Classic HN: A Story About 'Magic'
The article recounts a humorous incident involving a mysterious switch labeled 'magic' and 'more magic' found in the MIT AI Lab's PDP-10. Despite having only one wire connected, flipping the switch caused the computer to crash on two separate occasions. The author and other hackers speculated about the switch's effects, ultimately concluding that it was 'magic' and left it in the 'more magic' position.
- ▪The switch was found in the MIT AI Lab's PDP-10 and had only one wire connected to it.
- ▪Flipping the switch caused the computer to crash, despite its apparent inoperability.
- ▪The switch was eventually removed, and the computer ran fine afterward.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
A Story About ‘Magic'Some years ago, I (GLS) was snooping around in the cabinets that housed the MIT AI Lab's PDP-10, and noticed a little switch glued to the frame of one cabinet. It was obviously a homebrew job, added by one of the lab's hardware hackers (no one knows who).You don't touch an unknown switch on a computer without knowing what it does, because you might crash the computer. The switch was labeled in a most unhelpful way. It had two positions, and scrawled in pencil on the metal switch body were the words ‘magic' and ‘more magic'. The switch was in the ‘more magic' position.I called another hacker over to look at it. He had never seen the switch before either.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Catb.
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