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.
![[prev]](../gif/left.gif){kind=small}
![[up]](../gif/up.gif){kind=small}
![[next]](../gif/right.gif){kind=small}