1!07/11 PDP a ni deppart m'I !pleH 2% 3(1) Alexander the Great was a great general. 4(2) Great generals are forewarned. 5(3) Forewarned is forearmed. 6(4) Four is an even number. 7(5) Four is certainly an odd number of arms for a man to have. 8(6) The only number that is both even and odd is infinity. 9 10Therefore, Alexander the Great had an infinite number of arms. 11% 12(1) Everything depends. 13(2) Nothing is always. 14(3) Everything is sometimes. 15% 161.80 x 10^12 furlongs per fortnight -- it's not just a good idea, it's 17the law! 18% 1910.0 times 0.1 is hardly ever 1.0. 20% 21100 buckets of bits on the bus 22100 buckets of bits 23Take one down, short it to ground 24FF buckets of bits on the bus 25 26FF buckets of bits on the bus 27FF buckets of bits 28Take one down, short it to ground 29FE buckets of bits on the bus 30 31ad infinitum... 32% 33$100 invested at 7% interest for 100 years will become $100,000, at 34which time it will be worth absolutely nothing. 35 -- Lazarus Long, "Time Enough for Love" 36% 37101 USES FOR A DEAD MICROPROCESSOR 38 (1) Scarecrow for centipedes 39 (2) Dead cat brush 40 (3) Hair barrettes 41 (4) Cleats 42 (5) Self-piercing earrings 43 (6) Fungus trellis 44 (7) False eyelashes 45 (8) Prosthetic dog claws 46 . 47 . 48 . 49 (99) Window garden harrow (pulled behind Tonka tractors) 50 (100) Killer velcro 51 (101) Currency 52% 53186,282 miles per second: 54 55It isn't just a good idea, it's the law! 56% 572180, U.S. History question: 58 What 20th Century U.S. President was almost impeached and what 59office did he later hold? 60% 61$3,000,000 62% 63355/113 -- Not the famous irrational number PI, but an incredible 64simulation! 65% 663 syncs represent the trinity -- init, the child and the eternal zombie 67process. In doing 3, you're paying homage to each and I think such 68traditions are important in this shallow, mercurial business we find 69ourselves in. 70 -- Jordan K. Hubbard 71% 7243rd Law of Computing: 73 Anything that can go wr 74fortune: Segmentation violation -- Core dumped 75% 7677. HO HUM -- The Redundant 77 78------- (7) This hexagram refers to a situation of extreme 79--- --- (8) boredom. Your programs always bomb off. Your wife 80------- (7) smells bad. Your children have hives. You are working 81---O--- (6) on an accounting system, when you want to develop the 82---X--- (9) GREAT AMERICAN COMPILER. You give up hot dates to 83--- --- (8) nurse sick computers. What you need now is sex. 84 85Nine in the second place means: 86 The yellow bird approaches the malt shop. Misfortune. 87 88Six in the third place means: 89 In former times men built altars to honor the Internal Revenue 90 Service. Great Dragons! Are you in trouble! 91% 927:30, Channel 5: The Bionic Dog (Action/Adventure) 93 The Bionic Dog drinks too much and kicks over the National 94 Redwood Forest. 95% 967:30, Channel 5: The Bionic Dog (Action/Adventure) 97 The Bionic Dog gets a hormonal short-circuit and violates the 98 Mann Act with an interstate Greyhound bus. 99% 10099 blocks of crud on the disk, 10199 blocks of crud! 102You patch a bug, and dump it again: 103100 blocks of crud on the disk! 104 105100 blocks of crud on the disk, 106100 blocks of crud! 107You patch a bug, and dump it again: 108101 blocks of crud on the disk! ... 109% 110A "No" uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a 111"Yes" merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble. 112 -- Mahatma Gandhi 113% 114A [golf] ball hitting a tree shall be deemed not to have hit the tree. 115Hitting a tree is simply bad luck and has no place in a scientific 116game. The player should estimate the distance the ball would have 117traveled if it had not hit the tree and play the ball from there, 118preferably atop a nice firm tuft of grass. 119 -- Donald A. Metz 120% 121A [golf] ball sliced or hooked into the rough shall be lifted and 122placed in the fairway at a point equal to the distance it carried or 123rolled into the rough. Such veering right or left frequently results 124from friction between the face of the club and the cover of the ball 125and the player should not be penalized for the erratic behavior of the 126ball resulting from such uncontrollable physical phenomena. 127 -- Donald A. Metz 128% 129A baby is an alimentary canal with a loud voice at one end and no 130responsibility at the other. 131% 132A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on. 133 -- Carl Sandburg 134% 135A bachelor is a selfish, undeserving guy who has cheated some woman out 136of a divorce. 137 -- Don Quinn 138% 139A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining 140and wants it back the minute it begins to rain. 141 -- Mark Twain 142% 143A billion here, a couple of billion there -- first thing you know it 144adds up to be real money. 145 -- Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen 146% 147A bird in the bush usually has a friend in there with him. 148% 149A bird in the hand is worth what it will bring. 150% 151A bird in the hand makes it awfully hard to blow your nose. 152% 153... A booming voice says, "Wrong, cretin!", and you notice that you 154have turned into a pile of dust. 155% 156A bore is someone who persists in holding his own views after we have 157enlightened him with ours. 158% 159A budget is just a method of worrying before you spend money, as well 160as afterward. 161% 162A candidate is a person who gets money from the rich and votes from the 163poor to protect them from each other. 164% 165A celebrity is a person who is known for his well-knownness. 166% 167A child can go only so far in life without potty training. It is not 168mere coincidence that six of the last seven presidents were potty 169trained, not to mention nearly half of the nation's state legislators. 170 -- Dave Barry 171% 172A child of five could understand this! Fetch me a child of five. 173% 174A chubby man with a white beard and a red suit will approach you soon. 175Avoid him. He's a Commie. 176% 177A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but 178won't cross the street to vote in a national election. 179 -- Bill Vaughan 180% 181A city is a large community where people are lonesome together. 182 -- Herbert Prochnow 183% 184A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody 185wants to read. 186 -- Mark Twain, "The Disappearance of Literature" 187% 188A closed mouth gathers no foot. 189% 190A conclusion is simply the place where someone got tired of thinking. 191% 192A CONS is an object which cares. 193 -- Bernie Greenberg 194% 195A consultant is a person who borrows your watch, tells you what time it 196is, pockets the watch, and sends you a bill for it. 197% 198A continuing flow of paper is sufficient to continue the flow of paper. 199 -- Dyer 200% 201A copy of the universe is not what is required of art; one of the 202damned things is ample. 203 -- Rebecca West 204% 205A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats. 206 -- Ben Franklin 207% 208A cynic is a person searching for an honest man, with a stolen 209lantern. 210 -- Edgar A. Shoaff 211% 212A day for firm decisions!!!!! Or is it? 213% 214A day without sunshine is like night. 215% 216A diplomat is a man who can convince his wife she'd look stout in a fur 217coat. 218% 219A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that 220you will look forward to the trip. 221% 222 A disciple of another sect once came to Drescher as he was 223eating his morning meal. "I would like to give you this personality 224test", said the outsider, "because I want you to be happy." 225 Drescher took the paper that was offered him and put it into 226the toaster -- "I wish the toaster to be happy too". 227% 228A diva who specializes in risqu'e arias is an off-coloratura soprano ... 229% 230 A doctor, an architect, and a computer scientist were arguing 231about whose profession was the oldest. In the course of their 232arguments, they got all the way back to the Garden of Eden, whereupon 233the doctor said, "The medical profession is clearly the oldest, because 234Eve was made from Adam's rib, as the story goes, and that was a simply 235incredible surgical feat." 236 The architect did not agree. He said, "But if you look at the 237Garden itself, in the beginning there was chaos and void, and out of 238that, the Garden and the world were created. So God must have been an 239architect." 240 The computer scientist, who had listened to all of this said, 241"Yes, but where do you think the chaos came from?" 242% 243A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of. 244 -- Ogden Nash 245% 246A famous Lisp Hacker noticed an Undergraduate sitting in front of a 247Xerox 1108, trying to edit a complex Klone network via a browser. 248Wanting to help, the Hacker clicked one of the nodes in the network 249with the mouse, and asked "what do you see?" Very earnestly, the 250Undergraduate replied "I see a cursor." The Hacker then quickly 251pressed the boot toggle at the back of the keyboard, while 252simultaneously hitting the Undergraduate over the head with a thick 253Interlisp Manual. The Undergraduate was then Enlightened. 254% 255A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the 256subject. 257 -- Winston Churchill 258% 259A fool must now and then be right by chance. 260% 261A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into 262superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education. 263 -- G. B. Shaw 264% 265A fool-proof method for sculpting an elephant: first, get a huge block 266of marble; then you chip away everything that doesn't look like an 267elephant. 268% 269A formal parsing algorithm should not always be used. 270 -- D. Gries 271% 272A fractal is by definition a set for which the Hausdorff Besicovitch 273dimension strictly exceeds the topological dimension. 274 -- Mandelbrot, "The Fractal Geometry of Nature" 275% 276A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular. 277 -- Adlai Stevenson 278% 279A Galileo could no more be elected president of the United States than 280he could be elected Pope of Rome. Both high posts are reserved for men 281favored by God with an extraordinary genius for swathing the bitter 282facts of life in bandages of self-illusion. 283 -- H. L. Mencken 284% 285A general leading the State Department resembles a dragon commanding 286ducks. 287 -- New York Times, Jan. 20, 1981 288% 289A girl and a boy bump into each other -- surely an accident. 290A girl and a boy bump and her handkerchief drops -- surely another accident. 291But when a girl gives a boy a dead squid -- *____that ___had __to ____mean _________something*. 292 -- S. Morgenstern, "The Silent Gondoliers" 293% 294A gleekzorp without a tornpee is like a quop without a fertsneet (sort 295of). 296% 297A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened 298into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the 299hope of greening the landscape of idea. 300 -- John Ciardi 301% 302A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely 303rearranging their prejudices. 304 -- William James 305% 306A great nation is any mob of people which produces at least one honest 307man a century. 308% 309A hypothetical paradox: 310 What would happen in a battle between an Enterprise security 311team, who always get killed soon after appearing, and a squad of 312Imperial Stormtroopers, who can't hit the broad side of a planet? 313 -- Tom Galloway 314% 315A is for Amy who fell down the stairs, B is for Basil assaulted by bears. 316C is for Clair who wasted away, D is for Desmond thrown out of the sleigh. 317E is for Ernest who choked on a peach, F is for Fanny, sucked dry by a leech. 318G is for George, smothered under a rug, H is for Hector, done in by a thug. 319I is for Ida who drowned in the lake, J is for James who took lye, by mistake. 320K is for Kate who was struck with an axe, L is for Leo who swallowed some tacks. 321M is for Maud who was swept out to sea, N is for Nevil who died of ennui. 322O is for Olive, run through with an awl, P is for Prue, trampled flat in a brawl 323Q is for Quinton who sank in a mire, R is for Rhoda, consumed by a fire. 324S is for Susan who parished of fits, T is for Titas who flew into bits. 325U is for Una who slipped down a drain, V is for Victor, squashed under a train. 326W is for Winnie, embedded in ice, X is for Xerxes, devoured by mice. 327Y is for Yoric whose head was bashed in, Z is for Zilla who drank too much gin. 328 -- Edward Gorey "The Gashlycrumb Tinies" 329% 330A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance. 331% 332A jury consists of 12 persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer. 333 -- Robert Frost 334% 335A lack of leadership is no substitute for inaction. 336% 337A lady with one of her ears applied 338To an open keyhole heard, inside, 339Two female gossips in converse free -- 340The subject engaging them was she. 341"I think", said one, "and my husband thinks 342That she's a prying, inquisitive minx!" 343As soon as no more of it she could hear 344The lady, indignant, removed her ear. 345"I will not stay," she said with a pout, 346"To hear my character lied about!" 347 -- Gopete Sherany 348% 349A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming is 350not worth knowing. 351 -- Alan Perlis 352% 353A language that doesn't have everything is actually easier to program 354in than some that do. 355 -- Dennis M. Ritchie 356% 357A large number of installed systems work by fiat. That is, they work 358by being declared to work. 359 -- Anatol Holt 360% 361A Law of Computer Programming: 362 Make it possible for programmers to write in English and you 363will find the programmers cannot write in English. 364% 365A LISP programmer knows the value of everything, but the cost of 366nothing. 367 -- Alan Perlis 368% 369A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation. 370 -- H. H. Munroe, "Saki" 371% 372A long memory is the most subversive idea in America. 373% 374A long-forgotten loved one will appear soon. Buy the negatives at any 375price. 376% 377A Los Angeles judge ruled that "a citizen may snore with immunity in 378his own home, even though he may be in possession of unusual and 379exceptional ability in that particular field." 380% 381A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me. I'm afraid of widths. 382 -- Steve Wright 383% 384A lot of people I know believe in positive thinking, and so do I. I 385believe everything positively stinks. 386 -- Lew Col 387% 388 A man goes to a tailor to try on a new custom-made suit. The 389first thing he notices is that the arms are too long. 390 "No problem," says the tailor. "Just bend them at the elbow 391and hold them out in front of you. See, now it's fine." 392 "But the collar is up around my ears!" 393 "It's nothing. Just hunch your back up a little ... no, a 394little more ... that's it." 395 "But I'm stepping on my cuffs!" the man cries in desperation. 396 "Nu, bend you knees a little to take up the slack. There you 397go. Look in the mirror -- the suit fits perfectly." 398 So, twisted like a pretzel, the man lurches out onto the 399street. Reba and Florence see him go by. 400 "Oh, look," says Reba, "that poor man!" 401 "Yes," says Florence, "but what a beautiful suit." 402 -- Arthur Naiman, "Every Goy's Guide to Yiddish" 403% 404A man said to the Universe: "Sir, I exist!" 405 406"However," replied the Universe, "the fact has not created in me a 407sense of obligation." 408 -- Stephen Crane 409% 410A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small package. 411% 412 A master was explaining the nature of Tao to one of his 413novices. "The Tao is embodied in all software -- regardless of how 414insignificant," said the master. 415 416 "Is Tao in a hand-held calculator?" asked the novice. 417 418 "It is," came the reply. 419 420 "Is the Tao in a video game?" continued the novice. 421 422 "It is even in a video game," said the master. 423 424 "And is the Tao in the DOS for a personal computer?" 425 426 The master coughed and shifted his position slightly. "The 427lesson is over for today," he said. 428 -- "The Tao of Programming" 429% 430A mathematician is a machine for converting coffee into theorems. 431% 432A Mexican newspaper reports that bored Royal Air Force pilots stationed 433on the Falkland Islands have devised what they consider a marvelous new 434game. Noting that the local penguins are fascinated by airplanes, the 435pilots search out a beach where the birds are gathered and fly slowly 436along it at the water's edge. Perhaps ten thousand penguins turn their 437heads in unison watching the planes go by, and when the pilots turn 438around and fly back, the birds turn their heads in the opposite 439direction, like spectators at a slow-motion tennis match. Then, the 440paper reports, "The pilots fly out to sea and directly to the penguin 441colony and overfly it. Heads go up, up, up, and ten thousand penguins 442fall over gently onto their backs. 443 444 -- Audubon Society Magazine 445 446 447[From the BBC, 2001-02-02: 448 For five weeks, a team from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) 449monitored 1,000 king penguins on the island of South Georgia as Lynx 450helicopters passed overhead. 451 "Not one king penguin fell over when the helicopters came over," 452said team leader Dr. Richard Stone. 453 "As the aircraft approached, the birds went quiet and stopped 454calling to each other, and adolescent birds that were not associated 455with nests began walking away from the noise. Pure animal instinct, 456really." 457 The conclusion, said Dr. Stone, is that flights over 305 metres 458(1,000 feet) caused "only minor and transitory ecological effects" on 459king penguins.] 460% 461 A musician of more ambition than talent composed an elegy at 462the death of composer Edward MacDowell. She played the elegy for the 463pianist Josef Hoffman, then asked his opinion. "Well, it's quite 464nice," he replied, but don't you think it would be better if ..." 465 "If what?" asked the composer. 466 "If ... if you had died and MacDowell had written the elegy?" 467% 468A neighbor came to Nasrudin, asking to borrow his donkey. "It is out 469on loan," the teacher replied. At that moment, the donkey brayed 470loudly inside the stable. "But I can hear it bray, over there." "Whom 471do you believe," asked Nasrudin, "me or a donkey?" 472% 473A new koan: 474 475 If you have some ice cream, I will give it to you. 476 477 If you have no ice cream, I will take it away from you. 478 479It is an ice cream koan. 480% 481A new supply of round tuits has arrived and are available from Mary. 482Anyone who has been putting off work until they got a round tuit now 483has no excuse for further procrastination. 484% 485A New York City judge ruled that if two women behind you at the movies 486insist on discussing the probable outcome of the film, you have the 487right to turn around and blow a Bronx cheer at them. 488% 489A New York City ordinance prohibits the shooting of rabbits from the 490rear of a Third Avenue street car -- if the car is in motion. 491% 492 A novel approach is to remove all power from the system, which 493removes most system overhead so that resources can be fully devoted to 494doing nothing. Benchmarks on this technique are promising; tremendous 495amounts of nothing can be produced in this manner. Certain hardware 496limitations can limit the speed of this method, especially in the 497larger systems which require a more involved & less efficient 498power-down sequence. 499 An alternate approach is to pull the main breaker for the 500building, which seems to provide even more nothing, but in truth has 501bugs in it, since it usually inhibits the systems which keep the beer 502cool. 503% 504A novice was trying to fix a broken Lisp machine by turning the power 505off and on. Knight, seeing what the student was doing spoke sternly: 506"You can not fix a machine by just power-cycling it with no 507understanding of what is going wrong." Knight turned the machine off 508and on. The machine worked. 509% 510A nuclear war can ruin your whole day. 511% 512A pedestal is as much a prison as any small, confined space. 513 -- Gloria Steinem 514% 515A penny saved is ridiculous. 516% 517A person is just about as big as the things that make them angry. 518% 519A physicist is an atom's way of knowing about atoms. 520 -- George Wald 521% 522A pig is a jolly companion, 523Boar, sow, barrow, or gilt -- 524A pig is a pal, who'll boost your morale, 525Though mountains may topple and tilt. 526When they've blackballed, bamboozled, and burned you, 527When they've turned on you, Tory and Whig, 528Though you may be thrown over by Tabby and Rover, 529You'll never go wrong with a pig, a pig, 530You'll never go wrong with a pig! 531 -- Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow" 532% 533 A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling 534 by Mark Twain 535 536 For example, in Year 1 that useless letter "c" would be dropped 537to be replased either by "k" or "s", and likewise "x" would no longer 538be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which "c" would be retained 539would be the "ch" formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 540might reform "w" spelling, so that "which" and "one" would take the 541same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish "y" replasing it with 542"i" and Iear 4 might fiks the "g/j" anomali wonse and for all. 543 Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear 544with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 545or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants. 546Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi 547ridandant letez "c", "y" and "x" -- bai now jast a memori in the maindz 548ov ould doderez -- tu riplais "ch", "sh", and "th" rispektivli. 549 Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud 550hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld. 551% 552A power so great, it can only be used for Good or Evil! 553 -- The Firesign Theatre, "The Giant Rat of Sumatra" 554% 555A priest asked: What is Fate, Master? 556 557And the Master answered: 558 559It is that which gives a beast of burden its reason for existence. 560 561It is that which men in former times had to bear upon their backs. 562 563It is that which has caused nations to build byways from City to City 564upon which carts and coaches pass, and alongside which inns have come 565to be built to stave off Hunger, Thirst and Weariness. 566 567And that is Fate? said the priest. 568 569Fate ... I thought you said Freight, responded the Master. 570 571That's all right, said the priest. I wanted to know what Freight was 572too. 573 -- Kehlog Albran, "The Profit" 574% 575 A priest was walking along the cliffs at Dover when he came 576upon two locals pulling another man ashore on the end of a rope. 577"That's what I like to see", said the priest, "A man helping his fellow 578man". 579 As he was walking away, one local remarked to the other, "Well, 580he sure doesn't know the first thing about shark fishing." 581% 582A professor is one who talks in someone else's sleep. 583% 584A programmer is a person who passes as an exacting expert on the basis 585of being able to turn out, after innumerable punching, an infinite 586series of incomprehensible answers calculated with micrometric 587precisions from vague assumptions based on debatable figures taken from 588inconclusive documents and carried out on instruments of problematical 589accuracy by persons of dubious reliability and questionable mentality 590for the avowed purpose of annoying and confounding a hopelessly 591defenseless department that was unfortunate enough to ask for the 592information in the first place. 593 -- IEEE Grid news magazine 594% 595A psychiatrist is a person who will give you expensive answers that 596your wife will give you for free. 597% 598A public debt is a kind of anchor in the storm; but if the anchor be 599too heavy for the vessel, she will be sunk by that very weight which 600was intended for her preservation. 601 -- Colton 602% 603A putt that stops close enough to the cup to inspire such comments as 604"you could blow it in" may be blown in. This rule does not apply if 605the ball is more than three inches from the hole, because no one wants 606to make a travesty of the game. 607 -- Donald A. Metz 608% 609A raccoon tangled with a 23,000 volt line today. The results blacked 610out 1400 homes and, of course, one raccoon. 611 -- Steel City News 612% 613A radioactive cat has eighteen half-lives. 614% 615A reading from the Book of Armaments, Chapter 4, Verses 16 to 20: 616 617Then did he raise on high the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, saying, 618"Bless this, O Lord, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny 619bits, in thy mercy." And the people did rejoice and did feast upon the 620lambs and toads and tree-sloths and fruit-bats and orangutans and 621breakfast cereals ... Now did the Lord say, "First thou pullest the 622Holy Pin. Then thou must count to three. Three shall be the number of 623the counting and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt 624thou not count, neither shalt thou count two, excepting that thou then 625proceedeth to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being 626the number of the counting, be reached, then lobbest thou the Holy Hand 627Grenade in the direction of thine foe, who, being naughty in my sight, 628shall snuff it." 629 -- Monty Python, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" 630% 631A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices 632that the system works. 633% 634A real person has two reasons for doing anything ... a good reason and 635the real reason. 636% 637A recent study has found that concentrating on difficult off-screen 638objects, such as the faces of loved ones, causes eye strain in computer 639scientists. Researchers into the phenomenon cite the added 640concentration needed to "make sense" of such unnatural three 641dimensional objects ... 642% 643A Riverside, California, health ordinance states that two persons may 644not kiss each other without first wiping their lips with carbolized 645rosewater. 646% 647A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man 648contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral. 649 -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery 650% 651A sense of humor keen enough to show a man his own absurdities will 652keep him from the commission of all sins, or nearly all, save those 653that are worth committing. 654 -- Samuel Butler 655% 656 A Severe Strain on the Credulity 657 658As a method of sending a missile to the higher, and even to the highest 659parts of the earth's atmospheric envelope, Professor Goddard's rocket 660is a practicable and therefore promising device. It is when one 661considers the multiple-charge rocket as a traveler to the moon that one 662begins to doubt ... for after the rocket quits our air and really 663starts on its journey, its flight would be neither accelerated nor 664maintained by the explosion of the charges it then might have left. 665Professor Goddard, with his "chair" in Clark College and countenancing 666of the Smithsonian Institution, does not know the relation of action to 667re-action, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum 668against which to react ... Of course he only seems to lack the 669knowledge ladled out daily in high schools. 670 -- New York Times Editorial, 1920 671% 672A sine curve goes off to infinity or at least the end of the blackboard. 673 -- Prof. Steiner 674% 675... A solemn, unsmiling, sanctimonious old iceberg who looked like he 676was waiting for a vacancy in the Trinity. 677 -- Mark Twain 678% 679A straw vote only shows which way the hot air blows. 680 -- O'Henry 681% 682A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many 683bad measures. 684 -- Daniel Webster 685% 686A student who changes the course of history is probably taking an 687exam. 688% 689A student, in hopes of understanding the Lambda-nature, came to 690Greenblatt. As they spoke a Multics system hacker walked by. "Is it 691true," asked the student, "that PL-1 has many of the same data types as 692Lisp?" Almost before the student had finished his question, Greenblatt 693shouted, "FOO!", and hit the student with a stick. 694% 695A successful [software] tool is one that was used to do something 696undreamed of by its author. 697 -- S. C. Johnson 698% 699A system admin's life is a sorry one. The only advantage he has over 700Emergency Room doctors is that malpractice suits are rare. On the 701other hand, ER doctors never have to deal with patients installing 702new versions of their own innards! 703 -- Michael O'Brien 704% 705A tautology is a thing which is tautological. 706% 707A total abstainer is one who abstains from everything but abstention, 708and especially from inactivity in the affairs of others. 709 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 710% 711A transistor protected by a fast-acting fuse will protect the fuse by 712blowing first. 713% 714A triangle which has an angle of 135 degrees is called an obscene 715triangle. 716% 717A truly wise man never plays leapfrog with a unicorn. 718% 719A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest 720in students. 721 -- John Ciardi 722% 723A University without students is like an ointment without a fly. 724 -- Ed Nather, professor of astronomy at UT Austin 725% 726A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature 727replaces it with. 728 -- Tennessee Williams 729% 730A well adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without 731getting nervous. 732% 733A witty saying proves nothing, but saying something pointless gets 734people's attention. 735% 736A witty saying proves nothing. 737 -- Voltaire 738% 739A wizard cannot do everything; a fact most magicians are reticent to 740admit, let alone discuss with prospective clients. Still, the fact 741remains that there are certain objects, and people, that are, for one 742reason or another, completely immune to any direct magical spell. It 743is for this group of beings that the magician learns the subtleties of 744using indirect spells. It also does no harm, in dealing with these 745matters, to carry a large club near your person at all times. 746 -- The Teachings of Ebenezum, Volume VIII 747% 748A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God. 749% 750A.A.A.A.A.: 751 An organization for drunks who drive 752% 753AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccckkkkkk!!!!!!!!! 754You brute! Knock before entering a ladies room! 755% 756Abandon the search for Truth; settle for a good fantasy. 757% 758About the time we think we can make ends meet, somebody moves the ends. 759 -- Herbert Hoover 760% 761Absence makes the heart go wander. 762% 763Absent, adj.: 764 Exposed to the attacks of friends and acquaintances; defamed; 765slandered. 766% 767Absentee, n.: 768 A person with an income who has had the forethought to remove 769himself from the sphere of exaction. 770 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 771% 772Abstainer, n.: 773 A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a 774pleasure. 775 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 776% 777Absurdity, n.: 778 A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own 779opinion. 780 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 781% 782Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, 783because the stakes are so low. 784 -- Wallace Sayre 785% 786Accident, n.: 787 A condition in which presence of mind is good, but absence of 788body is better. 789 -- Foolish Dictionary 790% 791Accidents cause History. 792 793If Sigismund Unbuckle had taken a walk in 1426 and met Wat Tyler, the 794Peasant's Revolt would never have happened and the motor car would not 795have been invented until 2026, which would have meant that all the oil 796could have been used for lamps, thus saving the electric light bulb and 797the whale, and nobody would have caught Moby Dick or Billy Budd. 798 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 799% 800According to Arkansas law, Section 4761, Pope's Digest: "No person 801shall be permitted under any pretext whatever, to come nearer than 802fifty feet of any door or window of any polling room, from the opening 803of the polls until the completion of the count and the certification of 804the returns." 805% 806According to Kentucky state law, every person must take a bath at least 807once a year. 808% 809According to my best recollection, I don't remember. 810 -- Vincent "Jimmy Blue Eyes" Alo 811% 812According to the latest official figures, 43% of all statistics are 813totally worthless. 814% 815According to the obituary notices, a mean and unimportant person never 816dies. 817% 818According to the Rand McNally Places-Rated Almanac, the best place to 819live in America is the city of Pittsburgh. The city of New York came 820in twenty-fifth. Here in New York we really don't care too much. 821Because we know that we could beat up their city anytime. 822 -- David Letterman 823% 824Accordion, n.: 825 A bagpipe with pleats. 826% 827Accuracy, n.: 828 The vice of being right. 829% 830 ACHTUNG!!! 831 832Das machine is nicht fur gefingerpoken und mittengrabben. Ist easy 833schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und corkenpoppen mit 834spitzensparken. Ist nicht fur gewerken by das dummkopfen. Das 835rubbernecken sightseeren keepen hands in das pockets. Relaxen und 836vatch das blinkenlights!!! 837% 838Acid -- better living through chemistry. 839% 840Acid absorbs 47 times its weight in excess Reality. 841% 842Acquaintance, n.: 843 A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well 844enough to lend to. 845 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 846% 847Acting is an art which consists of keeping the audience from coughing. 848% 849Actor: "I'm a smash hit. Why, yesterday during the last act, I had 850 everyone glued in their seats!" 851Oliver Herford: "Wonderful! Wonderful! Clever of you to think of 852 it!" 853% 854Actor: So what do you do for a living? 855Doris: I work for a company that makes deceptively shallow serving 856 dishes for Chinese restaurants. 857 -- Woody Allen, "Without Feathers" 858% 859Actors will happen even in the best-regulated families. 860% 861ADA, n.: 862 Something you need only know the name of to be an Expert in 863Computing. Useful in sentences like, "We had better develop an ADA 864awareness." 865 -- "Datamation", January 15, 1984 866% 867Admiration, n.: 868 Our polite recognition of another's resemblance to ourselves. 869 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 870% 871Adolescence, n.: 872 The stage between puberty and adultery. 873% 874Adopted kids are such a pain -- you have to teach them how to look 875like you ... 876 -- Gilda Radner 877% 878Adore, v.: 879 To venerate expectantly. 880 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 881% 882Adult, n.: 883 One old enough to know better. 884% 885Advertising is a valuable economic factor because it is the cheapest 886way of selling goods, particularly if the goods are worthless. 887 -- Sinclair Lewis 888% 889Advice to young men: Be ascetic, and if you can't be ascetic, 890then at least be aseptic. 891% 892After [Benjamin] Franklin came a herd of Electrical Pioneers whose 893names have become part of our electrical terminology: Myron Volt, Mary 894Louise Amp, James Watt, Bob Transformer, etc. These pioneers conducted 895many important electrical experiments. For example, in 1780 Luigi 896Galvani discovered (this is the truth) that when he attached two 897different kinds of metal to the leg of a frog, an electrical current 898developed and the frog's leg kicked, even though it was no longer 899attached to the frog, which was dead anyway. Galvani's discovery led 900to enormous advances in the field of amphibian medicine. Today, 901skilled veterinary surgeons can take a frog that has been seriously 902injured or killed, implant pieces of metal in its muscles, and watch it 903hop back into the pond just like a normal frog, except for the fact 904that it sinks like a stone. 905 -- Dave Barry, "What is Electricity?" 906% 907After a few boring years, socially meaningful rock 'n' roll died out. 908It was replaced by disco, which offers no guidance to any form of life 909more advanced than the lichen family. 910 -- Dave Barry, "Kids Today: They Don't Know Dum Diddly Do" 911% 912After a number of decimal places, nobody gives a damn. 913% 914... After all, all he did was string together a lot of old, well-known 915quotations. 916 -- H. L. Mencken, on Shakespeare 917% 918After all, what is your hosts' purpose in having a party? Surely not 919for you to enjoy yourself; if that were their sole purpose, they'd have 920simply sent champagne and women over to your place by taxi. 921 -- P. J. O'Rourke 922% 923After an instrument has been assembled, extra components will be found 924on the bench. 925% 926 After his Ignoble Disgrace, Satan was being expelled from 927Heaven. As he passed through the Gates, he paused a moment in thought, 928and turned to God and said, "A new creature called Man, I hear, is soon 929to be created." 930 "This is true," He replied. 931 "He will need laws," said the Demon slyly. 932 "What! You, his appointed Enemy for all Time! You ask for the 933right to make his laws?" 934 "Oh, no!" Satan replied, "I ask only that he be allowed to 935make his own." 936 It was so granted. 937 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 938% 939After I asked him what he meant, he replied that freedom consisted of 940the unimpeded right to get rich, to use his ability, no matter what the 941cost to others, to win advancement. 942 -- Norman Thomas 943% 944After I run your program, let's make love like crazed weasels, OK? 945% 946After living in New York, you trust nobody, but you believe 947everything. Just in case. 948% 949After the last of 16 mounting screws has been removed from an access 950cover, it will be discovered that the wrong access cover has been 951removed. 952% 953Afternoon very favorable for romance. Try a single person for a 954change. 955% 956Afternoon, n.: 957 That part of the day we spend worrying about how we wasted the 958morning. 959% 960Age before beauty; and pearls before swine. 961 -- Dorothy Parker 962% 963Age, n.: 964 That period of life in which we compound for the vices that we 965still cherish by reviling those that we no longer have the enterprise 966to commit. 967 -- Ambrose Bierce 968% 969Ah say, son, you're about as sharp as a bowlin' ball. 970% 971Ah, but the choice of dreams to live, 972there's the rub. 973 974For all dreams are not equal, 975some exit to nightmare 976most end with the dreamer 977 978But at least one must be lived ... and died. 979% 980Ah, you know the type. They like to blame it all on the Jews or the 981Blacks, 'cause if they couldn't, they'd have to wake up to the fact 982that life's one big, scary, glorious, complex and ultimately 983unfathomable crapshoot -- and the only reason THEY can't seem to keep 984up is they're a bunch of misfits and losers. 985 -- A analysis of Neo-Nazis, from "The Badger" comic 986% 987Air is water with holes in it. 988% 989Alas, I am dying beyond my means. 990 -- Oscar Wilde, as he sipped champagne on his deathbed 991% 992Albert Einstein, when asked to describe radio, replied: "You see, wire 993telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New 994York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? 995And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they 996receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat." 997% 998Alden's Laws: 999 (1) Giving away baby clothes and furniture is the major cause 1000 of pregnancy. 1001 (2) Always be backlit. 1002 (3) Sit down whenever possible. 1003% 1004Aleph-null bottles of beer on the wall, 1005Aleph-null bottles of beer, 1006 You take one down, and pass it around, 1007Aleph-null bottles of beer on the wall. 1008% 1009Alex Haley was adopted! 1010% 1011Alexander Graham Bell is alive and well in New York, and still waiting 1012for a dial tone. 1013% 1014Alimony is a system by which, when two people make a mistake, one of 1015them keeps paying for it. 1016 -- Peggy Joyce 1017% 1018All [zoos] actually offer to the public in return for the taxes spent 1019upon them is a form of idle and witless amusement, compared to which a 1020visit to a penitentiary, or even to a State legislature in session, is 1021informing, stimulating and ennobling. 1022 -- H. L. Mencken 1023% 1024All bridge hands are equally likely, but some are more equally likely 1025than others. 1026 -- Alan Truscott 1027% 1028All extremists should be taken out and shot. 1029% 1030All Finagle Laws may be bypassed by learning the simple art of doing 1031without thinking. 1032% 1033"All flesh is grass" 1034 -- Isaiah 1035Smoke a friend today. 1036% 1037All I ask is a chance to prove that money can't make me happy. 1038% 1039All I ask of life is a constant and exaggerated sense of my own 1040importance. 1041% 1042All I can think of is a platter of organic PRUNE CRISPS being trampled 1043by an army of swarthy, Italian LOUNGE SINGERS ... 1044% 1045All I want is a warm bed and a kind word and unlimited power. 1046 -- Ashleigh Brilliant 1047% 1048All men are mortal. Socrates was mortal. Therefore, all men are 1049Socrates. 1050 -- Woody Allen 1051% 1052All my friends and I are crazy. That's the only thing that keeps us sane. 1053% 1054All my life I wanted to be someone; I guess I should have been more 1055specific. 1056 -- Jane Wagner 1057% 1058All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies. 1059 -- The Book of Bokonon / Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 1060% 1061All other things being equal, a bald man cannot be elected President of 1062the United States. 1063 -- Vic Gold 1064% 1065All power corrupts, but we need electricity. 1066% 1067All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors. 1068% 1069All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of 1070every organism to live beyond its income. 1071 -- Samuel Butler, "Notebooks" 1072% 1073All science is either physics or stamp collecting. 1074 -- Ernest Rutherford 1075% 1076All snakes who wish to remain in Ireland will please raise their right 1077hands. 1078 -- Saint Patrick 1079% 1080All syllogisms have three parts; therefore this is not a syllogism. 1081% 1082All the big corporations depreciate their possessions, and you can, 1083too, provided you use them for business purposes. For example, if you 1084subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, a business-related newspaper, you 1085can deduct the cost of your house, because, in the words of U.S. 1086Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger in a landmark 1979 tax 1087decision: "Where else are you going to read the paper? Outside? What 1088if it rains?" 1089 -- Dave Barry, "Sweating Out Taxes" 1090% 1091... all the modern inconveniences ... 