The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

Loren Pechtel:
Quietust:
ac:
The Chinese buffet is definitely going to have to answer tough questions. This same situation with a one penny difference is quite common. When you ask the waiter, they tell you that the software carries over fractions of pennies to the next customer.
I'd like to see him explain to me that it carries over several pennies.

Look more closely at the receipts - they're for the same transaction (same date/time). I'm guessing one of those is the Merchant's copy and the other is the Customer's copy and that they're doing something very fishy...

Good point. I had noticed they were the same transaction but I was thinking some sort of system screwup. I like your theory except for the fact that the high one is right--what could they be doing?

I told you the answer above. I'm not guessing.

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

ItsSimpleReally:
Ok, here's the algorithm:

Ring up party of 18 : 18 * 6.45 * .085 = 9.8685. Round down to 9.86. This is the total tax that must be collected.

Figure tax per person : 9.86 / 18 = .5478. Round to .55 per person. Alternately, figure out tax if there were only one person.

Charge everybody but the last person 55 cents tax. 17 * .55 = 9.35 tax collected.

Find the last person's tax as the difference of required tax and tax collected so far : 9.86 - 9.35 = .51.

Give the last person a four cent discount vs. price if rung up per-person, in order to make the total tax work out.

Geeks criticize you for not giving four different people a .01 discount, rather than praise you for not just charging everybody .55 tax. They also fail to notice you rounded down the last penny of the total.

That's a terrible way to calculate the tax.

But it's probably like that due to rules around how sales tax is calculated in that state.

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

History Blistery:
anonymouse:
Those Jam tarts predate the Norman Conquest of England by 4 years.
My 10th grade history teacher told me that was the one single date I had to remember.
Seriously, history teachers everywhere, why the obsession with particular dates? I mean what difference does it make if I put on the test that England was invaded in 1066 or 1099? Wouldn't it better serve all of our goals to have students understand that England was invaded, who did it, why, what effect it had... stuff like that instead of an exact date!! After all, we're still not memorizing the month, day or hour. Oh, you mean even you don't know the exact hour? I think that proves my point quite nicely.

Yeah, but how do you measure understanding on a multiple choice test? Much easier to have the student memorize and regurgitate a number.

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

NobodyCares:
The date is only relevant in the sense that you need to be able to keep a sequence in order, and in some cases, know the approximate intervals between major events. Calendars wind up being exceedingly useful ways to deal with both sequences of historic things, and to judge the duration or intervals of events.

So why doesn't the test say "Which happened first, the Conquest of England or Columbus going to America?" and so forth. That would cover your sequence concern. Similar questions could address the duration. It is the obsession with exact dates that seems trivial to me. Like, let's just see if you can memorize random numbers instead of understanding history.

Coyne · 2011-08-19 Reply Admin

That's not planning for the future. This is planning for the future!

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

QJo:
In case you think this is a coincidence, the third on this list is 1666 (9991 - 1666 = 8325). Non-Brits may not remember why this date is also significant because no one besides a Brit cares!!!

FTFY.

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

MrBob:
History Blistery:
anonymouse:
Those Jam tarts predate the Norman Conquest of England by 4 years.
My 10th grade history teacher told me that was the one single date I had to remember.
Seriously, history teachers everywhere, why the obsession with particular dates? I mean what difference does it make if I put on the test that England was invaded in 1066 or 1099? Wouldn't it better serve all of our goals to have students understand that England was invaded, who did it, why, what effect it had... stuff like that instead of an exact date!! After all, we're still not memorizing the month, day or hour. Oh, you mean even you don't know the exact hour? I think that proves my point quite nicely.

Yeah, but how do you measure understanding on a multiple choice test? Much easier to have the student memorize and regurgitate a number.

I agree. Surely the important questions to ask would be things like, "How did the Normans succeed in conquering Britain?" or "What social and political changes occurred after the Norman Conquest?" But the answers to such questions would be complex and debatable, and thus difficult to grade.

