IEEE Micro Guest Editor Philip G. Emma introduces a special issue highlighting work outside the orthodoxy of the usual topics covered in computer science literature. Such "outside-the-box" topics tend not to make it into the usual fora for the simple reason that people are not quite sure what the rules are for reviewing unorthodox ideas. Articles in this special issue explore nanoscale optical computing using resonance energy transfer logic, evolutionary benchmark subsetting for system performance evaluation, a method of counteracting metal migration to lengthen chip lifetimes, and uses of a cache's inherent error-control mechanisms that can reduce DRAM refresh rates by several orders of magnitude.