Beware Mac users: A seemingly innocuous snippet of code has been found to cause any app to immeadiately crash on any Apple computer using the current version of OSX, Mountain Lion.
Whatever you do, do not type the following eight characters on your Mac:
File:///
Don't search for it in your browser. Don't type in your word processor. Don't tweet it, chat about it, or or do anything that would create it. For it to work, the string needs to be typed exactly as its shown above, with a capital "F" and three slashes.
Multiple outlets claim to have tested the bug on a litany of programs, ranging from standard app like Textedit and Safari, to third-party products like Tweetbot and Chrome.. Similarly, exhaustive testing indicates that the problem is most likely exclusive to Mountain Lion: Older versions of the OS don't seem to mind it so much.
And the worst part? At the moment, no one knows what's causing it. A user sending a bug report to Apple regarding the glitch seemed to think the problem may be connected to the OS' built-in spell-check feature. However, as 9to5Mac points out, the code can crash an app if it's written in any text field, including browser bars, which aren't covered by spell check. There's no word on fix yet, but given the severity of the problem, it's only a matter of time until the boys and girls in Cupertino find a fix.
It probably won't come up in your every day life, so just try not to think about it...
(It's tougher than you think, right?)
