Famous Error Messages

Error messages are displayed when an unexpected condition occurs with a computer. The type of error message tells the nature or error the computer has encountered. Here are some famous error messages, which we come across in our daily system usage.

404 Page Not Found

A HTTP standard response, 404 Page Not Found indicates that the client communicated with the server, but the server was unable to find the item requested. Generally a 404 error code is followed by a reason; many web servers by default issue an HTML page which includes both the 404 code and the ‘Not Found’ phrase. The 404 error message is displayed when a page has been moved or deleted and indicated that the server was not able to retrieve the requested page.

Abort, Retry, Fail

A computer error in the DOS operating system, Abort, Retry, Fail indicates a critical error and prompts the end-user for the course of action to follow. This error is given by the default critical error handler and is used an example for poor usability design in the computer user interfaces. Depending on the versions of DOS, the user has two or more choices: Terminate the operation or program and return to the system command prompt in case of Abort; attempt the operation again in case of Retry; and return failure status to the calling program or routine in case of Fail.

FailWhale

The picture of a whale being carried by a flock of birds is a famous error message on Twitter. The error message is shown during periods of downtime, when Twitter gets overloaded. The image for the error message is created by Yiying Lu, and shows eight orange birds using a net to hoist a whale from the ocean, with the message ‘Too many tweets! Please wait a moment and try again.’ Though the image has been adored by people across the world, it is the temporary stoppage of the service that irks the users.

Kernel Panic

An error message on Unix and Mac systems, Kernel Panic is an action taken upon detecting an internal fatal error, which is irrecoverable. Kernel Panic is equivalent to Microsoft Windows’ ‘Bug Check’ or ‘Blue Screen of Death’. The Error message is accompanied by a message, prompting the user to restart the computer. Kernel Panic can be triggered by an inappropriate attempt by the operating system to access or write to the memory; or by software bugs or malware.

Sad Mac

The error message, which is used by the older-generation Mac computers, indicate severe hardware or software problem that prevents the successful startup of the system. The Sad Mac icon is displayed with a set of hexadecimal codes to indicate the type of problem at the startup. The error message can be deliberately created by the users by pressing the’ interrupt switch’ on the Mac systems, or by pressing the ‘Command’ and ‘Power’ keys immediately after the startup.