On 10/06/2017 04:46 PM, Rick Stevens wrote:
On 10/06/2017 04:18 PM, Tom Horsley wrote:
> In my experience, hardware deliberately waits till
> the worst possible time to break. For instance: You've
> just loaded a new operating system, and suddenly
> nothing works right. Because the hardware knows
> you'll be sure the new OS is the problem, it chooses
> that precise moment to break.
>
> I have seen this happen many times. I can only
> assume computer hardware is both sentient and
> malevolent :-).
As I understand it, the curriculum of hardware design courses require
potential engineers to develop CUD (critical use detector) circuits.
To show how smart they are when they hit the real world, they insert
them into any hardware they design.
The original concept was invented by Xerox and the early versions were
only able to cause massive paper jams when you needed that report to
give to your boss. This also gave rise to the adult version of the old
childhood "my dog ate my homework" excuse.
It has since become more sophisticated and can cause far more subtle
faults. I suspect this was to get even with those who stole the public-
domain PARC desktop metaphor and would sue anyone else who used it (are
you listening, Apple?)
The auto industry has a similar device which explains why your car
always does something weird--but only when there's no mechanic around.
I should also mention that the television industry has an even more evil
device. It's called a "kardashian". :-)
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- Rick Stevens, Systems Engineer, AllDigital ricks(a)alldigital.com -
- AIM/Skype: therps2 ICQ: 226437340 Yahoo: origrps2 -
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- Cuteness can be overcome through sufficient bastardry -
- --Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes -
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