Computers that crash planes with pilots behind the stick.
https://www.seattlepi.com/news/arti...ht-behind-Boeing-s-warning-after-13370896.php
https://www.seattlepi.com/news/arti...ht-behind-Boeing-s-warning-after-13370896.php
Very eloquent. I was plane captain on Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King and it is one of the most durable helo's ever made.refers to helicopters as "10,000 parts, temporarily flying in close formation."
If you heard some of the horrors that is avionics software, you try to avoid sitting in any of these things. (Or you finally realize why there is at least one bar at any airport...)
E.g. some planes have an automated collision avoidance system, hard-wired into the controls without any way of override. Sounds like a good idea, except the broadcasts that are used to identify other planes and their movements aren't authenticated in any way. These broadcast signals consist of a flight number, position coordinates, height, speed and movement vector. The format is very easy to understand and the messages aren't encrypted. So anyone with a somewhat strong antenna and radio kit (or living near an airport...) could easily send such a broadcast to any plane to get his personal airshow...
There was an interesting talk about this broadcast system (and how horribly insecure it is) ~2 or 3 years ago at defcon IIRC. Living near an airport back then I couldn't resist using my cheap 5EUR DVBT-dongle and gnuradio to have a look myself - and actually it's even more terrifying if you see how much more is being sent over the air unencrypted and very likely processed without any form of valitadion...
Anyone remember the incidents at LaudaAir where planes engaged the thrust reversal in mid-flight? One of my professors back at university ~10 years ago was in the engineering/software team they hired to investigate and try and find/fix that problem. The code turned out to be a horrible mess of years or even decades of patchwork, hotfixes and additions; most of the code was written in the form of dozens of nested if/when/while checks on existing conditions from the very old, basic/crude code that it seemed no one dared to touch later on...
Of course available time and budget was way too low to actually find and fix the actual problem, so the final solution that actually went airborne for the remainder of the lifetime of these planes was to just add yet another hotfix far down the codepath: if the thrust reversal wants to activate, check if the gear is engaged/locked and if we are below a given altitude, else don't activate TR. (I bet there was a comment much like the now infamous "temporary, i hope hope hope")
Oh yes, and most planes still use one single (often even completely flat) network for all communication on board. Yes, that includes the buggy android phones of pimply-faced teenagers on the as well as the engine control systems... Of course, this has only been pointed out constantly since at least 6 or 7 years. In public. By dozens of people. And on social media. So there's no need to fix that anytime soon
There are some very interesting talks nearly every year at defcon/blackhat/<other con> about such avionics software horrors. If someone wants to develop a serious aviophobia, they should absolutely watch some of them
This is why they should force engineers to learn basic cybersecurity principles in school. Most people designing systems like this don't even consider basic cybersecurity design principles. Which is why people like me will always have a job...
Having worked on the Sea-King I can't even imagine what a cable bundle for a 737 looks like.We’re ripping apart some of the electronics racks already assembled to replace wire bundles that aren’t right,” he said.
I'd propose a much simpler solution: Software/Firmware (especially for critical systems) should either be fully open source so problems can be found and fixed; or if the software is proprietary/closed, the company selling it has to take _full_ responsibility for any accidents and damages.
Two problems with this. Who would go an voluntarily read the source code for something as complex as an airplane or something of that magnitude, without getting paid a lot of $$$ for it? It must have zillions of lines of code. A few years (maybe 15) I heard that the Boing 767 or 777 was the first airplane that wasn't able to lift a printed copy of its own software documentation. Clearly, documentation is an integral part of the work product of a software development organization, so this documentation would have to be released too, right? Do you think you would read a dozens of tons of requirements and design documents, before reviewing the code?I'd propose a much simpler solution: Software/Firmware (especially for critical systems) should either be fully open source so problems can be found and fixed;
Have her order some doll houses and a bag of cookies. Or something more creative. How about an Elvis Presley themed set of bowling balls? But it must be something she kind-of mentioned. Like that butler with the ear trumpet, interpreting his lordship. That should get rid of one of themOne good thing is "Alexa" is an idiot. HAL would slap her silly if he met her Want to get rid of these stupid things so bad but wife loves them.
Want to get rid of these stupid things so bad but wife loves them.
This is one of the reasons "I, Robot" was required reading for first year CS students at my university.Isaac Asimov offers three laws of robotics from his work, I, Robot. Should we have taken this more seriously as a modern technological society? I say yes.