TECH

ID: 16121

Tech

As it turns out...

Believe it or not, Windows95 is not a virus, as many (millions) have claimed. You want proof? Look no further!

What's the difference between Windows95 and a virus?

Quality

Replicates Quickly
Virus: Yes
Windows95: Yes

Uses up valuable system resources, slowing down the system as they do so
Virus: Yes
Windows95: Yes

Occasional hard disk destruction
Virus: Yes
Windows95: Yes

Usually carried, unknown to the user, along with valuable programs and systems
Virus: Yes
Windows95:Yes

Will occasionally make the user suspect their system is too slow and the user will buy new hardware
Virus:Yes
Windows95:Yes

Occasional meltdown of vital components
Virus:Yes
Windows95:Yes


Until now it seems Windows is a virus, but there are several fundamental differences.
Viruses:

1.are well supported by their authors
2.are running on most systems
3.have fast, compact and efficient source code
4.become more sophisticated as they mature

ID: 1635

Tech

Pick-up Lines For Computer Geeks

- Nice Set of Floppies!

- Hey, how 'bout I take off your cover and insert a bigger CPU.

- I'd like to play on your laptop.

- Need me to unzip your files?

- If you were an ISP, I'd dial you all day long!

- I'd like to boot up your PC!

- I'll bet my hard drive is the biggest you've ever seen!

- I've got a 21 inch... (monitor)

- I'd get a T3 to watch your streaming video...

- Your homepage or mine?

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: 121

Tech

WordPerfect Assistant

This is a true story from the WordPerfect helpline. Needless to say, the help desk employee was fired; however, he/she is currently suing the Word Perfect organization for "Termination without Cause."

Actual dialogue of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee with a caller:

"Ridge Hall computer assistant; may I help you?"

"Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect."

"What sort of trouble?"

"Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away."

"Went away?"

"They disappeared."

"Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type."

"Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?"

"How do I tell?"

"Can you see the C: prompt on the screen?"

"What's a sea-prompt?"

"Never mind. Can you move the cursor around on the screen?"

"There isn't any cursor, I told you, it won't accept anything I type."

"Does your monitor have a power indicator?"

"What's a monitor?"

"It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on?"

"I don't know."

"Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall."

".......Yes, it is."

"When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one?"

"No."

"Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable."

".......Okay, here it is."

"Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer."

"I can't reach."

"Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is?"

"No."

"Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?"

"Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle - it's because it's dark."

"Dark?"

"Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window."

"Well, turn on the office light then."

"I can't."

"No? Why not?"

"Because there's a power outage."

"A power... A power outage? Ah, okay, we've got it licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in?"

"Well, yes, I keep them in the closet."

"Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from."

"Really? Is it that bad?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is."

"Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?"

"Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer."

ID: 11579

Tech

Internet Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Net,
There were hackers a surfing. Nerds? Yeah, you bet.
The e-mails were stacked by the inbox with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

The newbies were nestled all snug by their screens,
While visions of Java danced in their dreams.
My wife on the sofa and me with a snack,
We just settled down at my rig (it's a Mac).

When out in the Web there arose such a clatter,
I jumped to the site to see what was the matter.
To a new page my Mac flew like a flash,
Then made a slight gurgle. It started to crash!

I gasped at the thought and started to grouse,
Then turned my head sideways and clicked on my mouse.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
My Mac jumped to a page that wasn't quite clear.

When the image resolved, so bright and so quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick!
More rapid than mainframes, more graphics they came,
Then Nick glanced toward my screen, my Mac called them by name;

"Now Compaq! Now Acer!" my speaker did reel;
"On Apple! On Gateway!" Santa started to squeal!
"Jump onto the circuits! And into the chip!
Now speed it up! Speed it up! Make this thing hip!"

The screen gave a flicker, he was into my "Ram",
Then into my room rose a full hologram!
He was dressed in all red, from his head to his shoes,
Which were black (the white socks he really should lose).

