HN Explorer

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paol
Sometime in the 2000s I started reading the RISKS Digest mailing list[1] from the beginning. I did it for fun - it's an interesting mix of fun anecdotes and lessons learned, and the 80's and early 90's were before my time which I found interesting too.

A side effect of reading the mailing list in bulk is that a set of common "stereotypes" of failure (for lack of a better word) start to emerge clearly from the stream of anecdotes. These really influenced my mental model of technology risks. I would still recommend the exercise for anyone interested in the subject.

[1] https://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/

hbogert
> This is the first issue of a new on-line forum. Its intent is to address issues involving risks to the public in the use of computers. As such, it is necessarily concerned with whether/how critical requirements for human safety, reliability, fault tolerance, security, privacy, integrity, and guaranteed service (among others) can be met (in some cases all at the same time), and how the attempted fulfillment or ignorance of those requirements may imply risks to the public. We will presumably explore both deficiencies in existing systems and techniques for developing better computer systems — as well as the implications of using computer systems in highly critical environments.

^ 1985, 2 years before i was born, on-line still had a dash. Man, what a time that must've been.

raverbashing
The mailing list style and his personal web page tells me all that I need to do

(And if you don't get it, you wouldn't get it)

pelasaco
To see "Albert Einstein" in the list of his mentors was beautiful. He was a connection link to many of the greatest minds in our history. RIP.
edwinjm
Not to be confused with John von Neumann
dredmorbius
Neumann had a tremendous impact on perception and curation of technology-related risks. His passing is a moment of sadness.

It wasn't unforeseeable, however, and it pains me to see on the Catless RISKS archive this note: "I'm sad to have to tell you that Peter Neumann died on the 17th May. This website will be here as long as I am able to maintain it, but whether or not there is any future RISKS content anywhere, I cannot say."

<https://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/>

Death is a risk, but not an inconceivable one, and it's a reminder that whilst a single individual can often drive with singular vision and surprising efficacy a project, that if they fail to establish some broader foundation, that project dies with them.

I'd noted this myself, in this context, several years ago: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37582242>.

I continue to hope that RISKS may survive Peter.

stogot
Impressive that Neumann moderated RISKS for 41 years in addition to all of his other achievements. His contributions were valuable to us all
OhMeadhbh
Well, hell. I only new Peter peripherally, but every time I met him he was a wonderful human. I built cryptography libraries in the 90s and Peter was responsible for expanding my thinking about the systems surrounding security controls and (not surprisingly) their associated risks. And he did it with great patience, speaking to me (and everyone else) at a level we could understand, but never patronizing. I would bump into him at a conference one year and he would suggest a direction of study or experiment. At the next conference I saw him at I would report my findings (or send them to the RISKS list) and then there would be another, interesting direction suggested.

There's a Peter-shaped-hole in Sili Valley tech culture.