9 Software Disasters



  • A visual representation of how bugs lead to software disasters.

    9 Software Disasters <OBJECT style="MARGIN: 0px" height=355 width=425><PARAM NAME="movie" VALUE="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=9softwaredisastershenricodolfing-1219296149327689-8&amp;stripped_title=9-software-disasters-presentation"><PARAM NAME="allowFullScreen" VALUE="true"><PARAM NAME="allowScriptAccess" VALUE="always"> <embed src="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=9softwaredisastershenricodolfing-1219296149327689-8&stripped_title=9-software-disasters-presentation" mce_src="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=9softwaredisastershenricodolfing-1219296149327689-8&stripped_title=9-software-disasters-presentation" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="355"></embed></OBJECT>
    View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: debugging development)


  •  Yup, "visual" it is without a doubt. So what is it supposed to tell us now?

    Btw, welcome to the forums!



  • Not to be too pedantic, but the Mars Climate Orbiter was lost due to a mix-up of pounds and newtons, not kilograms, and the Mariner 1 had an omitted hyphen, not a mix-up between a comma and a period. But other than that, congratulations on getting me to view that which I can only classify as an utter waste of time. Not only is the slideshow an unnecessary complication of somthing that could easily be presented in text form, but it's also extremely light on information, makes no effort to extrapolate anything from these disasters, and doesn't even mention the Therac-25, which actually killed people. Other than that, I guess it's okay.



  •  The rounding error in the patriot missile system lead the rockets to fly several ten meters off which is enough for an missile build to intercept other missiles.

    Indirectly patriot system failing like this killed ten times more people then Therac-25.



  •  Also this http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4394002, but that's a longer story and not really in the same class as a bug.



  • TRWTF is slideshare.



  • @Quicksilver said:

     The rounding error in the patriot missile system lead the rockets to fly several ten meters off which is enough for an missile build to intercept other missiles.

    Indirectly patriot system failing like this killed ten times more people then Therac-25.

    You're wrong about the problem with the Patriot system, at least as it pertains to the attack on Dhahran. The rounding error wasn't in the targeting system, but the tracking system. It seems that there was a rounding error in the system clock that compounded over time. After extremely long operating periods, the rounding error in the clock built up to a point where, upon initial detection of the missile, the system was checking a section of the sky almost 700 meters out of position, resulting in the initial warning being classed as a false detection and no missile being fired. However, the problem was known at the time of the attack, and though the software fix had not yet arrived, the Israelis (who had discovered the flaw to begin with), had found a work-around of frequent reboots. But due to unclear orders and hardware problems in one of the two Patriot batteries at Dhahran, the system had been up for over 100 hours without a reboot.

    "But that still sounds like a software disaster!" you're saying. Yes, it certainly is, but note that the Patriot system was, during the entire conflict, an unmitigated failure. There are numerous reasons for this, not the least of which being that the system was actually a repurposed anti-aircraft system. The House Committee of Governmental Operations reported in 1992 that @Activities of the House Committee on Governmental Operations, One Hundred Second Congress First and Second Sessions, 1991 - 1992, Report 102-1086, pages 179- 188 said:

    The Patriot missile system was not the spectacular success in the Persian Gulf War that the American public was led to believe. There is little evidence to prove that the Patriot hit more than a few Scud missiles launched by Iraq during the Gulf War, and there are some doubts about even these engagements. The public and the Congress were misled by definitive statements of success issued by administration and Raytheon representatives during and after the war.
    How, then, do we limit the blame solely to the software breakdown? Even if it had fired, there's still a good deal of doubt that it would have intercepted its target successfully. I think the larger onus is on the US Military and Raytheon for thinking the system was ready, when it clearly wasn't.



  • @Quicksilver said:

    Indirectly patriot system failing like this killed ten times more people then Therac-25.
     

    I would think the fact that a hostile nation was firing missiles at them in the first place was more the reason for those deaths. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell you that, er, rocket science, is an imprecise business anyway.



  • @vt_mruhlin said:

     Also this http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4394002, but that's a longer story and not really in the same class as a bug.

     

    This story doesn't sound very plausible to me.



  • @ammoQ said:

    @vt_mruhlin said:

     Also this http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4394002, but that's a longer story and not really in the same class as a bug.

     

    This story doesn't sound very plausible to me.

    Why not?  It's been fairly widely-documented. 



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @ammoQ said:
    @vt_mruhlin said:
    Also this http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4394002, but that's a longer story and not really in the same class as a bug.
    This story doesn't sound very plausible to me.
    Why not?  It's been fairly widely-documented.
    He's just mad because thoe mechanical kangaroos he bought from America were loaded with intentional bugs.



  • @belgariontheking said:

    He's just mad because thoe mechanical kangaroos he bought from America were loaded with intentional bugs.
     

    And [url=http://www.snopes.com/humor/nonsense/kangaroo.asp]missiles[/url].  (Okay, beach balls.) 

    P.S. Nice to see that Wikipedia correctly identifies this entire site as a software engineering disaster.



  • @cconroy said:

    @belgariontheking said:

    He's just mad because thoe mechanical kangaroos he bought from America were loaded with intentional bugs.
     

    And http://www.snopes.com/humor/nonsense/kangaroo.asp" target="_blank" title="http://www.snopes.com/humor/nonsense/kangaroo.asp">missiles.  (Okay, beach balls.) 

    P.S. Nice to see that Wikipedia correctly identifies this entire site as a software engineering disaster.

    Quoted for fail



  • @bstorer said:

    Quoted for fail

    FUCKING HELL.  The link was fine until I edited the post.  Enjoy your Schadenfreude.

    [url=http://www.snopes.com/humor/nonsense/kangaroo.asp]missiles[/url] 



  • @bstorer said:

    that could easily be presented in text form,

     

    Clicked on that link and saw this: 

     

     

     

    Edited to acknowledge someone noted this before me. 



  • @chebrock said:

    Clicked on that link and saw this: 

    Clearly somebody who has used this forum software added it.


Log in to reply