22 Mar
2006
22 Mar
'06
1:02 a.m.
Hi,
Glen Slick said:
Patients have been killed by PDP-11 controlled medical
devices:
http://sunnyday.mit.edu/papers/therac.pdf
(On topic too, this happened 20 years ago)
When I went to have my chest checked a few years ago (they had me
breathing radioactive gas...) the imaging was done by a beige
cube-shaped computer, about 18 inches on a side, using 8-inch floppies
(there were boxes of them on a shelf). Unfortunately I couldn't sneak
round the other side to see the front panel.
--
Cheers,
Stan Barr stanb at dial.pipex.com
The future was never like this!