This unusual story is surprising. Several elements are likely to crash laptops. Surprisingly, a tube released in 1989 was the source of one of these “bugs”, and caused many computers to “crashed” each time it was played. At the heart of this improbable technical mystery, singer Janet Jackson.
In 1989, an illustrious R&B singer stood out and became one of the main representatives of this musical genre; She is Michael Jackson’s little sister. Janet Jackson was noticed at the time by record companies, but especially by the public, and quickly met with success with her album Rythm Nation 1818. Only here, years later, one of the disc’s flagship hits will despite itself bug many laptops, to the great surprise of specialists. But how is this possible? We explain to you.
The beginnings of the computer in the 1980s
Crashes, freezes and other frequent restarts are often caused by viruses and other malicious programs. But another reason for these technical “crashes”, more surprising, has just been revealed…
In the 80s, the tube Rythm Nation by Janet Jackson is broadcast massively and finds itself at the top of the American charts. But it is more than 10 years later, in the early 2000s, that he will once more be talked regarding. Indeed, a Microsoft developer, Raymond Chen, has just revealed in a blog post an incredible anecdote, and one of the strangest bugs ever encountered on Windows: this song by Michael Jackson’s sister was crashing laptops who read it!
The title then surprisingly appears in the list of “Windows flaws”, and finds itself listed as an element subject to the bug of certain laptops. Janet Jackson’s song would crash computers just by broadcasting it. But the mystery then remains whole: how is this possible? The technology initiated by Alan Turing definitely conceals many secrets.
In question, the “acoustic energy” of the song
After the reports of several computer manufacturers, specialists are trying to detect the problem induced by the reading of the pop song by Janet Jackson, and wonder how it (and especially its title) can crash so many PCs simply by broadcasting it. Following the research carried out, engineers discovered a common point in the computers concerned.
Indeed, the models that “crash” all contain an optical hard drive, equipped with platters rotating at 5,400 revolutions per minute. In addition, the waves emitted by the built-in speakers would vibrate the hard drive intensely enough to cause the computer to crash completely. This find was thus highlighted by computer engineers, who also underlined the originality of the thing. These so-called “platter” hard drives thus have a mechanism that exposes them more to vibrations. Under the pressure of certain frequencies at a certain rate, their composition vibrates and stops almost automatically.
Rest assured, the problem has since been resolved, modifications to the tolerance to harmful frequencies having since been made. So you can listen Rythm Nation safely on your computer.
In addition, another surprising fact in the career of Janet Jackson, the pop and R&B singer led the Super Bowl organizers to modify the rules for broadcasting the legendary match and its unmissable halftime show. After a very (too?) noticed media passage in 2004. Chosen to embody the voice of the ceremony during the championship that year, the singer and diva had revealed her breast, following an “involuntary” gesture from Justin Timberlake, under the eyes millions of viewers during his performance. Since then, the (almost) live television show has been broadcast with a slight delay to compensate for this kind of unforeseen event.
Sources : Lemon Squeezer, Courrier International, Frandroid