1092 -- Mark Twain 1093% 1094All the passions make us commit faults; love makes us commit the most 1095ridiculous ones. 1096 -- La Rochefoucauld 1097% 1098All the taxes paid over a lifetime by the average American are spent by 1099the government in less than a second. 1100 -- Jim Fiebig 1101% 1102All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed. 1103 -- Sean O'Casey 1104% 1105All the world's a VAX, 1106And all the coders merely butchers; 1107They have their exits and their entrails; 1108And one int in his time plays many widths, 1109His sizeof being _N bytes. At first the infant, 1110Mewling and puking in the Regent's arms. 1111And then the whining schoolboy, with his Sun, 1112And shining morning face, creeping like slug 1113Unwillingly to school. 1114 -- A Very Annoyed PDP-11 1115% 1116All theoretical chemistry is really physics; 1117and all theoretical chemists know it. 1118 -- Richard P. Feynman 1119% 1120All things are possible, except skiing thru a revolving door. 1121% 1122All this wheeling and dealing around, why, it isn't for money, it's for 1123fun. Money's just the way we keep score. 1124 -- Henry Tyroon 1125% 1126All true wisdom is found on T-shirts. 1127% 1128All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers ... Each one owes 1129infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in 1130which he was born. 1131 -- Francois Fenelon 1132% 1133Alliance, n.: 1134 In international politics, the union of two thieves who have 1135their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pocket that they cannot 1136separately plunder a third. 1137 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1138% 1139Alone, adj.: 1140 In bad company. 1141 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1142% 1143Although golf was originally restricted to wealthy, overweight 1144Protestants, today it's open to anybody who owns hideous clothing. 1145 -- Dave Barry 1146% 1147Although the moon is smaller than the earth, it is farther away. 1148% 1149Although we modern persons tend to take our electric lights, radios, 1150mixers, etc., for granted, hundreds of years ago people did not have 1151any of these things, which is just as well because there was no place 1152to plug them in. Then along came the first Electrical Pioneer, 1153Benjamin Franklin, who flew a kite in a lighting storm and received a 1154serious electrical shock. This proved that lighting was powered by the 1155same force as carpets, but it also damaged Franklin's brain so severely 1156that he started speaking only in incomprehensible maxims, such as "A 1157penny saved is a penny earned." Eventually he had to be given a job 1158running the post office. 1159 -- Dave Barry, "What is Electricity?" 1160% 1161Although written many years ago, Lady Chatterley's Lover has just been 1162reissued by the Grove Press, and this pictorial account of the 1163day-to-day life of an English gamekeeper is full of considerable 1164interest to outdoor minded readers, as it contains many passages on 1165pheasant-raising, the apprehending of poachers, ways to control vermin, 1166and other chores and duties of the professional gamekeeper. 1167Unfortunately, one is obliged to wade through many pages of extraneous 1168material in order to discover and savour those sidelights on the 1169management of a midland shooting estate, and in this reviewer's opinion 1170the book cannot take the place of J. R. Miller's "Practical 1171Gamekeeping." 1172 -- Ed Zern, "Field and Stream" (Nov. 1959) 1173% 1174Always borrow money from a pessimist; he doesn't expect to be paid 1175back. 1176% 1177Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else. 1178% 1179Always try to do things in chronological order; it's less confusing 1180that way. 1181% 1182Am I ranting? I hope so. My ranting gets raves. 1183% 1184 AMAZING BUT TRUE ... 1185 1186If all the salmon caught in Canada in one year were laid end to end 1187across the Sahara Desert, the smell would be absolutely awful. 1188% 1189 AMAZING BUT TRUE ... 1190 1191There is so much sand in Northern Africa that if it were spread out it 1192would completely cover the Sahara Desert. 1193% 1194Ambidextrous, adj.: 1195 Able to pick with equal skill a right-hand pocket or a left. 1196 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1197% 1198Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy. 1199 -- Charlie McCarthy 1200% 1201America may be unique in being a country which has leapt from barbarism 1202to decadence without touching civilization. 1203 -- John O'Hara 1204% 1205America was discovered by Amerigo Vespucci and was named after him, 1206until people got tired of living in a place called "Vespuccia" and 1207changed its name to "America". 1208 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 1209% 1210American business long ago gave up on demanding that prospective 1211employees be honest and hardworking. It has even stopped hoping for 1212employees who are educated enough that they can tell the difference 1213between the men's room and the women's room without having little 1214pictures on the doors. 1215 -- Dave Barry, "Urine Trouble, Mister" 1216% 1217Amnesia used to be my favorite word, but then I forgot it. 1218% 1219An age is called Dark not because the light fails to shine, but because 1220people refuse to see it. 1221 -- James Michener, "Space" 1222% 1223An American's a person who isn't afraid to criticize the President but 1224is always polite to traffic cops. 1225% 1226An anthropologist at Tulane has just come back from a field trip to 1227New Guinea with reports of a tribe so primitive that they have Tide but 1228not new Tide with lemon-fresh Borax. 1229 -- David Letterman 1230% 1231An apple every eight hours will keep three doctors away. 1232% 1233 An architect's first work is apt to be spare and clean. He 1234knows he doesn't know what he's doing, so he does it carefully and with 1235great restraint. 1236 As he designs the first work, frill after frill and 1237embellishment after embellishment occur to him. These get stored away 1238to be used "next time". Sooner or later the first system is finished, 1239and the architect, with firm confidence and a demonstrated mastery of 1240that class of systems, is ready to build a second system. 1241 This second is the most dangerous system a man ever designs. 1242When he does his third and later ones, his prior experiences will 1243confirm each other as to the general characteristics of such systems, 1244and their differences will identify those parts of his experience that 1245are particular and not generalizable. 1246 The general tendency is to over-design the second system, using 1247all the ideas and frills that were cautiously sidetracked on the first 1248one. The result, as Ovid says, is a "big pile". 1249 -- Frederick Brooks, "The Mythical Man Month" 1250% 1251An artist should be fit for the best society and keep out of it. 1252% 1253An attorney was defending his client against a charge of first-degree 1254murder. "Your Honor, my client is accused of stuffing his lover's 1255mutilated body into a suitcase and heading for the Mexican border. 1256Just north of Tijuana a cop spotted her hand sticking out of the 1257suitcase. Now, I would like to stress that my client is *not* a 1258murderer. A sloppy packer, maybe..." 1259% 1260An authority is a person who can tell you more about something than you 1261really care to know. 1262% 1263An effective way to deal with predators is to taste terrible. 1264% 1265An elephant is a mouse with an operating system. 1266% 1267An English judge, growing weary of the barrister's long-winded 1268summation, leaned over the bench and remarked, "I've heard your 1269arguments, Sir Geoffrey, and I'm none the wiser!" Sir Geoffrey 1270responded, "That may be, Milord, but at least you're better informed!" 1271% 1272An Englishman never enjoys himself, except for a noble purpose. 1273 -- A. P. Herbert 1274% 1275An excellence-oriented '80s male does not wear a regular watch. He 1276wears a Rolex watch, because it weighs nearly six pounds and is 1277advertised only in excellence-oriented publications such as Fortune and 1278Rich Protestant Golfer Magazine. The advertisements are written in 1279incomplete sentences, which is how advertising copywriters denote 1280excellence: 1281 1282The Rolex Hyperion. An elegant new standard in quality excellence and 1283discriminating handcraftsmanship. For the individual who is truly able 1284to discriminate with regard to excellent quality standards of crafting 1285things by hand. Fabricated of 100 percent 24-karat gold. No watch 1286parts or anything. Just a great big chunk on your wrist. Truly a 1287timeless statement. For the individual who is very secure. Who 1288doesn't need to be reminded all the time that he is very successful. 1289Much more successful than the people who laughed at him in high 1290school. Because of his acne. People who are probably nowhere near as 1291successful as he is now. Maybe he'll go to his 20th reunion, and 1292they'll see his Rolex Hyperion. Hahahahahahahahaha. 1293 -- Dave Barry, "In Search of Excellence" 1294% 1295An exotic journey in downtown Newark is in your future. 1296% 1297... an experienced, industrious, ambitious, and often quite often 1298picturesque liar. 1299 -- Mark Twain 1300% 1301An idea is an eye given by God for the seeing of God. Some of these 1302eyes we cannot bear to look out of, we blind them as quickly as 1303possible. 1304 -- Russell Hoban, "Pilgermann" 1305% 1306An idea is not responsible for the people who believe in it. 1307% 1308 An old Jewish man reads about Einstein's theory of relativity 1309in the newspaper and asks his scientist grandson to explain it to him. 1310 "Well, zayda, it's sort of like this. Einstein says that if 1311you're having your teeth drilled without Novocain, a minute seems like 1312an hour. But if you're sitting with a beautiful woman on your lap, an 1313hour seems like a minute." 1314 The old man considers this profound bit of thinking for a 1315moment and says, "And from this he makes a living?" 1316 -- Arthur Naiman, "Every Goy's Guide to Yiddish" 1317% 1318An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of purge. 1319% 1320Anarchy may not be the best form of government, but it's better than no 1321government at all. 1322% 1323And as we stand on the edge of darkness 1324Let our chant fill the void 1325That others may know 1326 1327 In the land of the night 1328 The ship of the sun 1329 Is drawn by 1330 The grateful dead. 1331 1332 -- Tibetan "Book of the Dead," ca. 4000 BC. 1333% 1334... and furthermore ... I don't like your trousers. 1335% 1336And I heard Jeff exclaim, 1337As they strolled out of sight, 1338"Merry Christmas to all -- 1339You take credit cards, right?" 1340 -- "Outsiders" comic 1341% 1342... And malt does more than Milton can 1343To justify God's ways to man 1344 -- A. E. Housman 1345% 1346And on the seventh day, He exited from append mode. 1347% 1348... And remember: if you don't like the news, go out and make some of 1349your own. 1350 -- "Scoop" Nisker, KFOG radio reporter 1351 Preposterous Words 1352% 1353And so, men, we can see that human skin is an even more complex and 1354fascinating organ than we thought it was, and if we want to keep it 1355looking good, we have to care for it as though it were our own. One 1356approach is to undergo a painful surgical procedure wherein your skin 1357is turned inside-out, so the young cells are on the outside, but then 1358of course you have the unpleasant side effect that your insides 1359gradually fill up with dead old cells and you explode. So this 1360procedure is pretty much limited to top Hollywood stars for whom 1361youthful beauty is a career necessity, such as Elizabeth Taylor and 1362Orson Welles. 1363 -- Dave Barry, "Saving Face" 1364% 1365...and the fully armed nuclear warheads, are, of course, merely a 1366courtesy detail. 1367% 1368And this is a table ma'am. What in essence it consists of is a 1369horizontal rectilinear plane surface maintained by four vertical 1370columnar supports, which we call legs. The tables in this laboratory, 1371ma'am, are as advanced in design as one will find anywhere in the 1372world. 1373 -- Michael Frayn, "The Tin Men" 1374% 1375 "And what will you do when you grow up to be as big as me?" 1376asked the father of his little son. 1377 "Diet." 1378% 1379And yet, seasons must be taken with a grain of salt, for they too have 1380a sense of humor, as does history. Corn stalks comedy, comedy stalks 1381tragedy, and this too is historic. And yet, still, when corn meets 1382tragedy face to face, we have politics. 1383 -- Dalglish, Larsen and Sutherland, "Root Crops and 1384 Ground Cover" 1385% 1386Andrea: Unhappy the land that has no heroes. 1387Galileo: No, unhappy the land that _____needs heroes. 1388 -- Bertolt Brecht, "Life of Galileo" 1389% 1390Angels we have heard on High 1391Tell us to go out and Buy. 1392 -- Tom Lehrer 1393% 1394Ankh if you love Isis. 1395% 1396Anoint, v.: 1397 To grease a king or other great functionary already 1398sufficiently slippery. 1399 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1400% 1401 Another Glitch in the Call 1402 ------- ------ -- --- ---- 1403 (Sung to the tune of a recent Pink Floyd song.) 1404 1405We don't need no indirection 1406We don't need no flow control 1407No data typing or declarations 1408Did you leave the lists alone? 1409 1410 Hey! Hacker! Leave those lists alone! 1411 1412Chorus: 1413 All in all, it's just a pure-LISP function call. 1414 All in all, it's just a pure-LISP function call. 1415% 1416Another good night not to sleep in a eucalyptus tree. 1417% 1418Another possible source of guidance for teenagers is television, but 1419television's message has always been that the need for truth, wisdom 1420and world peace pales by comparison with the need for a toothpaste that 1421offers whiter teeth *___and* fresher breath. 1422 -- Dave Barry, "Kids Today: They Don't Know Dum Diddly Do" 1423% 1424 Answers to Last Fortune's Questions: 1425 1426(1) None. (Moses didn't have an ark). 1427(2) Your mother, by the pigeonhole principle. 1428(3) I don't know. 1429(4) Who cares? 1430(5) 6 (or maybe 4, or else 3). Mr. Alfred J. Duncan of Podunk, 1431 Montana, submitted an interesting solution to Problem 5. 1432(6) There is an interesting solution to this problem on page 1029 of my 1433 book, which you can pick up for $23.95 at finer bookstores and 1434 bathroom supply outlets (or 99 cents at the table in front of 1435 Papyrus Books). 1436% 1437Anthony's Law of Force: 1438 Don't force it; get a larger hammer. 1439% 1440Anthony's Law of the Workshop: 1441 Any tool when dropped, will roll into the least accessible 1442 corner of the workshop. 1443 1444Corollary: 1445 On the way to the corner, any dropped tool will first strike 1446 your toes. 1447% 1448Antonym, n.: 1449 The opposite of the word you're trying to think of. 1450% 1451Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an art. 1452 -- Charles McCabe 1453% 1454Any dramatic series the producers want us to take seriously as a 1455representation of contemporary reality cannot be taken seriously as a 1456representation of anything -- except a show to be ignored by anyone 1457capable of sitting upright in a chair and chewing gum simultaneously. 1458 -- Richard Schickel 1459% 1460Any excuse will serve a tyrant. 1461 -- Aesop 1462% 1463Any father who thinks he's all important should remind himself that 1464this country honors fathers only one day a year while pickles get a 1465whole week. 1466% 1467Any fool can paint a picture, but it takes a wise person to be able to 1468sell it. 1469% 1470Any great truth can -- and eventually will -- be expressed as a cliche 1471-- a cliche is a sure and certain way to dilute an idea. For instance, 1472my grandmother used to say, "The black cat is always the last one off 1473the fence." I have no idea what she meant, but at one time, it was 1474undoubtedly true. 1475 -- Solomon Short 1476% 1477Any philosophy that can be put "in a nutshell" belongs there. 1478 -- Sydney J. Harris 1479% 1480Any small object that is accidentally dropped will hide under a larger 1481object. 1482% 1483Any stone in your boot always migrates against the pressure gradient to 1484exactly the point of most pressure. 1485 -- Milt Barber 1486% 1487Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature. 1488 -- Rich Kulawiec 1489% 1490Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged 1491demo. 1492 -- Andy Finkel, Commodore-Amiga Inc. 1493% 1494Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. 1495 -- Arthur C. Clarke 1496% 1497Any time things appear to be going better, you have overlooked 1498something. 1499% 1500Any two philosophers can tell each other all they know in two hours. 1501 -- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. 1502% 1503Anybody can win, unless there happens to be a second entry. 1504% 1505Anybody who doesn't cut his speed at the sight of a police car is 1506probably parked. 1507% 1508Anybody with money to burn will easily find someone to tend the fire. 1509% 1510Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn't the work he is 1511supposed to be doing at the moment. 1512 -- Robert Benchley 1513% 1514Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. 1515 -- Publius Syrus 1516% 1517Anyone can make an omelet with eggs. The trick is to make one with 1518none. 1519% 1520Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best he 1521is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe and not 1522make messes in the house. 1523 -- Lazarus Long, "Time Enough for Love" 1524% 1525Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist ought to have his head examined. 1526 -- Samuel Goldwyn 1527% 1528Anyone who hates Dogs and Kids Can't be All Bad. 1529 -- W. C. Fields 1530% 1531Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no 1532account be allowed to do the job. 1533 -- Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" 1534% 1535Anyone who uses the phrase "easy as taking candy from a baby" has never 1536tried taking candy from a baby. 1537 -- Robin Hood 1538% 1539Anything free is worth what you pay for it. 1540% 1541Anything is good if it's made of chocolate. 1542% 1543Anything labeled "NEW" and/or "IMPROVED" isn't. The label means the 1544price went up. The label "ALL NEW", "COMPLETELY NEW", or "GREAT NEW" 1545means the price went way up. 1546% 1547Anything that is good and useful is made of chocolate. 1548% 1549Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. 1550% 1551Apathy is not the problem, it's the solution. 1552% 1553Aphorism, n.: 1554 A concise, clever statement. 1555Afterism, n.: 1556 A concise, clever statement you don't think of until too late. 1557 -- James Alexander Thom 1558% 1559APL is a mistake, carried through to perfection. It is the language of 1560the future for the problems of the past: it creates a new generation of 1561coding bums. 1562% 1563APL is a write-only language. I can write programs in APL, but I 1564can't read any of them. 1565 -- Roy Keir 1566% 1567Aquadextrous, adj.: 1568 Possessing the ability to turn the bathtub faucet on and off 1569with your toes. 1570 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 1571% 1572AQUARIUS (Jan 20 - Feb 18) 1573 You have an inventive mind and are inclined to be progressive. 1574 You lie a great deal. On the other hand, you are inclined to 1575 be careless and impractical, causing you to make the same 1576 mistakes over and over again. People think you are stupid. 1577% 1578Arbitrary systems, pl.n.: 1579 Systems about which nothing general can be said, save "nothing 1580general can be said." 1581% 1582ARCHDUKE FERDINAND FOUND ALIVE -- 1583 FIRST WORLD WAR A MISTAKE 1584% 1585Are you a turtle? 1586% 1587Arguments with furniture are rarely productive. 1588 -- Kehlog Albran, "The Profit" 1589% 1590ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 19) 1591 You are the pioneer type and hold most people in contempt. You 1592 are quick tempered, impatient, and scornful of advice. You are 1593 not very nice. 1594% 1595Arithmetic is being able to count up to twenty without taking off your 1596shoes. 1597 -- Mickey Mouse 1598% 1599Armadillo: 1600 To provide weapons to a Spanish pickle 1601% 1602Arnold's Laws of Documentation: 1603 (1) If it should exist, it doesn't. 1604 (2) If it does exist, it's out of date. 1605 (3) Only documentation for useless programs transcends the 1606 first two laws. 1607% 1608Around computers it is difficult to find the correct unit of time to 1609measure progress. Some cathedrals took a century to complete. Can you 1610imagine the grandeur and scope of a program that would take as long? 1611 -- Epigrams in Programming, ACM SIGPLAN Sept. 1982 1612% 1613Art is anything you can get away with. 1614 -- Marshall McLuhan 1615% 1616Art is either plagiarism or revolution. 1617 -- Paul Gauguin 1618% 1619Arthur's Laws of Love: 1620 (1) People to whom you are attracted invariably think you 1621 remind them of someone else. 1622 (2) The love letter you finally got the courage to send will be 1623 delayed in the mail long enough for you to make a fool of 1624 yourself in person. 1625% 1626Artistic ventures highlighted. Rob a museum. 1627% 1628As a professional humorist, I often get letters from readers who are 1629interested in the basic nature of humor. "What kind of a sick 1630perverted disgusting person are you," these letters typically ask, 1631"that you make jokes about setting fire to a goat?" 1632 -- Dave Barry, "Why Humor is Funny" 1633% 1634As an adolescent I aspired to lasting fame, I craved factual 1635certainty, and I thirsted for a meaningful vision of human life -- so I 1636became a scientist. This is like becoming an archbishop so you can 1637meet girls. 1638 -- Matt Cartmill 1639% 1640As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not 1641certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality. 1642 -- Albert Einstein 1643% 1644As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error. 1645 -- Weisert 1646% 1647As I was going up Punch Card Hill, 1648 Feeling worse and worser, 1649There I met a C.R.T. 1650 And it drop't me a cursor. 1651 1652C.R.T., C.R.T., 1653 Phosphors light on you! 1654If I had fifty hours a day 1655 I'd spend them all at you. 1656 1657 -- Uncle Colonel's Cursory Rhymes 1658% 1659As I was passing Project MAC, 1660I met a Quux with seven hacks. 1661Every hack had seven bugs; 1662Every bug had seven manifestations; 1663Every manifestation had seven symptoms. 1664Symptoms, manifestations, bugs, and hacks, 1665How many losses at Project MAC? 1666% 1667As long as I am mayor of this city [Jersey City, New Jersey] the great 1668industries are secure. We hear about constitutional rights, free 1669speech and the free press. Every time I hear these words I say to 1670myself, "That man is a Red, that man is a Communist". You never hear a 1671real American talk like that. 1672 -- Frank Hague (1896-1956) 1673% 1674As long as the answer is right, who cares if the question is wrong? 1675% 1676As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its 1677fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be 1678popular. 1679 -- Oscar Wilde 1680% 1681As of next week, passwords will be entered in Morse code. 1682% 1683As part of the conversion, computer specialists rewrote 1,500 1684programs; a process that traditionally requires some debugging. 1685 -- USA Today, referring to the IRS switchover to a new 1686 computer system. 1687% 1688As soon as we started programming, we found to our surprise that it 1689wasn't as easy to get programs right as we had thought. Debugging had 1690to be discovered. I can remember the exact instant when I realized 1691that a large part of my life from then on was going to be spent in 1692finding mistakes in my own programs. 1693 -- Maurice Wilkes discovers debugging, 1949 1694% 1695As the poet said, "Only God can make a tree" -- probably because it's 1696so hard to figure out how to get the bark on. 1697 -- Woody Allen 1698% 1699As the trials of life continue to take their toll, remember that there 1700is always a future in Computer Maintenance. 1701 -- National Lampoon, "Deteriorata" 1702% 1703As Will Rogers would have said, "There is no such thing as a free 1704variable." 1705% 1706As with most fine things, chocolate has its season. There is a simple 1707memory aid that you can use to determine whether it is the correct time 1708to order chocolate dishes: any month whose name contains the letter A, 1709E, or U is the proper time for chocolate. 1710 -- Sandra Boynton, "Chocolate: The Consuming Passion" 1711% 1712As you know, birds do not have sexual organs because they would 1713interfere with flight. [In fact, this was the big breakthrough for the 1714Wright Brothers. They were watching birds one day, trying to figure 1715out how to get their crude machine to fly, when suddenly it dawned on 1716Wilbur. "Orville," he said, "all we have to do is remove the sexual 1717organs!" You should have seen their original design.] As a result, 1718birds are very, very difficult to arouse sexually. You almost never 1719see an aroused bird. So when they want to reproduce, birds fly up and 1720stand on telephone lines, where they monitor telephone conversations 1721with their feet. When they find a conversation in which people are 1722talking dirty, they grip the line very tightly until they are both 1723highly aroused, at which point the female gets pregnant. 1724 -- Dave Barry, "Sex and the Single Amoeba: What Every 1725 Teen Should Know" 1726% 1727As you reach for the web, a venomous spider appears. Unable to pull 1728your hand away in time, the spider promptly, but politely, bites you. 1729The venom takes affect quickly causing your lips to turn plaid along 1730with your complexion. You become dazed, and in your stupor you fall 1731from the limbs of the tree. Snap! Your head falls off and rolls all 1732over the ground. The instant before you croak, you hear the whoosh of 1733a vacuum being filled by the air surrounding your head. Worse yet, the 1734spider is suing you for damages. 1735% 1736As Zeus said to Narcissus, "Watch yourself." 1737% 1738ASHes to ASHes, DOS to DOS. 1739% 1740Ask five economists and you'll get five different explanations (six if 1741one went to Harvard). 1742 -- Edgar R. Fiedler 1743% 1744Ask not for whom the <CONTROL-G> tolls. 1745% 1746Ask Not for whom the Bell Tolls, and You will Pay only the 1747Station-to-Station rate. 1748% 1749Ask not for whom the telephone bell tolls ... if thou art in the 1750bathtub, it tolls for thee. 1751% 1752Ask your boss to reconsider -- it's so difficult to take "Go to hell" 1753for an answer. 1754% 1755Asked by reporters about his upcoming marriage to a forty-two-year-old 1756woman, director Roman Polanski told reporters, `The way I look at it, 1757she's the equivalent of three fourteen-year-olds.' 1758 -- David Letterman 1759% 1760Ass, n.: 1761 The masculine of "lass". 1762% 1763Associate with well-mannered persons and your manners will improve. 1764Run with decent folk and your own decent instincts will be 1765strengthened. Keep the company of bums and you will become a bum. 1766Hang around with rich people and you will end by picking up the check 1767and dying broke. 1768 -- Stanley Walker 1769% 1770At a recent meeting in Snowmass, Colorado, a participant from Los 1771Angeles fainted from hyperoxygenation, and we had to hold his head 1772under the exhaust of a bus until he revived. 1773% 1774At any given moment, an arrow must be either where it is or where it is 1775not. But obviously it cannot be where it is not. And if it is where 1776it is, that is equivalent to saying that it is at rest. 1777 -- Zeno's paradox of the moving (still?) arrow 1778% 1779At Group L, Stoffel oversees six first-rate programmers, a managerial 1780challenge roughly comparable to herding cats. 1781 -- The Washington Post Magazine, June 9, 1985 1782% 1783... at least I thought I was dancing, 'til somebody stepped on my hand. 1784 -- J. B. White 1785% 1786At least they're ___________EXPERIENCED incompetents 1787% 1788At no time is freedom of speech more precious than when a man hits his 1789thumb with a hammer. 1790 -- Marshall Lumsden 1791% 1792At the source of every error which is blamed on the computer you will 1793find at least two human errors, including the error of blaming it on 1794the computer. 1795% 1796Atlanta makes it against the law to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole 1797or street lamp. 1798% 1799Atlee is a very modest man. And with reason. 1800 -- Winston Churchill 1801% 1802Authors (and perhaps columnists) eventually rise to the top of whatever 1803depths they were once able to plumb. 1804 -- Stanley Kaufman 1805% 1806Automobile, n.: 1807 A four-wheeled vehicle that runs up hills and down pedestrians. 1808% 1809Avoid Quiet and Placid persons unless you are in Need of Sleep. 1810 -- National Lampoon, "Deteriorata" 1811% 1812Avoid reality at all costs. 1813% 1814Avoid revolution or expect to get shot. Mother and I will grieve, but 1815we will gladly buy a dinner for the National Guardsman who shot you. 1816 -- Dr. Paul Williamson, father of a student entering 1817 school in the fall after the Kent State shootings 1818% 1819Bacchus, n.: 1820 A convenient deity invented by the ancients as an excuse for 1821getting drunk. 1822 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1823% 1824Bagbiter: 1825 1. n.; Equipment or program that fails, usually 1826intermittently. 2. adj.: Failing hardware or software. "This 1827bagbiting system won't let me get out of spacewar." Usage: verges on 1828obscenity. Grammatically separable; one may speak of "biting the 1829bag". Synonyms: LOSER, LOSING, CRETINOUS, BLETCHEROUS, BARFUCIOUS, 1830CHOMPER, CHOMPING. 1831% 1832Bagdikian's Observation: 1833 Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American 1834newspaper is like trying to play Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" on a 1835ukulele. 1836% 1837Baker's First Law of Federal Geometry: 1838 A block grant is a solid mass of money surrounded on all sides 1839by governors. 1840% 1841Ban the bomb. Save the world for conventional warfare. 1842% 1843Banectomy, n.: 1844 The removal of bruises on a banana. 1845 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 1846% 1847Bank error in your favor. Collect $200. 1848% 1849Barach's Rule: 1850 An alcoholic is a person who drinks more than his own physician. 1851% 1852Bare feet magnetize sharp metal objects so they point upward from the 1853floor -- especially in the dark. 1854% 1855Barometer, n.: 1856 An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we 1857are having. 1858 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 1859% 1860Barth's Distinction: 1861 There are two types of people: those who divide people into two 1862types, and those who don't. 1863% 1864Baruch's Observation: 1865 If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. 1866% 1867Baseball is a skilled game. It's America's game -- it, and high 1868taxes. 1869 -- Will Rogers 1870% 1871Basic is a high level languish. 1872APL is a high level anguish. 1873% 1874BASIC is the Computer Science equivalent of `Scientific Creationism'. 1875% 1876BASIC, n.: 1877 A programming language. Related to certain social diseases in 1878that those who have it will not admit it in polite company. 1879% 1880Bathquake, n.: 1881 The violent quake that rattles the entire house when the water 1882faucet is turned on to a certain point. 1883 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 1884% 1885Be a better psychiatrist and the world will beat a psychopath to your 1886door. 1887% 1888BE ALERT!!!! (The world needs more lerts ...) 1889% 1890Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most Souls would scarcely 1891get your Feet wet. Fall not in Love, therefore: it will stick to your 1892face. 1893 -- National Lampoon, "Deteriorata" 1894% 1895Be braver -- you can't cross a chasm in two small jumps. 1896% 1897Be careful of reading health books. You might die of a misprint. 1898 -- Mark Twain 1899% 1900Be different: conform. 1901% 1902Be free and open and breezy! Enjoy! Things won't get any better so 1903get used to it. 1904% 1905Be security conscious -- National Defense is at stake. 1906% 1907Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors and 1908miss 1909 -- Lazarus Long, "Time Enough for Love" 1910% 1911Bees are very busy souls 1912They have no time for birth controls 1913And that is why in times like these 1914There are so many Sons of Bees. 1915% 1916 Before he became a hermit, Zarathud was a young Priest, and 1917took great delight in making fools of his opponents in front of his 1918followers. 1919 One day Zarathud took his students to a pleasant pasture and 1920there he confronted The Sacred Chao while She was contentedly grazing. 1921 "Tell me, you dumb beast," demanded the Priest in his 1922commanding voice, "why don't you do something worthwhile? What is your 1923Purpose in Life, anyway?" 1924 Munching the tasty grass, The Sacred Chao replied "MU". (The 1925Chinese ideogram for NO-THING.) 1926 Upon hearing this, absolutely nobody was enlightened. 1927 Primarily because nobody understood Chinese. 1928 -- Camden Benares, "Zen Without Zen Masters" 1929% 1930Before Xerox, five carbons were the maximum extension of anybody's ego. 1931% 1932Begathon, n.: 1933 A multi-day event on public television, used to raise money so 1934you won't have to watch commercials. 1935% 1936Behold the warranty ... the bold print giveth and the fine print taketh 1937away. 1938% 1939Beifeld's Principle: 1940 The probability of a young man meeting a desirable and 1941receptive young female increases by pyramidal progression when he is 1942already in the company of: (1) a date, (2) his wife, (3) a better 1943looking and richer male friend. 1944% 1945"Being disintegrated makes me ve-ry an-gry!" <huff, huff> 1946% 1947Bell Labs Unix -- Reach out and grep someone. 1948% 1949Bennett's Laws of Horticulture: 1950 (1) Houses are for people to live in. 1951 (2) Gardens are for plants to live in. 1952 (3) There is no such thing as a houseplant. 1953% 1954Benson, you are so free of the ravages of intelligence. 1955 -- Time Bandits 1956% 1957Besides the device, the box should contain: 1958 1959* Eight little rectangular snippets of paper that say "WARNING" 1960 1961* A plastic packet containing four 5/17 inch pilfer grommets and two 1962 club-ended 6/93 inch boxcar prawns. 1963 1964YOU WILL NEED TO SUPPLY: a matrix wrench and 60,000 feet of tram 1965cable. 1966 1967IF ANYTHING IS DAMAGED OR MISSING: You IMMEDIATELY should turn to your 1968spouse and say: "Margaret, you know why this country can't make a car 1969that can get all the way through the drive-through at Burger King 1970without a major transmission overhaul? Because nobody cares, that's 1971why." 1972 1973WARNING: This is assuming your spouse's name is Margaret. 1974 -- Dave Barry, "Read This First!" 1975% 1976Best of all is never to have been born. Second best is to die soon. 1977% 1978better !pout !cry 1979better watchout 1980lpr why 1981santa claus <north pole >town 1982 1983cat /etc/passwd >list 1984ncheck list 1985ncheck list 1986cat list | grep naughty >nogiftlist 1987cat list | grep nice >giftlist 1988santa claus <north pole > town 1989 1990who | grep sleeping 1991who | grep awake 1992who | egrep 'bad|good' 1993for (goodness sake) { 1994 be good 1995} 1996% 1997Better dead than mellow. 1998% 1999Between 1950 and 1952, a bored weatherman, stationed north of Hudson 2000Bay, left a monument that neither government nor time can eradicate. 2001Using a bulldozer abandoned by the Air Force, he spent two years and 2002great effort pushing boulders into a single word. 2003 2004It can be seen from 10,000 feet, silhouetted against the snow. 2005Government officials exchanged memos full of circumlocutions (no Latin 2006equivalent exists) but failed to word an appropriation bill for the 2007destruction of this cairn, that wouldn't alert the press and embarrass 2008both Parliament and Party. 2009 2010It stands today, a monument to human spirit. If life exists on other 2011planets, this may be the first message received from us. 2012 -- The Realist, November, 1964 2013% 2014Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not 2015tried it. 2016 -- Donald Knuth 2017% 2018Beware of computerized fortune-tellers! 2019% 2020Beware of low-flying butterflies. 2021% 2022Beware of Programmers who carry screwdrivers. 2023 -- Leonard Brandwein 2024% 2025Beware of self-styled experts: an ex is a has-been, and a spurt is a 2026drip under pressure. 2027% 2028Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and 2029finds himself no wiser than before," Bokonon tells us. "He is full of 2030murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by 2031their ignorance the hard way. 2032 -- Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle" 2033% 2034Beware of the Turing Tar-pit in which everything is possible but 2035nothing of interest is easy. 2036% 2037Binary, adj.: 2038 Possessing the ability to have friends of both sexes. 2039% 2040Biology is the only science in which multiplication means the same 2041thing as division. 2042% 2043Bipolar, adj.: 2044 Refers to someone who has homes in Nome, Alaska, and Buffalo, 2045New York 2046% 2047Birth, n.: 2048 The first and direst of all disasters. 2049 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2050% 2051Bizarreness is the essence of the exotic. 2052% 2053Bizoos, n.: 2054 The millions of tiny individual bumps that make up a 2055basketball. 2056 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 2057% 2058... bleakness ... desolation ... plastic forks ... 2059% 2060Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt. 2061 -- Herbert Hoover 2062% 2063Blessed are they who Go Around in Circles, 2064for they Shall be Known as Wheels. 2065% 2066BLISS is ignorance. 2067% 2068Blood flows down one leg and up the other. 2069% 2070Blood is thicker than water, and much tastier. 2071% 2072Blore's Razor: 2073 Given a choice between two theories, take the one which is 2074funnier. 2075% 2076Board the windows, up your car insurance, and don't leave any booze in 2077plain sight. It's St. Patrick's day in Chicago again. The legend has 2078it that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. In fact, he was 2079arrested for drunk driving. The snakes left because people kept 2080throwing up on them. 2081% 2082Boling's postulate: 2083 If you're feeling good, don't worry. You'll get over it. 2084% 2085Bolub's Fourth Law of Computerdom: 2086 Project teams detest weekly progress reporting because it so 2087vividly manifests their lack of progress. 2088% 2089Bombeck's Rule of Medicine: 2090 Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died. 2091% 2092BOO! We changed Coke again! BLEAH! BLEAH! 2093% 2094Boob's Law: 2095 You always find something in the last place you look. 2096% 2097Bore, n.: 2098 A guy who wraps up a two-minute idea in a two-hour vocabulary. 2099 -- Walter Winchell 2100% 2101Bore, n.: 2102 A person who talks when you wish him to listen. 2103 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2104% 2105Boren's Laws: 2106 (1) When in charge, ponder. 2107 (2) When in trouble, delegate. 2108 (3) When in doubt, mumble. 2109% 2110Boss, n.: 2111 According to the Oxford English Dictionary, in the Middle Ages 2112the words "boss" and "botch" were largely synonymous, except that boss, 2113in addition to meaning "a supervisor of workers" also meant "an 2114ornamental stud." 2115% 2116Boston State House is the hub of the Solar System. You couldn't pry 2117that out of a Boston man if you had the tire of all creation 2118straightened out for a crowbar. 2119 -- O. W. Holmes 2120% 2121Boston, n.: 2122 Ludwig van Beethoven being jeered by 50,000 sports fans for 2123finishing second in the Irish jig competition. 2124% 2125Boy, life takes a long time to live. 2126 -- Steven Wright 2127% 2128Boy, n.: 2129 A noise with dirt on it. 2130% 2131Boys are beyond the range of anybody's sure understanding, at least 2132when they are between the ages of 18 months and 90 years. 2133 -- James Thurber 2134% 2135Boys will be boys, and so will a lot of middle-aged men. 2136 -- Kim Hubbard 2137% 2138Brace yourselves. We're about to try something that borders on the 2139unique: an actually rather serious technical book which is not only 2140(gasp) vehemently anti-Solemn, but also (shudder) takes sides. I tend 2141to think of it as `Constructive Snottiness.' 2142 -- Mike Padlipsky, Foreword to "Elements of Networking Style" 2143% 2144Bradley's Bromide: 2145 If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a 2146committee -- that will do them in. 2147% 2148Brady's First Law of Problem Solving: 2149 When confronted by a difficult problem, you can solve it more 2150easily by reducing it to the question, "How would the Lone Ranger have 2151handled this?" 2152% 2153Brain fried -- Core dumped 2154% 2155Brain, n.: 2156 The apparatus with which we think that we think. 2157 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2158% 2159Brain, v. [as in "to brain"]: 2160 To rebuke bluntly, but not pointedly; to dispel a source of 2161error in an opponent. 2162 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2163% 2164Breast Feeding should not be attempted by fathers with hairy chests, 2165since they can make the baby sneeze and give it wind. 2166 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 2167% 2168Bride, n.: 2169 A woman with a fine prospect of happiness behind her. 2170 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2171% 2172Bringing computers into the home won't change either one, but may 2173revitalize the corner saloon. 2174% 2175British Israelites: 2176 The British Israelites believe the white Anglo-Saxons of 2177Britain to be descended from the ten lost tribes of Israel deported by 2178Sargon of Assyria on the fall of Sumeria in 721 B.C. ... They further 2179believe that the future can be foretold by the measurements of the 2180Great Pyramid, which probably means it will be big and yellow and in 2181the hand of the Arabs. They also believe that if you sleep with your 2182head under the pillow a fairy will come and take all your teeth. 2183 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 2184% 2185Broad-mindedness, n.: 2186 The result of flattening high-mindedness out. 2187% 2188Brontosaurus Principle: 2189 Organizations can grow faster than their brains can manage them 2190in relation to their environment and to their own physiology: when 2191this occurs, they are an endangered species. 2192 -- Thomas K. Connellan 2193% 2194Brook's Law: 2195 Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later 2196% 2197Brooke's Law: 2198 Whenever a system becomes completely defined, some damn fool 2199discovers something which either abolishes the system or expands it 2200beyond recognition. 2201% 2202Bubble Memory, n.: 2203 A derogatory term, usually referring to a person's 2204intelligence. See also "vacuum tube". 