I think it would at least be an improvement to ask questions like, "What other attempted invasion occurred at approximately the same time? How did this affect the outcome of the Norman invasion?" "Where did the Normans come from?" "What ethnic groups dominated Britain before the Norman Conquest?" etc These would still include a lot of rote learning, but at least it would be names and places rather than numbers.

A few years ago a fad went around news circles where they would pop up at a press conference and ask a candidate to answer a political trivia quiz, asking about statistics, dates, and names. Then they would air stories questioning the qualifications of the candidates because they didn't know the answers. Like, one reporter in the 2000 presidential campaign made much of the fact that one of the candidates did not know the name of the president of Pakistan off the top of his head. They made fun of another candidate for getting one letter wrong in the name of a leader of an anti-government faction in South Africa. A candidate for governor of Maryland was ripped because he did not know where Maryland ranked in terms of how much money states received from the federal government. Etc.

Whether I liked the candidates or not, I thought the quizes were dumb. When the president needs to know the name of a foreign leader, I'm sure he can look it up in a book or on the Internet. Actually he probably just asks an aide to look it up for him. Is it really important for him to memorize the names of all the leaders of all the countries in the world? Do we really want our president to spend his time practicing memory tests? We're not electing Jeopardy contestants, we're electing policy makers. I want the president to spend his time thinking about the implications of policy decisions. I want him to understand economics, grand strategy, and diplomacy. I really don't care if he knows the longest river in Botswana or the exact percentage of GNP generated by North Carolina.

I suppose if a candidate was way off on some statistics question that might be important. Like if they asked what the current unemployment rate was and he said 2% when it was really 10%, that would indicate he doesn't really know what's going on in the economy. But if he said 9% when it's really 10%, so what?

But I'm sure the reason why they did this was because they were questions that were easy to "grade". If they said, "What is your plan to reduce unemployment?", any answer a candidate gave would be debatable. But "What is the present unemployment rate among plumbers in Kansas?" has one correct answer -- however unimportant such a detail may be.

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

Coyne:
That's not planning for the future. This is planning for the future!

I don't understand. I thought the world was going to end in 2012. Why do we need to plan past that?

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

Got some raspberry tarts there, do ya?

method1 · 2011-08-19 Reply Admin

There's no such thing as a pure-blooded UKian - the Scots are from Eastern Europe for example - we're a mongrel race & proud of it(or we should be)

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

Real question: wtf is this?

[image]

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

RichP:
I think Quentin did indeed activate the time travel capability of his car. Note the negative value for total time.
So can you fill that thing up with pump gas, or do you need to use premium?

You need liquid schwartz.

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

Labias and Gentialia:
QJo:
Reminds me of a song by (I think) Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias, sung in a C&W style, which concerns the fact that the singer has just converted to Christianity, and this is a list of the words he has pledged not to say any more: ...
I laughed till I cried when I heard it.
Aw, now where in the bible is it written that you can't say "shit" or "fuck" or "cunt"? The word "ass" is in there, like, a metric shitload of times!

Yeah there's a commandment that says thou shalt not take the lord's name in vain, so you can't say "God dammit!" I'd understand if a believer would be abashed to say that. Or if they stub their toe and blurt out "Jesus F. Christ!" or "Cunt on a cross!" or "Mary, you slut!" - I would understand why that's unacceptable to them, but "fuck"?.

Or if some christian chick was horny and the only phallic object around was a large crucifix, I would understand why it's use would be frowned upon. Or if someone gave themselves and enema with the holy water on the church's front lawn on Easter while the kids are out there looking for eggs. (heh, heh Zunesis left you a surprise in one of those eggs!)

Whatever.

Ooh, you just managed to make quite some people upset I think. For me the crucifix is an exiting idea though.

TRWTF is the captcha: "eros" :)

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

HellBabe:
Labias and Gentialia:
<enticing erotic blasphemies>
Ooh, you just managed to make quite some people upset I think. For me the crucifix is an exciting idea though.

<3 <3 <3 I think I'm in love. <3 <3 <3

There's this pounding sensation in my... um... somewhere.

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

TRWTF is that the Chinese buffets in my area charge nearly twice as much for their lunch specials. I wish I could get in on whatever deal the submitter is getting, questionable penny practices be damned.

