Today's stories [3.16.08]

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THE POWERBOOK THAT LEAKED 
(A True Story)


In 1993, sometime in December, a customer walks in with a dead 
PowerBook 165. Fault description: hangs on startup. An 
additional symptom provided was: whilst being carried from the 
customer's site  to our service center, a 'sloshing' noise was 
heard within the machine. 


"Has anything been split on this computer?" I inquired, but no, 
nothing of the sort had happened, protested the client 
vehemently. Taking this with a grain of salt (no-one's going to 
admit doing something that totally invalidates their warranty 
and effectively wrecks their computer) I went about filling in 
the repair order. 


Back on the bench, I started the PowerBook up. Sure enough, an 
address error on startup, just after 'Welcome to Macintosh'. I 
lowered my ear to the keyboard, at which point I heard a 
crackling noise (couldn't hear any sloshing noise though) 
and became aware of a rather 'sharp' odor which seemed to 
emanate from the inside of the machine. Flicking the computer 
off and unplugging the adapter, I removed the battery from 
its compartment, only to observe that the entire battery 
casing was soaked in a fluid which appear to have a rainbow-
like sheen (kind of like what a puddle of soapy water would 
look like -- oily and colorful). I also noticed that the 
same fluid was leaking out of the battery compartment onto 
the static mat, but appeared clear rather than multi-colored. 
My first thoughts were that the battery had somehow leaked 
acid out into the guts of the PowerBook, which would account 
for the sharp smell (which reminded me of ammonia), yet the 
battery terminals were about the one part of the battery that 
was dry. No, upon closer examination, I ruled the acid theory
out. The battery was wet, but not leaking. 


Tipping the machine on its side, I watched more fluid run out 
and coagulate on the bench in a puddle about the size of a 
compact disc. It was definitely clear, and I observed that 
the 'rainbow' effect had been caused by the reaction of the 
plastic battery casing to this 'mystery liquid'. I then 
unscrewed the computer and separated the two parts of the 
PowerBook. The smell suddenly became a LOT stronger. The hard 
disk looked like a solid lump of rust, and the daughterboard 
appeared to have about three barbecued chips. Although I was 
quickly forming my own opinions on what had happened, I 
invited several of my workmates in to take a sniff and offer 
an opinion.

While waiting for the final voter recount in Florida, media services 
questioned the two major presidential candidates today. Both agreed that 
Americans are seeing too much inappropriate material in popular 
entertainment. However, they disagreed on the details.

The Republican candidate, George W. Bush, stated that there is too much 
bloody violence in the movies and on television.

Vice President Al Gore, his Democratic opponent, stated that the media 
presents Americans with too much sex and frontal nudity.

In other words, Bush says there is too much gore and Gore says there is 
too much bush.

[AP, Arkansas] A woman named Linda went to
   Arkansas last week to visit her in-laws, and while
   there, went to a store. She parked next to a car
   with a woman sitting in it, her eyes closed and
   hands behind her head, apparently sleeping. When
   Linda came out a while later, she again saw the
   woman, her hands still behind her head but with
   her eyes open. The woman looked very strange, so
   Linda tapped on the window and said "Are you
   okay?" The woman answered "I've been shot in the
   head, and I am holding my brains in." Linda didn't
   know what to do; so she ran into the store where
   store officials called the paramedics. They had to
   break into the car because the door was locked.
   When they got in, they found that the woman had
   bread dough on the back of her head and in her
   hands. A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded,
   apparently from the heat in the car, making a loud
   explosion like that of a gunshot, and hit her in
   the head. When she reached back to find what it
   was, she felt the dough and thought it was her
   brains. She passed out from fright at first, then
   attempted to hold her brains in!

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