50 Absolutely Wild Software Fails People Were Lucky Enough To Notice And Share Online (New Pics)
We love technology, we use it daily, and apparently, we can also laugh at it. The members of the subreddit r/softwaregore have been gathering the funniest software fails that have gone terribly wrong!
The group has been running since the 15th of January, 2013. Now over 1.9 million members are laughing at incidents from the weather toasting up to 1000 degrees to having -2 messages.
Whether you're a tech wizard seeking a good chuckle, or just a feed scroller, brace yourselves for a laughter-packed journey that will make you question the sanity of programmers.
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Now That's Just Hurtful
"Something went wrong" Me: We just refer to it as my birthday, f**k off!
From smartphones to smart homes, coding revolutionized the way we live, work, and connect with the world around us. What stands behind a good program is the development process.
It is usually a multi-nuanced one, but looks something like this: Selecting the methodology or the roadmap of the project, gathering the requirements needed, deciding how the software will operate, building the model, and constructing the code. Then comes the primary testing phase, which then leads to the fixing of any and all defects that come up. Once all that is done, the software is deployed and further upgraded following user demands. From that point on the software is maintained to sustain the highest quality.
Do Negative Numbers Count?
Sure! But unfortunately they cannot be greater than 0 either :(
Load More Replies...Okay this one actually kinda makes sense. They are asking about a range, a range would be X-2X for example, and that would mathematically denote less than zero, for example 50k - 55k= -5k. It sure is a weird way to phrase it :p
Didn't think of that possibility, I was just thinking the front end person got their mixed up
Load More Replies...It really irked me that this was a required question when I was filling out an application because they didn't specify if they wanted my 9 months or annual expectation (educator). I felt damned if you do, damned if you don't on answering it
Employer entitlement has now hit "you should pay US to work here!" levels of audacity.
This isn't a range. A range would be 75000-85000, and in this case with treating the range as a mathematic subtraction, the result would be -10000.
Quick guess - the coders found a bodge to be able to check valid ranges where the entry is expected to be of the form {lower} - {higher} - EG: 45000-75000, treat that as a math formula and a negative value would be expected.
Having An Existential Crisis Over Here
Programming failure sounds funny enough, but what stands behind it? Surprisingly, 75% of developers feel that new software projects will fail in the initial stage. A report by Standish Group states that 49% of new cases fail, with 47% of them being challenged and only 4% successful. After all, who stands behind the screen is just a human: “To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.” – Paul Ehrlich.
Interesting Trip To Work Today
Where's the anxiety bus loading. Gotta transfer to the indifference bus to get to work.
Quite A Nice Run I Had This Evening
No, Dash did it first, in The Incredibles. (Maybe this is his alias.)
Load More Replies...Ah, a fellow running enthusiast! I, too enjoy popping out for a relaxing 308,569.20 mile run after work. Just a great way to decompress :)
Please, just remember to run in the direction of earth's rotation we don't want any time reverse
Load More Replies..."I like long walks on the beach, live theater, and exploring dimensional tears.
Impressive. Why did you decide to turn around mid ocean? Several times? Just curious.
Female Gender Is Invalid
Pretty sure this one has been manipulated, the person most likely didn’t click either option and hit the submit button causing the error message to display, then they clicked the female option highlighting it, the error message would still display until the submit button is pressed again
Surely, you’ve seen funny software fails on Reddit, but here we have some of the most famous and costly software disasters of all time.
Burning Mars Climate Orbiter. In 1998, NASA launched a $125 million robotic space probe to monitor the Martian atmosphere, climate, and surface. After 286 days, it went into orbital insertion, and communication with the spacecraft was lost. The navigation pushed the orbiter too close to the Mars atmosphere where it burned and broke into pieces.
Speechn’t
You sound like Yoda with a hint of Proper Grammer!!
Load More Replies...Grammarly and I have a love/hate relationship, too.
This is what happens when your programmers go to school in Florida.
