• (cs)

    I used to see all sorts of doco WTFs on MVS's TSO facility screens.  IBM Redbooks can sometimes be fun reads... all the freaky terms IBMers use to describe some of the most mundane and simple concepts.

  • (cs) in reply to christoofar

    heh, at least windows-console doesn't have one-liners like the unix command fsck.  I mean seriously, what were they thinking?

    sigh I can also remember in the 7th grade when we would take math textbooks and look for sexual innuendo.  The geometry section was especially humorous.

  • (cs)

    The 5 letter rule would work IF you assume every short name is shorthand for a fell name... ex:

    Joe = Joseph

    Eve = Evelynn

    Tim=Timothy

     

    Of course this is just absurd, and totally ignores the fact that in some countries that their first name can be 2 or 3 letters!

    This is a fine example of ignorant American coding at it's best!

  • (cs)

    Take a look at the validation code:

      if (theForm.firstname.value == "")
      {
        alert("Please enter a value for the \"First Name\" field.");
        theForm.firstname.focus();
        return (false);
      }

      if (theForm.firstname.value.length < 5)
      {
        alert("Please enter at least 5 characters in the \"First Name\" field.");
        theForm.firstname.focus();
        return (false);
      }

      if (theForm.firstname.value.length > 40)
      {
        alert("Please enter at most 40 characters in the \"First Name\" field.");
        theForm.firstname.focus();
        return (false);
      }

    Hopefully, you don't happen to have a really long name either, although 40 characters for a first name sounds reasonable.  But what gets me, is that they check for no entry AND a small entry.  It isn't like they didn't know how to check for a non-entry, they intentionally won't let you enter a short name.  None of the other fields have this check either, including the phone number.  It will allow you to enter 0, or 911 as your number, no problem.  Nice!

  • (cs) in reply to travisowens

    Even a good 'American' name like Adam is too short, and I can't think of a long version of that.

  • (cs) in reply to travisowens
    travisowens:
    The 5 letter rule would work IF you assume every short name is shorthand for a fell name...

    You mean like "Mark", or "Sven", or "Karl"?

    PS: I think you mean a full name, and not a fell name.  "Hi, my name is Beelzebub, what's yours?  :)

  • Anonymous (unregistered) in reply to Grimoire

    My name is Luc and I have a problem ;-)

  • (cs) in reply to travisowens

    Ok... the 5 letter rule wouldn't work for:

    Max  (not always 'Maximillian')
    Amy (uhm... ?)
    Jack
    Hank
    Paul

    you get my drift

  • (cs) in reply to travisowens
    travisowens:

    The 5 letter rule would work IF you assume every short name is shorthand for a fell name... ex:

    Joe = Joseph

    Eve = Evelynn

    Tim=Timothy

     

    Of course this is just absurd, and totally ignores the fact that in some countries that their first name can be 2 or 3 letters!

    This is a fine example of ignorant American coding at it's best!

    Wrong.

    Alan, Paul, John, Mark, Slim, Jack, etc.

  • ThinkingInBinary (unregistered) in reply to Grimoire
    Grimoire:
    But what gets me, is that they check for no entry AND a small entry.


    They do this so they can show a different error message depending on whether you forgot the field or tried to fill in just a first initial.

    I think they check the length so you are forced to enter a name, not an initial.  (It begs the question, though, of why not check for a name 2 or more characters?)
  • (cs) in reply to christoofar

    Ultimately, I think we can all agree that not only is the fact that people with short names, or those who use shortened versions of their names are pretty much screwed by the name entry thing. 

    As has been pointed out, the form validation code for that field is a SEVERE wtf, seeing as it not only checks for the short name, as seen, but it also checks for no name entry.  So.. this all leads to the really fun part:  Figure out who was dumb enough to put a minimum length on the first name field.   My bet is on some goober that assumed since he had a long name, everyone else does too, or that all short names are somehow derived from a longer name, when there's plenty of them that are just short.

