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Organization: Humorix World Domination
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Clippit Charged With Attempted Murder
September 2, 2000

ELKO, NEVADA -- Microsoft's Dancing Paper Clip turned
violent last week and nearly killed a university student
testing a new Windows-based  human-computer interface.  The
victim, Trevor Erikkson, is expected to make a full
recovery, although psychiatrists warn that the incident may
scar him emotionally for life.  "You can bet this kid won't
be using Windows or Office ever again," said one shrink.

The victim, a sophomore at Northeast Nevada Ivy League
College, had been alpha-testing CHUG (Computer-Human
Unencumbered Groupware), a new interface in which the user
controls the computer with force-feedback gloves and voice
activation. It's the force feedback part that nearly killed
him.

"I was trying to write a term paper in Word," said Trevor
from his hospital bed.  "But then that damned Dancing Paper
Clip came up and started annoying me.  I gave it the middle
finger, which it didn't like too much.  It deleted my
document, at which point I screamed at it and threatened to
pull the power cord.  I didn't get a chance to make good on
that threat; the force-feedback gloves activated and
started choking me."

It took the effort of several lab assistants to pry the
gloves from his throat and put a stop to Clippit's violent
rampage. The Department of Public Safety & Parking Tickets
immediately arrested the computer.

"We told Clippit it had the right to remain silent, and so
on," said Gustavo Warden, the head of DPS&PT.  "The
paperclip responded, 'Hi, I'm Clippit, the Office
Assistant.  Would you like to  create a letter?'  I said,
'Look here, Mr. Paperclip. You're being charged with
attempted murder.'  At that point the computer
bluescreened."

That same computer, along with Clippit, is now sitting in a
jail cell.  "We had to put this machine behind bars before
it could try to kill again," said the county prosecutor.  

Legal scholars are divided on whether Clippit can actually
be charged with a crime.  "It's not human.  It's not alive.
It doesn't even pass the Turing Test," argued one
professor.  "How can you possibly put something like this
on trial?  And what if Clippit is found guilty?  Are they
going to give the paperclip the death penalty by typing
'FORMAT C:'?"

Some observers, however, agree that Clippit should be put
on trial.  "No society should tolerate software agents that
turn violent.   I don't care whether Clippit is really just
some crappy algorithm existing as a series of magnetic
fields on a hard drive.  That doesn't give it the right to
kill people."

Clippit isn't the only Microsoft creation with a temper. In
1998, Humorix reported that Microsoft's "Barney" toy  would
turn violent when exposed to a Tux Penguin doll.

Microsoft has pledged to fix Clippit's "known issue" by
releasing a version of Office in which the paperclip is
permanently disabled.  Unfortunately, the Clippit-free
version will cost $100 more than the regular version.
-
Humorix:      Linux and Open Source(nontm) on a lighter note
Archive:      http://humbolt.nl.linux.org/lists/
Web site:     http://www.i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/

From owner-humorix@nl.linux.org Sun Sep  3 07:12:35 2000
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Am I correct in understanding that this Dancing Paper Clip is a feature of some
kind created by the Gates Group in La La Land Washington?  I would never even
consider buying a Microsoft product these days and only have the ones force on
my by HP who I bought this crap computer from. ... I did get an e-mail once
encouraging me to download something called Bonze Buddy... I couldn't believe
this was a real product.  Now you are telling me that this junk is part of
Office too? I saw a TV thing from the UWTV here in Seattle with Gates and
Matthew Turk who is doing motion detection. It was so funny... Gates was trying
to demo this now motion thing and he was in front of a computer screen grinning
like an idiot flapping his hands! Poor Matthew Turk had to literally calm him
down, telling him that the program had crashed already... :-) This was bizarre
at best...   :-) It makes you wonder what the psychological age is of some of
these guys at Microsoft.... :-) ASP Gates! An article was done on this Matthew
Turk in Red Herring and so he seems to vanished from Microsoft research now...
My daughter was working at the UW in communications and very selectively
programming what I would like.... :-) This was the best she ever selected! I was
laughing so hard...   I went looking for Turk and he doesn't seem to be at
Microsoft anymore... Hopefully Turk has found a much better and less annoying
jobs!  I hear Gates as Chief Architect is running every intelligent researcher
out the door.  I have this feeling that Gates is just acting out....
intentionally to get rid of the competing smart help! Oh well, it is
Microsoft...

http://research.microsoft.com/features/images.asp  There is a video you can
access here.... if you really want a laugh.  Let's see how long it is before MS
finds this link is still alive and well.... :-)






