That’s a heck of debugging.
Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)
31–40 of 128 posts
Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)
#32https://youtu.be/tDacjrSCeq4 reminds me of this gem.
I was reminded of this MythBusters episode: Tesla's Earthquake Machine
Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)
#33I'd love to know whether that story is actually true. Some dude hears somebody tell a story about sth 20 years ago, puts it in a blog, and here we are on HN, nobody questioning whether it's actually accurate. Of course Raymond Chen isn't just any random person, but the more important it would be to actually check? I mean, who hasn't heard people tell stories from decades ago, including colleagues reminiscing about th…
I believe it because it's a plausible variant of what I call the "Fus Ro Data Loss" vulnerability: shouting at hard drives causes them to resonate in a way that affects their ability to access data.
Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not an expert here, so I’m genuinely curious how could a video stream (edit: with muted audio stream) possibly cause another laptop in close proximity to crash?
What is claimed in TFA is that the hard drive resonate frequency reacts to the Janet Jackson video in bad ways because that music video puts out music that interferes with what the hard drive expects. TFA was lacking details so this is merely a retelling.
Obviously not the video but the accompanying audio track. Could also just be a made up apocryphal engineering story that never actually happened exactly as described. Engineering as a profession is chock full of them but they do tend to be memorable parables of things to keep in mind when working on a relevant piece of tech.
What is definitely well documented is Brendan Gregg’s related discovery of performance degradation in servers from vibration of sibling servers / clapping nearby that caused spinning disks to pause their heads.
Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Technically, that magnetic spinning HDD can work even after decades if maintained safely (no dust, no extreme heat) and without stress, even if it is not switched on for years. In fact, if a magnetic HDD crashes, you may still recover some or all of the data by doing something hardcore, such as letting it sit for some hours in the freezer of your refrigerator, or immersing it in a bowl of rice overnight. However, SSD…
HDDs also lose magnetic charge over time, about 1% per year. So you need to periodically spin up and rewrite the data every few years. CD drives however, can store data indefinitely without needing refreshing.
Having had drives which sat for many years and spun right back up without corruption makes me think 1% is too generous maybe 0.05% per year at most
Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)
#36https://everything2.com/title/7+hertz+-+the+resonant+frequen...
Example (for both functions):
/* Emits a 7-Hz tone for 10 seconds.
True story: 7 Hz is the resonant
frequency of a chicken's skull cavity.
This was determined empirically in
Australia, where a new factory
generating 7-Hz tones was located too
close to a chicken ranch: When the
factory started up, all the chickens
died.
Your PC may not be able to emit a 7-Hz tone. */
#include
int main(void)
{
sound(7);
delay(10000);
nosound();
return 0;
}
Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
HDDs also lose magnetic charge over time, about 1% per year. So you need to periodically spin up and rewrite the data every few years. CD drives however, can store data indefinitely without needing refreshing.
But the materials on the CD eventually break down, sometimes as soon as within 5 years. So you can look into MDisc, which purports 100 years…but only in theory since the tests are just approximations of what would actually happen.
Totally could be a defect in the lamination we don’t find out for years yet
Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)
#38[dead]
Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)
#39I'd love to know whether that story is actually true. Some dude hears somebody tell a story about sth 20 years ago, puts it in a blog, and here we are on HN, nobody questioning whether it's actually accurate. Of course Raymond Chen isn't just any random person, but the more important it would be to actually check? I mean, who hasn't heard people tell stories from decades ago, including colleagues reminiscing about th…
Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. That's my motto. Now let me tell you about the time that we dug up this dinosaur egg and hatched it.
Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)
#40That's Miss Jackson if you're Windows.