  • (cs) in reply to rogthefrog
    rogthefrog:
    travisowens:

    The 5 letter rule would work IF you assume every short name is shorthand for a fell name... ex:

    Joe = Joseph

    Eve = Evelynn

    Tim=Timothy

     

    Of course this is just absurd, and totally ignores the fact that in some countries that their first name can be 2 or 3 letters!

    This is a fine example of ignorant American coding at it's best!

    Wrong.

    Alan, Paul, John, Mark, Slim, Jack, etc.

    Ruth, Dirk, Hal, June, May.... Oh, and there's no American named Mary.

  • (cs) 
    if (theForm.firstname.value == "")
      {
        alert("Please enter a value for the \"First Name\" field.");
        theForm.firstname.focus();
        return (false);
      }

    Just too stupid. Just put 5 spaces ("     ") and it's ok. You can use the spaces at the end of your name if it's short.

    Better (and elegant) validation code:

    if (theForm.firstname.value.search(/\S+/) == -1)
      {
        alert("Please enter a value for the \"First Name\" field.");
        theForm.firstname.focus();
        return (false);
      }

    Big WTF at all.
  • (cs) in reply to romeogresta
    romeogresta:
    if (theForm.firstname.value == "")
      {
        alert("Please enter a value for the \"First Name\" field.");
        theForm.firstname.focus();
        return (false);
      }

    Just too stupid. Just put 5 spaces ("     ") and it's ok. You can use the spaces at the end of your name if it's short.

    Better (and elegant) validation code:

    if (theForm.firstname.value.search(/\S+/) == -1)
      {
        alert("Please enter a value for the \"First Name\" field.");
        theForm.firstname.focus();
        return (false);
      }

    Big WTF at all.

    You forgot

    <FONT face="Courier New">if (theForm.firstname.value == "alex")</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New">{</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New">  alert("What a pretty name!");</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New">  return true;</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New">}</FONT>

  • (cs) in reply to Grimoire
    Grimoire:
    Hopefully, you don't happen to have a really long name either, although 40 characters for a first name sounds reasonable.  But what gets me, is that they check for no entry AND a small entry.  It isn't like they didn't know how to check for a non-entry, they intentionally won't let you enter a short name.  None of the other fields have this check either, including the phone number.  It will allow you to enter 0, or 911 as your number, no problem.  Nice!


    Also, in addition to the lack of a emergency number check for the phone number field, it will allow you to enter in pretty much any type of character, and up to 40 of them at that!

     if (theForm.PHONE_1.value == "")
      {
        alert("Please enter a value for the \"PHONE_1\" field.");
        theForm.PHONE_1.focus();
        return (false);
      }

      if (theForm.PHONE_1.value.length > 40)
      {
        alert("Please enter at most 40 characters in the \"PHONE_1\" field.");
        theForm.PHONE_1.focus();
        return (false);
      }

    On top of that, it only does character validation for the first name.. so Alexander 1234567890 with a
    Phone # of ABCDEF appears to be perfectly valid.

  • Rex Ruther (unregistered)

    Also notice that valid characters for the first name include tab, new line, carraige return, and form feed.

  • (cs) in reply to Rex Ruther

    Anonymous:
    Also notice that valid characters for the first name include tab, new line, carraige return, and form feed.

    Thats because some of us have names like "John\n\tAdam\n\tGietzen" (me)

  • (cs) in reply to christoofar

    Heh heh, he said dump.

  • Brian (unregistered) in reply to loneprogrammer

    Not to mention that fields not marked required are actually required, Job Title, and Company.

  • (cs) in reply to loneprogrammer

    As a person with a short first name (Adam), I am greatly offended by the today's second WTF. ;)

    What I wanna know is how in the fuck they came up with the number 5!  I mean, "John Smith," ubiquity's own name, has a first name with less than 5 characters for crying out loud!  Son of a bitch!

  • (cs) in reply to travisowens
    travisowens:

    This is a fine example of ignorant American coding at it's best!


