• Aptent (unregistered)

    Go, go, aquabus!

  • Pieter (unregistered)

    The Android phone isn't that much of a WTF, is it?

    On it's notification, which was updated 15 minutes ago, it shows the time at his home, which's location is presumably set in a location with a 3 hour time difference.

    Although one can debate the usefullness of such a feature. It is not wrong. The notificication indicates that it's 15 minutes old. By then, this was the correct time for his set home location.

    Or do I overlook something?

  • (cs) in reply to Pieter
    Pieter:
    The Android phone isn't that much of a WTF, is it?

    On it's notification, which was updated 15 minutes ago, it shows the time at his home, which's location is presumably set in a location with a 3 hour time difference.

    Although one can debate the usefullness of such a feature. It is not wrong. The notificication indicates that it's 15 minutes old. By then, this was the correct time for his set home location.

    Or do I overlook something?

    I think you've got it.

    It also happens to be a part of Google Now, which very few people seem to use. The card it's showing is also only ever going to show when $HOME is in a different time zone to the current location. I suspect it's a case of poorly thought out design (static notification for a time) combined with such little use no one's noticed it before.

  • (cs)

    Ah... Malta. (The photo of the yellow bus in the water.)

  • (cs) in reply to Aptent
    Aptent:
    Go, go, aquabus!
    Round home, we have “waterbus” services, which transport people along the local canals. They're an integrated (if slow) part of the local public transport system.
  • faoileag (unregistered)

    For the ATM, I would suggest choosing "other". Then you can type in "000" and withdraw some serious money and not such pocket-money numbers like $00 or even $0.

  • MadMarky (unregistered)

    And even if there was an aquabus service, i would be a bit worried about the three transfers you're supposed to make while out on the pacific ocean.

  • faoileag (unregistered)

    I can't see the WTF in the "Business News Daily" article.

    After all, their author clearly says: "The key for those advertisers is to strike a balance".

    Obviously, when trying to strike a balance between "don't annoy your readers" and "create maximum revenue from in-page ads", their BND's marketing people opted for the latter.

  • QJo (unregistered)

    Google Maps tends to do that. When it shows you bus routes, all it shows are the start and end points (and one or two in between) and joins them with a straight line. I noticed that when I looked for a bus the other day. Cute, but not a WTF.

  • faoileag (unregistered)

    Funny thing is, Bus 78 only seems to take to the water if you are going to Big Sur, CA, not when you are going to Monterey, CA, which is en-route to Big Sur.

    Probably an express bus.

  • djmaze (unregistered)

    "Well, which one do I pick 0 or 00?"

    You should pick [CANCEL] that's the most obvious option on screen without a button!

  • Sebastian Ramadan (unregistered)
  • nobulate (unregistered)

    Obviously it is a rude yet effective weight loss mechanism: The authentic pig sound triggers when taking a cookie/bacon out of the jar.

  • aaargh (unregistered)

    That IE "wtf" is usually an indicator of virus infection, rather than Microsoft bugs...

  • Bananamous (unregistered)

    TRWTF is there's 3 transfers on that aquatic bus route.

  • McKay (unregistered)

    Hmm, the current version of PowerPivot doesn't have that problem. Perhaps it was a previous version of PowerPivot? Perhaps one that was actually unsafe?

  • Russell (unregistered) in reply to aaargh

    Yeah, IE was installed.

  • (cs) in reply to tin
    tin:
    Pieter:
    Or do I overlook something?

    I think you've got it.

    So a time notification with minute granularity that is both static (so guaranteed to be relevant for at most 60 seconds) and will always display two different times, is just "poorly thought out"?

  • Qazwsx (unregistered)

    The aquabus was funny (probably the first time I've ever laughed at an Error'd entry) but the rest were sub-par, even for the already low standards of Error'd.

  • I forget (unregistered)

    The real WTF is that there is still anybody out there using a browser without Adblock! (Are they also still using IE 6?!)

  • (cs) in reply to Qazwsx
    Qazwsx:
    The aquabus was funny (probably the first time I've ever laughed at an Error'd entry) but the rest were sub-par, even for the already low standards of Error'd.

    True, funny, but not really a WTF because it's a genuinely useful service.

  • Bruce W (unregistered)

    If you selected "Other" on the ATM it would probably say, "The amount requested must a multiple of 00".

  • C-Derb (unregistered)

    Why is the storage jar/authentic pig noise a WTF?

