Related:

• Any large system is going to be operating most of the time in failure mode. -- Dr. John Gall
• casters-up mode n. [IBM, prob. fr. slang belly up] Yet another synonym for `broken' or `down'.
  Usually connotes a major failure. A system (hardware or software) which is `down' may be already being restarted before the failure is noticed, whereas one which is `casters up' is usually a good excuse to take the rest of the day off (as long as you're not responsible for fixing it)....
• casters-up mode: [IBM, prob. fr. slang belly up] n.
  Yet another synonym for `broken' or `down'. Usually connotes a major failure....
• wizard mode n. [from rogue] A special access mode of a program or system, usually passworded, that permits some users godlike privileges.
  Generally not used for operating systems themselves (`root mode' or `wheel mode' would be used instead)....
• wizard mode: [from {rogue}] n. A special access mode of a program or system, usually passworded, that permits some users godlike privileges.
  Generally not used for operating systems themselves (`root mode' or `wheel mode' would be used instead)....
• The subtlety of these methods implies an important source of unreliability
  unreliable error recovery. Thus it is important that system testing pay meticulous attention to fault simulation to uncover weaknesses in the recovery....
• oot mode n. Syn. with wizard mode or `wheel mode'.
  Like these, it is often generalized to describe privileged states in systems other than OSes....
• Helen Keller mode: n. 1. State of a hardware or software system that is deaf, dumb, and blind, i.
  e., accepting no input and generating no output, usually due to an infinite loop or some other excursion into {deep space}....
• oot mode: n. Syn. with {wizard mode} or `wheel mode'.
  Like these, it is often generalized to describe privileged states in systems other than OSes....