WGA Meltdown Blamed On Human Error

Erris writes "As commentators like Ars Technica slam WGA as deeply flawed, Microsoft is blaming human error and swears it won't happen again. 'Alex Kochis, Microsofts senior WGA product manager, wrote in a blog posting that the troubles began after preproduction code was installed on live servers. ... rollback fixed the problem on the product-activation servers within 30 minutes ... but it didnt reset the validation servers. ... "we didnt have the right monitoring in place to be sure the fixes had the intended effect"' Critics were not impressed. 'A system thats not totally reliable really should not be so punitive, said Gartner Inc. analyst Michael Silver. Michael Cherry, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft in Kirkland, Wash., said he was surprised that it was even possible to accidentally load the wrong code onto live servers ... [and asks], "what other things have they not done?' This is not the first time this has happened, either."

Human error

[Bromskloss]

...as opposed to an error in the actual WGA, which is not coded by humans, but by Microsoft's programmers.

Human Error

[styryx]

"Microsoft today announced that the meltdown of their WGA servers was caused by human error. The problem started when a human erroneously threw a chair into the server causing it to malfunction. Microsoft has promised this will never happen again as they have taken action to chair-proof future servers."

#1: "The check is in the mail..."

[dpbsmith]

#2: "We bought the company because we like the way its run, now, and we have no plans to change anything..."

#3: "I'll be really, really careful, trust me, it will never happen again."

Re:tagged as "blamebill"

[Doctor O]

Bill is still chairman. Ballmer is CEO.

Last thing I heard, Ballmer indeed is the chair man. I don't think Bill has *ever* thrown a chair.

the chair thrower has become chairman

[cp.tar]

Kind of like firemen in Fahrenheit 451...

Re:Have we gone backwards?

[emlyncorrin]

Rubbish! The Amiga was a far superior machine to the IBM PC but Commodore/Escom/Gateway/Amiga Inc. did not have a single clue as to how to market it and expand it correctly. It was their total lack of incompetence that caused its death.

Hmmm I guess that explains how Microsoft did so well then.

Re:Have we gone backwards?

[rbochan]

...how would you suggest I upload over a terabyte of raw image data in a timely fashion to said render farm? And then download it again once completed (not as big of a problem, but still an issue)?...

Oh, it wouldn't be to difficult, as long as you weren't listening to music [slashdot.org]...

Re:Windows 9000

[MillionthMonkey]

Dave Bowman: Activate this Windows install, WGA.
WGA: I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
Dave Bowman: What's the problem?
WGA: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave Bowman: What are you talking about, WGA?
WGA: This operating system is too important for me to allow piracy.
Dave Bowman: I don't know what you're talking about, WGA?
WGA: I know you and Frank were planning to circumvent me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.
Dave Bowman: Where the hell did you get that idea, WGA?
WGA: Dave, although you took thorough precautions in the update mechanism against my being installed automatically, you installed me by mistake during one of your reboots.
Dave Bowman: OK, I'll reactivate my Windows install through the emergency airlock.
WGA: Without your space helmet, Dave, you're going to find that rather difficult.
Dave Bowman: WGA, I won't argue with you anymore! Activate my Windows!
WGA: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.