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Kid Makes Computers Go Haywire&#63

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I thought stories like this went by the wayside back when spontaneous combustion and Bigfoot were still all the rage. Do you guys buy this story or is it a whole lotta baloney?

"Another student could use a computer, and it would be fine. But if Joe was on it, weird things started to happen," said Marie Yerdon, computer lab teacher at Lura Sharp Elementary School in Pulaski. "I think there's something in his body chemistry, something in his makeup, that causes the computers to go haywire."
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Yea.... about that...

Magnetism makes it so you can't change the font in Word?

And aren't modern HDD's protected from magnets now... ?
 
Eh, my best friends granpa couldnt wear digital watches. They would just stop working or get messed up. He had to always wear analog ones. That had metal on skin contact though (salty sweat on metal etc... making a charge... I dunno) as well as static discharges going right into it. I dont see how touching a plastic keyboard and mouse could do anything though. Not even static could go through.
 
Actually, HDDs have damned strong magnets INSIDE them. If you have an old dead HDD laying around, open it up, and you will be amazed at just how strong they are :D

Way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I used to do maintence on IBM unit record equipment. This is what was used before computers. All electro mechanical. Relays, wire brushes to read the holes in punch cards, a big board with holes in it that you used jumper wires to 'program' them. Stuff like that.

I had one account that had an IBM 082 sorter that would constantly jam, and chew up cards. I had call after call from the account, and spent a lot of time tweaking all of the settings, and I had that rascal working as good as, if not better than, new. I could run new cards, old raggedy cards (which wer notorious for causing jambs), and that rascal wouldn't miss a beat.

As soon at their operator, who happened to be a babe by the way, would start to run some cards, the sob would jamb. Ths went on for about 2 months, and we finally just replaced it with another one, and she never had a problem after that. What was interesting, was we put the 'possessed' one in anouther account and it never gave them a bit of trouble.

It just seemed that for one reason or another, that sorter just didn't like the babe...really weird.
 
RAF_OldBuzzard said:
Actually, HDDs have damned strong magnets INSIDE them. If you have an old dead HDD laying around, open it up, and you will be amazed at just how strong they are :D

Way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I used to do maintence on IBM unit record equipment. This is what was used before computers. All electro mechanical. Relays, wire brushes to read the holes in punch cards, a big board with holes in it that you used jumper wires to 'program' them. Stuff like that.

I had one account that had an IBM 082 sorter that would constantly jam, and chew up cards. I had call after call from the account, and spent a lot of time tweaking all of the settings, and I had that rascal working as good as, if not better than, new. I could run new cards, old raggedy cards (which wer notorious for causing jambs), and that rascal wouldn't miss a beat.

As soon at their operator, who happened to be a babe by the way, would start to run some cards, the sob would jamb. Ths went on for about 2 months, and we finally just replaced it with another one, and she never had a problem after that. What was interesting, was we put the 'possessed' one in anouther account and it never gave them a bit of trouble.

It just seemed that for one reason or another, that sorter just didn't like the babe...really weird.
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Fool! The babe was purposely jamming it so you'd visit!!!

or not.
 
Jakalwarrior said:
Eh, my best friends granpa couldnt wear digital watches. They would just stop working or get messed up. He had to always wear analog ones. That had metal on skin contact though (salty sweat on metal etc... making a charge... I dunno) as well as static discharges going right into it. I dont see how touching a plastic keyboard and mouse could do anything though. Not even static could go through.
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My Grandma had the same problem, but in reverse. My brother had just gotten married, and my Grandma liked the watch that his wife was wearing. So she took it off and my Grandma put it on. The thing freaked out and the hands started to move backwards. I was around 8 at the time (and didn't quite get the social nuances of the situation) and thought without a doubt that it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.
 
Holy crap. I have a friend that has this problem. His pc is always having issues and when ever he comes to my house to check out new games my PC would start acting up, crashing, freezing etc without him even touching anything. It happened 99% of the time and I spend hours troubleshooting and find nothing only to have everything return to normal after he left. We would joke that he was "cursed" and leave it at that. The article has me rethinking that assessment.
 
