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Human override here to stay
Life, James Hein, Published on 10/04/2019
» Computers are useful tools and they will emotionlessly churn through thousands of operations in the blink of an eye to produce whatever results they were programmed to do. Most of the time the results are welcomed. When it comes to malware the results generate a different reaction, and then there are those spaces in the middle. The situation surrounding the Boeing 737 Max MCAS aircraft and the recent crash is an excellent example. The latest analysis would seem to indicate that the computer engineers made some choices that have had unintended consequences. In this case overriding the wishes of the pilots by assuming the plane was crashing, when it wasn't, and not allowing the human pilots to correct the computer's decisions.
Windows 8 not foolproof after all
Life, James Hein, Published on 21/11/2012
» With all the marketing in full force across the planet it is hard to avoid talking about Windows 8. This also means that different types of people are looking closely at the new operating system and finding issues. You may remember a few weeks back that Windows 8 was going to be the new bastion of security.
The curious case of the reappearing mail
Database, James Hein, Published on 08/12/2010
» I use Yahoo for my personal mail and it is an example of how distributed computing can be a bit flakey. I access my mail from two primary locations _ work and home. I've noticed when I access mail from one location and then go to the other, the same items I've already processed are still there, even when I refresh. Sometimes I find they are still there or reappear when I reboot my computer or restart my browser. It gets really strange when I try to do something with a redisplay item, only to be told it has been moved or deleted.