Friday Fear – 22 February 2008

“There is no mechanical linkage from the cockpit of a Boeing 777 to the engines. If the software fails, the engines cannot be controlled.” Think about that. The same high quality software that can’t keep your laptop starting up consistently is controlling airliners.

I guess it wasn’t a very scary week – that’s all I’ve got.

Friday Fear – 1 February 2008

Friday Fear:Friday fear is a new weekly feature which offers you a list of five or six things to be very, very, afraid of.

1. Internet outage in the Middle East Aside from losing access to your gmail, can you picture what would happen to the US economy if we lost internet access completely? Also – could terrorists do this on purpose?

2. Double dipping your chips really does spread bacteria. Perhaps someone at the party with you has XDR TB ?

3. You can’t trust your doctor. Or the FDA. Or the coroner.

4. Bats and bees are dying.

5. And, finally: Weaponizing the Climate.