• Merus (unregistered) in reply to krupa

    Both first and second bluescreen pictures look like they're from Australia - the second picture contains the name of the shopping centre, and it's Australian.

  • Eddy (unregistered) in reply to apaq11

    0000000000000001

    A prime of 16 digits :)

  • (cs) in reply to my_math_is_not_well
    my_math_is_not_well:
    real_aardvark:
    Well, I clicked on it, and it's a link that restores my faith in the beauty of mathematics. It's so deceptively simple to describe, and yet it prompts you to think "How the hell does that work once you're past 101?" My personal favourite is the extremely weird 333,667.
    I must admit I don't see the beauty or potential of this. Most maths concepts will work in any base you choose to represent numbers, this only works in base 10. In any other base you'd get a different set of numbers. (I think - I haven't verified my claim)
    I'm not up to verifying this either, but surely all you're suggesting is that we replace the "10" in the proof formula with a symbol representing the radix (I presume that would be rho, but I'm no sort of mathematician)? This "different set of numbers" thing doesn't make the concept any less beautiful, as far as I can see.

    And to the earlier poster: you're right. 142,857,157,142,857,142,856,999,999,985,714,285,714,285,857,142,857,142,855,714,285,571,428,571,428,572,857,143 is infinitely more wonderful.

    Addendum (2008-07-19 14:02): Addendum: It is possible to generalize this to other bases, and the generalized unique primes in base-x (any integer greater than one) are the prime factors of which do not divide x.

    If I could summon up the energy, it wouldn't be too difficult to prove or disprove that there exists a set of unique primes across all radixes. I'd be prepared to bet that, if it exists, it's rathe small and uninteresting, though. (Much like George Bush's brain in that respect.) Almost certainly not beyond 101, and I'm not even sure that 3 would work in, say, base 2.

    Well, there go my fucking credentials as an assembler programmer. And not before time, either.

  • konrads (unregistered)

    The "Enter Your Room Number" is not a WTF. It is used as a "Are You REALLY sure" type of question to which automatically hitting OK should not be an option. For example, if You want to active a porn chan.

  • simple (unregistered) in reply to apaq11

    Yes, but if you call it even, then it's not prime at all. You could be in trouble there.

  • Stefan W. (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    But a unique number is recommendet. I have seen 0000000000000001 before.

  • - (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    1 is not a prime number...

  • Joshua Freeze (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    Warning - anal alert:

    Technically, 1 is not a prime. 2 is though.

  • MrB (unregistered) in reply to Hubert
    Hubert:
    Showing message after entering some obvious code (like room number etc) is a common way to delay the message if you cannot see it in private (some other person is looking) and you don't want to show it.

    I have stayed in several (20+) Marriott hotels in Europe (Marriott Rewards platinum and all that), and the TV UI is the same everywhere. It is from Quadriga - the original source of the system. What I don't understand is why they don't implement a sort of "Press OK to continue" instead of this WTF if the logic behind the message is as stated in the quoted message above.

  • Harold von Pants (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    1 isn't prime.

  • iT_Ti (unregistered) in reply to Nick
    Nick:
    16 digit prime number?

    Leading zeros count as digits right?

    0000000000000001

    Done!

    Now, if only 1 were a prime number ;)

  • warl0ck (unregistered) in reply to Nick
    Nick:
    16 digit prime number?

    Leading zeros count as digits right?

    0000000000000001

    Done!

    1 isn't prime... as far as i remember from my school days... 0000000000000002 would be more like it...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One Now that's Done!!

  • gkwok (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    Um, you mean 0000000000000002.

    1 is not a prime number (and neither is it composite).

  • Andy (unregistered) in reply to Flatline

    I recognised it as Warringah Mall from the car parking sign. Now I wish I was back in Sydney...

  • Michael (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    1 isn't a prime number. You'd have to start with 2.

  • Justin Wright (unregistered)

    LOL, it would appear that someone was asleep at the helm! LOL

    JT http://www.FireME.To/udi

  • (cs) in reply to Andy
    Andy:
    I recognised it as Warringah Mall from the car parking sign. Now I wish I was back in Sydney...
    I suspect that most of the people in Warringah Mall wish they were back in Sydney. (Well, OK, technically it's within the city limits, but still...)

    The web page for the mall seems to feature some sheila whose parents gave her the ill-advised name of "Barbie" (as in "Chuck another prawn on the ...") and an even more ill-advised promo: "Vote for your favourite environmental story and you will go into the draw to win a $500 Warringah Mall gift voucher!"

    I don't expect too many people to submit a story along the lines of "I shopped locally rather than fight my way through twenty kilometres of traffic and back. The Planet be saved!"

    PS Can we please put some sort of stop to posts featuring people who can't read but can count up to 1? I'd advocate humane killing, but simply ripping their fingernails out might help.

  • (cs)

    At first sight the first bluescreen picture looked to me a lot like the Matrix. :-O

  • Andrew (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    Erm, technically 1 isn't a prime...

    0000000000000002 would work though.

  • (cs) in reply to Andrew
    Andrew:
    Erm, technically 1 isn't a prime...

    0000000000000002 would work though.

    Well, at least we're up to people who can't read but can nevertheless count up to 2.

    I suppose that has to be some sort of improvement.

  • eq (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    Dude, wtf. 1 is per definition not a prime.

  • Finibus Bonorum (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    I "sometimes" have difficulty remembering my 16-digit prime numbers off the top of my head. Occasionally, I have to consult the list at http://www.alpertron.com.ar/googol.pl?digits=16

  • Cleaver (unregistered) in reply to Merus

    Westfield have shopping centres in the UK too. The one in the second picture is the Broadmarsh shopping centre in Nottingham.

