Showing posts with label error messages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label error messages. Show all posts

Monday, 20 September 2010

403 Forbidden: The server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfill it

Unintelligible messages received from Twitter: 1 (bad); Nostalgia factor: 5 (nostalgic)

Just tried to log into my sheilayoshikawa Twitter account and received the above message. Was not logging in for any serious purpose, so am instead assailed by sudden nostalgia for days when there were REAL error messages, ones which gave you no clue whatsover about what was wrong. Still do get those sometimes, but tend to be associated with V. Serious Meltdowns involving blue screen of death and stange series of numbers rushing over screen, which is not a situation where you can have a good old nostalgic wallow.
Sometimes they would be a bit like the one above, implying that it wasn't just some strange random error, it was a personal piece of malice directed at YOU. "The server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfill it": that's an error message with attitude.
The most famous web error message was the "File 404 not found" one, which you got if the page you wanted no longer existed and the webmaster hadn't been bothered to do a redirect or explanation. You still get it now and then but there was a time when you would be more or less guaranteed to get it once a day, and there were some wonderful spoof websites and collections of amusing/dreadful 404 pages.
After half hearted googling have managed to retrieve a page which I think is one of the more amusing spoofs - except it is in what Google Translate thinks is Estonian http://puhkused.com/ Is that right?
[several hours later] Have managed to find ye olde Geek Haiku - ah, this was my favourite:

A File That Big?

A file that big?
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.

Wednesday, 1 July 2009

Logga in

Error messages: 1 (amusing); Blogger languages: several (sometimes unexpected)

When logging out from Blogger just now received startling news that:

"Your client has issued a malformed or illegal request."

Shall reprimand Client immediately.

Took me back to Good Old Days of internet when 404 File Not Found & assorted other messages popped up with a regularity that reassured you that you were still at the pioneer edge of technology. In fact takes me back even more to heady early phase of online when you had to wrestle phone handsets into rubber cups to get some sort of online connection and the screen was one mass of enigmatic messages. In fact can even remember time when WAS no screen, everything got printed out onto thermal paper that faded and curled up almost before you had time to read it.

To return to blogger, other oddity that have meant to mention for a while is that if connect to internet using free wifi on National Express trains, for some strange reason Google and all its services (including Blogger) are displayed in Swedish. This being National Express can only assume that is because is cheaper for them e.g. perhaps they are getting some sort of cut-price IKEA wifi.

Fortunately is pretty obvious what to do since buttons and boxes are all in the same place and already knew that Swedish for Search was Sok.
Of course could be ruse to try and get passengers to talk to each other ('Excuse me young man, do you know the Swedish for "log in"?') or even altruistic attempt to teach us another language. However, given notorious disinclination of British railway passengers to talk to anyone they don't already know, and their adherence to the English language, fear both enterprises are doomed to failure.

The blog of Sheila Yoshikawa on her adventures in Second Life. This may be very thrilling. Or possibly not.