1. magic smoke humour> A substance trapped inside integrated circuit packages that enables them to function also called "blue smoke"; this is similar to the archaic "phlogiston" hypothesis about combustion. Its existence is demonstrated by what happens when a chip burns up - the magic smoke gets let out, so it doesnt work any more. See Electing a Pope, smoke test. Usenetter Jay Maynard tells the following story: "Once, while hacking on a dedicated Zilog Z80 system, I was testing code by blowing EPROMs and plugging them in the system, then seeing what happened. One time, I plugged one in backward. I only discovered that *after* I realised that Intel didnt put power-on lights under the quartz windows on the tops of their EPROMs - the die was glowing white-hot. Amazingly, the EPROM worked fine after I erased it, filled it full of zeros, then erased it again. For all I know, its still in service. Of course, this is because the magic smoke didnt get let out. " Compare the original phrasing of Murphys Law. [Jargon File]
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