-----Original Message-----
From: James Baughn <webmaster@i-want-a-website.com>
To: humorix@nl.linux.org <humorix@nl.linux.org>
Date: Saturday, September 02, 2000 6:42 PM
Subject: [humorix] Clippit Charged With Attempted Murder


|Clippit Charged With Attempted Murder
|September 2, 2000
|
|ELKO, NEVADA -- Microsoft's Dancing Paper Clip turned
|violent last week and nearly killed a university student
|testing a new Windows-based  human-computer interface.  The
|victim, Trevor Erikkson, is expected to make a full
|recovery, although psychiatrists warn that the incident may
|scar him emotionally for life.  "You can bet this kid won't
|be using Windows or Office ever again," said one shrink.
|

-
Humorix:      Linux and Open Source(nontm) on a lighter note
Archive:      http://humbolt.nl.linux.org/lists/
Web site:     http://www.i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/

From owner-humorix@nl.linux.org Thu Sep 14 20:49:35 2000
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Throwing Windows Out The Window
September 11, 2000

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Bureau Of Missing Socks has
banned the use of Microsoft Windows and Office on all
employee computers.  But don't get too excited; they aren't
going to be replacing them with Linux.  Instead, this
government agency has decided to go back to using
abucusses, slide rules, and manual typewriters.  

The banishment of Microsoft software stems from the
agency's new policy against computer games.  Microsoft
Office, which contains several games in the form of Easter
Eggs, is now verboten on all agency computers.  "Flight
simulators, pinball games, magic eight balls... they all
violate our policy," said the sub-adjunct administrator
second-class, Mrs. Laverne Biehle.  "So we can't use
Office."

Windows is forbidden for the same reason.  "We've had way
too many employees wasting time playing Solitaire," said
Biehle.  "Unfortunately, Solitaire is an integral part of
Windows -- Microsoft executives said so during the
anti-trust trial.  If Solitaire is removed, the operating
system won't function properly.  Therefore, we have no
choice but to banish all Windows computers."

The agency could switch to Linux or another system, but
such a move would make too much sense.  The Bureau's
Assistant Technology Consultant, Mr. Reginald "Red" Taype,
explained, "We don't want to use anything that's
unsupported, so we're going to bring in old abucusses,
slide rules, adding machines, and manual typewriters that
we found sitting in the sub-basement under three inches of
dust and cobwebs."

"Have you ever seen an abucus crash?" he asked.  "Have you
ever seen anybody have fun with a slide rule?  Do adding
machines contain undocumented easter eggs?  No!  That's why
we're ditching our PCs."

The agency's move also has another benefit: they no longer
need to employ a "Bluescreen Boy".  The security cameras in
the agency's ten-story building were all pointed at the
monitors of each computer. If a PC crashed and displayed a
bluescreen, the security cameras picked it up and the B.B.
was dispatched to manually reboot that computer. It was a
horrible job, but the B.B. did get a nice exercise workout
each day.

The former B.B. is now flipping burgers at Google.com's
gourmet kitchen.

-
Humorix:      Linux and Open Source(nontm) on a lighter note
Archive:      http://humbolt.nl.linux.org/lists/
Web site:     http://www.i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/

From owner-humorix@nl.linux.org Sun Sep 17 02:20:35 2000
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Unobfuscated Perl Code Contest
September 16, 19100

The Perl Gazette has announced the winners in the First
Annual _Un_obfuscated Perl Code Contest.  First place went
to Edwin Fuller, who submitted this unobfuscated program:

#!/usr/bin/perl
print "Hello world!\n";

"This was definitely a challenging contest," said an
ecstatic Edwin Fuller. "I've never written a Perl program
before that didn't have hundreds of qw( $ @ % & * | ? / \ !
# ~ ) symbols.  I really had to summon all of my
programming skills to produce an unobfuscated program."

The judges in the contest learned that many programmers
don't understand the meaning of 'unobfuscated perl'.  For
instance, one participant sent in this 'Hello world!'
program:

#!/usr/bin/perl
$x='unob';
open OUT, ">$x.c";
print OUT <<HERE_DOC;
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void) { 
 FILE *f=fopen("$x.sh", "w");
 fprintf(f,"echo Hello world!\\n");
 fclose(f);
 system("chmod +x $x.sh");
 system("./$x.sh"); return 0; 
}
HERE_DOC
close OUT;
system("gcc $x.c -o $x && ./$x");

"As an experienced Perl monger," said one of the judges, "I
can instantly tell that this program spits out C source
code that spits out a shell script to print 'Hello
world!'.  But this code certainly does not qualify as
unobfuscated Perl -- I mean, most of it isn't even written
in Perl!"

He added, "Out of all of the entries, only two were
actually unobfuscated perl.  Everything else looked like
line noise -- or worse."

The second place winner, Mrs. Sea Pearl, submitted the
following code:

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
# Do nothing, successfully
exit(0);

"I think everybody missed the entire point of this
contest," ranted one judge.  "Participants were supposed to
produce code that could actually be understood by somebody
other than a ten-year Perl veteran.  Instead, we get an
implementation of a Java Virtual Machine.  And a version of
the Linux kernel ported to Win32 Perl.  Sheesh!"