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

TRWTF is someone actually trying to use the AF Portal....if you think that profile update page is bad it's only because you haven't seen the rest of the system.....the whole thing is a tangled web of wtf's and omfg's.

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

The funny part is the higher tax and total is actually the correct one. The other one is calculating at only an 8% tax rate rather than 8.5%.

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

Not a Brit:
QJo:
In case you think this is a coincidence, the third on this list is 1666 (9991 - 1666 = 8325). Non-Brits may not remember why this date is also significant because no one besides a Brit cares!!!
FTFY.

Frankly, I don't give a damn whether a non-Brit cares or not.

Matt Westwood · 2011-08-19 Reply Admin

hoodaticus:
Someone who can't be bothered to login from work:
We're still Europeans too, last time I checked.
Oh, come on, the British are way better than that.

I don't think anyone was disputing that Britain is (technically) part of Europe. The possibly contentious bit is that as hoodie read a comma as a point, it suggests that hoodie is in fact a non-British Yuurpeen. (The usage of dots and commas for numerical punctuation is one of the few conventions where the UK and the US actually match. Those degenerates across the drink over in that (waves vaguely-south and-east) direction are the weirdoes.

Matt Westwood · 2011-08-19 Reply Admin

NobodyCares:
History Blistery:
anonymouse:
Those Jam tarts predate the Norman Conquest of England by 4 years.
My 10th grade history teacher told me that was the one single date I had to remember.
Seriously, history teachers everywhere, why the obsession with particular dates? I mean what difference does it make if I put on the test that England was invaded in 1066 or 1099? Wouldn't it better serve all of our goals to have students understand that England was invaded, who did it, why, what effect it had... stuff like that instead of an exact date!! After all, we're still not memorizing the month, day or hour. Oh, you mean even you don't know the exact hour? I think that proves my point quite nicely.

The date is only relevant in the sense that you need to be able to keep a sequence in order, and in some cases, know the approximate intervals between major events. Calendars wind up being exceedingly useful ways to deal with both sequences of historic things, and to judge the duration or intervals of events.

You don't need the month, day or year of the invasion if only because (interesting) historical events were not recorded at detail needing it. Compare to studying major battles of WWII, for instance, and you'll see that knowing a more specific date is, in fact, needed.

That a history teacher wouldn't take the 5 minutes to explain this is odd, but your inability to figure it out for yourself is stranger still.

Tenth grade. Fucking arseholes. If he got to tenth grade before learning any history he's obviously a fucking retard. Probably spent all his time in class wanking.

Matt Westwood · 2011-08-19 Reply Admin

History Blistery:
NobodyCares:
The date is only relevant in the sense that you need to be able to keep a sequence in order, and in some cases, know the approximate intervals between major events. Calendars wind up being exceedingly useful ways to deal with both sequences of historic things, and to judge the duration or intervals of events.
So why doesn't the test say "Which happened first, the Conquest of England or Columbus going to America?" and so forth. That would cover your sequence concern. Similar questions could address the duration. It is the obsession with exact dates that seems trivial to me. Like, let's just see if you can memorize random numbers instead of understanding history.

A tougher one: what happened first, the (Norman) Conquest of England or Leif Ericsson going to America?

Do Americans know any history which doesn't have to do with America?

Matt Westwood · 2011-08-19 Reply Admin

MrBob:
History Blistery:
anonymouse:
Those Jam tarts predate the Norman Conquest of England by 4 years.
My 10th grade history teacher told me that was the one single date I had to remember.
Seriously, history teachers everywhere, why the obsession with particular dates? I mean what difference does it make if I put on the test that England was invaded in 1066 or 1099? Wouldn't it better serve all of our goals to have students understand that England was invaded, who did it, why, what effect it had... stuff like that instead of an exact date!! After all, we're still not memorizing the month, day or hour. Oh, you mean even you don't know the exact hour? I think that proves my point quite nicely.

Yeah, but how do you measure understanding on a multiple choice test? Much easier to have the student memorize and regurgitate a number.

TRWTF: Multiple choice tests to evaluate a student's aptitude. Fucking arsehole buggery fucking bollock shit cunt.

