Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Chernobyl Radiation Crashed a Soviet Rail System

2025-08-20

In the 1980s, programmer Sergei encountered mysterious crashes on an SM-1800 microcomputer at a Soviet rail station. The system, used for routing trains, would randomly fail at night. Investigation revealed the crashes only occurred when processing livestock from northern Ukraine and western Russia. Suspecting Chernobyl radiation, Sergei confirmed his theory: high radiation levels flipped bits in the SM-1800's memory. The Soviet government mixed contaminated and uncontaminated meat to avoid waste. Upon discovering this, Sergei immediately filed immigration papers. The computer crashes resolved themselves as radiation levels dropped.

Mind-blowing! These Unexpected Things Are Turing-Complete!

2025-04-27

From C++ templates to Magic: The Gathering, even PowerPoint—this article reveals a surprising array of seemingly simple systems that are, in fact, Turing-complete. The examples range from programming languages and hardware instruction sets to game mechanics and even image compression, showcasing the surprising ubiquity of Turing completeness and its unexpected applications. Some examples even leverage bugs or vulnerabilities to achieve unexpected computational power. Prepare to be amazed!

Five Levels of Configuration Languages: From Simple Strings to Turing Completeness

2025-04-12

This article explores five levels of configuration languages, ranging from simple file strings to full-fledged programming languages. The author argues that choosing the right level is crucial, advocating for the lowest possible level to maintain simplicity and avoid over-engineering. Each level's characteristics, advantages, disadvantages, and potential problems (like circular dependencies) are illustrated with real-world examples. The article concludes by recommending a judicious choice for different scenarios, preventing unnecessary complexity.