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Computer Humor
Computer humour, also known as hacker humour, is humour on the subject of computers or their users. Examples Examples of computer humour include: *"Any key", taken to mean pressing the (non-existent) "Any" key rather than any key *April Fools' Day Request for Comments *Bastard Operator From Hell, a fictional rogue computer operator *Blinkenlights, a neologism for diagnostic lights *Bogosort, a portmanteau of the words bogus and sort *COMEFROM, an obscure programming language control flow structure, originally as a joke *"The Complexity of Songs", a journal article published by computer scientist Donald Knuth in 1977 as an in-joke about computational complexity theory *''The Computer Contradictionary'', a non-fiction book by Stan Kelly-Bootle that compiles a satirical list of definitions of computer industry terms *''The Daily WTF'', a humorous blog dedicated to "Curious Perversions in Information Technology" *''Dilbert'', an American comic strip *Easter egg (media), Easter egg, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Humour
Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as "humours" (Latin: ', "body fluid"), controlled human health and emotion. People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. Most people are able to experience humour—be amused, smile or laugh at something funny (such as a pun or joke)—and thus are considered to have a ''sense of humour''. The hypothetical person lacking a sense of humour would likely find the behaviour to be inexplicable, strange, or even irrational. Though ultimately decided by subjective personal taste (aesthetics), taste, the extent to which a person finds something humorous depends on a host of variables, including geographical location, culture, Maturity (psychological), maturity, level of ed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sentinel Value
In computer programming, a sentinel value (also referred to as a flag value, trip value, rogue value, signal value, or dummy data) is a special value in the context of an algorithm which uses its presence as a condition of termination, typically in a loop or recursive algorithm. The sentinel value is a form of in-band data that makes it possible to detect the end of the data when no out-of-band data (such as an explicit size indication) is provided. The value should be selected in such a way that it is guaranteed to be distinct from all legal data values since otherwise, the presence of such values would prematurely signal the end of the data (the semipredicate problem). A sentinel value is sometimes known as an " Elephant in Cairo", due to a joke where this is used as a physical sentinel. In safe languages, most sentinel values could be replaced with option types, which enforce explicit handling of the exceptional case. Examples Some examples of common sentinel values and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
It's Geek 2 Me
''It's Geek 2 Me'' is a tech cartoon about people and their off-center relationships with technology created by Pittsburgh-based cartoonist, Francis Cleetus. He was inspired to draw the very first cartoon by a frantic intern who rushed into his office and asked where the any key was on a computer keyboard. The cartoon evolved into a series when Cleetus worked as a creative director at J. Walter Thompson, Hong Kong on the Hewlett Packard brand. Cleetus chose Pittsburgh as the location for the cartoon's imaginary setting 'Paradox Software Corporation' because it has a large tech community, over 1,600 tech-based companies and the Carnegie Institute of Technology, which is ranked among the top five engineering colleges in the country by the U.S. News & World Report. The first compilation of ''It's Geek 2 Me'' cartoons was self-published by the author in 2012 as a paperback titled ''Wish Your Mouth Had A Backspace Key'' in the United States via Amazon.com. In 2013, a second c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IP Over Avian Carriers
In computer networking, IP over Avian Carriers (IPoAC) is an ostensibly functional proposal to carry Internet Protocol (IP) traffic by birds such as homing pigeons. IP over Avian Carriers was initially described in issued by the Internet Engineering Task Force, written by David Waitzman, and released on April 1, 1990. It is one of several April Fools' Day Request for Comments. Waitzman described an improvement of his protocol in , ''IP over Avian Carriers with Quality of Service'' (1 April 1999). Later, in —released on 1 April 2011, and 13 years after the introduction of IPv6— Brian Carpenter and Robert Hinden published ''Adaptation of RFC 1149 for IPv6''. IPoAC has been successfully implemented, but for only nine packets of data, with a packet loss ratio of 55% (due to operator error), and a response time ranging from to over . Thus, this technology suffers from extremely high latency. Real-life implementation On 28 April 2001, IPoAC was implemented by the Ber ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Internet Oracle
The Internet Oracle (historically known as The Usenet Oracle) is an effort at collective humor in a pseudo- Socratic question-and-answer format. A user sends a question ("tellme") to the Oracle via e-mail, or the Internet Oracle website, and it is sent to another user (another "incarnation" of the Oracle) who may answer it. Meanwhile, the original questioner is also sent a question to answer. All exchanges are conducted through a central distribution system which makes all users anonymous. Unanswered questions are returned to the queue after a day or two. Users may also request ("askme") unanswered questions without posing their own. A completed question-and-answer pair is called an "Oracularity". Style A representative (and famous) exchange is: :''The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply.'' :''Your question was:'' :''> Why is a cow?'' :''And in response, thus spake the Oracle:'' :''} Mu.'' Many of the Oracularities contain Zen references and witty wordplay. "Geek ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interactive EasyFlow