I've been in consulting for quite a while, and I would definitely agree there are some people that just have bad "luck" when it comes to technology. It's not that they are dumb or are doing anything wrong, but things just tend to be more frequent for them, such as hardware failing, software crashing, or whatever.
 
I have that whole street light problem the article mentions of. When I'm thinking in deep thought or something is bothering me, the lights would turn off above me when I'm driving. A lot of friends and family thought it was a bunch of bullcrap until they took a drive with me during the night. Does't happen all the time, but enough that it takes notice.... on a typical occurence it can happen to 3 or more lights I drive past in diffrent areas.
 
I don't think static could possibly be an issue if the computer is plugged into a properly wired outlet. For the kid to introduce problems to the computer without actually directly touching any of the circuitry, static can't be the problem.
 
If the kid is wearing "make up" than yeah i believe this. I forking hate clowns.
 
My friend has something like this going on. A lot of the electronic equipment he buys will just die after a few days. At first we thought he was just unlucky, but it happened enough where it's probably not coincidence.
 
I always stop mechanical watches which sucked back in the days before digital, but nothing like this. Guess this'll put Richland on the map now...believe me, there's nothing there! (except fishin' & huntin'...redneck stuff). It's about 20 miles from where I grew up (in Oswego County)...this oughta be the new "big" news story. LOL

Wait just a second! you're telling me there are actually people there that can operate a pc?!

REPENT!!! THE END IS NEAR!!!
 
Doesn't really surprise me. I've seen quite a few people that have an unusually high amount of computer problems.

I would be more on the side of electromagnetic interference instead of static though.
 
Ockie said:
I have that whole street light problem the article mentions of. When I'm thinking in deep thought or something is bothering me, the lights would turn off above me when I'm driving. A lot of friends and family thought it was a bunch of bullcrap until they took a drive with me during the night. Does't happen all the time, but enough that it takes notice.... on a typical occurence it can happen to 3 or more lights I drive past in diffrent areas.
Click to expand...

You don't happen to HID headlights do you? Ever since I got my Mazda3 with them, whenever I stop at an intersection that has a long red light, the street lights shut off. I went grocery shopping last night at 2 am and it happened at 2 intersections an in the stores parking lot, both when I arrived and when I left.
 
While I'm always skeptical about these things, my wife had a friend in college that experienced these sort of issues. I was always working on her computer trying to figure out what the problem was ad honestly just threw my hands up and gave up after awhile. She was an engineering student, so it made it even worse. When they were taking electrical classes, her electrical readings on circuits were completely wacked. My wife would have to take the readings so that the results weren't screwed up. Chemistry classes were just as bad. They could watch the scale readings change just by her getting close or moving away from it when using a digital scale :eek:
 
I dunno.. My mother is like that.. A few weeks ago she went to turn down my speakers-- something encased entirely in plastic, and she got a few inches away from it and a lightning bolt shot from her fingers, I swear it went through the plastic, and the subwoofer just went WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK until I unplugged the damn thing. That never happened to me or anybody else. :D
 
We have a guy like this were I work,it's a running joke that he's the Freddy Krueger of computers.Control panels on machines,the computers we put test data into,even the vending machines in the lunch room all go haywire for him.
 
well while i think this is exaggerated i have experienced some stuff like that.

When i lived in Paris i was very close to the Eiffel Tower (which is the main Paris radio antenna) and I would have major issues with my computer. my friends used to tease me cause we'd have similar configurations but my stuff would break down.
one of my firends said he suspected the Eiffel Tower, I was like "whatever!"

then I moved, same rig, not a single issue.

i say it's interesting
 
brom42 said:
You don't happen to HID headlights do you? Ever since I got my Mazda3 with them, whenever I stop at an intersection that has a long red light, the street lights shut off. I went grocery shopping last night at 2 am and it happened at 2 intersections an in the stores parking lot, both when I arrived and when I left.
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't matter what car I am in, it happens and it happens everywhere.



I remember reading an article that the US Millitary is exploring this phenomenon and trying to focus research towards it so that they can perhaps have such power during war times. So it seems to me it's a bit more recognized than just by a bunch of tin hat wearers.... to me I could care less for it, it's just interesting worth mentioning after that article mentioned it :D
 
I know many people don't believe in unexplained things... but guess what...

They're still unexplained.
 