    Assuming you've got a database (or xml file) with product name, description and features, it just looks like someone attached the "piggy bank" features to the "storage jar" product. That's isn't the code's fault.

    Maybe that one should have been sent to TheMinutelyUserDataEntryWTF.com?

  • Wayne (unregistered) in reply to nobulate
    nobulate:
    Obviously it is a rude yet effective weight loss mechanism: The authentic pig sound triggers when taking a cookie/bacon out of the jar.

    I just hate the fact that the jars require three AA batteries. First, why don't these idiots make their battery requirements in quantities of two? You could put two in parallel and them in series with the others and still get approx 5 VDC. PITB when you're dealing with rechargeables. Second, I'm sometimes terrible at replacing batteries: how do you know when the battery on your storage jar is dead? And if you wait too long and it starts corroding, is it isolated from the jar so it doesn't start generating new life forms with your rice?

  • John (unregistered)

    Forget the pig sounds, why does a storage jar need AA batteries to function?

  • (cs) in reply to John
    John:
    Forget the pig sounds, why does a storage jar need AA batteries to function?

    ... for the pig sounds, maybe?

  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to Dahaka
    Dahaka:
    John:
    Forget the pig sounds, why does a storage jar need AA batteries to function?

    ... for the pig sounds, maybe?

    What pig sounds?

  • David Lay (unregistered)

    The new Google maps does strange things. We needed to drop off a package at an establishment for which we did not know the address, just that it was adjacent to the 1000 Islands Casino in Gananoque. The traditional Google maps showed the correct route, but the new one had you drive straight down highway 401 to a position north of the casino, then head south, presumable on foot, through the ditch and over the fence!

  • foxyshadis (unregistered)

    TRWTF is that Google ever suggests taking 101 when 85 is just as close. Sure thing, I'll get right on that as soon as I feel like spending an extra half hour on the road.

    Maybe they're trying to keep the road more open for themselves by further congesting 101?

  • BigJack (unregistered)

    "Well, which one do I pick 0 or 00?"

    Did you try the Other button?

  • (cs) in reply to Bananamous
    Bananamous:
    TRWTF is there's 3 transfers on that aquatic bus route.
    Indeed :) Realistically, though, the route is probably something like Sunnyvale to San Jose, transfer, San Jose to Santa Cruz, transfer, Santa Cruz to Monterey, transfer, Monterey to Big Sur; all transfers occur on dry land.
  • (cs) in reply to foxyshadis
    foxyshadis:
    TRWTF is that Google ever suggests taking 101 when 85 is just as close. Sure thing, I'll get right on that as soon as I feel like spending an extra half hour on the road.

    Maybe they're trying to keep the road more open for themselves by further congesting 101?

    That would be more plausible were it not for the fact that Google's HQ is just off of 101. However, I don't know where the mapping software is developed, so your hypothesis could still be true.

  • Tux "Tuxedo" Penguin (unregistered) in reply to anonymous
    anonymous:
    Dahaka:
    John:
    Forget the pig sounds, why does a storage jar need AA batteries to function?

    ... for the pig sounds, maybe?

    What pig sounds?

    Aunthetic, of course!

  • Lanadawa (unregistered)

    Here, we actually have a Seabus.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SeaBus

  • Tasmanian (unregistered) in reply to Pieter
    Pieter:
    The Android phone isn't that much of a WTF, is it?

    The WTFery is that Alex has sat on it for 14 months before deciding to share with us!

    I <3 my Nexus. Its screen is so pretty, its processor so fast, I don't mind that its purpose is to mine all my personal information until it knows more about me than any living human.

  • moz (unregistered) in reply to eViLegion
    eViLegion:
    Qazwsx:
    The aquabus was funny (probably the first time I've ever laughed at an Error'd entry) but the rest were sub-par, even for the already low standards of Error'd.

    True, funny, but not really a WTF because it's a genuinely useful service.

    I'm not sure. WTF would a company do that instead of picking a plausible route based on the information they have? That's what they do for the trains, after all.

    It's not as good as the way they handle shortish walking transfers with an arrow pointing in vaguely the right direction. Almost as if to say "if you can't find your way from there, you shouldn't be trying to travel on your own".

    Then again, Google don't have anything like enough information about public transport to provide a useful service anyway.

  • prefec2 (unregistered) in reply to Bananamous
    TRWTF is there's 3 transfers on that aquatic bus route.

    But it is a good explanation why the bus ride is twice as long as the car route.

  • Meep (unregistered) in reply to faoileag
    faoileag:
    I can't see the WTF in the "Business News Daily" article.

