anonymous-remailer@shell.portal.com writes:
The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) detailed a software code problem in one of AECL's (Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's) instruments which deliver penetrating radiation.
The software which controlled the radiation dose, would periodically override the oncologist's calibration and deliver a radiation dose 100 times what was prescribed. This software "bug" literally killed wherever the machine was in use.
. . .
Or alternatively, another lesson could be pulled out: To avoid this problem, ensure that your code is mathematically provable or utilize appropriate hardware overrides.
If this is the same case I read of two or three years back, it should be noted that not one but three safety interlocks had to fail simultaneously -- one human, one hardware, one software. The software glitch has gotten the biggest play in the press, but it was not the sole cause of the problem. -- Yea, the heavens shall open and the NP-complete solution given forth. ATT executives shall give birth to two-headed operating systems, and copyrights shall be expunged. The voice of the GNU shall be heard, but the faithless will be without transcievers.