The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Thomas:
Until reading the comments I was sure they meant that – what else? There's sync via cellphone nets, GSM etc. but that wouldn't be 'radio'.

How exactly is GSM not radio?

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Wrexham:
Balu:
3) No German is called "Hanz".
So where did you find a list of every single German? Or do you just know them all?

SELECT DISTINCT FirstName FROM Users WHERE Country='Germany';

Isn't this obvious? You must be new.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

The clocks were probably synchronized like station clocks are synchronized in Germany. There is one master clock, to which the others are synchronized.

chubertdev · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

This was originally a submission about net send, the rest is just fiction.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

God this place shits me. Or more correctly the responses do.

I read the articles via RSS and for some reason always get suckered into clicking the link and reading the contents.

Did I love this story, or a bunch of others recently for that matter? No.

That being said my reaction each and every time has been 'I must stop being a lazy bugger and submit some decent stories for them'.

Yes there is embellishment and write-up of variable quality, but the WTF quality is inevitably up to the readership, the very same ones that take so much time to flood the comments with 'this WTF is crap' posts in long-form detail.

Don't leave, don't whine, contribute and fix the issue if you believe there is one. Actually I'm flexible on that first option.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

caffeine:
God this place shits me. Or more correctly the responses do.
I read the articles via RSS and for some reason always get suckered into clicking the link and reading the contents.

Did I love this story, or a bunch of others recently for that matter? No.

That being said my reaction each and every time has been 'I must stop being a lazy bugger and submit some decent stories for them'.

Yes there is embellishment and write-up of variable quality, but the WTF quality is inevitably up to the readership, the very same ones that take so much time to flood the comments with 'this WTF is crap' posts in long-form detail.

Don't leave, don't whine, contribute and fix the issue if you believe there is one. Actually I'm flexible on that first option.

Shouldn't you be out on your front porch, yelling at kids?

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

I have a cousin named Hans-Reiner. So I guess that doesn't count.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

TRWTF is not going down to der Einfassenmart and buying a boatload of DFC-77 (or WWVB on this side of the pond) radio clocks. But that wouldn't be a properly bureaucratic German solution to the problem.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

You should know that there are rules in Germany that define what names are allowed to be given to newborn. You cannot register names like Blanket, Table, Superman or Paris. (btw. San Diego is possible because both names are known Turkish and Spanish names).

So: Han_s_ is common in Germany. Currently Han_z_ is a pseudonym of some poet (poetryhanz).

no laughing matter · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Wrexham:
Balu:
3) No German is called "Hanz".
So where did you find a list of every single German? Or do you just know them all?

The NSA stores the all communication of every german.

So my assumption is that Balu actually is Edward Snowden. ;-)

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

anonymous:
Shouldn't you be out on your front porch, yelling at kids?

I was going to but didn't have the time to do both. I decided I'd focus on the least mature group, and unfortunately the kids on the lawn looked like they were at least five so....

no laughing matter · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Nagesh:
Don:
I don't know any Germans named Klaus or Wolfgang. Does that make them non-German names?
You aren't into politics. The current german minister of finance's name is Wolfgang Schäuble...

Which might be interviewed by Claus Kleber, who is a journalist and anchors a TV news program (and obviously does not like stupid alliterations).

Klaus, on the other hand, is highly likely a vampire (... Kinski, ... Mikaelson‎).

chubertdev · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

verto:
You should know that there are rules in Germany that define what names are allowed to be given to newborn. You cannot register names like Blanket, Table, Superman or Paris. (btw. San Diego is possible because both names are known Turkish and Spanish names).
So: Han_s_ is common in Germany. Currently Han_z_ is a pseudonym of some poet (poetryhanz).

"San Diego, I'm in you right now."

ijij · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

MrBester:
She was a short, skinny, shrivelled old woman, like Gollum in a navy blue business suit
I'm guessing the readership of this site wouldn't have got a Rosa Klebb reference, and they should get off my lawn.

MrBester: Do you expect me to talk, Hanz?

Hanz: No... MrBester... I expect you to die!!

cellocgw · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

MrBester:
She was a short, skinny, shrivelled old woman, like Gollum in a navy blue business suit
I'm guessing the readership of this site wouldn't have got a Rosa Klebb reference, and they should get off my lawn.

Daggone! That was her name? I always thought of her as Polly Peacham, back when she had a voice.

Now get off MY lawn you young-er whippersnapper

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

" their records of where clocks were actually installed on campus were rather scant" ???? Umm.. try looking in the classrooms / lecture halls - after all - that's where you want these new clocks.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

MrBester:
She was a short, skinny, shrivelled old woman, like Gollum in a navy blue business suit
I'm guessing the readership of this site wouldn't have got a Rosa Klebb reference, and they should get off my lawn.

