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From: benji@euler.Berkeley.EDU (Benji Rudiak-Gould)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Bug contest
Message-ID: <10790@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 5 Feb 91 06:36:56 GMT
References: <9102050238.AA18080@anaconda.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Sender: news@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU
Reply-To: benji@euler.Berkeley.EDU (Benji Rudiak-Gould)
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 46

In article <9102050238.AA18080@anaconda.cis.ohio-state.edu> meekins@CIS.OHIO-STATE.EDU (timothy lee meekins) writes:
>Hey, let's have a strangest most crazy ultimate and weird bug ever found
>contest. I got the idea for the contest because I think I have the winning
>entry.
>
   [ bug description squashed ]

YOU'VE got the winning entry?  Read and weep!  :-)

Many moons ago I was writing a simple output redirection program in machine
language (that's machine, not assembly) that would trap everything that
was printed to the screen and do something to it (I forget what) before
passing it on the the COUT routine at $FDF0.  I installed it with the
PR# A$300 command, and it worked.  (Which is of course amazing in itself. :-)
What's the point?  Well, the program had a bug.  It was supposed to
read (in part)

                [test some condition]
380: F0 0E     BEQ $390
382:            [other junk]
390: 4C F0 FD  JMP $FDF0                  ; we're done, send character to COUT

Note: addresses have been changed to protect the innocent (and also because
I don't remember what they really were).

However, I made a typo, and the BEQ $390 instruction was really a BEQ $391
instruction.  Now, take a look at the code at $391:

391: F0 FD

which as everyone knows, translates to:

               BEQ $390

It looks like that mistyped instruction got executed after all!  Voila, the
program worked!

I'd say this is a 1 in 65,536 chance...

BTW, since we can't have a contest without judges, I appoint myself judge.
I'll let you know of my decision shortly. :-) :-) :-)

--                       {_ "It's not how high you are, _}   Disclaimer:
Ben Rudiak-Gould          _}  it's Hi, how are you?"   {_  Opinions are mine...
benji@euler.berkeley.edu {_        -- Mike Sugarbaker   _} Mine... ALL MINE!!!!
___________________________}___________________________{   HA HA HAAA HAAAAAA!!