[ale] Pictures of the culprit (was OT: Diagnosing HW problem)

[jb at sourceillustrated.com (John Wells)]

Guys,

After examining the mb with a flashlight, I found the culprit.

See:

http://www.sourceillustrated.com/mb_1.jpg
http://www.sourceillustrated.com/mb_2.jpg

Ok...now for real technical lingo here...

Of the four square thingies with the silver circle in the middle, notice
one is most definitely *not* like the other.  First, what is this fried
and charred thingie?  Second, does this look like it may have resulted
from a lightning strike (we had some good ones here this weekend).  I have
the box behind a good surge protector and UPS, but like a DAU I have cable
running directly into a tv tuner card with no surge protection, so I'm
wondering if that may have provided a clear path.

Interested in learning your thoughts.  Thanks again for the help!

John