Easyflow was one of the first diagramming and flow charting software packages available for personal computers. It was produced by HavenTree Software Limited of Kingston, Ontario, Kingston, Ontario Canada. HavenTree's mark on history for its product, which was subsequently renamed Interactive Easyflow, is its notable plain-English license. History ''HavenTree'' was formed in 1981. ''Easyflow'', a MS-DOS, DOS-based software package, was the initial name of the company's flagship offering, which was non-interactive and introduced in 1983. "EasyFlow-Plus" was announced in 1984. Interactive EasyFlow - so named to distinguish it from the preceding products - was offered from 1985 until the early 1990s, when the company dropped the "Interactive" adjective in favour of simply "HavenTree EasyFlow". It offered the software for sale until it filed for protection under Canada's Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act in April 1996. The assets of the company were purchased by SPSS Inc. in 1998. Histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol
The Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol (HTCPCP) is a facetious communication protocol for controlling, monitoring, and diagnosing coffee pots. It is specified in , published on 1 April 1998 as an April Fools' Day RFC, as part of an April Fools prank. An extension, HTCPCP-TEA, was published aRFC 7168on 1 April 2014 to support brewing teas, also as an April Fools' Day RFC in error 418. ProtocolRFC 2324 was written by Larry Masinter, who describes it as a satire, saying "This has a serious purpose – it identifies many of the ways in which has been extended inappropriately." The wording of the protocol made it clear that it was not entirely serious; for examp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leetspeak
Leet (or "1337"), also known as eleet or leetspeak, or simply hacker speech, is a system of modified spellings used primarily on the Internet. It often uses character replacements in ways that play on the similarity of their glyphs via reflection or other resemblance. Additionally, it modifies certain words on the basis of a system of suffixes and alternative meanings. There are many dialects or linguistic varieties in different online communities. The term "leet" is derived from the word ''elite'', used as an adjective to describe skill or accomplishment, especially in the fields of online gaming and computer hacking. The leet lexicon includes spellings of the word as ''1337'' or ''leet''. History Leet originated within bulletin board systems (BBS) in the 1980s,Mitchell.An Explanation of l33t Speak. where having "elite" status on a BBS allowed a user access to file folders, games, and special chat rooms. The Cult of the Dead Cow hacker collective has been credited wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hexspeak
Hexspeak is a novelty form of variant English spelling using the hexadecimal digits. Created by programmers as memorable magic numbers, hexspeak words can serve as a clear and unique identifier with which to mark memory or data. Hexadecimal notation represents numbers using the 16 digits 0123456789ABCDEF. Using only the letters ABCDEF it is possible to spell several words. Further words can be made by treating some of the decimal numbers as letters - the digit "0" can represent the letter "O", and "1" can represent the letters "I" or "L". Less commonly, "5" can represent "S", "7" represent "T", "12" represent "R" and "6" or "9" can represent "G" or "g", respectively. Numbers such as 2, 4 or 8 can be used in a manner similar to leet or rebuses; e.g. the word "defecate" can be expressed either as DEFECA7E or DEFEC8. Notable magic numbers Many computer processors, operating systems, and debuggers make use of magic numbers, especially as a magic debug value. Alternative lett ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hex (Discworld)
This article contains brief biographies for prominent characters from Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series. More central characters' biographies are also listed in articles relating to the organisations they belong to, main characters have their own articles. Characters are listed alphabetically by name. ''71-Hour'' Ahmed A Klatchian warrior and bodyguard who accompanies his Prince, Khufurah, an envoy on a diplomatic mission from Klatch to Ankh-Morpork in the 21st ''Discworld'' novel, '' Jingo''. Ahmed belongs to a formidable but honourable warrior clan called the D'regs. Speaking purposefully with a heavy accent and chewing cloves he is suspected of killing the Watch's prime suspect in a botched assassination attempt on the prince; provoking Vimes and the Watch to pursue Ahmed back to Klatch. Ahmed got his nickname by killing a man guilty of poisoning a well, one hour before the cultural D'reg three days of unwavering hospitality allowed; a time during which even great ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halt And Catch Fire (computing)
In computer engineering, Halt and Catch Fire, known by the assembly language mnemonic HCF, is an idiom referring to a computer machine code instruction that causes the computer's central processing unit (CPU) to cease meaningful operation, typically requiring a restart of the computer. It originally referred to a fictitious instruction in IBM System/360 computers (introduced in 1964), making a joke about its numerous non-obvious instruction mnemonics. With the advent of the MC6800 (introduced in 1974), a design flaw was discovered by programmers. Due to incomplete opcode decoding, two illegal opcodes, 0x9D and 0xDD, will cause the program counter on the processor to increment endlessly, which locks the processor until reset. Those codes have been unofficially named HCF. During the design process of the MC6802, engineers originally planned to remove this instruction, but kept it as-is for testing purposes. As a result, HCF was officially recognized as a real instruction. Late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garbage In, Garbage Out
In computer science, garbage in, garbage out (GIGO) is the concept that flawed, biased or poor quality ("garbage") information or input (computer science), input produces a result or input/output, output of similar ("garbage") quality. The adage points to the need to improve data quality in, for example, programming. Rubbish in, rubbish out (RIRO) is an alternate wording. The principle applies to all logical Argumentation theory, argumentation: soundness implies validity (logic), validity, but validity does not imply soundness. History The expression was popular in the early days of computing. The first known use is in a 1957 syndicated newspaper article about US Army mathematicians and their work with early computers, in which an Army Specialist named William D. Mellin explained that computers cannot think for themselves, and that "sloppily programmed" inputs inevitably lead to incorrect outputs. The underlying principle was noted by the inventor of the first programmable comput ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
