From: JosephKK on
On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:44:32 GMT, nico(a)puntnl.niks (Nico Coesel)
wrote:

>"Dave M" <dgminala4444(a)mediacombb.net> wrote:
>
>>Muzaffer Kal wrote:
>>> On Sun, 1 Aug 2010 16:52:22 -0700 (PDT), Richard Henry
>>> <pomerado(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Aug 1, 4:23 pm, "JosephKK"<quiettechb...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>>> Found this recently:
>>>>>
>>>>> Subject: Tech worker: 'Blue screen of death' on oil rig's computer
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Old news:
>>>>
>>>> The Yorktown lost control of its propulsion system because its
>>>> computers were unable to
>>>> divide by the number zero, the memo said. The Yorktown's Standard
>>>>
>>>> http://gcn.com/articles/1998/07/13/software-glitches-leave-navy-smart-ship-dead-in-the-water.aspx
>>>
>>> I think the following forum should be of interest to anyone using
>>> computers: http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/risks
>>
>>-----------------------------------------
>>Waaayyyy too much reading to do in a reasonable amount of time. If you can
>>point to any documentation that would be applicable to the subject of this
>>thread, please do so.
>>I'm not a Windows proponent, but since it's the OS that runs all of the apps
>>that I need and like, it's the one that I use and prefer until something
>>much better comes along.
>>
>>Also, the BSOD can be attributed to Windows malfunction or misconfiguration,
>>a hardware failure, or application software failure or misconfiguration. I
>>haven't heard whether the actual cause of the BSOD was ever determined.
>>Until that can be known, you can't put the blame on the OS. At any rate,
>>the brunt of the blame should rest on the computer tech, since, apparently,
>>the problem was never resolved.
>
>I agree here. In my experience Windows can run very reliably (uptime
>>1 year) if you have proper hardware.

Can and usually does are not the same. I would bet that i can run XP
for 1 year at a crack so long as i do not do nay updates (which always
require a reboot). In linux i have done nearly a year, but power
failure got in the way, and i could keep the system completely up to
date.
From: JosephKK on
On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:00:07 +1000, Grant <omg(a)grrr.id.au> wrote:

>On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:23:33 -0700, "JosephKK"<quiettechblue(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>Found this recently:
>>
>>++++++++++
>>
>>Subject: Tech worker: 'Blue screen of death' on oil rig's computer
>>
>>Gregg Keizer, *Computerworld*, 26 Jul 2010
>>
>>A computer that monitored drilling operations on the Deepwater Horizon
>>had been freezing with a [BSOD] prior to the explosion that sank the
>>oil rig last April, the chief electrician aboard testified Friday at a
>>federal hearing.
>>
>>In his testimony Friday, Michael Williams, the chief electronics
>>technician aboard the Transocean-owned Deepwater Horizon, said that
>>the rig's safety alarm had been habitually switched to a bypass mode
>>to avoid waking up the crew with middle-of-the-night warnings.
>>
>>Williams said that a computer control system in the drill shack would
>>still record high gas levels or a fire, but it would not trigger
>>warning sirens, He also said that five weeks before the April 20
>>explosion, he had been called to check a computer system that
>>monitored and controlled drilling. The machine had been locking up
>>for months. You'd have no data coming through." With the computer
>>frozen, the driller would not have access to crucial data about what
>>was going on in the well.
>>
>>The April disaster left 11 dead and resulted in the largest oil spill
>>in U.S. history.
>>
>>==========
>>
>>What can i say? MS Windows should not be used for safety critical
>>systems in any way.
>
>Related story in latest comp.risks says they turned off the alarm
>system at night so workers could sleep and not have to wake up for
>the frequent false alarms at 3:30 :(
>
>Grant.

Kind of a clue that some serious things were let to just slide. If i
managed a $100 million rig and there was some sloppy and safety
critical software like that, the programmer would be on the rig
troubleshooting it 24/7. And maybe his boss to boot.
From: JosephKK on
On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 01:50:15 -0700, Robert Baer
<robertbaer(a)localnet.com> wrote:

>Richard Henry wrote:
>> On Aug 1, 4:23 pm, "JosephKK"<quiettechb...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> Found this recently:
>>>
>>> ++++++++++
>>>
>>> Subject: Tech worker: 'Blue screen of death' on oil rig's computer
>>>
>>> Gregg Keizer, *Computerworld*, 26 Jul 2010
>>>
>>> A computer that monitored drilling operations on the Deepwater Horizon
>>> had been freezing with a [BSOD] prior to the explosion that sank the
>>> oil rig last April, the chief electrician aboard testified Friday at a
>>> federal hearing.
>>>
>>> In his testimony Friday, Michael Williams, the chief electronics
>>> technician aboard the Transocean-owned Deepwater Horizon, said that
>>> the rig's safety alarm had been habitually switched to a bypass mode
>>> to avoid waking up the crew with middle-of-the-night warnings.
>>>
>>> Williams said that a computer control system in the drill shack would
>>> still record high gas levels or a fire, but it would not trigger
>>> warning sirens, He also said that five weeks before the April 20
>>> explosion, he had been called to check a computer system that
>>> monitored and controlled drilling. The machine had been locking up
>>> for months. You'd have no data coming through." With the computer
>>> frozen, the driller would not have access to crucial data about what
>>> was going on in the well.
>>>
>>> The April disaster left 11 dead and resulted in the largest oil spill
>>> in U.S. history.
>>>
>>> ==========
>>>
>>> What can i say? MS Windows should not be used for safety critical
>>> systems in any way.
>>
>> Old news:
>>
>> The Yorktown lost control of its propulsion system because its
>> computers were unable to
>> divide by the number zero, the memo said. The Yorktown�s Standard
>> Monitoring Control
>> System administrator entered zero into the data field for the Remote
>> Data Base Manager
>> program. That caused the database to overflow and crash all LAN
>> consoles and miniature
>> remote terminal units, the memo said.
>>
>> http://gcn.com/articles/1998/07/13/software-glitches-leave-navy-smart-ship-dead-in-the-water.aspx
> Whoever wrote the data entry program should be strung up buy the
>balls for NOT checking the validity of EVERY parameter entered during entry!
> There is absolutely NO excuse!

But the software met specifications. Perhaps the team that wrote the
specifications should be strung up instead.
From: JosephKK on
On Mon, 2 Aug 2010 11:12:26 -0700 (PDT), JeffM <jeffm_(a)email.com>
wrote:

>>Richard Henry wrote:
>>>[USS] Yorktown[...]
>>>http://gcn.com/articles/1998/07/13/software-glitches-leave-navy-smart-ship-dead-in-the-water.aspx
>>>
>Robert Baer wrote:
>>Whoever wrote the data entry program
>>should be strung up buy the balls for NOT checking
>>the validity of EVERY parameter entered during entry!
>>There is absolutely NO excuse!
>>
> The Rules of Operating System Design
>#1 Applications must never crash the OS.
>#2 APPLICATIONS MUST NEVER CRASH THE OS.

#3 applications must not crash other applications.
From: JosephKK on
On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:16:52 +0100, Martin Brown
<|||newspam|||@nezumi.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>On 02/08/2010 00:23, JosephKK wrote:
>>
>> Found this recently:
>>
>> ++++++++++
>>
>> Subject: Tech worker: 'Blue screen of death' on oil rig's computer
>>
>> Gregg Keizer, *Computerworld*, 26 Jul 2010
>>
>> A computer that monitored drilling operations on the Deepwater Horizon
>> had been freezing with a [BSOD] prior to the explosion that sank the
>> oil rig last April, the chief electrician aboard testified Friday at a
>> federal hearing.
>>
>> In his testimony Friday, Michael Williams, the chief electronics
>> technician aboard the Transocean-owned Deepwater Horizon, said that
>> the rig's safety alarm had been habitually switched to a bypass mode
>> to avoid waking up the crew with middle-of-the-night warnings.
>>
>> Williams said that a computer control system in the drill shack would
>> still record high gas levels or a fire, but it would not trigger
>> warning sirens, He also said that five weeks before the April 20
>> explosion, he had been called to check a computer system that
>> monitored and controlled drilling. The machine had been locking up
>> for months. You'd have no data coming through." With the computer
>> frozen, the driller would not have access to crucial data about what
>> was going on in the well.
>>
>> The April disaster left 11 dead and resulted in the largest oil spill
>> in U.S. history.
>>
>> ==========
>>
>> What can i say? MS Windows should not be used for safety critical
>> systems in any way.
>
>Neither should Transocean. Odd that BP should have to pay for their
>mistakes. I guess Transocean is too small to be worth suing.
>
>Regards,
>Martin Brown

The lawsuits are already there. Just not much mentioned.