TECH

ID: 3486

Tech

Top Ten Signs...

Top Ten signs your co-worker is a computer hacker

10. You ticked him off once and your next phone bill was for $20,000.
9. He's won the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes 3 years running.
8. When asked for his phone number, he gives it in hex.
7. Seems strangely calm whenever the office computer network goes down.
6. Somehow gets HBO on his PC at work.
5. Mumbled, "Oh, puh-leeez" 95 times during the movie "The Net."
4. Massive 401k contribution made in half-cent increments.
3. His video dating profile lists "public-key encryption" among hobbies.
2. When his computer starts up, you hear, "Good Morning, Mr. President."
1. You hear him murmur, "Let's see you use that Visa card now, Professor I-Don't-Give-A's-In-Computer-Science!"

ID: 8781

Tech

The Microsoft Cheesecake

A guy walks into the Microsoft Shop.

Guy: I'd like a cheesecake, please.

Receptionist: Sure.

The receptionist hands him a block of cheese.

Guy: Umm... This is just the cheese. Where's the cake?

Rec: You have to purchase that seperately.

Guy: What the ----? What kind of product are you trying to sell me? Oh well.

Rec: Good. I knew you'd understand.

The Rec hands him the cake.

Guy: So... What do I do with the cheese and the cake?

Rec: You blend it.

Guy: With what?

The Rec hands him a blender.

The guy puts the cheese and the cake into the blender and blends it.

Guy: Now I have a bunch of liquid. What do I do with it?

Rec: Oh ---- you retard, you're supposed to exchange the cake for the batter first.

Guy: For the sake of Pete, what the ----? Fine. Let's start over. So I get the cheese and I get the cake. Then I exchange the cake for the batter, right?

Rec: Yep.

The guy blends it.

Guy: Right... I'm still stuck with a load of liquid.

Rec: You're supposed to cook it.

Guy: With what?

Rec: With this full-sized oven.

Guy: What the ----?

Rec: Yep.

The guy cooks the cheesecake.

Guy: Hey Rec! My cake is hot! Aren't cheesecakes supposed to be frozen?

Rec: Yeah, you need to put it in that freezer behind you for 24 hours. Since you're not an employee, it costs $1 a minute to use it.

Guy: You mean I'm supposed to pay $1440 to freeze my cake?

Rec: Wow! You're good at math! And, yes.

The guy puts his cheesecake in the freezer, pays his over-inflated bill, and leaves.


The next day, he comes back and finds the cake gone.

Guy: What happened to my cheesecake?

Rec: Well, you see, at lunch about an hour ago, there was this guy who was still hungry and saw the cheesecake and ate it.



On a completely unrelated note, the guy's brother bought a computer from Microsoft.

GB: How do I type my work?

Rec: Install Office.

GB: Sure.

GB: Umm... how do I install it?

Rec: You use a CD.

GB: Oh. Whoops, I jammed my cubicle into my case instead. Let's start over. So, I buy the computer and I install Office using a CD. Umm... I don't get how to do it.

Rec: You put the CD in the drive and let it Autorun.

GB: What the ---- is a drive?

Rec: Why don't you leave your computer here and let us do it for you?

GB: Sure.

The guy's brother leaves the computer and goes home.


The next day, he comes back.

GB: Yeah, I left my computer here yesterday?

Rec: No, there's no record of that. There was an extra computer here yesterday, so the shipping people shipped it off to CraCom.

GB: CraCom? As in CrappyCompany? It went bankrupt 2 hours ago!

Rec: Oh, I'm sorry. Would you care to buy a notebook?

GB: I already have one in my pocket, thanks.

ID: 14536

Tech

Spelling Checker

I have a spelling checker,
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue,
Miss steaks aye can knot see.

Eye ran this poem threw it.
Your sure real glad two no.
Its very polished in its weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.

A checker is a blessing.
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when aye rime.

Each frays comes posed up on my screen,
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every word,
To cheque sum spelling rule.

Bee fore a veiling checkers,
Hour spelling mite decline,
And if we're laks oar have a laps,
We wood bee maid too wine.

Butt now bee cause my spelling,
Is checked with such grate flare,
There are know faults with in my cite,
Of nun eye am a wear.

Now spelling does not phase me,
It does knot bring a tier.
My pay purrs awl due glad den,
With wrapped words fare as hear.

To rite with care is quite a feet,
Of witch won should be proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaws are knot aloud.

Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays,
Such soft wear four pea seas,
And why eye brake in two averse,
Buy righting want too please.

ID: 15207

Tech

Idiot Computer Virus

We regret to inform you, but by opening this email, you have just received the 'Idiot Computer Virus'.

Since our staff does not have any programming experience, this virus works on the honor system.

Please delete all files from your hard drive immediately, then manually forward this virus to everyone on your mailing list.