I thought of Henrietta „Hetty“ Lange when I read the description.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

verto:
You should know that there are rules in Germany that define what names are allowed to be given to newborn. You cannot register names like Blanket, Table, Superman or Paris. (btw. San Diego is possible because both names are known Turkish and Spanish names).
So: Han_s_ is common in Germany. Currently Han_z_ is a pseudonym of some poet (poetryhanz).

I don't see anything that says Hanz was born in Germany. Perhaps he moved to Germany from a country that doesn't have baby name Nazis.

plaidfluff · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

...and wouldn't have bee able to JFGI her.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

QJo:
TRWTF is: why doesn't someone with a tolerably-accurate watch go round every so often and tweak the hands with the manual adjuster on the back? Gollum would be none the wiser.

Fucking this.

I have a cheap digital watch that I keep synced to within 5 seconds with my two radio clocks. All it takes me is about one adjustment per year. What kind of shitty clocks do they buy that have to be adjusted once per week?

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

I worked at a university and my boss, a skinny, middle-aged woman stopped at my office door one day to dress me down for something. While there she stomped her foot repeatedly while shaking her finger at me. I was taking classes at the time so I wrote a paper about her. It started out by describing my terror when I heard her shoes clunking down the hallway....

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Benjamin:
Wrexham:
Balu:
3) No German is called "Hanz".
So where did you find a list of every single German? Or do you just know them all?

SELECT DISTINCT FirstName FROM Users WHERE Country='Germany';

Isn't this obvious? You must be new.

YOU must be new. The TRWTF way to do this would be SELECT * FROM Users and then loop as inefficiently as possible, or use regex, or both.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

You're making a few assumptions here:

You're assuming this story is "current". Many stories on TDWTF take place quite a ways back. Your argument sounds plausible (likely, honestly) but it is based on an assumption.
I will have to trust you on this one. Never even been to Germany.
How do you know he's German? Just because he lives and works in Germany doesn't mean he was born (or named) there.

chubertdev · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Dilligaf:
YOU must be new. The TRWTF way to do this would be SELECT * FROM Users and then loop as inefficiently as possible, or use regex, or both.

Don't forget the XML!

Rhywden · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

TenshiNo:
You're making a few assumptions here:

You're assuming this story is "current". Many stories on TDWTF take place quite a ways back. Your argument sounds plausible (likely, honestly) but it is based on an assumption.

I will have to trust you on this one. Never even been to Germany.

How do you know he's German? Just because he lives and works in Germany doesn't mean he was born (or named) there.

Another hint this story is fake: "Art and Science" building?

Seriously?

They're trying to tell us that there's actually a university which lumps "Science" and "Art" into ONE building?

Come on! "Science"! Every university over here has several(!) DEDICATED buildings to only ONE area - and that's more specialised stuff like "Physics" or "Chemistry" or "Architecture" or, yes, "Art".

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Hanzo made sure the central clock, kept in the IT office and against which the other campus clocks pinged against,

This comment brought to you by The Department of Redundancy Department.

You're welcome.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

So, the real WTF is someone making a clock that isn't accurate to one second per year in the first place and thus requires syncing every night.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Gunslinger:
So, the real WTF is someone making a clock that isn't accurate to one second per year in the first place and thus requires syncing every night.

Digital circuits are manufactured under carefully controlled conditions; however, there is still some variability in the resulting circuits. This is especially bad for oscillators used for timing, since a very slight inaccuracy will build up over time. Aside from differences in the physical chip, temperature and supply voltage can also affect the rate of the digital clock. The net result is that it's actually quite hard (and/or expensive) to make a highly accurate hardware clock.

Although it's technically possible to make the hardware clock more accurate under a wider range of conditions, when you need an extremely accurate clock it's usually cheaper to adjust for these inaccuracies in software. However, you need an accurate clock to calibrate it by, and a training period while the software learns how fast or slow its clock runs relative to real-world time.

So, a brand-new radio-controlled clock might drift by a few seconds per day, but as long as it gets its sync signal it can adjust its speed so that it'll be very nearly right on the money when it syncs. It will still need to make slight calibration adjustments, however, as its battery runs down or when the temperature changes.

Disclaimer: while I am an EE, I am by no means an expert on hardware design (software is more my thing), so I'm basically just regurgitating information that I've picked up. So, if you're more knowledgeable and want to set matters straight on anything I've said that was incorrect, feel free to correct me.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Gunslinger:
So, the real WTF is someone making a clock that isn't accurate to one second per year in the first place and thus requires syncing every night.

