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F R E N D Z of martian
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And mostly true...
http://www.snopes.com/spoons/faxlore/kangaroo.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: Martin Cosgrave [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: 10 December 1999 10:33
To: multiple recipients of
Subject: FW: GeeK: Careless Code Recycling (fwd)
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F R E N D Z of martian
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absolutely priceless
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, December 10, 1999 10:28 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Fwd: GeeK: Careless Code Recycling (fwd)
Subject: Careless Code Recycling (fwd)
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 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 & Technology Organization's
Land Operations/Simulation division reportedly instructed
developers to model the local marsupials' movements and
reactions to helicopters. Being efficient programmers,
they just re-appropriated some code originally used to model
infantry detachment 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 visiting 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 to remove that part of the infantry coding.)
The lesson? Objects are defined with certain attributes, and
any new object defined in terms of an old one inherits all
the attributes. The embarrassed programmers had learned to
be careful when reusing object-oriented code, and the Yanks
left with a newfound respect for Australian wildlife.
Simulator supervisors report that pilots from that point onward
have strictly avoided kangaroos, just as they were meant to.
* From June 15, 1999 Defense Science and Technology Organization
Lecture Series, Melbourne, Australia, and staff reports.
----- End of forwarded message from Brian A. Dazsi -----
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