it's fair to say that while many sites such as gmail had integrated advanced security features such as 2FA, apple had not done so in the name of usability. this was the fundamental flaw. after the fappening apple rolled out 2FA.
However, i would call this a security problem not a privacy problem.
Wrong.
Apple added two-factor Authentication to Apple IDs and iCloud in March, 2013.
All the other cloud products Apple has work in exactly the same way as their competitors do: you upload unencrypted documents to Apple, who then store and process them for you.
Incorrect.
Data uploaded to iCloud is end-to-end encrypted, and Apple does NOT have the key, and if they are not lying, nor do they have a backdoor:
They key (no pun) is that the iCloud Keychain is also encrypted, and Apple does NOT have the key. See here. After examining the Table, skip down to where it talks about the "iCloud Keychain".
Also, there is this stated policy, which seems pretty strong to me. Notice it emphasises that Apple has no backdoors in its encyption.
And for Macs, there is FileVault2, for which Apple also does not have they keys.
I'd say that Apple really is serious about protecting your privacy, even from Apple itself, let alone the gummint.
I grew up with UNIX, POSIX, SCO (long before Sun and Oracle), etc... I actually *like* Windows, I like Linux and even Unix too...
I have used Windows, through various jobs, since about 1989; so it is not through lack of experience that I revile Windows as much as I do.
And if you don't particularly like OS X's GUI, take a trip to the most-excellent Terminal app; where you will find your old POSIX friends there waiting, man pages outstretched, ready to do your bidding. You can even load an officially-sanctioned X11 up and use one of those god-forsaken Linux GUIs, like KDE, if you wish!;-)
Because Apple fanboys will continue moving the goalposts.
First off, I am a fan, not a fanboy. Second, I never moved the goalposts. I merely set them, by excluding the NON-virus category "Trojan". And Apple has done about as much as anyone can expect to guard against that, too, with Gatekeeper, the Mac App Store, XProtect, disabled root login, etc.
That isn't "moving the goalposts"; that is simply using the term "virus" (as in computer virus) in the agreed-upon manner. Words matter. Definitions matter. Get over it.
Give me a motherfucking break! By THOSE STANDARDS there hasn't been a Windows bug since the fricking Melissa worm...but the sane world doesn't go by "self replicating" as the standard for a bug, now do they?
MacDefender, MacGuardian,hell OSX even has the FBI bug so don't give us this "self replicating" bullshit, nobody cares whether the virus that steals their fucking ID or CC info is self replicating or not!
Hairyfeet: All I was trying to avoid by using the "Self-Replicating" criteria was the mention of Trojans, which any sane person would agree are a problem for any OS that allows users to install software (i.e., all OSes, including (but not limited to) OS X, Linux and Windows). At least OS X (and now Windows) makes it pretty hard to install stuff as root (Administrator in Windows); but I also understand that that is cold-comfort to the USER who has unwittingly installed malware under their own Account.
MacDefender, MacGuardian, FBI Bug, you name it, they are ALL Trojans. But even by those standards, Wikipedia only lists SEVEN OS X "malwares".
So, essentially, compared with Windows, and even Linux (which has a miniscule marketshare compared with OS X), Macs do not get viruses. Maybe Windows doesn't now, either. But nearly everyone on Slashdot agrees, Trojans aren't viruses, per se. And since OS X has a modicum of "AV" code and anti-malware measures built-in, the need to install cycle-stealing AV packages still seems very minimal.
It's a mac and we made it thin so no easy open for you also we have storage on a card not a hdd so you really can't take it out easy on all systems. Also say takeing out the HDD in the mac mini can void the warranty or at the very least they can say when you took out the hdd you did ESD damage so people may ship out systems with there HDD that can get hacked at the repair shop.
You're so full of shit it must be running out your mouth.
Unibody MacBooks are REALLY easy to open. Remove 10 phillips screws on the bottom-pan and, er, that's it. Replacing the HDD does NOT void the warranty on a Mac mini, unless you are stupid and drop a screw in it and then turn it on or something equally dense. The SSD in the 2015 Retina MacBook Pro is also right in view once you take off the bottom-pan, and is on a plug-in connector. Good luck finding an aftermarket replacement for their PCIe SSD, though.
I'm not sure what you are blathering about "ESD Damage" for, though. If you pet your pussy (cat) while working on the inside of your computer, no matter the brand, you are likely to have an unfavorable outcome.
