When an intranet malfunctions, the ramifications can be severe. One such extreme example is the intranet of the Malaysian Meteorological Department of the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry which, according to the Malaysian news website Sun2Surf (see Malaysia red-faced over mistaken tsunami warning) triggered a Tsunami warning and beach evacuation on the Malaysian coasts of Kedah, Perlis and Penang.

“The advisory issued shortly after 11am was on an earthquake/tsunami alert Level 2 with a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale which had “occurred” at 10.45am near northern Sumatra, with the centre of the earthquake being near Pekan Baru, 250km southwest of Kuala Lumpur.

 

It also stated that tremors were expected to be felt in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia with a small possibility of a local destructive tsunami which could affect the coasts of Kedah, Perlis and Penang.

 

It also advised people to stay away from the beach and to be on standby for further instructions from the authorities.

A seismology division spokesman said this was the first time that such an error had occurred.

 

“We apologise for the confusion that has arisen from this advisory but this is not due to a typo error. Whenever there is an earthquake, we key in the necessary information into our own intranet system which is then sent to the relevant agencies, including the media.

“However, our system had some form of failure and the wrong message was sent out through the intranet system. Our ICT department is currently running checks to determine how this could have happened,” she added.

 

She said a revision of the earthquake information was sent out later on an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale which occurred south of Java, 225km southwest of Yogyakarta, 1248km south of Kuching at 10.44am with no tsunami threat. A Reuters report from KUALA LUMPUR:  Malaysian authorities mistakenly issued a tsunami warning today, and their embarrassment only deepened when beachgoers failed to receive it.

 

“It’s a technical glitch. The system broke down and it issued an old warning to everyone including the media,” said the science minister’s press secretary Ainon Mohd.

 

“We are asking the press to ignore the warning,” she said.

 

But one local media group had already issued the warning twice via its nationwide text-message service. The warning came from the meteorological department, part of the science ministry.

As I said, this is an extreme example of an intranet glitch gone wrong. I need not go into any rant about why executives should spend more money on their intranets because it may evacuate local beaches… but they should spend more money on their intranet J

ON A PERSONAL NOTE: I’d like an intranet that gave large wave notices for employees… so they know when best to ditch work for the surf. Executives should spend more on the intranet so that we can all have more quality surf time…

I haven’t seen much football this year (neither version), but I did watch the last half of the Colts-Patriots game. One of the best games you could ever see. Legendary. Of the other kind of football (the ‘real’ kind), I wish Arsenal could play Manchester United more times in a season. That was another extraordinary game with Arsenal and Thierry Henry beating the Bombers in extra time for the season sweep of their majesties from Manchester.

It’s birthday season with my 6-year-old having turned of age, with the party to follow in two weeks, and the baby to turn one in a couple of weeks. The carnage of present unwrapping since Xmas continues unabated… but the girls are worth it J Happy Birthday girls!

Is it wrong to keep heaping praise on the Phoenix Suns? 13 in a row… Also, how about those Vancouver Canucks over their past 13 games?

Anyone know why I can’t order Conn Iggulden’s last installment in the Emporer series (in Canada) until March 27th? I did find one site that will deliver Emperor: the Gods of War (Emperor) on February 1. Yeah, I know how it ends of course, but this is a great biographical series on Caesar and a worthwhile read. His new series is on Genghis and Kublai Khan. I’ve already ordered the first one, Wolf of the Plains …

Other books I’ve finished of late include For Whom the Bell Tolls (Hemmingway; great read), JPod (Copeland; an average read but very good in its mocking of Vancouver and the software industry in general), Creating Competitive Advantage (Smith; average but with a very worthwhile message and takeaway for entrepreneurs), and I’m halfway through A Complete History of Nearly Everything (Bryson; struggling with this one) and Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky; brilliant and maddening all at once).

Dostoyevsky isn’t necessarily bedtime reading (though he is brilliant in putting you inside the mind of a madman, hence not always good before bedtime) so last night I instead decided to unwind with a movie… the Exorcist II. Yeah, not my best choice. An appalling bad movie, but quite spooky in some parts if you saw when it first came out the original as I did some 25+ years ago. That movie scared the #$@*! out of me and still does. I put The Shining as a close second.

I’ve read a lot of classics in the past year or two: Tale of Two Cities, War and Peace, The Great Gatsby, The Old Man and the Sea, For the Good of the Cause, and a raft of others… given the above, can anyone recommend another classic that you’d think I’d like? I’m out of top-of-mind choices that move me to read it…