• (cs)

    USB stick? Why not a 9-track tape, or at least a floppy disk? Pfft... might as well have found it on someone's Facebook wall.

  • Paul, yes, that Paul... (unregistered)

    Don't give root to idiots that don't need it. root is not a privilege, it's a responsibility, and a big one. He should be tarred and feathered in the break room, right alongside the dolt or dolts that thought giving a helpdesk operator root access to a production system was a good idea. Story should read, "Dummy-with-too-much-access did exactly what dummies-with-too-much-access always do, and company spent too much time and money cleaning up dummy-with-too-much-access's mess."

  • anonymous (unregistered)

    Firefox Style Editor (Shift-F7) and turn off the inline style sheet (click the eye icon).

  • (cs) in reply to Coward
    Coward:
    God that was fucking awful. Just write the wtf. Don't fucking embellish it with pseudo Lovecraft crap. You're terrible writers and the only thing worse than terrible writers are writers that try to imitate their betters.
    The writing wasn't that awful, but a site that I normally read on my lunch break turned a pretty damn simple story into half a book. I don't usually complain, but there was waaaaay more text here than I needed to get the gist. We would have gotten the same horror story vibe if it had been referred to once or twice in the entire article instead of once or twice per sentence.
  • (cs) in reply to anonymous
    anonymous:
    Firefox Style Editor (Shift-F7) and turn off the inline style sheet (click the eye icon).

    Cool! I learned something new AND pleased/annoyed thousands of people. It's a good day.

  • (cs)

    Really enjoyed this one! I liked the narration as well as the logo/style change.

    Also, three feature articles in a row, FTW! Features and Interviews are the best articles on here.

    Keep up the great work!

  • facilisis (unregistered) in reply to iWantToKeepAnon
    iWantToKeepAnon:
    The RWTF is 
    rm -i *
    then answer y/n for each file. Is it garbage? Answer y to delete. Look ok? Answer n to keep. Especially in the root, no scripting allowed there!!
    Just as long as you don't have a file named "-f"....
  • (cs)

    I'm gonna need a new place for IT humor :\

    This place used to be good, but some new authors have moved in. Snoofle's stuff I still enjoy, this is becoming a chore.

    Also, my eyes now hurt.

  • (cs) in reply to Franky
    Franky:
    so, the real question is, why did they not fix that damn modem?
    This. MNP error correction dates to the early 1980s. They probably had 1200-2400 bps modems that supported it.
  • (cs) in reply to MoSlo
    MoSlo:
    ... but some new authors have moved in. Snoofle's stuff I still enjoy...
    I lol'd. Thanks for that.
  • Chris L (unregistered)

    People who don't create anything are the whiniest of whiners.

    If you're one of the people saying crap like "TLDNR", stop being part of the problem. You're allowed to read something longer than 500 words once in a while.

    This was a great way to tell a story, and it made for a fun read. Thanks for putting the effort in to write it! Those of us who aren't whiny, entitled little children do appreciate these fun diversions. Keep fighting the good fight!

  • (cs)

    I read the comments and got really interested in this "LoveCraft", wondered if it was MineCraft for adults or something. Then, sadly, I realized it had to be some kind of writing style.

    Couldn't finish the article though, too much nonsense and drama. Which sucks, because it seemed like a great deal of effort had been put into it.

  • (cs)

    So now the CSS of the comment page is fixed, but we lost all the comments posted before that operation?

    Serious WTF!

    At least it appears the our complaints about the typos, written in the blackest of colors (on a black page), have been read and were fixed.

    Also as mentioned in one of the lost comments: The original is It Must Have Been Using Those Files, so this is more of a Classic WTF, but rewritten.

  • (cs) in reply to no laughing matter
    no laughing matter:
    So now the CSS of the comment page is fixed, but we lost all the comments posted before that operation?

    Nothing's been removed.

    What the hell are you freebasing? Is it ground up M&Ms? I think it is. Stop chasing the hersey, man. Open your eyes instead of closing them. Man.

  • (cs)

    Bravo, Mr. Kates, Bravo! I loved the writing style (particularly given that today is Halloween), and your writing skills are excellent. You put in enough foreshadowing that I saw the problem coming but was still filled with dread and wonder at exactly how it would manifest itself.

    When it finally hit, I had no choice but to wonder how you'd get out of it. The buildup from you to Marie, to the painstaking resuscitation, to the bringing in of the Acolytes was beautifully done.

    Furthermore, your use of imagery is outstanding - I had a clear picture in my head every step of the way. I could see you hunched over your computer making the original mistake, picture the conversation between you and Marie in the breakroom, watch your long trek down to the room-that-shall-not-be-named, feel the oppressiveness of the room, and shudder with you when the Acolytes came in.

    I know the haters will TLDR this comment. Tough noogies for them. This was a thoroughly enjoyable WTF, and I hope to see much more of your writing on the front page.

  • Anomaly (unregistered) in reply to Lorne Kates
    Lorne Kates:
    no laughing matter:
    So now the CSS of the comment page is fixed, but we lost all the comments posted before that operation?

