• Nigel (unregistered) in reply to R.Flowers

    I see (July 8th) that instead of being launched in late May, the 'new design' - which presumably really will have its navigation links on the left this time - is now promised for June 2006.

    That's another government initiative running to time then...

     

  • (cs)
    Anonymous:
    Alex Papadimoulis:

    Daniel came across this next one. Now technically this is by design ... but isn't that kinda like saying: although I can't let you without the secret word, I'd be happy to tell you what the secret word is ...

    [image]



    What's so strange about that? Unix tells you exactly the same things.

    user@host:~$ cat foo
    cat: foo: Permission denied
    user@host:~$ ls -l foo
    ---------- 1 user users 0 2006-07-08 08:52 foo


    "You do not have permission to view..." followed by "you can make permission changes"

    If I'm reading it correctly, it'd be more like:

    user@host:~$ ls -l foo
    ls: foo: Permission denied
    user@host:~$ chmod 644 foo
    user@host:~$


    i.e. you can't find out what the current permissions are, but you can change them.

  • Phil (unregistered) in reply to Sunday Ironfoot

    Take a careful look at the '2'. At the bottom, it overlaps the '1' slightly, and the base is a little lower than the rest of the text.

    I'd say this was photoshopped.

  • gravedigger (unregistered) in reply to snoofle

    "I happen to know someone who has a pet monkey (they live on a farm), and the monkey is not amused"

    Your friends live on a monkey farm?

  • (cs)
    Alex Papadimoulis:

    This should have been a choice of [x] Ok [ ] Cancel, as Usability.gov would undoubtedly have told you...

    Alex Papadimoulis:
    Daniel came across this next one. Now technically this is by design ... but isn't that kinda like saying: although I can't let you without the secret word, I'd be happy to tell you what the secret word is ...

    [image]

    No, this is more like the other way around, isn't it?  I can't tell you what the secret word is, but you can pick a new one if you like...

  • (cs) in reply to Anaerin

    One could have also written it like this:

                    echo "===================================================="
                    echo "Type a full screenful of random junk to unblock"
                    echo "it and remember to finish with <enter>. This will"
                    echo "timeout in ${timeout} seconds, but waiting for"
                    echo "the timeout without typing junk may make the"
                    echo "entropy source deliver predictable output."
                    echo ""
                    echo "Just hit <enter> for fast+insecure startup."
                    echo "===================================================="
    
  • (cs) in reply to makomk

    makomk:
    Anonymous:
    What's so strange about that? Unix tells you exactly the same things.
    If I'm reading it correctly, it'd be more like:

    user@host:~$ ls -l foo
    ls: foo: Permission denied
    user@host:~$ chmod 644 foo
    user@host:~$


    i.e. you can't find out what the current permissions are, but you can change them.

    What I can't seem to reproduce in Unix, though, is "you do not have permission to find out what the current permissions are":

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>$ ls -l foo
    foo: Permission denied
    total 8
    $ ls -ld foo
    d-wx--x--x   2 nobody     nobody           69 Jul  8 16:57 foo
    $ ls -ld .
    d-wx--x--x   3 nobody     root            105 Jul  8 16:57 .
    $</FONT>

    i.e. you can always find out what the current permissions are, even if no one has permission to read anything.  (This might depend on the flavour of Unix, of course -- I tried this with Solaris 10.  But this behaviour seems to make some kind of sense, given that a Unix directory seems to be just a list of file names, so if you already know the name of the file you're after, reading permission on the directory is not required.)

  • (cs) in reply to Phil the ruler of heck
    Phil the ruler of heck:

    makomk:
    Anonymous:
    What's so strange about that? Unix tells you exactly the same things.
    If I'm reading it correctly, it'd be more like:

    user@host:~$ ls -l foo
    ls: foo: Permission denied
    user@host:~$ chmod 644 foo
    user@host:~$


    i.e. you can't find out what the current permissions are, but you can change them.

    What I can't seem to reproduce in Unix, though, is "you do not have permission to find out what the current permissions are":

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>$ ls -l foo
    foo: Permission denied
    total 8
    $ ls -ld foo
    d-wx--x--x   2 nobody     nobody           69 Jul  8 16:57 foo
    $ ls -ld .
    d-wx--x--x   3 nobody     root            105 Jul  8 16:57 .
    $</FONT>

    i.e. you can always find out what the current permissions are, even if no one has permission to read anything.  (This might depend on the flavour of Unix, of course -- I tried this with Solaris 10.  But this behaviour seems to make some kind of sense, given that a Unix directory seems to be just a list of file names, so if you already know the name of the file you're after, reading permission on the directory is not required.)

