fat electrons n.
Old-time hacker David Cargill's theory on the causation of
computer glitches. Your typical electric utility draws its line
current out of the big generators with a pair of coil taps
located near the top of the dynamo. When the normal tap brushes
get dirty, they take them off line to clean them up, and use
special auxiliary taps on the bottom of the coil. Now,
this is a problem, because when they do that they get not
ordinary or `thin' electrons, but the fat'n'sloppy electrons that
are heavier and so settle to the bottom of the generator. These
flow down ordinary wires just fine, but when they have to turn a
sharp corner (as in an integrated-circuit via), they're apt to
get stuck. This is what causes computer glitches. [Fascinating.
Obviously, fat electrons must gain mass by bogon absorption --ESR] Compare bogon, magic
smoke.