sunspots

from Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)

sunspots
 n.

   1. Notional cause of an odd error. "Why did the program suddenly turn
   the screen blue?" "Sunspots, I guess."

   2. Also the cause of {bit rot} -- from the myth that sunspots will
   increase {cosmic rays}, which can flip single bits in memory. See also
   {phase of the moon}.

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

sunspots

   1. Notional cause of an odd error.  "Why did the program
   suddenly turn the screen blue?"  "Sunspots, I guess."

   2. Also the cause of {bit rot} - from the myth that sunspots
   will increase {cosmic rays}, which can flip single bits in
   memory.  See also {phase of the moon}.

   [{Jargon File}]

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