Computer repair staff in Britain were not surprised to discover a customer’s computer had been damaged by a worm. But they were shocked to find it was of the wriggly variety.

Mark Taylor took the laptop in for repair after it developed problems. Technician Sam Robinson opened the machine up and discovered what looked like an elastic band wrapped around the fan. On closer examination it turned out to be a five inch earthworm which had been burned to a crisp when the machine was turned on.

Several media reports claim Taylor had suspected the trouble was down to a worm virus, and the Telegraph even quotes him as saying, “I couldn’t help thinking that people get computer worms all the time, but not real life ones.”

Whether he couldn’t help thinking this because a quick-thinking journalist suggested the idea isn’t known. (The story would have worked so much better had the laptop been an Apple.) Robinson noted the machine was displaying an error message saying the processor fan was unworkable, which doesn’t exactly give the impression of a software error.

The question of how the worm got inside the machine appears to be answered by the combination of an oversized air vent and two pet cats which Taylor says have a habit of bringing him slimy gifts from the garden. Now that’s a LOLcats picture waiting to happen.

The incident brings to mind the oft-quoted story that the computer ‘bug’ gets its name from computer scientist Grace Hopper who experienced an error with a 1940s machine which had a moth trapped inside it. However, the term was used at least a century before this and Hopper made a joke about it being the first time an actual bug had been found in a computer.

Of course, it’s entirely possible similar events have taken place and gone unreported. After all, would you admit to breaking your machine because a Trojan got inside it?

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 4:12 pm under Technology.

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