You are assuming they have schools in Florida...think DeDumbis got rid of them all...
Load More Replies...My B.m.i Is Apparently Infinite
So, "to infinity...and beyond" is just how Buzz says he wants to go to a buffet.
How I wish, wish that this archaic method would not be used. Better to gauge the level of fitness, blood panel results, lifestyle, overall health!
My Sim Slept While Carrying A Plate
My Sims turn into God awful spaghetti monster things with monstrously long fingers and a mangled near unrecognizable spine.
Shhhh. If you wake him up, he'll drop his emotional support plate.
Another software fail happened when hundreds of cancer patients got exposed to massive radiation doses. Since 2000, many hospitals across the USA used the Therac-25 medical radiation therapy device to treat people suffering from cancer. However, due to the incorrect input of radiation dosage data into the software, patients received radiation doses up to 100 times higher than the intended amount. Tragically, this error led to the loss of 10 lives and caused severe injuries to more than 20 people.
Yes You Are Train! Yes You Are
Go for it! Don't let anyone else tell you what you can be train!
I'll take a sour cherry pie a la mode please
Load More Replies...I'm Pretty Sure That Lakes Aren't Supposed To Be Like That
When satellites take ground altitude measurements using binocular optical instruments (as opposed to radar), it fails for lakes and snowfields.
Like the two warring kings getting a wish each. The first king wishes for an impenetrable wall around his kingdom so the enemy can't breach it. The second king's wish? "Fill it with water".
Uhh there's were I learned how to drive !!
Load More Replies...What is this. Where is this? Someone please help my brain?
Flight Sim 2022. They use satellite data to replicate the real world. Problem is, as another user noted, when you use a sat to take ground altitude measurements with any method other than radar, the system fails. This is an example of that kind of fail.
Load More Replies...Flight Sim 2022. At launch there were some glitches with height values in maps, such as mm converted to inches, data from datasets zeroed to different baselines, data from unreliable sources etc
Load More Replies...No guys its just a hole to the void (someone got creative mode)
It Seems Like He’s Suffering From Something Called “Life”
The system has determined your time is up. Please report to the nearest disposal facility.
"Remain vigilant." If that worked, it would make the best story EV-AH. So vigilant I shall remain!
Forget the doctor - if your problem is that your heart shouldn't be beating, consult the mortician.
World War III almost happened because of a software fail. As frightening as it sounds, in 1983, the Soviets believed that American missiles were attacking them. Their systems misinterpreted sunlight reflections off the tops of clouds as missile launches. Fortunately, later an officer of the Soviet Air Defense Forces identified the error and proclaimed it a false alarm.
No, I Don't Think That's A Jam Bun
App: Hey we're just sayin', if s**t hits the fan you know exactly how much energy they'll give.
That's why I got me a Giant Pyrenees. Today he's a pet. In the event of apocalypse, he gets reassigned to livestock.
Load More Replies...According to Google translate, the dog is identified as "bread with jam"
Google Translate is not very good at Japanese. The original poster was correct; it says “jam bun”.
Load More Replies...Wait, a cashew is 9 kcal? A single cashew? I need to stop eating entire bags of cashews in one sitting…
I honestly think I’ve convinced myself that I don’t like cashews (because of their high fat content). And that’s just sad.
Load More Replies...Yes the translation says Jam bread. It thinks the dog is the said jam bread
Load More Replies...Iphoneos Subtly Trying To Tell You Your Sleep Schedule Is F**ked Up
Jeez, the very idea of having my phone track my sleep is insane. We have a teething baby in the house. It would be just another thing to get stressed about!
Back when I used a FitBit, it gave me all sorts of crazy sleep measurements and then chided me for going over or under the sleep goal.
