4 ms·

Stories like this always remind me of the car allergic to vanilla ice cream. http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/smann/IceCream/humor.html http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/

by noxin 10y ago

Stories like this always remind me of the car allergic to vanilla ice cream. http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/smann/IceCream/humor.html http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/smann/IceCream/humor.html

robert_tweed 10y ago
Not forgetting the classic "magic / more magic" switch: http://catb.org/esr/jargon/html/magic-story.html http://catb.org/esr/jargon/html/magic-story.html
- deleted_soon 10y ago
  Or the email server that couldn't send emails more than 500 miles: https://www.ibiblio.org/harris/500milemail.html https://www.ibiblio.org/harris/500milemail.html
  - lfowles 10y ago
    Or the server that timed out when pallets in the shipping room were lifted: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/vunp/the_case_of_the_500mile_email/cvw60/ https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/vunp/the_case_o...
    - ikeboy 10y ago
      I know OP is a reddit comment, but come on, HN is turning into reddit. (As per https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html I've been allowed to say that for some time)
      - i336_ 10y ago
        (FWIW, deleted_soon's comment may be a small nudge at the fact that OP's link is to a comment reply on the 500-mile-email story.)
        ikeboy 10y ago
        That's how I understood it, and it's a sign of reddit culture creeping into HN
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
  - mathewsanders 10y ago
    First time hearing this story, and also just discovered `units` which I really love :)
    - tvmalsv 10y ago
      Funny, I didn't understand what you were referring to and quickly forgot about your comment. I then read the 500-mile story, got to the end and thought "units? oh cool, new command... wait, wasn't there a comment about `units`?"
- noxin 10y ago
  Just the kind of bug which seems ridiculous as a bug report, but turns out to be true. Like the "OpenOffice.org won’t print on Tuesdays" bug, or the bug which crashed the computer when the general visited. Or the one when the server went down whenever a certain guy had a support ticket.
  - mishac 10y ago
    Do you have a link for the one with the general visiting? Sadly a google search just gave stories of military officers in plan crashes.
    - noxin 10y ago
      Unfortunately I can't seem to find it anymore. It was in a military facility in the seventies, and always when the general visited the computers crashed. This happened too often to be a demonstration effect, it turned out to be the metal in the generals shoes interfering with the electronics.
      - otuutti 10y ago
        Can it be found in this list? http://beza1e1.tuxen.de/lore/ http://beza1e1.tuxen.de/lore/

by noxin 10y ago

Stories like this always remind me of the car allergic to vanilla ice cream. http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/smann/IceCream/humor.html http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/smann/IceCream/humor.html

robert_tweed 10y ago

Not forgetting the classic "magic / more magic" switch: http://catb.org/esr/jargon/html/magic-story.html http://catb.org/esr/jargon/html/magic-story.html

deleted_soon 10y ago
Or the email server that couldn't send emails more than 500 miles: https://www.ibiblio.org/harris/500milemail.html https://www.ibiblio.org/harris/500milemail.html
- lfowles 10y ago
  Or the server that timed out when pallets in the shipping room were lifted: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/vunp/the_case_of_the_500mile_email/cvw60/ https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/vunp/the_case_o...
  - ikeboy 10y ago
    I know OP is a reddit comment, but come on, HN is turning into reddit. (As per https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html I've been allowed to say that for some time)
    - i336_ 10y ago
      (FWIW, deleted_soon's comment may be a small nudge at the fact that OP's link is to a comment reply on the 500-mile-email story.)
      - ikeboy 10y ago
        That's how I understood it, and it's a sign of reddit culture creeping into HN
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- mathewsanders 10y ago
  First time hearing this story, and also just discovered `units` which I really love :)
  - tvmalsv 10y ago
    Funny, I didn't understand what you were referring to and quickly forgot about your comment. I then read the 500-mile story, got to the end and thought "units? oh cool, new command... wait, wasn't there a comment about `units`?"
noxin 10y ago
Just the kind of bug which seems ridiculous as a bug report, but turns out to be true. Like the "OpenOffice.org won’t print on Tuesdays" bug, or the bug which crashed the computer when the general visited. Or the one when the server went down whenever a certain guy had a support ticket.
- mishac 10y ago
  Do you have a link for the one with the general visiting? Sadly a google search just gave stories of military officers in plan crashes.
  - noxin 10y ago
    Unfortunately I can't seem to find it anymore. It was in a military facility in the seventies, and always when the general visited the computers crashed. This happened too often to be a demonstration effect, it turned out to be the metal in the generals shoes interfering with the electronics.
    - otuutti 10y ago
      Can it be found in this list? http://beza1e1.tuxen.de/lore/ http://beza1e1.tuxen.de/lore/