Given that laptops(especially Apple's) are an increasingly heroic enterprise to open;
You need to update your personal Knowledge Base. MacBooks have been very EASY to open since the Unibody case (what is that, like nearly 10 years now???). The only thing difficult to replace on a Mac laptop nowadays is the Keyboard, funnily-enough.
It would be absolute pud for Apple to put a user-accessible pushbutton on the Mobo of a Unibody MacBook. Ten #00 Phillips screws and you're in. If the pushbutton was on the mobo side closest to the bottom-pan, it would be instantly accessible. Kind of like they used to do for the PMC/SMC Reset on older Macs.
Hahaha OS X... enterprise ready??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
What IT world do you live in. Managing hundreds or thousands of Macs in the workplace is an absolutely nightmare. Poor quality 'enterprise' tools, non-existent policy controls, horrible update options... a total PITA. Apple doesn't care about business/enterprise sales.
And yet, they just keep growing and growing; and the number of Macs in the workplace keeps growing and growing.
So, you had better adjust your thinking buddy-o; before you find yourself on the outside, looking in...
I see your education on macs and OSX is so horribly outdated that your comment is essentially useless. Many do worry about it this is why several virus scanner companies are making products for OSX. Hell you can even get a free Avast for OSX. They would not even bothered if people were not asking for it.
99.99999999999999999999999999999999% of those people are ex-Windows "Switchers"; who simply CANNOT believe that a computer system doesn't need sixteen-factors of malware protection.
Sorry. The ONLY reason why those companies are providing those AV products is to serve the perenially-paranoid.
I'm not saying that Macs CANNOT get viruses; but in over a DECADE of OS X, they just haven't. Period.
At work, I daily deal with Mac-users who gets their mailaccounts hijacked because of infections. It takes roughly 10-20 minutes to convince them to download and run Avast or something like that, but it's worth the "oh....".
How are there mail accounts being hijacked? Because, seriously, I have never heard of a problem with that using OS X Mail.app.
I have been using Macs since they were Lisas, and OS X since the DP4 Public Beta, and have never heard of a Mac having a "hijacked" email,
Nothing stops someone from reselling your email address into slavery; but seriously, I have never heard of Macs being unwitting members in a Botnet, etc.
So, what exactly do you mean by "mailaccounts [sic] hijacked"? Citation, please.
that's interesting because my windows update experience is nothing like yours. You know you can go to windows update settings and tell it to act just like your OSX download and notify, download and install, do nothing and let you check/download/install manually.
My windows 7 has been rock solid for years and certainly never forces me to apply updates when I'm not ready to do so.
You're probably right; I am drawn kicking-and-screaming into using Windows for my day-job as an Application Dev., and so tend to bitch about Windows stuff instead of finding out whether I can make it better.
But I never said my W7 install wasn't rock-solid; in fact, it's the first version of Windows I can actually live with.
But I still like OS X better. LOTS better. But that's another thread...
So instead, I get to wait while it does a System Restore Point (the majority of the time it takes), then do the install and Reboot (goodbye 30-45 minutes), or "suicide" my laptop by holding the power button, then, the next time I Startup, suffer the bitching and moaning about "Windows was not shut down properly", and then the "Windows needs to Restart" (which pops up when it pleases, and simply HAPPENS if you aren't there to DEFER it, then ANOTHER Reboot (which results in ANOTHER 1/2 hour of virus-scanning), right in the middle of the workday.
Or you could just change Windows Update settings so it doesn't do that any more, ever again.
I could; but then I might actually miss-out on a TRULY "critical" update.
Heh, yeah, yet another reason why I don't like Windows: the automatic upgrades that always seem to turn up when they are inconvenient and require a reboot. I mean, when I go home, I don't want to leave my PC running, so I have to stay while it does - what, exactly? So, I only start Windows in a VM and I just pull the (virtual) cable.
Yeah, I HATE that, too! I shuttle my work laptop back and forth from home every day, and it is MOST inconvenient to have that Update notice come up when I am trying to shutdown and go home!
I think MS still thinks that everyone still has a desktop computer, and that it's no problem to just "leave it on" and go home.
