We’ve all heard stories about someone’s electric meter going berserk and generating a bill for tens of thousands of dollars of usage for a single month. And then trying to deal with the power company’s computerized system to fix the problem.

It’s the best argument I can think of against setting up automatic payments from your bank account. Because even though it’s so obviously a system error, it can be totally frustrating, and even frightening, when you are hit in the gut by the Cyberbully!!!

Well, then — if you think that was hideous — just imagine being in London and being told by your weather app that you’re in the path of a monster hurricane about to bring winds of 13,508 miles per hour.

Or in Sydney, Australia, where the temperature is about to demolish all previous records — not to mention incinerating everything and everyone in sight — by topping off at 378 degrees Celsius (that’s 712 degrees Fahrenheit, for all my fellow Americans).

Say goodbye, everyone.

Sound like something from the latest horror movie? Or are you one of those people who believe everything you see online, and would you assume it really was the Apocalypse coming to carry you and everyone else away?

Actually, it happened this morning on BBC News, and it was that bane of 21st-Century existence: a computer glitch. All over the world, people were being told their weather had gone nuts, leaving them to assume they were either going to be fried, or blown to the Land of Oz. What a pleasant wake-up call.

It didn’t take long for the BBC to pinpoint the problem, which was apparently “a data issue with a third-party supplier.” At about 1:30 p.m. London time, they were apologizing and “working hard to fix the problem.” [Andre Rhoden-Paul, BBC News, October 10, 2024.]

Well now, there’s a classic piece of British understatement. I imagine they were actually falling all over themselves to get it fixed. But I’ve always loved the ingrained stoicism of our U.K. friends.

Carry on, ladies and gents. You’ve dealt with much worse. Remember the Blitz?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/10/24