Matt Westwood · 2011-08-19 Reply Admin

Mark Johansen:
MrBob:
History Blistery:
anonymouse:
Those Jam tarts predate the Norman Conquest of England by 4 years.
My 10th grade history teacher told me that was the one single date I had to remember.
Seriously, history teachers everywhere, why the obsession with particular dates? I mean what difference does it make if I put on the test that England was invaded in 1066 or 1099? Wouldn't it better serve all of our goals to have students understand that England was invaded, who did it, why, what effect it had... stuff like that instead of an exact date!! After all, we're still not memorizing the month, day or hour. Oh, you mean even you don't know the exact hour? I think that proves my point quite nicely.

Yeah, but how do you measure understanding on a multiple choice test? Much easier to have the student memorize and regurgitate a number.

I agree. Surely the important questions to ask would be things like, "How did the Normans succeed in conquering Britain?" or "What social and political changes occurred after the Norman Conquest?" But the answers to such questions would be complex and debatable, and thus difficult to grade.

I think it would at least be an improvement to ask questions like, "What other attempted invasion occurred at approximately the same time? How did this affect the outcome of the Norman invasion?" "Where did the Normans come from?" "What ethnic groups dominated Britain before the Norman Conquest?" etc These would still include a lot of rote learning, but at least it would be names and places rather than numbers.

A few years ago a fad went around news circles where they would pop up at a press conference and ask a candidate to answer a political trivia quiz, asking about statistics, dates, and names. Then they would air stories questioning the qualifications of the candidates because they didn't know the answers. Like, one reporter in the 2000 presidential campaign made much of the fact that one of the candidates did not know the name of the president of Pakistan off the top of his head. They made fun of another candidate for getting one letter wrong in the name of a leader of an anti-government faction in South Africa. A candidate for governor of Maryland was ripped because he did not know where Maryland ranked in terms of how much money states received from the federal government. Etc.

Whether I liked the candidates or not, I thought the quizes were dumb. When the president needs to know the name of a foreign leader, I'm sure he can look it up in a book or on the Internet. Actually he probably just asks an aide to look it up for him. Is it really important for him to memorize the names of all the leaders of all the countries in the world? Do we really want our president to spend his time practicing memory tests? We're not electing Jeopardy contestants, we're electing policy makers. I want the president to spend his time thinking about the implications of policy decisions. I want him to understand economics, grand strategy, and diplomacy. I really don't care if he knows the longest river in Botswana or the exact percentage of GNP generated by North Carolina.

I suppose if a candidate was way off on some statistics question that might be important. Like if they asked what the current unemployment rate was and he said 2% when it was really 10%, that would indicate he doesn't really know what's going on in the economy. But if he said 9% when it's really 10%, so what?

But I'm sure the reason why they did this was because they were questions that were easy to "grade". If they said, "What is your plan to reduce unemployment?", any answer a candidate gave would be debatable. But "What is the present unemployment rate among plumbers in Kansas?" has one correct answer -- however unimportant such a detail may be.

+1. Now go away and learn it, there's a test on this at end of term.

Matt Westwood · 2011-08-19 Reply Admin

Jay:
Coyne:
That's not planning for the future. This is planning for the future!

I don't understand. I thought the world was going to end in 2012. Why do we need to plan past that?

Yeech, don't get me started. There was an earnest science documentary on the TV the other night on exactly that. Apparently certain planets and stars are all going to line up in a way that happens only rarely. Hence etc QED. It must be true because Nostradamus worked it out, as you can tell by interpreting his holy scriptures in a Particularly Important and Unique Way. Kill me now, you fucking arsebrained dipshit fuckwit Fortran programming equals-overloading VB users.

Matt Westwood · 2011-08-19 Reply Admin

Sock Puppet #5:
Real question: wtf is this?

As a guess it was the numbers that appeared when it was first switched on, when the registers were filled with random crap and hadn't been initialised with something sensible. Boring as that, probably.

