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Only in Germany: An API with opening hours

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Re: Only in Germany: An API with opening hours

#41

Post by alastairpat »

dangrover wrote: post #38
eli wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, I very much doubt that. If anything, I'd wager it's a purely technical/process decision. I bet there's some ancient mainframe deep behind that API that runs batch jobs and reports overnight.

The online course registration system at my school was like this. Web frontend that recorded transactions and dumped them to the mainframe at night.

The whole student management system at my uni (which was implemented at the start of this year) is like this too, down between 2am and 4am to 'synchronise the timetabling system'. I think it's to do with the massive Oracle backend, but I don't really understand the need.

Re: Only in Germany: An API with opening hours

#42

Post by saalweachter »

dualogy wrote: post #40
SocratesV wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He could always check for the UserAgent :)

Google doesn't like that I heard.

You could javascript a CLOSED sign as an overlay during certain hours. That way the content is unchanged, and I think it even adds to the flair.

Re: Only in Germany: An API with opening hours

#43

Post by ghurlman »

blatherard wrote: post #11
mikle wrote: post #3

Nope. not only in Germany. Here is Israel we have more than one site that "close" for the Sabbath. It's moderately interesting to see how religion and the internet co exist.

I know of at least one site in the US that does the same. B&H, a venerable camera & electronics store in NYC, shuts down their shopping site every Saturday ( http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ ).

That's for religious reasons.

Re: Only in Germany: An API with opening hours

#44

Post by bricestacey »

veidr wrote: post #27
jdietrich wrote: post #18

It's not an altogether unreasonable approach to security. It doesn't sit particularly well with geeks, but for complex systems with a high risk of fraud there's a great deal of damage-limitation to be found in only processing transactions when they can be manually monitored. Heuristic intrusion detection is still relatively poor. For a government-to-business service, the overwhelming majority of legitimate transactio…

Right. It'd be nice if everything was 24/7, but we have all manner of systems here in Japan that are only open during certain business hours, and for that matter in the US, too. The online interface to the Delaware Division of Corporations, for example, only processes certain filings during business hours. Computer software can be pretty good at flagging activity that falls outside certain parameters, but it still is…

You can't pay a car's excise tax in Massachusetts after 11pm. I can't think of a valid reason for that.

Re: Only in Germany: An API with opening hours

#45

Post by pavel_lishin »

alastairpat wrote: post #41
dangrover wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The online course registration system at my school was like this. Web frontend that recorded transactions and dumped them to the mainframe at night.

The whole student management system at my uni (which was implemented at the start of this year) is like this too, down between 2am and 4am to 'synchronise the timetabling system'. I think it's to do with the massive Oracle backend, but I don't really understand the need.

Oh, yours was only down for two hours? Ours was only available from 8am to 8pm. Not the greatest option for a night owl like myself.

Re: Only in Germany: An API with opening hours

#46

Post by pavel_lishin »

ugh wrote: post #26

As the examples mentioned here show, opening hours are not altogether uncommon on the web. Here is another example from Germany: Certain TV shows are deemed not appropriate for kids of a certain age. This results in all broadcasters only being allowed to show them on TV at certain times. If a TV show is, for example, not appropriate for kids younger than twelve it can only be shown between 8pm and 6am. The consortium…

Does Germany only have one time zone?

Re: Only in Germany: An API with opening hours

#47

Post by pavel_lishin »

ghurlman wrote: post #43
blatherard wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know of at least one site in the US that does the same. B&H, a venerable camera & electronics store in NYC, shuts down their shopping site every Saturday ( http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ ).

That's for religious reasons.

Which is weird, but I guess I don't know much about the finer points of the Law. Would a religious Jew have to lock down a windmill before the start of the sabbath? Or does it only matter for matters of trade? Technically, wouldn't they have to lock their Paypal account as well, as well as traditional bank accounts?

Re: Only in Germany: An API with opening hours

#48

Post by blumentopf »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #46
ugh wrote: post #26

As the examples mentioned here show, opening hours are not altogether uncommon on the web. Here is another example from Germany: Certain TV shows are deemed not appropriate for kids of a certain age. This results in all broadcasters only being allowed to show them on TV at certain times. If a TV show is, for example, not appropriate for kids younger than twelve it can only be shown between 8pm and 6am. The consortium…

Does Germany only have one time zone?

Yes, CET (UTC+1) and CEST (UTC+2) during summer.

Re: Only in Germany: An API with opening hours

#50

Post by pasbesoin »

jdietrich wrote: post #18

It's not an altogether unreasonable approach to security. It doesn't sit particularly well with geeks, but for complex systems with a high risk of fraud there's a great deal of damage-limitation to be found in only processing transactions when they can be manually monitored. Heuristic intrusion detection is still relatively poor. For a government-to-business service, the overwhelming majority of legitimate transactio…

Perhaps a bit OT: Most/all home/"small office" router firmware lets you designate hours of operation. This can be used as another means of limiting the risk of an undesired connection.

Now that I consider this again, I was thinking of the wireless signal. I'll have to check whether the functionality also applies to the wired connections.

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