Friday, February 5, 2010

Problem ID: 7702695519215749101
Entered by: Ben Simo
Is there a problem here?  

Upside Down


"The faxed submission was received upside down. 
We are unable to continue processing these images. 
Please resubmit your document."
- United States Patent and Trademark Office


"Our current software cannot read pages that are faxed in the wrong direction and consequently generates an automatic error message."
- Peter Pappas,
Chief Communications Officer,
United States Patent and Trademark Office



More:



USPTO Won't Accept Upside Down Faxes; Demands Resends

Erik Sherman, BNET
No, if your fax comes in upside down, they send you a message in return saying that they can't accept it and to re-fax.


More on the USPTO Upside Down Fax Mess -- IT Systems 20 Years Out of Date
Erik Sherman, BNET
When it comes to slow processes, technology can be a boon, but only when adequately and competently implemented. What we're apparently seeing at the USPTO is decades of neglect and poor management.

  Edit
Problem ID: 1931985911690998256
Entered by: Ben Simo
Is there a problem here?  

?

"Wow, that's the most helpful error message I've ever seen :/" - @Mindez

  Edit
Problem ID: 843720366845841811
Entered by: Ben Simo
Is there a problem here?  

Password Amnesia

"I've checked the box a million times and it still asks me to type it."


"I think this might be a security update in the new version of iTunes."


"Have you ever wished that iTunes wouldn't constantly forget your iTunes Store password?  
There's a patch for that."



More:


iTunes 9.0.3
Apple
iTunes 9.0.3 provides a number of important bug fixes


Fix for iTunes 9.0.1 refusing to save your store password
CNET
After iTunes 9.0.1 was released, a number of users were annoyed that the check mark button for saving their password no longer worked.

  Edit
Problem ID: 868826655806829694
Entered by: Ben Simo
Is there a problem here?  

Your car computer can kill you?

"It's in the software. It's not a bad accelerator pedal."
- Steve Wozniak, Co-founder of Apple Computer






Your car computer may kill you
John Dvorak
Commentary: Software has to be able to recognize a panic situation


The Perfect Storm May Rain 1's and 0's
Brian Cooley, CBS News
Now an already scary story has a spooky, virusy, cyber-something flavor added to it. Umm, did we forget to tell car buyers that they don't really control their cars any more – computers do?

  Edit
Problem ID: 532820834435009956
Entered by: Ben Simo
Is there a problem here?  

"So, for some strange reason, I find this error really funny. Any idea why? #microsoft" - @CajunTechie



It appears that even Microsoft has trouble identifying browsers.

  Edit
Problem ID: 1726813916742931014
Entered by: Ben Simo
Is there a problem here?  

The best way



Trying to pay my trash bill.

It appears that putting "Colorado Springs" into the credit card billing address field makes it too long. Funny considering this company is located in Colorado Springs and their address (which is longer than mine) won't fit in their form.

And if I didn't enter the value into the field?

  Edit
Problem ID: 5272915842524498376
Entered by: Ben Simo
Is there a problem here?  

Oracle can be hacked remotely

"Speaking at the BlackHat DC Conference, Litchfield unveiled a flaw in Oracle 11g that would allow a hacker to take over the database server. In an article in Forbes , Litchfield said that his latest bug find was one that would be obvious to any competent software developer."


"It allows an attacker without a user ID and password to take complete control. 
All firewalls become irrelevant."
- David Litchfield, as reported by Reuters



More:


Oracle Hacker Gets The Last Word
Forbes
David Litchfield exposes one last Oracle security bug before walking away from his database battles.


Litchfield's Last Hurrah
Kelly Jackson Higgins, The Dark Dominion
"[I've] been bashing heads since Larry Ellison said [Oracle's database] was 'unbreakable.' It was like waving a red flag to a bull," Litchfield quipped during his presentation at Black Hat DC yesterday on his latest research.


Vulnerability in Oracle 11gR2 allows system privileges for all
The H
A second bug, however, allows users to adapt these privileges as required. The guilty procedure is DBMS_JAVA.SET_OUTPUT_TO_JAVA. This launches a new Java VM with the privileges of the SYS user and starts by executing any SQL code passed to it with said privileges.

  Edit
Problem ID: 8620671247763296798
Entered by: Ben Simo
Is there a problem here?  

Priceline has cheaper cars?

Marisa Seal reports:

I would wager that somehow the weekly rates were appearing as daily rates,
but I guess I'll never know for sure.


  Edit
Problem ID: 1388820256779787182
Entered by: Ben Simo
Is there a problem here?  

Is Windows 7 killing your battery?

"Good job Microsoft, you just cost me (and almost all windows 7 laptop owners) their battery!! Now what are you going to do!!?"


"Microsoft has begun an investigation into a possible problem with Windows 7 that might cause poor battery life, and even degradation of the battery itself, on certain notebooks."


"The issue seems sporadic, but fairly widespread. It is unclear whether affected systems are simply misreporting the battery life, or if the battery capacity is actually being permanently affected."

  Edit
Problem ID: 5162754479281994673
Entered by: Ben Simo
Is there a problem here?  

Radio button action

@CADbloke: Today's @AutoCAD UX #FAIL. Radio buttons are for selection, not action. Srsly, send yr Devs to UX skool.



  Edit