2205% 2206Bucy's Law: 2207 Nothing is ever accomplished by a reasonable man. 2208% 2209Bug, n.: 2210 An aspect of a computer program which exists because the 2211programmer was thinking about Jumbo Jacks or stock options when s/he 2212wrote the program. 2213 2214Fortunately, the second-to-last bug has just been fixed. 2215 -- Ray Simard 2216% 2217Bugs, pl. n.: 2218 Small living things that small living boys throw on small 2219living girls. 2220% 2221BULLWINKLE: "You just leave that to my pal. He's the brains of the 2222 outfit." 2223GENERAL: "What does that make YOU?" 2224BULLWINKLE: "What else? An executive." 2225 -- Jay Ward 2226% 2227Bumper sticker: 2228 2229All the parts falling off this car are of the very finest British 2230manufacture. 2231% 2232Bureaucrat, n.: 2233 A person who cuts red tape sideways. 2234 -- J. McCabe 2235% 2236Bureaucrat, n.: 2237 A politician who has tenure. 2238% 2239Bureaucrats cut red tape -- lengthwise. 2240% 2241Burn's Hog Weighing Method: 2242 (1) Get a perfectly symmetrical plank and balance it across a 2243 sawhorse. 2244 (2) Put the hog on one end of the plank. 2245 (3) Pile rocks on the other end until the plank is again 2246 perfectly balanced. 2247 (4) Carefully guess the weight of the rocks. 2248 -- Robert Burns 2249% 2250 But as records of courts and justice are admissible, it can 2251easily be proved that powerful and malevolent magicians once existed 2252and were a scourge to mankind. The evidence (including confession) 2253upon which certain women were convicted of witchcraft and executed was 2254without a flaw; it is still unimpeachable. The judges' decisions based 2255on it were sound in logic and in law. Nothing in any existing court 2256was ever more thoroughly proved than the charges of witchcraft and 2257sorcery for which so many suffered death. If there were no witches, 2258human testimony and human reason are alike destitute of value. 2259 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2260% 2261But don't you worry, its for a cause -- feeding global corporations paws. 2262% 2263But I don't like Spam!!!! 2264% 2265 But if we laugh with derision, we will never understand. Human 2266intellectual capacity has not altered for thousands of years so far as 2267we can tell. If intelligent people invested intense energy in issues 2268that now seem foolish to us, then the failure lies in our understanding 2269of their world, not in their distorted perceptions. Even the standard 2270example of ancient nonsense -- the debate about angels on pinheads -- 2271makes sense once you realize that theologians were not discussing 2272whether five or eighteen would fit, but whether a pin could house a 2273finite or an infinite number. 2274 -- S. J. Gould, "Wide Hats and Narrow Minds" 2275% 2276But in our enthusiasm, we could not resist a radical overhaul of the 2277system, in which all of its major weaknesses have been exposed, 2278analyzed, and replaced with new weaknesses. 2279 -- Bruce Leverett, "Register Allocation in Optimizing 2280 Compilers" 2281% 2282But officer, I was only trying to gain enough speed so I could coast 2283to the nearest gas station. 2284% 2285But scientists, who ought to know 2286Assure us that it must be so. 2287Oh, let us never, never doubt 2288What nobody is sure about. 2289 -- Hilaire Belloc 2290% 2291But soft you, the fair Ophelia: 2292Ope not thy ponderous and marble jaws, 2293But get thee to a nunnery -- go! 2294 -- Mark "The Bard" Twain 2295% 2296But the greatest Electrical Pioneer of them all was Thomas Edison, who 2297was a brilliant inventor despite the fact that he had little formal 2298education and lived in New Jersey. Edison's first major invention in 22991877, was the phonograph, which could soon be found in thousands of 2300American homes, where it basically sat until 1923, when the record was 2301invented. But Edison's greatest achievement came in 1879, when he 2302invented the electric company. Edison's design was a brilliant 2303adaptation of the simple electrical circuit: the electric company sends 2304electricity through a wire to a customer, then immediately gets the 2305electricity back through another wire, then (this is the brilliant 2306part) sends it right back to the customer again. 2307 2308This means that an electric company can sell a customer the same batch 2309of electricity thousands of times a day and never get caught, since 2310very few customers take the time to examine their electricity closely. 2311In fact the last year any new electricity was generated in the United 2312States was 1937; the electric companies have been merely re-selling it 2313ever since, which is why they have so much free time to apply for rate 2314increases. 2315 -- Dave Barry, "What is Electricity?" 2316% 2317But this has taken us far afield from interface, which is not a bad 2318place to be, since I particularly want to move ahead to the kludge. 2319Why do people have so much trouble understanding the kludge? What is a 2320kludge, after all, but not enough Ks, not enough ROMs, not enough RAMs, 2321poor quality interface and too few bytes to go around? Have I 2322explained yet about the bytes? 2323% 2324... But we've only fondled the surface of that subject. 2325 -- Virginia Masters 2326% 2327But what we need to know is, do people want nasally-insertable 2328computers? 2329% 2330Buzz off, Banana Nose; Relieve mine eyes 2331Of hateful soreness, purge mine ears of corn; 2332Less dear than army ants in apple pies 2333Art thou, old prune-face, with thy chestnuts worn, 2334Dropt from thy peeling lips like lousy fruit; 2335Like honeybees upon the perfum'd rose 2336They suck, and like the double-breasted suit 2337Are out of date; therefore, Banana Nose, 2338Go fly a kite, thy welcome's overstayed; 2339And stem the produce of thy waspish wits: 2340Thy logick, like thy locks, is disarrayed; 2341Thy cheer, like thy complexion, is the pits. 2342Be off, I say; go bug somebody new, 2343Scram, beat it, get thee hence, and nuts to you. 2344% 2345By doing just a little every day, you can gradually let the task 2346completely overwhelm you. 2347% 2348By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote. In fact, 2349it is as difficult to appropriate the thoughts of others as it is to 2350invent. 2351 -- R. Emerson 2352 -- Quoted from a fortune cookie program 2353 (whose author claims, "Actually, stealing IS easier.") 2354 [to which I reply, "You think it's easy for me to 2355 misconstrue all these misquotations?!?"] 2356% 2357By the time they had diminished from 50 to 8, the other dwarves began 2358to suspect 'Hungry' ... 2359 -- Gary Larson, "The Far Side" 2360% 2361By trying, we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's, I 2362mean. 2363 -- Mark Twain 2364% 2365Bypasses are devices that allow some people to dash from point A to 2366point B very fast while other people dash from point B to point A very 2367fast. People living at point C, being a point directly in between, are 2368often given to wonder what's so great about point A that so many people 2369from point B are so keen to get there and what's so great about point B 2370that so many people from point A are so keen to get _____there. They often 2371wish that people would just once and for all work out where the hell 2372they wanted to be. 2373 -- Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" 2374% 2375C, n.: 2376 A programming language that is sort of like Pascal except more 2377like assembly except that it isn't very much like either one, or 2378anything else. It is either the best language available to the art 2379today, or it isn't. 2380 -- Ray Simard 2381% 2382Cabbage, n.: 2383 A familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as 2384a man's head. 2385 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2386% 2387Cable is not a luxury, since many areas have poor TV reception. 2388 -- The mayor of Tucson, Arizona, 1989 2389% 2390Cahn's Axiom: 2391 When all else fails, read the instructions. 2392% 2393California is a fine place to live -- if you happen to be an orange. 2394 -- Fred Allen 2395% 2396California, n.: 2397 From Latin "calor", meaning "heat" (as in English "calorie" or 2398Spanish "caliente"); and "fornia'" for "sexual intercourse" or 2399"fornication." Hence: Tierra de California, "the land of hot sex." 2400 -- Ed Moran 2401% 2402Call on God, but row away from the rocks. 2403 -- Indian proverb 2404% 2405Calling J-Man Kink. Calling J-Man Kink. Hash missile sighted, target 2406Los Angeles. Disregard personal feelings about city and intercept. 2407% 2408Calvin Coolidge looks as if he had been weaned on a pickle. 2409 -- Alice Roosevelt Longworth 2410% 2411Calvin Coolidge was the greatest man who ever came out of Plymouth 2412Corner, Vermont. 2413 -- Clarence Darrow 2414% 2415Campus sidewalks never exist as the straightest line between two 2416points. 2417 -- M. M. Johnston 2418% 2419Canada Bill Jone's Motto: 2420 It's morally wrong to allow suckers to keep their money. 2421 2422Supplement: 2423 A .44 magnum beats four aces. 2424% 2425Canada Post doesn't really charge 32 cents for a stamp. It's 2 cents 2426for postage and 30 cents for storage. 2427 -- Gerald Regan, Cabinet Minister, 12/31/83 Financial Post 2428% 2429Cancel me not -- for what then shall remain? 2430Abscissas, some mantissas, modules, modes, 2431A root or two, a torus and a node: 2432The inverse of my verse, a null domain. 2433 -- Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad" 2434% 2435CANCER (June 21 - July 22) 2436 You are sympathetic and understanding to other people's 2437problems. They think you are a sucker. You are always putting things 2438off. That's why you'll never make anything of yourself. Most welfare 2439recipients are Cancer people. 2440% 2441Canonical, adj.: 2442 The usual or standard state or manner of something. A true 2443story: One Bob Sjoberg, new at the MIT AI Lab, expressed some 2444annoyance at the use of jargon. Over his loud objections, we made a 2445point of using jargon as much as possible in his presence, and 2446eventually it began to sink in. Finally, in one conversation, he used 2447the word "canonical" in jargon-like fashion without thinking. 2448 Steele: "Aha! We've finally got you talking jargon too!" 2449 Stallman: "What did he say?" 2450 Steele: "He just used `canonical' in the canonical way." 2451% 2452CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 19) 2453 You are conservative and afraid of taking risks. You don't do 2454much of anything and are lazy. There has never been a Capricorn of any 2455importance. Capricorns should avoid standing still for too long as 2456they take root and become trees. 2457% 2458Captain Penny's Law: 2459 You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of 2460the people all of the time, but you Can't Fool Mom. 2461% 2462Carelessly planned projects take three times longer to complete than 2463expected. Carefully planned projects take four times longer to 2464complete than expected, mostly because the planners expect their 2465planning to reduce the time it takes. 2466% 2467Carmel, New York, has an ordinance forbidding men to wear coats and 2468trousers that don't match. 2469% 2470Carperpetuation (kar' pur pet u a shun), n.: 2471 The act, when vacuuming, of running over a string at least a 2472dozen times, reaching over and picking it up, examining it, then 2473putting it back down to give the vacuum one more chance. 2474 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 2475% 2476Cat, n.: 2477 Lapwarmer with built-in buzzer. 2478% 2479Cauliflower is nothing but Cabbage with a College Education. 2480 -- Mark Twain, "Pudd'nhead Wilson" 2481% 2482Caution: breathing may be hazardous to your health. 2483% 2484CChheecckk yyoouurr dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh.. 2485% 2486Cecil, you're my final hope 2487Of finding out the true Straight Dope 2488For I have been reading of Schrodinger's cat 2489But none of my cats are at all like that. 2490This unusual animal (so it is said) 2491Is simultaneously alive and dead! 2492What I don't understand is just why he 2493Can't be one or the other, unquestionably. 2494My future now hangs in between eigenstates. 2495In one I'm enlightened, in the other I ain't. 2496If *you* understand, Cecil, then show me the way 2497And rescue my psyche from quantum decay. 2498But if this queer thing has perplexed even you, 2499Then I will *___and* I won't see you in Schrodinger's zoo. 2500 -- Randy F., Chicago, "The Straight Dope, a compendium 2501 of human knowledge" by Cecil Adams 2502% 2503Celebrate Hannibal Day this year. Take an elephant to lunch. 2504% 2505Celestial navigation is based on the premise that the Earth is the 2506center of the universe. The premise is wrong, but the navigation 2507works. An incorrect model can be a useful tool. 2508 -- Kelvin Throop III 2509% 2510Census Taker to Housewife: Did you ever have the measles, and, if so, 2511how many? 2512% 2513Cerebus: I'd love to lick apricot brandy out of your navel. 2514Jaka: Look, Cerebus-- Jaka has to tell you ... something 2515Cerebus: If Cerebus had a navel, would you lick apricot brandy 2516 out of it? 2517Jaka: Ugh! 2518Cerebus: You don't like apricot brandy? 2519 -- Cerebus #6, "The Secret" 2520% 2521Certain old men prefer to rise at dawn, taking a cold bath and a long 2522walk with an empty stomach and otherwise mortifying the flesh. They 2523then point with pride to these practices as the cause of their sturdy 2524health and ripe years; the truth being that they are hearty and old, 2525not because of their habits, but in spite of them. The reason we find 2526only robust persons doing this thing is that it has killed all the 2527others who have tried it. 2528 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2529% 2530Certainly there are things in life that money can't buy, 2531But it's very funny-- 2532 Did you ever try buying them without money? 2533 -- Ogden Nash 2534% 2535 Chapter 1 2536 2537The story so far: 2538 2539 In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot 2540of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. 2541% 2542Character Density, n.: 2543 The number of very weird people in the office. 2544% 2545Checkuary, n.: 2546 The thirteenth month of the year. Begins New Year's Day and 2547ends when a person stops absentmindedly writing the old year on his 2548checks. 2549% 2550Chef, n.: 2551 Any cook who swears in French. 2552% 2553Chemicals, n.: 2554 Noxious substances from which modern foods are made. 2555% 2556Chemistry is applied theology. 2557 -- Augustus Stanley Owsley III 2558% 2559Chicago law prohibits eating in a place that is on fire. 2560% 2561Chicago Transit Authority Rider's Rule #36: 2562 Never ever ask the tough looking gentleman wearing El Rukn 2563headgear where he got his "pyramid powered pizza warmer". 2564 -- Chicago Reader 3/27/81 2565% 2566Chicago Transit Authority Rider's Rule #84: 2567 The CTA has complimentary pop-up timers available on request 2568for overheated passengers. When your timer pops up, the driver will 2569cheerfully baste you. 2570 -- Chicago Reader 5/28/82 2571% 2572Chicago, n.: 2573 Where the dead still vote ... early and often! 2574% 2575Chicken Little only has to be right once. 2576% 2577Chicken Little was right. 2578% 2579Chicken Soup, n.: 2580 An ancient miracle drug containing equal parts of aureomycin, 2581cocaine, interferon, and TLC. The only ailment chicken soup can't cure 2582is neurotic dependence on one's mother. 2583 -- Arthur Naiman, "Every Goy's Guide to Yiddish" 2584% 2585Children are natural mimics who act like their parents despite every 2586effort to teach them good manners. 2587% 2588Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they're 2589going to catch you in next. 2590 -- Franklin P. Jones 2591% 2592Children aren't happy without something to ignore, 2593And that's what parents were created for. 2594 -- Ogden Nash 2595% 2596Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for 2597word what you shouldn't have said. 2598% 2599Chism's Law of Completion: 2600 The amount of time required to complete a government project is 2601precisely equal to the length of time already spent on it. 2602% 2603Chisolm's First Corollary to Murphy's Second Law: 2604 When things just can't possibly get any worse, they will. 2605% 2606Chivalry, Schmivalry! 2607 Roger the thief has a 2608 method he uses for 2609 sneaky attacks: 2610Folks who are reading are 2611 Characteristically 2612 Always Forgetting to 2613 Guard their own bac ... 2614% 2615Christ: 2616 A man who was born at least 5,000 years ahead of his time. 2617% 2618Churchill's Commentary on Man: 2619 Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the 2620time he will pick himself up and continue on. 2621% 2622Cigarette, n.: 2623 A fire at one end, a fool at the other, and a bit of tobacco in 2624between. 2625% 2626Cinemuck, n.: 2627 The combination of popcorn, soda, and melted chocolate which 2628covers the floors of movie theaters. 2629 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 2630% 2631Clairvoyant, n.: 2632 A person, commonly a woman, who has the power of seeing that 2633which is invisible to her patron -- namely, that he is a blockhead. 2634 -- Ambrose Bierce 2635% 2636Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like 2637shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. 2638 -- Phyllis Diller 2639% 2640Cleanliness is next to impossible. 2641% 2642Cleveland still lives. God ____must be dead. 2643% 2644Cleveland? Yes, I spent a week there one day. 2645% 2646Cloning is the sincerest form of flattery. 2647% 2648Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on 2649society. 2650 -- Mark Twain 2651% 2652COBOL programs are an exercise in Artificial Inelegance. 2653% 2654Cocaine -- the thinking man's Dristan. 2655% 2656Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum -- 2657"I think that I think, therefore I think that I am." 2658 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2659% 2660Cogito ergo I'm right and you're wrong. 2661 -- Blair Houghton 2662% 2663Coincidence, n.: 2664 You weren't paying attention to the other half of what was 2665going on. 2666% 2667Coincidences are spiritual puns. 2668 -- G. K. Chesterton 2669% 2670Cold, adj.: 2671 When the local flashers are handing out written descriptions. 2672% 2673Cold, adj.: 2674 When the politicians walk around with their hands in their own 2675pockets. 2676% 2677Collaboration, n.: 2678 A literary partnership based on the false assumption that the 2679other fellow can spell. 2680% 2681College football is a game which would be much more interesting if the 2682faculty played instead of the students, and even more interesting if 2683the trustees played. There would be a great increase in broken arms, 2684legs, and necks, and simultaneously an appreciable diminution in the 2685loss to humanity. 2686 -- H. L. Mencken 2687% 2688Colvard's Logical Premises: 2689 All probabilities are 50%. Either a thing will happen or it 2690 won't. 2691 2692Colvard's Unconscionable Commentary: 2693 This is especially true when dealing with someone you're 2694 attracted to. 2695 2696Grelb's Commentary 2697 Likelihoods, however, are 90% against you. 2698% 2699Come, every frustum longs to be a cone, 2700And every vector dreams of matrices. 2701Hark to the gentle gradient of the breeze: 2702It whispers of a more ergodic zone. 2703 -- Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad" 2704% 2705Come, let us hasten to a higher plane, 2706Where dyads tread the fairy fields of Venn, 2707Their indices bedecked from one to _n, 2708Commingled in an endless Markov chain! 2709 -- Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad" 2710% 2711Command, n.: 2712 Statement presented by a human and accepted by a computer in 2713such a manner as to make the human feel as if he is in control. 2714% 2715 COMMENT 2716 2717Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song, 2718A medley of extemporanea; 2719And love is thing that can never go wrong; 2720And I am Marie of Roumania. 2721 -- Dorothy Parker 2722% 2723Commitment, n.: 2724 Commitment can be illustrated by a breakfast of ham and eggs. 2725The chicken was involved, the pig was committed. 2726% 2727Committee Rules: 2728 (1) Never arrive on time, or you will be stamped a beginner. 2729 (2) Don't say anything until the meeting is half over; this 2730 stamps you as being wise. 2731 (3) Be as vague as possible; this prevents irritating the 2732 others. 2733 (4) When in doubt, suggest that a subcommittee be appointed. 2734 (5) Be the first to move for adjournment; this will make you 2735 popular -- it's what everyone is waiting for. 2736% 2737Committee, n.: 2738 A group of men who individually can do nothing but as a group 2739decide that nothing can be done. 2740 -- Fred Allen 2741% 2742Committees have become so important nowadays that subcommittees have to 2743be appointed to do the work. 2744% 2745Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at 2746different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing. 2747 -- Clive James 2748% 2749Common sense is instinct, and enough of it is genius. 2750 -- Josh Billings 2751% 2752Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen. 2753 -- Albert Einstein 2754% 2755Comparing information and knowledge is like asking whether the fatness 2756of a pig is more or less green than the designated hitter rule." 2757 -- David Guaspari 2758% 2759Computer programmers do it byte by byte. 2760% 2761Computer Science is merely the post-Turing decline in formal systems 2762theory. 2763% 2764Computers are not intelligent. They only think they are. 2765% 2766Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. 2767 -- Pablo Picasso 2768% 2769Computers can figure out all kinds of problems, except the things in 2770the world that just don't add up. 2771% 2772Computers will not be perfected until they can compute how much more 2773than the estimate the job will cost. 2774% 2775Conceit causes more conversation than wit. 2776 -- La Rochefoucauld 2777% 2778Concept, n.: 2779 Any "idea" for which an outside consultant billed you more than 2780$25,000. 2781% 2782... [concerning quotation marks] even if we *___did* quote anybody in this 2783business, it probably would be gibberish. 2784 -- Thom McLeod 2785% 2786Condense soup, not books! 2787% 2788Confession is good for the soul only in the sense that a tweed coat is 2789good for dandruff. 2790 -- Peter de Vries 2791% 2792Confidence is the feeling you have before you understand the situation. 2793% 2794Congratulations! You have purchased an extremely fine device that 2795would give you thousands of years of trouble-free service, except that 2796you undoubtedly will destroy it via some typical bonehead consumer 2797maneuver. Which is why we ask you to PLEASE FOR GOD'S SAKE READ THIS 2798OWNER'S MANUAL CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU UNPACK THE DEVICE. YOU ALREADY 2799UNPACKED IT, DIDN'T YOU? YOU UNPACKED IT AND PLUGGED IT IN AND TURNED 2800IT ON AND FIDDLED WITH THE KNOBS, AND NOW YOUR CHILD, THE SAME CHILD 2801WHO ONCE SHOVED A POLISH SAUSAGE INTO YOUR VIDEOCASSETTE RECORDER AND 2802SET IT ON "FAST FORWARD", THIS CHILD ALSO IS FIDDLING WITH THE KNOBS, 2803RIGHT? AND YOU'RE JUST NOW STARTING TO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS, 2804RIGHT??? WE MIGHT AS WELL JUST BREAK THESE DEVICES RIGHT AT THE 2805FACTORY BEFORE WE SHIP THEM OUT, YOU KNOW THAT? 2806 -- Dave Barry, "Read This First!" 2807% 2808Connector Conspiracy, n: 2809 [probably came into prominence with the appearance of the 2810KL-10, none of whose connectors match anything else] The tendency of 2811manufacturers (or, by extension, programmers or purveyors of anything) 2812to come up with new products which don't fit together with the old 2813stuff, thereby making you buy either all new stuff or expensive 2814interface devices. 2815% 2816Conscience is a mother-in-law whose visit never ends. 2817 -- H. L. Mencken 2818% 2819Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody is looking. 2820 -- H. L. Mencken, "A Mencken Chrestomathy" 2821% 2822Conscience is what hurts when everything else feels so good. 2823% 2824Conscious is when you are aware of something and conscience is when you 2825wish you weren't. 2826% 2827Consequences, Schmonsequences, as long as I'm rich. 2828 -- Daffy Duck, "Ali Baba Bunny", [1957, Chuck Jones] 2829% 2830Consultants are mystical people who ask a company for a number and then 2831give it back to them. 2832% 2833"Contrariwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be, and 2834if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic!" 2835 -- Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass" 2836% 2837Contrary to popular belief, penguins are not the salvation of modern 2838technology. Neither do they throw parties for the urban proletariat. 2839% 2840Conversation, n.: 2841 A vocal competition in which the one who is catching his breath 2842is called the listener. 2843% 2844Conway's Law: 2845 In any organization there will always be one person who knows 2846 what is going on. 2847 2848 This person must be fired. 2849% 2850Coronation, n.: 2851 The ceremony of investing a sovereign with the outward and 2852visible signs of his divine right to be blown skyhigh with a dynamite 2853bomb. 2854 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2855% 2856Corrupt, adj.: 2857 In politics, holding an office of trust or profit. 2858% 2859Corrupt, stupid grasping functionaries will make at least as big a 2860muddle of socialism as stupid, selfish and acquisitive employers can 2861make of capitalism. 2862 -- Walter Lippmann 2863% 2864Corruption is not the #1 priority of the Police Commissioner. His job 2865is to enforce the law and fight crime. 2866 -- P.B.A. President E. J. Kiernan 2867% 2868Court, n.: 2869 A place where they dispense with justice. 2870 -- Arthur Train 2871% 2872Coward, n.: 2873 One who in a perilous emergency thinks with his legs. 2874 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2875% 2876[Crash programs] fail because they are based on the theory that, with 2877nine women pregnant, you can get a baby a month. 2878 -- Wernher von Braun 2879% 2880Crime does not pay ... as well as politics. 2881 -- A. E. Neuman 2882% 2883Critic, n.: 2884 A person who boasts himself hard to please because nobody tries 2885to please him. 2886 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2887% 2888Croll's Query: 2889 If tin whistles are made of tin, what are foghorns made of? 2890% 2891cursor address, n: 2892 "Hello, cursor!" 2893 -- Stan Kelly-Bootle, "The Devil's DP Dictionary" 2894% 2895Cutting the space budget really restores my faith in humanity. It 2896eliminates dreams, goals, and ideals and lets us get straight to the 2897business of hate, debauchery, and self-annihilation. 2898 -- Johnny Hart 2899% 2900Cynic, n.: 2901 A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not 2902as they ought to be. Hence the custom among the Scythians of plucking 2903out a cynic's eyes to improve his vision. 2904 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2905% 2906Cynic, n.: 2907 One who looks through rose-colored glasses with a jaundiced eye. 2908% 2909Dare to be naive. 2910 -- R. Buckminster Fuller 2911% 2912Darth Vader sleeps with a Teddywookie. 2913% 2914Dave Mack: "Your stupidity, Allen, is simply not up to par." 2915Allen Gwinn: "Yours is." 2916% 2917Dawn, n.: 2918 The time when men of reason go to bed. 2919 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 2920% 2921Day of inquiry. You will be subpoenaed. 2922% 2923%DCL-E-MEM-BAD, bad memory 2924-VMS-F-PDGERS, pudding between the ears 2925% 2926Dealing with failure is easy: work hard to improve. Success is also 2927easy to handle: you've solved the wrong problem. Work hard to 2928improve. 2929% 2930Dear Lord: 2931 I just want *___one* one-armed manager so I never have to hear "On 2932the other hand", again. 2933% 2934Dear Miss Manners: 2935 My home economics teacher says that one must never place one's 2936elbows on the table. However, I have read that one elbow, in between 2937courses, is all right. Which is correct? 2938 2939Gentle Reader: 2940 For the purpose of answering examinations in your home 2941economics class, your teacher is correct. Catching on to this 2942principle of education may be of even greater importance to you now 2943than learning correct current table manners, vital as Miss Manners 2944believes that is. 2945% 2946Dear Miss Manners: 2947 Please list some tactful ways of removing a man's saliva from 2948your face. 2949 2950Gentle Reader: 2951 Please list some decent ways of acquiring a man's saliva on 2952your face ... 2953% 2954Dear Mister Language Person: I am curious about the expression, "Part 2955of this complete breakfast". The way it comes up is, my 5-year-old 2956will be watching TV cartoon shows in the morning, and they'll show a 2957commercial for a children's compressed breakfast compound such as 2958"Froot Loops" or "Lucky Charms", and they always show it sitting on a 2959table next to some actual food such as eggs, and the announcer always 2960says: "Part of this complete breakfast". Don't that really mean, 2961"Adjacent to this complete breakfast", or "On the same table as this 2962complete breakfast"? And couldn't they make essentially the same claim 2963if, instead of Froot Loops, they put a can of shaving cream there, or a 2964dead bat? 2965 2966Answer: Yes. 2967 -- Dave Barry, "Tips for Writer's" 2968% 2969Dear Mister Language Person: What is the purpose of the apostrophe? 2970 2971Answer: The apostrophe is used mainly in hand-lettered small business 2972signs to alert the reader that an "S" is coming up at the end of a 2973word, as in: WE DO NOT EXCEPT PERSONAL CHECK'S, or: NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR 2974ANY ITEM'S. Another important grammar concept to bear in mind when 2975creating hand-lettered small-business signs is that you should put 2976quotation marks around random words for decoration, as in "TRY" OUR HOT 2977DOG'S, or even TRY "OUR" HOT DOG'S. 2978 -- Dave Barry, "Tips for Writer's" 2979% 2980Death is God's way of telling you not to be such a wise guy. 2981% 2982Death is life's way of telling you you've been fired. 2983 -- R. Geis 2984% 2985Death is Nature's way of recycling human beings. 2986% 2987Death is nature's way of saying `Howdy'. 2988% 2989Death is nature's way of telling you to slow down. 2990% 2991Death is only a state of mind. 2992 2993Only it doesn't leave you much time to think about anything else. 2994% 2995Death to all fanatics! 2996% 2997Decision maker, n.: 2998 The person in your office who was unable to form a task force 2999before the music stopped. 3000% 3001Decisions of the judges will be final unless shouted down by a really 3002overwhelming majority of the crowd present. Abusive and obscene 3003language may not be used by contestants when addressing members of the 3004judging panel, or, conversely, by members of the judging panel when 3005addressing contestants (unless struck by a boomerang). 3006 -- Mudgeeraba Creek Emu-Riding and Boomerang-Throwing Assoc. 3007% 3008 Deck Us All With Boston Charlie 3009 3010Deck us all with Boston Charlie, 3011Walla Walla, Wash., an' Kalamazoo! 3012Nora's freezin' on the trolley, 3013Swaller dollar cauliflower, alleygaroo! 3014 3015Don't we know archaic barrel, 3016Lullaby Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou. 3017Trolley Molly don't love Harold, 3018Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo! 3019 -- Walt Kelly 3020% 3021"Deep" is a word like "theory" or "semantic" -- it implies all sorts of 3022marvelous things. It's one thing to be able to say "I've got a 3023theory", quite another to say "I've got a semantic theory", but, ah, 3024those who can claim "I've got a deep semantic theory", they are truly 3025blessed. 3026 -- Randy Davis 3027% 3028default, n.: 3029 [Possibly from Black English "De fault wid dis system is you, 3030mon."] The vain attempt to avoid errors by inactivity. "Nothing will 3031come of nothing: speak again." -- King Lear 3032 -- Stan Kelly-Bootle, "The Devil's DP Dictionary" 3033% 3034#define BITCOUNT(x) (((BX_(x)+(BX_(x)>>4)) & 0x0F0F0F0F) % 255) 3035#define BX_(x) ((x) - (((x)>>1)&0x77777777) \ 3036 - (((x)>>2)&0x33333333) \ 3037 - (((x)>>3)&0x11111111)) 3038 3039 -- really weird C code to count the number of bits in a word 3040% 3041Definitions of hardware and software for dummies: 3042 Hardware is what you kick; 3043 Software is what you curse. 3044% 3045 DELETE A FORTUNE! 3046 3047Don't some of these fortunes just drive you nuts?! Wouldn't you like 3048to see some of them deleted from the system? You can! Just mail to 3049"fortune" with the fortune you hate most, and we MIGHT make sure it 3050gets expunged. 3051% 3052Deliberation, n.: 3053 The act of examining one's bread to determine which side it is 3054buttered on. 3055 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 3056% 3057Deliver yesterday, code today, think tomorrow. 3058% 3059Demand the establishment of the government 3060in its rightful home at Disneyland. 3061% 3062Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than 3063we deserve. 3064 -- George Bernard Shaw 3065% 3066Democracy is a form of government in which it is permitted to wonder 3067aloud what the country could do under first-class management. 3068 -- Senator Soaper 3069% 3070Democracy is a form of government that substitutes election by the 3071incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few. 3072 -- G. B. Shaw 3073% 3074Democracy is a government where you can say what you think even if you 3075don't think. 3076% 3077Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by 3078Jackasses. 3079 -- H. L. Mencken 3080% 3081Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse. 3082 -- Jawaharlal Nehru 3083% 3084Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people 3085are right more than half of the time. 3086 -- E. B. White 3087% 3088Democracy, n.: 3089 A government of the masses. Authority derived through mass 3090meeting or any other form of direct expression. Results in mobocracy. 3091Attitude toward property is communistic... negating property rights. 3092Attitude toward law is that the will of the majority shall regulate, 3093whether it is based upon deliberation or governed by passion, 3094prejudice, and impulse, without restraint or regard to consequences. 3095Result is demagogism, license, agitation, discontent, anarchy. 3096 -- U. S. Army Training Manual No. 2000-25 (1928-1932), 3097 since withdrawn. 3098% 3099Demographic polls show that you have lost credibility across the 3100board. Especially with those 14 year-old Valley girls. 3101% 3102Dentist, n.: 3103 A Prestidigitator who, putting metal in one's mouth, pulls 3104coins out of one's pockets. 3105 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 3106% 3107Dessert is probably the most important stage of the meal, since it will 3108be the last thing your guests remember before they pass out all over 3109the table. 3110 -- The Anarchist Cookbook 3111% 3112 DETERIORATA 3113 3114Go placidly amid the noise and waste, 3115And remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof. 3116Avoid quiet and passive persons, unless you are in need of sleep. 3117Rotate your tires. 3118Speak glowingly of those greater than yourself, 3119And heed well their advice -- even though they be turkeys. 3120Know what to kiss -- and when. 3121Remember that two wrongs never make a right, 3122But that three do. 3123Wherever possible, put people on "HOLD". 3124Be comforted, that in the face of all aridity and disillusionment, 3125And despite the changing fortunes of time, 3126There is always a big future in computer maintenance. 3127 3128 You are a fluke of the universe ... 3129 You have no right to be here. 3130 Whether you can hear it or not, the universe 3131 Is laughing behind your back. 3132 -- National Lampoon 3133% 3134DeVries's Dilemma: 3135 If you hit two keys on the typewriter, the one you don't want 3136hits the paper. 3137% 3138Did I say 2? I lied. 3139% 3140Did you know ... 3141 3142That no-one ever reads these things? 3143% 3144Did you know that clones never use mirrors? 3145 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 3146% 3147Did you know that if you took all the economists in the world and lined 3148them up end to end, they'd still point in the wrong direction? 3149% 3150Did you know that the voice tapes easily identify the Russian pilot 3151that shot down the Korean jet? At one point he definitely states: 3152 3153 "Natasha! First we shoot jet, then we go after moose and 3154 squirrel." 3155 3156 -- ihuxw!tommyo 3157% 3158Die, v.: 3159 To stop sinning suddenly. 3160 -- Elbert Hubbard 3161% 3162Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would allow such a 3163conventional thing to happen to him. 3164 -- John Barrymore's dying words 3165% 3166Different all twisty a of in maze are you, passages little. 3167% 3168Dimensions will always be expressed in the least usable term. 3169Velocity, for example, will be expressed in furlongs per fortnight. 3170% 3171Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggy" until you can find a rock. 3172% 3173Disc space -- the final frontier! 3174% 3175Disclaimer: "These opinions are my own, though for a small fee they be 3176yours too." 3177 -- Dave Haynie 3178% 3179Disclaimer: Any resemblance between the above views and those of my 3180employer, my terminal, or the view out my window are purely 3181coincidental. Any resemblance between the above and my own views is 3182non-deterministic. The question of the existence of views in the 3183absence of anyone to hold them is left as an exercise for the reader. 3184The question of the existence of the reader is left as an exercise for 3185the second god coefficient. (A discussion of non-orthogonal, 3186non-integral polytheism is beyond the scope of this article.) 3187% 3188Disco is to music what Etch-A-Sketch is to art. 3189% 3190Distinctive, adj.: 3191 A different color or shape than our competitors. 3192% 3193Distress, n.: 3194 A disease incurred by exposure to the prosperity of a friend. 3195 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 3196% 3197District of Columbia pedestrians who leap over passing autos to escape 3198injury, and then strike the car as they come down, are liable for any 3199damage inflicted on the vehicle. 3200% 3201Do infants have as much fun in infancy as adults do in adultery? 3202% 3203Do molecular biologists wear designer genes? 3204% 3205Do not believe in miracles -- rely on them. 3206% 3207Do not drink coffee in early a.m. It will keep you awake until noon. 3208% 3209Do not meddle in the affairs of troff, for it is subtle and quick to 3210anger. 3211% 3212Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for you are crunchy and good 3213with ketchup. 3214% 3215Do not read this fortune under penalty of law. 3216Violators will be prosecuted. 3217(Penal Code sec. 2.3.2 (II.a.)) 3218% 3219Do not sleep in a eucalyptus tree tonight. 3220% 3221Do not try to solve all life's problems at once -- learn to dread each 3222day as it comes. 3223 -- Donald Kaul 3224% 3225Do something unusual today. Pay a bill. 3226% 3227Do what comes naturally now. Seethe and fume and throw a tantrum. 3228% 3229Do you have lysdexia? 3230% 3231Do you realize how many holes there could be if people would just take 3232the time to take the dirt out of them? 3233% 3234"Do you think what we're doing is wrong?" 3235"Of course it's wrong! It's illegal!" 3236"I've never done anything illegal before." 3237"I thought you said you were an accountant!" 3238% 3239Documentation is like sex: when it is good, it is very, very good; and 3240when it is bad, it is better than nothing. 3241 -- Dick Brandon 3242% 3243Documentation is the castor oil of programming. Managers know it must 3244be good because the programmers hate it so much. 3245% 3246Does the name Pavlov ring a bell? 3247% 3248Don't abandon hope: your Tom Mix decoder ring arrives tomorrow. 3249% 3250Don't be humble ... you're not that great. 3251 -- Golda Meir 3252% 3253Don't believe everything you hear or anything you say. 3254% 3255Don't change the reason, just change the excuses! 3256 -- Joe Cointment 3257% 3258"Don't come back until you have him", the Tick-Tock Man said quietly, 3259sincerely, extremely dangerously. 3260 3261They used dogs. They used probes. They used cardio plate crossoffs. 3262They used teepers. They used bribery. They used stick tites. They 3263used intimidation. They used torment. They used torture. They used 3264finks. They used cops. They used search and seizure. They used 3265fallaron. They used betterment incentives. They used finger prints. 3266They used the bertillion system. They used cunning. They used guile. 3267They used treachery. They used Raoul-Mitgong but he wasn't much help. 3268They used applied physics. They used techniques of criminology. And 3269what the hell, they caught him. 3270 3271 -- Harlan Ellison, "Repent, Harlequin, said the Tick-Tock Man" 3272% 3273Don't cook tonight -- starve a rat today! 3274% 3275Don't feed the bats tonight. 3276% 3277Don't get even -- get odd! 3278% 3279Don't get suckered in by the comments -- they can be terribly 3280misleading. Debug only code. 3281 -- Dave Storer 3282% 3283Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes 3284you nothing. It was here first. 3285 -- Mark Twain 3286% 3287Don't go surfing in South Dakota for a while. 3288% 3289Don't hate yourself in the morning -- sleep till noon. 3290% 3291Don't hit a man when he's down -- kick him; it's easier. 3292% 3293Don't kiss an elephant on the lips today. 3294% 3295Don't knock President Fillmore. He kept us out of Vietnam. 3296% 3297Don't let people drive you crazy when you know it's in walking distance. 3298% 3299Don't let your mind wander -- it's too little to be let out alone. 3300% 3301Don't look back, the lemmings are gaining on you. 3302% 3303Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today, because if you enjoy 3304it today you can do it again tomorrow. 3305% 3306Don't say yes until I finish talking. 3307 -- Darryl F. Zanuck 3308% 3309Don't steal; thou'lt never thus compete successfully in business. 3310Cheat. 3311 -- Ambrose Bierce 3312% 3313Don't suspect your friends -- turn them in! 3314 -- "Brazil" 3315% 3316Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent. 3317 -- Walt Kelly 3318% 3319Don't take life too seriously -- you'll never get out of it alive. 3320% 3321Don't tell any big lies today. Small ones can be just as effective. 3322% 3323Don't tell me I'm burning the candle at both ends -- tell me where to 3324get more wax!! 3325% 3326Don't worry about avoiding temptation -- as you grow older, it starts 3327avoiding you. 3328 -- The Old Farmer's Almanac 3329% 3330Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any 3331good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats. 3332 -- Howard Aiken 3333% 3334Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already 3335tomorrow in Australia. 