SQLDave · 2011-08-19 Reply Admin

ac:
The Chinese buffet is definitely going to have to answer tough questions. This same situation with a one penny difference is quite common. When you ask the waiter, they tell you that the software carries over fractions of pennies to the next customer.
I'd like to see him explain to me that it carries over several pennies.

I'm betting one of the employees saw Office Space and got the idea to hack into the cash register and charge every Xth customer an extra 1-4 pennies in tax.

You do that 100 times a day and there's up to an extra 4 bucks in your pocket. PROFIT!

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

RichP:
I think Quentin did indeed activate the time travel capability of his car. Note the negative value for total time.
So can you fill that thing up with pump gas, or do you need to use premium?

You fill the pump up with your gas. But only after the events hit Scunthorpe.

CAPTCHA:damnum

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

Further proof that any product with a superfluous lowercase "i" in it is junk.

2011-08-19 Reply Admin

Out of curiosity:

Can anyone come up with a legit (as in not outrageously improbable) reasoning as to how two almost identical bills were printed out for the same table, by the same waitress, at the same minute, with both given to the customer, that doesn't start with "So one day, I had access to a bill printing machine, and I REALLY wanted to get on TDWTF..." ?

lolwtf · 2011-08-20 Reply Admin

dkf:
wazzo:
I can understand time travel, but I can't wrap my head over the fact that the average speed is higher than the maximum speed.
I also noticed that the minimum altitude is larger than the maximum altitude.

That's just because he was flying upside-down. And the readings are all correct: this GPS was on a spaceship doing time dilation experiments.

2011-08-20 Reply Admin

Zylon:
Myself:
"I these should be okay," writes David Merrifield, "these are supposed to last forever, right?"
No, 10 apr 1062 means they are expired by approx. 949 years. Be careful when opening...
THAT'S THE JOKE.

If nobody laughs, is it really a joke?

(Answer: No)

2011-08-20 Reply Admin

CT:
Out of curiosity:
Can anyone come up with a legit (as in not outrageously improbable) reasoning as to how two almost identical bills were printed out for the same table, by the same waitress, at the same minute, with both given to the customer, that doesn't start with "So one day, I had access to a bill printing machine, and I REALLY wanted to get on TDWTF..." ?

Well 8.5% of 6.45 is 54.8 and 8% is 51.6, so maybe this was while they were transitioning to a new tax rate. This would force the following to be true, though:

The tax rate is hardcoded into the label template, and they changed the template and test printed the 51 cent label before fixing the actual calculation
As part of the transition, they changed their rounding rule from dropping a fractional cent to either rounding up or to the nearest cent.
It took them over 14 months to realize they were undercharging on sales tax and fix their registers after the sales tax in Madison was raised to 8.5% on 1/1/2010 (source: http://www.revenue.alabama.gov/salestax)

All the reviews of the restaurant I saw online were divided between the obviously planted "Best chinese restaurant in the state!" type and the "A fecking roach crawled out of my rice and attacked my 3 year old daughter!" type, so just maybe they're incompetent enough for #3 to be true.

2011-08-20 Reply Admin

Rob:
1) The tax rate is hardcoded into the label template

Err...everywhere I wrote "label" read "receipt".

Did a lot of work with small printers like this making barcode labels once, so that's what I'm thinking of.

2011-08-20 Reply Admin

History Blistery:
Seriously, history teachers everywhere, why the obsession with particular dates? I mean what difference does it make if I put on the test that England was invaded in 1066 or 1099? Wouldn't it better serve all of our goals to have students understand that England was invaded, who did it, why, what effect it had... stuff like that instead of an exact date!!

Knowing exact dates is one way of remembering the sequence of unrelated things. For instance, such knowledge would have enabled QJo to avoid the blunder of claiming Great Britain had a capital in 1666. He/she would need access to other types of fact to realise that no significant fires were recorded in the capitals of England, Ireland or Scotland in 1666.

Honestly, though, I thought the "learn a long list of facts by heart" method of teaching history died out decades ago.

