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Given enough computers, anything will happen. Apparently enough bit flips happen in domains (or their DNS resolution) that registering domains one bit away from

Given enough computers, anything will happen. Apparently enough bit flips happen in domains (or their DNS resolution) that registering domains one bit away from the most popular ones (e.g. something like gnogle.com for google.com) might be worth it for bad actors. There was a story a few years ago, but I can't find it right now; perhaps someone will link it.

pixl97 9mo ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT7mnSstKGs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT7mnSstKGs Was in DEFCON19.
- homebrewer 9mo ago
  Great, thanks. Here's a discussion on this site: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4800489 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4800489
lanyard-textile 9mo ago
A very old game speedrun -- of the era that speedruns weren't really a "thing" like they are today -- apparently greatly benefited from a hardware bit flip, and it was only recently discovered. Can't find an explanatory video though :(
- direwolf20 9mo ago
  The Tick Tock Clock upwarp in Super Mario 64. All evidence that exists of it happening is a video recording. The most similar recording was generated by flipping a single bit in Mario's Y position, compared to other possibilities that were tested, such as warping Mario up to the closest ceiling directly above him.
  - tavavex 9mo ago
    I'm pretty sure that while no one knows the cause definitively, many people agreed that the far more likely explanation for the bit change was a hardware fault (memory error, bad cartridge connection or something similar) or other, more powerful sources of interference. The player that recorded the upwarp had stated that they often needed to tilt the cartridge to get the game to run, showing that the connection had already degraded. The odds of it being caused by a cosmic ray single-event upset seem to be vanishingly low, especially since similar (but not identical) errors have already been recorded on the N64.

pixl97 9mo ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT7mnSstKGs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT7mnSstKGs Was in DEFCON19.

homebrewer 9mo ago
Great, thanks. Here's a discussion on this site: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4800489 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4800489

lanyard-textile 9mo ago

A very old game speedrun -- of the era that speedruns weren't really a "thing" like they are today -- apparently greatly benefited from a hardware bit flip, and it was only recently discovered. Can't find an explanatory video though :(

direwolf20 9mo ago
The Tick Tock Clock upwarp in Super Mario 64. All evidence that exists of it happening is a video recording. The most similar recording was generated by flipping a single bit in Mario's Y position, compared to other possibilities that were tested, such as warping Mario up to the closest ceiling directly above him.
- tavavex 9mo ago
  I'm pretty sure that while no one knows the cause definitively, many people agreed that the far more likely explanation for the bit change was a hardware fault (memory error, bad cartridge connection or something similar) or other, more powerful sources of interference. The player that recorded the upwarp had stated that they often needed to tilt the cartridge to get the game to run, showing that the connection had already degraded. The odds of it being caused by a cosmic ray single-event upset seem to be vanishingly low, especially since similar (but not identical) errors have already been recorded on the N64.