    After all, their author clearly says: "The key for those advertisers is to strike a balance".

    Obviously, when trying to strike a balance between "don't annoy your readers" and "create maximum revenue from in-page ads", their BND's marketing people opted for the latter.

    Maybe the author was pissed at his editors using those ads and decided to draw some attention to it?

  • (cs) in reply to Lanadawa
    Lanadawa:
    Here, we actually have a Seabus.
    ...and an Aquabus. http://theaquabus.com/
  • (cs) in reply to moz
    moz:
    Then again, Google don't have anything like enough information about public transport to provide a useful service anyway.
    Actually it varies enormously by region. Some public transit systems provide them with complete, up-to-date information; in a couple of places I've lived, the public transit website actually used Google Maps as their itinerary planner. In other areas, yes, it's much poorer (and if you're traveling to an unfamiliar locale it's hard to know how reliable to data are). And in general they're not good at non-local transportation that would involve transferring between systems.
  • soupcan (unregistered) in reply to I forget
    I forget:
    The real WTF is that there is still anybody out there using a browser without Adblock! (Are they also still using IE 6?!)

    Because how dare anyone support the people operating web sites.

  • Andrew (unregistered)

    It's not hard to figure out what time it is back home. By default the timestamp on the right displays the time when the notification was created.

    At 6:46pm local time, it was 9:46pm back home. That's a difference of three hours. It is now 7:01pm local time, so it is 10:01pm back home.

    It's unwise to use a notification to display the current time, but it is not impossible to decipher.

  • (cs)

    TRWTF is having to choose driving OR public transit, in a world with plenty of park-and-ride garages.

  • (cs)

    Well the northern stop just before going over water is the corner of water and ocean sts.

  • pyrrhic-loss (unregistered)

    The ATM's blatantly a dead-drop for spies.

    If you number the buttons left to right and then top to bottom, then the bottom-left 00 button is the 7th button - 007, see?

  • sdban (unregistered) in reply to Zemm
    Zemm:
    Well the northern stop just before going over water is the corner of water and ocean sts.
    fortunatsly it's only knee deep there, so they'll be right...if it's high tide the seabuses should be able to pontoon.
  • (cs) in reply to barfoo
    barfoo:
    moz:
    Then again, Google don't have anything like enough information about public transport to provide a useful service anyway.
    Actually it varies enormously by region. Some public transit systems provide them with complete, up-to-date information
    This. Where I live, Google Maps has very good information about the local public transit system, including stop locations, stop numbers (identifiers), and scheduled service times. Its directions tend to be about as good as the ones I get from the transit authority's journey planner; sometimes a little better, sometimes a little worse, but on the whole about the same.
  • Smacky (unregistered) in reply to Scarlet Manuka
    Scarlet Manuka:
    barfoo:
    moz:
    Then again, Google don't have anything like enough information about public transport to provide a useful service anyway.
    Actually it varies enormously by region. Some public transit systems provide them with complete, up-to-date information
    This. Where I live, Google Maps has very good information about the local public transit system, including stop locations, stop numbers (identifiers), and scheduled service times. Its directions tend to be about as good as the ones I get from the transit authority's journey planner; sometimes a little better, sometimes a little worse, but on the whole about the same.
    re "...google don't have anything like enough information..."

    I believe many transport providers worldwide produce their timetables in google format (https://developers.google.com/transit/gtfs/reference). Certainly the ones I know of around here do....although it doesn't give them live data about where the transport is (although I think there's another standard for that) it DOES give enough information for them to integrate to goole maps (routes, times, GPS position of waypoints and stops, even the colour of the timetable...). Of course, if the route information isn't properly iomplemented (witht he GPS coords of every corner in the route) then you might get some nice straight bits like that...

    FWIW, Google even has a diagnostic where you can enter the GTFS data and have them assess whether it seems ok (reporting things like whether it is humanly possible to get between 2 stops in the time given). Of course all of this requires accurate information in the data from the service provider in the first place....

    Here's an example of some GTFS data https://www.adelaidemetro.com.au/Developer-Information {About halfway down the page there's a link to the data} (and for anyone who's used AdMet, their data for google is pretty comprehensive)

  • (cs)

    I assume that Google would just parrot (well, also verify) data from other sources for public transportation. Garbage in, garbage out.

  • (cs)

    Everybody knows the water-bus was infinitely cooler back in the days before they ran the water-trolley into the ground with their evil automobile conspiracy.

    [image]

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