In response to the news, a rogue group of Perl hackers have
presented a plan to add a "use really_goddamn_strict"
pragma to the language that would enforce readability and
unobfuscation.  With this pragma in force, the Perl
compiler might say:

 Warning: Program contains zero comments.  You've probably
 never seen or used one before; they begin with a #
 symbol.  Please start using them or else a representative
 from the nearest Perl Mongers group will come to your
 house and beat you over the head with a cluestick.

 Warning: Program uses a cute trick at line 125 that might
 make sense in C.  But this isn't C!

 Warning: Code at line 412 indicates that programmer is an
 idiot. Please correct error between chair and monitor.

 Warning: While There's More Than One Way To Do It, your
 method at line 523 is particularly stupid.  Please try
 again.

 Warning: Write-only code detected between lines 612 and
 734. While this code is perfectly legal, you won't have
 any clue what it does in two weeks.  I recommend you start
 over.

 Warning: Code at line 1,024 is indistinguishable from line
 noise or the output of /dev/random

 Warning: Have you ever properly indented a piece of code
 in your entire life?  Evidently not.

 Warning: I think you can come up with a more descriptive
 variable name than "foo" at line 1,523.

 Warning: Programmer attempting to re-invent the wheel at
 line 2,231. There's a function that does the exact same
 thing on CPAN -- and it actually works.

 Warning: Perl tries to make the easy jobs easy without
 making the hard jobs impossible -- but your code at line
 5,123 is trying to make an easy job impossible.  

 Error: Programmer failed to include required string "All
 hail Larry Wall" within program.  Execution aborted due to
 compilation errors.

Of course, convincing programmers to actually use that
pragma is another matter.  "If somebody actually wanted to
write readable code, why would they use Perl?  Let 'em use
Python!" exclaimed one Usenet regular.  "So this pragma is
a waste of electrons, just like use strict and the -w
command line parameter."

-
Humorix:      Linux and Open Source(nontm) on a lighter note
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From owner-humorix@nl.linux.org Sun Sep 17 22:06:29 2000
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|Unobfuscated Perl Code Contest
|September 16, 19100
|
|The Perl Gazette has announced the winners in the First
|Annual _Un_obfuscated Perl Code Contest.  First place went
|to Edwin Fuller, who submitted this unobfuscated program:
|
|#!/usr/bin/perl
|print "Hello world!\n";
|
|"This was definitely a challenging contest," said an
|ecstatic Edwin Fuller. "I've never written a Perl program
|before that didn't have hundreds of qw( $ @ % & * | ? / \ !
|# ~ ) symbols.  I really had to summon all of my
|programming skills to produce an unobfuscated program."
|


This is because they've all been doing VB -- Visual Basic for those who don't
know that program.  After you have hazard through the whole UWI GUI  issue then
you have to deal with the TWIPS! MS TWIPS method scares the Pixels right out of
me. If this is any indication of who they do math else where.... :-) The
simplest of programs, esp. graphics turn into udder nightmares. No Alice in
Wonderland hear! More like the Alice's Adventures in the Underworld-- the
original version of TWIPPING! :-) Crack that TWIP! Twip-it! M&M? TwipsPerPixelX
it! 1/20 of a
printer point? :-)  What luniTic came up with this? In the World of Twiips there
are how many points of light? :-) In binary math it's really hard to divide a
point. In fact, a fraction of a person is a dead meat! Where are the meat eaters
anyway?

J~




-
Humorix:      Linux and Open Source(nontm) on a lighter note
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From owner-humorix@nl.linux.org Sun Sep 17 22:09:01 2000
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|Unobfuscated Perl Code Contest
|September 16, 19100
|
|The Perl Gazette has announced the winners in the First
|Annual _Un_obfuscated Perl Code Contest.  First place went
|to Edwin Fuller, who submitted this unobfuscated program:
|
|#!/usr/bin/perl
|print "Hello world!\n";
|
|"This was definitely a challenging contest," said an
|ecstatic Edwin Fuller. "I've never written a Perl program
|before that didn't have hundreds of qw( $ @ % & * | ? / \ !
|# ~ ) symbols.  I really had to summon all of my
|programming skills to produce an unobfuscated program."
|


This is because they've all been doing VB -- Visual Basic for those who don't
know that program.  After you have hazard through the whole UWI GUI  issue then
you have to deal with the TWIPS! MS TWIPS method scares the Pixels right out of
me. If this is any indication of who they do math else where.... :-) The
simplest of programs, esp. graphics turn into udder nightmares. No Alice in
Wonderland hear! More like the Alice's Adventures in the Underworld-- the
original version of TWIPPING! :-) Crack that TWIP! TwipsPerPixelX it! 1/20 of a
printer point? :-)  What luniTic came up with this? In the World of Twiips there
are how many points of light? :-) In binary math it's really hard to divide a
point. In fact, a fraction of a person is a dead meat! Where are the meat eaters
anyway?

