When City Electronics Malfunction

Photo via d.billy's flickr.

Not too long ago there was a behind the scenes glimpse of the Times Square billboards that light up the "Crossroads of the World" day in and day out. Now it looks like the old fashioned painted ads are more reliable, as AndIAmNotLying points out a glitch from last night in one electronic billboard on 8th and 42nd. Oopsy! It's a snafu that could be costing someone as much as $300K a month, and this isn't the first time it's happened.

These kinds of errors are all over the place in the city, from Metrocard machines to the old PSP billboard, not to mention the oh-so-hackable taxi computer system.

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By Jen Carlson in Arts and Events on July 3, 2008 5:10 PM

Comments [rss]

demonyc

i thought it was perversely beautiful.

it was so large, monochromatic, still, and surrounded by gawdy 42nd street screens. the black background had a lot of moving noise so it glittered like silver snow, as uncalled-for as the snow of an off-air tv channel.

but i kept looking for a nike logo in the corner.

starrygordon

It amazes me that people will spend hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on big industrial or commercial systems, like that sign, and can't find people to set it up who don't know better than to use Windows.

Steven

haha. Always update the definitions.

BQE

or, even better, just used linux or *bsd.

Ace

They should have spent a few dollars more and bought a Mac. Microsoft is an idiotic operating system.

NannyState

I kept trying to close that window but the wi fi in the area is so poor...

Nimbleshanks

I love when things like this happen. Lets you peer at the world behind and see that it isn't all completely fake.

Which is an important feeling to look for if you are spending more than five minutes in Times Square.