A friend of mine who works for General Dynamics here in Ft. Worth wrote some
of the code for the F-16, and he is always telling me about some
neato-whiz-bang bug/feature they keep finding in the F-16:
 
o Since the F-16 is a fly-by-wire aircraft, the computer keeps the pilot from  
  doing dumb things to himself. So if the pilot jerks hard over on the  
  joystick, the computer will instruct the flight surfaces to make a nice and  
  easy 4 or 5 G flip. But the plane can withstand a much higher flip than that.  
  So when they were 'flying' the F-16 in simulation over the equator, the  
  computer got confused and instantly flipped the plane over, killing the  
  pilot [in simulation].  And since it can fly forever upside down, it would
  do so until it ran out of fuel.
 
(The remaining bugs were actually found while flying, rather than in  
simulation):
 
o One of the first things the Air Force test pilots tried on an early F-16  
  was to tell the computer to raise the landing gear while standing still on
  the runway. Guess what happened? Scratch one F-16. (my friend says there
  is a new subroutine in the code called 'wait_on_wheels' now...) [weight?]
 
o The computer system onboard has a weapons management system that will
  attempt to keep the plane flying level by dispersing weapons and empty
  fuel tanks in a balanced fashion. So if you ask to drop a bomb, the
  computer will figure out whether to drop a port or starboard bomb in order
  to keep the load even. One of the early problems with that was the fact
  that you could flip the plane over and the computer would gladly let you
  drop a bomb or fuel tank. It would drop, dent the wing, and then roll off.
 
There are some really remarkable things about the F-16. And some even more
remarkable things in the new F-16C and D models:  
 
o They are adding two movable vents called 'canards' that will be installed
  near the engine intake vent under where the pilot sits. By doing some
  fancy things with the flight surfaces and slick programming, they can get
  the F-16 to fly almost sideways through the air. Or flat turns (no
  banking!). Or fly level with the nose pointed 30 degrees down or up (handy  
  for firing the guns at the ground or other aircraft).

Sujet: Reminder - Maintenance
 
[...]
The server is going down for maintenance at 18:00 and not at 18:15 like planned.  
[...]

<ido> anywho, i'll go write my own
<ido> it should only take a few hundred lines of coke
<ido> i mean code...