    Nah, that would require things like requiring phone numbers, zip codes, etc. to match the US format while apparently allowing international contacts.


    Another WTF in it is the error messages: what does a message like "Please select one of the "D2" options." mean to a user? (The "D2" options are not question 2 on the form...)

  • (cs)

    What's great is that you can send an empty form by filling it in with spaces.

  • OneFactor (unregistered) in reply to Rank Amateur

    How about we sell a product to enlarge someone's first name...

    Alex = Alexander
    Greg = Gregory
    Alan = Allen
    Paul = Paulus
    Mark = Marek (Slovakian translation of Mark)
    Slim = Salim
    Jack = Jacko
    Ruth = Ruthie
    Dirk = Derek
    Hal = Halle
    June = Juniper
    John = Johann
    May = May Lee
    Mary = Maria
    Anne = Annie

    Or maybe they can do like in Catholic countries...

    Mary Jane, Mary Lou, Mary Beth, Mary Anne, Jean Paul, Jean Marc, Jean Luc...

    Selling enlargement products should prove popular on the internet... [:P]

  • (cs) in reply to Charles Nadolski
    Charles Nadolski:
    heh, at least windows-console doesn't have one-liners like the unix command fsck.  I mean seriously, what were they thinking?


    fsck is just an abbreviation of filesystem check.  I don't get what you're saying.
  • (cs) in reply to travisowens
    travisowens:

    This is a fine example of ignorant American coding at it's best!



    I would just say ignorant coding.  Remember, idiots can, and do, exist elsewhere on this planet.  And I'll bet some of them have been given a loaded compiler to inflict on us.
  • Esther (unregistered) in reply to christoofar
    christoofar:
    I used to see all sorts of doco WTFs on MVS's TSO facility screens.  IBM Redbooks can sometimes be fun reads... all the freaky terms IBMers use to describe some of the most mundane and simple concepts.


    I can attest to the unusual terms in IBM and Lotus redbooks, but the strangest corporate lingo by far is EDS. My former boss used to work for them, and he says they were required to call presentations "presentos", documents "docos", etc. I guess they thought adding an o at the end of a word would make it fun and cool to use...
  • (cs) in reply to tag

    tag:
    Charles Nadolski:
    heh, at least windows-console doesn't have one-liners like the unix command fsck.  I mean seriously, what were they thinking?


    fsck is just an abbreviation of filesystem check.  I don't get what you're saying.

    I have written a program that tests whether a file can be restored after having been deleted. It's called file undelete check. How should I abbreviate the command-line version?

  • (cs) in reply to Esther

    Anonymous:
    christoofar:
    I used to see all sorts of doco WTFs on MVS's TSO facility screens.  IBM Redbooks can sometimes be fun reads... all the freaky terms IBMers use to describe some of the most mundane and simple concepts.


    I can attest to the unusual terms in IBM and Lotus redbooks, but the strangest corporate lingo by far is EDS. My former boss used to work for them, and he says they were required to call presentations "presentos", documents "docos", etc. I guess they thought adding an o at the end of a word would make it fun and cool to use...

    They're either psychos or sickos.

  • Anonymous (unregistered)

    The 2nd WTF became so much worse when I went to Aivea and discovered that they are a software development company.  They do web services if you're interested after seeing that form. 

    From the about Aivea page:

    "<font style="font-size: 8pt;" face="Verdana">Aivea Corporation is a Portland, Oregon based software company offering E-Business Software Solutions and Software Consulting Services to U.S. clients and select international clients.  </font><font style="font-size: 8pt;" face="Verdana">Aivea maintains offices in Oregon, Australia and India. Services include software development of E-Business Solutions, Document and Content Management systems, Web Services, E-Commerce, Business Intelligence solutions and Real-time Embedded Systems for small to mid-sized companies."</font>

  • your name (unregistered) in reply to memprime
    memprime:
    What's great is that you can send an empty form by filling it in with spaces.

