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Names That Break Computers (bbc.com)
Reader Thelasko writes: The BBC has a story about people with names that break computer databases. "When Jennifer Null tries to buy a plane ticket, she gets an error message on most websites. The site will say she has left the surname field blank and ask her to try again."
Thelasko compares it to the XKCD comic about Bobby Tables, though it's a real problem that's also been experienced by a Hawaiian woman named Janice Keihanaikukauakahihulihe'ekahaunaele, whose last name exceeds the 36-character limit on state ID cards. And in 2010, programmer John Graham-Cumming complained about web sites (including Yahoo) which refused to accept hyphenated last names.
Programmer Patrick McKenzie pointed the BBC to a 2011 W3C post highlighting the key issues with names, along with his own list of common mistaken assumptions. "They don't necessarily test for the edge cases," McKenzie says, noting that even when filing his own income taxes in Japan, his last name exceeds the number of characters allowed.
Most programmers can not even figure out how to validate a f--ing email address, let alone a persons name.
How about they fix the email problem first and stop rejecting my email address ^_^@mydomain
Yes, you can put that on my domain listed below and email me, and yes it is a valid email address as per the RFC.
> The original mainframe system had fixed-length fields (as mainframe data often does).
Therein lies a part of why my username is what it is. I am not the exclusive user of it as a username but I'm probably the first. I've had it for a very long time. I've even been flattered by someone who was impersonating me at one point. The I looks a lot like a lowercase L in many fonts. KGlll is not that dissimilar to KGIII at first glance unless you're looking for it or a font guru.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Most Koreans have names comprising two to four Chinese characters which are then transliterated to Hangeul. (Source: I am one.) This Hangeul representation is then used in most cases in every day life, resorting to the Chinese in cases where homophonous names have to be distinguished, most commonly on government forms.
However, nowadays more people are adopting "purely Korean" names, i.e. using Korean words with no Chinese representation.