Xref: utzoo rec.humor:18955 comp.misc:5151
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hplabs!hp-sdd!sceard!mrm
From: mrm@sceard.UUCP (M.R.Murphy)
Newsgroups: rec.humor,comp.misc
Subject: Re: Looking for Computer Folklore
Summary: smoke not necessarily fire
Keywords: smoke, peanut butter
Message-ID: <876@sceard.UUCP>
Date: 15 Feb 89 15:25:51 GMT
References: <7143@pyr.gatech.EDU> <532@geovision.UUCP> <4575@tekgvs.GVS.TEK.COM> <1255@ccnysci.UUCP> <37@xenlink.UUCP> <1819@cps3xx.UUCP>
Reply-To: mrm@sceard.UUCP (0040-M.R.Murphy)
Organization: Sceard Systems, Inc., San Marcos, CA  92069
Lines: 20

Story 1)
There once was a PDP-11/40 with 2 magtapes, 2 expansion boxes, and the
cpu cabinet. It was pretty wide for a PDP-11 and even looked like a computer.
It lived in a lab at a university. A group of students from the Film(Fine Arts)
Department wanted to make a movie. Of a computer burning... They arranged for
access to said PDP-11/40 and set up to film. They used a CO2 fire extinguisher
to simulate smoke coming out of the computer. Tapes spinning, lights flashing,
smoke everywhere. It turned out to be a dry powder fire extinguisher. PDP-11/40
worked fine later after distilled water rinse-down and drying.

Story 2)
Same lab, different computer (PDP-12). Cabinet open and C.E.(customer engineer)
performing P.M.(preventative maint.). Bystanding student researcher eating
peanut butter with fork directly out of jar peering over shoulder of C.E.
Student drops fully laden fork into live backplane causing fork to heat,
peanut butter to flow, smoke smelling of roasted peanuts to billow, and
backplane to fry.

Should these postings still be going to rec.humor and comp.misc? 
Just asking.
--
Mike Murphy  Sceard Systems, Inc.  544 South Pacific St. San Marcos, CA  92069
mrm@sceard.UUCP       {hp-sdd,nosc,ucsd}!sceard!mrm            +1 619 471 0655