I've started studying the root facts about computer hardware, I happen to have this really great book I can share some wizardry from some time. And in that book was a cool picture (I'll scan it). But it led me to look up this one - in the book the cpu had attached to it an i/o as well, on the bus.

But when you look at a cpu on its own, there's no start or finish - it's just infinite...



It's mind boggling. I'll get a picture of the simplest computer possible (that one above's just a cpu, not an entire computer) and show you.

But when you look at a cpu on its own, there's no start or finish - it's just infinite...

Yep, tell the CPU to go into a locked loop... ... and it will do, until the core overheats or the power is dropped.

I heard about a virus which would switch off a machine's fan, causing it to eventually overheat and catch fire. Anybody heard of that one?

Combined with the said locked loop, it sounds to me like it could be a highly damaging event!