    Or even better, you can send whatever you want by turning javascript off - there's no server side validation.
  • (cs) in reply to your name

    Ok its late and I'm kinda drunk, but I don't get the first one :)

  • (cs) in reply to your name

    the coolest part about this WTF?

    the screenshot is of "RUMBA".  I used to work at Wall Data on that application (before they were mis-managed, bought by NetManage, disassembled piece by piece, etc, etc)

    note that the WTF isn't IN rumba though.. rumba is just a mainframe (and other) terminal emulator...  not that RUMBA didn't have its WTF's, though.

  • (cs) in reply to your name
    Anonymous:
    memprime:
    What's great is that you can send an empty form by filling it in with spaces.

    Or even better, you can send whatever you want by turning javascript off - there's no server side validation.


    Or consider this favelet (doesn't require disabling BLOCKED SCRIPT)
    BLOCKED SCRIPT var forms = document.getElementsByTagName("form"); for (var i = 0; i < forms.length; i++) { forms[i].onsubmit = "return true;"; } void(0);
  • (cs) in reply to Maurits

    Heh... s/BLOCKED SCRIPT/j a v a s c r i p t/;

  • (cs)

    You know, @&^$% these required fields! Why the *$^!(% should I be *required* to given my $%^#! first name anyway? And if I want to enter my name as “&*^%^#”<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

    or “!” <o:p></o:p>

    or “ ” <o:p></o:p>

    or “!#AeSrdtD[@j2F/i$Gy1H~u%Jri5tQ8oK^L&Wp*LV9XM)Cp0(+Bo_lN\-j+ZhQ`g{7\X|d}Ps4”]O’a:IzU;>x=Y?cTv/bR<3n,E” <o:p></o:p>

    or ALT-228, <o:p></o:p>

    then they should #+?&$~% let me! Who’s the %&$#{> is the customer here anyway? !&{#>% their database of contacts! If they don’t know how to address me as a result, then it’s my own &*$%# fault! <o:p></o:p>

    And you guys talking about fscking –watch your *#@/+ mouth!

    --RA<o:p></o:p>

  • (cs) in reply to christoofar

    And let's not even bring up the assumption that the first name is the personal name, and the last name the surname. It is probably too much to hope for that they did a better job in Japan, China, Israel, Saudi Arabia, etc. than they did in their native land...

  • (cs) in reply to Schol-R-LEA

    Potty humor never gets old, does it?

  • (cs) in reply to tag

    tag:
    fsck is just an abbreviation of filesystem check.  I don't get what you're saying.

    Are you a Turtle?

  • David W (unregistered) in reply to Schol-R-LEA

    Two comments ...

    One is that the validation routine doesn't even trim the input to remove padding - so it will allow "alex " as a valid input. Bad, bad code !!

    Secondly, speaking of dumps, I remember back in my old VAX days how it was possible to abbreviate every command to four letters (e.g. delete could be dele, create could be crea and so on). Of course, this meant the analyze command was abbreviated to anal and I always felt a bit uncomfortable when someone would come by and look at my VT terminal as I was typing a bunch of anal commands ...

  • Bo (unregistered) in reply to travisowens
    travisowens:

    This is a fine example of ignorant American coding at it's best!

     

    You can diss the coder, but don't assume the coder is American.  How do you know it wasn't outsourced to India?  "Bo" is an American name.

  • (cs) in reply to Bustaz Kool
    Are you a Turtle?


    Yuo bet your sweet a... oh, nevermind, I'm not supposed to have beer these days anyway.
  • (cs)

    Is it, because I worked for seven years with such a thingie, or is it, because you need a certain American background to understand it?

    The descriptions of CD and CDA sound okay. Would someone please explain the WTF?

