The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

Null Null Null

by Lyle Seaman in Error'd on 2026-05-08

The single most common category of entries for this column is failed handling of NaN, null and undefined. Almost exclusively from javascript in web pages, sometimes in node servers, and almost never any other languages or frameworks. They're getting a bit repetitive but it's our solemn duty to call out failure where we find it. So if you send us one of these, make sure it identifies the source!

"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done" exhorted Ben.

9 comments - Last comment @ 2026-05-09

Parametric Projection

by Lyle Seaman in Error'd on 2026-05-01

Roger C. gets on second base with an unforced error. "Not only is the content too large, the error message informing us of this is also too large to fit the visible space. A layered, double WTF."

9 comments - Last comment @ 2026-05-08

April Showers

by Lyle Seaman in Error'd on 2026-04-24

"RFC 1738 (and 3986) disagree" and so does Daniel D. "Reddit API has some weird app creation going on with lots of recently migrated and undocumented stuff. But having redirect URL set to localhost (or 127.0.0.1) usually works. Well, if you don't disagree with Sir Tim Berners-Lee about what URL is. Which Reddit does. hostnumber = digits "." digits "." digits "." digits". I'd file this one with all the websites that try to perform validation on email addresses, and get it wrong.

15 comments - Last comment @ 2026-05-05

Having a Beastly Time

by Lyle Seaman in Error'd on 2026-04-17

It's time again for a reader special, and once again it's all The Beast In Black (there must be a story to that nick, no?).

"MySQL is not better than your SQL," he pontificated, "especially when it comes to the Workbench Migration Wizard"

12 comments - Last comment @ 2026-04-18

Youth is Wasted on the Junge

by Lyle Seaman in Error'd on 2026-04-10

"My thoughts exactly" muttered Jason H. "I was in a system that avoids check constraints and the developers never seemed to agree to a T/F or Y/N or 1/0 for indicator columns. All data in a column will use the same pattern but different columns in the same table will use different patterns so I'm not sure why I was surprised when I came across the attached. Sort the data descending and you have the shorthand for what I uttered." How are these all unique?

9 comments - Last comment @ 2026-04-13

Clever domain name here

by Lyle Seaman in Error'd on 2026-04-03

An anonymous cable-puller wrote "Reading a long specification manual. The words "shall" and "shall not" have specific meaning, and throughout the document are in bold italic. Looks like someone got a bit shall-ow with their search-and-replace skills."

11 comments - Last comment @ 2026-04-05

Timely Reminder

by Lyle Seaman in Error'd on 2026-03-27

There is no particular theme this week, except that I have noticed many of these contributors are providing "customized" email addresses. This is a practice which I too have followed, to detect who is selling my email address to spammers. I would use a consistent login id for many web sites, and a decent password generated by a mental algorithm, with a unique email address for each site. It worked great until some website wanted to know specifically what "my" email address is, and I couldn't remotely remember which of 300 variant email addresses I had signed up for their services with.

First up, Martin is traveling by air. "I have heard it's so beautiful this time of year, so I look forward to visit @arrCity_SLPH." Martin helpfully explains "First sentence is in Danish: Your SAS-booking has been confirmed."

24 comments - Last comment @ 2026-04-09

Yeah Yeah I'm The Tax Man

by Lyle Seaman in Error'd on 2026-03-20

In only a handful of years, four Liverpudlian scruffs clawed their way from obscurity to unprecedented worldwide celebrity.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Already making a mint from "Money" and other hits, by 1965 they were MBEs, and suddenly discovered class solidarity -- with the rest of the singlet-clad bathers in their grottos of ducats. To be fair, a 97% marginal rate does make it hard for a lad to break into the ranks of true generational wealth.
So in 1966, George Harrison and his newly-minted toffs released the anti-government protest shriek of the upper class, and even now, we Americans share their pain in this our momen of reckoning with ... the Tax Man.

The Beast in Black first complained "I tried to get my W2 (for our non-Murican friends, that's the statement from your employer showing how much they paid you and how much tax they deducted) from ADP, and apparently their programmers did a number (two) on the form. TRWTF is that the damn form actually works if I add the slash separators to the date components."

4 comments - Last comment @ 2026-03-23