This is what happens when you piss off a customer who happens to be an engineer. 🙂
38 thoughts on “Verizon Pisses Off Engineer”
I luv this guy. Verizon pissed me off. I went into the main office with my bogus bills. Did their math for them. They called security. Verizon is the WORST company I have ever given money to.
So, does anyone know how much the check is actually for? 🙂 I once got a parking ticket when I absolutely should not have, and the ticket said, “Attach payment securely to ticket.” After I put roughly 100 staples through the check I got a phone call from the city – they refused my check. Goes to show you simply can’t please everyone, no matter how hard you try.
I am not a math major, but here’s my translation (all in dollars):
0.002 + (-1) + 1 = $0.002
Yes, e raised to the i*Pi power is -1. Checked in Maple
I didn’t check the summation, but I remember that 1/2+1/4+1/8… = 1.
So I think the check is for a fifth of a cent, whatever that means.
I have no clue what that equation works out to be but I would laugh if he got a symbol wrong and the bank accepted it, understood it and took out 20k from his account or something.
E^(i*pi) = -1. It’s some weird thing that Euler noticed one day. The summation comes out to be a good 1. Each of those could be proved in several known ways. They’re very famous and very basic. No mistakes were made, so this comes out to be .002 cents, clearly mocking Verizon. Of course, they are incapable of doing the math or drawing the connections, so they do not realize that they are being mocked. Which only makes it funnier.
Interesting how some of the other things weren’t noticed.
It seems to be a starter check. Notice number 1053.
Date is entered as YYYY-MM-DD, not the U.S. de facto MM-DD-YYYY.
10/02 next to the name, presuming following standard check formats, suggest this comes from a book that was printed in, or from an account opened in October 2002.
The upper right hand corner number tends to be also the bank account number.
OMG! This is the funniest thing I have seen all year. Nice memo too. I’d like to write a check to Warner…… Oh well nevermind. Nice work, I’m still not certain how much his bill was. Forwarding link to friend 🙂
The math is quite funny. The first term (e^(i*pi)) is just part of Euler’s equation, which is (e^(i * pi) + 1 = 0) where i is the square root of -1. So in fact (e^(i*pi) is just -1. The second part is also a simple integration that equals +1, so the result is .002 -1 + 1, which is .002. In other words, the author is saying “here is my .002c worth”. hehe.
I argued with Verizon for 6 months over being billed for 3 1/3 phone lines. EVERY amount was multiplied by 3.33. It wasn’t until I got the S.U.C. involved that I got in-touch with someone who actually could DO something. Every underpaid, uninformed phone jockey could SEE I had a problem, and promised they could fix it. Apparently, that’s their pad-answer for any problem, regardless of how hopeless your chances of resolution.
The very week it became legal to dump your landline number to your cell, we said goodbye to Verizon- never to return. I took my 3.33 phone lines elsewhere.
I have no clue what that equation works out to be but I would laugh if he got a symbol wrong and the bank accepted it, understood it and took out 20k from his account or something.
I luv this guy. Verizon pissed me off. I went into the main office with my bogus bills. Did their math for them. They called security. Verizon is the WORST company I have ever given money to.
that’s a one spicy meat-a-ball-a. 🙂 nice.
shouldn’t that read, “Pisses Off Engineer”?
Yeah it should… oops. 🙂
So, does anyone know how much the check is actually for? 🙂 I once got a parking ticket when I absolutely should not have, and the ticket said, “Attach payment securely to ticket.” After I put roughly 100 staples through the check I got a phone call from the city – they refused my check. Goes to show you simply can’t please everyone, no matter how hard you try.
Duh… its for $76.29 (that was so easy I did it in like 5 seconds).
I am not a math major, but here’s my translation (all in dollars):
0.002 + (-1) + 1 = $0.002
Yes, e raised to the i*Pi power is -1. Checked in Maple
I didn’t check the summation, but I remember that 1/2+1/4+1/8… = 1.
So I think the check is for a fifth of a cent, whatever that means.