So instead, I get to wait while it does a System Restore Point (the majority of the time it takes), then do the install and Reboot (goodbye 30-45 minutes), or "suicide" my laptop by holding the power button, then, the next time I Startup, suffer the bitching and moaning about "Windows was not shut down properly", and then the "Windows needs to Restart" (which pops up when it pleases, and simply HAPPENS if you aren't there to DEFER it, then ANOTHER Reboot (which results in ANOTHER 1/2 hour of virus-scanning), right in the middle of the workday.
OTOH, my OS X laptop does all the downloading of the update in the background, then pops up a Notification to say "Restart to apply the Updates". When *I* deign to Restart, it may spend an additional 30 seconds or so in the grey-screen bootup phase (I assume "applying" the Update) before the Desktop appears (and, unlike Windows, it is "my turn" on OS X after about 10 seconds once the Desktop appears)... and THAT'S IT.
...because in an enterprise environment, that nag icon is a bullshit equivalent to spamming (e.g. wasting folks' time with a sales pitch). No other OS bothers the user with 'OMG update your shit because we need the money!' nags every time someone logs into it.
First off, this is a FREE upgrade; so MS isn't directly benefitting (yet) monetarily from having users upgrade to W10.
Second, when Apple upgraded from Mavericks (10.9) to Yosemite (10.10) (also for Free), I had to beat the "Upgrade" Notifications off with a stick. I can't remember if I finally got annoyed enough to set them to stop (at least you CAN), or if it finally gave up; but there for awhile, it would pop-up a Notification Bubble every 10 minutes or so, telling me "Updates are Available"...
So, I am sad to report that Upgrade-Nagging is unfortunately NOT the exclusive province of Windows, sorry.
This post has just the right amount of contempt to put a smile on my face. I like you.
Thankyouverymuch! I'll be here all week.
Don't forget to tip your bartenders and waitresses...
But seriously, it does make me feel a little bit like we're living in the "Idiocracy"-universe to think that this obvious of errors actually made it into the original design, let alone off the launch pad.
I read up a little on this, and supposedly, there IS a hardware watchdog timer; but the timeout appears to have been set to either 30 or 45 DAYS (WTF?!?); so half the mission will be over before they even get a CHANCE at a hardware Reset. But, since the frickin' log file may have already written over critical parts of the OS, it may be a very moot point.
As for the log file debacle, they explain that they had a fix ready to upload "on the next pass"; but that is when the bird fell silent. Ok, whatever. NASA has to upload code in-flight, too. But I can't understand why there even IS a log file in the first place. Who is going to read it? If they are transmitting "beacons" every 15 seconds (WAY too often IMHO), then they should have simply transmitted the last "n" records of the log file at that time, and then wiped that buffer clean, rather than keeping a log FILE, FFS!!!
But unfortunately for "Dr" Bill Nye and friends, that's all hindsight now.
Yes, I know, I was simply providing information about what he ACTUALLY said.
(Since I was/am too lazy to look the rest of it up for sure, the full line was something close to "You played it for her, so play it for me. Play it, Sam.")
I think you are correct; but this is where I have to sheepishly hand-in my movie-geek card, and admit that in all my 59 years, I have never once seen Casablanca from start to finish. In fact, I think I've only seen about two scenes from that movie, ever! (But that happens to be one of the two scenes that I have seen)...
But that's not really the point I was making. There's a difference between writing an app for a phone or a desktop and writing software for a safety critical embedded systems. The whole approach you take towards developing the software is different.
Hence my diatribe above about the flywheel-balancer and handicap-van projects I have worked on. IOW, you don't have to go to space to find yourself involved in "mission-critical" applications. It isn't like there's designing for "Spaceship OS 1.2" vs. "Candy Crush Saga" with nothing in-between.
It's the old adage. "Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment." Having more people with good judgment would have helped them enormously.
Or, as I always say: "Experience is what you get, when you don't get what you want."
So have I. And I my specialty is in R&D of industrial control systems. Although I have never sent anything into space, I have been designing controls that if they crash, or even if they crash-then-recover, must do so in a graceful manner to avoid causing damage to equipment, or even injury or death.
For instance, one of my first embedded projects was a controller for a dynamic balancing machine. This particular dynamic balancer happened to be spinning-up Flywheels for Caterpillar Earth-Movers. Each flywheel was about 4 ft. in diameter, and weighed about a ton (literally). Then we spun it up to 1800 RPM, and figured out where the imbalance(s) were.
