first" posted to a certain online comment section ....

(Note: added "certain" to quote, but since the orig. is referring to 1 online comment section... Well, i think you can figure this one out ya'self)

Matt Westwood · 2012-02-11 Reply Admin

Shagen:
DrBen:
TRWTF is a neighborhood named "Milo Grogan." Maybe they should have left that polygon untitled, too.
"Grogan" is Aussie slang for excrement: "gonna pinch off a grogan". "Milo" is well known in australia as brand of malted chocolate drink powder, also a chocolate bar made with this powder. So "Milo Grogan" does not a pleasant mind-picture make.

I am seriously impressed as always by the picturesque nature of Australian slang. Delightful. I will never regard the band Altered Images in the same light again.

2012-02-12 Reply Admin

fennec:
If you want Amazon insanity, just look up the tag wtf. It's hard to beat the Example of one of my images on the side of a truck from $1,294,117,630,223,910.00.

The truck is considerably cheaper on the link from the WTF tag...Still a little out of reach for most small (?) nations

2012-02-12 Reply Admin

Kenneth Tekken:
I find the Windows icon intriguing. So compressing a hard disk is like sticking two oversized band aids on your monitor?

Looks to me like too thick Rubber bands on a Mac running Windows....Kinda like the ones in the Qantas lounges I guess...

2012-02-12 Reply Admin

no laughing matter:
F:
Bananas:
ThomasP:
TRWTF is the eleventh message being 111.
The eleventh message is probably not 111. TRWTF is the submitter stating that it is. Off by one. Let's hope he doesn't do C programming for a living.

It's NOT off by one. The zeroth message was for 100, the first for 101, ... the eleventh for 111, ...

Learn to read! The article clearly states:

Trevor:
"This was message 11. The first was 100, the second 101, ...

Oh I see, so the guy miscounted. No big deal. Most of us run out of fingers at 10, and by the time you get your socks off, you might have missed a message or two....

zzo38 · 2012-02-12 Reply Admin

0Frist0

2012-02-13 Reply Admin

So, it's so cold in Spain that there isn't a number that can express the temperature...

2012-02-13 Reply Admin

MadScutter:
I actually live right down the street from Untitled Polygon. It really isn't a bad neighborhood at all.

Are you serious?

There were a total of -2147483648 armed robberies in the last -Inf years in UntitledPolygon. Its crime rate is NaN % higher than the average of Copy of NewCountry.

2012-02-13 Reply Admin

Planar:
Anketam:
Even with our current nuke missiles they have been tested underground to make sure that they work, so if we ever did need them (which I hope is never) they would work. After all last thing you want is a dud in one of those missiles that would be one hell of an oops.

Not at all. The purpose of nuke missiles is deterrence. If you ever get to the point of launching them, it means they have already failed their primary purpose. At that point, it doesn't matter much whether they detonate.

The reason you test them is to make them credible, not reliable.

No, the purpose of a nuclear missile is to turn a big city (or other strategic target) into radioactive vapour.

2012-02-13 Reply Admin

Obviously doing some trivial calculation, and didn't check for a Zero denominator.

2012-02-13 Reply Admin

Anketam:
frits:
That's not how QA works at all (or confidence intervals for that matter).
General disclaimer about my posts: I at no point claim to be a subject matter expert on anything, as such I can say something that is wrong (this is what Google is for).
Jay:
Hey, as you brought up Star Trek's self-destruct mechanism, something about the movie where they use it really baffled me.
A small alien ship attacks the Enterprise. Kirk cleverly fools them into sending a boarding party that appears to be about six people. He and the crew then escape after setting the self-destruct, thus killing the boarding party. He and the crew then celebrate how this brilliant ploy resulted in their defeating the enemy.

But, umm, the Enterprise is supposed to be one of the biggest, most powerful ships in the fleet. Comparable to, say, an aircraft carrier in a 21st century navy.

Suppose that a band of Somali pirates attacked a U.S. aircraft carrier. So the captain evacuates the crew from the ship and lures six of the pirates on board, and then he blows up and sinks the aircraft carrier, taking the six pirates down with it. He then reports back to the Pentagon, "Admiral, through a clever trick, we managed to kill six Somali pirates, at the cost of only one multi-billion dollar aircraft carrier!" Do you think he'd get a medal for that? Or would they be amazed at the incredible idiocy of sacrificing one of the most powerful and expensive ships in the fleet to kill a mere SIX enemy soldiers?
Note it has been many years since I have seen it, so if someone knows better please correct me. The ship in question was going to be mothballed so it was not that big of a loss, they only had a skeleton crew of like 5 people so there was no way that they could hold the ship even against a small boarding party.