I’d say it’s for $0.002. e^(i*pi) = -1, the value of the series should be 1 (if I remember my analysis correctly), leaving 0.002…
“e” in power of “i” is the undeterminable level “1” – it mean that result is infinity 😉
I have no clue what that equation works out to be but I would laugh if he got a symbol wrong and the bank accepted it, understood it and took out 20k from his account or something.
Geeze, guys, get on the bandwagon!
Aaron and anon coward are correct in that the payment is for 2 tenths of one cent. This all has to do with:
http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/index.html
where Verizon doesn’t know the difference between 0.002 cents and 0.002 dollars.
Shawn, do you know the difference?
Oh, and PS, Randall Munroe is a Physicist, not an engineer.
http://www.xkcd.com/
E^(i*pi) = -1. It’s some weird thing that Euler noticed one day. The summation comes out to be a good 1. Each of those could be proved in several known ways. They’re very famous and very basic. No mistakes were made, so this comes out to be .002 cents, clearly mocking Verizon. Of course, they are incapable of doing the math or drawing the connections, so they do not realize that they are being mocked. Which only makes it funnier.
Sorry, I said it comes out as .002 cents. It comes out as .002 dollars, since the check is in dollars! Hahaha… ironic.
0.2 cents is the correct answer.
Interesting how some of the other things weren’t noticed.
It seems to be a starter check. Notice number 1053.
Date is entered as YYYY-MM-DD, not the U.S. de facto MM-DD-YYYY.
10/02 next to the name, presuming following standard check formats, suggest this comes from a book that was printed in, or from an account opened in October 2002.
The upper right hand corner number tends to be also the bank account number.
OMG! This is the funniest thing I have seen all year. Nice memo too. I’d like to write a check to Warner…… Oh well nevermind. Nice work, I’m still not certain how much his bill was. Forwarding link to friend 🙂
@Libertate – LOL your correct! YYYY-MM-DD, maybe he is using an SQL timestamp operation. LOL
FRICKEN OWNED!
The math is quite funny. The first term (e^(i*pi)) is just part of Euler’s equation, which is (e^(i * pi) + 1 = 0) where i is the square root of -1. So in fact (e^(i*pi) is just -1. The second part is also a simple integration that equals +1, so the result is .002 -1 + 1, which is .002. In other words, the author is saying “here is my .002c worth”. hehe.
Love it
OMG, this is funny!
But don’t you have to write the amount of the check in letters?
For those who are wondering the maths:
E^(i*pi) = cos(pi) + i*sin(pi) = -1 + 0 = -1
The other part is the geometric series which gives 1
Someone does not know how to use maple
.002+exp(1)^(2*Pi)+sum(1/(2^n),n=1..infinity);
1.002 + (exp(1)) ^(2*Pi)
evalf[10]( (1) );
536.4936554
theres your answer, and yes I am an engineer also
OK, I’ll bite. How does e^(i*pi) equal -1? complex exponents seem to have escaped my math classes.
Thanks
$536.49 roughly
Get a life morons !
I argued with Verizon for 6 months over being billed for 3 1/3 phone lines. EVERY amount was multiplied by 3.33. It wasn’t until I got the S.U.C. involved that I got in-touch with someone who actually could DO something. Every underpaid, uninformed phone jockey could SEE I had a problem, and promised they could fix it. Apparently, that’s their pad-answer for any problem, regardless of how hopeless your chances of resolution.
The very week it became legal to dump your landline number to your cell, we said goodbye to Verizon- never to return. I took my 3.33 phone lines elsewhere.
that’s funny stuff!
I have no clue what that equation works out to be but I would laugh if he got a symbol wrong and the bank accepted it, understood it and took out 20k from his account or something.
it is not e^(i*pi) it is (e^2pi)
I like his style.. Really showing up what he is..
I wonder if a bank manager knows the answer?
The check is funny.
The math is wrong 🙁
0.002+e to the power of (2pie) = 535.4936555
and the limit of the sum of (1/2 to the power of n) as n goes to infinity is 1
therefore 535.4936555 + 1 = $536.49
thats the answer, i asked my math teacher… he made it through high school with no calculator
the check is very cool 😀
lol that’s bloody hilarious
i couldn’t stop laughing 😀