4 ms·
Hello, I'm Mr. Null. My Name Makes Me Invisible to Computers (2015)
- LorenDB 2y agohttps://archive.ph/PX3Lx https://archive.ph/PX3Lx
- calibas 2y agoWhich systems use the string "null" to represent a null value? That seems like a bad idea...
- jazzyjackson 2y agoI could see it happening with clumsy JSON parsing. in javascript, JSON.parse("null") would return null, and the string null would have to be JSON.parse('"null"').
- threeducks 2y agoA common source of "NULL" strings are CSVs. I personally had to deal with a database that only understood NULLs correctly when using QUOTE_NOTNULL, which was added to Python just last year: https://github.com/python/cpython/issues/113732 https://github.com/python/cpython/issues/113732 I've also heard of a fun database where the user "Geoffrey" was truncated to "G". I wonder why? (Hint: End of file)
- driggs 2y ago> I've also heard of a fun database where the user "Geoffrey" was truncated to "G". I wonder why? (Hint: End of file) Sorry, I don't buy that one. There's no way the ascii string "eof" - especially lower-cased - would be interpreted as the C macro EOF, which is typically represented as the int -1. Sounds like a tall tale unless you've got proof.
- somat 2y agoI could see a poorly coded stringly parsed interface (think sql) triggering on a mid span character sequence. but I agree, it would have to be a real mess of an interface. For example the client uses "eof" to separate or end queries.
- snailmailstare 2y agoI first had to figure out why the G stayed put if it was being treated as last line... I've seen some terrible things and wouldn't doubt that a lot of pages in say the travel industry have a 2%+ failure rate at recording a signup.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- NoMoreNicksLeft 2y agoThere are more than a few legacy databases where a person's first name wouldn't be lowercased. I worked for a university awhile back, this is post-2010, and names were stored uppercase.
- threeducks 2y agoSorry, I don't have first-hand proof. But it seems that this issue is not rare: https://old.reddit.com/r/programminghorror/comments/4g70lj/someones_name_broke_our_code/ https://old.reddit.com/r/programminghorror/comments/4g70lj/s...
- Sohcahtoa82 2y agoCSV will go down as one of the greatest mistakes in computer programming.
- robin_reala 2y agoColdFusion, if I remember correctly.
- dartos 2y agoNever underestimate the amount of bad ideas in code produced by the lowest bidder.
- Krasnol 2y agoWe had a patient with a single letter as surname. Didn't go well with our patient web portal. She'll probably never be able to see her MRIs online since development is slow, and it seems to be an edge case.
- caseyohara 2y agoWhy would the length of the surname matter?
- tiltowait 2y agoAt a guess, the system mandates a minimum length.
- dylan604 2y agoO-muhgawdthisisstupid would be my next attempt
- quantified 2y agoWell, challenge question "secret answers" also have similar stupids. Mandating five-letter answers mean that first pet Fido, favorite teacher Zak, honeymoon destination Fiji, etc all cannot be used. Though honest answers to those questions are the worst idea.
- throwway120385 2y agoThis is a really good example of how limits on name fields are entirely arbitrary.
- not2b 2y agoIs the name "O"? That's a common Korean surname, though many Korean Americans spell it "Oh" to avoid the problems computers and bureaucrats have with it.
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- poobear22 2y agoSometimes you can call 1-800-dev-null to get this fixed.
- dylan604 2y agoi now know the phone number that i will use whenever some form wants a number and i don't think they really need it. 555-1212 is my go to, but 338-6855 is so less obvious.
- quantified 2y agoWho's at the other end of that number. No one who had the number appreciated the pop song's 867-5309 but at least one day with the radio on told them why they were getting all these crank calls.
- dylan604 2y ago> Who's at the other end of that number. Does it matter?
- quantified 2y agoWell, they may get some calls or texts, so ethically I'd hope you choose to minimize harm.
- dylan604 2y agoI doubt any of the people collecting phone numbers as an identifier are actually making any calls. They use it as the ID to link all of your data collected by them by anyone else that buys that data to other data they've bought from other suppliers. In fact, if that is a legit number, then all I'm doing is increasing their rewards points or whatever. Sure, maybe messing with their recommendations like when you share your Spotify account, but that's a whole lot of meh from me on that.
- pnemonic 2y agoobligatory mention of Little Bobby Tables
- djmips 2y agoHe should have an advice blog called Null's pointers.
- kmoser 2y agoRelated: How a 'NULL' License Plate Landed One Hacker in Ticket Hell https://www.wired.com/story/null-license-plate-landed-one-hacker-ticket-hell/ https://www.wired.com/story/null-license-plate-landed-one-ha... And: What Happens When Your License Plate Says 'NO PLATE'? https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/auto-no-plate/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/auto-no-plate/ (including a mention of a "VOID" plate) A bit of a tangent: I know someone whose last name is "Tester" whose medical records were always getting filled with wild diseases and eventually they figured out that the doctors-in-training were practicing entering medical records using her account.
- zippyman55 2y agoMy Glassdoor dummy account is something like Mr Null at 001 null drive. I’m amazed the feedback from the null corporation I get. There are a lot of other employees who appear to work there. Work seems pointless. Dead end. A clear lack of direction. Lots of dead ends.