I figured out REAL early on (and without a "team") that if I "watchdogged" (or otherwise found myself back at the start of the code), that I couldn't just ASSUME that I could re-initialize Ports, Data-Direction Registers, etc; but rather had to "look around" at various inputs to see WTF was the REAL state of the machine, THEN try to do an ORDERLY shutdown and restart. Never once caused a flywheel to act like a Frisbee...
BTW, at that time, I was 20 years old, and completely self-taught.
So sorry; just because you are an "engineer", doesn't automagically make you a better Developer. Stupid is as Stupid Does.
Oh, and then there was the Project where I was contracted to develop a "Failover" system for Handicapped vans. Worked a treat. Never failed to detect input/output mismatch or switchover to the backup systems, and in far less time than a human driver could detect the failure, let alone reach for the "switch to the backup" switch while trying to keep their out-of-control van from flying into the ditch...
This is rocket science we're talking about. It's hard.
So are a LOT of embedded industrial control tasks. And MOST of them don't really allow-for a simple "Reset" in the middle of a Run-condition without "Very Bad Things"(tm) happening.
Moral of the story: You don't need a degree; you need an IQ. And experience.
(of course, my comment stems from the more likely than not scenario of any intelligence visiting from outside the solar system will be of the noncorporeal nature - a radio signal or less likely, but still more likely than an organic being, a computer program maybe encased in a robot probe).
And I say "quote" because it is not clear he ever said it.
Yeah, now that you mention it; I seem to remember something about that. Just like the Greta Garbo "I want to be alone" or the Humphrey Bogart "Play it again, Sam" quotes-that-were-never-actually-quotes.
Slashdot Mirror
Anyone at Apple trying to sound altruistic just looks like the pot calling the kettle black.
So, what now?
I assume that you mean that Apple should just give away their products?
Riiiiiight.
Idiot.
it's fair to say that while many sites such as gmail had integrated advanced security features such as 2FA, apple had not done so in the name of usability. this was the fundamental flaw. after the fappening apple rolled out 2FA.
However, i would call this a security problem not a privacy problem.
Wrong.
Apple added two-factor Authentication to Apple IDs and iCloud in March, 2013.
The Fappening happened around September 1, 2014.
And it is well-established that the "breach" of iCloud happened due to good ol' Password-Guessing, nothing more, nothing less.
Nice try, hater.
All the other cloud products Apple has work in exactly the same way as their competitors do: you upload unencrypted documents to Apple, who then store and process them for you.
Incorrect.
Data uploaded to iCloud is end-to-end encrypted, and Apple does NOT have the key, and if they are not lying, nor do they have a backdoor: They key (no pun) is that the iCloud Keychain is also encrypted, and Apple does NOT have the key. See here. After examining the Table, skip down to where it talks about the "iCloud Keychain".
Also, there is this stated policy, which seems pretty strong to me. Notice it emphasises that Apple has no backdoors in its encyption.
And for Macs, there is FileVault2, for which Apple also does not have they keys.
I'd say that Apple really is serious about protecting your privacy, even from Apple itself, let alone the gummint.
I grew up with UNIX, POSIX, SCO (long before Sun and Oracle), etc... I actually *like* Windows, I like Linux and even Unix too...
I have used Windows, through various jobs, since about 1989; so it is not through lack of experience that I revile Windows as much as I do.
;-)
And if you don't particularly like OS X's GUI, take a trip to the most-excellent Terminal app; where you will find your old POSIX friends there waiting, man pages outstretched, ready to do your bidding. You can even load an officially-sanctioned X11 up and use one of those god-forsaken Linux GUIs, like KDE, if you wish!
Because Apple fanboys will continue moving the goalposts.
First off, I am a fan, not a fanboy. Second, I never moved the goalposts. I merely set them, by excluding the NON-virus category "Trojan". And Apple has done about as much as anyone can expect to guard against that, too, with Gatekeeper, the Mac App Store, XProtect, disabled root login, etc.
The old mantra was "Macs dont get viruses",
And so far, they don't. At least not by any generally agreed-upon definition of "virus".
That isn't "moving the goalposts"; that is simply using the term "virus" (as in computer virus) in the agreed-upon manner. Words matter. Definitions matter. Get over it.
Give me a motherfucking break! By THOSE STANDARDS there hasn't been a Windows bug since the fricking Melissa worm...but the sane world doesn't go by "self replicating" as the standard for a bug, now do they?