  • Cleaver (unregistered) in reply to IGadget
    IGadget:
    Ground Carpark. This seems a logical though redundant idea to me, what I want to know is where the Flying Carpark is.

    What would be there - flying cars, or flying parking spots? the former would be excellent, the latter challenging.

    In British/Australian/Canadian English, the counting of floors goes Ground Floor, 1st Floor etc. Think of it in terms of an array i.e. 0, 1...

    American English starts at the 1st Floor.

    So sorry, no flying cars or parking spots.

  • Dave (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    1 isn't a prime number.

  • anonmath (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    0000000000000001 prime? We (mathnazis) stopped calling 1 prime to allow the fundamental theorem of arithmetic remain valid.

  • aio45 (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    of course though, 1 is not a prime.

  • Damian Nikodem (unregistered)

    Its a shopping center in Melbourne, Australia. It looks like either forest hill or knox city.

    P.S. You cant but kangaroo there, (but there is a place within 5 minutes drive of both of those that has some fine kangaroo steak.)

  • John (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    Hang On, 1 is NOT a prime number! Try 2 or 3!

  • exe (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    0000000000000001 is not a prime number.

  • J (unregistered) in reply to exe

    NO TIME TO READ THE OTHER 37 COMMENTS THAT SAY 1 IS NOT A PRIME NUMBER!

    SOMEONE IS WRONG ON THE INTERNET!

    I suspect Alex made that a featured comment just to yank the strings of all the people who wet themselves when someone is wrong about maths.

    Oh, btw: TWO IS AN EVEN PRIME!11!!!111ONE!

    And so on and so forth.

    It's like something isn't believable until 17 other people have all said the exact same thing; it becomes an issue when they're all actually wrong though ("That shopping centre must be in the UK! FCUK couldn't POSSIBLY exist outside of our tiny, tiny nation!")

    On topic and less whiny though: I'd be guessing that top error is from an ING site. Relatively recently they fudged their sites so that they break W3C standards in a spectacular fashion; it's fine in IE, but in Opera it produces those kinds of bizzare dropdown box errors all the time - incomplete or completely irrelevant contents. The site effectively becomes unusable (till you switch to another browser).

  • GregW (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    Oooh, sorry. A correct answer is 000000000000002. 1 isn't prime.

  • Optimus Prime (unregistered) in reply to Nick
    Nick:
    16 digit prime number?

    Leading zeros count as digits right?

    0000000000000001

    Done!

    Uh... 0000000000000001 is not a prime number. 0000000000000002 is the smallest prime number.

  • Pax (unregistered) in reply to krupa
    krupa:
    JonC:
    krupa:
    The first bluescreen picture also appears to be from the UK. The sign behind the kiosk says "Ground carpark". In the US, we usually just saying "Parking"

    It's not from the UK, we don't have Myer or Coles (just above the car park sign) over here. Possibly Australian?

    Definitely Australian.

    Myer Store Locator

    Melbourne Central, Victoria, Australia.

  • acid (unregistered) in reply to Nick
    Nick:
    16 digit prime number?

    Leading zeros count as digits right?

    0000000000000001

    Done!

    Ahhhh... Possibly not. There are a heap of mathematicians that will debate the question of whether or not 1 is a prime number. Some say yes, because it's divisible by 1 and itself, others state that because 1 IS itself, it doesn't count. To be safe, I'd go with 0000000000000002. Less blood will be spilled this way.

  • the guy with the eyebrows (unregistered) in reply to mike

    Sure do - http://www.adultshop.com.au

    And that second 'mall' (we call them shopping centres) is also Australian (http://www.westfield.com.au) its just physically in the UK ;)

  • Andrew (unregistered) in reply to krupa

    The electric internet says this is probably Chadstone Shopping centre in Victoria.

  • Wells (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    Fail!

    The number 1 is a special case which is considered neither prime nor composite.

  • Toshio (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    Check your math! 1 is not a prime. 2 is the smallest prime.

  • Martin (unregistered) in reply to Nick
    Nick:
    16 digit prime number?

    Leading zeros count as digits right?

    0000000000000001

    Done!

    Nice try. But you know, way back when I studied the math, 1 was not actually a prime.

    Anyway, most of the error messages stem from misunderstandings, lack of english grammar and simple logic errors. But assuming that the end-user will be able to supply 16 digit prime has set the bar to a new height. The next one will probably come from NASA:

    "The auto-pilot has failed. Input the required engine thrust in milinewtons (kindly use metric system in your calculations): ......"

  • Olaf (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    duh. one is not a prime number. It would have to be 0000000000000002.

  • Stephan (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    Close call, but you fail.

    (Try 0000000000000002)

  • Stephan (unregistered) in reply to Stephan

    Wow, more than 20 prime number flames in a matter of seconds... Someone should do more complex errors :-)

  • (cs) in reply to -
    -:
    1
    Joshua Freeze:
    Technically
    Harold von Pants:
    is
    gkwok:
    not
    Michael:
    a
    Andrew:
    prime
    Dave:
    number.
    John:
    Try
    GregW:
    000000000000002
    acid:
    it
    Wells:
    is
    Toshio:
    smallest.
  • kodi (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    1 is not a prime number...

  • Yjo (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    If only it asked for a 17 (binary) digit prime: 11111111111111111.

  • Nick (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    1 isn't a prime number. Use 2 instead.

  • Anonymous (unregistered)

    The rwtf is that I'm writing a comment to point out that the rwtf is 20+ people commenting on someone trolling fantastically by saying 1 is prime.

  • Abitbol (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    1 isn't a prime number though...

  • tim0s (unregistered) in reply to Nick

    1 is not prime

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