computron

computron /kom'pyoo-tron`/  n. 1. A notional unit of
   computing power combining instruction speed and storage capacity,
   dimensioned roughly in instructions-per-second times
   megabytes-of-main-store times megabytes-of-mass-storage.  "That
   machine can't run GNU EMACS, it doesn't have enough computrons!"
   This usage is usually found in metaphors that treat computing power
   as a fungible commodity good, like a crop yield or diesel
   horsepower.  See {bitty box}, {Get a real computer!},
   {toy}, {crank}.  2. A mythical subatomic particle that bears
   the unit quantity of computation or information, in much the same
   way that an electron bears one unit of electric charge (see also
   {bogon}).  An elaborate pseudo-scientific theory of computrons
   has been developed based on the physical fact that the molecules in
   a solid object move more rapidly as it is heated.  It is argued
   that an object melts because the molecules have lost their
   information about where they are supposed to be (that is, they have
   emitted computrons).  This explains why computers get so hot and
   require air conditioning; they use up computrons.  Conversely, it
   should be possible to cool down an object by placing it in the path
   of a computron beam.  It is believed that this may also explain why
   machines that work at the factory fail in the computer room: the
   computrons there have been all used up by the other hardware.
   (This theory probably owes something to the "Warlock" stories
   by Larry Niven, the best known being "What Good is a Glass
   Dagger?", in which magic is fueled by an exhaustible natural
   resource called `mana'.)