Due to the increased complexity of loosely written computer software with millions of lines of code, memory management is virtually out the window, almost the opposite of using C++ to write low level small memory footprint code to run on tiny battery powered portable electronics, like a fitness tracker or internet of things device running on a CR2032 coin cell 3V battery.
A recent IT outage this morning cause chaos in hospitals, airports and train stations. Moreover, many thousands of other businesses operating on with Microsoft Windows got the bad software update, then the Blue Screen of Death or BSOD and a recover boot looping problem prevent startup of the computers. The outage was caused by a faulty update to the CrowdStrike cybersecurity Falcon service integrated into the windows OS.
Our dependance on electricity and internet exemplifies the fragility of modern civilization to a major global internet outage or long duration power outage from a CME or coronal mass ejection from the Sun that strikes the Earth's atmosphere triggering a global electrical storm that burns all the wires. There are trillions of miles of wires connecting electric things in the world today.
Some estimates suggest than an 8-month duration global power blackout could result in 90% of all human life ending. No fridge, no microwave, no gas pumps, no credit cards, no EV charging, no internet, no banks, no hospitals, no airports, almost all aspects of what enables modern economies to function are critically dependent on electricity 24/7 known as baseload capacity or firm power in the electrical power industry.
Nuclear power plants, coal power, hydro power, there are some power technologies that make electricity 24/7 unlike the weaker less reliable wind and solar that are so trendy and popular as renewable energy or expensive energy storage using lithium-ion batteries. By the way, industrial development not only fragile, its also eco toxic. Human activity damages the biosphere and human health with pollutant emissions of many kinds at huge industrial scales so vast that microplastics can be found in nearly every living being on Earth now!
Cybersecurity a trillion dollar industry now because of state sponsored hacking from China and North Korea, aimed at taking down power plants, hospitals, airports, but also to steal state secrets, to engage in industrial espionage to steal intellectual property, to public fake news, engage in trolling on social media platform and other efforts to increase social division or divisiveness that causes people to hate each other or become racists or bigoted or extremely ignorant, espousing that the Earth is Flat or something else illogical and stupid.
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