3336 -- Charles Schultz 3337% 3338Don't worry over what other people are thinking about you. They're too 3339busy worrying over what you are thinking about them. 3340% 3341Don't you feel more like you do now than you did when you came in? 3342% 3343Don Ameche: I didn't know you had a cousin Penelope, Bill! Was she 3344 pretty? 3345W. C.: Well, her face was so wrinkled it looked like seven miles of 3346 bad road. She had so many gold teeth, Don, she use to have to 3347 sleep with her head in a safe. She died in Bolivia. 3348Don: Oh Bill, it must be hard to lose a relative. 3349W. C.: It's almost impossible. 3350 -- W. C. Fields, from "The Further Adventures of Larson 3351 E. Whipsnade and other Tarradiddles" 3352% 3353 Double Bucky 3354 (Sung to the tune of "Rubber Duckie") 3355 3356Double bucky, you're the one! 3357You make my keyboard lots of fun 3358 Double bucky, an additional bit or two: 3359(Vo-vo-de-o!) 3360Control and Meta side by side, 3361Augmented ASCII, nine bits wide! 3362 Double bucky, a half a thousand glyphs, plus a few! 3363 3364Oh, I sure wish that I, 3365Had a couple of bits more! 3366Perhaps a set of pedals to make the number of bits four. 3367 3368Double bucky, left and right 3369OR'd together, outta sight! 3370 Double bucky, I'd like a whole word of 3371 Double bucky, I'm happy I heard of 3372 Double bucky, I'd like a whole word of you! 3373 3374 -- (C) 1978 by Guy L. Steele, Jr. 3375 (to Nicholas Wirth, who suggested that an extra bit 3376 be added to terminal codes on 36-bit machines for use 3377 by screen editors. [to the tune of "Rubber Ducky"]) 3378% 3379Double-Blind Experiment, n.: 3380 An experiment in which the chief researcher believes he is 3381fooling both the subject and the lab assistant. Often accompanied by a 3382strong belief in the tooth fairy. 3383% 3384Down with categorical imperative! 3385% 3386Drawing on my fine command of language, I said nothing. 3387% 3388Drew's Law of Highway Biology: 3389 The first bug to hit a clean windshield lands directly in front 3390of your eyes. 3391% 3392Drink Canada Dry! You might not succeed, but it *__is* fun trying. 3393% 3394Drive defensively. Buy a tank. 3395% 3396Drugs may be the road to nowhere, but at least they're the scenic route! 3397% 3398Ducharme's Axiom: 3399 If you view your problem closely enough you will recognize 3400yourself as part of the problem. 3401% 3402Ducharme's Precept: 3403 Opportunity always knocks at the least opportune moment. 3404% 3405Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, and a dark side, and 3406it holds the universe together. 3407 -- Carl Zwanzig 3408% 3409Due to a shortage of devoted followers, the production of great leaders 3410has been discontinued. 3411% 3412Due to circumstances beyond your control, you are master of your fate 3413and captain of your soul. 3414% 3415Due to lack of disk space, this fortune database has been 3416discontinued. 3417% 3418 During a grouse hunt in North Carolina two intrepid sportsmen 3419were blasting away at a clump of trees near a stone wall. Suddenly a 3420red-faced country squire popped his head over the wall and shouted, 3421"Hey, you almost hit my wife." 3422 "Did I?" cried the hunter, aghast. "Terribly sorry. Have a 3423shot at mine, over there." 3424% 3425During the next two hours, the system will be going up and down several 3426times, often with lin~po_~{po ~poz~ppo\~{ o n~po_~{o[po ~y oodsou>#w4k**n~po_~{ol;lkld;f;g;dd;po\~{o 3427% 3428Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have 3429nothing whatever to do with it. 3430 -- W. Somerset Maugham (last words) 3431% 3432E Pluribus Unix 3433% 3434Eagleson's Law: 3435 Any code of your own that you haven't looked at for six or more 3436months, might as well have been written by someone else. (Eagleson is 3437an optimist, the real number is more like three weeks.) 3438% 3439Earn cash in your spare time -- blackmail your friends 3440% 3441/earth is 98% full ... please delete anyone you can. 3442% 3443Earth is a beta site. 3444% 3445Earth is a great, big funhouse without the fun. 3446 -- Jeff Berner 3447% 3448Easiest Color to Solve on a Rubik's Cube: 3449 Black. Simply remove all the little colored stickers on the 3450cube, and each of side of the cube will now be the original color of 3451the plastic underneath -- black. According to the instructions, this 3452means the puzzle is solved. 3453 -- Steve Rubenstein 3454% 3455Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow they may make it illegal. 3456% 3457Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may work. 3458% 3459Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists. 3460 -- John Kenneth Galbraith 3461% 3462Economics, n.: 3463 Economics is the study of the value and meaning of J. K. 3464Galbraith ... 3465 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 3466% 3467Economists can certainly disappoint you. One said that the economy 3468would turn up by the last quarter. Well, I'm down to mine and it 3469hasn't. 3470 -- Robert Orben 3471% 3472Economists state their GNP growth projections to the nearest tenth of a 3473percentage point to prove they have a sense of humor. 3474 -- Edgar R. Fiedler 3475% 3476Ed Sullivan will be around as long as someone else has talent. 3477 -- Fred Allen 3478% 3479Education is the process of casting false pearls before real swine. 3480 -- Irsin Edman 3481% 3482Eeny, Meeny, Jelly Beanie, the spirits are about to speak! 3483 -- Bullwinkle Moose 3484% 3485Eggheads unite! You have nothing to lose but your yolks. 3486 -- Adlai Stevenson 3487% 3488Eggnog is a traditional holiday drink invented by the English. Many 3489people wonder where the word "eggnog" comes from. The first syllable 3490comes from the English word "egg", meaning "egg". I don't know where 3491the "nog" comes from. 3492 3493To make eggnog, you'll need rum, whiskey, wine, gin and, if they are in 3494season, eggs... 3495% 3496Egotism is the anesthetic given by a kindly nature to relieve the pain 3497of being a damned fool. 3498 -- Bellamy Brooks 3499% 3500Egotist, n.: 3501 A person of low taste, more interested in himself than me. 3502 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 3503% 3504Ehrman's Commentary: 3505 (1) Things will get worse before they get better. 3506 (2) Who said things would get better? 3507% 3508Eighty percent of air pollution comes from plants and trees. 3509 -- Ronald Reagan, famous movie star 3510% 3511Eleanor Rigby 3512 Sits at the keyboard 3513 And waits for a line on the screen 3514Lives in a dream 3515Waits for a signal 3516 Finding some code 3517 That will make the machine do some more. 3518What is it for? 3519 3520All the lonely users, where do they all come from? 3521All the lonely users, why does it take so long? 3522 3523Hacker MacKensie 3524Writing the code for a program that no one will run 3525It's nearly done 3526Look at him working, fixing the bugs in the night when there's nobody there. 3527What does he care? 3528 3529All the lonely users, where do they all come from? 3530All the lonely users, why does it take so long? 3531Ah, look at all the lonely users. 3532Ah, look at all the lonely users. 3533% 3534Electrical Engineers do it with less resistance. 3535% 3536 Electricity is actually made up of extremely tiny particles, 3537called electrons, that you cannot see with the naked eye unless you 3538have been drinking. Electrons travel at the speed of light, which in 3539most American homes is 110 volts per hour. This is very fast. In the 3540time it has taken you to read this sentence so far, an electron could 3541have traveled all the way from San Francisco to Hackensack, New Jersey, 3542although God alone knows why it would want to. 3543 The five main kinds of electricity are alternating current, 3544direct current, lightning, static, and European. Most American homes 3545have alternating current, which means that the electricity goes in one 3546direction for a while, then goes in the other direction. This prevents 3547harmful electron buildup in the wires. 3548 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 3549% 3550Electrocution, n.: 3551 Burning at the stake with all the modern improvements. 3552% 3553Elevators smell different to midgets. 3554% 3555Emerson's Law of Contrariness: 3556 Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we 3557can. Having found them, we shall then hate them for it. 3558% 3559Encyclopedia Salesmen: 3560 Invite them all in. Nip out the back door. Phone the police 3561and tell them your house is being burgled. 3562 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 3563% 3564Endless Loop: n., see Loop, Endless. 3565Loop, Endless: n., see Endless Loop. 3566 -- Random Shack Data Processing Dictionary 3567% 3568Entropy isn't what it used to be. 3569% 3570Enzymes are things invented by biologists that explain things which 3571otherwise require harder thinking. 3572 -- Jerome Lettvin 3573% 3574Epperson's law: 3575 When a man says it's a silly, childish game, it's probably 3576something his wife can beat him at. 3577% 3578Equal bytes for women. 3579% 3580Error in operator: add beer 3581% 3582Es brilig war. Die schlichte Toven 3583 Wirrten und wimmelten in Waben; 3584Und aller-m"umsige Burggoven 3585 Dir mohmen R"ath ausgraben. 3586 -- Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass" 3587% 3588Eternal nothingness is fine if you happen to be dressed for it. 3589 -- Woody Allen 3590% 3591Etymology, n.: 3592 Some early etymological scholars came up with derivations that 3593were hard for the public to believe. The term "etymology" was formed 3594from the Latin "etus" ("eaten"), the root "mal" ("bad"), and "logy" 3595("study of"). It meant "the study of things that are hard to swallow." 3596 -- Mike Kellen 3597% 3598Even if you do learn to speak correct English, whom are you going to 3599speak it to? 3600 -- Clarence Darrow 3601% 3602Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. 3603 -- Will Rogers 3604% 3605Even the best of friends cannot attend each other's funeral. 3606 -- Kehlog Albran, "The Profit" 3607% 3608Even though they raised the rate for first class mail in the United 3609States we really shouldn't complain -- it's still only two cents a 3610day. 3611% 3612Ever notice that even the busiest people are never too busy to tell you 3613just how busy they are? 3614% 3615Ever since prehistoric times, wise men have tried to understand what, 3616exactly, make people laugh. That's why they were called "wise men." 3617All the other prehistoric people were out puncturing each other with 3618spears, and the wise men were back in the cave saying: "How about: 3619Would you please take my wife? No. How about: Here is my wife, please 3620take her right now. No How about: Would you like to take something? 3621My wife is available. No. How about ..." 3622 -- Dave Barry, "Why Humor is Funny" 3623% 3624Every absurdity has a champion who will defend it. 3625% 3626Every creature has within him the wild, uncontrollable urge to punt. 3627% 3628Every four seconds a woman has a baby. Our problem is to find this 3629woman and stop her. 3630% 3631Every group has a couple of experts. And every group has at least one 3632idiot. Thus are balance and harmony (and discord) maintained. It's 3633sometimes hard to remember this in the bulk of the flamewars that all 3634of the hassle and pain is generally caused by one or two 3635highly-motivated, caustic twits. 3636 -- Chuq Von Rospach, about Usenet 3637% 3638Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired 3639signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not 3640fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not 3641spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the 3642genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way 3643of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is 3644humanity hanging on a cross of iron. 3645 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower, April 16, 1953 3646% 3647Every Horse has an Infinite Number of Legs (proof by intimidation): 3648 3649Horses have an even number of legs. Behind they have two legs, and in 3650front they have fore-legs. This makes six legs, which is certainly an 3651odd number of legs for a horse. But the only number that is both even 3652and odd is infinity. Therefore, horses have an infinite number of 3653legs. Now to show this for the general case, suppose that somewhere, 3654there is a horse that has a finite number of legs. But that is a horse 3655of another color, and by the [above] lemma ["All horses are the same 3656color"], that does not exist. 3657% 3658Every improvement in communication makes the bore more terrible. 3659 -- Frank Moore Colby 3660% 3661Every journalist has a novel in him, which is an excellent place for it. 3662% 3663Every little picofarad has a nanohenry all its own. 3664 -- Don Vonada 3665% 3666Every man has his price. Mine is $3.95. 3667% 3668Every man is as God made him, ay, and often worse. 3669 -- Miguel de Cervantes 3670% 3671Every morning, I get up and look through the 'Forbes' list of the 3672richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work. 3673 -- Robert Orben 3674% 3675Every nonzero finite dimensional inner product space has an orthonormal basis. 3676 3677It makes sense, when you don't think about it. 3678% 3679Every program has at least one bug and can be shortened by at least one 3680instruction -- from which, by induction, one can deduce that every 3681program can be reduced to one instruction which doesn't work. 3682% 3683Every program has two purposes -- one for which it was written and 3684another for which it wasn't. 3685% 3686Every program is a part of some other program, and rarely fits. 3687% 3688Every solution breeds new problems. 3689% 3690Every successful person has had failures but repeated failure is no 3691guarantee of eventual success. 3692% 3693Every time I think I know where it's at, they move it. 3694% 3695Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness. 3696 -- Beckett 3697% 3698Everybody is somebody else's weirdo. 3699 -- Dykstra 3700% 3701Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. 3702% 3703Everyone can be taught to sculpt: Michelangelo would have had to be 3704taught how ___not to. So it is with the great programmers. 3705% 3706Everyone is a genius. It's just that some people are too stupid to 3707realize it. 3708% 3709Everyone knows that dragons don't exist. But while this simplistic 3710formulation may satisfy the layman, it does not suffice for the 3711scientific mind. The School of Higher Neantical Nillity is in fact 3712wholly unconcerned with what ____does exist. Indeed, the banality of 3713existence has been so amply demonstrated, there is no need for us to 3714discuss it any further here. The brilliant Cerebron, attacking the 3715problem analytically, discovered three distinct kinds of dragon: the 3716mythical, the chimerical, and the purely hypothetical. They were all, 3717one might say, nonexistent, but each nonexisted in an entirely 3718different way ... 3719 -- Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad" 3720% 3721Everyone talks about apathy, but no one ____does anything about it. 3722% 3723Everything is controlled by a small evil group to which, unfortunately, 3724no one we know belongs. 3725% 3726Everything is worth precisely as much as a belch, the difference being 3727that a belch is more satisfying. 3728 -- Ingmar Bergman 3729% 3730Everything journalists write is true, except when they write about 3731something you know. 3732 -- Dag-Erling Smorgrav, 3733 June 1999, FreeBSD-Stable Mailing List 3734% 3735Everything should be built top-down, except the first time. 3736% 3737Everything you know is wrong! 3738% 3739Everything you've learned in school as "obvious" becomes less and less 3740obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no 3741solids in the universe. There's not even a suggestion of a solid. 3742There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no 3743straight lines. 3744 -- R. Buckminster Fuller 3745% 3746 Excellence is THE trend of the '80s. Walk into any shopping 3747mall bookstore, go to the rack where they keep the best-sellers such as 3748"Garfield Gets Spayed", and you'll see a half-dozen books telling you 3749how to be excellent: "In Search of Excellence", "Finding Excellence", 3750"Grasping Hold of Excellence", "Where to Hide Your Excellence at Night 3751So the Cleaning Personnel Don't Steal It", etc. 3752 -- Dave Barry, "In Search of Excellence" 3753% 3754Excellent day for drinking heavily. Spike the office water cooler. 3755% 3756Excellent day for putting Slinkies on an escalator. 3757% 3758Excellent day to have a rotten day. 3759% 3760Excellent time to become a missing person. 3761% 3762Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from 3763acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. 3764 -- W. Somerset Maugham 3765% 3766Excessive login or logout messages are a sure sign of senility. 3767% 3768Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting somebody else to do 3769the work. 3770 -- John G. Pollard 3771% 3772Expect the worst. It's the least you can do. 3773% 3774Expense Accounts, n.: 3775 Corporate food stamps. 3776% 3777Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it. 3778 -- Olivier 3779% 3780Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you recognize a mistake 3781when you make it again. 3782 -- Franklin P. Jones 3783% 3784Experience is the worst teacher. It always gives the test first and 3785the instruction afterward. 3786% 3787Experience is what causes a person to make new mistakes instead of old 3788ones. 3789% 3790Experience is what you get when you were expecting something else. 3791% 3792Experience varies directly with equipment ruined. 3793% 3794Expert, n.: 3795 Someone who comes from out of town and shows slides. 3796% 3797Extract from Official Sweepstakes Rules: 3798 3799 NO PURCHASE REQUIRED TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE 3800 3801To claim your prize without purchase, do the following: (a) Carefully 3802cut out your computer-printed name and address from upper right hand 3803corner of the Prize Claim Form. (b) Affix computer-printed name and 3804address -- with glue or cellophane tape (no staples or paper clips) -- 3805to a 3x5 inch index card. (c) Also cut out the "No" paragraph (lower 3806left hand corner of Prize Claim Form) and affix it to the 3x5 card 3807below your address label. (d) Then print on your 3x5 card, above your 3808computer-printed name and address the words "CARTER & VAN PEEL 3809SWEEPSTAKES" (Use all capital letters.) (e) Finally place 3x5 card 3810(without bending) into a plain envelope [NOTE: do NOT use the 3811Official Prize Claim and CVP Perfume Reply Envelope or you may be 3812disqualified], and mail to: CVP, Box 1320, Westbury, NY 11595. Print 3813this address correctly. Comply with above instructions carefully and 3814completely or you may be disqualified from receiving your prize. 3815% 3816F u cn rd ths u cnt spl wrth a dm! 3817% 3818f u cn rd ths, itn tyg h myxbl cd. 3819% 3820f u cn rd ths, u cn gt a gd jb n cmptr prgrmmng. 3821% 3822F: When into a room I plunge, I 3823 Sometimes find some VIOLET FUNGI. 3824 Then I linger, darkly brooding 3825 On the poison they're exuding. 3826 -- The Roguelet's ABC 3827% 3828Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable. 3829% 3830Fairy Tale, n.: 3831 A horror story to prepare children for the newspapers. 3832% 3833Faith is the quality that enables you to eat blackberry jam on a picnic 3834without looking to see whether the seeds move. 3835% 3836Faith, n: 3837 That quality which enables us to believe what we know to be 3838untrue. 3839% 3840Fakir, n: 3841 A psychologist whose charismatic data have inspired almost 3842religious devotion in his followers, even though the sources seem to 3843have shinnied up a rope and vanished. 3844% 3845Familiarity breeds attempt. 3846% 3847Families, when a child is born 3848Want it to be intelligent. 3849I, through intelligence, 3850Having wrecked my whole life, 3851Only hope the baby will prove 3852Ignorant and stupid. 3853Then he will crown a tranquil life 3854By becoming a Cabinet Minister 3855 -- Su Tung-p'o 3856% 3857Famous last words: 3858% 3859Famous last words: 3860 (1) "Don't worry, I can handle it." 3861 (2) "You and what army?" 3862 (3) "If you were as smart as you think you are, you wouldn't be 3863 a cop." 3864% 3865Famous last words: 3866 (1) Don't unplug it, it will just take a moment to fix. 3867 (2) Let's take the shortcut, he can't see us from there. 3868 (3) What happens if you touch these two wires tog-- 3869 (4) We won't need reservations. 3870 (5) It's always sunny there this time of the year. 3871 (6) Don't worry, it's not loaded. 3872 (7) They'd never (be stupid enough to) make him a manager. 3873 (8) Don't worry! Women love it! 3874% 3875Famous, adj.: 3876 Conspicuously miserable. 3877 -- Ambrose Bierce 3878% 3879Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the 3880Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. 3881Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an 3882utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life 3883forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches 3884are a pretty neat idea. 3885 -- Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" 3886% 3887Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it 3888every six months. 3889 -- Oscar Wilde 3890% 3891Fats Loves Madelyn. 3892% 3893Feel disillusioned? I've got some great new illusions ... 3894% 3895Fertility is hereditary. If your parents didn't have any children, 3896neither will you. 3897% 3898 Festivity Level 1: Your guests are chatting amiably with each 3899other, admiring your Christmas-tree ornaments, singing carols around 3900the upright piano, sipping at their drinks and nibbling hors 3901d'oeuvres. 3902 Festivity Level 2: Your guests are talking loudly -- sometimes 3903to each other, and sometimes to nobody at all, rearranging your 3904Christmas-tree ornaments, singing "I Gotta Be Me" around the upright 3905piano, gulping their drinks and wolfing down hors d'oeuvres. 3906 Festivity Level 3: Your guests are arguing violently with 3907inanimate objects, singing "I can't get no satisfaction," gulping down 3908other peoples' drinks, wolfing down Christmas tree ornaments and 3909placing hors d'oeuvres in the upright piano to see what happens when 3910the little hammers strike. 3911 Festivity Level 4: Your guests, hors d'oeuvres smeared all over 3912their naked bodies are performing a ritual dance around the burning 3913Christmas tree. The piano is missing. 3914 3915 You want to keep your party somewhere around level 3, unless 3916you rent your home and own Firearms, in which case you can go to level 39174. The best way to get to level 3 is egg-nog. 3918% 3919Fifth Law of Applied Terror: 3920 If you are given an open-book exam, you will forget your book. 3921 3922Corollary: 3923 If you are given a take-home exam, you will forget where you live. 3924% 3925Fifth Law of Procrastination: 3926 Procrastination avoids boredom; one never has the feeling that 3927there is nothing important to do. 3928% 3929Fifty flippant frogs 3930Walked by on flippered feet 3931And with their slime they made the time 3932Unnaturally fleet. 3933% 3934 FIGHTING WORDS 3935 3936Say my love is easy had, 3937 Say I'm bitten raw with pride, 3938Say I am too often sad -- 3939 Still behold me at your side. 3940 3941Say I'm neither brave nor young, 3942 Say I woo and coddle care, 3943Say the devil touched my tongue -- 3944 Still you have my heart to wear. 3945 3946But say my verses do not scan, 3947 And I get me another man! 3948 -- Dorothy Parker 3949% 3950Fights between cats and dogs are prohibited by statute in Barber, North 3951Carolina. 3952% 3953Finagle's Creed: 3954 Science is true. Don't be misled by facts. 3955% 3956Finagle's First Law: 3957 If an experiment works, something has gone wrong. 3958% 3959Finagle's Fourth Law: 3960 Once a job is fouled up, anything done to improve it only makes 3961it worse. 3962% 3963Finagle's Second Law: 3964 No matter what the anticipated result, there will always be 3965someone eager to (a) misinterpret it, (b) fake it, or (c) believe it 3966happened according to his own pet theory. 3967% 3968Finagle's Third Law: 3969 In any collection of data, the figure most obviously correct, 3970 beyond all need of checking, is the mistake. 3971 3972Corollaries: 3973 (1) Nobody whom you ask for help will see it. 3974 (2) The first person who stops by, whose advice you really 3975 don't want to hear, will see it immediately. 3976% 3977Finding out what goes on in the C.I.A. is like performing acupuncture 3978on a rock. 3979 -- New York Times, Jan. 20, 1981 3980% 3981Fine day to throw a party. Throw him as far as you can. 3982% 3983Fine day to work off excess energy. Steal something heavy. 3984% 3985Fine's Corollary: 3986 Functionality breeds Contempt. 3987% 3988Finish the sentence below in 25 words or less: 3989 3990 "Love is what you feel just before you give someone a good ..." 3991 3992Mail your answer along with the top half of your supervisor to: 3993 3994 P.O. Box 35 3995 Baffled Greek, Michigan 3996% 3997First Corollary of Taber's Second Law: 3998 Machines that piss people off get murdered. 3999 -- Pat Taber 4000% 4001First Law of Bicycling: 4002 No matter which way you ride, it's uphill and against the 4003wind. 4004% 4005First Law of Procrastination: 4006 Procrastination shortens the job and places the responsibility 4007for its termination on someone else (i.e., the authority who imposed 4008the deadline). 4009% 4010First Law of Socio-Genetics: 4011 Celibacy is not hereditary. 4012% 4013First Rule of History: 4014 History doesn't repeat itself -- historians merely repeat each 4015other. 4016% 4017First things first -- but not necessarily in that order 4018 -- The Doctor, "Doctor Who" 4019% 4020First, a few words about tools. 4021 4022Basically, a tool is an object that enables you to take advantage of 4023the laws of physics and mechanics in such a way that you can seriously 4024injure yourself. Today, people tend to take tools for granted. If 4025you're ever walking down the street and you notice some people who look 4026particularly smug, the odds are that they are taking tools for 4027granted. If I were you, I'd walk right up and smack them in the face. 4028 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 4029% 4030Five is a sufficiently close approximation to infinity. 4031 -- Robert Firth 4032% 4033FLASH! Intelligence of mankind decreasing. Details at ... uh, when 4034the little hand is on the .... 4035% 4036Flon's Law: 4037 There is not now, and never will be, a language in which it is 4038the least bit difficult to write bad programs. 4039% 4040Florence Flask was ... dressing for the opera when she turned to her 4041husband and screamed, "Erlenmeyer! My joules! Someone has stolen my 4042joules!" 4043 4044"Now, now, my dear," replied her husband, "keep your balance and reflux 4045a moment. Perhaps they're mislead." 4046 4047"No, I know they're stolen," cried Florence. "I remember putting them 4048in my burette ... We must call a copper." 4049 4050Erlenmeyer did so, and the flatfoot who turned up, one Sherlock Ohms, 4051said the outrage looked like the work of an arch-criminal by the name 4052of Lawrence Ium. 4053 4054"We must be careful -- he's a free radical, ultraviolet, and 4055dangerous. His girlfriend is a chlorine at the Palladium. Maybe I can 4056catch him there." With that, he jumped on his carbon cycle in an 4057activated state and sped off along the reaction pathway ... 4058 -- Daniel B. Murphy, "Precipitations" 4059% 4060flowchart, n. & v.: 4061 [From flow "to ripple down in rich profusion, as hair" + chart 4062"a cryptic hidden-treasure map designed to mislead the uninitiated."] 40631. n. The solution, if any, to a class of Mascheroni construction 4064problems in which given algorithms require geometrical representation 4065using only the 35 basic ideograms of the ANSI template. 2. n. Neronic 4066doodling while the system burns. 3. n. A low-cost substitute for 4067wallpaper. 4. n. The innumerate misleading the illiterate. "A 4068thousand pictures is worth ten lines of code." -- The Programmer's 4069Little Red Vade Mecum, Mao Tse T'umps. 5. v.intrans. To produce 4070flowcharts with no particular object in mind. 6. v.trans. To obfuscate 4071(a problem) with esoteric cartoons. 4072 -- Stan Kelly-Bootle, "The Devil's DP Dictionary" 4073% 4074Flugg's Law: 4075 When you need to knock on wood is when you realize that the 4076world is composed of vinyl, naugahyde and aluminum. 4077% 4078Flying saucers on occasion 4079 Show themselves to human eyes. 4080Aliens fume, put off invasion 4081 While they brand these tales as lies. 4082% 4083Fog Lamps, n.: 4084 Excessively (often obnoxiously) bright lamps mounted on the 4085fronts of automobiles; used on dry, clear nights to indicate that the 4086driver's brain is in a fog. 4087 4088See also "Idiot Lights". 4089% 4090Food for thought is no substitute for the real thing. 4091 -- Walt Kelly, "Putluck Pogo" 4092% 4093For 20 dollars, I'll give you a good fortune next time ... 4094% 4095For a man to truly understand rejection, he must first be ignored by a 4096cat. 4097% 4098For an adequate time call 555-3321. 4099% 4100For an idea to be fashionable is ominous, since it must afterwards be 4101always old-fashioned. 4102% 4103For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, 4104and wrong. 4105 -- H. L. Mencken 4106% 4107For every credibility gap, there is a gullibility fill. 4108 -- R. Clopton 4109% 4110 "For I perceive that behind this seemingly unrelated sequence 4111of events, there lurks a singular, sinister attitude of mind." 4112 4113 "Whose?" 4114 4115 "MINE! HA-HA!" 4116% 4117For large values of one, one equals two, for small values of two. 4118% 4119For my son, Robert, this is proving to be the high-point of his entire 4120life to date. He has had his pajamas on for two, maybe three days 4121now. He has the sense of joyful independence a 5-year-old child gets 4122when he suddenly realizes that he could be operating an acetylene torch 4123in the coat closet and neither parent [because of the flu] would have 4124the strength to object. He has been foraging for his own food, which 4125means his diet consists entirely of "food" substances which are 4126advertised only on Saturday-morning cartoon shows; substances that are 4127the color of jukebox lights and that, for legal reasons, have their 4128names spelled wrong, as in New Creemy Chok-'n'-Cheez Lumps o' Froot 4129("part of this complete breakfast"). 4130 -- Dave Barry, "Molecular Homicide" 4131% 4132For perfect happiness, remember two things: 4133 (1) Be content with what you've got. 4134 (2) Be sure you've got plenty. 4135% 4136For some reason a glaze passes over people's faces when you say 4137"Canada". Maybe we should invade South Dakota or something. 4138 -- Sandra Gotlieb, wife of the Canadian ambassador to 4139 the U.S. 4140% 4141For some reason, this fortune reminds everyone of Marvin Zelkowitz. 4142% 4143For that matter, compare your pocket computer with the massive jobs of 4144a thousand years ago. Why not, then, the last step of doing away with 4145computers altogether? 4146 -- Jehan Shuman 4147% 4148For those who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like. 4149 -- Abraham Lincoln 4150% 4151For three days after death hair and fingernails continue to grow but 4152phone calls taper off. 4153 -- Johnny Carson 4154% 4155For years a secret shame destroyed my peace -- 4156I'd not read Eliot, Auden or MacNiece. 4157But now I think a thought that brings me hope: 4158Neither had Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Pope. 4159 -- Justin Richardson 4160% 4161For your penance, say five Hail Marys and one loud BLAH! 4162% 4163Forgetfulness, n.: 4164 A gift of God bestowed upon debtors in compensation for their 4165destitution of conscience. 4166% 4167Forms follow function, and often obliterate it. 4168% 4169FORTUNE DISCUSSES THE OBSCURE FILMS! #6 4170 4171RAZORBACK: Paul Harbride, 1984, 2 hours 25 min. 4172 One of the great Australian films of the early 1980's, and 4173 arguably the best movie ever made about a large, man-eating 4174 hog. Some violence. With Gregory Harrison. 4175% 4176fortune's Contribution of the Month to the Animal Rights Debate: 4177 4178 I'll stay out of animals' way if they'll stay out of mine. 4179 "Hey you, get off my plate" 4180 -- Roger Midnight 4181% 4182Fortune's Fictitious Country Song Title of the Week: 4183 "How Can I Miss You if You Won't Go Away?" 4184% 4185Fortune's graffito of the week (or maybe even month): 4186 4187 Don't Write On Walls! 4188 4189 (and underneath) 4190 4191 You want I should type? 4192% 4193Fortune's Law of the Week (this week, from Kentucky): 4194 No female shall appear in a bathing suit at any airport in this 4195State unless she is escorted by two officers or unless she is armed 4196with a club. The provisions of this statute shall not apply to females 4197weighing less than 90 pounds nor exceeding 200 pounds, nor shall it 4198apply to female horses. 4199% 4200Fortune's nomination for All-Time Champion and Protector of Youthful 4201Morals goes to Representative Clare E. Hoffman of Michigan. During an 4202impassioned House debate over a proposed bill to "expand oyster and 4203clam research," a sharp-eared informant transcribed the following 4204exchange between our hero and Rep. John D. Dingell, also of Michigan. 4205 4206DINGELL: There are places in the world at the present time where we are 4207 having to artificially propagate oysters and clams. 4208HOFFMAN: You mean the oysters I buy are not nature's oysters? 4209DINGELL: They may or may not be natural. The simple fact of the matter 4210 is that female oysters through their living habits cast out 4211 large amounts of seed and the male oysters cast out large 4212 amounts of fertilization ... 4213HOFFMAN: Wait a minute! I do not want to go into that. There are many 4214 teenagers who read The Congressional Record. 4215% 4216Fortune's Office Door Sign of the Week: 4217 4218 Incorrigible punster -- Do not incorrige. 4219% 4220FORTUNE'S PARTY TIPS #14 4221 4222Tired of finding that other people are helping themselves to your good 4223liquor at BYOB parties? Take along a candle, which you insert and 4224light after you've opened the bottle. No one ever expects anything 4225drinkable to be in a bottle which has a candle stuck in its neck. 4226% 4227Fortune's Real-Life Courtroom Quote #18: 4228 4229Q: Are you married? 4230A: No, I'm divorced. 4231Q: And what did your husband do before you divorced him? 4232A: A lot of things I didn't know about. 4233% 4234Fortune's Real-Life Courtroom Quote #19: 4235 4236Q: Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people? 4237A: All my autopsies have been performed on dead people. 4238% 4239Fortune's Real-Life Courtroom Quote #29: 4240 4241THE JUDGE: Now, as we begin, I must ask you to banish all present 4242 information and prejudice from your minds, if you have 4243 any ... 4244% 4245Fortune's Real-Life Courtroom Quote #32: 4246 4247Q: Do you know how far pregnant you are right now? 4248A: I will be three months November 8th. 4249Q: Apparently then, the date of conception was August 8th? 4250A: Yes. 4251Q: What were you and your husband doing at that time? 4252% 4253Fortune's Real-Life Courtroom Quote #37: 4254 4255Q: Did he pick the dog up by the ears? 4256A: No. 4257Q: What was he doing with the dog's ears? 4258A: Picking them up in the air. 4259Q: Where was the dog at this time? 4260A: Attached to the ears. 4261% 4262Fortune's Real-Life Courtroom Quote #3: 4263 4264Q: When he went, had you gone and had she, if she wanted to and were 4265 able, for the time being excluding all the restraints on her not to 4266 go, gone also, would he have brought you, meaning you and she, with 4267 him to the station? 4268MR. BROOKS: Objection. That question should be taken out and shot. 4269% 4270Fortune's Real-Life Courtroom Quote #41: 4271 4272Q: Now, Mrs. Johnson, how was your first marriage terminated? 4273A: By death. 4274Q: And by whose death was it terminated? 4275% 4276Fortune's Real-Life Courtroom Quote #52: 4277 4278Q: What is your name? 4279A: Ernestine McDowell. 4280Q: And what is your marital status? 4281A: Fair. 4282% 4283Fortune's Real-Life Courtroom Quote #7: 4284 4285Q: What happened then? 4286A: He told me, he says, "I have to kill you because you can identify 4287 me." 4288Q: Did he kill you? 4289A: No. 4290% 4291fortune: CPU time/usefulness ratio too high -- core dumped. 4292% 4293Fortune: You will be attacked next Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. by six samurai 4294sword wielding purple fish glued to Harley-Davidson motorcycles. 4295 4296Oh, and have a nice day! 4297 -- Bryce Nesbitt '84 4298% 4299Fourth Law of Applied Terror: 4300 The night before the English History mid-term, your Biology 4301instructor will assign 200 pages on planaria. 4302 4303Corollary: 4304 Every instructor assumes that you have nothing else to do 4305except study for that instructor's course. 4306% 4307Fourth Law of Revision: 4308 It is usually impractical to worry beforehand about 4309interferences -- if you have none, someone will make one for you. 4310% 4311Fourth Law of Thermodynamics: If the probability of success is not 4312almost one, it is damn near zero. 4313 -- David Ellis 4314% 4315Frankfort, Kentucky, makes it against the law to shoot off a 4316policeman's tie. 4317% 4318Fresco's Discovery: 4319 If you knew what you were doing you'd probably be bored. 4320% 4321Friends, Romans, Hipsters, 4322Let me clue you in; 4323I come to put down Caesar, not to groove him. 4324The square kicks some cats are on stay with them; 4325The hip bits, like, go down under; so let it lay with Caesar. The cool Brutus 4326Gave you the message: Caesar had big eyes; 4327If that's the sound, someone's copping a plea, 4328And, like, old Caesar really set them straight. 4329Here, copacetic with Brutus and the studs, -- for Brutus is a real cool cat; 4330So are they all, all cool cats, -- 4331Come I to make this gig at Caesar's laying down. 4332% 4333Frisbeetarianism, n.: 4334 The belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and 4335gets stuck. 4336% 4337Frobnicate, v.: 4338 To manipulate or adjust, to tweak. Derived from FROBNITZ. 4339Usually abbreviated to FROB. Thus one has the saying "to frob a 4340frob". See TWEAK and TWIDDLE. Usage: FROB, TWIDDLE, and TWEAK 4341sometimes connote points along a continuum. FROB connotes aimless 4342manipulation; TWIDDLE connotes gross manipulation, often a coarse 4343search for a proper setting; TWEAK connotes fine-tuning. If someone is 4344turning a knob on an oscilloscope, then if he's carefully adjusting it 4345he is probably tweaking it; if he is just turning it but looking at the 4346screen he is probably twiddling it; but if he's just doing it because 4347turning a knob is fun, he's frobbing it. 4348% 4349Frobnitz, pl. Frobnitzem (frob'nitsm) n.: 4350 An unspecified physical object, a widget. Also refers to 4351electronic black boxes. This rare form is usually abbreviated to 4352FROTZ, or more commonly to FROB. Also used are FROBNULE, FROBULE, and 4353FROBNODULE. Starting perhaps in 1979, FROBBOZ (fruh-bahz'), pl. 4354FROBBOTZIM, has also become very popular, largely due to its exposure 4355via the Adventure spin-off called Zork (Dungeon). These can also be 4356applied to non-physical objects, such as data structures. 4357% 4358[From an announcement of a congress of the International Ontopsychology 4359Association, in Rome]: 4360 4361The Ontopsychological school, availing itself of new research criteria 4362and of a new telematic epistemology, maintains that social modes do not 4363spring from dialectics of territory or of class, or of consumer goods, 4364or of means of power, but rather from dynamic latencies capillarized in 4365millions of individuals in system functions which, once they have 4366reached the event maturation, burst forth in catastrophic phenomenology 4367engaging a suitable stereotype protagonist or duty marionette (general, 4368president, political party, etc.) to consummate the act of social 4369schizophrenia in mass genocide. 4370% 4371From the "Guiness Book of World Records", 1973: 4372 4373Certain passages in several laws have always defied interpretation and 4374the most inexplicable must be a matter of opinion. A judge of the 4375Court of Session of Scotland has sent the editors of this book his 4376candidate which reads, "In the Nuts (unground), (other than ground 4377nuts) Order, the expression nuts shall have reference to such nuts, 4378other than ground nuts, as would but for this amending Order not 4379qualify as nuts (unground)(other than ground nuts) by reason of their 4380being nuts (unground)." 4381% 4382From the moment I picked your book up until I put it down I was 4383convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it. 4384 -- Groucho Marx, from "The Book of Insults" 4385% 4386[From the operation manual for the CI-300 Dot Matrix Line Printer, made 4387in Japan]: 4388 4389The excellent output machine of MODEL CI-300 as extraordinary DOT 4390MATRIX LINE PRINTER, built in two MICRO-PROCESSORs as well as EAROM, is 4391featured by permitting wonderful co-existence such as; "high quality 4392against low cost", "diversified functions with compact design", 4393"flexibility in accessibleness and durability of approx. 2000,000,00 4394Dot/Head", "being sophisticated in mechanism but possibly agile 4395operating under noises being extremely suppressed" etc. 4396 4397And as a matter of course, the final goal is just simply to help 4398achieve "super shuttle diplomacy" between cool data, perhaps earned by 4399HOST COMPUTER, and warm heart of human being. 4400% 4401From the Pro 350 Pocket Service Guide, p. 49, Step 5 of the 4402instructions on removing an I/O board from the card cage, comes a new 4403experience in sound: 4404 4405 5. Turn the handle to the right 90 degrees. The pin-spreading 4406 sound is normal for this type of connector. 4407% 4408From too much love of living, 4409From hope and fear set free, 4410We thank with brief thanksgiving, 4411Whatever gods may be, 4412That no life lives forever, 4413That dead men rise up never, 4414That even the weariest river winds somewhere safe to sea. 4415 -- Swinburne 4416% 4417Fuch's Warning: 4418 If you actually look like your passport photo, you aren't well 4419enough to travel. 4420% 4421Fudd's First Law of Opposition: 4422 Push something hard enough and it will fall over. 4423% 4424Furbling, v.: 4425 Having to wander through a maze of ropes at an airport or bank 4426even when you are the only person in line. 4427 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 4428% 4429Furious activity is no substitute for understanding. 4430 -- H. H. Williams 4431% 4432Future looks spotty. You will spill soup in late evening. 