dir@cbneb.UUCP (Dean Radin) (10/19/83)
A few queries about computer crashes. I'll post the results. 1. Do you know any people whose mere presence tends to "cause" computers and other equipment to crash? 2. Do you know of any systematic collection of anecdotes about such people or episodes? D. Radin - BTL Columbus -
glc@akgua.UUCP (g.l. cleveland ) (10/21/83)
Back in the days of the first transistor computers (second
generation hardware) when the design of such devices was still in
its infancy, a particuar system at a certain military
installation (I'm not allowed to say what system nor where)
usually would get a "glitch" at random times and not always every
day. The symptoms were never the same, either.
The problem was finally discovered by a rather observant and
knowledgeable engineer (security and/or modesty prevents me from
naming names) who noticed that it always occurred when a
particular female civilian secretary walked into the computer
area. Using his ears, he noticed that she had a definite silken
"rustle" when she walked. It seems she was in the habit of
wearing silk slips and Nylon stockings. As she walked, she
built up a rather good static electric charge. Whenever she
happened to brush up against something, the discharge (spark)
caused a radio-frequency "spike" which the signal lines within
the computer would pick up (they acted like an antenna) and this
would usually cause some gate line to open at the wrong time.
Since this was a military site, the solution was (to the
miltary mind) quite obvious...they upped the classification level
of the computer so that it was above the secretary's clearance
level!
Cheers,
Lindsay Cleveland (...{ihnp4|mhux?|clyde}!akgua!glc)
AT&T Western Electric/Bell Laboratories ... Atlanta, Ga
(404) 447-3909 ... Cornet 583-3909rene@umcp-cs.UUCP (10/21/83)
I read a similar story (about the secretary crashing the computer with
static electricity from silk slips and stockings) in an old Reader's
Digest. In this case, the alarms went off whenever the secretary
walked, and it was attributed (jokingly, I hope) to the computer's
good taste (she was apparently rather voluptuous). The mystery was
solved when they discovered that the computer was extraordinarily
sensitive to foam rubber.
- I just read it, I don't know why
- rene
p.s. it was reported as a true story.
--
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