Every so often a bug comes along that seems to defy logical sense. In these cases, the mindset we adopt determines whether we're able to solve the problem, or whether we run screaming into the night. Sometimes it's necessary to momentarily suspect disbelief and just go with the flow, probing for clues where we're sure they shouldn't exist or be significant.

Consider being presented with the claim that a given system can't send email more than 500 miles. Sounds nutty, right? Then read this story. There's no Perl content, but it's worth the read just as a reminder of how nutty life can get in tech, and how crazy sounding bugs reports don't always mean crazy users.

(Credit for the link goes to the 0xdeadbeef mailing list, viaBoingBoing)

Update: In the event the story gets slashdotted, there's always the google cache. Arrg. Not working. rinceWind provides this link, which works at the moment, and RMGir provides this link.

In reply to Suspending Disbelief While Debugging by dws

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