4433% 4434G. B. Shaw to William Douglas Home: "Go on writing plays, my boy. One 4435of these days a London producer will go into his office and say to his 4436secretary, `Is there a play from Shaw this morning?' and when she says 4437`No,' he will say, `Well, then we'll have to start on the rubbish.' And 4438that's your chance, my boy." 4439% 4440Garbage In -- Gospel Out. 4441% 4442Garter, n.: 4443 An elastic band intended to keep a woman from coming out of her 4444stockings and desolating the country. 4445 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 4446% 4447Gauls! We have nothing to fear; except perhaps that the sky may fall 4448on our heads tomorrow. But as we all know, tomorrow never comes!! 4449 -- Adventures of Asterix 4450% 4451Gay shlafen: Yiddish for "go to sleep". 4452 4453 Now doesn't "gay shlafen" have a softer, more soothing sound 4454than the harsh, staccato "go to sleep"? Listen to the difference: 4455 "Go to sleep, you little wretch!" ... "Gay shlafen, darling." 4456Obvious, isn't it? 4457 Clearly the best thing you can do for you children is to start 4458speaking Yiddish right now and never speak another word of English as 4459long as you live. This will, of course, entail teaching Yiddish to all 4460your friends, business associates, the people at the supermarket, and 4461so on, but that's just the point. It has to start with committed 4462individuals and then grow ... 4463 Some minor adjustments will have to be made, of course: those 4464signs written in what look like Yiddish letters won't be funny when 4465everything is written in Yiddish. And we'll have to start driving on 4466the left side of the road so we won't be reading the street signs 4467backwards. But is that too high a price to pay for world peace? I 4468think not, my friend, I think not. 4469 -- Arthur Naiman, "Every Goy's Guide to Yiddish" 4470% 4471 "Gee, Mudhead, everyone at More Science High has an 4472extracurricular activity except you." 4473 "Well, gee, doesn't Louise count?" 4474 "Only to ten, Mudhead." 4475 -- The Firesign Theatre 4476% 4477Gee, Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore. 4478% 4479GEMINI (May 21 - June 20) 4480 You are a quick and intelligent thinker. People like you 4481because you are bisexual. However, you are inclined to expect too much 4482for too little. This means you are cheap. Geminis are known for 4483committing incest. 4484% 4485GEMINI (May 21 to Jun. 20) 4486 Good news and bad news highlighted. Enjoy the good news while 4487you can; the bad news will make you forget it. You will enjoy praise 4488and respect from those around you; everybody loves a sucker. A short 4489trip is in the stars, possibly to the men's room. 4490% 4491Genderplex, n.: 4492 The predicament of a person in a restaurant who is unable to 4493determine his or her designated restroom (e.g., turtles and 4494tortoises). 4495 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 4496% 4497Genetics explains why you look like your father, and if you don't, why 4498you should. 4499% 4500Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus 4501handicapped. 4502 -- Elbert Hubbard 4503% 4504Genius, n.: 4505 A chemist who discovers a laundry additive that rhymes with 4506"bright". 4507% 4508George Orwell 1984. Northwestern 0. 4509 -- Chicago Reader 10/15/82 4510% 4511George Orwell was an optimist. 4512% 4513George Washington was first in war, first in peace -- and the first to 4514have his birthday juggled to make a long weekend. 4515 -- Ashley Cooper 4516% 4517Gerrold's Laws of Infernal Dynamics: 4518 (1) An object in motion will always be headed in the wrong 4519 direction. 4520 (2) An object at rest will always be in the wrong place. 4521 (3) The energy required to change either one of these states 4522 will always be more than you wish to expend, but never so 4523 much as to make the task totally impossible. 4524% 4525Get forgiveness now -- tomorrow you may no longer feel guilty. 4526% 4527 Get GUMMed 4528 --- ------ 4529The Gurus of Unix Meeting of Minds (GUMM) takes place Wednesday, April 45301, 2076 (check THAT in your perpetual calendar program), 14 feet above 4531the ground directly in front of the Milpitas Gumps. Members will grep 4532each other by the hand (after intro), yacc a lot, smoke filtered 4533chroots in pipes, chown with forks, use the wc (unless uuclean), fseek 4534nice zombie processes, strip, and sleep, but not, we hope, od. Three 4535days will be devoted to discussion of the ramifications of whodo. Two 4536seconds have been allotted for a complete rundown of all the user- 4537friendly features of Unix. Seminars include "Everything You Know is 4538Wrong", led by Tom Kempson, "Batman or Cat:man?" led by Richie Dennis 4539"cc C? Si! Si!" led by Kerwin Bernighan, and "Document Unix, Are You 4540Kidding?" led by Jan Yeats. No Reader Service No. is necessary because 4541all GUGUs (Gurus of Unix Group of Users) already know everything we 4542could tell them. 4543 -- Dr. Dobb's Journal, June '84 4544% 4545Get Revenge! Live long enough to be a problem for your children! 4546% 4547 -- Gifts for Children -- 4548 4549This is easy. You never have to figure out what to get for children, 4550because they will tell you exactly what they want. They spend months 4551and months researching these kinds of things by watching Saturday- 4552morning cartoon-show advertisements. Make sure you get your children 4553exactly what they ask for, even if you disapprove of their choices. If 4554your child thinks he wants Murderous Bob, the Doll with the Face You 4555Can Rip Right Off, you'd better get it. You may be worried that it 4556might help to encourage your child's antisocial tendencies, but believe 4557me, you have not seen antisocial tendencies until you've seen a child 4558who is convinced that he or she did not get the right gift. 4559 -- Dave Barry, "Christmas Shopping: A Survivor's Guide" 4560% 4561 -- Gifts for Men -- 4562 4563Men are amused by almost any idiot thing -- that is why professional 4564ice hockey is so popular -- so buying gifts for them is easy. But you 4565should never buy them clothes. Men believe they already have all the 4566clothes they will ever need, and new ones make them nervous. For 4567example, your average man has 84 ties, but he wears, at most, only 4568three of them. He has learned, through humiliating trial and error, 4569that if he wears any of the other 81 ties, his wife will probably laugh 4570at him ("You're not going to wear THAT tie with that suit, are you?"). 4571So he has narrowed it down to three safe ties, and has gone several 4572years without being laughed at. If you give him a new tie, he will 4573pretend to like it, but deep inside he will hate you. 4574 4575If you want to give a man something practical, consider tires. More 4576than once, I would have gladly traded all the gifts I got for a new set 4577of tires. 4578 -- Dave Barry, "Christmas Shopping: A Survivor's Guide" 4579% 4580 Gimmie That Old Time Religion 4581We will follow Zarathustra, We will worship like the Druids, 4582Zarathustra like we use to, Dancing naked in the woods, 4583I'm a Zarathustra booster, Drinking strange fermented fluids, 4584And he's good enough for me! And it's good enough for me! 4585 (chorus) (chorus) 4586 4587In the church of Aphrodite, 4588The priestess wears a see-through nightie, 4589She's a mighty righteous sightie, 4590And she's good enough for me! 4591 (chorus) 4592 4593CHORUS: Give me that old time religion, 4594 Give me that old time religion, 4595 Give me that old time religion, 4596 'Cause it's good enough for me! 4597% 4598Ginsberg's Theorem: 4599 (1) You can't win. 4600 (2) You can't break even. 4601 (3) You can't even quit the game. 4602 4603Freeman's Commentary on Ginsberg's theorem: 4604 Every major philosophy that attempts to make life seem 4605 meaningful is based on the negation of one part of Ginsberg's 4606 Theorem. To wit: 4607 4608 (1) Capitalism is based on the assumption that you can win. 4609 (2) Socialism is based on the assumption that you can break even. 4610 (3) Mysticism is based on the assumption that you can quit the game. 4611% 4612Give me a Plumber's friend the size of the Pittsburgh dome, and a place 4613to stand, and I will drain the world. 4614% 4615Give me enough medals, and I'll win any war. 4616 -- Napoleon 4617% 4618Give me the Luxuries, and the Hell with the Necessities! 4619% 4620Give thought to your reputation. Consider changing name and moving to 4621a new town. 4622% 4623Give your child mental blocks for Christmas. 4624% 4625Given the choice between accomplishing something and just lying 4626around, I'd rather lie around. No contest. 4627 -- Eric Clapton 4628% 4629Giving up on assembly language was the apple in our Garden of Eden: 4630Languages whose use squanders machine cycles are sinful. The LISP 4631machine now permits LISP programmers to abandon bra and fig-leaf. 4632 -- Epigrams in Programming, ACM SIGPLAN Sept. 1982 4633% 4634Glib's Fourth Law of Unreliability: 4635 Investment in reliability will increase until it exceeds the 4636probable cost of errors, or until someone insists on getting some 4637useful work done. 4638% 4639Gnagloot, n.: 4640 A person who leaves all his ski passes on his jacket just to 4641impress people. 4642 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 4643% 4644Go 'way! You're bothering me! 4645% 4646Go climb a gravity well! 4647% 4648Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what value there may 4649be in owning a piece thereof. 4650 -- National Lampoon, "Deteriorata" 4651% 4652//GO.SYSIN DD *, DOODAH, DOODAH 4653% 4654God did not create the world in seven days; he screwed around for six 4655days and then pulled an all-nighter. 4656% 4657God doesn't play dice. 4658 -- Albert Einstein 4659% 4660"God gives burdens; also shoulders" 4661 4662Jimmy Carter cited this Jewish saying in his concession speech at the 4663end of the 1980 election. At least he said it was a Jewish saying; I 4664can't find it anywhere. I'm sure he's telling the truth though; why 4665would he lie about a thing like that? 4666 -- Arthur Naiman, "Every Goy's Guide to Yiddish" 4667% 4668God has intended the great to be great and the little to be little ... 4669The trade unions, under the European system, destroy liberty ... I do 4670not mean to say that a dollar a day is enough to support a workingman 4671... not enough to support a man and five children if he insists on 4672smoking and drinking beer. But the man who cannot live on bread and 4673water is not fit to live! A family may live on good bread and water in 4674the morning, water and bread at midday, and good bread and water at 4675night! 4676 -- Rev. Henry Ward Beecher 4677% 4678God is a comic playing to an audience that's afraid to laugh. 4679% 4680God is a polytheist. 4681% 4682God is Dead 4683 -- Nietzsche 4684Nietzsche is Dead 4685 -- God 4686Nietzsche is God 4687 -- The Dead 4688% 4689God is not dead! He's alive and autographing bibles at Cody's 4690% 4691God is real, unless declared integer. 4692% 4693God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the 4694elephant and the cat. He has no real style, He just goes on trying 4695other things. 4696 -- Pablo Picasso 4697% 4698God is the tangential point between zero and infinity. 4699 -- Alfred Jarry 4700% 4701God isn't dead, he just couldn't find a parking place. 4702% 4703God made machine language; all the rest is the work of man. 4704% 4705God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board. 4706 -- Mark Twain 4707% 4708God made the integers; all else is the work of Man. 4709 -- Kronecker 4710% 4711God made the world in six days, and was arrested on the seventh. 4712% 4713God may be subtle, but He isn't plain mean. 4714 -- Albert Einstein 4715% 4716God must love the Common Man; He made so many of them. 4717% 4718God rest ye CS students now, 4719Let nothing you dismay. 4720The VAX is down and won't be up, 4721Until the first of May. 4722The program that was due this morn, 4723Won't be postponed, they say. 4724 4725 Oh, tidings of comfort and joy, 4726 Comfort and joy, 4727 Oh, tidings of comfort and joy. 4728 4729The bearings on the drum are gone, 4730The disk is wobbling, too. 4731We've found a bug in Lisp, and Algol 4732Can't tell false from true. 4733And now we find that we can't get 4734At Berkeley's 4.2. 4735 4736 (chorus) 4737% 4738Going to church does not make a person religious, nor does going to 4739school make a person educated, any more than going to a garage makes a 4740person a car. 4741% 4742Gold, n.: 4743 A soft malleable metal relatively scarce in distribution. It 4744is mined deep in the earth by poor men who then give it to rich men who 4745immediately bury it back in the earth in great prisons, although gold 4746hasn't done anything to them. 4747 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 4748% 4749Goldenstern's Rules: 4750 (1) Always hire a rich attorney. 4751 (2) Never buy from a rich salesman. 4752% 4753Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad 4754example. 4755 -- La Rochefoucauld 4756% 4757Good day for a change of scene. Repaper the bedroom wall. 4758% 4759Good day for overcoming obstacles. Try a steeplechase. 4760% 4761Good day to avoid cops. Crawl to school. 4762% 4763Good day to let down old friends who need help. 4764% 4765Good leaders being scarce, following yourself is allowed. 4766% 4767Good news is just life's way of keeping you off balance. 4768% 4769Good news. Ten weeks from Friday will be a pretty good day. 4770% 4771Good night to spend with family, but avoid arguments with your mate's 4772new lover. 4773% 4774Good-bye. I am leaving because I am bored. 4775 -- George Saunders' dying words 4776% 4777Gordon's first law: 4778 If a research project is not worth doing, it is not worth doing 4779well. 4780% 4781Gosh that takes me back... or is it forward? That's the trouble with 4782time travel, you never can tell. 4783 -- Doctor Who, "Androids of Tara" 4784% 4785Got Mole problems? 4786Call Avogadro 6.02 x 10^23 4787% 4788Goto, n.: 4789 A programming tool that exists to allow structured programmers 4790to complain about unstructured programmers. 4791 -- Ray Simard 4792% 4793Government [is] an illusion the governed should not encourage. 4794 -- John Updike, "Couples" 4795% 4796Government lies, and newspapers lie, but in a democracy they are 4797different lies. 4798% 4799Government spending? I don't know what it's all about. I don't know 4800any more about this thing than an economist does, and, God knows, he 4801doesn't know much. 4802 -- Will Rogers 4803% 4804Grabel's Law: 4805 2 is not equal to 3 -- not even for large values of 2. 4806% 4807Graduate life -- it's not just a job, it's an indenture. 4808% 4809Graduate life: It's not just a job. It's an indenture. 4810% 4811Grandpa Charnock's Law: 4812 You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive. 4813% 4814Gravity is a myth: the Earth sucks. 4815% 4816Gray's Law of Programming: 4817 `_n+1' trivial tasks are expected to be accomplished in the same 4818time as `_n' tasks. 4819 4820Logg's Rebuttal to Gray's Law: 4821 `_n+1' trivial tasks take twice as long as `_n' trivial tasks. 4822% 4823Great minds run in great circles. 4824% 4825 GREAT MOMENTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY #21 -- July 30, 1917 4826 4827On this day, New York City hotel detectives burst in and caught then- 4828Senator Warren G. Harding in bed with an underage girl. He bought them 4829off with a $20 bribe, and later remarked thankfully, "I thought I 4830wouldn't get out of that under $1000!" Always one to learn from his 4831mistakes, in later years President Harding carried on his affairs in a 4832tiny closet in the White House Cabinet Room while Secret Service men 4833stood lookout. 4834% 4835Green light in A.M. for new projects. 4836Red light in P.M. for traffic tickets. 4837% 4838Greener's Law: 4839 Never argue with a man who buys ink by the barrel. 4840% 4841Grelb's Reminder: 4842 Eighty percent of all people consider themselves to be above 4843average drivers. 4844% 4845Grub first, then ethics. 4846 -- Bertolt Brecht 4847% 4848Gurmlish, n.: 4849 The red warning flag at the top of a club sandwich which 4850prevents the person from biting into it and puncturing the roof of his 4851mouth. 4852 -- Rich Hall & Friends, "Sniglets" 4853% 4854Gyroscope, n.: 4855 A wheel or disk mounted to spin rapidly about an axis and also 4856free to rotate about one or both of two axes perpendicular to each 4857other and the axis of spin so that a rotation of one of the two 4858mutually perpendicular axes results from application of torque to the 4859other when the wheel is spinning and so that the entire apparatus 4860offers considerable opposition depending on the angular momentum to any 4861torque that would change the direction of the axis of spin. 4862 -- Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary 4863% 4864H. L. Mencken suffers from the hallucination that he is H. L. 4865Mencken -- there is no cure for a disease of that magnitude. 4866 -- Maxwell Bodenheim 4867% 4868H. L. Mencken's Law: 4869 Those who can -- do. 4870 Those who can't -- teach. 4871 4872Martin's Extension: 4873 Those who cannot teach -- administrate. 4874% 4875H: If a 'GOBLIN (HOB) waylays you, 4876 Slice him up before he slays you. 4877 Nothing makes you look a slob 4878 Like running from a HOB'LIN (GOB). 4879 -- The Roguelet's ABC 4880% 4881Hacker's Law: 4882 The belief that enhanced understanding will necessarily stir a 4883nation to action is one of mankind's oldest illusions. 4884% 4885Hacking's just another word for nothing left to kludge. 4886% 4887Had this been an actual emergency, we would have fled in terror, 4888and you would not have been informed. 4889% 4890Hail to the sun god 4891He sure is a fun god 4892Ra! Ra! Ra! 4893% 4894Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And hain't that a big 4895enough majority in any town? 4896 -- Mark Twain, "Huckleberry Finn" 4897% 4898Half Moon tonight. (At least it's better than no Moon at all.) 4899% 4900Half-done: 4901 This is the best way to eat a kosher dill -- when it's still 4902crunchy, light green, yet full of garlic flavor. The difference 4903between this and the typical soggy dark green cucumber corpse is like 4904the difference between life and death. 4905 You may find it difficult to find a good half-done kosher dill 4906there in Seattle, so what you should do is take a cab out to the 4907airport, fly to New York, take the JFK Express to Jay Street-Borough 4908Hall, transfer to an uptown F, get off at East Broadway, walk north on 4909Essex (along the park), make your first left onto Hester Street, walk 4910about fifteen steps, turn ninety degrees left, and stop. Say to the 4911man, "Let me have a nice half-done." 4912 Worth the trouble, wasn't it? 4913 -- Arthur Naiman, "Every Goy's Guide to Yiddish" 4914% 4915Hall's Laws of Politics: 4916 (1) The voters want fewer taxes and more spending. 4917 (2) Citizens want honest politicians until they want something 4918 fixed. 4919 (3) Constituency drives out consistency (i.e., liberals defend 4920 military spending, and conservatives social spending in 4921 their own districts). 4922% 4923Hand, n.: 4924 A singular instrument worn at the end of a human arm and 4925commonly thrust into somebody's pocket. 4926 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 4927% 4928Hanlon's Razor: 4929 Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by 4930stupidity. 4931% 4932Hanson's Treatment of Time: 4933 There are never enough hours in a day, but always too many days 4934before Saturday. 4935% 4936Happiness is having a scratch for every itch. 4937 -- Ogden Nash 4938% 4939Happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember. 4940 -- Oscar Levant 4941% 4942Happiness, n.: 4943 An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of 4944another. 4945 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 4946% 4947Hard work may not kill you, but why take chances? 4948% 4949Hardware, n.: 4950 The parts of a computer system that can be kicked. 4951% 4952Hark ye, Clinker, you are a most notorious offender. You stand 4953convicted of sickness, hunger, wretchedness, and want. 4954 -- Tobias Smollet 4955% 4956Hark, Hark, the dogs do bark 4957The Duke is fond of kittens 4958He likes to take their insides out 4959And use them for his mittens 4960 From "The Thirteen Clocks" 4961% 4962Hark, the Herald Tribune sings, 4963Advertising wondrous things. 4964 -- Tom Lehrer 4965% 4966Harris's Lament: 4967 All the good ones are taken. 4968% 4969Harrisberger's Fourth Law of the Lab: 4970 Experience is directly proportional to the amount of equipment 4971ruined. 4972% 4973Harry is heavily into camping, and every year in the late fall, he 4974makes us all go to Assateague, which is an island on the Atlantic Ocean 4975famous for its wild horses. I realize that the concept of wild horses 4976probably stirs romantic notions in many of you, but this is because you 4977have never met any wild horses in person. In person, they are like 4978enormous hooved rats. They amble up to your camp site, and their 4979attitude is: "We're wild horses. We're going to eat your food, knock 4980down your tent and poop on your shoes. We're protected by federal law, 4981just like Richard Nixon." 4982 -- Dave Barry, "Tenting Grandpa Bob" 4983% 4984Hartley's First Law: 4985 You can lead a horse to water, but if you can get him to float 4986on his back, you've got something. 4987% 4988Hartley's Second Law: 4989 Never sleep with anyone crazier than yourself. 4990% 4991Harvard Law: 4992 Under the most rigorously controlled conditions of pressure, 4993temperature, volume, humidity, and other variables, the organism will 4994do as it damn well pleases. 4995% 4996"Has anyone had problems with the computer accounts?" 4997"Yes, I don't have one." 4998"Okay, you can send mail to one of the tutors ..." 4999 -- E. D'Azevedo, Computer Science 372 5000% 5001Has everyone noticed that all the letters of the word "database" are 5002typed with the left hand? Now the layout of the QWERTYUIOP typewriter 5003keyboard was designed, among other things, to facilitate the even use 5004of both hands. It follows, therefore, that writing about databases is 5005not only unnatural, but a lot harder than it appears. 5006% 5007 Has your family tried 'em? 5008 5009 POWDERMILK BISCUITS 5010 5011 Heavens, they're tasty and expeditious! 5012 5013 They're made from whole wheat, to give shy persons the 5014 strength to get up and do what needs to be done. 5015 5016 POWDERMILK BISCUITS 5017 5018 Buy them ready-made in the big blue box with the picture of the 5019 biscuit on the front, or in the brown bag with the dark stains 5020 that indicate freshness. 5021% 5022Hatred, n.: 5023 A sentiment appropriate to the occasion of another's 5024superiority. 5025 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 5026% 5027Have an adequate day. 5028% 5029Have people realized that the purpose of the fortune cookie program is 5030to defuse project tensions? When did you ever see a cheerful cookie, a 5031non-cynical, or even an informative cookie? 5032 5033Perhaps inadvertently, we have a channel for our aggressions. This 5034still begs the question of whether the cookie releases the pressure or 5035only serves to blunt the warning signs. 5036 5037 Long live the revolution! 5038 Have a nice day. 5039% 5040Have you ever noticed that the people who are always trying to tell 5041you, "There's a time for work and a time for play," never find the time 5042for play? 5043% 5044Have you ever wondered what makes Californians so calm? Besides drugs, 5045I mean. The answer is hot tubs. A hot tub is a redwood container 5046filled with water that you sit in naked with members of the opposite 5047sex, none of whom is necessarily your spouse. After a few hours in 5048their hot tubs, Californians don't give a damn about earthquakes or 5049mass murderers. They don't give a damn about anything, which is why 5050they are able to produce "Laverne and Shirley" week after week. 5051 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 5052% 5053"Have you lived here all your life?" 5054"Oh, twice that long." 5055% 5056Have you noticed that all you need to grow healthy, vigorous grass is a 5057crack in your sidewalk? 5058% 5059Have you noticed the way people's intelligence capabilities decline 5060sharply the minute they start waving guns around? 5061 -- Dr. Who 5062% 5063Have you reconsidered a computer career? 5064% 5065He did decide, though, that with more time and a great deal of mental 5066effort, he could probably turn the activity into an acceptable 5067perversion. 5068 -- Mick Farren, "When Gravity Fails" 5069% 5070He flung himself on his horse and rode madly off in all directions. 5071 -- Stephen Leacock 5072% 5073He had occasional flashes of silence that made his conversation 5074perfectly delightful. 5075 -- Sydney Smith 5076% 5077He had that rare weird electricity about him -- that extremely wild and 5078heavy presence that you only see in a person who has abandoned all hope 5079of ever behaving "normally." 5080 -- Hunter S. Thompson, "Fear and Loathing '72" 5081% 5082He hadn't a single redeeming vice. 5083 -- Oscar Wilde 5084% 5085He is now rising from affluence to poverty. 5086 -- Mark Twain 5087% 5088He looked at me as if I was a side dish he hadn't ordered. 5089% 5090He played the king as if afraid someone else would play the ace. 5091 -- John Mason Brown, drama critic 5092% 5093He thought he saw an albatross 5094That fluttered 'round the lamp. 5095He looked again and saw it was 5096A penny postage stamp. 5097"You'd best be getting home," he said, 5098"The nights are rather damp." 5099% 5100He was a fiddler, and consequently a rogue. 5101 -- Jonathan Swift 5102% 5103He was a modest, good-humored boy. It was Oxford that made him insufferable. 5104% 5105He was so narrow minded he could see through a keyhole with both eyes. 5106% 5107He who attacks the fundamentals of the American broadcasting industry 5108attacks democracy itself. 5109 -- William S. Paley, chairman of CBS 5110% 5111He who Laughs, Lasts. 5112% 5113He's just a politician trying to save both his faces ... 5114% 5115He's the kind of guy, that, well, if you were ever in a jam he'd be 5116there ... with two slices of bread and some chunky peanut butter. 5117% 5118He's the kind of man for the times that need the kind of man he is ... 5119% 5120HE: Let's end it all, bequeathin' our brains to science. 5121SHE: What?!? Science got enough trouble with their ___OWN brains. 5122 -- Walt Kelley 5123% 5124Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die. 5125% 5126Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying 5127of nothing. 5128 -- Redd Foxx 5129% 5130Heaven, n.: 5131 A place where the wicked cease from troubling you with talk of 5132their personal affairs, and the good listen with attention while you 5133expound your own. 5134 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 5135% 5136Heavy, adj.: 5137 Seduced by the chocolate side of the force. 5138% 5139Heisenberg may have slept here. 5140% 5141Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned. 5142 -- Milton Friedman 5143% 5144Heller's Law: 5145 The first myth of management is that it exists. 5146 5147Johnson's Corollary: 5148 Nobody really knows what is going on anywhere within the 5149organization. 5150% 5151"Hello," he lied. 5152 -- Don Carpenter quoting a Hollywood agent 5153% 5154Help a swallow land at Capistrano. 5155% 5156Help fight continental drift. 5157% 5158Help me, I'm a prisoner in a Fortune cookie file! 5159% 5160Help stamp out and abolish redundancy. 5161% 5162Help! I'm trapped in a PDP 11/70! 5163% 5164HELP! MY TYPEWRITER IS BROKEN! 5165 -- E. E. CUMMINGS 5166% 5167Her locks an ancient lady gave 5168Her loving husband's life to save; 5169And men -- they honored so the dame -- 5170Upon some stars bestowed her name. 5171 5172But to our modern married fair, 5173Who'd give their lords to save their hair, 5174No stellar recognition's given. 5175There are not stars enough in heaven. 5176% 5177Here at the Phone Company, we serve all kinds of people; from 5178Presidents and Kings to the scum of the earth ... 5179% 5180Here I sit, broken-hearted, 5181All logged in, but work unstarted. 5182First net.this and net.that, 5183And a hot buttered bun for net.fat. 5184 5185The boss comes by, and I play the game, 5186Then I turn back to net.flame. 5187Is there a cure (I need your views), 5188For someone trapped in net.news? 5189 5190I need your help, I say 'tween sobs, 5191'Cause I'll soon be listed in net.jobs. 5192% 5193Here in my heart, I am Helen; 5194 I'm Aspasia and Hero, at least. 5195I'm Judith, and Jael, and Madame de Sta"el; 5196 I'm Salome, moon of the East. 5197 5198Here in my soul I am Sappho; 5199 Lady Hamilton am I, as well. 5200In me R'ecamier vies with Kitty O'Shea, 5201 With Dido, and Eve, and poor nell. 5202 5203I'm all of the glamorous ladies 5204 At whose beckoning history shook. 5205But you are a man, and see only my pan, 5206 So I stay at home with a book. 5207 -- Dorothy Parker 5208% 5209Here is a simple experiment that will teach you an important electrical 5210lesson: On a cool, dry day, scuff your feet along a carpet, then reach 5211your hand into a friend's mouth and touch one of his dental fillings. 5212Did you notice how your friend twitched violently and cried out in 5213pain? This teaches us that electricity can be a very powerful force, 5214but we must never use it to hurt others unless we need to learn an 5215important electrical lesson. 5216 5217It also teaches us how an electrical circuit works. When you scuffed 5218your feet, you picked up batches of "electrons", which are very small 5219objects that carpet manufacturers weave into carpets so they will 5220attract dirt. The electrons travel through your bloodstream and 5221collect in your finger, where they form a spark that leaps to your 5222friend's filling, then travels down to his feet and back into the 5223carpet, thus completing the circuit. 5224 5225Amazing Electronic Fact: If you scuffed your feet long enough without 5226touching anything, you would build up so many electrons that your 5227finger would explode! But this is nothing to worry about unless you 5228have carpeting. 5229 -- Dave Barry, "What is Electricity?" 5230% 5231 Here is the fact of the week, maybe even the fact of the 5232month. According to probably reliable sources, the Coca-Cola people 5233are experiencing severe marketing anxiety in China. 5234 The words "Coca-Cola" translate into Chinese as either 5235(depending on the inflection) "wax-fattened mare" or "bite the wax 5236tadpole". 5237 Bite the wax tadpole. 5238 There is a sort of rough justice, is there not? 5239 The trouble with this fact, as lovely as it is, is that it's 5240hard to get a whole column out of it. I'd like to teach the world to 5241bite a wax tadpole. Coke -- it's the real wax-fattened mare. Not bad, 5242but broad satiric vistas do not open up. 5243 -- John Carroll, San Francisco Chronicle 5244% 5245Here's something to think about: How come you never see a headline like 5246`Psychic Wins Lottery'? 5247 -- Jay Leno 5248% 5249Heuristics are bug ridden by definition. If they didn't have bugs, 5250then they'd be algorithms. 5251% 5252Hey! Who took the cork off my lunch??! 5253 -- W. C. Fields 5254% 5255Hi there! This is just a note from me, to you, to tell you, the person 5256reading this note, that I can't think up any more famous quotes, jokes, 5257nor bizarre stories, so you may as well go home. 5258% 5259"Hi, I'm Preston A. Mantis, president of Consumers Retail Law Outlet. 5260As you can see by my suit and the fact that I have all these books of 5261equal height on the shelves behind me, I am a trained legal attorney. 5262Do you have a car or a job? Do you ever walk around? If so, you 5263probably have the makings of an excellent legal case. Although of 5264course every case is different, I would definitely say that based on my 5265experience and training, there's no reason why you shouldn't come out 5266of this thing with at least a cabin cruiser. 5267 5268"Remember, at the Preston A. Mantis Consumers Retail Law Outlet, our 5269motto is: 'It is very difficult to disprove certain kinds of pain.'" 5270 -- Dave Barry, "Pain and Suffering" 5271% 5272Hier liegt ein Mann ganz ohnegleich; 5273Im Leibe dick, an Suenden reich. 5274Wir haben ihn in das Grab gesteckt, Here lies a man with sundry flaws 5275Weil es uns duenkt, er sei verreckt. And numerous Sins upon his head; 5276 We buried him today because 5277 As far as we can tell, he's dead. 5278 -- PDQ Bach's epitaph, as requested by his cousin Betty-Sue 5279 Bach and written by the local doggerel catcher; 5280 "The Definitive Biography of PDQ Bach", Peter Schickele 5281% 5282Higgledy Piggledy, 5283Hamlet of Elsinore 5284Ruffled the critics by 5285Dropping this bomb: 5286"Phooey on Freud and his 5287Psychoanalysis -- 5288Oedipus, Shmoedipus, 5289I just loved Mom." 5290% 5291Hindsight is an exact science. 5292% 5293Hippogriff, n.: 5294 An animal (now extinct) which was half horse and half griffin. 5295The griffin was itself a compound creature, half lion and half eagle. 5296The hippogriff was actually, therefore, only one quarter eagle, which 5297is two dollars and fifty cents in gold. The study of zoology is full 5298of surprises. 5299 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 5300% 5301Hire the morally handicapped. 5302% 5303His great aim was to escape from civilization, and, as soon as he had 5304money, he went to Southern California. 5305% 5306His mind is like a steel trap -- full of mice. 5307 -- Foghorn Leghorn 5308% 5309His super power is to turn into a scotch terrier. 5310% 5311History is curious stuff 5312 You'd think by now we had enough 5313Yet the fact remains I fear 5314 They make more of it every year. 5315% 5316History repeats itself. That's one thing wrong with history. 5317% 5318History, n.: 5319 Papa Hegel he say that all we learn from history is that we 5320learn nothing from history. I know people who can't even learn from 5321what happened this morning. Hegel must have been taking the long 5322view. 5323 -- Chad C. Mulligan, "The Hipcrime Vocab" 5324% 5325Hlade's Law: 5326 If you have a difficult task, give it to a lazy person -- they 5327will find an easier way to do it. 5328% 5329Hoare's Law of Large Problems: 5330 Inside every large problem is a small problem struggling to get out. 5331% 5332Hofstadter's Law: 5333 It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take 5334Hofstadter's Law into account. 5335% 5336Hollywood is where if you don't have happiness you send out for it. 5337 -- Rex Reed 5338% 5339 Home centers are designed for the do-it-yourselfer who's 5340willing to pay higher prices for the convenience of being able to shop 5341for lumber, hardware, and toasters all in one location. Notice I say 5342"shop for", as opposed to "obtain". This is the major drawback of home 5343centers: they are always out of everything except artificial Christmas 5344trees. The home center employees have no time to reorder merchandise 5345because they are too busy applying little price stickers to every 5346object -- every board, washer, nail and screw -- in the entire store ... 5347 Let's say a piece in your toilet tank breaks, so you remove the 5348broken part, take it to the home center, and ask an employee if he has 5349a replacement. The employee, who has never in his life even seen the 5350inside of a toilet tank, will peer at the broken part in very much the 5351same way that a member of a primitive Amazon jungle tribe would look at 5352an electronic calculator, and then say, "We're expecting a shipment of 5353these sometime around the middle of next week". 5354 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 5355% 5356Home of Doberman Propulsion Laboratories: 5357The ultimate in watchdog weaponry. 5358 -- Chris Shaw 5359% 5360Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense. 5361% 5362Honesty pays, but it doesn't seem to pay enough to suit some people. 5363 -- F. M. Hubbard 5364% 5365Honk if you hate bumper stickers that say "Honk if ..." 5366% 5367Honk if you love peace and quiet. 5368% 5369Honorable, adj.: 5370 Afflicted with an impediment in one's reach. In legislative 5371bodies, it is customary to mention all members as honorable; as, "the 5372honorable gentleman is a scurvy cur." 5373 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 5374% 5375Horngren's Observation: 5376 Among economists, the real world is often a special case. 5377% 5378Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on 5379people. 5380 -- W. C. Fields 5381% 5382Horses are forbidden to eat fire hydrants in Marshalltown, Iowa. 5383% 5384Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed. 5385 -- Neil Armstrong 5386% 5387How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all? 5388% 5389How come only your friends step on your new white sneakers? 5390% 5391How come wrong numbers are never busy? 5392% 5393How do I love thee? My accumulator overflows. 5394% 5395How do you explain school to a higher intelligence? 5396 -- Elliot, "E.T." 5397% 5398How doth the little crocodile 5399 Improve his shining tail, 5400And pour the waters of the Nile 5401 On every golden scale! 5402 5403How cheerfully he seems to grin, 5404 How neatly spreads his claws, 5405And welcomes little fishes in, 5406 With gently smiling jaws! 5407 -- Lewis Carroll, "Alice in Wonderland" 5408% 5409How doth the VAX's C compiler 5410Improve its object code. 5411And even as we speak does it 5412Increase the system load. 5413 5414How patiently it seems to run 5415And spit out error flags, 5416While users, with frustration, all 5417Tear their clothes to rags. 5418% 5419How I love to watch the morn, 5420 With golden sun that shines, 5421Up above to nicely warm 5422 These frosty toes of mine. 5423 5424The wind doth taste so bitter sweet, 5425 Like Jaspar wine and sugar, 5426It must have blown through someone's feet, 5427 Like those of ... Caspar Weinberger. 5428 -- P. Opus (Bloom County) 5429% 5430How doth the VAX's C-compiler 5431Improve its object code. 5432And even as we speak does it 5433Increase the system load. 5434 5435How patiently it seems to run 5436And spit out error flags, 5437While users, with frustration, all 5438Tear all their clothes to rags. 5439% 5440How long a minute is depends on which side of the bathroom door you're 5441on. 5442% 5443How many hardware engineers does it take to change a lightbulb? 5444None: "We'll fix it in software." 5445 5446How many software engineers does it take to change a lightbulb? 5447None: "We'll document it in the manual." 5448 5449How many tech writers does it take to change a lightbulb? 5450None: "The user can work it out." 5451% 5452How many hors d'oeuvres you are allowed to take off a tray being 5453carried by a waiter at a nice party? 5454 5455Two, but there are ways around it, depending on the style of the hors 5456d'oeuvre. If they're those little pastry things where you can't tell 5457what's inside, you take one, bite off about two-thirds of it, then 5458say: "This is cheese! I hate cheese!" Then you put the rest of it 5459back on the tray and bite another one and go, "Darn it! Another 5460cheese!" and so on. 5461 -- Dave Barry, "The Stuff of Etiquette" 5462% 5463 How many seconds are there in a year? If I tell you there are 54643.155 x 10^7, you won't even try to remember it. On the other hand, 5465who could forget that, to within half a percent, pi seconds is a 5466nanocentury. 5467 -- Tom Duff, Bell Labs 5468% 5469How much does it cost to entice a dope-smoking UNIX system guru to Dayton? 5470 -- Brian Boyle, UNIX/WORLD's First Annual Salary Survey 5471% 5472How wonderful opera would be if there were no singers. 5473% 5474HOW YOU CAN TELL THAT IT'S GOING TO BE A ROTTEN DAY: 5475 #1040 Your income tax refund cheque bounces. 5476% 5477HOW YOU CAN TELL THAT IT'S GOING TO BE A ROTTEN DAY: 5478 #15 Your pet rock snaps at you. 5479% 5480HOW YOU CAN TELL THAT IT'S GOING TO BE A ROTTEN DAY: 5481 #32: You call your answering service and they've never heard of you. 5482% 5483Howe's Law: 5484 Everyone has a scheme that will not work. 5485% 5486However, never daunted, I will cope with adversity in my traditional 5487manner ... sulking and nausea. 5488 -- Tom K. Ryan 5489% 5490HR 3128. Omnibus Budget Reconciliation, Fiscal 1986. Martin, R-Ill., 5491motion that the House recede from its disagreement to the Senate 5492amendment making changes in the bill to reduce fiscal 1986 deficits. 5493The Senate amendment was an amendment to the House amendment to the 5494Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate amendment to the 5495bill. The original Senate amendment was the conference agreement on 5496the bill. Agreed to. 5497 -- Albuquerque Journal 5498% 5499 Hug O' War 5500 5501I will not play at tug o' war. 5502I'd rather play at hug o' war, 5503Where everyone hugs 5504Instead of tugs, 5505Where everyone giggles 5506And rolls on the rug, 5507Where everyone kisses, 5508And everyone grins, 5509And everyone cuddles, 5510And everyone wins. 5511 -- Shel Silverstein 5512% 5513Human beings were created by water to transport it uphill. 5514% 5515Human cardiac catheterization was introduced by Werner Forssman in 55161929. Ignoring his department chief, and tying his assistant to an 5517operating table to prevent his interference, he placed a urethral 5518catheter into a vein in his arm, advanced it to the right atrium [of 5519his heart], and walked upstairs to the x-ray department where he took 5520the confirmatory x-ray film. In 1956, Dr. Forssman was awarded the 5521Nobel Prize. 5522% 5523Hummingbirds never remember the words to songs. 5524% 5525Humor is a drug which it's the fashion to abuse. 5526 -- William Gilbert 5527% 5528Hurewitz's Memory Principle: 5529 The chance of forgetting something is directly proportional 5530to ..... to ........ uh .............. 5531% 5532I also believe that academic freedom should protect the right of a 5533professor or student to advocate Marxism, socialism, communism, or any 5534other minority viewpoint -- no matter how distasteful to the majority. 5535 -- Richard M. Nixon 5536 5537What are our schools for if not indoctrination against Communism? 5538 -- Richard M. Nixon 5539% 5540I am convinced that the manufacturers of carpet odor removing powder 5541have included encapsulated time released cat urine in their products. 5542This technology must be what prevented its distribution during my mom's 5543reign. My carpet smells like piss, and I don't have a cat. Better go 5544buy some more. 5545 -- timw@zeb.USWest.COM 5546% 5547I am more bored than you could ever possibly be. Go back to work. 5548% 5549I am not an Economist. I am an honest man! 5550 -- Paul McCracken 5551% 5552I am not now, and never have been, a girlfriend of Henry Kissinger. 5553 -- Gloria Steinem 5554% 5555I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of the demigodic party. 