MacDefender, MacGuardian,hell OSX even has the FBI bug so don't give us this "self replicating" bullshit, nobody cares whether the virus that steals their fucking ID or CC info is self replicating or not!
Hairyfeet: All I was trying to avoid by using the "Self-Replicating" criteria was the mention of Trojans, which any sane person would agree are a problem for any OS that allows users to install software (i.e., all OSes, including (but not limited to) OS X, Linux and Windows). At least OS X (and now Windows) makes it pretty hard to install stuff as root (Administrator in Windows); but I also understand that that is cold-comfort to the USER who has unwittingly installed malware under their own Account.
MacDefender, MacGuardian, FBI Bug, you name it, they are ALL Trojans. But even by those standards, Wikipedia only lists SEVEN OS X "malwares".
So, essentially, compared with Windows, and even Linux (which has a miniscule marketshare compared with OS X), Macs do not get viruses. Maybe Windows doesn't now, either. But nearly everyone on Slashdot agrees, Trojans aren't viruses, per se. And since OS X has a modicum of "AV" code and anti-malware measures built-in, the need to install cycle-stealing AV packages still seems very minimal.
In the first place?
Do you REALLY have to ask that?
Really?
It's a mac and we made it thin so no easy open for you also we have storage on a card not a hdd so you really can't take it out easy on all systems. Also say takeing out the HDD in the mac mini can void the warranty or at the very least they can say when you took out the hdd you did ESD damage so people may ship out systems with there HDD that can get hacked at the repair shop.
You're so full of shit it must be running out your mouth.
Unibody MacBooks are REALLY easy to open. Remove 10 phillips screws on the bottom-pan and, er, that's it. Replacing the HDD does NOT void the warranty on a Mac mini, unless you are stupid and drop a screw in it and then turn it on or something equally dense. The SSD in the 2015 Retina MacBook Pro is also right in view once you take off the bottom-pan, and is on a plug-in connector. Good luck finding an aftermarket replacement for their PCIe SSD, though.
I'm not sure what you are blathering about "ESD Damage" for, though. If you pet your pussy (cat) while working on the inside of your computer, no matter the brand, you are likely to have an unfavorable outcome.
Given that laptops(especially Apple's) are an increasingly heroic enterprise to open;
You need to update your personal Knowledge Base. MacBooks have been very EASY to open since the Unibody case (what is that, like nearly 10 years now???). The only thing difficult to replace on a Mac laptop nowadays is the Keyboard, funnily-enough.
It would be absolute pud for Apple to put a user-accessible pushbutton on the Mobo of a Unibody MacBook. Ten #00 Phillips screws and you're in. If the pushbutton was on the mobo side closest to the bottom-pan, it would be instantly accessible. Kind of like they used to do for the PMC/SMC Reset on older Macs.
Hahaha OS X... enterprise ready??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
What IT world do you live in. Managing hundreds or thousands of Macs in the workplace is an absolutely nightmare. Poor quality 'enterprise' tools, non-existent policy controls, horrible update options... a total PITA. Apple doesn't care about business/enterprise sales.
And yet, they just keep growing and growing; and the number of Macs in the workplace keeps growing and growing.
So, you had better adjust your thinking buddy-o; before you find yourself on the outside, looking in...
I see your education on macs and OSX is so horribly outdated that your comment is essentially useless. Many do worry about it this is why several virus scanner companies are making products for OSX. Hell you can even get a free Avast for OSX. They would not even bothered if people were not asking for it.
99.99999999999999999999999999999999% of those people are ex-Windows "Switchers"; who simply CANNOT believe that a computer system doesn't need sixteen-factors of malware protection.
Sorry. The ONLY reason why those companies are providing those AV products is to serve the perenially-paranoid.
I'm not saying that Macs CANNOT get viruses; but in over a DECADE of OS X, they just haven't. Period.
At work, I daily deal with Mac-users who gets their mailaccounts hijacked because of infections. It takes roughly 10-20 minutes to convince them to download and run Avast or something like that, but it's worth the "oh....".
How are there mail accounts being hijacked? Because, seriously, I have never heard of a problem with that using OS X Mail.app.
I have been using Macs since they were Lisas, and OS X since the DP4 Public Beta, and have never heard of a Mac having a "hijacked" email,
Nothing stops someone from reselling your email address into slavery; but seriously, I have never heard of Macs being unwitting members in a Botnet, etc.
