Depending on what you mean by "the probabilities are the same" youve either understood or totally not understood probabilities.

Are you talking about "computer catches on fire" = probability nro 1 & "phone rings" = probability nro 2

...or "computer catches on fire and phone rings" = probability nro 3.

Individually chances of 1 and 2 separately do not chance at all. However if you are looking at case nro 3. that is both of them happening at the same time, its ofcourse way-way more unlikely opposed to them happening on different times.

---

anyways, someone actually still uses landline?

Never say no to Disney. Now suffer the consequencies ! :)

He always was kind of the "Frank Sinatra" of the child's entertainment industry. Oh sure he came off as fun and affable but piss him off, he makes a phone call, you don't exist anymore.

As one who has occasionally seen The Other Side (via passage through The Twilight Zone), I will happily admit that there is weird shit out there that hints of deeper connections and meanings. That being said, I'd be surprised if this is one of them, simply because one event doesn't seem to flow from the other in a narrative sense. What reason would a robot dialer have for frying your computer? Now if it were a blackmail call or something similar, that would make sense. But unless someone was just testing out a "PC-frying telecom carrier wave" (similar to those fictional "assassin sounds" that the CIA broadcasts over phones to induce brain seizures), there doesn't seem to be a purpose to targeting you in this manner.

I think it really is a coincidence in this case. That's the pernicious nature of coincidences - we don't notice the millions of times they don't happen, just the few times they do, which makes them seem remarkable. Had either of these events occurred to you in isolation they wouldn't have been more than they were. This isn't to say things are never connected, just that we need to exercise skepticism in regards to making those connections.

For example, I paid my rent yesterday. The date was 4/1/14, and my rent is $1400. All of those "4 and 1" patterns seemed like they could be meaningful, but nothing happened. Yet had I found $41 dollars on the ground, or discovered I was going on a trip in 14 days, I would have been tempted to chalk it up as "meaningful". The human mind excels at seeing patterns in chaos (e.g., pareidolia), so we end up weighing circumstances through this mechanism.

I'm referring to that, yes. However, in probability terms, we're both correct - the chances of two things happening at the same time is equal to the probability of two things happening at different yet determined times. So, the probability of your computer catching on fire at the same time as your phone rings is the same as the probability of your computer catching on fire 5 years, 2 months, 1 day, 12 hours and 15 seconds after your phone ringing.

It's merely a matter of perception - people are never surprised by the latter*, even though the probability is the same as the former.

Now, of course, you're also right in that the probability of the phone ringing at any different time to the computer catching fire does approach one (one the assumption that the longer the computer is in existence, the closer to one the probability of it catching fire trends).

And yes - land lines are great. I even have a rotary telephone for it!

(* not strictly true, as I was pretty surprised when my PSU caught fire, but that's a different story).

well, you can often play the odds to some extent really.

I mean especially with computer parts like PSU you can make the chances of it imploding without asking you first way smaller by simply buying from any known brand, even if you cannot afford real quality PSU.

there are lots of more or less random PSU from china etc which are just waiting for you to turn your back..

Cell phones don't work where I live so needless to say I adore land lines as well. :D

Actually IRC _can_ be used to put malware on a user's computer, depending on how the client is configured. Obviously, options like "automatically download files sent to me" should not be activated. ;) However, it's still more likely that you got that virus through browsing. I once got such a blackmail virus from following a link to a soccer stream while my firewall was still in "Gaming" mode ...

Btw, regarding the OP: I think the two most probably explanations have been given already. One is "coincidence". The other is that the PSU was on its last legs already, so that even the slightest fluctuations in the power circuit (or the slightest move, such as from slamming a nearby phone down) would cause it to break down.

Yes but did you see your rep? 707 = 7 + 7 =14

mwhahaha!

Oh shit. Don't get into numbers. Ultimately you can come up with an equation for everything and then you continue to do so until your head blows up and that's always messy, whichever head it is.

Yeah and the blood is really, really hard to clean off the walls and carpet...:-(

Pretty wild coincidence in it shutting off exactly as I hit the talk button. It was literally as though the talk button on the phone were a remote control to turning off the computer. It was exactly, precisely, like that.

I don't think it's any conspiracy but I do think they're related in some way. Maybe the PSU was on it's last legs, and something about pressing the talk button and ending the call did something that pushed it over. The part that bothers me is such a phone call as an advertisement at 20 till 1 in the morning. I've lived here since the 1970's, and have been inundated with sales calls, but NEVER, EVER at 20 till 1 in the morning, or anything close.

But, coincidence or no, it's fried. I don't see any physical damage to the motherboard and of course can't see the CPU, but the motherboard "looks" ok (no signs of black, burnt damage). The graphics cards look okay, and the hard drives look okay.

But I fear what some surge may have done, and assume it's possible even though all those things look okay, that in fact ALL of them are lost??? Would that be the most likely outcome, least likely outcome, or basically 50/50 from your guys experience?? It won't power on, but I'm sure that's the PSU. There is nothing, no response at all, and I'm sure that's the PSU. But everything else "looks" okay, you know??

Man I can't afford to replace all of it.

What do you guys that use Windows do for OS? MS considers a new MB requiring a new OS, and I'm getting so tired of buying Windows 7 licenses. Is there some way to save money on these damn OS's???

And sorry for my tone last night, totally my fault and not very considerate of others. I am very sorry. The folks here at gog just don't deserve that shit, yet I was a complete asshole. I would say it wouldn't happen again, but the fact is I'm basically an asshole so acting like one is in my nature (think the story of the scorpion and the priest). FWIW I am sorry and do apologize.

Oh my god! APOCALYPSE CONFIRMED!!!

Also, I will not be flying on a 707 any time soon. ;)

Well, one possible, if remote, chance is that if you were using a large old landline phone, and it was near the computer, then hanging up may have pulsed the solenoid in it. That magnetic charge may have been the last nudge needed to cascade a failure in the computer. As I say, it hinges on a lot of things going wrong or wonky at the same time, but not impossible.

Yeah, sure. That's what you told friends and family. We all know it was a Tentacle Porn site.

Well it is understandable having your computer go kaput out of the blue is bound to make you frustrated and agitated. Also as you say the board and the Graphics adapter as well as the other components look fine then it is most probably the PSU. So fingers crossed you won't need to replace everything and just replacing the PSU will have your system running. Next time just try to avoid late night phone calls even though it is unlikely that was the cause of this unfortunate incident. :)