5556 -- Dennis M. Ritchie 5557% 5558I am not sure what this is, but an `F' would only dignify it. 5559 -- English Professor 5560% 5561I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the 5562great ordeal of meeting me is another matter. 5563 -- Winston Churchill 5564% 5565I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone 5566has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top. 5567 -- English Professor, Ohio University 5568% 5569I am so optimistic about beef prices that I've just leased a pot roast 5570with an option to buy. 5571% 5572I am the mother of all things, and all things should wear a sweater. 5573% 5574I am, in point of fact, a particularly haughty and exclusive person, 5575of pre-Adamite ancestral descent. You will understand this when I tell 5576you that I can trace my ancestry back to a protoplasmal primordial 5577atomic globule. Consequently, my family pride is something 5578inconceivable. I can't help it. I was born sneering. 5579 -- Pooh-Bah, "The Mikado", Gilbert & Sullivan 5580% 5581I appreciate the fact that this draft was done in haste, but some of 5582the sentences that you are sending out in the world to do your work for 5583you are loitering in taverns or asleep beside the highway. 5584 -- Dr. Dwight Van de Vate, Professor of Philosophy, 5585 University of Tennessee at Knoxville 5586% 5587I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends. I can win an 5588argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and 5589steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, 5590they don't even invite me. 5591 -- Dave Barry 5592% 5593I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean. 5594 -- G. K. Chesterton 5595% 5596I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat. 5597 -- Will Rogers 5598% 5599I bet the human brain is a kludge. 5600 -- Marvin Minsky 5601% 5602I brake for chezlogs! 5603% 5604I call them as I see them. If I can't see them, I make them up. 5605 -- Biff Barf 5606% 5607I can feel for her because, although I have never been an Alaskan 5608prostitute dancing on the bar in a spangled dress, I still get very 5609bored with washing and ironing and dishwashing and cooking day after 5610relentless day. 5611 -- Betty MacDonald 5612% 5613I can read your mind, and you should be ashamed of yourself. 5614% 5615I can remember when a good politician had to be 75 percent ability and 561625 percent actor, but I can well see the day when the reverse could be 5617true. 5618 -- Harry S. Truman 5619% 5620I can resist anything but temptation. 5621% 5622I can't complain, but sometimes I still do. 5623 -- Joe Walsh 5624% 5625I can't decide whether to commit suicide or go bowling. 5626 -- Florence Henderson 5627% 5628I can't understand it. I can't even understand the people who can 5629understand it. 5630 -- Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. 5631% 5632I can't understand why a person will take a year or two to write a 5633novel when he can easily buy one for a few dollars. 5634 -- Fred Allen 5635% 5636I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions. 5637 -- Lillian Hellman 5638% 5639I cannot conceive that anybody will require multiplications at the rate 5640of 40,000 or even 4,000 per hour ... 5641 -- F. H. Wales (1936) 5642% 5643I cannot overemphasize the importance of good grammar. 5644 5645What a crock. I could easily overemphasize the importance of good 5646grammar. For example, I could say: "Bad grammar is the leading cause 5647of slow, painful death in North America," or "Without good grammar, the 5648United States would have lost World War II." 5649 -- Dave Barry, "An Utterly Absurd Look at Grammar" 5650% 5651 "I cannot read the fiery letters," said Frito Bugger in a 5652quavering voice. 5653 "No," said GoodGulf, "but I can. The letters are Elvish, of 5654course, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Mordor, which 5655I will not utter here. They are lines of a verse long known in 5656Elven-lore: 5657 5658 "This Ring, no other, is made by the elves, 5659 Who'd pawn their own mother to grab it themselves. 5660 Ruler of creeper, mortal, and scallop, 5661 This is a sleeper that packs quite a wallop. 5662 The Power almighty rests in this Lone Ring. 5663 The Power, alrighty, for doing your Own Thing. 5664 If broken or busted, it cannot be remade. 5665 If found, send to Sorhed (with postage prepaid)." 5666 -- Harvard Lampoon, "Bored of the Rings" 5667% 5668I changed my headlights the other day. I put in strobe lights 5669instead! Now when I drive at night, it looks like everyone else is 5670standing still ... 5671 -- Steven Wright 5672% 5673I could dance till the cows come home. On second thought, I'd rather 5674dance with the cows till you come home. 5675 -- Groucho Marx 5676% 5677I couldn't remember when I had been so disappointed. Except perhaps 5678the time I found out that M&Ms really *do* melt in your hand ... 5679 -- Peter Oakley 5680% 5681I didn't know it was impossible when I did it. 5682% 5683I didn't like the play, but I saw it under adverse conditions. The 5684curtain was up. 5685% 5686 I disapprove of the F-word, not because it's dirty, but because 5687we use it as a substitute for thoughtful insults, and it frequently 5688leads to violence. What we ought to do, when we anger each other, say, 5689in traffic, is exchange phone numbers, so that later on, when we've had 5690time to think of witty and learned insults or look them up in the 5691library, we could call each other up: 5692 5693 You: Hello? Bob? 5694 Bob: Yes? 5695 You: This is Ed. Remember? The person whose parking space you 5696 took last Thursday? Outside of Sears? 5697 Bob: Oh yes! Sure! How are you, Ed? 5698 You: Fine, thanks. Listen, Bob, the reason I'm calling is: 5699 "Madam, you may be drunk, but I am ugly, and ..." No, wait. 5700 I mean: "you may be ugly, but I am Winston Churchill 5701 and ..." No, wait. (Sound of reference book thudding onto 5702 the floor.) S-word. Excuse me. Look, Bob, I'm going to 5703 have to get back to you. 5704 Bob: Fine. 5705 -- Dave Barry, "$#$%#^%!^%&@%@!" 5706% 5707I do hate sums. There is no greater mistake than to call arithmetic an 5708exact science. There are permutations and aberrations discernible to 5709minds entirely noble like mine; subtle variations which ordinary 5710accountants fail to discover; hidden laws of number which it requires a 5711mind like mine to perceive. For instance, if you add a sum from the 5712bottom up, and then again from the top down, the result is always 5713different. 5714 -- Mrs. La Touche (19th cent.) 5715% 5716I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them. 5717 -- Isaac Asimov 5718% 5719I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us 5720with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use. 5721 -- Galileo Galilei 5722% 5723I do not know myself, and God forbid that I should. 5724 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 5725% 5726I don't believe in astrology. But then I'm an Aquarius, and Aquarians 5727don't believe in astrology. 5728 -- James R. F. Quirk 5729% 5730I don't believe there really IS a GAS SHORTAGE.. I think it's all just 5731a BIG HOAX on the part of the plastic sign salesmen -- to sell more 5732numbers!! 5733% 5734I don't care for the Sugar Smacks commercial. I don't like the idea of 5735a frog jumping on my Breakfast. 5736 -- Lowell, Chicago Reader 10/15/82 5737% 5738I don't care who does the electing as long as I get to do the 5739nominating. 5740 -- Boss Tweed 5741% 5742I don't have any solution but I certainly admire the problem. 5743 -- Ashleigh Brilliant 5744% 5745I don't have to take this abuse from you -- I've got hundreds of 5746people waiting to abuse me. 5747 -- Bill Murray, "Ghostbusters" 5748% 5749I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to. 5750 -- Elvis Presley 5751% 5752 "I don't know what you mean by `glory,'" Alice said 5753 Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't -- 5754till I tell you. I meant `there's a nice knock-down argument for 5755you!'" 5756 "But glory doesn't mean `a nice knock-down argument,'" Alice 5757objected. 5758 "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful 5759tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor 5760less." 5761 "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean 5762so many different things." 5763 "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master-- 5764that's all." 5765 -- Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass" 5766% 5767I don't like spinach, and I'm glad I don't, because if I liked it I'd 5768eat it, and I just hate it. 5769 -- Clarence Darrow 5770% 5771I don't mind going nowhere as long as it's an interesting path. 5772 -- Ronald Mabbitt 5773% 5774I don't mind what Congress does, as long as they don't do it in the 5775streets and frighten the horses. 5776 -- Victor Hugo 5777% 5778I don't object to sex before marriage, but two minutes before?!? 5779% 5780"I don't think so," said Ren'e Descartes. Just then, he vanished. 5781% 5782I don't think they could put him in a mental hospital. On the other 5783hand, if he were already in, I don't think they'd let him out. 5784% 5785I don't want to alarm anybody, but there is an excellent chance that 5786the Earth will be destroyed in the next several days. Congress is 5787thinking about eliminating a federal program under which scientists 5788broadcast signals to alien beings. This would be a large mistake. 5789Alien beings have nuclear blaster death cannons. You cannot cut off 5790their federal programs as if they were merely poor people ... 5791 -- Davy Barry, "THE ALIENS ARE COMING, THE ALIENS ARE 5792 COMING!" 5793% 5794I doubt, therefore I might be. 5795% 5796I dread success. To have succeeded is to have finished one's business 5797on earth, like the male spider, who is killed by the female the moment 5798he has succeeded in his courtship. I like a state of continual 5799becoming, with a goal in front and not behind. 5800 -- George Bernard Shaw 5801% 5802I drink to make other people interesting. 5803 -- George Jean Nathan 5804% 5805I fell asleep reading a dull book, and I dreamt that I was reading on, 5806so I woke up from sheer boredom. 5807% 5808I for one cannot protest the recent M.T.A. fare hike and the 5809accompanying promises that this would in no way improve service. For 5810the transit system, as it now operates, has hidden advantages that 5811can't be measured in monetary terms. 5812 5813Personally, I feel that it is well worth 75 cents or even $1 to have 5814that unimpeachable excuse whenever I am late to anything: "I came by 5815subway." Those four words have such magic in them that if Godot should 5816someday show up and mumble them, any audience would instantly 5817understand his long delay. 5818% 5819I found out why my car was humming. It had forgotten the words. 5820% 5821I gained nothing at all from Supreme Enlightenment, and for that very 5822reason it is called Supreme Enlightenment. 5823 -- Gautama Buddha 5824% 5825I gave up Smoking, Drinking and Sex. It was the most *__________horrifying* 20 5826minutes of my life! 5827% 5828I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it. 5829 -- Mae West 5830% 5831I get up each morning, gather my wits. 5832 Pick up the paper, read the obits. 5833If I'm not there I know I'm not dead. 5834 So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed. 5835% 5836I get up each morning, gather my wits. 5837Pick up the paper, read the obits. 5838If I'm not there I know I'm not dead. 5839So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed. 5840 5841Oh, how do I know my youth is all spent? 5842My get-up-and-go has got-up-and-went. 5843But in spite of it all, I'm able to grin, 5844And think of the places my get-up has been. 5845 -- Pete Seeger 5846% 5847I had this sudden vision of a klein pizza containing all the mozarella 5848in the world. 5849 -- Peter da Silva 5850% 5851I had to censor everything my sons watched ... even on the Mary Tyler 5852Moore show I heard the word 'damn'! 5853 -- Mary Lou Bax 5854% 5855I had to hit him -- he was starting to make sense. 5856% 5857I hate it when my foot falls asleep during the day cause that means 5858it's going to be up all night. 5859 -- Steven Wright 5860% 5861I hate quotations. 5862 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson 5863% 5864I have a simple philosophy: 5865 5866 Fill what's empty. 5867 Empty what's full. 5868 Scratch where it itches. 5869 -- A. R. Longworth 5870% 5871I have a very firm grasp on reality! I can reach out and strangle it 5872any time! 5873% 5874I have come up with a sure-fire concept for a hit television show, 5875which would be called `A Live Celebrity Gets Eaten by a Shark'. 5876 -- Dave Barry, "The Wonders of Sharks on TV" 5877% 5878I have discovered the art of deceiving diplomats. I tell them the truth 5879and they never believe me. 5880 -- Camillo Di Cavour 5881% 5882I have great faith in fools -- self confidence my friends call it. 5883 -- Edgar Allan Poe 5884% 5885I have just read your lousy review buried in the back pages. You 5886sound like a frustrated old man who never made a success, an 5887eight-ulcer man on a four-ulcer job, and all four ulcers working. I 5888have never met you, but if I do you'll need a new nose and plenty of 5889beefsteak and perhaps a supporter below. Westbrook Pegler, a 5890guttersnipe, is a gentleman compared to you. You can take that as more 5891of an insult than as a reflection on your ancestry. 5892 -- President Harry S. Truman 5893% 5894I have learned 5895To spell hors d'oeuvres 5896Which still grates on 5897Some people's n'oeuvres. 5898 -- Warren Knox 5899% 5900I have made mistakes but I have never made the mistake of claiming 5901that I have never made one. 5902 -- James Gordon Bennett 5903% 5904I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to 5905make it shorter. 5906 -- Blaise Pascal 5907% 5908I have more humility in my little finger than you have in your whole 5909____BODY! 5910 -- from "Cerebus" #82 5911% 5912I have seen the future and it is just like the present, only longer. 5913 -- Kehlog Albran, "The Profit" 5914% 5915I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best. 5916 -- Oscar Wilde 5917% 5918I have the world's largest collection of seashells. I keep it 5919scattered around the beaches of the world ... Perhaps you've seen it. 5920 -- Steven Wright 5921% 5922I have to convince you, or at least snow you ... 5923 -- Prof. Romas Aleliunas, CS 435 5924% 5925I have two very rare photographs: one is a picture of Houdini locking 5926his keys in his car; the other is a rare photograph of Norman Rockwell 5927beating up a child. 5928 -- Steven Wright 5929% 5930I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when looked 5931at in the right way, did not become still more complicated. 5932 -- Poul Anderson 5933% 5934I haven't lost my mind -- it's backed up on tape somewhere. 5935% 5936I haven't lost my mind; I know exactly where I left it. 5937% 5938I just forgot my whole philosophy of life!!! 5939% 5940I just need enough to tide me over until I need more. 5941 -- Bill Hoest 5942% 5943I know it all. I just can't remember it all at once. 5944% 5945I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World 5946War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. 5947 -- Albert Einstein 5948% 5949I know the answer! The answer lies within the heart of all mankind! 5950The answer is twelve? I think I'm in the wrong building. 5951 -- Charles Schulz 5952% 5953I like being single. I'm always there when I need me. 5954 -- Art Leo 5955% 5956I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to 5957promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want 5958peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of 5959the way and let them have it. 5960 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower 5961% 5962I like work ... I can sit and watch it for hours. 5963% 5964I like your game but we have to change the rules. 5965% 5966I love Saturday morning cartoons, what classic humour! This is what 5967entertainment is all about ... Idiots, explosives and falling anvils. 5968 -- Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson 5969% 5970"I love to eat them Smurfies 5971 Smurfies what I love to eat 5972 Bite they ugly heads off, 5973 Nibble on they bluish feet." 5974% 5975I may appear to be just sitting here like a bucket of tapioca, but 5976don't let appearances fool you. I'm approaching old age ... at the 5977speed of light. 5978 -- Prof. Cosmo Fishhawk 5979% 5980I may not be totally perfect, but parts of me are excellent. 5981 -- Ashleigh Brilliant 5982% 5983I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a 5984week sometimes to make it up. 5985 -- Mark Twain, "The Innocents Abroad" 5986% 5987I must have slipped a disk -- my pack hurts 5988% 5989I never fail to convince an audience that the best thing they could do 5990was to go away. 5991% 5992I never met a piece of chocolate I didn't like. 5993% 5994I often quote myself; it adds spice to my conversation. 5995 -- G. B. Shaw 5996% 5997I only touch base with reality on an as-needed basis! 5998 -- Royal Floyd Mengot (Klaus) 5999% 6000I played lead guitar in a band called The Federal Duck, which is the 6001kind of name that was popular in the '60s as a result of controlled 6002substances being in widespread use. Back then, there were no 6003restrictions, in terms of talent, on who could make an album, so we 6004made one, and it sounds like a group of people who have been given 6005powerful but unfamiliar instruments as a therapy for a degenerative 6006nerve disease. 6007 -- Dave Barry, "The Snake" 6008% 6009I predict that today will be remembered until tomorrow! 6010% 6011I profoundly believe it takes a lot of practice to become a moral slob. 6012 -- William F. Buckley 6013% 6014 "I quite agree with you," said the Duchess; "and the moral of 6015that is -- `Be what you would seem to be' -- or, if you'd like it put 6016more simply -- `Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it 6017might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not 6018otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be 6019otherwise.'" 6020 -- Lewis Carroll, "Alice in Wonderland" 6021% 6022I realize that the MX missile is none of our concern. I realize that 6023the whole point of living in a democracy is that we pay professional 6024congresspersons to concern themselves with things like the MX missile 6025so we can be free to concern ourselves with getting hold of the 6026plumber. 6027 6028But from time to time, I feel I must address major public issues such 6029as this, because in a free and open society, where the very future of 6030the world hinges on decisions made by our elected leaders, you never 6031win large cash journalism awards if you stick to the topics I usually 6032write about, such as nose-picking. 6033 -- Dave Barry, "At Last, the Ultimate Deterrent Against 6034 Political Fallout" 6035% 6036I really hate this damned machine 6037I wish that they would sell it. 6038It never does quite what I want 6039But only what I tell it. 6040% 6041I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person. 6042% 6043I see a good deal of talk from Washington about lowering taxes. I hope 6044they do get 'em lowered enough so people can afford to pay 'em. 6045 -- Will Rogers 6046% 6047I see the eigenvalue in thine eye, 6048I hear the tender tensor in thy sigh. 6049Bernoulli would have been content to die 6050Had he but known such _a-squared cos 2(phi)! 6051 -- Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad" 6052% 6053I sent a letter to the fish, 6054I told them, "This is what I wish." 6055The little fishes of the sea, 6056They sent an answer back to me. 6057The little fishes' answer was 6058"We cannot do it, sir, because ..." 6059I sent a letter back to say 6060It would be better to obey. 6061But someone came to me and said 6062"The little fishes are in bed." 6063I said to him, and I said it plain 6064"Then you must wake them up again." 6065I said it very loud and clear, 6066I went and shouted in his ear. 6067But he was very stiff and proud, 6068He said "You needn't shout so loud." 6069And he was very proud and stiff, 6070He said "I'll go and wake them if ..." 6071I took a kettle from the shelf, 6072I went to wake them up myself. 6073But when I found the door was locked 6074I pulled and pushed and kicked and knocked, 6075And when I found the door was shut, 6076I tried to turn the handle, But ... 6077 6078 "Is that all?" asked Alice. 6079 "That is all." said Humpty Dumpty. "Goodbye." 6080 -- Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass" 6081% 6082I shot an arrow into the air, and it stuck. 6083 -- Graffito in Los Angeles 6084% 6085"... I should explain that I was wearing a black velvet cape that was 6086supposed to make me look like the dashing, romantic Zorro but which 6087actually made me look like a gigantic bat wearing glasses ..." 6088 -- Dave Barry, "The Wet Zorro Suit and Other Turning 6089 Points in l'Amour" 6090% 6091I stayed up all night playing poker with tarot cards. I got a full 6092house and four people died. 6093 -- Steven Wright 6094% 6095I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to 6096see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph. 6097 -- Shirley Temple 6098% 6099I suggest you locate your hot tub outside your house, so it won't do 6100too much damage if it catches fire or explodes. First you decide which 6101direction your hot tub should face for maximum solar energy. After 6102much trial and error, I have found that the best direction for a hot 6103tub to face is up. 6104 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 6105% 6106I think it is true for all _n. I was just playing it safe with _n >= 3 6107because I couldn't remember the proof. 6108 -- Baker, Pure Math 351a 6109% 6110I think sex is better than logic, but I can't prove it. 6111% 6112I think that all good, right thinking people in this country are sick 6113and tired of being told that all good, right thinking people in this 6114country are fed up with being told that all good, right thinking people 6115in this country are fed up with being sick and tired. I'm certainly 6116not, and I'm sick and tired of being told that I am. 6117 -- Monty Python 6118% 6119I think that I shall never see 6120A billboard lovely as a tree. 6121Perhaps, unless the billboards fall 6122I'll never see a tree at all. 6123 -- Ogden Nash 6124% 6125I think that I shall never see 6126A thing as lovely as a tree. 6127But as you see the trees have gone 6128They went this morning with the dawn. 6129A logging firm from out of town 6130Came and chopped the trees all down. 6131But I will trick those dirty skunks 6132And write a brand new poem called 'Trunks'. 6133% 6134I think the sky is blue because it's a shift from black through purple 6135to blue, and it has to do with where the light is. You know, the 6136farther we get into darkness, and there's a shifting of color of light 6137into the blueness, and I think as you go farther and farther away from 6138the reflected light we have from the sun or the light that's bouncing 6139off this earth, uh, the darker it gets ... I think if you look at the 6140color scale, you start at black, move it through purple, move it on 6141out, it's the shifting of color. We mentioned before about the stars 6142singing, and that's one of the effects of the shifting of colors. 6143 -- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club 6144% 6145I think we can all agree that there is not enough common courtesy shown 6146... HEY! PAY ATTENTION WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU DAMMIT! I said I think 6147we can all agree that there is not enough common courtesy shown today. 6148When we take the time to be courteous to each other, we find that we 6149are happier and less likely to engage in nuclear war. This point was 6150driven home by the recent summit talks, where Nancy Reagan and Raisa 6151Gorbachev, each of whose husband thinks the other's husband is vermin, 6152were able to sit down at a high-level tea and engage in courteous 6153conversation ... 6154 -- Dave Barry, "The Stuff of Etiquette" 6155% 6156"I thought you were trying to get into shape." 6157"I am. The shape I've selected is a triangle." 6158% 6159 ... I told my doctor I got all the exercise I needed being a 6160pallbearer for all my friends who run and do exercises! 6161 -- Winston Churchill 6162% 6163I took a course in speed reading and was able to read War and Peace in 6164twenty minutes. It's about Russia. 6165 -- Woody Allen 6166% 6167I used to be an agnostic, but now I'm not so sure. 6168% 6169I used to get high on life but lately I've built up a resistance. 6170% 6171I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not so sure. 6172% 6173I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my 6174body. Then I realized who was telling me this. 6175 -- Emo Phillips 6176% 6177I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn't park anywhere 6178near the place. 6179 -- Steven Wright 6180% 6181I value kindness to human beings first of all, and kindness to 6182animals. I don't respect the law; I have a total irreverence for 6183anything connected with society except that which makes the roads 6184safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper, and old men and women 6185warmer in the winter, and happier in the summer. 6186 -- Brendan Behan 6187% 6188I want to buy a husband who, every week when I sit down to watch `St. 6189Elsewhere', won't scream, `FORGET IT, BLANCHE ... IT'S TIME FOR "HEE 6190HAW"!!' 6191 -- Berke Breathed, "Bloom County" 6192% 6193I was born because it was a habit in those days, people didn't know 6194anything else ... I was not a Child Prodigy, because a Child Prodigy is 6195a child who knows as much when it is a child as it does when it grows 6196up. 6197 -- Will Rogers 6198% 6199I was drunk last night, crawled home across the lawn. By accident I 6200put the car key in the door lock. The house started up. So I figured 6201what the hell, and drove it around the block a few times. I thought I 6202should go park it in the middle of the freeway and yell at everyone to 6203get off my driveway. 6204 -- Steven Wright 6205% 6206I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I 6207didn't know. 6208 -- Mark Twain 6209% 6210I was part of that strange race of people aptly described as spending 6211their lives doing things they detest to make money they don't want to 6212buy things they don't need to impress people they dislike. 6213 -- Emile Henry Gauvreay 6214% 6215I was playing poker the other night ... with Tarot cards. I got a full 6216house and four people died. 6217 -- Steven Wright 6218% 6219I went into a general store, and they wouldn't sell me anything specific. 6220 -- Steven Wright 6221% 6222I went on to test the program in every way I could devise. I strained 6223it to expose its weaknesses. I ran it for high-mass stars and low-mass 6224stars, for stars born exceedingly hot and those born relatively cold. 6225I ran it assuming the superfluid currents beneath the crust to be 6226absent -- not because I wanted to know the answer, but because I had 6227developed an intuitive feel for the answer in this particular case. 6228Finally I got a run in which the computer showed the pulsar's 6229temperature to be less than absolute zero. I had found an error. I 6230chased down the error and fixed it. Now I had improved the program to 6231the point where it would not run at all. 6232 -- George Greenstein, "Frozen Star: Of Pulsars, Black 6233 Holes and the Fate of Stars" 6234% 6235I went to a job interview the other day, the guy asked me if I had any 6236questions, I said yes, just one, if you're in a car traveling at the 6237speed of light and you turn your headlights on, does anything happen? 6238 6239He said he couldn't answer that, I told him sorry, but I couldn't work 6240for him then. 6241 -- Steven Wright 6242% 6243I went to the hardware store and bought some used paint. It was in 6244the shape of a house. I also bought some batteries, but they weren't 6245included. 6246 -- Steven Wright 6247% 6248I went to the museum where they had all the heads and arms from the 6249statues that are in all the other museums. 6250 -- Steven Wright 6251% 6252I went to the race track once and bet on a horse that was so good that 6253it took seven others to beat him! 6254% 6255I wish there was a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence. 6256There's a knob called `brightness', but it doesn't work. 6257 -- Gallagher 6258% 6259I wouldn't recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they've 6260always worked for me. 6261 -- Hunter S. Thompson 6262% 6263I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous. 6264% 6265I'd love to go out with you, but I did my own thing and now I've got 6266to undo it. 6267% 6268I'd love to go out with you, but I have to floss my cat. 6269% 6270I'd love to go out with you, but I have to stay home and see if I snore. 6271% 6272I'd love to go out with you, but I never go out on days that end in `Y.' 6273% 6274I'd love to go out with you, but I want to spend more time with my blender. 6275% 6276I'd love to go out with you, but I'm attending the opening of my garage door. 6277% 6278I'd love to go out with you, but I'm converting my calendar watch from 6279Julian to Gregorian. 6280% 6281I'd love to go out with you, but I'm doing door-to-door collecting for 6282static cling. 6283% 6284I'd love to go out with you, but I'm having all my plants neutered. 6285% 6286I'd love to go out with you, but I'm staying home to work on my 6287cottage cheese sculpture. 6288% 6289I'd love to go out with you, but I'm taking punk totem pole carving. 6290% 6291I'd love to go out with you, but I've been scheduled for a karma transplant. 6292% 6293I'd love to go out with you, but it's my parakeet's bowling night. 6294% 6295I'd love to go out with you, but my favorite commercial is on TV. 6296% 6297I'd love to go out with you, but the last time I went out, I never came back. 6298% 6299I'd love to go out with you, but the man on television told me to stay tuned. 6300% 6301I'd love to go out with you, but there are important world issues that 6302need worrying about. 6303% 6304I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy. 6305% 6306I'll carry your books, I'll carry a tune, I'll carry on, carry over, 6307carry forward, Cary Grant, cash & carry, Carry Me Back To Old Virginia, 6308I'll even Hara Kari if you show me how, but I will *not* carry a gun. 6309 -- Hawkeye, M*A*S*H 6310% 6311I'll defend to the death your right to say that, but I never said I'd 6312listen to it! 6313 -- Tom Galloway with apologies to Voltaire 6314% 6315I'll grant thee random access to my heart, 6316Thoul't tell me all the constants of thy love; 6317And so we two shall all love's lemmas prove 6318And in our bound partition never part. 6319 -- Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad" 6320% 6321I'll rob that rich person and give it to some poor deserving slob. 6322That will *prove* I'm Robin Hood. 6323 -- Daffy Duck, "Robin Hood Daffy", [1958, Chuck Jones] 6324% 6325I'm a creationist; I refuse to believe that I could have evolved from man. 6326% 6327I'm a Lisp variable -- bind me! 6328% 6329I'm all for computer dating, but I wouldn't want one to marry my sister. 6330% 6331I'm changing my name to Chrysler 6332I'm going down to Washington, D.C. 6333I'll tell some power broker 6334 What they did for Iacocca 6335Will be perfectly acceptable to me! 6336I'm changing my name to Chrysler, 6337I'm heading for that great receiving line. 6338When they hand a million grand out, 6339 I'll be standing with my hand out, 6340Yessir, I'll get mine! 6341 -- Tom Paxton 6342% 6343I'm defending her honor, which is more than she ever did. 6344% 6345I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to 6346die in. 6347 -- George McGovern 6348% 6349I'm going to Boston to see my doctor. He's a very sick man. 6350 -- Fred Allen 6351% 6352I'm going to live forever, or die trying! 6353 -- Spider Robinson 6354% 6355... I'm IMAGINING a sensuous GIRAFFE, CAVORTING in the BACK ROOM of a 6356KOSHER DELI!! 6357% 6358I'm in Pittsburgh. Why am I here? 6359 -- Harold Urey, Nobel Laureate 6360% 6361I'm living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be 6362living apart. 6363 -- e. e. cummings 6364% 6365I'm N-ary the tree, I am, 6366N-ary the tree, I am, I am. 6367I'm getting traversed by the parser next door, 6368She's traversed me seven times before. 6369And ev'ry time it was an N-ary (N-ary!) 6370Never wouldn't ever do a binary. (No sir!) 6371I'm 'er eighth tree that was N-ary. 6372N-ary the tree I am, I am, 6373N-ary the tree I am. 6374% 6375I'm not under the alkafluence of inkahol that some thinkle peep I am. 6376It's just the drunker I sit here the longer I get. 6377% 6378I'm prepared for all emergencies but totally unprepared for everyday life. 6379% 6380I'm proud to be paying taxes in the United States. The only thing is 6381-- I could be just as proud for half the money. 6382 -- Arthur Godfrey 6383% 6384I'm rated PG-34!! 6385% 6386I'm really enjoying not talking to you ... Let's not talk again ____REAL 6387soon ... 6388% 6389I'm returning this note to you, instead of your paper, because it 6390(your paper) presently occupies the bottom of my bird cage. 6391 -- English Professor, Providence College 6392% 6393I'm very good at integral and differential calculus, 6394I know the scientific names of beings animalculous; 6395In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, 6396I am the very model of a modern Major-General. 6397 -- Gilbert & Sullivan, "Pirates of Penzance" 6398% 6399I'm willing to sacrifice anything for this cause, even other people's lives 6400% 6401I've built a better model than the one at Data General 6402For data bases vegetable, animal, and mineral 6403My OS handles CPUs with multiplexed duality; 6404My PL/1 compiler shows impressive functionality. 6405My storage system's better than magnetic core polarity, 6406You never have to bother checking out a bit for parity; 6407There isn't any reason to install non-static floor matting; 6408My disk drive has capacity for variable formatting. 6409 6410I feel compelled to mention what I know to be a gloating point: 6411There's lots of room in memory for variables floating-point, 6412Which shows for input vegetable, animal, and mineral 6413I've built a better model than the one at Data General. 6414 6415 -- Steve Levine, "A Computer Song" (To the tune of 6416 "Modern Major General", from "Pirates of Penzance", 6417 by Gilbert & Sullivan) 6418% 6419I've enjoyed just about as much of this as I can stand. 6420% 6421I've found my niche. If you're wondering why I'm not there, there was 6422this little hole in the bottom ... 6423 -- John Croll 6424% 6425I've given up reading books; I find it takes my mind off myself. 6426% 6427I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it. 6428 -- Groucho Marx 6429% 6430I've known him as a man, as an adolescent and as a child -- sometimes 6431on the same day. 6432% 6433I've seen better heads on half a pint of beer. 6434% 6435I've seen, I SAY, I've seen better heads on a mug of beer. 6436 -- Senator Claghorn 6437% 6438I've seen Sun monitors on fire off the side of the multimedia lab. 6439I've seen NTU lights glitter in the dark near the Mail Gate. 6440All these things will be lost in time, like the root partition last week. 6441Time to die... 6442 -- Peter Gutmann 6443% 6444I've touch'd the highest point of all my greatness; 6445And from that full meridian of my glory 6446I haste now to my setting. I shall fall, 6447Like a bright exhalation in the evening 6448And no man see me more. 6449 -- William Shakespeare 6450% 6451IBM had a PL/I, 6452 Its syntax worse than JOSS; 6453And everywhere this language went, 6454 It was a total loss. 6455% 6456Idaho state law makes it illegal for a man to give his sweetheart a box 6457of candy weighing less than fifty pounds. 6458% 6459Ideas don't stay in some minds very long because they don't like 6460solitary confinement. 6461% 6462Idiot Box, n.: 6463 The part of the envelope that tells a person where to place the 6464stamp when they can't quite figure it out for themselves. 6465 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 6466% 6467Idiot, n.: 6468 A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human 6469affairs has always been dominant and controlling. 6470 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 6471% 6472If a 6600 used paper tape instead of core memory, it would use up tape 6473at about 30 miles/second. 6474 -- Grishman, Assembly Language Programming 6475% 6476If A = B and B = C, then A = C, except where void or prohibited by law. 6477 -- Roy Santoro 6478% 6479If a camel flies, no one laughs if it doesn't get very far. 6480 -- Paul White 6481% 6482If a camel is a horse designed by a committee, then a consensus 6483forecast is a camel's behind. 6484 -- Edgar R. Fiedler 6485% 6486If A equals success, then the formula is _A = _X + _Y + _Z. _X is work. _Y 6487is play. _Z is keep your mouth shut. 6488 -- Albert Einstein 6489% 6490If a group of _N persons implements a COBOL compiler, there will be _N-1 6491passes. Someone in the group has to be the manager. 6492 -- T. Cheatham 6493% 6494If a jury in a criminal trial stays out for more than twenty-four 6495hours, it is certain to vote acquittal, save in those instances where 6496it votes guilty. 6497 -- Joseph C. Goulden 6498% 6499If a listener nods his head when you're explaining your program, wake 6500him up. 6501% 6502If a President doesn't do it to his wife, he'll do it to his country. 6503% 6504If a putt passes over the hole without dropping, it is deemed to have 6505dropped. The law of gravity holds that any object attempting to 6506maintain a position in the atmosphere without something to support it 6507must drop. The law of gravity supersedes the law of golf. 6508 -- Donald A. Metz 6509% 6510If a team is in a positive frame of mind, it will have a good 6511attitude. If it has a good attitude, it will make a commitment to 6512playing the game right. If it plays the game right, it will win -- 6513unless, of course, it doesn't have enough talent to win, and no manager 6514can make goose-liver pate out of goose feathers, so why worry? 6515 -- Sparky Anderson 6516% 6517If all be true that I do think, 6518There be Five Reasons why one should Drink; 6519Good friends, good wine, or being dry, 6520Or lest we should be by-and-by, 6521Or any other reason why. 6522% 6523If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular 6524error. 6525 -- John Kenneth Galbraith 6526% 6527If all the Chinese simultaneously jumped into the Pacific off a 10 foot 6528platform erected 10 feet off their coast, it would cause a tidal wave 6529that would destroy everything in this country west of Nebraska. 6530% 6531If all the world's a stage, I want to operate the trap door. 6532 -- Paul Beatty 6533% 6534If all the world's economists were laid end to end, we wouldn't reach a 6535conclusion. 6536 -- William Baumol 6537% 6538If an S and an I and an O and a U 6539With an X at the end spell Su; 6540And an E and a Y and an E spell I, 6541Pray what is a speller to do? 6542Then, if also an S and an I and a G 6543And an HED spell side, 6544There's nothing much left for a speller to do 6545But to go commit siouxeyesighed. 6546 -- Charles Follen Adams, "An Orthographic Lament" 6547% 6548If anything can go wrong, it will. 6549% 6550If at first you don't succeed, give up. No use being a damn fool. 6551% 6552If at first you don't succeed, redefine success. 6553% 6554If bankers can count, how come they have eight windows and only four 6555tellers? 6556% 6557If dolphins are so smart, why did Flipper work for television? 6558% 6559If entropy is increasing, where is it coming from? 6560% 6561If everybody minded their own business, the world would go 6562around a deal faster. 6563 -- The Duchess, "Through the Looking Glass" 6564% 6565If everything is coming your way then you're in the wrong lane. 6566% 6567... If forced to travel on an airplane, try and get in the cabin with 6568the Captain, so you can keep an eye on him and nudge him if he falls 6569asleep or point out any mountains looming up ahead ... 6570 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 6571% 6572If God didn't mean for us to juggle, tennis balls wouldn't come three 6573to a can. 6574% 6575If God had intended Man to Smoke, He would have set him on Fire. 6576% 6577If God had intended Man to Walk, He would have given him Feet. 6578% 6579If God had intended Man to Watch TV, He would have given him Rabbit Ears. 6580% 6581If God had intended Men to Smoke, He would have put Chimneys in their Heads. 6582% 6583If God had meant for us to be in the Army, we would have been born with 6584green, baggy skin. 6585% 6586If God had meant for us to be naked, we would have been born that way. 6587% 6588If God had not given us sticky tape, it would have been necessary to 6589invent it. 6590% 6591If God had wanted you to go around nude, He would have given you bigger 6592hands. 6593% 6594If God is dead, who will save the Queen? 6595% 6596If God is perfect, why did He create discontinuous functions? 6597% 6598If God lived on Earth, people would knock out all His windows. 6599 -- Yiddish saying 6600% 6601If God wanted us to be brave, why did he give us legs? 6602 -- Marvin Kitman 6603% 6604If I am elected, the concrete barriers around the WHITE HOUSE will be 6605replaced by tasteful foam replicas of ANN MARGARET! 6606% 6607If I could drop dead right now, I'd be the happiest man alive! 6608 -- Samuel Goldwyn 6609% 6610If I don't drive around the park, 6611I'm pretty sure to make my mark. 6612If I'm in bed each night by ten, 6613I may get back my looks again. 6614If I abstain from fun and such, 6615I'll probably amount to much; 6616But I shall stay the way I am, 6617Because I do not give a damn. 6618 -- Dorothy Parker 6619% 6620If I don't see you in the future, I'll see you in the pasture. 6621% 6622If I had a plantation in Georgia and a home in Hell, I'd sell the 6623plantation and go home. 6624 -- Eugene P. Gallagher 6625% 6626If I had any humility I would be perfect. 6627 -- Ted Turner 6628% 6629If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith. 6630 -- Albert Einstein 6631% 6632If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the 6633shoulders of giants. 6634 -- Isaac Newton 6635 6636In the sciences, we are now uniquely privileged to sit side by side 6637with the giants on whose shoulders we stand. 6638 -- Gerald Holton 6639 6640If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing 6641on my shoulders. 6642 -- Hal Abelson 6643 6644In computer science, we stand on each other's feet. 6645 -- Brian K. Reid 6646% 6647If I kiss you, that is a psychological interaction. 6648 6649On the other hand, if I hit you over the head with a brick, that is 6650also a psychological interaction. 6651 6652The difference is that one is friendly and the other is not so 6653friendly. 