Category: bug

Dev corrupts NPM libs ‘colors’ and ‘faker’ breaking thousands of apps

Post author By tongwing
Post date January 10, 2022

Previously we had attackers using hijacked npm libraries to steal credentials. In this case the libraries or the maintainer wasn’t compromised. In fact it was the maintainer who deliberately introduced bugs into his libraries, thereby breaking thousands of apps that depends on it. There’s no easy solution to this dependency problem. For now use pinned versions and manually approve upgrades.

Users of popular open-source libraries ‘colors’ and ‘faker’ were left stunned after they saw their applications, using these libraries, printing gibberish data and breaking. Some surmised if the NPM libraries had been compromised, but it turns out there’s more to the story.

Source: Dev corrupts NPM libs ‘colors’ and ‘faker’ breaking thousands of apps

bug

Reboot Your Dreamliner Every 248 Days To Avoid Integer Overflow

Post author By tongwing
Post date September 5, 2018

Remember this next time you’re on a Dreamliner.

Basically it says that all Boeing 787 Dreamliners have to be switched off every 248 days. If they are not reset then the generator control units GCUs will go into failsafe mode and the plane will lose all electrical power.

Source: Reboot Your Dreamliner Every 248 Days To Avoid Integer Overflow

bug programming

24-core CPU and I can’t type an email (part one)

Post author By tongwing
Post date August 17, 2018

When software doesn’t behave as expected, it can be really difficult to find out why. In this case, someone experienced an odd hanging problem while using GMail on his powerful computer and decides to investigate. Read on for all the gory details.

…I was just engaging in that most mundane of 21st century tasks, writing an email at 10:30 am. And suddenly gmail hung. I kept typing but for several seconds but no characters were appearing on screen. Then, suddenly gmail caught up and I resumed my very important email. Then it happened again, only this time gmail went unresponsive for even longer.

Source: 24-core CPU and I can’t type an email (part one)

bug

The machine Fired me

Post author By tongwing
Post date June 20, 2018

What happens when there’s things are fully automated with no manual override.
In the relentless drive towards cost-cutting and automation I won’t be surprised if we see more instances of such problems.

At least a year later, I can sit here and write about it without feeling too embarrassed. So that’s the story about the machine that fired me and no human could do anything about it.

Source: The machine Fired me

bug

Hawaii missile alert: How one employee ‘pushed the wrong button’ and caused a wave of panic

Post author By tongwing
Post date January 17, 2018

Whoever thought it’s a good idea to put 2 vastly different scenarios next to each other with similar looking text.

Around 8:05 a.m., the Hawaii emergency employee initiated the internal test, according to a timeline released by the state. From a drop-down menu on a computer program, he saw two options: “Test missile alert” and “Missile alert.” He was supposed to choose the former; as much of the world now knows, he chose the latter, an initiation of a real-life missile alert.

Source: Hawaii missile alert: How one employee ‘pushed the wrong button’ and caused a wave of panic