Begin forwarded message: From: Carl Malamud <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: December 9, 2006 11:52:45 PM GMT+09:00 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Cost Overruns Blamed on Power Surges Dave - The NY Times has an in-depth article on (yet another) government procurement gone awry. In this case, the Coast Guard convinced Congress to allocate funds for a much-needed fleet upgrade. But instead of using the Coast Guard staff to oversee the upgrade, the entire job was simply outsourced and the results are predictable. Particularly interesting is the explanation for why upgraded cutters have little problems like cracks in the hull: Giant steel straps that looked like Band-Aids were affixed to the side of the boats, and the vessels were barred from venturing out in rough water. But cracks and bulges continued to scar the Matagorda and other converted ships, followed by a series of mechanical problems. Bollinger, it turned out, had overestimated how much stress the modified boats could handle, a miscalculation it cannot fully explain. "The computer broke for some reason," said T. R. Hamlin, a senior Bollinger manager. "Whether it was a power surge or something, who knows?" The cursory oversight by the Coast Guard meant the mistake was not caught in time. Full article is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/us/09ship.html Carl ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as archive@mail-archive.com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/