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And finally Will nostradamus get it right?
Rogues’ gallery of software errors from last 20 years A list of classic software bugs or errors from the past two decades has been recently published by an automated code inspection company. The rogues’ gallery of glitches makes for interesting reading and was
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An input error in the master inventory program of Montgomery Ward caused an entire distribution warehouse to “go missing” in 1985 - no trucks arrived to deliver or take goods away for three years!
And finally . . . . . Will Nostradamus get it right’ L
A software company has introduced a novel way of catching our attention with the Y2K problem by quoting the prophetic 16th century French sage Nostradamus. They claim that the predictions of worldwide catastrophe at the end of the millennium will be realized if we don’t act now and begin preparing for the Y2K ‘nightmare’.
taken from the book Safer C by Dr Les Hatton (see p.10 of this issue for his article on auditing source code in safety critical systems) Director of Programming Research Ltd based in the UK. Some of the classics included: l
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Gemini V splashed down 100 miles off course because the programmers forgot that the earth had moved; A Japanese F-14 plane accidentally ejected the senior pilot during a training flight due to a software error leaving the trainee pilot to man the plane; The Australian Commonwealth Bank doubled all debits and credits during one night in February 1988.
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A software glitch caused a Boeing 777 fly-by-wire aircraft to wag its tail excessively as it over corrected for gusts of wind - passengers at the rear of the aircraft reported suffering air sickness.
In recent press literature they quote from one of the sage’s translated quatrains and point out the prediction’s analogy with the crash of millions of computers at midnight on 31 December 1999.
Long distance telephone calls were charged and issued at ten times the normal rate for three days due to a software error at a US telephone company in the USA in 1991.
“The year 1999..... from the sky will come a great King of Terror ...
There’ll be war, there’ll be peace, but everything one day will cease. All the iron turned to rust; All the proud men turned to dust. And so all things, time will mend. So this sad song will end.” The software company end on a lighter note quoting an industry joke that has been doing the rounds in the light of the lack of positive action that is being taken by corporate business managers. First computer programmer: “Are you guys doing the millennium stuff yet?“, second programmer: “Nah, New Year’s Day 2000 is on a Friday, so we’ve got the whole weekend to tix it.”
Flooding killed six people in 1983 when a dam stored too much water as a result of an error in a snow-melting calculation. Radiation safety doors at a nuclear power station were accidentally opened by a computer error at a UK nuclear power sta- ’ tion in 1991.
Computer Audit Update lrl 1996, Elsevier
July 1996 Science Ltd.
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An input error in the master inventory program of Montgomery Ward caused an entire distribution warehouse to “go missing” in 1985 - no trucks arrived to deliver or take goods away for three years!
And finally . . . . . Will Nostradamus get it right’ L
A software company has introduced a novel way of catching our attention with the Y2K problem by quoting the prophetic 16th century French sage Nostradamus. They claim that the predictions of worldwide catastrophe at the end of the millennium will be realized if we don’t act now and begin preparing for the Y2K ‘nightmare’.
taken from the book Safer C by Dr Les Hatton (see p.10 of this issue for his article on auditing source code in safety critical systems) Director of Programming Research Ltd based in the UK. Some of the classics included: l
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Gemini V splashed down 100 miles off course because the programmers forgot that the earth had moved; A Japanese F-14 plane accidentally ejected the senior pilot during a training flight due to a software error leaving the trainee pilot to man the plane; The Australian Commonwealth Bank doubled all debits and credits during one night in February 1988.
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A software glitch caused a Boeing 777 fly-by-wire aircraft to wag its tail excessively as it over corrected for gusts of wind - passengers at the rear of the aircraft reported suffering air sickness.
In recent press literature they quote from one of the sage’s translated quatrains and point out the prediction’s analogy with the crash of millions of computers at midnight on 31 December 1999.
Long distance telephone calls were charged and issued at ten times the normal rate for three days due to a software error at a US telephone company in the USA in 1991.
“The year 1999..... from the sky will come a great King of Terror ...
There’ll be war, there’ll be peace, but everything one day will cease. All the iron turned to rust; All the proud men turned to dust. And so all things, time will mend. So this sad song will end.” The software company end on a lighter note quoting an industry joke that has been doing the rounds in the light of the lack of positive action that is being taken by corporate business managers. First computer programmer: “Are you guys doing the millennium stuff yet?“, second programmer: “Nah, New Year’s Day 2000 is on a Friday, so we’ve got the whole weekend to tix it.”
Flooding killed six people in 1983 when a dam stored too much water as a result of an error in a snow-melting calculation. Radiation safety doors at a nuclear power station were accidentally opened by a computer error at a UK nuclear power sta- ’ tion in 1991.
Computer Audit Update lrl 1996, Elsevier
July 1996 Science Ltd.
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