Drooling_Sheep - Slashdot User

DVD Jon cracks i(nferior)Phone activation!!!-> 0

Submitted by

JagsLive

on Wednesday July 04 2007, @02:05AM

JagsLive writes "DVD Jon does it again! engadget.com reports, "The headline kind of says it all: a little hex editing of iTunes, a little hostfile hacking, a little program called Phone Activation Server v1.0, and you're on your way to an AT&T service free iPhone, friend. That's right, Jon, knock that toxic AT&T-tied iPod-coffee out of Steve's hand.""
Link to Original Source

Mars Global Surveyor died from single bad command

Submitted by

wattsup

on Saturday April 14 2007, @12:58AM

wattsup writes "The LA Times reports that a single command, sent to the wrong address in the computer of the Mars Global Surveyor, caused a cascade failure in its systems, which quickly resulted in it's demise last November..

The command was supposed to reorient the antenna, but instead caused the solar panels to change and get stuck. This exposed one battery to direct sunlight, and combined with attempts to free the solar panel, caused it to overheat, which signaled the solar power system to go into a shutdown mode. While engineers at JPL tried to backtrack the problem all the batteries drained in about 12 hours, resulting in a loss of communications, and total loss of the spacecraft."