Browser reading nonexistent code

[Leon James]

I teach about 50 undergraduates each semester to put up their Home Pages
and work with them in the computer lab.  Every semester I receive several
reports of mysterious happenings with both Netscape and the online eidtors
(Pico and Emacs).  Just as it was reported by the other two messages in
this thread, the file is edited, saved, and viewed in Netscape with the
Reload command.  There are unpredictable times when changes don't show up
no matter how often it is reloaded.  In desperation, we use the solution
of renaming the file.  This works all the time.  I asked a few monitors
and graduate students in computer science about this.  Their first
reaction is to disbelieve the evidence, even when several independent
witnesses report the same problem.  When confronted with the evidence (on
a rare occasion they are present while it's happening), they shrug their
shoulder and walk away in disgust. 

I am tempted to formulate and believe the hypothesis that computers are 
capable of mysterious behavior.  I have a computer dictionary on my 
desk.  It defines "bug" as the difference between how a computer is 
supposed to behave and how it actually behaves.

Leon James

       	        +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
	         **    Dr. Leon James, Prof. of Psychology, Univ. of Hawaii
		  **   http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/club/leonj/leonpsy/leon.html
		    **  "Thoughts are from affections." E. Swedenborg AE1146
                      *******************************************************