Thank You

ID: 16132

Tech

Windows95 Compared to Jesus

If you have half a brain, you can't help but notice the throng of publications, analysts and net users declaring Windows95 the Saviour of the Computer Industry. If you have less than half a brain, you probably believe it. Could it be?

To find out, let's compare Windows95 against a widely-accepted Saviour, Jesus of Nazareth:

Jesus Windows95

Jesus: Said, "Surely I come quickly."
Windows 95: Has been promised "any day now."

Jesus:Is taking a lot longer to actually arrive
Windows 95: Is taking a lot longer to actually
arrive.

Jesus: Can walk on water.
Windows 95: Can crawl on a 486.

Jesus: Sits in judgement at the pearly
gates.
Windows 95: Will be used to judge Bill Gates.

Jesus: Bible says, "In Him, all things Windows 95 doesn't even run all
are possible."
Windows 95: doesn't even run all
possible Windows apps.

Jesus: Started life as a carpenter.
Windows 95:Turns perfectly good computers into
furniture.

Jesus: Born in a manger.
Windows 95:Resembles something found in a barn.

Jesus:Remembered for protecting the
weak.
Windows 95:Has weak memory protection.

Jesus:Was raised from the dead.
Windows 95:Was created from Windows 3.1.

Jesus performed great works for
the multitudes.
Windows 95 multitasking performance
barely works.

Jesus has no sin.
Windows 95 has no shame.

if this offends any Christians out there, I don't really care. But you can email me if you think it will make you feel better.

ID: 15735

Tech

2 Car Jokes

Q: Why do Hondas and Hyundais have standard rear-window defoggers?

A: So your hands don't get cold when you're pushing them.


Q: What is the difference between a Porsche and a Porcupine?

A: With a Porsche, the pricks are on the inside.

ID: 16129

Tech

A Serious Interview With Your Favourite Geek

Focus Magazine Interview with Bill Gates

Microsoft Code Has No Bugs (that Microsoft cares about)

---------------------------------------------------------
In an interview for German weekly magazine Focus (nr.43, October 23, 1995, pages 206-212), Microsoft`s Mr. Bill Gates has made some tements about software quality of MS products. After lengthy inquiries about how PCs should and could be used (including some angry comments on some questions which Mr. Gates evidently did not like), the interviewer comes to storage requirements of MS products; it ends with the following dispute:

---------------------------------------------------------
FOCUS: Every new release of a software which has less bugs than the older one is also more complex and has more features...

Gates: No, only if that is what'll sell!

FOCUS: But...

Gates: Only if that is what'll sell! We've never done a piece of software unless we thought it would sell. That's why everything we do in software ...it's really amazing: We do it because we think that's what customers want. That's why we do what we do.

FOCUS: But on the other hand, you would say: Okay, folks, if you don't like these new features, stay with the old version, and keep the bugs?

Gates: No! We have lots and lots of competitors. The new version, it's not there to fix bugs. That's not the reason we come up with a new version.

FOCUS: But there are bugs an any version which people would really like to have fixed.

Gates: No! There are no significant bugs in our released software that any significant number of users want fixed.

FOCUS: Oh, my God. I always get mad at my computer if MS Word swallows the page numbers of a document which I printed a couple of times with page numbers. If I complain to anybody they say "Well, upgrade from version 5.11 to 6.0".

Gates: No! If you really think there's a bug you should report a bug. Maybe you're not using it properly. Have you ever considered that?

FOCUS: Yeah, I did...

Gates: It turns out Luddites don't know how to use software properly, so you should look into that. The reason we come up with new versions is not to fix bugs. It's absolutely not. It's the stupidest reason to buy a new version I ever heard. When we do a new version we put in lots of new things that people are asking for, and so, in no sense, is stability a reason to move to a new version. It's never a reason.

FOCUS: How come I keep being told by computer vendors, "Well, we know about this bug, wait till the next version is there, it'll be fixed"? I hear this all the time. How come? If you're telling me there are no significant bugs in software and there is no reason to do a new version?

Gates: No. I'm saying: We don't do a new version to fix bugs. We don't. Not enough people would buy it. You can take a hundred people using Microsoft Word. Call them up and say, "Would you buy a new version because of bugs?"

You won't get a single person to say they'd buy a new version because of bugs. We'd never be able to sell a release on that basis.

FOCUS: Probably you have other contacts to your software developers. But if Mister Anybody, like me, calls up a store or a support line and says, "Hey listen, there's a bug" ... 90 percent of the time I get the answer "Oh, well, yeah, that's not too bad, wait to the next version and it'll be fixed". That's how the system works.

Gates: Guess how much we spend on phone calls every year.

FOCUS: Hm, a couple of million dollars?

Gates: 500 million dollars a year. We take every one of these phone calls and classify them. That's the input we use to do the next version. So it's like the worlds biggest feedback loop. People call in, we decide what to do on it. Do you want to know what percentage of those phonecalls relates to bugs in the software? Less than one percent.

