https://magnus919.com/categories/computing-history/Recent content in Computing History on Notes from the Rabbit HoleHugoen© [Magnus Hedemark](https://github.com/magnus919)Fri, 23 May 2025 10:00:00 -0400https://magnus919.com/2025/05/the-xenon-death-flash-how-a-camera-nearly-killed-the-raspberry-pi-2/Fri, 23 May 2025 10:00:00 -0400https://magnus919.com/2025/05/the-xenon-death-flash-how-a-camera-nearly-killed-the-raspberry-pi-2/<p>I&rsquo;ve seen plenty of weird computer bugs in my time, but nothing quite like what Peter Onion discovered in February 2015. He was proudly photographing his brand new Raspberry Pi 2 when something bizarre happened—every time his camera flash went off, his Pi instantly powered down.</p> <p>At first, Peter thought it was just a coincidence. But after it happened three times in a row, he realized he&rsquo;d stumbled onto something unprecedented. <a href="https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/xenon-death-flash-a-free-physics-lesson/">His post to the Raspberry Pi forums</a> with the innocent title &ldquo;Why is the PI2 camera-shy?&rdquo; would soon reveal one of the strangest hardware vulnerabilities in modern computing history.</p>