But the only reason the boarding party was on board was because Kirk tricked them into boarding. And yeah, they only had some small group of their own -- 5 or 6 or whatever -- but even at that, didn't they have SOME had weapons stored somewhere on the ship, that they could have ambushed a boarding party?

And yeah, as I recall they said Star Fleet had said the ship was obsolete when Kirk and company hijacked it. Still, if the U.S. Navy said that a certain aircraft carrier was obsolete and scheduled for decomissioning, and then someone stole it and blew it up, I think they'd still be in trouble. The salvage value alone would have to be many millions.

And another BTW, it's been a while since I saw that movie myself, but as I recall the regular crew was supposed to be 400-something, but they threw in some fast line about how they had hooked all the control up to the computer so 5 people could run the ship. If they can do that, why don't they just always do that and run with a crew of 5? Okay, maybe these 5 were working double duty, so you really need 10 or 15. Toss in a few extra for red-shirts to be killed off now and then. As their crew quarters always seemed pretty roomy and comfortable, eliminating all that space, plus supplies for all those people, would have to dramatically reduce the size and weight of the ship, presumably then reducing fuel requirements, further reducing the size of the ship, etc.

2012-02-13 Reply Admin

Herohtar:
frits:
[image] Is that a Labview UI?
For shame...

Yep, definitely LabVIEW. I bet if we could see the "code" behind that interface it would easily be TRWTF of this article.

The reasons that this site isn't buried under LabView WTFs are:

Most LabView apps are written by engineers, not programmers. They don't read this site.
Most engineers that write bad LabView apps are blissfully unaware that they are doing it badly.
A bad LabView app takes spaghetti code to a whole new level.
Legible screen shots of bad LabView apps probably exceed the maximum size for graphics on this website.

From bitter experience, when somebody who is not a programmer is developing a LabView app, gets stuck, and asks you for help; then things could be bad.

Special phrase of doom, in a real-time control application: "We had to add a bunch of delay loops to make things happen in the correct order".

2012-02-13 Reply Admin

Jay:
Suppose that a band of Somali pirates attacked a U.S. aircraft carrier. So the captain evacuates the crew from the ship and lures six of the pirates on board, and then he blows up and sinks the aircraft carrier, taking the six pirates down with it. He then reports back to the Untitled Polygon, "Admiral, through a clever trick, we managed to kill six Somali pirates, at the cost of only one multi-billion dollar aircraft carrier!" Do you think he'd get a medal for that? Or would they be amazed at the incredible idiocy of sacrificing one of the most powerful and expensive ships in the fleet to kill a mere SIX enemy soldiers?

FTFY

2012-02-13 Reply Admin

The MCP one really needs to be fixed.

Whenever I've logged in another sites through LiveID, they greet me with logout button, and requires me to logout then log back in. This is lame.

2012-02-14 Reply Admin

Bionic Slacker:
I don't see the WTF in the Carbon Copy Cloner screenshot. Obviously, the cloning process was a complete success, sou you now have to eject the disk twice - the original, and the clone.

My thoughts exactly. No WTF here.

2012-02-14 Reply Admin

Are you nuts? Before being known officially as Untitled Paragon, that place was unofficially referred to as Uzi Alley!

2012-02-14 Reply Admin

Thanks, and yes, I did miscount. I was up till 5:30AM on that system, and then back in for supporting that environment for 8AM. I think I sent off my submission the next day, and was giggling due to lack of sleep.

On an hour and a half sleep (20 minutes travel time each way, + 20 minutes for food and dressed in the morning, trying to wake up), counting to 11 (or 12) without taking off my socks & shoes was a mystery.

2012-02-15 Reply Admin

Planar:
... The purpose of nuke missiles is deterrence. If you ever get to the point of launching them, it means they have already failed their primary purpose. At that point, it doesn't matter much whether they detonate.

It matters to the people in the city it's targeting.

2012-02-15 Reply Admin

Dave:
Planar:
... The purpose of nuke missiles is deterrence. If you ever get to the point of launching them, it means they have already failed their primary purpose. At that point, it doesn't matter much whether they detonate.
It matters to the people in the city it's targeting.

Yes, they'll find out about it if it doesn't detonate

2012-02-15 Reply Admin

Matt Westwood:
Shagen:
DrBen:
TRWTF is a neighborhood named "Milo Grogan." Maybe they should have left that polygon untitled, too.
"Grogan" is Aussie slang for excrement: "gonna pinch off a grogan". "Milo" is well known in australia as brand of malted chocolate drink powder, also a chocolate bar made with this powder. So "Milo Grogan" does not a pleasant mind-picture make.
I am seriously impressed as always by the picturesque nature of Australian slang. Delightful. I will never regard the band Altered Images in the same light again.

Just sounds like a Picnic bar to me....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadbury_Picnic

Akismet......I killyou!

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