FOCUS: So people call in to say "Hey listen, I would love to have this and that feature"?

Gates: Actually, that's about five percent. Most of them call to get advice on how to do a certain thing with the software. That's the primary thing. We could have you sit and listen to these phone calls. There are millions and millions of them. It really isn't statistically significant. Sit in and listen to Win 95 calls, sit in and listen to Word calls, and wait, just wait for weeks and weeks for someone to call in and say "Oh, I found a bug in this thing"....

FOCUS: So where does this common feeling of frustration come from that unites all the PC users? Everybody experiences it every day that these things simply don't work like they should.

Gates: Because it's cool. It's like, "Yeah, been there done that. Oh, yeah, I know that bug." I can understand that phenomenon sociologically, not technically.

---------------------------------------------------------
So:

* Bug reports are statistically, therefore actually, unimportant;
* If you want a bug fixed, you are (by definition) in the minority;
* Microsoft doesn't fix bugs because bug fixes are not a significant source of revenue;
* If you think you found a bug, you are wrong, because really it only means you're incompetent; and
* People only complain about bugs to show how cool they are, not because bugs cause any real problems.

ID: 14984

Tech

Windows 98 Errors

Recently the following undocumented Windows 98 error-codes were found. Microsoft forgot to explain them in the manuals, so they will be spread via the Internet:

WinErr: 001
Windows loaded - System in danger

WinErr: 002
No Error - Yet

WinErr: 003
Dynamic linking error - Your mistake is now in every file

WinErr: 004
Erroneous error - Nothing is wrong

WinErr: 005
Multitasking attempted - System confused

WinErr: 006
Malicious error - Desqview found on drive

WinErr: 007
System price error - Inadequate money spent on hardware

WinErr: 008
Broken window - Watch out for glass fragments

WinErr: 009
Horrible bug encountered - God only knows what has happened

WinErr: 00A
Promotional literature overflow - Mailbox full

WinErr: 00B
Inadequate disk space - Free at least 500MB

WinErr: 00C
Memory hog error - More Ram needed. More! More! More!

WinErr: 00D
Window closed - Do not look outside

WinErr: 00E
Window open - Do not look inside

WinErr: 00F
Unexplained error - Please tell us how this happened

WinErr: 010
Reserved for future mistakes by our developers

WinErr: 013
Unexpected error - Huh ?

WinErr: 014
Keyboard locked - Try anything you can think of.

WinErr: 018
Unrecoverable error - System has been destroyed. Buy a new one. Old Windows license is not valid anymore.

WinErr: 019
User error - Not our fault. Is Not! Is Not!

WinErr: 01A
Operating system overwritten - Please reinstall all your software... Yet again.

WinErr: 01B
Illegal error - You are not allowed to get this error. Next time you will get a penalty for that.

WinErr: 01C
Uncertainty error - Uncertainty may be inadequate.

WinErr: 01D
System crash - We are unable to figure out our own code.

WinErr: 01E
Timing error - Please wait. And wait. And wait. And wait.

WinErr: 01F
Reserved for future mistakes of our developers.

WinErr: 020
Error recording error codes - Additional errors will be lost.

WinErr: 042
Virus error - A virus has been activated in a DOS session. The virus, however, requires Windows. All tasks will automatically be closed and the virus will be activated again.

WinErr: 079
Mouse not found - A mouse driver has not been installed. Please click the left mouse button to continue.

WinErr: 103
Error buffer overflow - Too many errors encountered. Additional errors may not be displayed or recorded.

WinErr: 678
This will end your Windows session. Do you want to play another game?

WinErr: 683
Time out error - Operator fell asleep while waiting for the system to complete boot procedure.

WinErr: 815
Insufficient Memory - Only 50,312,583 bytes available.

WinErr: 844
Competing Product - Remove all competing products and install Microsoft equivalents.

WinErr: 910
Personal Data Communicate Difficulties - Could not transmit social insurance number and or tax details back to Microsoft headquarters for further analysis.

WinErr: 960
Minimal Effort - User has only reinstalled Internet Explorer four times while trying to get it operational, please reinstall again.

WinErr: 2000
You have not downloaded your daily Y2K and security glitch patch.

ID: 13353

Tech

Now It All Makes Sense!

The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?
Because that's the way they built them in England, and the US railroads were built by English expatriates. Why did the English people build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. Why did the wagons use that odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing the wagons would break on the old long distance roads, because that's the spacing of the old wheel ruts. So who built these old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in Europe were built by
Imperial Rome for the benefit of their Legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts? The initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagons, were first made by Roman war chariots.
Since the chariots were made for or by Imperial Rome they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Thus, we have the answer to the original questions. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches
derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman army war chariot. Specs and Bureaucracies live forever. So, the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's behind came up with it, you
may be exactly right. Because the Imperial Roman chariots were made to be just wide enough to accommodate the back-ends of two warhorses.

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