Software disasters are often people problems...

[Fred]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/biztech/10/05/software.disasters.ap/index.html

I'll skip down to the amusing part:

...
Though there were a handful of close calls, all 403 planes in the air
during the incident managed to land safely, said FAA spokesman Donn
Walker. A handful violated rules that dictate how close they are allowed
to fly to each other -- but the FAA maintains there were no "near
misses."

The genesis of the problem was the transition in 2001 by Harris Corp. of
the Federal Aviation Administration's Voice Switching Control System
from *Unix-based* servers to Microsoft Corp.'s off-the-shelf Windows
Advanced Server 2000.

By most accounts, the move went well except the new system required
regular maintenance to prevent data overload. When that wasn't done, it
turned itself off as it was designed to do. But the backup also failed.
In all, the southern California system was down for three hours, though
other FAA centers restored communications within seconds, Walker said.
...

Why in hell would they go from a reliable system to a shoddy one? Keep
this in mind the next time you fly -- your very life may depend on the
reliability of Windows. You're in "good hands" with Microsoft.

REFUND, PLEASE!!!!!!

-- 
Fred -- fred at lrc.puissante.com -- place "[hey]" in your subject.
The mass of humans on planet Earth -- regard them as the ebbing 
seas in the winds of change. They ebb, they flow, they know not 
where to go.