2011-08-20 Reply Admin

Labias and Gentialia:
QJo:
Reminds me of a song by (I think) Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias, sung in a C&W style, which concerns the fact that the singer has just converted to Christianity, and this is a list of the words he has pledged not to say any more: ...
I laughed till I cried when I heard it.
Aw, now where in the bible is it written that you can't say "shit" or "fuck" or "cunt"? The word "ass" is in there, like, a metric shitload of times!

Which can come in handy. http://bash.org/?178890

2011-08-20 Reply Admin

grumpy:
Labias and Gentialia:
QJo:
Reminds me of a song by (I think) Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias, sung in a C&W style, which concerns the fact that the singer has just converted to Christianity, and this is a list of the words he has pledged not to say any more: ...
I laughed till I cried when I heard it.
Aw, now where in the bible is it written that you can't say "shit" or "fuck" or "cunt"? The word "ass" is in there, like, a metric shitload of times!
Which can come in damn handy. http://bash.org/?178890

FTFY

2011-08-20 Reply Admin

Sock Puppet #5:
Real question: wtf is this?
[image]

I'm quite serious. There is no reference to the app or vehicle involved. It does not appear to be a photo of application running on the dash. Is it an iFone app? Is it the website of the car rental agency Quentin used on his trip? Is it a image created in MS Paint? Seriously, if you don't know WTF this is, then HTF do you call it a WTF?

2011-08-20 Reply Admin

moz (hoping this comment won't fall foul of the censors):
History Blistery:
Seriously, history teachers everywhere, why the obsession with particular dates? I mean what difference does it make if I put on the test that England was invaded in 1066 or 1099? Wouldn't it better serve all of our goals to have students understand that England was invaded, who did it, why, what effect it had... stuff like that instead of an exact date!!
Knowing exact dates is one way of remembering the sequence of unrelated things. For instance, such knowledge would have enabled QJo to avoid the blunder of claiming Great Britain had a capital in 1666. He/she would need access to other types of fact to realise that no significant fires were recorded in the capitals of England, Ireland or Scotland in 1666.
Honestly, though, I thought the "learn a long list of facts by heart" method of teaching history died out decades ago.

Good call. I had taken account of the fact that England, Scotland and Wales had been ruled under one king since 1604 (notwithstanding a little mishap during through the 1650's) but had completely omitted to mention the fact that it was only an act of parliament some hundred years later that would establish the union on a more officially legal footing, and give it the name "Great Britain"

However, to all intents and purposes (and simplifying for those of a short attention span), it was effectively "Great Britain" from the time of the accession of James I, at which time Scotland joined England and Wales in political (if not social and civil) unity.

Many thanks for allowing me the opportunity to clarify that fact.

2011-08-20 Reply Admin

Flotsam:
Anyone notice the Franglish in the car displayu?

If I am not mistaken the proper Franglish spelling would be "displayeaux"

2011-08-20 Reply Admin

Labias and Gentialia:
(...)
Or if they stub their toe and blurt out "Jesus F. Christ!" or "Cunt on a cross!" or "Mary, you slut!"

But she WAS! And Joseph was a gullible idiot, of course. Why else would the innkeepers refuse to shelter them?

Matt Westwood · 2011-08-20 Reply Admin

Labias and Gentialia:
QJo:
Reminds me of a song by (I think) Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias, sung in a C&W style, which concerns the fact that the singer has just converted to Christianity, and this is a list of the words he has pledged not to say any more: ...
I laughed till I cried when I heard it.
Aw, now where in the bible is it written that you can't say "shit" or "fuck" or "cunt"? The word "ass" is in there, like, a metric shitload of times!

Yeah there's a commandment that says thou shalt not take the lord's name in vain, so you can't say "God dammit!" I'd understand if a believer would be abashed to say that. Or if they stub their toe and blurt out "Jesus F. Christ!" or "Cunt on a cross!" or "Mary, you slut!" - I would understand why that's unacceptable to them, but "fuck"?.

Or if some christian chick was horny and the only phallic object around was a large crucifix, I would understand why it's use would be frowned upon. Or if someone gave themselves and enema with the holy water on the church's front lawn on Easter while the kids are out there looking for eggs. (heh, heh Zunesis left you a surprise in one of those eggs!)

Whatever.

