Crashed [Windows CE] Computer Traps Thai Politician in Limousine

Aardvark Daily ^ | May 14, 2003

[Bacon Man]

Jerry Nadler! What happened!?

LOL! I had to go look up what he looks like but I have to say, you were right on.

[Timesink]

LOL! I had to go look up what he looks like but I have to say, you were right on.

Actually, I'm being a teensy bit unfair, since he underwent gastric bypass surgery not too long ago, and has been losing a ton of weight ever since. But hey, he's MY congressman, so I'm entitled.

[Uri’el-2012]

What a Hoot !

[Fractal Trader]

It's hard to believe that BMW fell for such crashware. Would think they could do well with embedded Linux, from what I hear.

[discostu]

I just stay manual, they can break but usually it's just a screw coming loose and a little PM when you first feel it getting jiggly will take care of it.

You're OK if the car sinks with the windows up if it's not electric and you can still get them down. Of course the number 1 lesson for all those kind of situations is: don't panic, you have more time than you think.

[js1138]

I don't care what the OS of the computer system is, what I want to know is exactly HOW BIG AN IDIOT was the engineer that designed a car with NO MEANS TO MANUALLY UNLOCK the Doors from the INSIDE!

You don't need a computer to do this. Some years ago Cadilac marketed a car whose power window controls could catch on fire after locking all the doors.

[rdb3]

The Penguin Ping.

Wanna be Penguified? Just holla!

Got root?

[yevgenie]

In response to "got root?"
I do!

[TechJunkYard]

Here are some interesting video clips of a 745i owner's experiences with his car.

Windows.... heehehehhee....

[demlosers]

Gee, doesn't his Beemer come with a reboot button?

[Traveler2000]

I don't get it. Everything in the story seemed to indicate that the "computer" failed but then they start hammering Microsoft. Was it the "computer", "OS", or the "application" that failed. Sounds like these reporters have a hair up their butt against Microsoft. I can see the headlines now. "Thai farmer killed by team of oxen gone berserk." "Farmers wife was able to email authorities to report that her husband was being gored in the fields by a team of wild oxen." "When asked, she reported using Microsoft Outlook to report the incident." "Ah, another fatality caused by Microsoft Outlook".

[ChadGore]

Linux: The ultimate windows service pack.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Ya. I'm always driving off bridges.

[Eala]

I don't care what the OS of the computer system is, what I want to know is exactly HOW BIG AN IDIOT was the engineer that designed a car with NO MEANS TO MANUALLY UNLOCK the Doors from the INSIDE!

That was my thought too -- "What, no manual backup mechanism?" But this had to be more than just one engineer, given what goes into auto design. This short-sightedness had to slip by a whole bunch of people/teams, to make it into production. And BMW to boot -- what's with the vaunted German engineering?

So hazardous, and not just here... Imagine you've just been in a collision that's killed the electrical system, spilling gasoline is burning... and you can't unlock the doors.

[Dominic Harr]

Just saw Matrix Reloaded.

Somehow, this makes me feel better. If computers do take over the world, let's pray they're running Windows!

[ShadowAce]

Hey! You stole my tagline! :)