The Loony Bin
(
loonies@bloodaxe.com
)
Tue, 14 Dec 1999 04:44:28 +0000
Hiya Loonies...
Would you trust these people to program your computer...???...this one
was sent in by Len...
Wishes & Dreams...
- ANDREA
xx
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************ANDROMEDA******Internet Goddess************
------- Forwarded foolishness follows -------
Careless code recycling causes killer kangas
Mutant Marsupials Take Up Arms Against Australian Air Force
The reuse of some object-oriented code has caused tactical headaches for
Australia's armed forces. As virtual reality simulators assume larger
roles in helicopter combat training, programmers have gone to great
lengths to increase the realism of the their scenarios, including
detailed landscapes and - in the case of the Northern Territory's
Operation Phoenix - herds of kangaroos (since disturbed animals might
well give away a helicopter's position).
The head of the Defense Science and Technology Organization's Land
Operations/Simulations division reportedly instructed developers to
model the local marsupials' movements and reaction to helicopters. Being
efficient programmers, they just re-appropriated some code originally
used to model infantry detachments reactions under the same stimuli,
changed the mapped icon from a soldier to a kangaroo, and increased the
figures' speed of movement.
Eager to demonstrate their flying skills for some visiting American
pilots, the hotshot Aussies "buzzed" the virtual kangaroos in low flight
during a simulation. The kangaroos scattered, as predicted, and the
Americans nodded appreciatively... then did a double-take as the
kangaroos reappeared from behind a hill and launched a barrage of
stinger missiles at the hapless helicopter. (Apparently the programmers
had forgotten the remove "that" part of the infantry coding).
The lesson? Objects are defined with certain attributes, and any new
object defined in terms of the old one inherits all the attributes. The
embarrassed programmers had learned to be careful when reusing object-
oriented code, and the Yanks left with the utmost respect for the
Australian wildlife.
Simulator supervisors report that pilots from that point onwards have
strictly avoided kangaroos, just as they were meant to.
>From June 15, 1999 Defense Science and Technology Organization Lecture
Series
Melbourne, Australia.
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