So, what exactly do you mean by "mailaccounts [sic] hijacked"? Citation, please.
that's interesting because my windows update experience is nothing like yours. You know you can go to windows update settings and tell it to act just like your OSX download and notify, download and install, do nothing and let you check/download/install manually. My windows 7 has been rock solid for years and certainly never forces me to apply updates when I'm not ready to do so.
You're probably right; I am drawn kicking-and-screaming into using Windows for my day-job as an Application Dev., and so tend to bitch about Windows stuff instead of finding out whether I can make it better.
But I never said my W7 install wasn't rock-solid; in fact, it's the first version of Windows I can actually live with.
But I still like OS X better. LOTS better. But that's another thread...
So instead, I get to wait while it does a System Restore Point (the majority of the time it takes), then do the install and Reboot (goodbye 30-45 minutes), or "suicide" my laptop by holding the power button, then, the next time I Startup, suffer the bitching and moaning about "Windows was not shut down properly", and then the "Windows needs to Restart" (which pops up when it pleases, and simply HAPPENS if you aren't there to DEFER it, then ANOTHER Reboot (which results in ANOTHER 1/2 hour of virus-scanning), right in the middle of the workday.
Or you could just change Windows Update settings so it doesn't do that any more, ever again.
I could; but then I might actually miss-out on a TRULY "critical" update.
Heh, yeah, yet another reason why I don't like Windows: the automatic upgrades that always seem to turn up when they are inconvenient and require a reboot. I mean, when I go home, I don't want to leave my PC running, so I have to stay while it does - what, exactly? So, I only start Windows in a VM and I just pull the (virtual) cable.
Yeah, I HATE that, too! I shuttle my work laptop back and forth from home every day, and it is MOST inconvenient to have that Update notice come up when I am trying to shutdown and go home!
... and THAT'S IT.
I think MS still thinks that everyone still has a desktop computer, and that it's no problem to just "leave it on" and go home.
So instead, I get to wait while it does a System Restore Point (the majority of the time it takes), then do the install and Reboot (goodbye 30-45 minutes), or "suicide" my laptop by holding the power button, then, the next time I Startup, suffer the bitching and moaning about "Windows was not shut down properly", and then the "Windows needs to Restart" (which pops up when it pleases, and simply HAPPENS if you aren't there to DEFER it, then ANOTHER Reboot (which results in ANOTHER 1/2 hour of virus-scanning), right in the middle of the workday.
OTOH, my OS X laptop does all the downloading of the update in the background, then pops up a Notification to say "Restart to apply the Updates". When *I* deign to Restart, it may spend an additional 30 seconds or so in the grey-screen bootup phase (I assume "applying" the Update) before the Desktop appears (and, unlike Windows, it is "my turn" on OS X after about 10 seconds once the Desktop appears)
...because in an enterprise environment, that nag icon is a bullshit equivalent to spamming (e.g. wasting folks' time with a sales pitch). No other OS bothers the user with 'OMG update your shit because we need the money!' nags every time someone logs into it.
First off, this is a FREE upgrade; so MS isn't directly benefitting (yet) monetarily from having users upgrade to W10.
Second, when Apple upgraded from Mavericks (10.9) to Yosemite (10.10) (also for Free), I had to beat the "Upgrade" Notifications off with a stick. I can't remember if I finally got annoyed enough to set them to stop (at least you CAN), or if it finally gave up; but there for awhile, it would pop-up a Notification Bubble every 10 minutes or so, telling me "Updates are Available"...
So, I am sad to report that Upgrade-Nagging is unfortunately NOT the exclusive province of Windows, sorry.
Why the fuck would any sane person want to move to UNIX in 2015? OSX and Linux have had to constantly patch the shitty UNIX architecture for years.
And Apple has been doing such a bad job of patching that there hasn't been a serious, self-replicating exploit in the wild for OS X in, well, ever.
This post has just the right amount of contempt to put a smile on my face. I like you.
Thankyouverymuch! I'll be here all week.
Don't forget to tip your bartenders and waitresses...
But seriously, it does make me feel a little bit like we're living in the "Idiocracy"-universe to think that this obvious of errors actually made it into the original design, let alone off the launch pad.