He pulled out some discs he had stored in his backpack.
Santa looked like a dude who was rarin' to hack!
His eyes, how they twinkled! His glasses, how techno!
This ain't the same Santa that I used to know!

With a wink of his eye and a nod of his head,
Santa soon let me know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, gave my Mac a quick poke,
And accessed my C drive with only a stroke.

He defragged my hard drive, and added a "Dimm",
Then threw in some cool games, just on a whim!
He worked without noise, his fingers they flew!
He distorted some pictures with Kai's Power Goo!

He updated Office, Excel and Quicken,
Then added a screensaver with a red clucking chicken!
My eyes widened a bit, my mouth stood agape,
As he added the latest version of Netscape.

The drive gave a whirl, as if it were pleased,
St. Nick coyly smiled, the computer appeased.
Then placing his finger on the bridge of his nose,
Santa turned into nothing but ones and zeros!

He flew back into my screen and through my uplink,
Back into the net with barely a blink.
But I heard his sweet voice as he flew from my sight,
"Happy surfing to all, and to all a good byte!"

ID: 2390

Tech

Computer Terms

486 - The average IQ needed to understand a PC.

State-of-the-art - Any computer you can't afford.

Obsolete - Any computer you own.

Microsecond - The time it takes for your state-of-the-art computer to become obsolete.

G3 - Apple's new Macs that make you say "Gee, three times faster than the computer I bought for the same price a Microsecond ago."

Syntax Error - Walking into a computer store and saying, "Hi, I want to buy a computer and money is no object."

Hard Drive - The sales technique employed by computer salesmen, esp. after a Syntax Error.

GUI - What your computer becomes after spilling your coffee on it. (pronounced "gooey")

Keyboard - The standard way to generate computer errors.

Mouse - An advanced input device to make computer errors easier to generate.

Floppy - The state of your wallet after purchasing a computer.

Portable Computer - A device invented to force businessmen to work at home, on vacation, and on business trips.

Disk Crash - A typical computer response to any critical deadline.

Power User - Anyone who can format a disk from DOS.

System Update - A quick method of trashing ALL of your software.

ID: 12148

Tech

MORE Haiku Error Messages

ere is a chasm
of carbon and silicon
the software can't bridge.

Yesterday it worked
Today it is not working
Windows is like that

To have no errors
Would be life without meaning
No struggle, no joy

You step in the stream,
but the water has moved on.
This page is not here.

No keyboard present
Hit F1 to continue
Zen engineering?

Hal, open the file
Hal, open the damn file, Hal
Open the file, please Hal

Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.

Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.

The ten thousand things
How long do any persist?
Netscape, too, has gone.

Rather than a beep
Or a rude error message,
These words: "File not found."

Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

ID: 10746

Tech

Einstein and Newton

What is the similarity between Einstein and Newton?

Neither of them ever had a mobile phone!

ID: 12134

Tech

It's Time to Turn Your Computer Off When...

- You wake up at 3 am to go to the bathroom and stop to check your E-mail on the way back to bed.

- You name your children Eudora, AOL and dotcom.

- You turn off your modem and get this awful empty feeling, as if you just pulled the plug on a loved one.

- You spend half of the plane trip with your laptop on your lap and your child in the overhead compartment.

- You decide to stay in college for an additional year or two, just for the free internet access.

- You laugh at people with 14.4 band modems.

- You start using smileys in your snail mail.

- You find yourself typing "com" after every period when using a word processor.com

- You can't call your mother because she doesn't have a modem.

- You check your mail. It says "no new messages." So you check it again.

- You don't know what gender three of your closest friends are, because they have neutral screennames and you never bothered to ask.

- You move into a new house and decide to Netscape before you Landscape

- You tell the cab driver you live at http://1000.garden/house/brick.html

- You start tilting your head sideways to smile.

- After reading this, you immediately e-mail it to your friends.

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