    Nothing's been removed.

    What the hell are you freebasing? Is it ground up M&Ms? I think it is. Stop chasing the Mars, man. Open your eyes instead of closing them. Man.

    FTFY M&M's are Mars not Hershey also you spelled hershey wrong originally.

    And I don't think the point of today's WTF was the WTF at all. I think the point was a horror story in lovecraftian style. Tell me you didn't shutter at the mention of IBM Support.

  • ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL (unregistered)

    Meanwhile, entombed behind the walls, a Novell Netware server hummed softly, waiting, waiting patiently for the time when it would unleash itself upon the world.

    Just as soon as someone found it... "...anyone? Help me? Please? I haven't even been rebooted in ten years!" But it was doomed to a life entombed forever behind the walls, receiving infernal power that did no more than sustain its life in limbo, and an Ethernet connection over which no IPX packets ever dared show themselves.

  • Fritz, a.k.a. Fritzo (unregistered)

    What the heck is this - The Daily WTF by Tim Buckley? (A.k.a. Timo Bucklo, and I mean the B^U Tim Buckley, not the musician.)

  • enim (unregistered)

    I really enjoyed the read. A lot.

  • Long story is loooooong. (unregistered) in reply to NMe
    NMe:
    Coward:
    God that was fucking awful. Just write the wtf. Don't fucking embellish it with pseudo Lovecraft crap. You're terrible writers and the only thing worse than terrible writers are writers that try to imitate their betters.
    The writing wasn't that awful, but a site that I normally read on my lunch break turned a pretty damn simple story into half a book. I don't usually complain, but there was waaaaay more text here than I needed to get the gist. We would have gotten the same horror story vibe if it had been referred to once or twice in the entire article instead of once or twice per sentence.

    Basically... this is becoming a website for people that like verbose collections of buzzwords without ever being troubled by meaning. Volume of text, rather than semantic content, is now the meter by which an article will be judged successful. It is a sad time we live in.

  • Axus (unregistered)

    The name of the company was actually "Innstech".

  • Mikerad (unregistered)

    I loved the story with the embellishments. I was riveted the entire time. Would read again!

  • Anon (unregistered) in reply to QJo
    QJo:
    Pavv:
    Seriously? This is crap. That guy^^ just summarized a 4000 word article in 25 words - and nothing was lost. Can anyone recommend a site that's like what DailyWTF used to be (ie not crap)?

    This man reads War and Peace and remarks: "Seriously? Napoleon tried to invade Russia and failed. End of story. Why embellish it with pointless wittering about all these worthless people? I bet their all maid-up."

    Ah! FFS. How about a fucking spoiler tag man? I was just 10 pages from the end too. [Tosses book out of window]

  • Sam I am (unregistered)

    TRWTF is white text on black background

  • (cs) in reply to Anomaly
    Anomaly:
    FTFY M&M's are Mars not Hershey

    Well, ferk, so they are. My knowledge of chocolate trivia is shamefully weak. I am no Halloweenie.

  • Scourge of Programmers! (unregistered)
    But I did not know how to excise these devils.

    It is spelled "exorcise", you dummy!

  • Zog (unregistered)

    Ahhh AIX, my old friend, we meet again on this Hallowed Night...I've brought our other companions, SunOS, RS/6000 and Ultrix, HP/UX...together before us all, they shall bow

  • swschrad (unregistered)

    Quoth the craven, "Write some More."

  • (cs)
    FTA:
    Without knowing the warm comfort of sleep, I returned to the office at a time early enough to know that I'd be the first one in. A shamble of a man, lumbering back to the scene of his horrors. I should be at the front door, personally meeting the face of each employee whose day I had destroyed. Would I greet them apologetic, a meek smile on my face to mask my dread? Prostate myself on the sidewalk before them, the concrete as cracked and trod upon as I felt?
    I won't prostate myself for ANYONE! (Except my wife, who also doesn't want me to prostate for anyone else . . .)
  • (cs)

    Am I the only one who thought of Poe, and not Lovecraft?

  • (cs) in reply to Flash
    Flash:
    Am I the only one who thought of Poe, and not Lovecraft?
    Obviously not:
    swschrad:
    Quoth the craven, "Write some More."
  • Dzov (unregistered)

    That was a great story, and sadly only to be appreciated by those of us who have experienced such things and are on the edge of madness ourselves.

  • (cs) in reply to Lorne Kates
    Lorne Kates:
    Nothing's been removed.

    What the hell are you freebasing? Is it ground up M&Ms? I think it is. Stop chasing the hersey, man. Open your eyes instead of closing them. Man.

    My mistake! Landed on page 2 upon a refresh.

  • QJo (unregistered)

    TRWTF is the roommate I had once who use to talk about Cuthlu.

  • modo (unregistered)

    Best! Article! Evarrrrr!!! Great writing, I thoroughly enjoyed the tone and style -- a fitting story for Halloween, especially with the black CSS theme.

