catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  computron
       
          /kom'pyoo-tron"/ 1. A notional unit of computing power
          combining instruction speed and storage capacity, dimensioned
          roughly in instructions-per-second times
          megabytes-of-main-store times megabytes-of-mass-storage.
          "That machine can't run GNU Emacs, it doesn't have enough
          computrons!"  This usage is usually found in metaphors that
          treat computing power as a fungible commodity good, like a
          crop yield or diesel horsepower.  See bitty box, Get a real
          computer!, toy, crank.
       
          2. A mythical subatomic particle that bears the unit quantity
          of computation or information, in much the same way that an
          electron bears one unit of electric charge (see also bogon).
          An elaborate pseudo-scientific theory of computrons has been
          developed based on the physical fact that the molecules in a
          solid object move more rapidly as it is heated.  It is argued
          that an object melts because the molecules have lost their
          information about where they are supposed to be (that is, they
          have emitted computrons).  This explains why computers get so
          hot and require air conditioning; they use up computrons.
          Conversely, it should be possible to cool down an object by
          placing it in the path of a computron beam.  It is believed
          that this may also explain why machines that work at the
          factory fail in the computer room: the computrons there have
          been all used up by the other hardware.  (This theory probably
          owes something to the "Warlock" stories by Larry Niven, the
          best known being "What Good is a Glass Dagger?", in which
          magic is fuelled by an exhaustible natural resource called
          "mana".)
       
          [{Jargon File]
       
       

  computron /kom'pyoo-tron`/ n. 1. [common] A notional unit of computing
     power combining instruction speed and storage capacity, dimensioned
     roughly in instructions-per-second times megabytes-of-main-store times
     megabytes-of-mass-storage. "That machine can't run GNU Emacs, it doesn't
     have enough computrons!" This usage is usually found in metaphors that
     treat computing power as a fungible commodity good, like a crop yield or
     diesel horsepower. See bitty box, Get a real computer!, toy,
     crank. 2. A mythical subatomic particle that bears the unit quantity
     of computation or information, in much the same way that an electron
     bears one unit of electric charge (see also bogon). An elaborate
     pseudo-scientific theory of computrons has been developed based on the
     physical fact that the molecules in a solid object move more rapidly as
     it is heated. It is argued that an object melts because the molecules
     have lost their information about where they are supposed to be (that
     is, they have emitted computrons). This explains why computers get so
     hot and require air conditioning; they use up computrons. Conversely, it
     should be possible to cool down an object by placing it in the path of a
     computron beam. It is believed that this may also explain why machines
     that work at the factory fail in the computer room: the computrons there
     have been all used up by the other hardware. (The popularity of this
     theory probably owes something to the "Warlock" stories by Larry Niven,
     the best known being "What Good is a Glass Dagger?", in which magic is
     fueled by an exhaustible natural resource called `mana'.)