    As I understand it, it's impossible (at least using standard Unix permissions) - generally, if you can access the directory the file is in, you can read its permissions. (I don't think you even need read permissions on the directory, just execute...)

  • Volland (unregistered)

    "Please bang on the keyboard like a monkey" - Excellent! :D

  • Anonymous Coward (unregistered)

    Coach 12 departing from platform 9¾ now?

  • Tei (unregistered) in reply to Anonymous Coward

    The real WTF is "RESTART THE COMPUTER TO APPLY CHANGES".

    --Tei

  • FraGag (unregistered)

    Looks like this forum doesn't like colons... there is one between "javascript" and "alert"...

  • Valdis (unregistered)

    <font face="arial" size="2">> SunSolve Bug ID: 4102680
    > ------------------------
    > Problem: stress test gets an XError (BadDrawable) under 2.7 CDEVersion1.3_8
    > Workaround: Don't pound on the mouse like a wild monkey (stress test).
    >
    > SunSolve Bug ID: 4256482
    > -------------------------
    > Problem: Banging on keyboard like a wild monkey during cde startup causes dtwm hang
    > Workaround: Don't bang on the keyboard like a wild monkey </font>

  • (cs)
    Anonymous:
    I guess this is due to a JavaScript bug. Everybody should know that 0.1 + 0.2 = 0.30000000000000004. It's so obvious... If you don't believe me, type javascript:alert(0.1+0.2) in your address bar, and admire the result.

    I think that's a common problem with floating point numbers, not a javascript-specific bug.

  • Tei (unregistered) in reply to Juifeng
    Juifeng:
    Anonymous:
    I guess this is due to a JavaScript bug. Everybody should know that 0.1 + 0.2 = 0.30000000000000004. It's so obvious... If you don't believe me, type javascript:alert(0.1+0.2) in your address bar, and admire the result.

    I think that's a common problem with floating point numbers, not a javascript-specific bug.



    Heeee.... NO.

    On most stuff you can use float numbers:
     - Basic on a C64
     - C with a x86 computer
     - Python/Perl/Ruby/Java...
     - FORTH
     
    ...theres problems, but not that ridiculous as this one. This one is soo ugly that I think javascript itself is broken over repair.
    Theres a good thread about the topic on this forum.

  • (cs)

    the true WTF!!!OMG is the lady on the right hand side of this site.

  • noname (unregistered) in reply to Tei
    Anonymous:
    Juifeng:
    Anonymous:
    I guess this is due to a JavaScript bug. Everybody should know that 0.1 + 0.2 = 0.30000000000000004. It's so obvious... If you don't believe me, type javascript:alert(0.1+0.2) in your address bar, and admire the result.

    I think that's a common problem with floating point numbers, not a javascript-specific bug.



    Heeee.... NO.

    On most stuff you can use float numbers:
     - Basic on a C64
     - C with a x86 computer
     - Python/Perl/Ruby/Java...
     - FORTH
     
    ...theres problems, but not that ridiculous as this one. This one is soo ugly that I think javascript itself is broken over repair.
    Theres a good thread about the topic on this forum.


    You should really try this kind of stuff out before opening your mouth.

    int main(int argc, char* argv[])
    {
       if (0.30000000000000004 == (.1 + .2))
          printf("looks like C sucks too!");

       return 0;
    }

  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to noname
    Anonymous:

    You should really try this kind of stuff out before opening your mouth.

    int main(int argc, char* argv[])
    {
       if (0.30000000000000004 == (.1 + .2))
          printf("looks like C sucks too!");

       return 0;
    }


    program:

    #include "stdio.h"

    int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
        float f;

       if (0.30000000000000004 == (0.1f + 0.2f))
          printf("looks like C sucks too!\n");
       else
          printf("not that bad!\n");

       f = 0.1f + 0.2f;
       printf("sum: %f\n", f);
      
       return 0;
    }

    output:

    not that bad!
    sum: 0.300000


  • (cs) in reply to anonymous
    Anonymous:


    output:

    not that bad!
    sum: 0.300000



    confirmed
  • (cs) in reply to anonymous

    anonymous:
    output:

    not that bad!
    sum: 0.300000

    It's not that bad.  Guess why?  Because it's even worse. :-)

