The mysterious sensatious computer

For the past several months every time I got up from my computer and walked away it would play the Windows sound "Device Disconnect," sometimes called the "XP Hardware Remove.wav." I found it disconcerting that the computer sensed my departure and that it considered me "hardware."

This didn't happen 100% of the time, but it happened a lot--maybe 80% of the time. So much so and over so long a period of time that coincidence is out of the question. This was both spooky and reassuring in an odd way, like my computer was actually tracking my presence. I never mentioned this to anyone, too many people already consider me crazy--this was just over the top.

But I'm posting about it today because I finally figured out the connection. Probably capacitance, but more simply put the sound was triggered by a static electricity charge--my body and my keyboard represented a different electromagnetic potential.

This was confirmed this morning when I noticed a tiny spark jump from my finger to the keyboard when I sat down, which triggered the sound.
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