Logic may be overrated in the grand scheme of things, but when it comes to computers the importance of it just can't be overstated. Well, actually it can, but if you steer clear of Computer Science classrooms you'll have a better chance of avoiding that kind of talk.
Anyway, when bits become trapped in a loop (see figure 110101) it's a lot like the endless cycle of birth and rebirth you may have heard about from your reincarnated buddy Lewis. Not that Lewis and binary logic have anything in common, unless he lives in one of the Computer Science classrooms I mentioned previously. But the end result is still the same, namely a long, exhausting trip around the wheel, or the processor.
Fortunately, both situations have a trivial solution, as my least favorite math teacher used to say as he flung erasers at his least favorite pupil. Whether fatigue is due to a non-terminating algorithm or life #14763222, the answer is a new set of brake pads, because you can't put the brakes on something that doesn't have any brakes to begin with.
Love your zinger! Speaking of the brakeless:
ReplyDelete"The brakeless machine is ridden downhill with criminal recklessness."
—Herbert A. Garratt, The Modern Safety Bicycle, 1899
Thanks, Craig.
ReplyDeleteI think I may have been that criminal. As I recall, I was just old enough to reach the pedals circa 1899, and only grew more reckless (and less wreckless) with time.