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>D:\Projects\DailyWtfFloat\Debug>type ..\DailyWtfFloat.cpp
    // DailyWtfFloat.cpp : Defines the entry point for the console application.
    //</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>#include "stdafx.h"
    #include "stdio.h"</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
    {
            float f = .1f + .2f;</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>        if (0.30000000000000004 == f)
                    printf("looks like C sucks too!\n");
            else
                    printf("not that bad!\n");</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>        printf("sum: %32.30f\n", f);</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>        return 0;
    }</FONT>


    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>D:\Projects\DailyWtfFloat\Debug>.\DailyWtfFloat.exe
    not that bad!
    sum: 0.300000011920928960000000000000</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>D:\Projects\DailyWtfFloat\Debug></FONT>

    Could it be that Javascript uses double's not float's?

  • (cs) in reply to Phil the ruler of heck
    Phil the ruler of heck:

    anonymous:
    output:

    not that bad!
    sum: 0.300000

    It's not that bad.  Guess why?  Because it's even worse. :-)

    <font face="Courier New" size="2">D:\Projects\DailyWtfFloat\Debug>type ..\DailyWtfFloat.cpp
    </font>
    Could it be that Javascript uses double's not float's?



    Seems you are using a math-deprived operating system. Linux doesn't do that.
  • (cs) in reply to ammoQ

    ammoQ:
    Seems you are using a math-deprived operating system. Linux doesn't do that.

    What do you mean?  Linux stores floating-point numbers in a decimal representation, not in a binary one?

  • (cs) in reply to Phil the ruler of heck
    Phil the ruler of heck:

    ammoQ:
    Seems you are using a math-deprived operating system. Linux doesn't do that.

    What do you mean?  Linux stores floating-point numbers in a decimal representation, not in a binary one?



    Well, a sane operating system (or rather: a sane lib) does not output more decimal places than can realistically be precise.
  • (cs) in reply to ammoQ

    ammoQ:
    Well, a sane operating system (or rather: a sane lib) does not output more decimal places than can realistically be precise.

    Well, it was me who told that printf() function to output 30 digits after the decimal point, instead of the default six decimal digits.  Did you just call me a lib?

  • (cs) in reply to Phil the ruler of heck
    Phil the ruler of heck:

    ammoQ:
    Well, a sane operating system (or rather: a sane lib) does not output more decimal places than can realistically be precise.

    Well, it was me who told that printf() function to output 30 digits after the decimal point, instead of the default six decimal digits.  Did you just call me a lib?



    Sorry, I haven't noticed that. There is nothing wrong with your operating system and lib, the problem is between chair an monitor.
  • snoofle (unregistered) in reply to gravedigger

    Anonymous:
    "I happen to know someone who has a pet monkey (they live on a farm), and the monkey is not amused"

    Your friends live on a monkey farm?

    It's not a monkey farm - they live on a farm and just happen to have a monkey (you haven't lived until you've tried to eat dinner with a monkey running around the room throwing .... stuff

  • Dagur (unregistered) in reply to Tei

    In Python:


    >>> if 0.30000000000000004 == 0.1 + 0.2: ... print "test" ... test


    "Talk about versatile, J.B. Langston was thrilled to see that Remedy's call tracking system is able to handle Xanthemedies' complaint about broken amphorae on his olive shipment from 352 BC ..."

    Brilliant :D


  • Dagur (unregistered) in reply to Dagur

    damn forum, that was supposed to be:


    >>> if 0.30000000000000004 == 0.1 + 0.2:
    ... print "test"
    ...
    test

  • (cs) in reply to ammoQ

    ammoQ:
    Phil the ruler of heck:
    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>D:\Projects\DailyWtfFloat\Debug>.\DailyWtfFloat.exe
    not that bad!
    sum: 0.300000011920928960000000000000</FONT>

    Seems you are using a math-deprived operating system. Linux doesn't do that.

