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The day my script killed 10k phones in South America

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Re: The day my script killed 10k phones in South America

#71

Post by polartx »

Iolaum wrote: post #46
heavenlyblue wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The deadline for generating a bunch of random phone numbers to block? The author would probably save some time by hard-coding some truly non-existent phone numbers instead of using a random number generator.

Author says in the article they had a 3 day deadline to finish the product and needed to test thousands of cases while already having pulled late nights to keep up with schedule.

“To the tens of thousands of people whose phones were suddenly and inexplicably bricked: my bad. You see, it was almost the weekend and although I had 3 days to responsibly approach this problem, I had already pulled several late nights, I’m sure you understand”

Re: The day my script killed 10k phones in South America

#73

Post by 6gvONxR4sf7o »

treesknees wrote: post #33
cycomanic wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too me this is another example showing how much behind "software engineering" is behind most otherl engineering disciplines. Processes in other disciplines are build very much into the practice that these things don't happen because people die if a plane crashes or a bridge collapses. Also that somehow software gets away with absolving itself of any liability (i.e. the usual "this software is provided as is...") is q…

You're just not looking in the right places, and your comment is a bit disingenuous. You're cherry-picking examples that don't represent an entire industry. NASA for example has an _extremely_ tight tolerance on software specifications, testing, and proofs [1]. Medical devices and other core infrastructure also has very robust development cycles to ensure bugs don't bring down the power grid or overcharge someones he…

It seems pretty clear that software is behind the auto industry in build quality/reliability too.

Re: The day my script killed 10k phones in South America

#74

Post by fragmede »

tcskeptic wrote: post #21
leephillips wrote: post #18

“the main product was an app...that would lock the phone if it was stolen, or if the customer stopped paying. The app was built as part of the Android OS, so you couldn't uninstall it. It would lock the low-level features that allowed you to make calls, use Wifi...until you paid up. All good.” No, not all good. There’s the problem right there. If I stop paying you can stop providing me the service I’m paying for. Usi…

Why do you assume the users own the phones? There are plenty of business models where the company owns the phones and the user gets to use it by paying a monthly fee. One of the services being provided may well be the use of the phone itself.

Because (pardon my language) fuck that business model, that's why. It's reprehensible on a number of different levels, and specific aspects of that have been made illegal, but companies keep trying to bring back the exploitation.

Just because there's a business model doesn't mean that we have to support it, or help it be implemented. We can shame our fellow developers choosing to enable scams and write malware/computer viruses.

Lets say I start a business and the business model is going to be "every time tcskeptic posts a comment to HN, they give me $1". Sounds pretty great to me! As part of this contract, no objections to this business model will be allowed. There's the small detail that you didn't agree to this contract, but hopefully it illustrates that just because I have a business model doesn't mean anybody has to accept it.

Re: The day my script killed 10k phones in South America

#75

Post by totony »

scollet wrote: post #28
kingcharles wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once ran a query on a live production web site thinking I was doing a SELECT but somehow ran an UPDATE which set all the millions of users' gender to 'M', regardless of their selection. Restoring from backups would have been a nightmare. And telling my supervisor would have been a nightmare. So I used everyone's selected title (Mr, Ms, Mrs etc) to reset their gender setting, and then put the keyboard down and went…

I think you made the wrong call here.

Why? Looks good to me

Re: The day my script killed 10k phones in South America

#76

Post by matheusmoreira »

shantnutiwari wrote: post #45

Author here. I shared this yesterday, didnt get much upvotes and quickly vanished. Thanks to /u/nixcraft for sharing it again! Looks like 2nd time lucky. Im seeing the same type of comments here and on Reddit, I'll try to answer a few common ones. 1. Yes, I know it was stupid testing on production. But we'd been told we needed to release the product on Monday (this was Friday), no objections. A previous project manag…

> If you get a phone on contract, you don't actually own it till you pay it off, and the company is entitled to lock it.

No. You don't turn off somebody's phone while they're using it. You have no idea what they could be doing. Someone could be literally dying in front of your locked out consumer who is now unable to call for help. This is vital infrastructure and you're denying them access. If somebody dies because of this, it's on your conscience.

Would you randomly disable somebody's car's engine because they didn't pay? No. You call the police and get them to repossess the car. The police will do it properly without risking collateral damage.

Re: The day my script killed 10k phones in South America

#77

Post by ronsor »

diebeforei485 wrote: post #69
shantnutiwari wrote: post #45

Author here. I shared this yesterday, didnt get much upvotes and quickly vanished. Thanks to /u/nixcraft for sharing it again! Looks like 2nd time lucky. Im seeing the same type of comments here and on Reddit, I'll try to answer a few common ones. 1. Yes, I know it was stupid testing on production. But we'd been told we needed to release the product on Monday (this was Friday), no objections. A previous project manag…

> This is builtin on iPhones I've never heard of this. Can you elaborate?

He's referring to the "iCloud Lock"

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201441

Re: The day my script killed 10k phones in South America

#78

Post by AdrianB1 »

emaginniss wrote: post #40
tim333 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not usually the case under UK law at any rate.

The headline says South America. I don't think they use UK law.

The phone numbers generated for testing were in South America, but the app can block anywhere in the world from any country in the world, including UK. That stuff blocked random phones on the globe, if that is not clear enough.

Re: The day my script killed 10k phones in South America

#79

Post by nso95 »

JanisL wrote: post #60

I've noticed more as time has gone on people are working on critical software without the skills or organizational structures required to actually do so safely. What I'm wondering is if this is a change that's happened more broadly or is just something that I didn't notice before? Overall the average years of experience in the industry has dropped in the last decade due to the influx of new developers but what's the…

This guy wasn't inexperienced though

Re: The day my script killed 10k phones in South America

#80

Post by drewzero1 »

scollet wrote: post #28
kingcharles wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once ran a query on a live production web site thinking I was doing a SELECT but somehow ran an UPDATE which set all the millions of users' gender to 'M', regardless of their selection. Restoring from backups would have been a nightmare. And telling my supervisor would have been a nightmare. So I used everyone's selected title (Mr, Ms, Mrs etc) to reset their gender setting, and then put the keyboard down and went…

I think you made the wrong call here.

Right, it may be a clever fix but it's not safe to assume a user's gender based on their name or honorific.
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