Bug: Unusable key

[David Shaw]

On Fri, Feb 06, 2004 at 01:37:16PM -0800, Steve Butler wrote:
> Reminds me of a humorous antidote in "Are Your Lights On?" by Donald C.
> Gause and Gerald M. Weinberg (review at
> http://webword.com/moving/lightson.html)
> 
> How much information do you put on a roadside sign as folks leave a tunnel
> and just before a parking area for a scenic overview:
>   "If it's daylight and you turned on your lights, please turn them off
> before parking.
>    If it's daylight and you didn't turn on your lights then don't worry
> about it.
>    If it's nighttime and your lights are not one, please turn them on right
> now!
> 		But turn them off after parking.
>    If it's nighttime and your lights are on, then turn them off after
> parking."
> 
> Of course, drivers who read the entire sign had accidents due to inattention
> to the road.  Those who didn't read the entire sign were left wondering what
> they were supposed to do about the lights (perhaps it was talking about the
> sun).  Those who didn't bother to read the sign still had dead batteries
> after spending hours at scenic overview with their lights on.
> 
> Sometimes the most elegant error message is the one that causes the
> user/driver to think and solve their own problem.  As in "Lights?"  Or, in
> this case:
> 
> 	"Hey Buddy.  That public key (and zero or more sub keys) have major
> problems
> 		 -- check into it."
> 	
> Translations to other languages (English and American included) are left as
> an exercise for the reader.

Heh, I like that.  How about "unusable public key" ?  That pretty much
describes the problem ... ;)

David