OF course, that now makes me have to share this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0LSO-dtsxo

Jesus Christ looks like me. Jesus Christ.

2011-08-21 Reply Admin

The first one needs a few improvements made to its pArser.

2011-08-21 Reply Admin

Sock Puppet #5:
Real question: wtf is this?
[image]

Theory 1: I can almost hear the Back to the futere theme. You only need to pass 88mph to travel to past. Obviously the traveler has gone to an long long past ago, and the counter has just overflowed in negativity, giving these large positive values. Theory 2: This is an alien spaceship.

2011-08-21 Reply Admin

In theory one, perhaps the traveler was tring to see the big bang, who knows?

2011-08-21 Reply Admin

Yes, i know that you cant see it, blah blah blah.

2011-08-21 Reply Admin

The real WTF is a chinese restaurant in Alabama.

Matt Westwood · 2011-08-21 Reply Admin

Spent too much time in Limestone County:
The real WTF is a chinese restaurant in Alabama.

Not quite as ssschtoopid as a restaurant in China serving the "hote kwizzeen" of Alabama.

2011-08-21 Reply Admin

Quietust:
ac:
The Chinese buffet is definitely going to have to answer tough questions. This same situation with a one penny difference is quite common. When you ask the waiter, they tell you that the software carries over fractions of pennies to the next customer.
I'd like to see him explain to me that it carries over several pennies.

Look more closely at the receipts - they're for the same transaction (same date/time). I'm guessing one of those is the Merchant's copy and the other is the Customer's copy and that they're doing something very fishy...

Not just same date/time, same everything....

The strange thing is, the correct one is the higher one, so it's Mr Taxman who they're screwing, not the customer - such things never end well.

Interestingly, 51c would be the tax on a $6 meal. It almost appears like one is calculated as though tax is included and one is calculated as though tax is charged on top....and then in both cases the figure is added.

(ie:
6.45 * 1.085 = 6.99825 (close enough to $7)

6.45/1.085 = 5.9447. 6.45 - 5.94 = .51 )

But as I say, when you play shenanigans like this, I think you'd want to be ripping off Mr Customer rather than Mr Taxman...

Of course, the similarity of the receipts might imply photoshop+print and photograph on wooden table...

2011-08-21 Reply Admin

ItsSimpleReally:
Ok, here's the algorithm:

Ring up party of 18 : 18 * 6.45 * .085 = 9.8685. Round down to 9.86. This is the total tax that must be collected.

Figure tax per person : 9.86 / 18 = .5478. Round to .55 per person. Alternately, figure out tax if there were only one person.

Charge everybody but the last person 55 cents tax. 17 * .55 = 9.35 tax collected.

Find the last person's tax as the difference of required tax and tax collected so far : 9.86 - 9.35 = .51.

Give the last person a four cent discount vs. price if rung up per-person, in order to make the total tax work out.

Geeks criticize you for not giving four different people a .01 discount, rather than praise you for not just charging everybody .55 tax. They also fail to notice you rounded down the last penny of the total.

I take it back. This makes far more sense...

Bit surprised at the #41, though. I would expect that to be a transaction number - and I w0ould have thought that people being processed individually should still generate separate txn nums...I guess time + table is not enough to identify a group

2011-08-21 Reply Admin

ItsSimpleReally:
Ok, here's the algorithm:

Ring up party of 18 : 18 * 6.45 * .085 = 9.8685. Round down to 9.86. This is the total tax that must be collected.

Figure tax per person : 9.86 / 18 = .5478. Round to .55 per person. Alternately, figure out tax if there were only one person.

Charge everybody but the last person 55 cents tax. 17 * .55 = 9.35 tax collected.

Find the last person's tax as the difference of required tax and tax collected so far : 9.86 - 9.35 = .51.

Give the last person a four cent discount vs. price if rung up per-person, in order to make the total tax work out.

Geeks criticize you for not giving four different people a .01 discount, rather than praise you for not just charging everybody .55 tax. They also fail to notice you rounded down the last penny of the total.

ie: always pay last...

UnAcceptability

Leave a comment on “UnAcceptability”