I read up a little on this, and supposedly, there IS a hardware watchdog timer; but the timeout appears to have been set to either 30 or 45 DAYS (WTF?!?); so half the mission will be over before they even get a CHANCE at a hardware Reset. But, since the frickin' log file may have already written over critical parts of the OS, it may be a very moot point.
As for the log file debacle, they explain that they had a fix ready to upload "on the next pass"; but that is when the bird fell silent. Ok, whatever. NASA has to upload code in-flight, too. But I can't understand why there even IS a log file in the first place. Who is going to read it? If they are transmitting "beacons" every 15 seconds (WAY too often IMHO), then they should have simply transmitted the last "n" records of the log file at that time, and then wiped that buffer clean, rather than keeping a log FILE, FFS!!!
But unfortunately for "Dr" Bill Nye and friends, that's all hindsight now.
Yes, I know, I was simply providing information about what he ACTUALLY said.
(Since I was/am too lazy to look the rest of it up for sure, the full line was something close to "You played it for her, so play it for me. Play it, Sam.")
I think you are correct; but this is where I have to sheepishly hand-in my movie-geek card, and admit that in all my 59 years, I have never once seen Casablanca from start to finish. In fact, I think I've only seen about two scenes from that movie, ever! (But that happens to be one of the two scenes that I have seen)...
Bogart's character said "Play it, Sam".
Right. But everyone always mis-quotes it as "Play it AGAIN, Sam.", hence my reference.
But that's not really the point I was making. There's a difference between writing an app for a phone or a desktop and writing software for a safety critical embedded systems. The whole approach you take towards developing the software is different.
Hence my diatribe above about the flywheel-balancer and handicap-van projects I have worked on. IOW, you don't have to go to space to find yourself involved in "mission-critical" applications. It isn't like there's designing for "Spaceship OS 1.2" vs. "Candy Crush Saga" with nothing in-between.
It's the old adage. "Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment." Having more people with good judgment would have helped them enormously.
Or, as I always say: "Experience is what you get, when you don't get what you want."
I've been doing this kind of work for decades
So have I. And I my specialty is in R&D of industrial control systems. Although I have never sent anything into space, I have been designing controls that if they crash, or even if they crash-then-recover, must do so in a graceful manner to avoid causing damage to equipment, or even injury or death.
For instance, one of my first embedded projects was a controller for a dynamic balancing machine. This particular dynamic balancer happened to be spinning-up Flywheels for Caterpillar Earth-Movers. Each flywheel was about 4 ft. in diameter, and weighed about a ton (literally). Then we spun it up to 1800 RPM, and figured out where the imbalance(s) were.
I figured out REAL early on (and without a "team") that if I "watchdogged" (or otherwise found myself back at the start of the code), that I couldn't just ASSUME that I could re-initialize Ports, Data-Direction Registers, etc; but rather had to "look around" at various inputs to see WTF was the REAL state of the machine, THEN try to do an ORDERLY shutdown and restart. Never once caused a flywheel to act like a Frisbee...
BTW, at that time, I was 20 years old, and completely self-taught.
So sorry; just because you are an "engineer", doesn't automagically make you a better Developer. Stupid is as Stupid Does.
Oh, and then there was the Project where I was contracted to develop a "Failover" system for Handicapped vans. Worked a treat. Never failed to detect input/output mismatch or switchover to the backup systems, and in far less time than a human driver could detect the failure, let alone reach for the "switch to the backup" switch while trying to keep their out-of-control van from flying into the ditch...
This is rocket science we're talking about. It's hard.
So are a LOT of embedded industrial control tasks. And MOST of them don't really allow-for a simple "Reset" in the middle of a Run-condition without "Very Bad Things"(tm) happening.
Moral of the story: You don't need a degree; you need an IQ. And experience.
Way to go, LightSail team. I dub thee LightFail.
LOL! No fooling!
indeed!
(of course, my comment stems from the more likely than not scenario of any intelligence visiting from outside the solar system will be of the noncorporeal nature - a radio signal or less likely, but still more likely than an organic being, a computer program maybe encased in a robot probe).
I AM NOMAD!
Sterilize! Ster - I - LIZE!!!
I was going by the original "quote"
And I say "quote" because it is not clear he ever said it.
Yeah, now that you mention it; I seem to remember something about that. Just like the Greta Garbo "I want to be alone" or the Humphrey Bogart "Play it again, Sam" quotes-that-were-never-actually-quotes.