by Flemming Funch
Via BoingBoing. I had already noticed that news item about the guy being trapped by a crashed computer, but now that I hear that it was running Windows, I can't help posting it.Thailand's Finance Minister Suchart Jaovisidha had to be rescued today from inside his expensive BMW limousine after the onboard computer crashed, leaving the vehicle immobilized.
Once the computer failed, neither the door locks, power windows nor air conditioning systems would function, leaving the Minister and his driver trapped inside the rapidly heating vehicle.
Despite the pair's best efforts, it took a full ten minutes before they were able to summon the attention of a nearby guard who freed the two men by smashing one of the vehicle's windows with a sledgehammer.
A report published in the Bangkok Post indicates that the vehicle was Mr Jaovisidha's own BMW 520 which was being used while his state-supplied Mercedes, was being repaired.
BMW's 7-series range uses a computer system called i-drive which has Microsoft's WindowsCE at its core.
It appears that Mr Jaovisidha narrowly missed being killed by the blue windscreen of death. Somehow that just makes me feel very good. I don't know how anybody can be so crazy as to drive a car that depends on Windows to run. And even to start it and steer it, mind you.
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