Slashdot Mirror
CNBC Software Flaw Worth $1 Million?
Strudelkugel writes "BusinessWeek tells the story of one obsessive fan who unraveled a software glitch worth one million dollars. Jim Kraber was a regular CNBC viewer, and when the opportunity arose he took the 'Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge' very seriously. At one point, he was spending 12 hours a day on the contest, using three computers to trade 1,600 different portfolios in a theoretical stock game. His efforts got him into the top 20 finalists, but in the last round of trading he noticed some unusual patterns. 'One trader had a stream of near-perfect picks, consistently placing huge bets on shares that soared in after-hours trading. Kraber suspected the trader and perhaps others were getting help from someone who was changing their picks after the stocks' increases — and he quickly notified CNBC ... Kraber says CNBC rebuffed him at the time, but now it looks like he may have been right.'"
Behind every Marketing person with an idea, there is a programmer that has to implement it. I don't think you can blame the technical issues you quoted on bad marketing... just poor programming.
Yes, I'm in Marketing... and yes, I also program (semi-professionally). However, I realize that I am not the person best qualified for doing "mission-critical" projects like that (mission-critical to a Marketing program, in this case).
MadCow.
I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.