I saw an article this morning about the "world's most stupid bug" found in the firmware of a G1 phone. This flaw makes the phone interpret certain keywords in your text messages as system commands (among them: "reboot" to cause a system reboot). It reminds me of that quirky villian in the old Superman cartoons who could be banished only if you tricked him into saying his name backwards - it's that sort of a silly vulnerability.

As a software developer, I tend to shy away from characterizing other folk's bugs as stupid -- I'm sure I've released a few doozies myself, and I subscribe to that "glass houses" philosophy. But perhaps I do enjoy reading -- just a little bit-- about such silly flaws that get released in the wild; it paints a humble face on a powerful vendor like Google, reminding me that they are an organization of people who can mistakes too.

As I was following the links in the article, I found that it was actually a SAS employee who helped bring this G1 flaw to light. Good find Ed!