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Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)

devblogs.microsoft.com

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Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)

#61

Post by codetrotter »

RobotToaster wrote: post #56
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #55

I know it's unrelated because this has an actual explanation, but I had an ex that stopped watches simply by wearing them for a while. The model didn't matter, give them a few weeks, and they would stop. Put them aside for a while, they started back. Never could figure out why, no particular behavior emerged, she changed jobs and houses and I couldn't see a pattern. Fun that life is still full of weird stuff like thi…

Reminds me of the Pauli effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauli_effect

> the supposed tendency of technical equipment to encounter critical failure in the presence of certain people

Is there an inverse of this?

Often times, people ask me to help them do something on the computer or with other computer related or electronic things. I walk over, touch the equipment without actually doing anything and their problem is instantly solved. Could be a printer that won’t print, even!

I don’t see any links in the See Also section about any “effect” like this.

Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)

#62

Post by kugelblitz »

I have another, different oddity. Whenever my colleague and I stand up (or also sit down?) on the desk, his Dell monitor would turn black for a few seconds. I don't remember the specifics, but I think it was mostly just the two of us, when other people say down if was fine.

Even if he's sitting on a different table, the moment I sit down his screen would blank for a few seconds then continue to work normally.

I also get electrocuted easily when I use the escalator. It almost doesn't matter what I wear, so it might have to do with my skin or it's conductivity? But that's just a wild theory that would need to be checked.

Edit: Some research seems to point to the static electricity from the chairs.

Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)

#63

Post by heywire »

sahmeepee wrote: post #27
jasoneckert wrote: post #10

5400rpm laptop hard drives were notoriously sensitive to external force because of their thin metal construction and low power motor. I remember having a MacBook Pro with a Toshiba 5400rpm hard drive that failed shortly after I rested it on an HVAC unit in our server closet (the HVAC unit happened to be the perfect height off the floor for doing work while standing). Just to be sure that was the cause, I had the driv…

Not hard drive related AFAIK, but I used to work in a media lab with about 30 mac desktops of around the powermac g4 vintage. We noticed that the macs were rebooting unexpectedly when certain people were in the room. After a bit of observation we worked out that the call button on our walkie talkies could trigger a reboot from a couple of feet away, which turned out to be an awesome superpower if you'd had a gobful f…

I used to work for the point of sale provider for various golf events in the US. We were having circuit breakers on UPS battery backup units trip, seemingly randomly. We soon realized that we couldn’t key up our walkie talkies when standing near one.

Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)

#64

Post by Moru »

codetrotter wrote: post #61
RobotToaster wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of the Pauli effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauli_effect

> the supposed tendency of technical equipment to encounter critical failure in the presence of certain people Is there an inverse of this? Often times, people ask me to help them do something on the computer or with other computer related or electronic things. I walk over, touch the equipment without actually doing anything and their problem is instantly solved. Could be a printer that won’t print, even! I don’t see…

That would be "Demonstration Effect" or "IT Support Effect". Happens every other support call.

I bet this is why half the older companies still have a tech person on staff. :-)

Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)

#65

Post by gphilip »

kugelblitz wrote: post #62

I have another, different oddity. Whenever my colleague and I stand up (or also sit down?) on the desk, his Dell monitor would turn black for a few seconds. I don't remember the specifics, but I think it was mostly just the two of us, when other people say down if was fine. Even if he's sitting on a different table, the moment I sit down his screen would blank for a few seconds then continue to work normally. I also…

> I also get electrocuted easily when I use the escalator.

You get shocked easily when you use the escalator.You wouldn't be electrocuted more than once.

Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)

#66

Post by Moru »

sahmeepee wrote: post #27
jasoneckert wrote: post #10

5400rpm laptop hard drives were notoriously sensitive to external force because of their thin metal construction and low power motor. I remember having a MacBook Pro with a Toshiba 5400rpm hard drive that failed shortly after I rested it on an HVAC unit in our server closet (the HVAC unit happened to be the perfect height off the floor for doing work while standing). Just to be sure that was the cause, I had the driv…

Not hard drive related AFAIK, but I used to work in a media lab with about 30 mac desktops of around the powermac g4 vintage. We noticed that the macs were rebooting unexpectedly when certain people were in the room. After a bit of observation we worked out that the call button on our walkie talkies could trigger a reboot from a couple of feet away, which turned out to be an awesome superpower if you'd had a gobful f…

We had that problem with computers when having the metal shielding off the cases. Every time someone in the vicinity got a phonecall on their Motorola 2880 (random model number, can't remember but one of the really old ones) the computers would bluescreen. This was at hackernights with all sorts of different computers running windows 95. If they had the metal shields off, many of them would bluescreen on phonecalls. Shields were off for having more cooling from external sources or friends helping with installing stuff or whatever, and the problems would go away when the shield was on again.

Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)

#68

Post by nickcocker »

WilTimSon wrote: post #49
Dylan16807 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably the goal is the avoid broken laptops, not to worry about who it's on.

I wonder if there is a name for the phenomenon where people do something that leads to negative consequences but they technically "did everything right". I have a friend who crosses the street without looking both ways and his argument is that if a car hits him "they're in the wrong", as if an accident doesn't occur that way.

[dead]

Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)

#69

Post by alargemoose »

kugelblitz wrote: post #62

I have another, different oddity. Whenever my colleague and I stand up (or also sit down?) on the desk, his Dell monitor would turn black for a few seconds. I don't remember the specifics, but I think it was mostly just the two of us, when other people say down if was fine. Even if he's sitting on a different table, the moment I sit down his screen would blank for a few seconds then continue to work normally. I also…

If they use a docking station, there’s a known issue with DisplayLink video output from gas spring chairs causing EMI spikes that disrupt the video signal momentarily when you sit down or stand up.

> “Surprisingly, we have also seen this issue connected to gas lift office chairs. When people stand or sit on gas lift chairs, they can generate an EMI spike which is picked up on the video cables, causing a loss of sync”

The linked support doc also links to a white paper analyzing the issue. https://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/73861...

Re: Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers (2022)

#70

Post by jappgar »

netsharc wrote: post #13
jasoneckert wrote: post #10

5400rpm laptop hard drives were notoriously sensitive to external force because of their thin metal construction and low power motor. I remember having a MacBook Pro with a Toshiba 5400rpm hard drive that failed shortly after I rested it on an HVAC unit in our server closet (the HVAC unit happened to be the perfect height off the floor for doing work while standing). Just to be sure that was the cause, I had the driv…

> "Don't put laptops on here." With an explanation why not? I feel like having that, instead of a "Here Be Dragons" note would be more helpful, so someone won't ignore the sign thinking "It'll be fine". Also it'd be funny if the sign is still there even though all* laptops have SSDs now...

Because it's funny?

Life would be pretty boring if everything were explicit.

Also, sometimes explaining the rationale for a warning can backfire.

An "absolutely no smoking" sign at a fuel depot doesnt tell you _why_ you shouldn't smoke there... If it did, dumb people might think "We'll I'm not refueling at the moment so it will be fine."

"Here be dragons" is vague for a reason.

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