Ah Yes, I Agree Bread Kinda Is That
Hello, police? There are people breading everywhere here, please send back-up
some algorythms look for those weird characters, because that's how spammers try to get past blacklist words
Bored Panda editors no doubt will be adding this to their forbidden words list, along with the poor old chess piece (p.a.w.n)
no margerine, either. real. soft. silky. sweet. buuuttt'r
Load More Replies...Even buildings collapse because of software failures. In 1978, Hartford Civic Center Coliseum crumbled from the weight of snow, costing $70 million + $20 million in damage to the local economy. The CAD programmer made a mistake in the design of the coliseum by incorrectly assuming that the roof supports would only experience pure compression. Additionally, the computer model indicated that all the top chords received lateral bracing, but only the interior frame met the criteria.
I'm Really Alerted After This
Tsunami warning from Bay of Plenty in New Zealand. Where I live :)
Load More Replies..."People MUST stay out of the water (sea, rivers and estuaries). STAY OFF beaches and shore areas. There's a danger to swimmers, surfers, people fishing, small boats and anyone in our near the water close to shore. For further information listen to the radio/tv or visit the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Facebook page."
Says something along the lines of “Surges at the shore, People MUST stay out of the water (sea rivers and estuaries), STAY OFF beaches and shores a rease, Theres a danger to swimmers surfers people fishing small boats, and anyone in or near the water close to the shore. For further information listen to the radio/tv or visit or Bay of Plenty Civil Defense Facebook page. Issued by Bay of Plenty Civil Defence on 13:30 05/03/2021”
This is like something that would be in an analog horror series
These are the words, and I just realised these are keep being copied thats why there are so many words. "SURGES AT THE SHORE. People MUST stay out of the water (sea, rivers and estuaries) STAY OFF beaches and shore areas. There's a dange to swimmers, surfers, people fishing in small boats and anyone in or near the water close to shore. For further information listen to the radio/tv or visit Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Facebook page. Issud by Bay of Plenty Civil Defence on 13:30 05/03/2021"
":/" In "Http://" Got Replaced With A Smiley
Half Life Corrupted My Screenshot And Created Some Metal Album Cover Material
Awww, that's no glitch....it's just the Eye of Sauron. Completely NOTHING to worry about. Nope. Not a thing. (psst....RUN!!)
As we gaze into the future, a few upcoming trends are likely to happen in software development.
Artificial intelligence has been a hot topic for some time now. We can expect it to be more common in software development, like creating better applications and helping with data analysis and forecasting.
Another interesting future trend will be the 'Internet of things'. This basically means a network of 'things' - connecting everything by exchanging sensor data between them. Examples could be: smartphones, cars, household appliances, and industrial machinery.
Finally, Virtual reality. It is already being used in gaming, education, and entertainment. In the future, we can also expect this technology to become more common in software development. It will help simulate environments and test products in real time.
Alternate Route
My favourite Google maps mistake is asking how to get to Calais and Google maps suggesting that I swim the English channel.
Google maps once sent me literally to the middle of a cow pasture. You have arrived at your destination!
Load More Replies...Could be worse, back in the day Mapquest would divert you by McDonald's so much so that a friend asked it for direction to her best friend's place down the street. Mapquest told her to go the opposite direction from her friends place until the stop sign, turn left, go party McDonald's, turn left, and finally turn left. Talk about corporate sponsorship.
I have a love-hate relationship with Google Maps. I need it, because I'm useless at orientation, but at the same time I live in a mostly rural area where the maps are not good, so Google gets lost sometimes and it's really frustrating. I can get lost by myself without the help of technology, thank you very much Google!
I'd take Google Maps over TomTom though (which isn't saying much). Years ago on a contractor job in southern California, TomTom was on a roll. It had this tendency for it's directional cursor to spin and need to recalibrate at freeway interchanges...as you're approaching at freeway speeds. Did that four times in downtown Los Angeles. Then it gave directions basically to drive down a non-existent street through a grocery store. Fun times!
Load More Replies...Google maps once told me to do a u-turn on I-5 in Tacoma, WA, because I had missed my turn off the 8 lane concrete barrier divided highway.
