A magazine where the digital world meets the real world.
On the web
- Home
- Browse by date
- Browse by topic
- Enter the maze
- Follow our blog
- Follow us on Twitter
- Resources for teachers
- Subscribe
In print
What is cs4fn?
- About us
- Contact us
- Partners
- Privacy and cookies
- Copyright and contributions
- Links to other fun sites
- Complete our questionnaire, give us feedback
Search:
And Finally (expect the unexpected)
Bugs can kill.
In the early days of electronic computers they used relays, electromechanical switches that rocked up and down to switch the electrical circuits. Grace Murray Hopper, who was in charge of the team working with the Mark II computer, (an early electromechanical device), found that a moth had flown through the window and blocked one of the relays, so shutting the system down. This is arguably where the term computer 'bug' comes from.