The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

Reduhdant Power

by Remy Porter in Feature Articles on 2011-04-26

The ancient gods released their fury; wind and wrack raged outside. Wind and lightning smote the power to Hubert's office, plunging the offices and server room into darkness. Hubert was new to the company, and had never received any training on emergency procedures, but he did possess a degree of common sense. Instead of stumbling upstairs to the server room in the dark, he reached for one of the emergency flashlights and turned it on. Or tried to- the battery was dead.

Hubert stumbled to the server room in the dark, guided only by the blinking lights of WiFi routers scattered throughout the building, or the faint hints of light from the windows. When Hubert reached the electronically locked door protecting the server room, it was, well, locked. That battery was still working, although it was anyone's guess as to when it was last replaced. The voltaic cell managed to cough up enough power to grind the lock back with the speed of a stone door in the Temple of Doom.

117 comments - Last comment @ 2017-09-08

Contract Termination

by Remy Porter in Feature Articles on 2011-04-12

"It's a module to turn AS/400 flat files into XML. How hard could it be?"

A week into his one-year contract, Bobby suspected that statement would be his epitaph. As a contractor, you can only do so much recon before you walk into a job. You miss little things, like the fact that the IT manager you'll be working for and the IT manager that hired you are locked in a death-struggle, and you're little more than an artillery shell lobbed over the cubicle wall.

147 comments - Last comment @ 2018-02-07

Accessing the Portal

by Remy Porter in Feature Articles on 2011-04-05

A new job is like a child. At first, it appears completely harmless and full of wonder. It's only after you've invested grinding years of your life into it, surrendering sleep and any sense of fun, that you discover that it's a complete disappointment and will never amount to anything, never respect you, and it certainly isn't going to take care of you during your twilight years.

Chuck's first day at his new job was much like that. He whistled a cheerful little tune as he walked across the parking lot. There were no first-day nerves. He looked forward to the day. The company ran clinical drug trials, so he felt like he might be doing some good in the world. The co-workers he had met while interviewing seemed like good people. Plus, he'd get to brush up his .NET chops. It wasn't a dream job, but it looked like a pretty good place to work.

161 comments - Last comment @ 2011-04-15