Failed Successfully
I remember when I was a kid my drama teacher told me if I ever messed up on stage I should still "fail fantastically".
and make you verify your failure by clicking "ok". Freaking demeaning
Brilliant! Putting a positive flourish in unintended, experimental ‘improv’ ;)
Awfully Specific
when I see a lot of numbers I immediately sing "THIS IS PI, FOLLOWED BY"
3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971 (I did that from memory isn't that fancy)
As amusing as r/softwaregore is, the subreddit serves as a reminder of all the challenges developers face, and if anything, it makes us appreciate them even more. Software is both: or friend and an enemy, the coding just decide us think which is which.
2020 Didn't End In Romania
Same, it’s my favorite day of the year
Load More Replies...Why would you want to extend 2020 Romania??? You should have extended 2019 and somehow found a way to skip over the day that covid started
Actually COVID started in 2019 •-• 2020 is just the year it really came down, and we had locks downs or whatever
Load More Replies...i was so confused as to what was wrong with it until i looked at the comments- god why am i so dumb?
Damn Forgot To Update My Graphics Card Driver For The Last 78 Years My Bad
Graphic drivers in 1945! so it's true the government did keep computers away from the public for many years.
Time to pull out the punch cards, hopefully they are still in order.
This Planetarium's Computer Crashed
I don't know why, but I wish I could see that. It would look as if the universe crashed!
Ah Yes, A Blue Box
“…and that’s the last time I ran errands for a color blind gorilla on meth.”
I have a blue house with a blue window. Blue is the colour of all that I wear. Blue are the streets and all the trees are too. I have a girlfriend and she is so blue.
I'm blue I believed I would die I believed I would die and I believed I would die... ( I know those aren't the actual lyrics, but I've always liked mine better. Mine make way more sense than badoo dabba dee or whatever)
Load More Replies...I play animal crossing (new horizons) and I can definitely say that villagers will say some interesting things
In the older games tho it gets even wilder
Load More Replies...The Emoji Looks As Confused As I Am
With -10000 it doesn't really matter if it is K, C or F.
Load More Replies..."Oh my friend with the real face is going to die today. So sad too bad"
Just... Don't Go There
Is this where we shove (and let me know if I miss anything): Racists Abusers (of all kinds) Homophobes Transphobes Anti-vaxxers Flat earthers Supporters of certain politicians Putin ... I feel like I'm missing a few.
Memojis Be Like…
My Pizza Is Coming From Another Continent Lmao
Wait, but that’s not even how the word is spelled
Load More Replies...I love how the pizza is not only coming from a different continent but it will also be traveling all around the globe
Because it's close to a slur word and that would drive away the advertisers. Welcome to nonsense.
Load More Replies...I Wonder What Whould Happen
The cows are taking. over. Code Moo brother. Code Moo.
Load More Replies...If you pick cow evolution, the cows will evolve and take over. Don’t click it 😱
Ahh Yes 24/7
Me! But then, I have to share my phone with two cats.
You think that's bad? I averaged 27 hours of screen time a day!!
OHHHHHHHHHH. It's all used watching the Colleen Ballinger apology just to wrap their mind around it.
Could've been worse. It could've said 25 hours like other fails here.
What freaks me out is the word averaged. I would like a day-to-day count to see which days I used more than 24 hours.
My Package Had A Meltdown
Actually with the way Amazon is effing up deliveries in my area lately, it's probably shipped 23 April 2023, estimated delivery 22 April 2024
Load More Replies...Doesn't say which year. I had a package delivered from the USA to Australia that arrived more slowly than my ancestors did back in the year 1854.
I just had one in the US show up from China after a six week pleasure cruise across the Pacific. A ten day estimate of course.
Load More Replies...And create a rift in the space/time continuum by forgetting to actually order the package you’ve already received
Travel Method Saves Time As Well!
