in the Use of Computer Systems and Related Technology
by Peter G. Neumann
>for example 1.1 Recent yet-to-be-merged items
or 1.14 Robots and Artificial Intelligence
http://www.csl.sri.com/users/neumann/illustrative.html#17
"This list summarizes items that have appeared in the Internet Risks Forum Digest (RISKS) - which I moderate (comp.risks newsgroup) - and/or published ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes (SEN)..."
~After scanning these lists, "glitches", "viruses" amd "computer malfunctions" may no longer seem as adequate explanations for why you might find yourself for example locked in a airplane sitting on a runway for 17 hours.
Can indiividuals buy computer malfunction insurance? Forget about the risks of flying; how about the risks of never getting off the ground?
>related Aviation officials criticize the agency for its weak response to a computer glitch that left 17,000 stranded.
August 14, 2007
'We did everything we could," he (Michael Fleming, spokesman in Los Angeles for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency)said. "We certainly weren't expecting something of this magnitude. In the past, if we had a little glitch," the computers "came up right away."
That's what happened more than 24 hours later, when customs computers crashed again. They were down for about 80 minutes late Sunday night and early Monday for what officials said were problems unrelated to Saturday's issues. They declined to provide details.
... Sprint spokeswoman, said customs officials called the company about 1:30 p.m., reporting that two routers were down. Within half an hour, she said, technicians were testing the routers from a remote location but concluded they were operating correctly. About 4:30 p.m., as customs reported continuing problems, a technician was dispatched. He arrived about 6 p.m. and by about 8 had concluded the problem was not with the transmission lines but with the customs agency's local area network. Sprint's time frame of events and that of aviation officials differs slightly.
As planes began to stack up on the tarmac Saturday afternoon and into the evening, airline and airport officials pressed customs to relax its inspection standards and process passengers based on information the passengers themselves provided.
But customs officials declined. "We can't risk our security for even one traveler," Fleming said. "What if one was a terrorist?"
Meanwhile, Los Angeles International Airport officials discussed defying the federal government and storming aircraft to rescue passengers if frustration led to violence aboard the idling jets.
"We would have gone out and rescued those folks. . . and dealt with the federal fine later," said Paul Haney, deputy executive director for airports and security for Los Angeles World Airports, the agency that operates LAX.
They settled instead for providing food, drink and enough fuel to keep air-conditioning systems running, with customs' blessing.
Nearly 40 ambulances were on standby.
story | LATimes
~A story to tell the grandkids.
Posted by Stubbornson at August 22, 2007 06:48 PM