System Crashes: Hugh Thompson's Day Off

Some people collect stamps. Other hobbyists go fishing. Some even write computer programs for fun. Whatever your pastime of choice is, I wish Hugh Thompson's hobby was something different, at least when he and I are flying on the same airplane.

You see Hugh, who is best known for as a security expert who has written articles for Dr. Dobb's including Rethinking Software SecurityRethinking Software Security and Red-Team Application Security Testing, gets his kicks from crashing computing systems -- all in the name of research, of course. In itself, that's okay and, in fact, a good thing. Except Hugh's particular delight is in crashing the info/entertainment systems on airplaines. Now that in itself is okay too, except when I happen to be on the same plane.

I first heard about Hugh's experiences in crashing a Linux-based info/entertainment system when sitting in on a lecture he was presenting at Dr. Dobb's Architecture and Design World 2006 Conference. Hearing about it in the abstract (if chewing on a turkey sandwich at the luncheon keynote can be consisted abstract) was interesting and amusing.

But more recently, I met up with Hugh at the Frankfurt Germany airport where we were on the same plane to Dr. Dobb's SD Best Practices India conference. Not only were we on the same plane, but Hugh was sitting in the seat directly in front of me. There I was, expecting a pleasant flight -- love that airplane food, those free movies, and the chance for a nice nap. Foolish me. The plane hadn't even taken off yet when Hugh starts cackling "Come look at this." As you can probably guess, he had already crashed the info/entertainment system, this time a Windows-based one.

I suppose I ought to be thankful that the plane was still on the ground, but somehow I still didn't nap too well, thinking of how easy it was to crash the system and there Hugh was with plenty of time on his hands in an 8-hour flight to Hyderabad.

And then there's the flight home to look forward to. Hugh, how about I buy you a crossword puzzle book?

Posted by Jon Erickson at 04:02 AM  Permalink