Or maybe back from the dollar store after having purchased a bunch of pool noodles
Load More Replies...The wind is perfect. The water, however... Well, the water is non-existent.
Oh, we'd be alright if the wind was in our sails Oh, we'd be alright if the wind was in our sails Oh, we'd be alright if the wind was in our sails And we'll all hang on behind
My PC Started Crashing All Around And My Mouse Cursor Started Duplicating So I Drew A House With It
It gives 8th grade continuous line drawing art project (in the best way possible, of course :))
This reminds me of using different textured paintbrushes in microsoft paint in like 2003. Simpler times, man.
o.k. good. I thought you were drawing pictures with fluffy white stuff on a mirror... somebody is gon get jacked
This Is My Clock Now
My First Ever Barefoot Run
Did they have to apologize for the sonic boom they made on that jog.
Earth, Wind, And A Chance Of Scattered Showers
Greek Architecture
This looks like one of those "scariest bridges in the world" click baits that photoshops the cover photo into things that still terrify my nightmares
The people of these roads go up and down, up and down, up and down.......
Mr Stark I Don’t Feel So Good
Well... Kudos To The Devs !!!
It's the first thing you try, lots of people have 'enter' as their PC password, rather than set an actual one!
Load More Replies...Must be 12 characters long, contain one special character, one number, one cap, one cryllic symbol, one prime number, one irrational equation and no duplicates. F*** you, I just want to order a pizza not set nuclear launch codes.
I spent too much time trying to decode a hidden message that doesn't exist while the joke went over my head.
I just like that a blank is considered a strong password, while the super complex one is weak. Lol
Chrome strong passwords be like: nI373773hshwuudjwIhHHGHEG0+
Guess That’s A Good Error Code Uplay
Computer says stop, and I say go go go!
Load More Replies...*phone Explodes*
Following my 6-year-old argument logic, the answer is infinity plus 1
Load More Replies...The calculator is trying to translate the gender pronouns debate into math. 1 + 1 might not equal what it once thought.
You should know better than to ask your phone to do heavy math like that.
So... Do They Pay Me?
They already donated 22 of of them. (-22 is likely to be the quantity).
Load More Replies...I feel they should be contractually obligated with a mess up like that
Just My Casual Morning Run
Yes, I Got Successfully $0
Must be one of those absurdly specific sim games. Broken English is a staple of those.
You did that in a game? Why, I do that every day! In real life!
My Phone Thinks It's Running On Nothing But Storage
My phone started doing something similar a while back. It's currently convinced that it has no speaker or microphone.
🎶Storage is all thats in us, we're born from memory, that is all cause when its full someday, We'll clear the phone or make more space🎶
Load More Replies...Doesn't it need to have a processor to tell you that it doesn't have a processor as well as no screen or camera
Where Can I Buy
Dont't fall for it, it's just trying to RickRoll you!
Load More Replies...I have a disc reader with a USB cable. Some 20 year old consulting contracts require me to be available to answer questions in case my clients are questioned by government regulators about systems they have not used for 10 years. They paid me to keep the information on disc for 30 years from their acceptance of my final report, so I keep the discs, and I am hanging onto the disc reader. Easy money to store junk in the bottom of a file cabinet. I don't know if my software can still read it, but I am complying with the contract.
Load More Replies...That just unlocked childhood memories that I forgot I had.
Load More Replies...I don't think Youtube has a disc, and how would that work on a Play Station
It'd be the size of a standard LP record. Good luck inserting it though! :/
I Think Windows 11 Is Trying To Say Teams Is Running
My Fps Counter Decided It Wanted Attention
Trash-talking by saying "as crappy as 22 FPS is, it's still faster than your driving?" 😀
iOS Is Making One Of My Memojis Do Blackface
Well, when a Mommy emoji likes a Daddy emoji with a different Pantone number very, very much...
Load More Replies...The memoji was swiftly fired from its job once the scandal broke. It has so far declined to comment. More on the story, tonight at 6.
