Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Can Software Kill?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the of-course dept.

mykepredko writes "Eweek has an interesting, if somewhat long article titled Can Software Kill? The article focuses on a programming error that resulted in 28 Panamanian cancer patients receiving many times an expected lethal dose of radiation. The article briefly mentions, but doesn't go into detail, the 1991 Patriot Missile Failure that resulted in the deaths of 28 American service men and women."

10 of 562 comments (clear)

  1. Sure it can kill. by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    Can Software Kill?

    Certainly. A complete set of Novell manuals dropped from 40 stories up packs the same kinetic energy as a 10 car freight train moving at 80 km/h.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:Sure it can kill. by micromoog · · Score: 5, Funny

      Given the choice between that and actually reading them, I'll take the 40 stories. At least then I have an outside chance of survival.

    2. Re:Sure it can kill. by Charlton+Heston · · Score: 5, Funny

      Any tree that would voluntarily take part in Novel documentation deserved to die.

      --
      Get your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape
    3. Re:Sure it can kill. by maxwell+demon · · Score: 5, Funny

      He was talking about throwing the manual, not the terminal. Although being hit by a terminal thrown from a few stories high might actually be terminal as well.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  2. Software that kills... by bmorton · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apparently it can only kill people in groups of only 28.

    1. Re:Software that kills... by fizban · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, 7-bit operating systems kill in groups of 28. 8-bit systems kill in groups of 32.

      --

      +1 Insightful, -1 Troll. What can I say, I'm an Insightful Troll.

    2. Re:Software that kills... by Adriax · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's a hardware limitation they hope to have fixed before too long.

      --
      I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
  3. Of course! by zuikaku · · Score: 5, Funny

    One must be very careful when you kill -9!

  4. Tonight on Fox... by The+I+Shing · · Score: 5, Funny

    Tonight on Fox...

    WHEN SOFTWARE ATTACKS!
    with host Mitch Pileggi

    --
    You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
  5. Is this what you meant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft Windows: A thirty-two bit extension and graphical shell to a sixteen-bit patch to an eight-bit operating system originally coded for a four-bit microprocessor which was written by a two-bit company that can't stand one bit of competition

    -- author unknown