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View Full Version : Haunted computer - why would it do this?



NintendoTogepi
April 29th, 2009, 08:17 PM
This isn't really a technical question, just more of a strange/paranormal story with a computer twist.

First, some back story. My great grandfather (my maternal grandmothers father) was a great man, apparently. My mother and my grandma just adored him. Now, he always assiocated himself with the number '257'. I can't recall exactly why, but I think it was the address of his house or something, and he played it in the lottery every now and then. When he unfortunately died in the 80s of cancer, my grandmother and mother were grief stricken. But they remembered his number, and they would always think about him when it was 2:57am or 2:57pm and they saw it on the clock.

So anyway, fast forward I'm born blah blah, and they still do this. I can remember my mom going 'aww...257...grandpa' when I was like 5-6. My grandma plays it in the lottery as well. Anyway, so it's Sunday night. My Mom is on her laptop, just doing some late night searching. Anyway, she looks at her clock on the computer taskbak. 2:57am. 'Hi grandpa', says. But then she thinks, 'that's weird, it seems a lot later than that'. But she continues browsing. Her eye catches the clock around 10-20 minutes later. 2:57am. 'What?' She thinks. She presses the 'TV Guide' button on the TiVo, and sees it's actually 3:40am (give or take 10 minutes, cannot recall exactly).

So she is freaked out. Why has her clock frozen on 2:57? Plus, of all the numbers for it freeze on, it would freeze on the number she has linked to her grandpa for over 20 years?
She actually was so creeped out she came and woke me up to show it to me. I tried to click on it and stuff but it didn't work, and the clock didn't change. Then it said there was an error and the screen went black for a second, and when it came back the time was now correct.

Freaky :O but here's what truly makes the story spooky.
So the next day, we were talking in her room and she was on her laptop. Dad gets home with the subs from Debella's and we go to eat them. When we're done, we wash up etc and my mom goes back to her computer and she calls to me 'What time is it?'

'6:08' (Something like that) I say back. 'Can you come in here?'. She says. I come in and she says 'Look at the time'. 5:27pm. And as before, it does not change, and the task bar doesn't work, and then it errors, screen turns black and the time goes back to normal.

Anyway, what's the explanation? My mom is convinced it's a sign (and I'm not sure it isn't) The computer has never had issues with the time freezing before and the two times I just listed are the only times it has froze.

What would be the technical reason for this? It's a December 2008 laptop with Vista on it :confused:

swoll1980
April 29th, 2009, 08:46 PM
My first question would be; what does 2:57 have to do with 5:27 that you would think that their somehow linked? Would 7:25 be linked as well? What about 7:52? You could say that 12:00 is linked too, because if you add 2:57 to it, it's 2:57, how weird is that. 5:54 is linked because if you subtract 2:57, it's 2:57. You can make as many links to it as possible to the point that's it's like a prophesy, just vague enough plug into any situation, but never clear enough to actually be wrong.

NintendoTogepi
April 29th, 2009, 08:50 PM
My first question would be; what does 2:57 have to do with 5:27 that you would think that their somehow linked. Would 7:25 be linked as well? What about 7:52? You could say that 12:00 is linked too, because if you add 2:57 to it, it's 2:57, how wierd is that. 5:54 is linked because if you subtract 2:57, it's 2:57. You can make as many links to it as possible to the point that's it's like a prophesy, just vague enough plug into any situation, but never clear enough to actually be wrong.

Well 5:27 is the same numbers as 257, rearranged.

Tibuda
April 29th, 2009, 08:52 PM
that's u-boo-tu in her laptop?

lisati
April 29th, 2009, 08:58 PM
Well 5:27 is the same numbers as 257, rearranged.

By all means have something special to remember people by. The thing about favourite numbers is that you can't afford to be slack or arbitrary in the significance you ascribe to them - it's too easy to read into many things something that isn't actually there. It would probably matter how the numbers were arranged if you had to calculate something like the appropriate dose of a medicine of the "too little doesn't work, too much can make you very sick or even kill you" variety.

Sunflower1970
April 29th, 2009, 09:14 PM
It's probably nothing more than a coincidence, or possibly a bug somewhere, but the story made me smile, :) It's kind of like your great-grandfather found a way to say 'hi' back, finally :)

sisco311
April 29th, 2009, 09:14 PM
It's a coincidence.

Check the cpu temperature, the ram and the cooler(s).

:)

swoll1980
April 29th, 2009, 09:16 PM
Well 5:27 is the same numbers as 257, rearranged.

My point is that numbers are infinite, math is infinite. The funny part about numbers is there is an infinite amount of ways to link them to each other. Say it was a ghost that made the cable box stop at 2:57, why would the same ghost decide to now use 5:27? You say because "it's the same numbers rearranged" Did the ghost use this new number just for the sake of being vague?

Giant Speck
April 29th, 2009, 09:20 PM
It's pure coincidence. Sorry.

0per4t0r
April 29th, 2009, 09:29 PM
that's u-boo-tu in her laptop?
No, he said she was using Vista.

Anyway, that's pretty freaky. I wouldn't know why it would happen, though.

Giant Speck
April 29th, 2009, 09:34 PM
No, he said she was using Vista.

I think he was trying to make a pun.

0per4t0r
April 29th, 2009, 09:42 PM
I think he was trying to make a pun.
oh, :akward:

tjwoosta
April 29th, 2009, 10:54 PM
time to pull out the ouija board

dragos240
April 29th, 2009, 11:03 PM
Hmm.... It sounds like coincidence. BUT, if you dual boot arch on there and set the clock to normal time, and type date. If it's that same number...... your mom might be right. Keep conducting tests, that will be interesting.

CharmyBee
April 29th, 2009, 11:22 PM
It'd be even scarier if the sound card had dirt on it. Ever heard a dirty sound card? You can't even mute it!

MaxIBoy
April 29th, 2009, 11:36 PM
Given the number of potentially broken computers out there, and the number of dead people who used to have lucky numbers, this kind of thing was bound to happen sooner or later.