| Author | Message | ||
| Alex319 (Alex319)
New member Username: Alex319 Post Number: 812 Registered: 5-2007 |
A bug in a computer program almost caused businesses across the United States to spend millions, if not billions, of dollars unnecessarily. However, very few of the companies affected would have used the buggy program themselves or had any business relationship with anyone who used the buggy program. What happened? | ||
| Markobr (Markobr)
New member Username: Markobr Post Number: 150 Registered: 5-2009 |
Did businesses outside the USA also spend money because of the bug? Did certain fields of business tend to spend more than others? Did also households spend money because of the bug? Government or other public agencies? Did they spend money for buying some tangible goods? Buying something intangible (like licences)? For inspecting or repairing something? For other services? For taxes? For damages? Did those few businesses which used the program spend mony unnecessarily, too? Are the few businesses which used the program mostly in a certain field of business? Was the program intended to be mainly used by businesses? Was it originally intended to be used by more businesses than those who in fact used it? | ||
| Indianforce (Indianforce)
New member Username: Indianforce Post Number: 69 Registered: 4-2009 |
Just a WILD guess - is it the MS Word bug where you type '=rand(*some number*, *some number*)'and get pages and pages of useless text? | ||
| Alex319 (Alex319)
New member Username: Alex319 Post Number: 813 Registered: 5-2007 |
Just to clarify, the unnecessary spending never actually happened, because the bug was discovered and corrected in time. The answers to the below questions are what would have happend had the bug not been corrected. Did businesses outside the USA also spend money because of the bug? Probably not Did certain fields of business tend to spend more than others? Yes Did also households spend money because of the bug? Unlikely Government or other public agencies? Yes Did they spend money for buying some tangible goods? Yes Buying something intangible (like licences)? Possibly For inspecting or repairing something? Yes For other services? <b>Not likely<b> For taxes? No For damages? Possibly Did those few businesses which used the program spend mony unnecessarily, too? FA Are the few businesses which used the program mostly in a certain field of business? Yes, and FA Was the program intended to be mainly used by businesses? Yes, for svv of "business" Was it originally intended to be used by more businesses than those who in fact used it? No | ||
| Alex319 (Alex319)
New member Username: Alex319 Post Number: 814 Registered: 5-2007 |
Just a WILD guess - is it the MS Word bug where you type '=rand(*some number*, *some number*)'and get pages and pages of useless text? I have never heard of this bug. So no. | ||
| Rcs (Rcs)
New member Username: Rcs Post Number: 447 Registered: 9-2008 |
Y2K relevant? True story? | ||
| Alex319 (Alex319)
New member Username: Alex319 Post Number: 815 Registered: 5-2007 |
Y2K relevant? No True story? Yes (as far as I know) | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 300 Registered: 10-2008 |
Did only one business use the program? The government? Some not-for-profit organization? Some website? Did the bug cause a mistake to appear in some text? Which people in the businesses then read? Were they spending money because something appeared to be broken? Or missing? | ||
| Alex319 (Alex319)
New member Username: Alex319 Post Number: 816 Registered: 5-2007 |
Did only one business use the program? Yes The government? No Some not-for-profit organization? Yes (and this was the one "business", hence the svv of business Some website? No Did the bug cause a mistake to appear in some text? No Which people in the businesses then read? No Were they spending money because something appeared to be broken? No Or missing? Yes, for svv of "missing" | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 365 Registered: 10-2008 |
Were the businesses wasting money by donating it to this not-for-profit? Were they spending it making consumer products? Were they spending it on their own infrastrucute? On the buildings they were located in? Relevant what the not-for-profit does? Is it a news service of some kind? Does it produce a tool for businesses? Information for businesses? | ||
| Alex319 (Alex319)
New member Username: Alex319 Post Number: 841 Registered: 5-2007 |
Were the businesses wasting money by donating it to this not-for-profit? No Were they spending it making consumer products? No Were they spending it on their own infrastructure? Yes On the buildings they were located in? Yes Relevant what the not-for-profit does? Yes Is it a news service of some kind? No Does it produce a tool for businesses? No Information for businesses? Yope | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 390 Registered: 10-2008 |
For the yope...Does the not-for-profit just produce information in general? Or does it produce something for businesses, but not exactly information? Does it perform scientific experiments? Safety tests? Publish reports? Did the bug cause it to publish something that was incorrect? Or to not get out certain information at all? | ||
| Alex319 (Alex319)
New member Username: Alex319 Post Number: 848 Registered: 5-2007 |
For the yope...Does the not-for-profit just produce information in general? See below Or does it produce something for businesses, but not exactly information? See below Does it perform scientific experiments? Yes Safety tests? Yes Publish reports? Yes Did the bug cause it to publish something that was incorrect? YES! Or to not get out certain information at all? No | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 402 Registered: 10-2008 |
Ah! So were the companies spending money trying to ensure the physical safety of their employees? The mental health? The efficiency of the company? The safety in the physical structure of their buildings? The safety of the products they produce? | ||
| Alex319 (Alex319)
New member Username: Alex319 Post Number: 852 Registered: 5-2007 |
Ah! So were the companies spending money trying to ensure the physical safety of their employees? This one The mental health? The efficiency of the company? The safety in the physical structure of their buildings? The safety of the products they produce? | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 445 Registered: 10-2008 |
Did the bug cause an untrue report, which was not going to be published, to be published anyway? Or did it mess up a text that would otherwise be true? If so, did it change the whole document? A few words? One word? One word wherever it was used the document? An image? Were they trying to prevent the death of employees? Trying to prevent a long-term injury (carpal tunnel, asbestos issues, etc)? | ||
| Alex319 (Alex319)
New member Username: Alex319 Post Number: 855 Registered: 5-2007 |
Did the bug cause an untrue report, which was not going to be published, to be published anyway? Noish Or did it mess up a text that would otherwise be true? If so, did it change the whole document? A few words? One word? One word wherever it was used the document? An image? FA to all Were they trying to prevent the death of employees? No Trying to prevent a long-term injury (carpal tunnel, asbestos issues, etc)? Yes | ||
| Markobr (Markobr)
New member Username: Markobr Post Number: 177 Registered: 5-2009 |
Was the purpose of the software to control the physical function of one or more safety tests? To collect and store data about the safety test(s)? To perform calculations based on test results? What kind of publication would have been affected by the error? Legislation? Industry standards? Technical literature? Mainstream press articles? Would the publication have caused people to think some existing constructions or machinery was unsafe? Or that something new would have to be constructed in a more expensive way to be safe? | ||
| Alex319 (Alex319)
New member Username: Alex319 Post Number: 871 Registered: 5-2007 |
Was the purpose of the software to control the physical function of one or more safety tests? Yes To collect and store data about the safety test(s)? To perform calculations based on test results? What kind of publication would have been affected by the error? Legislation? Yes Industry standards? Yes Technical literature? Mainstream press articles? Would the publication have caused people to think some existing constructions or machinery was unsafe? Or that something new would have to be constructed in a more expensive way to be safe? Yes Spoiler: The full story is here: http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/GRGs-Worst-Production-Failure.aspx | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 556 Registered: 10-2008 |
Poor little guys! Nice idea for a puzzle. |