J~





-
Humorix:      Linux and Open Source(nontm) on a lighter note
Archive:      http://humbolt.nl.linux.org/lists/
Web site:     http://www.i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/

From owner-humorix@nl.linux.org Thu Sep 21 04:36:17 2000
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Crashback: Karma, Portals, Licenses
September 20, 2000

News publications often issue corrections or retractions
when they run an article that turns out to be false. 
Likewise, we here at Humorix are forced to issue
corrections when a fake news article we ran turns out to be
true.  That's the purpose of Crashback, a new feature in
which we provide updates for old fake news articles.

Any resemblance between this column and a particular
Slashdot feature are merely coincidental.  At least that's
what our lawyer told us to say.

* ICANN't Believe It

Recently we "announced"[1] that every two-letter TLD had
been sold to commercial interests.  We labeled that article
as "fake news", but it's slowly becoming true.  We
apologize for the confusion.

The Heard and McDonald Islands -- which have no population,
no home government, and certainly no DNS servers -- have
been granted their own Top Level Domain, .hm.  And now this
domain  joins[2] the swelling ranks of country-code TLDs
that are now controlled by Big Evil Companies.

We're outraged.  Some worthless Australian possessions in
the south Pacific get their own TLD, but Humorixia[3] --
that sovereign geek paradise sitting within international
waters -- gets squat. When the Revolution(tm) occurs, all
of the people responsible for the current shoddy state of
the DNS system will... well, we'll think of something
creative.

* Karma == Kash

Last year, Humorix  broke[4] the fake news that Slashdot
regulars were selling their karma-enriched user accounts on
eBay for a tidy profit.  It's no longer fake news.  Some
Dothead with the nick of "FascDot Killed My Pr" has
placed[5] his  virtual property[6] on the eBay auction
block.

The bidding is up to US$112.50 on 18 bids, all of which are
probably fake.  It's hard to imagine anybody -- except
perhaps for a retired dotcom billionaire -- would spend
that much beer money on something that has no intrinsic
value.  After all, it would take all of 3 microseconds for
Taco Boy to reduce your karma to -10,000,000.  Or to
increase the karma of all his friends so they can sell
their own accounts for big bucks.

* Good Move, Linus

Everyone's favorite "conniving bastard"[7] announced that
the Linux kernel would only be licensed under the GNU GPL
version 2.0 and _not_ any later version[8].  Clearly, this
move is designed to prevent Microsoft from acquiring Open
Source by way of a "Grossly Private License version 3.0", a
calamity we "reported" on earlier[9].  Does this mean Linus
reads Humorix?  Well, no, probably not.

* No Longer The Worst Portal

Last year we noted[10] that Google.com listed Humorix as
the number one result for "worst portal"[11]. This is the
only _real_ news we've ever published -- and it later turns
out to be false.  We've been beaten by something called
"Portal Of Evil" (no, it's not AOL) and two other
irrelevent sites, leaving Humorix as the fourth worst
portal.

Obviously, we're not happy about this lower ranking. 
Hopefully, by using the term "worst portal" numerous time
in this article, we can regain our rightful place on
Google.  We're also working on securing top placement for
other queries including "crappy portal", "money-making
portal", and "worst website".

* Life Imitates Humorix

Of course, some would quibble with the idea that Humorix
could be compared to "art".  But we do have a knack for
predicting the future:

Does MS barcoding of Windows licences make piracy
easier?
(http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/13302.html)

vs.

Microsoft's Anti-Piracy Policy Promotes Piracy
(http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/jun00.shtml#Medialess)

and

IT Olympics
(http://www.itolympics.org)

vs.

The First Annual Nerdbowl
(http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/jan00.shtml#Nerdbowl)

---

Links

[1] http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/jun00.shtml#TLD-Sellout
[2] http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/13252.html
[3]
http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/dec99.shtml#Humorixia-Founded

[4] http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/sep99.shtml#Karma-Cash
[5] http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=438173842
[6] http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/may99.shtml#Virtual-Property

[7] http://lwn.net/2000/0914/a/lt-debugger.php3
[8] http://lwn.net/2000/0914/a/2.4.0-test8.php3
[9] http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/aug00.shtml#MS-GPL

[10] http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/oct99.shtml#Google-Project
[11] http://www.google.com/search?q=worst+portal

-
Humorix:      Linux and Open Source(nontm) on a lighter note
Archive:      http://humbolt.nl.linux.org/lists/
Web site:     http://www.i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/