Being 6ft Does Exist
I Think I Turned On Helicopter Mode On My Laptop By Accident
Explains how you got HD0 to 1C. Trying to build a superconducting computer?
My Favorite Word In Spanish Is "Pasttense34"
"tiempopasado34" was the best translation I could come up with
Load More Replies...What A Steal
When You're In The Club And Can't Come Up With Any Dance Moves
This Some Kind Of Budget Bulletproofing? Or Theft Deterrent?
THAT'S how my neighbors are able to slam 7 doors on a 4 door vehicle!!
...you Can't Spell "Line" With Those Letters
Makes Sense
Genuinely Curious As To How This Happens
Where Is It Going?!
What Did I Do?
I Wish I Could Leave A Group 3 Times
Mcafee Is Refusing Its Fate
As an antivirus software McAfee sure does like to act a lot like a virus
Load More Replies...Delighted to remove it. It's incompatible with so many programs I use.
This anecdotal evidence, so it may not apply in this situation. This happens sometimes to keep you from clicking the button they don’t want you to use. You may be able to still click the gray icon.
A Comforting Sign Before Watching A Horror Movie At My Local Cinema
I Present To You, Windows 40
You Don't Really Need 3D Glasses!
Asserting Dominance
That's called a "T pose". Animation rigging for 3D models often has the model in that pose before it actually gets animated, so the software has a universal template for starting positions of body parts and the like.
Load More Replies...Thanks Museum Information Stand, Very Cool
If you want information you are going to have to do something for the stand first. Please define i.
Windows Is Having An Existential Crisis
I'm Helping My Brother Fix His PC And Ran Across Baby Yobama And His Brothers
Threat Secured
I Don't Think I Am Getting My Delivery Today
That’s A Fine Looking Crunchy Taco
My Own Personal Oven
Good Ol' Xbox
Did they turn their console off mid download for like.. 11 months?
I Think This Ad Forgot Something Important To Sound Convincing But I Just Can't Put My Finger On It
I am sure people in the capitalized region know what the photo means.
Ah Yes, My Favorite Restaurant
All Of My Shortcuts Have Been Tainted With Assassin's Creed Syndicate Icons
You have been targeted. Just lock your windows and you will be fine.
Text File On Paper 📜
Great Day For The Stock Market!
I Love It When Publishers Force You To Use Their Platform Instead Of Steam
That’s why I hate Origin. If there was an option to play Sims without it, I would!
It's on steam, at least sims 4 is free but just the base game.
Load More Replies...Steam is a computer game distributor. You can purchase and install games to your computer directly from the Steam program.
Load More Replies...Origin isn't responding, it's pretty broken up over the whole situation.
But It Died On New Year
OK. I have a story. I was on a bar overlooking Times Square on New Year's Eve. The "live from the scene" coverage on the pub's TV was NOT of the same scene as I could see outside. All the music was completely and totally different for starters. Essentially, the live webcast of this event had totally failed, so they sneakily substituted a recording from a different year.
Exactly How You Fly A Helicopter
The GIF won't load on my phone as well but if you click the source link in bottom corner of the BP post you can open the GIF from Reddit to see it.
Load More Replies...WW3 did not almost happen because of a software fail as the author incorrectly stated. The software worked fine. It was the infrared detectors that were so sensitive that they picked up reflections from the clouds. It had nothing to do with software and everything to do with proper interpretation of the information by Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov. He knew the system and knew the Americans would not launch missiles that way. The software worked as it was designed. In the future they used more satellites to verify alarms.
WW3 did not almost happen because of a software fail as the author incorrectly stated. The software worked fine. It was the infrared detectors that were so sensitive that they picked up reflections from the clouds. It had nothing to do with software and everything to do with proper interpretation of the information by Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov. He knew the system and knew the Americans would not launch missiles that way. The software worked as it was designed. In the future they used more satellites to verify alarms.