  • joost (unregistered) in reply to tag
    tag:
    Charles Nadolski:
    heh, at least windows-console doesn't have one-liners like the unix command fsck.  I mean seriously, what were they thinking?


    fsck is just an abbreviation of filesystem check.  I don't get what you're saying.


    why the fsck not?
  • Chris Brien (unregistered) in reply to rogthefrog
    rogthefrog:

    tag:
    Charles Nadolski:
    heh, at least windows-console doesn't have one-liners like the unix command fsck.  I mean seriously, what were they thinking?


    fsck is just an abbreviation of filesystem check.  I don't get what you're saying.

    I have written a program that tests whether a file can be restored after having been deleted. It's called file undelete check. How should I abbreviate the command-line version?

    Sounds about right. Add to that a program called "Program to Help if you Ever Wipe something you didnt mean to".

    rm reallyimportantfile.txt

    removed 'reallyimportantfile.txt'

    fuck

    'reallyimportantfile.txt' can be recovered

    phew

    'reallyimportantfile.txt' recovered.

  • (cs) in reply to diGriz
    diGriz:
    Is it, because I worked for seven years with such a thingie, or is it, because you need a certain American background to understand it?

    The descriptions of CD and CDA sound okay. Would someone please explain the WTF?

    The phrase "take a dump" is english slang meaning "to do a shit".  It's not so much a WTF, as a "giggle at the poor choice of words" :-)
  • Forgotten Nitpicker (unregistered) in reply to christoofar
    christoofar:
    Ok... the 5 letter rule wouldn't work for:

    ...

    Jack
    ...

    you get my drift


    Aha!  Gotcha!  "Jack" is sometimes short for "John", so all they have to do is use... ah... nevermind

  • (cs) in reply to christoofar

    I seem to remember hearing that the Acorn ARM had an assembler directive "SEX", which was cut out early on in its development.

  • Zatanix (unregistered) in reply to rsynnott
    rsynnott:
    I seem to remember hearing that the Acorn ARM had an assembler directive "SEX", which was cut out early on in its development.


    Why do they allways remove the good stuff? :(

    Luckily a google-search showed me that not all designers has been possessed by christians. (or even worse : marketing people)
    The SEX mnemonic has been used to mean for example:

    Sign EXtend
    SEt X register

    and there is a processor with ORL and ANL instructions (logical or/and) :).
    (If i had one of those i'ld just stay up all night every night writing sexy code. Coderz pr0n at it's best!)

     
  • (cs)

    Looks like they've been shamed into taking the validation code out.  Now, you can even send an empty message and the code will let it pass.  Talk about throwing the baby out with the nappy!

    Other stupidities on this remarkably stupid site:

    • The entire page uses tables for layout, in a design that would work perfectly well with CSS, and weigh in at about a third of the size.  Given the slashdotting they must be getting now from Daily WTF, I bet they're sorry they're stuck in 1994!
    • The hard-coded list of countries is never a good idea.  An easy test: where's Myanmar?  Yes, I know it's trendy to still call it Burma, but the Myanmar government, corrupt and evil or not, is entitled to at least have an option.
    • There are also a bunch of weird extra options.  Western Sahara?  Is that a country or a region?  Christmas Islands [sic] is actually part of Australia; I'm not sure what most of the people there would prefer, so maybe it's better to have it as an option, but it seems a little inconsistent.
    • The available list of states covers (a) the USA and (b) Canada.  A bit disappointing if you're from Australia or South Africa, or any other country with states and/or provinces.  And no, "None" is not a synonym for "New South Wales", sorry.
    • What's a Zip?  It's a fastening device or a file format.  If you mean "Postal Code", say so.  If you need to cater for people who've only ever heard the widespread american term, say "Postal Code/ZIP", and note the capitalisation as used by the USPS.
    • Someone else mentioned that the relationship between the "Required Fields" markers and reality is tenuous at best.  I can't check that now, of course.
    • And finally: "How did you hear about us?" needs an extra option: "Widely and fairly ridiculed on DailyWTF.com".  How could they miss that out?
    Losers.
  • (cs) in reply to ThinkingInBinary

    I had a classmate whose first name was U.   Just the letter U.  He wasn't American, not that that matters.

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