The idea isn't that the clock loses accuracy the idea is that all the clocks are consistent. So its not 11:30 in the math wing and 11:32 in science and 11:35 in the office and 11:34 in IT. The idea is that they all read 11:34:00 across the campus. Individually setting each clock will just about guarentee that each clock will be off of each other by a few seconds.

The university is in germany, is it not possible that the rooms were built with thick materials that can greatly diminish the ability of radio communications? Something akin to a concrete faraday cage? Hanz why a central clock might not be within a feasible distance to penetrate the buildings infrastructure.

cellocgw · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Gunslinger:
So, the real WTF is someone making a clock that isn't accurate to one second per year in the first place and thus requires syncing every night.

In these days of EverythingOnTheInternet, more than one manufacturer of connected devices (phone, computer, tablet) has forgone clock accuracy on the theory that the Internet-supplied sync will fix any errors on a plenty-regular basis. I know my Onda (Chinese) tablet is off by easily 5 minutes/day when WiFi is disabled.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

no laughing matter:
Dresden is a city in Saxony, not Hesse.

"(...) stalks across Hesse University’s Dresden campus." It's probably for a fictional "Hermann Hesse Universität, Dresden" (and not for "university Dresden campus in Hesse").

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Bananas:
Hanzo made sure the central clock, kept in the IT office and against which the other campus clocks pinged against,
This comment brought to you by The Department of Redundancy Department.
You're welcome.

Stamp out and eradicate superfluous redundancy!!!

Pawprint · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

anonymous:
verto:
You should know that there are rules in Germany that define what names are allowed to be given to newborn. You cannot register names like Blanket, Table, Superman or Paris. (btw. San Diego is possible because both names are known Turkish and Spanish names).
So: Han_s_ is common in Germany. Currently Han_z_ is a pseudonym of some poet (poetryhanz).

I don't see anything that says Hanz was born in Germany. Perhaps he moved to Germany from a country that doesn't have baby name Nazis.

Well, you have to admit, it is the perfect place for baby name Nazis....

And thanks, Bananas, for catching the "against" redundancy. I was coming here to do it myself, with the same comment even.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

re radio-controlled: There is some misconception and localization issue. American radio clocks receive signals in the Ultra Short Wave range, and thus are highly sensitive to walls etc., thus losing sync rather easily. German/european radio clocks receive the 77.5 kHz (yes, kHz, not MHz) signal of DCF77, that's extreme Long Wave, thus penetrating easily normal walls and everything and not being very sensitive to locality. So most clocks in Germany, which need high-precision syncing, just use DCF77 and rather not internet.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

anonymous:
I initially thought that the WTF was why they wanted clocks that synced to each other rather than to the atomic clock's radio signal. But as I recall, those used to be quite expensive, so I assume that networked clocks were a cheaper alternative.
That said, moving the master clock from location to location is actually not a bad hack to solve this problem. I wouldn't think it needed to visit each and every classroom, however - surely they could rotate it through a series of locations so that every clock on campus would be ensured to ping it once every couple weeks? (Or, for that matter, discreetly order a new master clock every few months until you have enough to cover the entire campus.)

I would just attach the master clock to a cleaner's cart. That moves through the building regularly and stops nearly everywhere. Seems a lot easier than making someone walk and wait a few minutes at every classroom every few weeks.

chubertdev · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Dialectic Dragon:
anonymous:
I initially thought that the WTF was why they wanted clocks that synced to each other rather than to the atomic clock's radio signal. But as I recall, those used to be quite expensive, so I assume that networked clocks were a cheaper alternative.
That said, moving the master clock from location to location is actually not a bad hack to solve this problem. I wouldn't think it needed to visit each and every classroom, however - surely they could rotate it through a series of locations so that every clock on campus would be ensured to ping it once every couple weeks? (Or, for that matter, discreetly order a new master clock every few months until you have enough to cover the entire campus.)
I would just attach the master clock to a cleaner's cart. That moves through the building regularly and stops nearly everywhere. Seems a lot easier than making someone walk and wait a few minutes at every classroom every few weeks.

The Janitor's Bureaucratic Society would never let that happen! What do you think they are, pack mules?

Matt Westwood · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
Dialectic Dragon:
anonymous:
I initially thought that the WTF was why they wanted clocks that synced to each other rather than to the atomic clock's radio signal. But as I recall, those used to be quite expensive, so I assume that networked clocks were a cheaper alternative.
That said, moving the master clock from location to location is actually not a bad hack to solve this problem. I wouldn't think it needed to visit each and every classroom, however - surely they could rotate it through a series of locations so that every clock on campus would be ensured to ping it once every couple weeks? (Or, for that matter, discreetly order a new master clock every few months until you have enough to cover the entire campus.)
I would just attach the master clock to a cleaner's cart. That moves through the building regularly and stops nearly everywhere. Seems a lot easier than making someone walk and wait a few minutes at every classroom every few weeks.