    Somehow I wasn't quite sure you were being serious...  Anyway, here's the thing on Linux:

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>ruleheck@lt***-vmlinux-oraagent:~/DailyWtfFloat</FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>> cat DailyWtfFloat.c++
    // DailyWtfFloat.cpp : Defines the entry point for the console application.
    //</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>#include "stdafx.h"
    #include "stdio.h"</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>#ifndef _MSC_VER
    typedef char _TCHAR;
    #endif  // #ifndef _MSC_VER</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>#ifndef _MSC_VER
    inline
    #endif  // #ifndef _MSC_VER
    int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
    {
            float f = .1f + .2f;</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>        if (0.30000000000000004 == f)
                    printf("looks like C sucks too!\n");
            else
                    printf("not that bad!\n");</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>        printf("sum: %32.30f\n", f);</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>        return 0;
    }</FONT>

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>#ifndef _MSC_VER
    int main(int argc, char* argv[])
    {
            return(_tmain(argc, argv));
    }
    #endif  // #ifndef _MSC_VER
    </FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>ruleheck@lt***-vmlinux-oraagent:~/DailyWtfFloat</FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>> ./DailyWtfFloat
    not that bad!
    sum: 0.300000011920928955078125000000
    </FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>ruleheck@lt***-vmlinux-oraagent:~/DailyWtfFloat</FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>> uname -a
    Linux lt***-vmlinux-oraagent 2.6.4-52-default #1 Wed Apr 7 02:08:30 UTC 2004 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
    </FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>ruleheck@lt***-vmlinux-oraagent:~/DailyWtfFloat</FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>></FONT>

    You may recall that Windows rounded that to 0.30000001192092896.  So if a sane operating system doesn't output too many decimal places, then Linux is even more insane than Windows. :-)

  • snoofle (unregistered) in reply to Phil the ruler of heck
    Phil the ruler of heck:

    ammoQ:
    Well, a sane operating system (or rather: a sane lib) does not output more decimal places than can realistically be precise.

    Well, it was me who told that printf() function to output 30 digits after the decimal point, instead of the default six decimal digits.  Did you just call me a lib?

    Perhaps you folks should try Java's BigDecimal object.

  • snoofle (unregistered) in reply to snoofle
    Anonymous:
    Phil the ruler of heck:

    ammoQ:
    Well, a sane operating system (or rather: a sane lib) does not output more decimal places than can realistically be precise.

    Well, it was me who told that printf() function to output 30 digits after the decimal point, instead of the default six decimal digits.  Did you just call me a lib?

    Perhaps you folks should try Java's BigDecimal object.

    Damn - didn't take:

    import java.math.*;
    import java.io.*;
    class floattest {
       public static void main(String []argv) {
          BigDecimal a = new BigDecimal("0.1");
          BigDecimal b = new BigDecimal("0.2");
          BigDecimal c = a.add(b);
          System.out.println(a);
          System.out.println(b);
          System.out.println(c);
          System.exit(0);
       }
    }
    

    output: 0.1 0.2 0.3

  • (cs) in reply to Phil the ruler of heck
    Phil the ruler of heck:

    You may recall that Windows rounded that to 0.30000001192092896.  So if a sane operating system doesn't output too many decimal places, then Linux is even more insane than Windows. :-)



    Well, Linux is obviously an even more obedient idiot than Windows ;-)
  • donAzea (unregistered)

    re: usability.gov

    sorry, but i just have to say it - the Real WTF [tm] is the code...

  • (cs) in reply to ammoQ
    ammoQ:
    Phil the ruler of heck:

    You may recall that Windows rounded that to 0.30000001192092896.  So if a sane operating system doesn't output too many decimal places, then Linux is even more insane than Windows. :-)



    Well, Linux is obviously an even more obedient idiot than Windows ;-)


    Different processor architectures will produce different results with this program. Also, a different compiler might as well, as well as a debug vs release compile (on windows). On gcc, different O settings might make this produce different code as well. It all depends on the Floating Point Unit in the processor, as well as what call is made to add the numbers together. Floating point addition can be done many different ways (SSE, 3dNow, or just normal FPU, etc...).
  • (cs)
    Anonymous:
    Sunday Ironfoot:
    Alex Papadimoulis:

    As if the London train system wasn't twisted enough, Tom Worleyt found himself in the imaginary carriage floating above the tracks behind the last carriage ...

    [image]



    Would be funnier if it said "Coach number NaN of Exception: Cannot divide by zero"

    Let's try again: Take a careful look at the '2'. At the bottom, it overlaps the '1' slightly, and the base is a little lower than the rest of the text.

    I'd say this was photoshopped.



