Today's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

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#3380168 3-Jun-2025 13:28

In this particular case, it's just "add 3 to month value". 26 May -> 26 August. That will work for every month.

Copilot instead added 90 days, resulting in 24 August.

For what it's worth, C#, also made by Microsoft, has some logic in it whereby you can request the 31st of any month and it'll treat it as the last day of the month.

Edit: Although it DOES suffer from "rounding errors"!

new DateOnly(2025, 1, 31).AddMonths(2) returns 31 March, but
new DateOnly(2025, 1, 31).AddMonths(1).AddMonths(1) returns 28 March!

elpenguino

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#3380190 3-Jun-2025 14:57

cddt:

elpenguino:

I thought the same thing. If its a reminder to 'check that person has ticked HR required box by doing certain thing' then 'same day of the month as today but increment month by 6' ** would be perfectly adequate.

What's the scenario where you need to be 182 days or almost exactly half a year ?

Because then you are looking at dates like the 31st of February.

February doesnt have a 31st but I have a sneaky feeling you know that 😆

Right, I can see the subtlety in your answer - but schedule things for the 1st of the month and be done with it !

Dates can be a pain in the butt to code, for sure.

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#3380195 3-Jun-2025 15:23

Then there's the hours worked vs days fiasco of the holiday pay act.

cddt

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#3380197 3-Jun-2025 15:33

elpenguino:

February doesnt have a 31st but I have a sneaky feeling you know that 😆

Right, I can see the subtlety in your answer - but schedule things for the 1st of the month and be done with it !

Dates can be a pain in the butt to code, for sure.

But that's the problem, isn't it. If Legal or HR say something should happen after six months, then you can get into trouble if you start doing it after five and a half months, or not until six and a half months. Which is why whoever first posted about this situation asked for a precise answer from the (accountable) stakeholder.

This is why there are "ninety day trials" and not "three month trials", as the latter would lead to plenty of claims of unjustified dismissal as people argued over which day the three months ended on...

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#3380236 3-Jun-2025 18:55

QC also has similar issues. Your procedures state that X must be cleaned/calibrated/certified every Y months and you're overdue, and any product that fails QC must be disposed of? Congratulations, you're scrapping $200k of product from the day(s) you were over the limit.

Business logic like this is increasingly being hardcoded into software like age certification for alcohol: enter the date (or pull it from a database); if the date does not meet the criteria, the sale cannot proceed.

Your shift manager might not even be able or willing to fill out the paperwork to start production if you're past a deadline.

Some standards (like 3760 test and tag) have a two-week grave period so you can do the process at the same time every year/quarter and not worry about drifting. Others don't.

MadEngineer

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#3380243 3-Jun-2025 19:37

Rikkitic:

I would just assume that a month means a month and it doesn't matter how many days there are.

Try working in IT when you're constantly thrown oddball requests like that and all of them asked in every way possible. The one time you make an assumption is the one time it was the wrong assumption and there's no ctrl-z.

I could be generalising here but I suspect it's very common for IT workers also have a brain that operates like they're constantly playing chess with everything (well, I do), where one has to consider all potential possible outcomes.

Set x to happen after 6 months. Great, so what if that's a Sunday and with that happing on a day off will they then not have a chance to hit the red button? What if it's a leap year? A month with 31 days and +6months lands in a month without?

(edit, i see that's already given as an example)

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eracode

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#3380267 3-Jun-2025 20:07

Rikkitic:

cddt:

I think that comment illustrates the problem quite well...

No problem at all. Six months is six months. 181 days is 181 days.

Problem is, that approach can lead to periods with differing length in days. That can result in some people, at various times of the year, being treated differently.

Feb to July has 181 days. July to Dec has 184. And let’s not start thinking about leap years.

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#3380336 4-Jun-2025 07:33

I most often find such date calcs are for financial period reasons so less interested in day spans.

eracode

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#3380361 4-Jun-2025 09:27

eracode:

wellygary:

Looks like a bolt on to the Australia version, which is currently casting in OZ
https://go.mycastingnet.com/Apply/Show/TheChaseAustraliaS15

"Kiwi contestants will go head-to-head with The Chase Australia’s Chasers,

ITV Studios Australia has been commissioned to produce the limited run, with filming taking place in Sydney, Australia."

The OZ studio doesn't pay travel/accom expenses for OZ contestants, so I'm guessing we get the same treatment.

Aha - NZH reports: "The application form ... asks where a contestant is from originally in New Zealand, and how long they’ve lived in Australia. TVNZ confirmed it is mainly focused on finding Kiwis now domiciled in Australia."

For me, this will reduce the level of interest I might have had in the show. ITV Australia and TVNZ are stretching things calling it 'The Chase New Zealand'.

However it could be a great opportunity to test Robert Muldoon's famous quip in the 1980s that New Zealanders who move to Australia “raise the IQ of both countries”.

Paul Henry to host the so-called The Chase NZ according to NZH.

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kiwifidget

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#3380397 4-Jun-2025 11:17

Bought 2 Tapo T310 temperature and humidity sensors yesterday from JB Hifi.

Set the first one up this morning, easy peasy.

The second one just wouldnt follow instructions.

So I popped the cover off, and voila!

Yes, I had already pulled the blue thing out.

The first one came with the battery in it, the second one it seems to be "not included".

Package contents on the box do state 1 x CR2450 battery.

The box we sealed.

GRRR at having to schlep back to JBHifi in this weather.

Delete cookies?! Are you insane?!

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#3380401 4-Jun-2025 11:35

kiwifidget:

Bought 2 Tapo T310 temperature and humidity sensors yesterday from JB Hifi.

Set the first one up this morning, easy peasy.

The second one just wouldnt follow instructions.

So I popped the cover off, and voila!

Yes, I had already pulled the blue thing out.

The first one came with the battery in it, the second one it seems to be "not included".

Package contents on the box do state 1 x CR2450 battery.

The box we sealed.

GRRR at having to schlep back to JBHifi in this weather.

Sealed box unfortunately doesn't mean you are the first owner. Possible return and just resealed it without checking.

Behodar

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#3380404 4-Jun-2025 11:43

What's the point of having a seal if they reseal returned ones?!

Geektastic

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#3380432 4-Jun-2025 14:09

Got a packet of Hellers American Hot dogs.

“Cooking Instructions: product must be cooked thoroughly before consumption”

That is a statement of fact, not an instruction.

eracode

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#3380433 4-Jun-2025 14:14

Geektastic:

Got a packet of Hellers American Hot dogs.

“Cooking Instructions: product must be cooked thoroughly before consumption”

Yes - they must be cooked thoroughly before eating - but that's done in the factory.

All they need at home is boiling so all that's being done is warming them up. I'm sure they are totally edible straight out of the pack.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Behodar

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#3380438 4-Jun-2025 14:23

Funny you should say that. Several years ago I posted a picture of pre-cooked sausages (I think they were also Hellers) with that same statement. I then got called names and told I was an idiot (obviously this wasn't on Geekzone!) for interpreting "pre-cooked" as meaning they were already cooked.

To this day I'm not sure what I did wrong.

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