"The first actual case of a bug being found..."

Don’t you just hate a bug on your iPhone, computers, etc?  They make your life a living hell! But where did the term “computer bug” come from, and which computer got it first?  Back in 1945, after WWII ended, the gargantuan Mark II computer which ran ordinance calculations for the U.S. Navy shut down. Technicians eventually found that a moth trapped between two of the machine’s relay points was the culprit. Navy personnel preserved the moth in the daily log (photo above) & noted “the first actual case of a bug being found” in a computer, hence “computer bug.” However, the culprit being a bug was sort of a coincidence, because the term “bug” had been used to describe a mechanical malfunction since Thomas Edison’s day. Today the term “bug,” & “debugging,” is techie jargon and one we all have come to understand to mean a major pain in the ass if you have one.

The Navy’s “debugging,” was quite simple, close all windows in the lab. That’s it, no more bugs. Today, it’s a lot more complicated to debug. In 1949 a mathematician Jon Von Newmann said that constructing self replicating computer programs was possible. The dude was right, today bugs, worms, viruses, and other pain in the asses, have become every computer users worst nightmare. Computer experts say that 55,000 new malware programs are introduced over the Internet every day.

Lesson of the day, closing your windows won’t rid you of computer bugs, so make sure you have good anti-virus software on your computer or you will pay dearly.

Greek Letter X "chi"

What I’m about to tell you is news to me as well. I have always found it offensive when someone would send me a Christmas card with the words, “Merry Xmas.” Why? Because I’ve always felt that when someone did that, it was somewhat of an effort on their part to remove “Christ” from the picture. You know, “The war on Christmas,” stuff.

Well, what a surprise I got. Lexically speaking, Christ is, and always has been in Xmas. “X” is the Greek letter “Chi” and the first letter in the word “Cristos,” which means Christ. Xmas did not show up in English until the 1500′s, but the letter “X” meaning Christ has been in use for 1000 years! Alright, but why the abbreviation? Let’s remember that the use of “X” pre-dates the printing press when books were hand written, written on hard to find materials, and very expensive. It’s a no brainer, use “X” to save space, time and money. But although we know it isn’t offensive to use “Merry Xmas,” do be aware that some still find it so, so use good judgment when wishing someone a Merry “Xmas.” But at least you now know it isn’t disrespectful if you get a card with “Xmas,” and you won’t let it ruin your Christmas. Leave that up to the Scrooges behind the cash registers. Merry Xmas all!