    I disagree. You can see the reflection of the 2. You can also notice how the other 1 in 11 is scrunched up against the first 1 in 11, just as the 2 is in 12. The base really doesn't look much lower either.
  • Terry (unregistered) in reply to GoatCheez

    And it's scrolling too.  So it could be that it is moving

  • greg (unregistered) in reply to Satanicpuppy

    Heh, just like Ordo in Cryptonomicon.

  • Calli Arcale (unregistered) in reply to ammoQ
    ammoQ:
    Phil the ruler of heck:

    You may recall that Windows rounded that to 0.30000001192092896.  So if a sane operating system doesn't output too many decimal places, then Linux is even more insane than Windows. :-)



    Well, Linux is obviously an even more obedient idiot than Windows ;-)


    This brings me to one of my favorite Dr Who quotes:

    "The trouble with computers is they're sophisticated idiots.  They do exactly what you tell them at amazing speed."

    I always start with this quote when teaching a newbie to use a computer.  It seems to make it a lot easier on them, partly by insulting the computer (and thus boosting morale) and partly by explaining just what the fundamental problem is in learning to use a computer.
  • Paulim (unregistered) in reply to Runtime Error

    Indeed. In los angeles everyone uses the car to go to the bathroom.

    but even so, I´d rather be there than being in Rio

  • Kylroy (unregistered) in reply to luqui

    The really unnerving thing is that Microsoft has found a way to split the byte, and nobody noticed.

  • (cs) in reply to Paulim
    Anonymous:
    Indeed. In los angeles everyone uses the car to go to the bathroom.


    * makes mental note to avoid using LA taxis without protective clothing *

  • Vilhon (unregistered) in reply to Dazed

    Having used Remedy at 2 companies; the guess "someone taking trouble to build in functionality that cannot serve any useful purpose." sounds like a LOT of what is built in....LOL!

  • orvl (unregistered)

        haha, noice.

  • Palmer Woodrow (unregistered) in reply to zip

    Uh, that would be if you WERE good friends with a monkey.

  • One Mad Monkey (unregistered) in reply to zip

    WTF: um...yeah..look, we are really sorry, we had no idea you guys were still around...

    Mad Monkey:  Next time do a little reasearch, huh?

  • (cs) in reply to ammoQ
    ammoQ:
    Phil the ruler of heck:

    anonymous:
    output:

    not that bad!
    sum: 0.300000

    It's not that bad.  Guess why?  Because it's even worse. :-)

    <FONT face="Courier New" size=2>D:\Projects\DailyWtfFloat\Debug>type ..\DailyWtfFloat.cpp
    </FONT>
    Could it be that Javascript uses double's not float's?



    Seems you are using a math-deprived operating system. Linux doesn't do that.

    Javascript (at least the rhino of mozilla/firefox fame) uses doubles, not floats. CMIIW, but I think that may even be standard across all interpreters - nice thinking Phil.

    Even the mathematically superior Linux will get these types of calculations wrong on the same processor.

    The real WTF is yet another "The real WTF is ..." type comment about the real WTF that is people who are pretending to know what they're talking about saying "WTF" about floating point inaccuracies.

    0.1f + 0.2f = 0.30000000000(bang-on-the-numpad-like-a-monkey)f

  • The REAL WTFister (unregistered) in reply to Some Idiot

    Or, is the real WTF the type of person who claims that the real WTF is the people who are pretending to know what they're talking about saying "WTF" about floating point inaccuracies, therefore making it sound like they are not the real WTF.

  • The Formatter (unregistered)

    Not that anyone will read all the way down to this message, but many many many years ago, while programming in Fortran on a Data General MV platform, I caused a simple runtime error that returned an error number.

    The error number was 110, so  not knowing if it was hex or decimal, I ran the error reporting program using both bases to see what I might have done.  I don't exactly recall what the (correct) base 10 code was, but the result of looking up the number as hex resulted in this message:


           "Universal system.  You can't do that."


    At that moment I realized that I was infringing on the Greater Powers, so I turned off the lights and crept home to meditate upon my sins.......


  • cscalfani (unregistered) in reply to Martin

    Spoken like a true drug dealer.

  • JRH (unregistered)

    In my opinion, this is the best IE error message. It usually occurs when you attempt to access JavaScript objects in a window that has been closed.

    "The callee (server [not server application]) is not available and disappeared; all connections are invalid. The call did not execute."

    I mean, I'm a senior IT professional, and I can barely decipher what this means. What's a poor user supposed to make of this?

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