The Janitor's Bureaucratic Society would never let that happen! What do you think they are, pack mules?

Simple answer to that. Don't tell him, Pike.

chubertdev · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Matt Westwood:
Simple answer to that. Don't tell him, Pike.

Lawsuit waiting to happen.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
Matt Westwood:
Simple answer to that. Don't tell him, Pike.
Lawsuit waiting to happen.

I suspect you don't get the reference. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V3SqxUomwk

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Wrexham:
Balu:
3) No German is called "Hanz".
So where did you find a list of every single German? Or do you just know them all?

Can we at least agree that you'll never find two Germans remarking how they wished they were clever and practical like Americans?

chubertdev · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Wrexham:
chubertdev:
Matt Westwood:
Simple answer to that. Don't tell him, Pike.
Lawsuit waiting to happen.
I suspect you don't get the reference. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V3SqxUomwk

the phrase "obscurity for the sake of obscurity" comes to mind...

David1 · 2013-09-24 Reply Admin

verto:
You should know that there are rules in Germany that define what names are allowed to be given to newborn. You cannot register names like Blanket, Table, Superman or Paris. (btw. San Diego is possible because both names are known Turkish and Spanish names).

Paris is the known name of a legendary Turk (though he would have considered himself a Trojan) who many people have been named after over the years, unlike those new-fangled names like Hans.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

So the WTF is Hanzo who was convinced he needed to spend loads of money on networked clocks, when clearly Radio Clocks and a little bit of thinking was all that was required....

I guess it is normal for IT types to overengineer stuff. He probably could've got away without any clock purchases, and just told maintenance "Sync every classroom's clock with your pocket watch once a week". Doesn't matter if they show the wrong time, as long as they're all consistent.

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Balu:
This story must be fake:

In Germany, we have an atomic clock to which all radio synchronized clocks synchronize with. There's be no need to synchronize to a "master clock" on campus

They can't have a 4 minute interval between lectures. Every university I know of in Germany sticks to the "academic quarter", meaning that while every lecture is scheduled from the hour to the hour, but effectively starts at quarter past and ends at quarter to. That's why most lectures in Germany last at least 2 hours (so 1 1/2 in effect).

No German is called "Hanz".

Captcha: "damnum"

yeah, we had 50 minute lectures, starting at 10 past the hour....occasionally you'd get a 2 hour one and most lecturers would split that into 2 lots of 50 minutes, rather than one continuous 110minutes...

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Hasse:
If you do not like this site then stop reading it. And stop the shitty complaining. Add something better yourself!
This is not the Daily Rant Site

Compare the Meerkat

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Nagesh:
Don:
I don't know any Germans named Klaus or Wolfgang. Does that make them non-German names?
You aren't into politics. The current german minister of finance's name is Wolfgang Schäuble...

Hanz Solo was a German (and they got his name wrong on the Star Wars series).

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

Chewbacca:
Nagesh:
Don:
I don't know any Germans named Klaus or Wolfgang. Does that make them non-German names?
You aren't into politics. The current german minister of finance's name is Wolfgang Schäuble...
Hanz Solo was a German (and they got his name wrong on the Star Wars series).

actually, I think it's uneducated people trying to spell Heinz (and getting it confused with Hans). As for the earlier bit about Germans not even using Hans, I think that's a big statement.....it derives from (translated) equivalents to: John, Janni, Janis, Ianni, Ian, Johanne (hint, it comes from this one), Anze, Evan, Giovanni, Gianni, Jean, Jan (as a boys name pronounced more like JAAN) and probably many others (Hansel derives from it, indecently).

Ever wondered why there's so many Johns around? (Because the council doesn't like people pissing on the pavement)

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

anonymous:
I initially thought that the WTF was why they wanted clocks that synced to each other rather than to the atomic clock's radio signal. But as I recall, those used to be quite expensive, so I assume that networked clocks were a cheaper alternative.
That said, moving the master clock from location to location is actually not a bad hack to solve this problem. I wouldn't think it needed to visit each and every classroom, however - surely they could rotate it through a series of locations so that every clock on campus would be ensured to ping it once every couple weeks? (Or, for that matter, discreetly order a new master clock every few months until you have enough to cover the entire campus.)

how do you keep the master clocks in sync?

2013-09-24 Reply Admin

chubertdev:
Matt Westwood:
Simple answer to that. Don't tell him, Pike.

Lawsuit waiting to happen.

Only in America.

Coyne · 2013-09-25 Reply Admin

He should have submitted an order for expensive radio repeaters. "And these get ordered or your superior will be told you ordered unusable clocks that cannot be returned."

Syncing...Sunk

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