500 Mile Email is a curated list of absurd software bug stories. It's maintained by me, Harley Hicks, and is named after one of my favorite stories, "We can't send mail more than 500 miles". Know a great story? Send it my way.
"I have a problem with my tavern. There's a bunch of dead cats in there, and I don't know why."
Added: July 01, 2021
Submitted by: lablab
Source: www.youtube.com
Categories: Software, Video Games
"We were no strangers to jammed printers, but a particular file that could jam the printer? Yeah, right. It was crazy."
Added: July 01, 2021
Submitted by: Silas Reel
Source: nedbatchelder.com
Categories: Hardware
Debugging hardware from paper recordings doesn't sound like my idea of a fun time.
Added: July 22, 2020
Submitted by: khendron
Source: www.reddit.com
Categories: Hardware, Networking
In which an Outer Worlds developer tries to fix a mysterious game-breaking bug.
Added: July 21, 2020
Source: twitter.com
Categories: Software, Video Games
Apparently your pocket computer has a slight allergy.
Added: July 21, 2020
Source: www.ifixit.com
Categories: Hardware
An infuriating bug eludes a group of Xbox game developers.
Added: July 21, 2020
Source: allenpike.com
Categories: Hardware, Video Games
When the developers create the first account on their newly launched service, they get a very unexpected error message.
Added: July 21, 2020
Source: fadden.com
Categories: Software
Crash Bandicoot was innovative for many reasons, but they pushed the Playstation hardware a bit further than Sony expected.
Added: July 21, 2020
Source: www.quora.com
Categories: Hardware, Video Games
"For the most part, the upgrades happened without issue. New hardware would be ordered and installed by a local IT person, data migrated and business carried on as usual. Except for when it didn't. When this happened, corporate sent out James. A.K.A. 'The Cleaner'."
Added: July 20, 2020
Source: thedailywtf.com
Categories: Networking, Windows
The story of the mysterious magic switch on the side of the MIT AI Lab PDP-10.
Added: July 17, 2020
Source: github.com
Categories: Electricity, Networking
A long lost server is uncovered.
Added: July 17, 2020
Source: www.informationweek.com
Categories: Networking
This one required calling in "The Expert".
Added: July 17, 2020
Source: patrickthomson.tumblr.com
Categories: Storage, Networking
An old silly joke goes wrong.
Added: July 17, 2020
Source: unix.stackexchange.com
Categories: Command Line, Software, Linux
A computer and a radioactive cow walk into a bar.
Added: July 16, 2020
Source: www.jakepoz.com
Categories: Networking, Storage
"My wife has complained that open office will never print on Tuesdays!?!"
Added: July 16, 2020
Source: bugs.launchpad.net
Categories: Hardware, Software, Linux
The story that inspired this site! What do you do when someones tells you that your email server won't send emails further than 500 miles?
Added: July 16, 2020
Source: www.ibiblio.org
Categories: Email, Networking