6654 6655The crucial point is if you can tell which is which. 6656 -- Dolph Sharp, "I'm O.K., You're Not So Hot" 6657% 6658If I traveled to the end of the rainbow 6659As Dame Fortune did intend, 6660Murphy would be there to tell me 6661The pot's at the other end. 6662 -- Bert Whitney 6663% 6664If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy people? 6665% 6666If it's Tuesday, this must be someone else's fortune. 6667% 6668If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even crucify him. 6669They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he had to say, and make fun 6670of it. 6671 -- Thomas Carlyle 6672% 6673If just one piece of mail gets lost, well, they'll just think they 6674forgot to send it. But if *two* pieces of mail get lost, hell, they'll 6675just think the other guy hasn't gotten around to answering his mail. 6676And if *fifty* pieces of mail get lost, can you imagine it, if *fifty* 6677pieces of mail get lost, why they'll think someone *else* is broken! 6678And if 1Gb of mail gets lost, they'll just *know* that Arpa is down and 6679think it's a conspiracy to keep them from their God given right to 6680receive Net Mail ... 6681 -- Leith (Casey) Leedom 6682% 6683If life is a stage, I want some better lighting. 6684% 6685If little else, the brain is an educational toy. 6686 -- Tom Robbins 6687% 6688If little green men land in your back yard, hide any little green women 6689you've got in the house. 6690 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 6691% 6692If mathematically you end up with the wrong answer, try multiplying by 6693the page number. 6694% 6695If money can't buy happiness, I guess you'll just have to rent it. 6696% 6697If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think 6698little of robbing; and from robbing he next comes to drinking and 6699Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination. 6700 -- Thomas De Quincey (1785 - 1859) 6701% 6702If one studies too zealously, one easily loses his pants. 6703 -- Albert Einstein 6704% 6705If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit 6706in my name at a Swiss bank. 6707 -- Woody Allen, "Without Feathers" 6708% 6709If only I could be respected without having to be respectable. 6710% 6711If only one could get that wonderful feeling of accomplishment without 6712having to accomplish anything. 6713% 6714If Patrick Henry thought that taxation without representation was bad, 6715he should see how bad it is with representation. 6716% 6717If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of 6718arithmetic, we should not get very far in our understanding of the 6719physical world. One might as well attempt to grasp the game of poker 6720entirely by the use of the mathematics of probability. 6721 -- Vannevar Bush 6722% 6723If someone had told me I would be Pope one day, I would have studied 6724harder. 6725 -- Pope John Paul I 6726% 6727If that makes any sense to you, you have a big problem. 6728 -- C. Durance, Computer Science 234 6729% 6730If the aborigine drafted an IQ test, all of Western civilization would 6731presumably flunk it. 6732 -- Stanley Garn 6733% 6734If the code and the comments disagree, then both are probably wrong. 6735 -- Norm Schryer 6736% 6737If the colleges were better, if they really had it, you would need to 6738get the police at the gates to keep order in the inrushing multitude. 6739See in college how we thwart the natural love of learning by leaving 6740the natural method of teaching what each wishes to learn, and insisting 6741that you shall learn what you have no taste or capacity for. The 6742college, which should be a place of delightful labor, is made odious 6743and unhealthy, and the young men are tempted to frivolous amusements to 6744rally their jaded spirits. I would have the studies elective. 6745Scholarship is to be created not by compulsion, but by awakening a pure 6746interest in knowledge. The wise instructor accomplishes this by 6747opening to his pupils precisely the attractions the study has for 6748himself. The marking is a system for schools, not for the college; for 6749boys, not for men; and it is an ungracious work to put on a professor. 6750 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson 6751% 6752If the King's English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me! 6753 -- "Ma" Ferguson, Governor of Texas (circa 1920) 6754% 6755If the odds are a million to one against something occurring, chances 6756are 50-50 it will. 6757% 6758If the weather is extremely bad, church attendance will be down. 6759If the weather is extremely good, church attendance will be down. 6760If the bulletin covers are in short supply, however, church attendance 6761will exceed all expectations. 6762 -- Reverend Chichester 6763% 6764If there are epigrams, there must be meta-epigrams. 6765% 6766If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that 6767will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. 6768% 6769If there is no God, who pops up the next Kleenex? 6770 -- Art Hoppe 6771% 6772If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make 6773something out of you. 6774 -- Muhammad Ali 6775% 6776If this fortune didn't exist, somebody would have invented it. 6777% 6778If this is timesharing, give me my share right now. 6779% 6780If time heals all wounds, how come the belly button stays the same? 6781% 6782If today is the first day of the rest of your life, what the hell was 6783yesterday? 6784% 6785If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that one of them is 6786doing the thinking. 6787 -- Lyndon Baines Johnson 6788% 6789If two wrongs don't make a right, try three. 6790 -- Laurence J. Peter 6791% 6792If value corrupts then absolute value corrupts absolutely 6793% 6794If we were meant to fly, we wouldn't keep losing our luggage. 6795% 6796If while you are in school, there is a shortage of qualified personnel 6797in a particular field, then by the time you graduate with the necessary 6798qualifications, that field's employment market is glutted. 6799 -- Marguerite Emmons 6800% 6801If you are a fatalist, what can you do about it? 6802 -- Ann Edwards-Duff 6803% 6804If you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars. 6805 -- J. Paul Getty 6806% 6807If you can lead it to water and force it to drink, it isn't a horse. 6808% 6809If you can read this, you're too close. 6810% 6811If you can survive death, you can probably survive anything. 6812% 6813If you can't be good, be careful. 6814If you can't be careful, give me a call. 6815% 6816If you can't learn to do it well, learn to enjoy doing it badly. 6817% 6818If you cannot convince them, confuse them. 6819 -- Harry S. Truman 6820% 6821If you didn't get caught, did you really do it? 6822% 6823If you don't care where you are, then you ain't lost. 6824% 6825If you don't go to other men's funerals they won't go to yours. 6826 -- Clarence Day 6827% 6828If you don't have a nasty obituary you probably didn't matter. 6829 -- Freeman Dyson 6830% 6831If you don't want your dog to have bad breath, do what I do: Pour a little 6832Lavoris in the toilet. 6833 -- Jay Leno 6834% 6835If you eat a live frog in the morning, nothing worse will happen to 6836either of you for the rest of the day. 6837% 6838If you ever want to get anywhere in politics, my boy, you're going to 6839have to get a toehold in the public eye. 6840% 6841If you explain so clearly that nobody can misunderstand, somebody 6842will. 6843% 6844If you give Congress a chance to vote on both sides of an issue, it 6845will always do it. 6846 -- Les Aspin, D., Wisconsin 6847% 6848If you go on with this nuclear arms race, all you are going to do is 6849make the rubble bounce. 6850 -- Winston Churchill 6851% 6852If you had any brains, you'd be dangerous. 6853% 6854If you have a procedure with 10 parameters, you probably missed some. 6855% 6856If you have to hate, hate gently. 6857% 6858If you just try long enough and hard enough, you can always manage to 6859boot yourself in the posterior. 6860 -- A. J. Liebling, "The Press" 6861% 6862If you keep anything long enough, you can throw it away. 6863% 6864If you live in a country run by committee, be on the committee. 6865 -- Graham Summer 6866% 6867If you live to the age of a hundred you have it made because very few 6868people die past the age of a hundred. 6869 -- George Burns 6870% 6871If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; 6872but if you really make them think they'll hate you. 6873% 6874If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. 6875 -- Maslow 6876% 6877If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which a procedure 6878can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way will promptly 6879develop. 6880% 6881If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite 6882you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man. 6883 -- Mark Twain 6884% 6885If you push the "extra ice" button on the soft drink vending machine, 6886you won't get any ice. If you push the "no ice" button, you'll get 6887ice, but no cup. 6888% 6889If you put garbage in a computer nothing comes out but garbage. But 6890this garbage, having passed through a very expensive machine, is 6891somehow ennobled and none dare criticize it. 6892% 6893If you sit down at a poker game and don't see a sucker, get up. You're 6894the sucker. 6895% 6896If you stand on your head, you will get footprints in your hair. 6897% 6898If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. 6899 -- Derek Bok, president of Harvard 6900% 6901If you think last Tuesday was a drag, wait till you see what happens 6902tomorrow! 6903% 6904If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car 6905payments. 6906 -- Earl Wilson 6907% 6908If you think technology can solve your security problems, then you 6909don't understand the problems and you don't understand the technology. 6910 -- Bruce Schneier 6911% 6912If you think the problem is bad now, just wait until we've solved it. 6913 -- Arthur Kasspe 6914% 6915If you think the United States has stood still, who built the largest 6916shopping center in the world? 6917 -- Richard M. Nixon 6918% 6919If you throw a New Year's Party, the worst thing that you can do would 6920be to throw the kind of party where your guests wake up today, and call 6921you to say they had a nice time. Now you'll be be expected to throw 6922another party next year. 6923 6924What you should do is throw the kind of party where your guest wake up 6925several days from now and call their lawyers to find out if they've 6926been indicted for anything. You want your guests to be so anxious to 6927avoid a recurrence of your party that they immediately start planning 6928parties of their own, a year in advance, just to prevent you from 6929having another one ... 6930 6931If your party is successful, the police will knock on your door, unless 6932your party is very successful in which case they will lob tear gas 6933through your living room window. As host, your job is to make sure 6934that they don't arrest anybody. Or if they're dead set on arresting 6935someone, your job is to make sure it isn't you ... 6936 -- Dave Barry 6937% 6938If you took all the students that felt asleep in class and laid them 6939end to end, they'd be a lot more comfortable. 6940 -- "Graffiti in the Big Ten" 6941% 6942If you understand what you're doing, you're not learning anything. 6943 -- A. L. 6944% 6945If you want divine justice, die. 6946 -- Nick Seldon 6947% 6948If you want to know what god thinks of money, just look at the people 6949he gave it to. 6950 -- Dorothy Parker 6951% 6952If you want to understand your government, don't begin by reading the 6953Constitution. It conveys precious little of the flavor of today's 6954statecraft. Instead, read selected portions of the Washington 6955telephone directory containing listings for all the organizations with 6956titles beginning with the word "National". 6957 -- George Will 6958% 6959If you want your spouse to listen and pay strict attention to every 6960word you say, talk in your sleep. 6961% 6962If you wants to get elected president, you'se got to think up some 6963memoraboble homily so's school kids can be pestered into memorizin' it, 6964even if they don't know what it means. 6965 -- Walt Kelly, "The Pogo Party" 6966% 6967If you wish to live wisely, ignore sayings -- including this one. 6968% 6969If you're going to do something tonight that you'll be sorry for 6970tomorrow morning, sleep late. 6971 -- Henny Youngman 6972% 6973If you're happy, you're successful. 6974% 6975 If you're like most homeowners, you're afraid that many repairs 6976around your home are too difficult to tackle. So, when your furnace 6977explodes, you call in a so-called professional to fix it. The 6978"professional" arrives in a truck with lettering on the sides and 6979deposits a large quantity of tools and two assistants who spend the 6980better part of the week in your basement whacking objects at random 6981with heavy wrenches, after which the "professional" returns and gives 6982you a bill for slightly more money than it would cost you to run a 6983successful campaign for the U.S. Senate. 6984 And that's why you've decided to start doing things yourself. 6985You figure, "If those guys can fix my furnace, then so can I. How 6986difficult can it be?" 6987 Very difficult. In fact, most home projects are impossible, 6988which is why you should do them yourself. There is no point in paying 6989other people to screw things up when you can easily screw them up 6990yourself for far less money. This article can help you. 6991 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 6992% 6993If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate. 6994% 6995If you're not very clever you should be conciliatory. 6996 -- Benjamin Disraeli 6997% 6998If you're right 90% of the time, why quibble about the remaining 3%? 6999% 7000If you've done six impossible things before breakfast, why not round it 7001off with dinner at Milliway's, the restaurant at the end of the universe? 7002% 7003If you've seen one redwood, you've seen them all. 7004 -- Ronald Reagan 7005% 7006Ignisecond, n.: 7007 The overlapping moment of time when the hand is locking the car 7008door even as the brain is saying, "my keys are in there!" 7009 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 7010% 7011Il brilgue: les t^oves libricilleux 7012 Se gyrent et frillant dans le guave, 7013Enm^im'es sont les gougebosquex, 7014 Et le m^omerade horgrave. 7015 -- Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass" 7016% 7017Iles's Law: 7018 There is always an easier way to do it. When looking directly 7019at the easy way, especially for long periods, you will not see it. 7020Neither will Iles. 7021% 7022Illinois isn't exactly the land that God forgot -- it's more like the 7023land He's trying to ignore. 7024% 7025Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality. 7026 -- Jules de Gaultier 7027% 7028Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the 7029usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody 7030thinks of complaining. 7031 -- Jef Raskin, interviewed in Doctor Dobb's Journal 7032% 7033Imagine that Cray computer decides to make a personal computer. It has 7034a 150 MHz processor, 200 megabytes of RAM, 1500 megabytes of disk 7035storage, a screen resolution of 4096 x 4096 pixels, relies entirely on 7036voice recognition for input, fits in your shirt pocket and costs $300. 7037What's the first question that the computer community asks? 7038 7039"Is it PC compatible?" 7040% 7041Immigration is the sincerest form of flattery. 7042 -- Jack Paar 7043% 7044Immortality -- a fate worse than death. 7045 -- Edgar A. Shoaff 7046% 7047Impartial, adj.: 7048 Unable to perceive any promise of personal advantage from 7049espousing either side of a controversy or adopting either of two 7050conflicting opinions. 7051 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 7052% 7053Important letters which contain no errors will develop errors in the 7054mail. Corresponding errors will show up in the duplicate while the 7055Boss is reading it. 7056% 7057Impossible, adj.: 7058 (1) I wouldn't like it and when it happens I won't approve; 7059 (2) I can't be bothered; 7060 (3) God can't be bothered. 7061Meaning (3) may perhaps be valid but the others are 101% whaledreck. 7062 -- Chad C. Mulligan, "The Hipcrime Vocab" 7063% 7064In 1750 Issac Newton became discouraged when he fell up a flight of 7065stairs. 7066% 7067In 1869 the waffle iron was invented for people who had wrinkled waffles. 7068% 7069In 1880 the French captured Detroit but gave it back ... they couldn't 7070get parts. 7071% 7072In 1914, the first crossword puzzle was printed in a newspaper. The 7073creator received $4000 down ... and $3000 across. 7074% 7075In 1915 pancake make-up was invented but most people still preferred 7076syrup. 7077% 7078In a five year period we can get one superb programming language. Only 7079we can't control when the five year period will begin. 7080% 7081 In a forest a fox bumps into a little rabbit, and says, "Hi, 7082junior, what are you up to?" 7083 "I'm writing a dissertation on how rabbits eat foxes," said the 7084rabbit. 7085 "Come now, friend rabbit, you know that's impossible!" 7086 "Well, follow me and I'll show you." They both go into the 7087rabbit's dwelling and after a while the rabbit emerges with a satisfied 7088expression on his face. 7089 Comes along a wolf. "Hello, what are we doing these days?" 7090 "I'm writing the second chapter of my thesis, on how rabbits 7091devour wolves." 7092 "Are you crazy? Where is your academic honesty?" 7093 "Come with me and I'll show you." As before, the rabbit comes 7094out with a satisfied look on his face and a diploma in his paw. 7095Finally, the camera pans into the rabbit's cave and, as everybody 7096should have guessed by now, we see a mean-looking, huge lion sitting 7097next to some bloody and furry remnants of the wolf and the fox. 7098 7099The moral: It's not the contents of your thesis that are important -- 7100it's your PhD advisor that really counts. 7101% 7102In a medium in which a News Piece takes a minute and an "In-Depth" 7103Piece takes two minutes, the Simple will drive out the Complex. 7104 -- Frank Mankiewicz 7105% 7106In a museum in Havana, there are two skulls of Christopher Columbus, 7107"one when he was a boy and one when he was a man." 7108 -- Mark Twain 7109% 7110In Africa some of the native tribes have a custom of beating the ground 7111with clubs and uttering spine chilling cries. Anthropologists call 7112this a form of primitive self-expression. In America we call it golf. 7113% 7114In America today ... we have Woody Allen, whose humor has become so 7115sophisticated that nobody gets it any more except Mia Farrow. All 7116those who think Mia Farrow should go back to making movies where the 7117devil gets her pregnant and Woody Allen should go back to dressing up 7118as a human sperm, please raise your hands. Thank you. 7119 -- Dave Barry, "Why Humor is Funny" 7120% 7121In America, any boy may become president and I suppose that's just one 7122of the risks he takes. 7123 -- Adlai Stevenson 7124% 7125In an organization, each person rises to the level of his own 7126incompetency 7127 -- The Peter Principle 7128% 7129In any formula, constants (especially those obtained from handbooks) 7130are to be treated as variables. 7131% 7132In any world menu, Canada must be considered the vichyssoise of 7133nations -- it's cold, half-French, and difficult to stir. 7134 -- Stuart Keate 7135% 7136In Blythe, California, a city ordinance declares that a person must own 7137at least two cows before he can wear cowboy boots in public. 7138% 7139In Boston, it is illegal to hold frog-jumping contests in nightclubs. 7140% 7141In case of atomic attack, the federal ruling against prayer in schools 7142will be temporarily canceled. 7143% 7144In case of injury notify your superior immediately. He'll kiss it and 7145make it better. 7146% 7147In Columbia, Pennsylvania, it is against the law for a pilot to tickle 7148a female flying student under her chin with a feather duster in order 7149to get her attention. 7150% 7151In Corning, Iowa, it's a misdemeanor for a man to ask his wife to ride 7152in any motor vehicle. 7153% 7154In defeat, unbeatable; in victory, unbearable. 7155 -- Winston Churchill, of Montgomery 7156% 7157In Denver it is unlawful to lend your vacuum cleaner to your next-door 7158neighbor. 7159% 7160In Devon, Connecticut, it is unlawful to walk backwards after sunset. 7161% 7162In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last 7163resort of the scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but 7164inferior lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first. 7165 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 7166% 7167In English, every word can be verbed. Would that it were so in our 7168programming languages. 7169% 7170In Greene, New York, it is illegal to eat peanuts and walk backwards on 7171the sidewalks when a concert is on. 7172% 7173In India, "cold weather" is merely a conventional phrase and has come 7174into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish 7175between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which 7176will only make it mushy. 7177 -- Mark Twain 7178% 7179In Lexington, Kentucky, it's illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your 7180pocket. 7181% 7182In Lowes Crossroads, Delaware, it is a violation of local law for any 7183pilot or passenger to carry an ice cream cone in their pocket while 7184either flying or waiting to board a plane. 7185% 7186In Memphis, Tennessee, it is illegal for a woman to drive a car unless 7187there is a man either running or walking in front of it waving a red 7188flag to warn approaching motorists and pedestrians. 7189% 7190In Ohio, if you ignore an orator on Decoration day to such an extent as 7191to publicly play croquet or pitch horseshoes within one mile of the 7192speaker's stand, you can be fined $25.00. 7193% 7194In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the 7195universe. 7196 -- Carl Sagan, Cosmos 7197% 7198In our civilization, and under our republican form of government, 7199intelligence is so highly honored that it is rewarded by exemption from 7200the cares of office. 7201 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 7202% 7203In Pocataligo, Georgia, it is a violation for a woman over 200 pounds 7204and attired in shorts to pilot or ride in an airplane. 7205% 7206In Pocatello, Idaho, a law passed in 1912 provided that "The carrying 7207of concealed weapons is forbidden, unless same are exhibited to public 7208view." 7209% 7210In Riemann, Hilbert or in Banach space 7211Let superscripts and subscripts go their ways. 7212Our asymptotes no longer out of phase, 7213We shall encounter, counting, face to face. 7214 -- Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad" 7215% 7216In Seattle, Washington, it is illegal to carry a concealed weapon that 7217is over six feet in length. 7218% 7219In seeking the unattainable, simplicity only gets in the way. 7220 -- Epigrams in Programming, ACM SIGPLAN Sept. 1982 7221% 7222In short, _N is Richardian if, and only if, _N is not Richardian. 7223% 7224In specifications, Murphy's Law supersedes Ohm's. 7225% 7226In Tennessee, it is illegal to shoot any game other than whales from a 7227moving automobile. 7228% 7229[In the 60's] there was madness in any direction, at any hour ... You 7230could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense 7231that whatever we were doing was `right', that we were winning ... 7232 7233And that, I think, was the handle -- the sense of inevitable victory 7234over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we 7235didn't need that. Our energy would simply `prevail'. There was no 7236point in fighting -- on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; 7237we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave .... 7238 7239So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in 7240Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost 7241___see the high-water mark -- the place where the wave finally broke and 7242rolled back. 7243 -- Hunter S. Thompson, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" 7244% 7245In the beginning was the word. 7246But by the time the second word was added to it, 7247there was trouble. 7248For with it came syntax ... 7249 -- John Simon 7250% 7251In the days when Sussman was a novice Minsky once came to him as he sat 7252hacking at the PDP-6. "What are you doing?", asked Minsky. "I am 7253training a randomly wired neural net to play Tic-Tac-Toe." "Why is the 7254net wired randomly?", asked Minsky. "I do not want it to have any 7255preconceptions of how to play." Minsky shut his eyes. "Why do you 7256close your eyes?", Sussman asked his teacher. "So the room will be 7257empty." At that moment, Sussman was enlightened. 7258% 7259In the force if Yoda's so strong, construct a sentence with words in 7260the proper order then why can't he? 7261% 7262In the land of the dark, the Ship of the Sun is driven by the Grateful 7263Dead. 7264 -- Egyptian Book of the Dead 7265% 7266In the long run, every program becomes rococo, and then rubble. 7267 -- Alan Perlis 7268% 7269In the olden days in England, you could be hung for stealing a sheep or 7270a loaf of bread. However, if a sheep stole a loaf of bread and gave it 7271to you, you would only be tried for receiving, a crime punishable by 7272forty lashes with the cat or the dog, whichever was handy. If you 7273stole a dog and were caught, you were punished with twelve rabbit 7274punches, although it was hard to find rabbits big enough or strong 7275enough to punch you. 7276 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 7277% 7278In the space of one hundred and seventy-six years the Mississippi has 7279shortened itself two hundred and forty-two miles. Therefore ... in the 7280Old Silurian Period the Mississippi River was upward of one million 7281three hundred thousand miles long ... seven hundred and forty-two years 7282from now the Mississippi will be only a mile and three-quarters long. 7283... There is something fascinating about science. One gets such 7284wholesome returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of 7285fact. 7286 -- Mark Twain 7287% 7288In the Top 40, half the songs are secret messages to the teen world to 7289drop out, turn on, and groove with the chemicals and light shows at 7290discotheques. 7291 -- Art Linkletter 7292% 7293In those days he was wiser than he is now -- he used to frequently take 7294my advice. 7295 -- Winston Churchill 7296% 7297In Tulsa, Oklahoma, it is against the law to open a soda bottle without 7298the supervision of a licensed engineer. 7299% 7300In West Union, Ohio, no married man can go flying without his spouse 7301along at any time, unless he has been married for more than 12 months. 7302% 7303Incumbent, n.: 7304 Person of liveliest interest to the outcumbents. 7305 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 7306% 7307... indifference is a militant thing ... when it goes away it leaves 7308smoking ruins, where lie citizens bayonetted through the throat. It is 7309not a children's pastime like mere highway robbery. 7310 -- Stephen Crane 7311% 7312Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares? 7313% 7314Individualists unite! 7315% 7316Infancy, n.: 7317 The period of our lives when, according to Wordsworth, "Heaven 7318lies about us." The world begins lying about us pretty soon 7319afterward. 7320 -- Ambrose Bierce 7321% 7322Information Center, n.: 7323 A room staffed by professional computer people whose job it is 7324to tell you why you cannot have the information you require. 7325% 7326Ingrate, n.: 7327 A man who bites the hand that feeds him, and then complains of 7328indigestion. 7329% 7330Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. 7331 -- Martin Luther King, Jr. 7332% 7333Ink, n.: 7334 A villainous compound of tannogallate of iron, gum-arabic, and 7335water, chiefly used to facilitate the infection of idiocy and promote 7336intellectual crime. 7337 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 7338% 7339Innovation is hard to schedule. 7340 -- Dan Fylstra 7341% 7342Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids. 7343% 7344Insanity is the final defense ... It's hard to get a refund when the 7345salesman is sniffing your crotch and baying at the moon. 7346% 7347Interpreter, n.: 7348 One who enables two persons of different languages to 7349understand each other by repeating to each what it would have been to 7350the interpreter's advantage for the other to have said. 7351 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 7352% 7353Intolerance is the last defense of the insecure. 7354% 7355I/O, I/O, 7356It's off to disk I go, 7357A bit or byte to read or write, 7358I/O, I/O, I/O 7359% 7360 INVENTORY 7361Four be the things I am wiser to know: 7362Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe. 7363 7364Four be the things I'd been better without: 7365Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt. 7366 7367Three be the things I shall never attain: 7368Envy, content, and sufficient champagne. 7369 7370Three be the things I shall have till I die: 7371Laughter and hope and a sock in the eye. 7372% 7373Iron Law of Distribution: 7374 Them that has, gets. 7375% 7376Irrationality is the square root of all evil 7377 -- Douglas Hofstadter 7378% 7379Is it possible that software is not like anything else, that it is 7380meant to be discarded: that the whole point is to always see it as a 7381soap bubble? 7382% 7383Is not marriage an open question, when it is alleged, from the 7384beginning of the world, that such as are in the institution wish to get 7385out, and such as are out wish to get in? 7386 -- Ralph Emerson 7387% 7388Is your job running? You'd better go catch it! 7389% 7390Isn't it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction 7391listen to weather forecasts and economists? 7392 -- Kelvin Throop III 7393% 7394Isn't it strange that the same people that laugh at gypsy fortune 7395tellers take economists seriously? 7396% 7397Issawi's Laws of Progress: 7398 7399 The Course of Progress: 7400 Most things get steadily worse. 7401 7402 The Path of Progress: 7403 A shortcut is the longest distance between two points. 7404% 7405It appears that after his death, Albert Einstein found himself working 7406as the doorkeeper at the Pearly Gates. One slow day, he found that he 7407had time to chat with the new entrants. To the first one he asked, 7408"What's your IQ?" The new arrival replied, "190". They discussed 7409Einstein's theory of relativity for hours. When the second new arrival 7410came, Einstein once again inquired as to the newcomer's IQ. The answer 7411this time came "120". To which Einstein replied, "Tell me, how did the 7412Cubs do this year?" and they proceeded to talk for half an hour or so. 7413To the final arrival, Einstein once again posed the question, "What's 7414your IQ?". Upon receiving the answer "70", Einstein smiled and asked, 7415"Got a minute to tell me about VMS 4.0?" 7416% 7417It happened that a fire broke out backstage in a theater. The clown 7418came out to inform the public. They thought it was just a jest and 7419applauded. He repeated his warning, they shouted even louder. So I 7420think the world will come to an end amid general applause from all the 7421wits, who believe that it is a joke. 7422 -- S. A. Kierkegaard (1813-1855) 7423% 7424It has been observed that one's nose is never so happy as when it is 7425thrust into the affairs of another, from which some physiologists have 7426drawn the inference that the nose is devoid of the sense of smell. 7427 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 7428% 7429It has been said [by Anatole France], "it is not by amusing oneself 7430that one learns," and, in reply: "it is *____only* by amusing oneself that 7431one can learn." 7432 -- Edward Kasner and James R. Newman 7433% 7434It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have 7435been searching for evidence which could support this. 7436 -- Bertrand Russell 7437% 7438It has just been discovered that research causes cancer in rats. 7439% 7440It is against the grain of modern education to teach children to 7441program. What fun is there in making plans, acquiring discipline in 7442organizing thoughts, devoting attention to detail, and learning to be 7443self-critical? 7444 -- Alan Perlis 7445% 7446It is against the law for a monster to enter the corporate limits of 7447Urbana, Illinois. 7448% 7449It is always preferable to visit home with a friend. Your parents will 7450not be pleased with this plan, because they want you all to themselves 7451and because in the presence of your friend, they will have to act like 7452mature human beings ... 7453 -- Playboy, January 1983 7454% 7455It is amusing that a virtue is made of the vice of chastity; and it's a 7456pretty odd sort of chastity at that, which leads men straight into the 7457sin of Onan, and girls to the waning of their color. 7458 -- Voltaire 7459% 7460It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what 7461they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always 7462assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had 7463achieved so much -- the wheel, New York, wars and so on -- whilst 7464all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having 7465a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that 7466they were far more intelligent than man -- for precisely the same 7467reasons. 7468 7469Curiously enough, the dolphins had long known of the impending 7470destruction of the planet Earth and had made many attempts to alert 7471mankind to the danger; but most of their communications were 7472misinterpreted ... 7473 7474 -- Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" 7475% 7476It is better for civilization to be going down the drain than to be 7477coming up it. 7478 -- Henry Allen 7479% 7480It is better never to have been born. But who among us has such luck? 7481One in a million, perhaps. 7482% 7483It is better to kiss an avocado than to get in a fight with an aardvark 7484% 7485It is by the fortune of God that, in this country, we have three 7486benefits: freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and the wisdom never 7487to use either. 7488 -- Mark Twain 7489% 7490It is difficult to produce a television documentary that is both 7491incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted by 7492twelve dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper. 7493 -- Rod Serling 7494% 7495It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is 7496lightly greased. 7497 -- Kehlog Albran, "The Profit" 7498% 7499It is easier to be a "humanitarian" than to render your own country its 7500proper due; it is easier to be a "patriot" than to make your community 7501a better place to live in; it is easier to be a "civic leader" than to 7502treat your own family with loving understanding; for the smaller the 7503focus of attention, the harder the task. 7504 -- Sydney J. Harris 7505% 7506It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than vice versa. 7507% 7508It is easier to get forgiveness than permission. 7509% 7510It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one. 7511% 7512It is generally agreed that "Hello" is an appropriate greeting because 7513if you entered a room and said "Goodbye," it could confuse a lot of 7514people. 7515 -- Dolph Sharp, "I'm O.K., You're Not So Hot" 7516% 7517It is illegal to drive more than two thousand sheep down Hollywood 7518Boulevard at one time. 7519% 7520It is illegal to say "Oh, Boy" in Jonesboro, Georgia. 7521% 7522It is impossible to experience one's death objectively and still carry 7523a tune. 7524 -- Woody Allen 7525% 7526It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so 7527ingenious. 7528% 7529It is impossible to travel faster than light, and certainly not 7530desirable, as one's hat keeps blowing off. 7531 -- Woody Allen 7532% 7533It is Mr. Mellon's credo that $200,000,000 can do no wrong. Our 7534offense consists in doubting it. 7535 -- Justice Robert H. Jackson 7536% 7537It is much easier to suggest solutions when you know nothing about the 7538problem. 7539% 7540It is necessary for the welfare of society that genius should be 7541privileged to utter sedition, to blaspheme, to outrage good taste, to 7542corrupt the youthful mind, and generally to scandalize one's uncles. 7543 -- George Bernard Shaw 7544% 7545It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail. 7546 -- Gore Vidal 7547% 7548It is not true that life is one damn thing after another -- it's one 7549damn thing over and over. 7550 -- Edna St. Vincent Millay 7551% 7552It is now 10 p.m. Do you know where Henry Kissinger is? 7553 -- Elizabeth Carpenter 7554% 7555It is now pitch dark. If you proceed, you will likely fall into a pit. 7556% 7557It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that 7558virginity could be a virtue. 7559 -- Voltaire 7560% 7561It is only people of small moral stature who have to stand on their 7562dignity. 7563% 7564It is only the great men who are truly obscene. If they had not dared 7565to be obscene, they could never have dared to be great. 7566 -- Havelock Ellis 7567% 7568It is practically impossible to teach good programming style to 7569students that have had prior exposure to BASIC: as potential 7570programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of 7571regeneration. 7572 -- Edsger W. Dijkstra, SIGPLAN Notices, Volume 17, Number 5 7573% 7574It is said that the lonely eagle flies to the mountain peaks while the 7575lowly ant crawls the ground, but cannot the soul of the ant soar as 7576high as the eagle? 7577% 7578It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a 7579statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more 7580glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through 7581which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the 7582day, that is the highest of arts. 7583 -- Henry David Thoreau, "Where I Live" 7584% 7585It is Texas law that when two trains meet each other at a railroad 7586crossing, each shall come to a full stop, and neither shall proceed 7587until the other has gone. 7588% 7589It is the business of little minds to shrink. 7590 -- Carl Sandburg 7591% 7592It is the business of the future to be dangerous. 7593 -- Hawkwind 7594% 7595It is true that if your paperboy throws your paper into the bushes for 7596five straight days it can be explained by Newton's Law of Gravity. But 7597it takes Murphy's law to explain why it is happening to you. 7598% 7599It is very difficult to prophesy, especially when it pertains to the 7600future. 7601% 7602It looks like blind screaming hedonism won out. 7603% 7604It may be bad manners to talk with your mouth full, but it isn't too 7605good either if you speak when your head is empty. 7606% 7607It may be that your whole purpose in life is simply to serve as a 7608warning to others. 7609% 7610It runs like _x, where _x is something unsavory 7611 -- Prof. Romas Aleliunas, CS 435 7612% 7613It seems like the less a statesman amounts to, the more he loves the 7614flag. 7615% 7616It shall be unlawful for any suspicious person to be within the 7617municipality. 7618 -- Local ordinance, Euclid Ohio 7619% 7620It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, 7621but I couldn't give up because by that time I was too famous. 7622 -- Robert Benchly 7623% 7624It was a book to kill time for those who liked it better dead. 7625% 7626It was a virgin forest, a place where the Hand of Man had never set foot. 7627% 7628It was one of those perfect summer days -- the sun was shining, a 7629breeze was blowing, the birds were singing, and the lawn mower was 7630broken ... 7631 -- James Dent 7632% 7633It was pleasant to me to get a letter from you the other day. Perhaps 7634I should have found it pleasanter if I had been able to decipher it. I 7635don't think that I mastered anything beyond the date (which I knew) and 7636the signature (which I guessed at). There's a singular and a perpetual 7637charm in a letter of yours; it never grows old, it never loses its 7638novelty .... Other letters are read and thrown away and forgotten, but 7639yours are kept forever -- unread. One of them will last a reasonable 7640man a lifetime. 7641 -- Thomas Aldrich 7642% 7643 It was the next morning that the armies of Twodor marched east 7644laden with long lances, sharp swords, and death-dealing hangovers. The 7645thousands were led by Arrowroot, who sat limply in his sidesaddle, 7646nursing a whopper. Goodgulf, Gimlet, and the rest rode by him, praying 7647for their fate to be quick, painless, and if possible, someone else's. 7648 Many an hour the armies forged ahead, the war-merinos bleating 7649under their heavy burdens and the soldiers bleating under their melting 7650icepacks. 7651 -- The Harvard Lampoon, "Bored of the Rings" 7652% 7653It wasn't that she had a rose in her teeth, exactly. It was more like 7654the rose and the teeth were in the same glass. 7655% 7656It will be advantageous to cross the great stream ... the Dragon is on 7657the wing in the Sky ... the Great Man rouses himself to his Work. 7658% 7659It will be generally found that those who sneer habitually at human 7660nature and affect to despise it, are among its worst and least pleasant 7661examples. 7662 -- Charles Dickens 7663% 7664It would be nice if the Food and Drug Administration stopped issuing 7665warnings about toxic substances and just gave me the names of one or 7666two things still safe to eat. 7667 -- Robert Fuoss 7668% 7669It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word. 7670 -- Andrew Jackson 7671% 7672It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear. 7673 -- Cheers 7674% 7675It's a good thing we don't get all the government we pay for. 7676% 7677It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to have to paint it. 7678 -- Steven Wright 7679% 7680"It's a summons." 7681"What's a summons?" 7682"It means summon's in trouble." 7683 -- Rocky and Bullwinkle 7684% 7685It's a very *__UN*lucky week in which to be took dead. 7686 -- Churchy La Femme 7687% 7688It's always darkest just before it gets pitch black. 7689% 7690It's bad luck to be superstitious. 7691 -- Andrew W. Mathis 7692% 7693It's better to be wanted for murder than not to be wanted at all. 7694 -- Marty Winch 7695% 7696"It's easier said than done." 7697 7698... and if you don't believe it, try proving that it's easier done than 7699said, and you'll see that "it's easier said that `it's easier done than 7700said' than it is done", which really proves that "it's easier said than 7701done". 7702% 7703It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them. 7704% 7705It's easier to get forgiveness for being wrong than forgiveness for 7706being right. 