Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/08/14/geeks-idea-to-get-null-l.html
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I shouldn’t laugh, but… Hahahahaha!
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Too bad DROP TABLES wouldn’t fit on the plate.
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Maybe he should have read more of XKCD, since the thing that happened is almost exactly what a later XKCD predicted would happen:
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I was tempted to say something about how surely a database wouldn’t just accept the string “NULL” as a literal null value…but DMV, so…
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:eyeroll: God forbid the issue be fixed.
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It surprises me to see some of the personalized plates that are issued in Maryland and seem to be explicitly “designed” to confuse traffic cameras and/or police. Examples:
MWMMWWMWWM - M’s and W’s
VVWVVWVVWVVW - V’s and W’s
0OO0OOO0000 - zeros and ohs
I1IIII1111II - ones and i’s
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If only they allowed lower case on the plates. nu1l would have been safe-ish.
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The problem is likely in band signaling on the entry side. Operators who enter the license plate NULL or NONE.
If you allow the string NULL on a plate, you’ll also have to allow the string NULL in the database.
It has to be fixed on the entry side. Good luck with that.
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I remember like 20 years ago some guy accidentally got a plate that said “none”, and then he too got a ton of tickets sent to him.
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Well that kind of backfired badly… but hilariously hahaha
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interpreting hand-typed string inputs as a logical values? *shivers* Use a checkbox, Sideshow Bob…
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That plate really should be prohibited from issuance as a personalized license plate.
ISTR that a state trooper friend speculated on the hijinks that would result from getting the license plate 10-22 (the police10- code for disregard)
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So he appeals the tickets as they come in, and the DMV appeals people become accustomed to rubber stamping his appeals. And once he has them conditioned to automatically grant his appeals, he becomes parking-enforcement-proof.
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Saw this car cruising around Somerville. Still my favorite vanity plate complete with car decal perfection.
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Well, he succeeded in forcing the system into an unexpected state. At a basic level, he did accomplish “hacking.” Good job, guy!
As someone whose notional successes have come only to my great personal detriment, I can relate.
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Perhaps this guy will also end up with all the tickets for Mr Prawo Jazdy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7899171.stm
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