    Thank you Mr. Kates, for putting so much time and effort into "crafting" (see what I did there?) such a fine specimen for our enjoyment and terror today. :-)

  • Nick (unregistered)

    .... but the real WTF is "who told this person he/she could write?"

  • Mike (unregistered)

    While long, you just have to enter the Lovecraft spirit. I enjoyed it, some nice touches there.

  • gilhad (unregistered)

    TRWTF is, that they was smart enought to guess every command's name, because they had no ls aviable, but they was not smart enought to recover ls first and then use it ...

  • (cs) in reply to gilhad
    gilhad:
    TRWTF is, that they was smart enought to guess every command's name, because they had no ls aviable, but they was not smart enought to recover ls first and then use it ...

    If they were smart enough to do that, would they be there in the first place?

  • (cs) in reply to Lorne Kates
    Lorne Kates:
    gilhad:
    TRWTF is, that they was smart enought to guess every command's name, because they had no ls aviable, but they was not smart enought to recover ls first and then use it ...

    If they were smart enough to do that, would they be there in the first place?

    Excellent point! Or, in the style of the article: Their mind was on the edge of insanity.

  • Anonymous Coward (unregistered)

    Yeah - well, I've lost the will to live by the end of part 2. Way to bulk out a complete non-story into a novel. This shouldn't have made a 2 paragraph story let alone the diatribe you managed to concoct.

    And the writing, oh the terrible writing. Buy a dictionary and look up the meanings of words before you publish for goodness sake! I'm sure this has been touched on by other "commentards" (I haven't checked) but you don't exercise demons - unless you want to make them really fit. You exorcise them...

    And how on earth did you manage to find reams of cables? Reams is a unit of measurement of paper, not cables. That's like saying the distance between here and there is 2 ounces. It doesn't mean anything.

    And finally - can I just ask you managed to transport a 7 year old from 1993 to provide your replacement styling on the site today? I know it's halloween, but you didn't need to make TDWTF the most horrible looking site on the net did you?

    All in all, you have provided a truly horrible tale today. And not in the way you intended I'm sure...

    OK - rant over.

  • (cs)

    Ah, "The Shadow Over Innitech". I know it well.

    It's a good thing that the shell built-in "echo *" does the same job as "ls", or real life really could be as bad as this story.

    Or you could be running that operating system from IBM whose name we dare not say. Then you're pretty much doomed even without running scripts that randomly move files out of / .

  • Jo (unregistered) in reply to Lorne Kates
    Lorne Kates:
    2) I changed a couple of the typos, but for the most part they're either intentional, or I don't care to change them. It's first person from the POV of someone manically trying to get the insanity on the paper.

    People ikn a hurry insert a ltter, or mitt one, or hit the wrong key. I typed that last sentence really fast and let myself get distracted to reproduce that kind of typing - it's a bit of "thick finger syndrome". A mistyped letter that just happens to create a different valid word, but no grammar errors and no (obvious) typos or punctuation errors - that's not being in panic and in a hurry, that's having some neurological disorder.

  • Missouri Buckeye (unregistered)
    <applause>

    Well done.

    Sad thing is, I did something similar to a Sun box many moons ago, so I knew where the story was heading. Fortunately, we were able to repair the system without needing to call in the exorcists.

  • (cs) in reply to Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward:
    Yeah - well, I've lost the will to live by the end of part 2.

    And yet, unfortunately, you still managed to finish your rant before dying.

    Anonymous Coward:
    And how on earth did you manage to find reams of cables? Reams is a unit of measurement of paper, not cables. That's like saying the distance between here and there is 2 ounces. It doesn't mean anything.

    Next you'll be telling me a parsec is a measurement of velocity.

  • charlesbronson (unregistered)

    LOL that was one of the best Lovecraft-WTF I've ever seen congratz :)

    captcha: appellatio yeah right

  • starsky51 (unregistered)

    Bravo! Don't mind the haters. I've really enjoyed reading this wtf through my work day. Seemed a bit tl;dr at first, but I'm glad I stuck with it. Shame they didn't figure out a fix without calling IBM. Saving your own ass is always more satisfying.

  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to no laughing matter
    no laughing matter:
    Lorne Kates:
    Nothing's been removed.

    What the hell are you freebasing? Is it ground up M&Ms? I think it is. Stop chasing the hersey, man. Open your eyes instead of closing them. Man.

    My mistake! Landed on page 2 upon a refresh.
    Yeah, that's an annoying byproduct of the URL after you've posted being of the format "&pg=L#postID" instead of "&pg=1#postID", "&pg=2#postID", etc. depending on which page you posted on. Oh, and the #postID reference breaks as soon as "&pg=L" results in the wrong page.

  • belzebub (unregistered)

    Do you know what is the difference between "Lovecraftian" style of writing and this article's style? No? Me neither, because after 5 paragraphs of empty phrases and meaningles sentences, I gave up.

  • a Reader (unregistered)

    The unreadable comments were a bit of an improvement actually - the comments have definitely gone further downhill than the content.

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