This year I bought several new strings of Christmas lights, the fancy
kind that flash multiple different light patterns. Several days
after putting them up on the Christmas Tree, I noticed that one
string was "stuck"; the lights did not flash. I thought it was
somewhat strange that the lights would be "stuck", as I knew that the
light controller was electronic, with no mechanical parts to get
"stuck".
I unplugged and plugged in the lights, and pressed the button on the
light controller box until the lights started working again.
I had walked a few steps away when it struck me what had just
happened:
The light string was controlled by state-machine firmware. In other
words, it was run by computer software.
I had just experienced a Christmas light firmware crash.
I had just rebooted my Christmas lights.
Thanx to Chuck Corley [rec.humor.funny].
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