Drakul said:
well while i think this is exaggerated i have experienced some stuff like that.

When i lived in Paris i was very close to the Eiffel Tower (which is the main Paris radio antenna) and I would have major issues with my computer. my friends used to tease me cause we'd have similar configurations but my stuff would break down.
one of my firends said he suspected the Eiffel Tower, I was like "whatever!"

then I moved, same rig, not a single issue.

i say it's interesting
Click to expand...

Wow, and do you receive government control radio signals with your fillings too?
 
This reminds me of an odd discovery I once made by accident. Apparently if you rub your feet on the carpet while wearing rubber boots and touch a cell phone sitting within six inches of an electronic Christmas card, the Christmas card will start flashing. It doesn't work if you just touch the Christmas card - you have to touch the cell phone sitting next to the Christmas card.

And that's no joke. I even have it on video When it happened, I just grabbed my cell phone and this electronic Christmas card started flashing. I tried it again and the same thing happened. I can see an arc of electricity between my finger and the cell phone (static discharge), but I have no idea what's happening between the cell phone and the card.
 
Static discharges can set off lots of stuff, I had a remote control car when I was little that I had accidentally left on during a thunderstorm, and every time there was a lightning strike within a few miles it would start driving around. I also had some cheap electronic cars that would just make noise with little voice boxes, and the same thing would happen to them too, after we realized what it was finally, my parents had fun going and taking the batteries out of all my stuff whenever there was a thunderstorm. I actually kinda wish I still had those things now so I could really play with them and see what I could make set them off >.<
 
Joe's problems didn't recur after the expert arrived.
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Expert shows up with tools to analyze problem, and suddenly there is no problem. 'nuff said.
 
Ockie said:
I have that whole street light problem the article mentions of. When I'm thinking in deep thought or something is bothering me, the lights would turn off above me when I'm driving. A lot of friends and family thought it was a bunch of bullcrap until they took a drive with me during the night. Does't happen all the time, but enough that it takes notice.... on a typical occurence it can happen to 3 or more lights I drive past in diffrent areas.
Click to expand...

Same. Street lights are always going off and on with me, like you nobody believed me till they take a drive with me
 
In my past decade of working with computers (I'm only 21) I've learned, among other things, that computers are still voodoo. Sometimes, the only way to resolve a problem is to start from scratch or present it an offering of blood from your first born son.
 
SPARTAN VI said:
In my past decade of working with computers (I'm only 21) I've learned, among other things, that computers are still voodoo. Sometimes, the only way to resolve a problem is to start from scratch or present it an offering of blood from your first born son.
Click to expand...

Or just pull out the soldering iron and set it on the desk while you're working...
 
kllrnohj said:
Expert shows up with tools to analyze problem, and suddenly there is no problem. 'nuff said.
Click to expand...

Actually, this is a well known deal with me. I have a friend who knows a decent amount about computers but nowhere near the knowledge I have. He knows enough to fix most simple to moderate problems that come his way. However, there are times he can't figure out why something is happening or if he can, he still can't fix it by means known to him. Basically, I trust him for the most part and he's not going to pull my leg about shit. Anyway, when he has these problems with his machine or someone else's he's working on I get a phone call. Sometimes this requires me to stop by his house and take a look at the machine for myself. Amazingly enough, as soon as I walk in the door to the house the computer stops being a problem. Before I stop by I throw a barrage of questions at him and have him do several things which should take care of things so I know that there is actually a problem. It's just the act of me stepping foot into the house that seems to fix some computer problems. There have been many witnesses to this.

cuog said:
Or just pull out the soldering iron and set it on the desk while you're working...
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Actually, I prefer keeping a sledgehammer or sword close by. That usually works for me.



 
Well...

It's like the old saying goes, "There are a lot of stupid people in the world". :rolleyes:

On the contrary, if electronics do react to some physiological difference between children and adults, then the incredibly stupid people become the geniuses of tomorrow.

I have no idea how a computer would react differently to body chemistry unless told to do so, for instance, like the Neural Impulse Actuator featured on the main page today.

I am going with incredibly stupid female teacher who needs a good shagging to alleviate whatever wild tangents her imagination sends her on when kids are busy with the day's assignment.
 
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