Anti-pattern 123

Trying to update a password on 123-reg.co.uk it turns that they only allow EXACTLY 8 character long passwords.

yet the form allows you to enter any number of characters. They have a strength check but no clear indication (people don't read instructions...) you can't submit a password without 8 chars until you click 'Change Password'

Bizarre.

Dating site users can't write above 9th grade level

And other useless but nonetheless fascinating stats sourced from OkCupid's online profiles

http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-real-stuff-white-people-like/

American Pixels

I'm not sure why I love these pixtures...

American Pixels

Grouping SQL by month, week etc.

Excellent summary from Jeff Smith on how best to group data by time periods.

Quickhint:

If in doubt, the ‘go-to’ technique is to use

GROUP BY dateadd(month, datediff(month, 0, SomeDate),0)

replacing ‘month’ with any of:

• year


• quarter


• month


• dayofyear


• day


• week


• hour


• minute


• second


• millisecond


• microsecond


• nanosecond

Read the article for a great write up on the whys and wherefores and as always your mileage may vary – testing the various techniques with your own data is the only sure way of getting the performance you need.

It’s good to talk

Whilst trimming your nose hair apparently….

Shopping for an answer machine, amazon was really helpful.

Whaddya mean "Fail"?

see more Epic Fails

You can't hide the eyes....

Idi Amin: Yes, you are my advisor. You are the only one I can trust in here. You should have told me not to throw the Asians out, in the first place.
Nicholas Garrigan: I DID!
Idi Amin: But you did not persuade me, Nicholas. You did not persuade me!