7707% 7708It's Fabulous! We haven't seen anything like it in the last half an hour! 7709 -- Macy's 7710% 7711It's illegal in Wilbur, Washington, to ride an ugly horse. 7712% 7713It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it 7714is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's. It 7715isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs. 7716 -- Oxford University Press, "Edpress News" 7717% 7718It's just a jump to the left 7719 And then a step to the right. 7720Put your hands on your hips 7721 And pull your knees in tight. 7722But it's the pelvic thrust 7723 That really drives you insa-a-a-a-a-ane! 7724 7725 LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN! 7726 7727 -- Rocky Horror Picture Show 7728% 7729It's kind of fun to do the impossible. 7730 -- Walt Disney 7731% 7732"It's Like This" 7733 7734Even the samurai 7735have teddy bears, 7736and even the teddy bears 7737get drunk. 7738% 7739It's lucky you're going so slowly, because you're going in the wrong 7740direction. 7741% 7742It's men like him that give the Y chromosome a bad name. 7743% 7744It's more than magnificent -- it's mediocre. 7745 -- Sam Goldwyn 7746% 7747It's no surprise that things are so screwed up: everyone that knows how 7748to run a government is either driving taxicabs or cutting hair. 7749 -- George Burns 7750% 7751It's not an optical illusion, it just looks like one. 7752 -- Phil White 7753% 7754It's not Camelot, but it's not Cleveland, either. 7755 -- Kevin White, mayor of Boston 7756% 7757It's not enough to be Hungarian; you must have talent too. 7758 -- Alexander Korda 7759% 7760It's not just a computer -- it's your ass. 7761 -- Cal Keegan 7762% 7763It's not reality or how you perceive things that's important -- it's 7764what you're taking for it... 7765% 7766It's not so hard to lift yourself by your bootstraps once you're off 7767the ground. 7768 -- Daniel B. Luten 7769% 7770It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it 7771happens. 7772 -- Woody Allen 7773% 7774It's not the valleys in life I dread so much as the dips. 7775 -- Garfield 7776% 7777It's odd, and a little unsettling, to reflect upon the fact that 7778English is the only major language in which "I" is capitalized; in many 7779other languages "You" is capitalized and the "i" is lower case. 7780 -- Sydney J. Harris 7781% 7782It's raisins that make Post Raisin Bran so raisiny ... 7783% 7784It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles. 7785% 7786It's so stupid of modern civilization to have given up believing in the 7787Devil when he is the only explanation of it. 7788% 7789It's the opinion of some that crops could be grown on the moon. Which 7790raises the fear that it may not be long before we're paying somebody 7791not to. 7792 -- Franklin P. Jones 7793% 7794It's the thought, if any, that counts! 7795% 7796 JACK AND THE BEANSTACK 7797 by Mark Isaak 7798 7799 Long ago, in a finite state far away, there lived a JOVIAL 7800character named Jack. Jack and his relations were poor. Often their 7801hash table was bare. One day Jack's parent said to him, "Our matrices 7802are sparse. You must go to the market to exchange our RAM for some 7803BASICs." She compiled a linked list of items to retrieve and passed it 7804to him. 7805 So Jack set out. But as he was walking along a Hamilton path, 7806he met the traveling salesman. 7807 "Whither dost thy flow chart take thou?" prompted the salesman 7808in high-level language. 7809 "I'm going to the market to exchange this RAM for some chips 7810and Apples," commented Jack. 7811 "I have a much better algorithm. You needn't join a queue 7812there; I will swap your RAM for these magic kernels now." 7813 Jack made the trade, then backtracked to his house. But when 7814he told his busy-waiting parent of the deal, she became so angry she 7815started thrashing. 7816 "Don't you even have any artificial intelligence? All these 7817kernels together hardly make up one byte," and she popped them out the 7818window ... 7819% 7820Jacquin's Postulate on Democratic Government: 7821 No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the 7822legislature is in session. 7823% 7824James Joyce -- an essentially private man who wished his total 7825indifference to public notice to be universally recognized. 7826 -- Tom Stoppard 7827% 7828Jenkinson's Law: 7829 It won't work. 7830% 7831Jesus Saves, 7832Moses Invests, 7833But only Buddha pays Dividends. 7834% 7835Job Placement, n.: 7836 Telling your boss what he can do with your job. 7837% 7838Joe's sister puts spaghetti in her shoes! 7839% 7840Johnson's First Law: 7841 When any mechanical contrivance fails, it will do so at the 7842most inconvenient possible time. 7843% 7844Join in the new game that's sweeping the country. It's called 7845"Bureaucracy". Everybody stands in a circle. The first person to do 7846anything loses. 7847% 7848Join the march to save individuality! 7849% 7850Jone's Law: 7851 The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone 7852to blame it on. 7853% 7854Jone's Motto: 7855 Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate. 7856% 7857Jones's First Law: 7858 Anyone who makes a significant contribution to any field of 7859endeavor, and stays in that field long enough, becomes an obstruction 7860to its progress -- in direct proportion to the importance of their 7861original contribution. 7862% 7863Just about every computer on the market today runs Unix, except the Mac 7864(and nobody cares about it). 7865 -- Bill Joy 6/21/85 7866% 7867Just as most issues are seldom black or white, so are most good 7868solutions seldom black or white. Beware of the solution that requires 7869one side to be totally the loser and the other side to be totally the 7870winner. The reason there are two sides to begin with usually is 7871because neither side has all the facts. Therefore, when the wise 7872mediator effects a compromise, he is not acting from political 7873motivation. Rather, he is acting from a deep sense of respect for the 7874whole truth. 7875 -- Stephen R. Schwambach 7876% 7877Just because everything is different doesn't mean anything has 7878changed. 7879 -- Irene Peter 7880% 7881Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they AREN'T after you. 7882% 7883Just because your doctor has a name for your condition doesn't mean he 7884knows what it is. 7885% 7886Just go with the flow control, roll with the crunches, and, when you 7887get a prompt, type like hell. 7888% 7889Just once, I wish we would encounter an alien menace that wasn't 7890immune to bullets. 7891 -- The Brigadier, "Dr. Who" 7892% 7893Just out of curiosity does this actually mean something or have some 7894of the few remaining bits of your brain just evaporated? 7895 -- Patricia O Tuama, rissa@killer.DALLAS.TX.US 7896% 7897Just remember, it all started with a mouse. 7898 -- Walt Disney 7899% 7900Just remember: when you go to court, you are trusting your fate to 7901twelve people that weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty! 7902% 7903`Just the place for a Snark!' the Bellman cried, 7904 As he landed his crew with care; 7905Supporting each man on the top of the tide 7906 By a finger entwined in his hair. 7907 7908'Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice: 7909 That alone should encourage the crew. 7910Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice: 7911 What I tell you three times is true.' 7912% 7913Just when you thought you were winning the rat race, along comes a 7914faster rat!!! 7915% 7916Justice always prevails ... three times out of seven! 7917 -- Michael J. Wagner 7918% 7919Justice is incidental to law and order. 7920 -- J. Edgar Hoover 7921% 7922Justice, n.: 7923 A decision in your favor. 7924% 7925K: Cobalt's metal, hard and shining; 7926 Cobol's wordy and confining; 7927 KOBOLDS topple when you strike them; 7928 Don't feel bad, it's hard to like them. 7929 -- The Roguelet's ABC 7930% 7931Kansas state law requires pedestrians crossing the highways at night to 7932wear tail lights. 7933% 7934Katz' Law: 7935 Man and nations will act rationally when all other 7936possibilities have been exhausted. 7937% 7938Keep America beautiful. Swallow your beer cans. 7939% 7940Keep Cool, but Don't Freeze 7941 - Hellman's Mayonnaise 7942% 7943Keep emotionally active. Cater to your favorite neurosis. 7944% 7945Keep grandma off the streets -- legalize bingo. 7946% 7947Keep in mind always the two constant Laws of Frisbee: 7948 (1) The most powerful force in the world is that of a disc 7949 straining to land under a car, just out of reach (this 7950 force is technically termed "car suck"). 7951 (2) Never precede any maneuver by a comment more predictive 7952 than "Watch this!" 7953% 7954Keep your Eye on the Ball, 7955Your Shoulder to the Wheel, 7956Your Nose to the Grindstone, 7957Your Feet on the Ground, 7958Your Head on your Shoulders. 7959Now ... try to get something DONE! 7960% 7961Ken Thompson has an automobile which he helped design. Unlike most 7962automobiles, it has neither speedometer, nor gas gage, nor any of the 7963numerous idiot lights which plague the modern driver. Rather, if the 7964driver makes any mistake, a giant "?" lights up in the center of the 7965dashboard. "The experienced driver", he says, "will usually know 7966what's wrong." 7967% 7968Kerr's Three Rules for a Successful College: 7969 Have plenty of football for the alumni, sex for the students, 7970and parking for the faculty. 7971% 7972Kids have *_____never* taken guidance from their parents. If you could 7973travel back in time and observe the original primate family in the 7974original tree, you would see the primate parents yelling at the primate 7975teenager for sitting around and sulking all day instead of hunting for 7976grubs and berries like dad primate. Then you'd see the primate 7977teenager stomp up to his branch and slam the leaves. 7978 -- Dave Barry, "Kids Today: They Don't Know Dum Diddly Do" 7979% 7980Kin, n.: 7981 An affliction of the blood. 7982% 7983Kinkler's First Law: 7984 Responsibility always exceeds authority. 7985 7986Kinkler's Second Law: 7987 All the easy problems have been solved. 7988% 7989Kirk to Enterprise -- beam down yeoman Rand and a six-pack. 7990% 7991Kirkland, Illinois, law forbids bees to fly over the village or through 7992any of its streets. 7993% 7994Kiss me twice. I'm schizophrenic. 7995% 7996Kiss your keyboard goodbye! 7997% 7998Klein bottle for rent -- inquire within. 7999% 8000Kleptomaniac, n.: 8001 A rich thief. 8002 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 8003% 8004Know thyself. If you need help, call the C.I.A. 8005% 8006Know what I hate most? Rhetorical questions. 8007 -- Henry N. Camp 8008% 8009Krogt, n. (chemical symbol: Kr): 8010 The metallic silver coating found on fast-food game cards. 8011 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 8012% 8013Labor, n.: 8014 One of the processes by which A acquires property for B. 8015 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 8016% 8017Lackland's Laws: 8018 (1) Never be first. 8019 (2) Never be last. 8020 (3) Never volunteer for anything 8021% 8022Lactomangulation, n.: 8023 Manhandling the "open here" spout on a milk carton so badly 8024that one has to resort to using the "illegal" side. 8025 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 8026% 8027Ladybug, ladybug, 8028Look to your stern! 8029Your house is on fire, 8030Your children will burn! 8031So jump ye and sing, for 8032The very first time 8033The four lines above 8034Have been put into rhyme. 8035 -- Walt Kelly 8036% 8037Laetrile is the pits 8038% 8039Langsam's Laws: 8040 (1) Everything depends. 8041 (2) Nothing is always. 8042 (3) Everything is sometimes. 8043% 8044Larkinson's Law: 8045 All laws are basically false. 8046% 8047Lassie looked brilliant, in part because the farm family she lived with 8048was made up of idiots. Remember? One of them was always getting 8049pinned under the tractor, and Lassie was always rushing back to the 8050farmhouse to alert the other ones. She'd whimper and tug at their 8051sleeves, and they'd always waste precious minutes saying things: "Do 8052you think something's wrong? Do you think she wants us to follow her? 8053What is it, girl?", etc., as if this had never happened before, instead 8054of every week. What with all the time these people spent pinned under 8055the tractor, I don't see how they managed to grow any crops 8056whatsoever. They probably got by on federal crop supports, which 8057Lassie filed the applications for. 8058 -- Dave Barry 8059% 8060Last night, I came home and realized that everything in my apartment 8061had been stolen and replaced with an exact duplicate. I told this to 8062my friend -- he said, `Do I know you?' 8063 -- Steven Wright 8064% 8065Last week a cop stopped me in my car. He asked me if I had a police 8066record. I said, no, but I have the new DEVO album. Cops have no sense 8067of humor. 8068% 8069Last yeer I kudn't spel Engineer. Now I are won. 8070% 8071Laugh at your problems; everybody else does. 8072% 8073Laughter is the closest distance between two people." 8074 -- Victor Borge 8075% 8076Law of Communications: 8077 The inevitable result of improved and enlarged communications 8078between different levels in a hierarchy is a vastly increased area of 8079misunderstanding. 8080% 8081Law of Probable Dispersal: 8082 Whatever it is that hits the fan will not be evenly 8083distributed. 8084% 8085Law of Selective Gravity: 8086 An object will fall so as to do the most damage. 8087 8088Jenning's Corollary: 8089 The chance of the bread falling with the buttered side down is 8090directly proportional to the cost of the carpet. 8091 8092Law of the Perversity of Nature: 8093 You cannot successfully determine beforehand which side of the 8094bread to butter. 8095% 8096Laws of Serendipity: 8097 8098 (1) In order to discover anything, you must be looking for 8099 something. 8100 (2) If you wish to make an improved product, you must already 8101 be engaged in making an inferior one. 8102% 8103Lazlo's Chinese Relativity Axiom: 8104 No matter how great your triumphs or how tragic your defeats -- 8105approximately one billion Chinese couldn't care less. 8106% 8107Learned men are the cisterns of knowledge, not the fountainheads. 8108% 8109Learning French is trivial: the word for horse is cheval, and 8110everything else follows in the same way. 8111 -- Alan J. Perlis 8112% 8113Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse. 8114% 8115Legalize free-enterprise murder: why should governments have all the 8116fun? 8117% 8118Legislation proposed in the Illinois State Legislature, May, 1907: 8119 "Speed upon county roads will be limited to ten miles an hour 8120unless the motorist sees a bailiff who does not appear to have had a 8121drink in 30 days, when the driver will be permitted to make what he 8122can." 8123% 8124Leibowitz's Rule: 8125 When hammering a nail, you will never hit your finger if you 8126hold the hammer with both hands. 8127% 8128LEO (July 23 - Aug 22) 8129 You consider yourself a born leader. Others think you are 8130 pushy. Most Leo people are bullies. You are vain and dislike 8131 honest criticism. Your arrogance is disgusting. Leo people 8132 are thieves. 8133% 8134LEO (July 23 - Aug 22) 8135 Your determination and sense of humor will come to the fore. 8136 Your ability to laugh at adversity will be a blessing because 8137 you've got a day coming you wouldn't believe. As a matter of 8138 fact, if you can laugh at what happens to you today, you've got 8139 a sick sense of humor. 8140% 8141Let He who taketh the Plunge Remember to return it by Tuesday. 8142% 8143Let me assure you that to us here at First National, you're not just a 8144number. You're two numbers, a dash, three more numbers, another dash 8145and another number. 8146 -- James Estes 8147% 8148Let us live!!! 8149Let us love!!! 8150Let us share the deepest secrets of our souls!!! 8151 8152You first. 8153% 8154Let's just say that where a change was required, I adjusted. In every 8155relationship that exists, people have to seek a way to survive. If you 8156really care about the person, you do what's necessary, or that's the 8157end. For the first time, I found that I really could change, and the 8158qualities I most admired in myself I gave up. I stopped being loud and 8159bossy ... Oh, all right. I was still loud and bossy, but only behind 8160his back. 8161 -- Kate Hepburn, on Tracy and Hepburn 8162% 8163Let's say your wedding ring falls into your toaster, and when you stick 8164your hand in to retrieve it, you suffer Pain and Suffering as well as 8165Mental Anguish. You would sue: 8166 8167* The toaster manufacturer, for failure to include, in the instructions 8168 section that says you should never never never ever stick you hand 8169 into the toaster, the statement "Not even if your wedding ring falls 8170 in there". 8171 8172* The store where you bought the toaster, for selling it to an obvious 8173 cretin like yourself. 8174 8175* Union Carbide Corporation, which is not directly responsible in this 8176 case, but which is feeling so guilty that it would probably send you 8177 a large cash settlement anyway. 8178 -- Dave Barry 8179% 8180Let's talk about how to fill out your 1984 tax return. Here's an often 8181overlooked accounting technique that can save you thousands of 8182dollars: For several days before you put it in the mail, carry your 8183tax return around under your armpit. No IRS agent is going to want to 8184spend hours poring over a sweat-stained document. So even if you owe 8185money, you can put in for an enormous refund and the agent will 8186probably give it to you, just to avoid an audit. What does he care? 8187It's not his money. 8188 -- Dave Barry, "Sweating Out Taxes" 8189% 8190LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (The Times of London) 8191 8192Dear Sir, 8193 8194I am firmly opposed to the spread of microchips either to the home or 8195to the office. We have more than enough of them foisted upon us in 8196public places. They are a disgusting Americanism, and can only result 8197in the farmers being forced to grow smaller potatoes, which in turn 8198will cause massive unemployment in the already severely depressed 8199agricultural industry. 8200 8201Yours faithfully, 8202 Capt. Quinton D'Arcy, J. P. 8203 Sevenoaks 8204% 8205Lewis's Law of Travel: 8206 The first piece of luggage out of the chute doesn't belong to 8207anyone, ever. 8208% 8209Liar, n.: 8210 A lawyer with a roving commission. 8211 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 8212% 8213Liberty is always dangerous, but it is the safest thing we have. 8214 -- Harry Emerson Fosdick 8215% 8216LIBRA (Sep. 23 to Oct. 22) 8217 Your desire for justice and truth will be overshadowed by your 8218 desire for filthy lucre and a decent meal. Be gracious and 8219 polite. Someone is watching you, so stop staring like that. 8220% 8221LIBRA (Sept 23 - Oct 22) 8222 You are the artistic type and have a difficult time with 8223 reality. If you are a man, you are more than likely gay. 8224 Chances for employment and monetary gains are excellent. Most 8225 Libra women are prostitutes. All Libra people die of venereal 8226 disease. 8227% 8228Lie, n.: 8229 A very poor substitute for the truth, but the only one 8230discovered to date. 8231% 8232Lieberman's Law: 8233 Everybody lies, but it doesn't matter since nobody listens. 8234% 8235Life is a whim of several billion cells to be you for a while. 8236% 8237Life is a yo-yo, and mankind ties knots in the string. 8238% 8239Life is like a bowl of soup with hairs floating on it. You have to 8240eat it nevertheless. 8241 -- Flaubert 8242% 8243Life is like a buffet; it's not good but there's plenty of it. 8244% 8245Life is like a simile. 8246% 8247Life is like an analogy. 8248% 8249Life is like an onion: you peel off layer after layer, then you find 8250there is nothing in it. 8251% 8252Life is too important to take seriously. 8253 -- Corky Siegel 8254% 8255Life may have no meaning -- or even worse, it may have a meaning of 8256which I disapprove. 8257% 8258Life to you is a bold and dashing responsibility. 8259 -- a Mary Chung's fortune cookie 8260% 8261Life would be much simpler and things would get done much faster if it 8262weren't for other people. 8263 -- Blore 8264% 8265Life would be so much easier if we could just look at the source code. 8266% 8267Life, loathe it or ignore it, you can't like it. 8268 -- Marvin, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" 8269% 8270Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made 8271sense from things she found in gift shops. 8272 -- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 8273% 8274Like the ski resort of girls looking for husbands and husbands looking 8275for girls, the situation is not as symmetrical as it might seem. 8276 -- Alan McKay 8277% 8278Line Printer paper is strongest at the perforations. 8279% 8280Linus: I guess it's wrong always to be worrying about tomorrow. Maybe 8281 we should think only about today. 8282Charlie Brown: 8283 No, that's giving up. I'm still hoping that yesterday will get 8284 better. 8285% 8286Living in LA is like not having a date on Saturday night. 8287 -- Candice Bergen 8288% 8289Living on Earth may be expensive, but it includes an annual free trip 8290around the Sun. 8291% 8292Living your life is a task so difficult, it has never been attempted 8293before. 8294% 8295Lizzie Borden took an axe, 8296And plunged it deep into the VAX; 8297Don't you envy people who 8298Do all the things ___YOU want to do? 8299% 8300Loan-department manager: "There isn't any fine print. At these 8301interest rates, we don't need it." 8302% 8303Lobster: 8304 Everyone loves these delectable crustaceans, but many cooks are 8305squeamish about placing them into boiling water alive, which is the 8306only proper method of preparing them. Frankly, the easiest way to 8307eliminate your guilt is to establish theirs by putting them on trial 8308before they're cooked. The fact is, lobsters are among the most 8309ferocious predators on the sea floor, and you're helping reduce crime 8310in the reefs. Grasp the lobster behind the head, look it right in its 8311unmistakably guilty eyestalks and say, "Where were you on the night of 8312the 21st?", then flourish a picture of a scallop or a sole and shout, 8313"Perhaps this will refresh that crude neural apparatus you call a 8314memory!" The lobster will squirm noticeably. It may even take a swipe 8315at you with one of its claws. Incorrigible. Pop it into the pot. 8316Justice has been served, and shortly you and your friends will be, 8317too. 8318 -- Dave Barry, "Cooking: The Art of Using Appliances and 8319 Utensils into Excuses and Apologies" 8320% 8321Lockwood's Long Shot: 8322 The chances of getting eaten up by a lion on Main Street aren't 8323one in a million, but once would be enough. 8324% 8325Logic is a little bird, sitting in a tree; that smells *_____awful*. 8326% 8327... Logically incoherent, semantically incomprehensible, and 8328legally ... impeccable! 8329% 8330Logicians have but ill defined 8331As rational the human kind. 8332Logic, they say, belongs to man, 8333But let them prove it if they can. 8334 -- Oliver Goldsmith 8335% 8336Look out! Behind you! 8337% 8338Look, we play the Star Spangled Banner before every game. You want us 8339to pay income taxes, too? 8340 -- Bill Veeck, Chicago White Sox 8341% 8342Loose bits sink chips. 8343% 8344Losing your drivers' license is just God's way of saying 8345"BOOGA, BOOGA!" 8346% 8347Lost interest? It's so bad I've lost apathy. 8348% 8349Loud burping while walking around the airport is prohibited in 8350Halstead, Kansas. 8351% 8352Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea. 8353% 8354Love at first sight is one of the greatest labor-saving devices the 8355world has ever seen. 8356% 8357Love cannot be much younger than the lust for murder. 8358 -- Sigmund Freud 8359% 8360Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it 8361flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come. 8362 -- Matt Groening 8363% 8364Love is a word that is constantly heard, 8365Hate is a word that is not. 8366Love, I am told, is more precious than gold. 8367Love, I have read, is hot. 8368But hate is the verb that to me is superb, 8369And Love but a drug on the mart. 8370Any kiddie in school can love like a fool, 8371But Hating, my boy, is an Art. 8372 -- Ogden Nash 8373% 8374Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; a confusion of the real with 8375the ideal never goes unpunished. 8376 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 8377% 8378Love is sentimental measles. 8379% 8380Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence. 8381 -- H. L. Mencken 8382% 8383Love means having to say you're sorry every five minutes. 8384% 8385Love thy neighbor as thyself, but choose your neighborhood. 8386 -- Louise Beal 8387% 8388Love your enemies: they'll go crazy trying to figure out what you're up to. 8389% 8390 Love's Drug 8391 8392My love is like an iron wand 8393 That conks me on the head, 8394My love is like the valium 8395 That I take before my bed, 8396My love is like the pint of scotch 8397 That I drink when I be dry; 8398And I shall love thee still, my dear, 8399 Until my wife is wise. 8400% 8401Lowery's Law: 8402 If it jams -- force it. If it breaks, it needed replacing 8403anyway. 8404% 8405LSD melts in your mind, not in your hand. 8406% 8407Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology: 8408 There's always one more bug. 8409% 8410Lunatic Asylum, n.: 8411 The place where optimism most flourishes. 8412% 8413Lysistrata had a good idea. 8414% 8415MacDonald has the gift on compressing the largest amount of words into 8416the smallest amount of thoughts. 8417 -- Winston Churchill 8418% 8419Machine-Independent, adj.: 8420 Does not run on any existing machine. 8421% 8422Machines certainly can solve problems, store information, correlate, 8423and play games -- but not with pleasure. 8424 -- Leo Rosten 8425% 8426Mad, adj.: 8427 Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence. 8428 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 8429% 8430Madam, there's no such thing as a tough child -- if you parboil them 8431first for seven hours, they always come out tender. 8432 -- W. C. Fields 8433% 8434MAFIA, n: 8435 [Acronym for Mechanized Applications in Forced Insurance 8436Accounting.] An extensive network with many on-line and offshore 8437subsystems running under OS, DOS, and IOS. MAFIA documentation is 8438rather scanty, and the MAFIA sales office exhibits that testy 8439reluctance to bona fide inquiries which is the hallmark of so many DP 8440operations. From the little that has seeped out, it would appear that 8441MAFIA operates under a non-standard protocol, OMERTA, a tight-lipped 8442variant of SNA, in which extended handshakes also perform complex 8443security functions. The known timesharing aspects of MAFIA point to a 8444more than usually autocratic operating system. Screen prompts carry an 8445imperative, nonrefusable weighting (most menus offer simple YES/YES 8446options, defaulting to YES) that precludes indifference or delay. 8447Uniquely, all editing under MAFIA is performed centrally, using a 8448powerful rubout feature capable of erasing files, filors, filees, and 8449entire nodal aggravations. 8450 -- Stan Kelly-Bootle, "The Devil's DP Dictionary" 8451% 8452Magnet, n.: Something acted upon by magnetism. 8453 8454Magnetism, n.: Something acting upon a magnet. 8455 8456The two definition immediately preceding are condensed from the works 8457of one thousand eminent scientists, who have illuminated the subject 8458with a great white light, to the inexpressible advancement of human 8459knowledge. 8460 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 8461% 8462Magnocartic, adj.: 8463 Any automobile that, when left unattended, attracts shopping carts. 8464 -- Sniglets, "Rich Hall & Friends" 8465% 8466Magpie, n.: 8467 A bird whose thievish disposition suggested to someone that it 8468might be taught to talk. 8469 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 8470% 8471Maier's Law: 8472 If the facts don't conform to the theory, they must be disposed of. 8473 8474Corollaries: 8475 (1) The bigger the theory, the better. 8476 (2) The experiment may be considered a success if no more than 8477 50% of the observed measurements must be discarded to 8478 obtain a correspondence with the theory. 8479% 8480Main's Law: 8481 For every action there is an equal and opposite government program. 8482% 8483Maintainer's Motto: 8484 If we can't fix it, it ain't broke. 8485% 8486Major Premise: Sixty men can do a piece of work sixty times as quickly 8487 as one man. 8488 8489Minor Premise: One man can dig a posthole in sixty seconds. 8490 8491Conclusion: Sixty men can dig a posthole in one second. 8492 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 8493% 8494Majority, n.: 8495 That quality that distinguishes a crime from a law. 8496% 8497Make it myself? But I'm a physical organic chemist! 8498% 8499Making files is easy under the UNIX operating system. Therefore, users 8500tend to create numerous files using large amounts of file space. It 8501has been said that the only standard thing about all UNIX systems is 8502the message-of-the-day telling users to clean up their files. 8503 -- System V.2 administrator's guide 8504% 8505Malek's Law: 8506 Any simple idea will be worded in the most complicated way. 8507% 8508Man 1: Ask me what the most important thing about telling a good 8509 joke is. 8510 8511Man 2: OK, what is the most impo -- 8512 8513Man 1: ______TIMING! 8514% 8515Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain. 8516 -- Lily Tomlin 8517% 8518Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when he is called 8519upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason. 8520 -- Oscar Wilde 8521% 8522Man is the best computer we can put aboard a spacecraft ... and the 8523only one that can be mass produced with unskilled labor. 8524 -- Wernher von Braun 8525% 8526Man is the only animal that blushes -- or needs to. 8527 -- Mark Twain 8528% 8529Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the 8530victims he intends to eat until he eats them. 8531 -- Samuel Butler (1835-1902) 8532% 8533Man usually avoids attributing cleverness to somebody else -- unless it 8534is an enemy. 8535 -- Albert Einstein 8536% 8537Man, n.: 8538 An animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks 8539he is as to overlook what he indubitably ought to be. His chief 8540occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, 8541however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole 8542habitable earth and Canada. 8543 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 8544% 8545Mandrell: "You know what I think?" 8546Doctor: "Ah, ah that's a catch question. With a brain your size you 8547 don't think, right?" 8548 -- Dr. Who 8549% 8550Mankind's yearning to engage in sports is older than recorded history, 8551dating back to the time millions of years ago, when the first primitive 8552man picked up a crude club and a round rock, tossed the rock into the 8553air, and whomped the club into the sloping forehead of the first 8554primitive umpire. 8555 8556What inner force drove this first athlete? Your guess is as good as 8557mine. Better, probably, because you haven't had four beers. 8558 -- Dave Barry, "Sports is a Drag" 8559% 8560Manual, n.: 8561 A unit of documentation. There are always three or more on a 8562given item. One is on the shelf; someone has the others. The 8563information you need is in the others. 8564 -- Ray Simard 8565% 8566Many years ago in a period commonly known as Next Friday Afternoon, 8567there lived a King who was very Gloomy on Tuesday mornings because he 8568was so Sad thinking about how Unhappy he had been on Monday and how 8569completely Mournful he would be on Wednesday ... 8570 -- Walt Kelly 8571% 8572Mark's Dental-Chair Discovery: 8573 Dentists are incapable of asking questions that require a 8574simple yes or no answer. 8575% 8576Marriage is the only adventure open to the cowardly. 8577 -- Voltaire 8578% 8579Maryel brought her bat into Exit once and started whacking people on 8580the dance floor. Now everyone's doing it. It's called grand slam 8581dancing. 8582 -- Ransford, Chicago Reader 10/7/83 8583% 8584Maternity pay? Now every Tom, Dick and Harry will get pregnant. 8585 -- Malcolm Smith 8586% 8587Math is like love -- a simple idea but it can get complicated. 8588 -- R. Drabek 8589% 8590Mathematicians are like Frenchmen: whatever you say to them they 8591translate into their own language, and forthwith it is something 8592entirely different. 8593 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 8594% 8595Mathematicians often resort to something called Hilbert space, which is 8596described as being n-dimensional. Like modern sex, any number can 8597play. 8598 -- Dr. Thor Wald, in "Beep/The Quincunx of Time", by 8599 James Blish 8600% 8601Matrimony isn't a word, it's a sentence. 8602% 8603Matter cannot be created or destroyed, 8604nor can it be returned without a receipt. 8605% 8606Maturity is only a short break in adolescence. 8607 -- Jules Feiffer 8608% 8609May a Misguided Platypus lay its Eggs in your Jockey Shorts. 8610% 8611May Euell Gibbons eat your only copy of the manual! 8612% 8613May the Fleas of a Thousand Camels infest one of your Erogenous Zones. 8614% 8615May your Tongue stick to the Roof of your Mouth with the Force of a 8616Thousand Caramels. 8617% 8618Maybe Computer Science should be in the College of Theology. 8619 -- R. S. Barton 8620% 8621Maybe you can't buy happiness, but these days you can certainly charge 8622it. 8623% 8624McGowan's Madison Avenue Axiom: 8625 If an item is advertised as "under $50", you can bet it's not 8626$19.95. 8627% 8628Meader's Law: 8629 Whatever happens to you, it will previously have happened to 8630everyone you know, only more so. 8631% 8632Meeting, n.: 8633 An assembly of people coming together to decide what person or 8634department not represented in the room must solve a problem. 8635% 8636Men were real men, women were real women, and small, furry creatures 8637from Alpha Centauri were REAL small, furry creatures from Alpha 8638Centauri. Spirits were brave, men boldly split infinitives that no man 8639had split before. Thus was the Empire forged. 8640 -- Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" 8641% 8642Men's skin is different from women's skin. It is usually bigger, and 8643it has more snakes tattooed on it. Also, if you examine a woman's skin 8644very closely, inch by inch, starting at her shapely ankles, then gently 8645tracing the slender curve of her calves, then moving up to her ... 8646 [EDITOR'S NOTE: To make room for news articles about important 8647 world events such as agriculture, we're going to delete the 8648 next few square feet of the woman's skin. Thank you.] 8649... until finally the two of you are lying there, spent, smoking your 8650cigarettes, and suddenly it hits you: Human skin is actually made up of 8651billions of tiny units of protoplasm, called "cells"! And what is even 8652more interesting, the ones on the outside are all dying! This is a 8653fact. Your skin is like an aggressive modern corporation, where the 8654older veteran cells, who have finally worked their way to the top and 8655obtained offices with nice views, are constantly being shoved out the 8656window head first, without so much as a pension plan, by younger 8657hotshot cells moving up from below. 8658 -- Dave Barry, "Saving Face" 8659% 8660Mencken and Nathan's Fifteenth Law of The Average American: 8661 The worst actress in the company is always the manager's wife. 8662% 8663Mencken and Nathan's Ninth Law of The Average American: 8664 The quality of a champagne is judged by the amount of noise the 8665cork makes when it is popped. 8666% 8667Mencken and Nathan's Second Law of The Average American: 8668 All the postmasters in small towns read all the postcards. 8669% 8670Mencken and Nathan's Sixteenth Law of The Average American: 8671 Milking a cow is an operation demanding a special talent that 8672is possessed only by yokels, and no person born in a large city can 8673ever hope to acquire it. 8674% 8675Menu, n.: 8676 A list of dishes which the restaurant has just run out of. 8677% 8678Meskimen's Law: 8679 There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to 8680do it over. 8681% 8682MESSAGE ACKNOWLEDGED -- The Pershing II missiles have been launched. 8683% 8684Message will arrive in the mail. Destroy, before the FBI sees it. 8685% 8686methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamylserylleucylphenylalanylalanylglutamin- 8687ylleucyllysylglutamylarginyllysylglutamylglycylalanylphenylalanylvalylprolyl- 8688phenylalanylvalylthreonylleucylglycylaspartylprolylglycylisoleucylglutamylglu- 8689taminylserylleucyllysylisoleucylaspartylthreonylleucylisoleucylglutamylalanyl- 8690glycylalanylaspartylalanylleucylglutamylleucylglycylisoleucylprolylphenylala- 8691nylserylaspartylprolylleucylalanylaspartylglycylprolylthreonylisoleucylgluta- 8692minylasparaginylalanylthreonylleucylarginylalanylphenylalanylalanylalanylgly- 8693cylvalylthreonylprolylalanylglutaminylcysteinylphenylalanylglutamylmethionyl- 8694leucylalanylleucylisoleucylarginylglutaminyllysylhistidylprolylthreonylisoleu- 8695cylprolylisoleucylglycylleucylleucylmethionyltyrosylalanylasparaginylleucylva- 8696lylphenylalanylasparaginyllysylglycylisoleucylaspartylglutamylphenylalanyltyro- 8697sylalanylglutaminylcysteinylglutamyllysylvalylglycylvalylaspartylserylvalylleu- 8698cylvalylalanylaspartylvalylprolylvalylglutaminylglutamylserylalanylprolylphe- 8699nylalanylarginylglutaminylalanylalanylleucylarginylhistidylasparaginylvalylala- 8700nylprolylisoleucylphenylalanylisoleucylcysteinylprolylprolylaspartylalanylas- 8701partylaspartylaspartylleucylleucylarginylglutaminylisoleucylalanylseryltyrosyl- 8702glycylarginylglycyltyrosylthreonyltyrosylleucylleucylserylarginylalanylglycyl- 8703valylthreonylglycylalanylglutamylasparaginylarginylalanylalanylleucylprolylleu- 8704cylasparaginylhistidylleucylvalylalanyllysylleucyllysylglutamyltyrosylasparagi- 8705nylalanylalanylprolylprolylleucylglutaminylglycylphenylalanylglycylisoleucylse- 8706rylalanylprolylaspartylglutaminylvalyllysylalanylalanylisoleucylaspartylalanyl- 8707glycylalanylalanylglycylalanylisoleucylserylglycylserylalanylisoleucylvalylly- 8708sylisoleucylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylhistidylasparaginylisoleucylglutamylpro- 8709lylglutamyllysylmethionylleucylalanylalanylleucyllysylvalylphenylalanylvalyl- 8710glutaminylprolylmethionyllysylalanylalanylthreonylarginylserine, n.: 8711 The chemical name for tryptophan synthetase A protein, a 8712 1,913-letter enzyme with 267 amino acids. 8713 -- Mrs. Bryne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and 8714 Preposterous Words 8715% 8716Mickey Mouse wears a Spiro Agnew watch. 8717% 8718Micro Credo: 8719 Never trust a computer bigger than you can lift. 8720% 8721Microwave oven? Whaddya mean, it's a microwave oven? I've been 8722watching Channel 4 on the thing for two weeks. 8723% 8724Might as well be frank, monsieur. It would take a miracle to get you 8725out of Casablanca and the Germans have outlawed miracles. 8726 -- Casablanca 8727% 8728Mike: "The Fourth Dimension is a shambles?" 8729Bernie: "Nobody ever empties the ashtrays. People are SO 8730 inconsiderate." 8731 -- Gary Trudeau, "Doonesbury" 8732% 8733Miksch's Law: 8734 If a string has one end, then it has another end. 8735% 8736Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms. 8737 -- Groucho Marx 8738% 8739Military justice is to justice what military music is to music. 8740 -- Groucho Marx 8741% 8742Millihelen, adj: 8743 The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. 8744% 8745Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with 8746themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. 8747 -- Susan Ertz 8748% 8749Millions of sensible people are too high-minded to concede that 8750politics is almost always the choice of the lesser evil. "Tweedledum 8751and Tweedledee," they say, "I will not vote." Having abstained, they 8752are presented with a President who appoints the people who are going to 8753rummage around in their lives for the next four years. Consider all 8754the people who sat home in a stew in 1968 rather than vote for Hubert 8755Humphrey. They showed Humphrey. Those people who taught Hubert 8756Humphrey a lesson will still be enjoying the Nixon Supreme Court when 8757Tricia and Julie begin to find silver threads among the gold and the 8758black. 8759 -- Russel Baker, "Ford without Flummery" 8760% 8761Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there 8762is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, 8763myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in 8764the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my 8765unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You 8766will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as 8767dead as a door-nail. 8768% 8769Minnie Mouse is a slow maze learner. 8770% 8771Minors in Kansas City, Missouri, are not allowed to purchase cap 8772pistols; they may buy shotguns freely, however. 8773% 8774Misery loves company, but company does not reciprocate. 8775% 8776Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it. 8777 -- Russell Baker 8778% 8779Misfortune, n.: 8780 The kind of fortune that never misses. 8781 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 8782% 8783Miss, n.: 8784 A title with which we brand unmarried women to indicate that 8785they are in the market. 8786 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 8787% 8788Mistakes are often the stepping stones to utter failure. 8789% 8790Mitchell's Law of Committees: 8791 Any simple problem can be made insoluble if enough meetings are 8792held to discuss it. 8793% 8794MOCK APPLE PIE (No Apples Needed) 8795 8796 Pastry to two crust 9-inch pie 36 RITZ Crackers 87972 cups water 2 cups sugar 87982 teaspoons cream of tartar 2 tablespoons lemon juice 8799 Grated rind of one lemon Butter or margarine 8800 Cinnamon 8801 8802Roll out bottom crust of pastry and fit into 9-inch pie plate. Break 8803RITZ Crackers coarsely into pastry-lined plate. Combine water, sugar 8804and cream of tartar in saucepan, boil gently for 15 minutes. Add lemon 8805juice and rind. Cool. Pour this syrup over Crackers, dot generously 8806with butter or margarine and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover with top 8807crust. Trim and flute edges together. Cut slits in top crust to let 8808steam escape. Bake in a hot oven (425 F) 30 to 35 minutes, until crust 8809is crisp and golden. Serve warm. Cut into 6 to 8 slices. 8810 -- Found lurking on a Ritz Crackers box 8811% 8812Modern man is the missing link between apes and human beings. 8813% 8814Mohandas K. Gandhi often changed his mind publicly. An aide once asked 8815him how he could so freely contradict this week what he had said just 8816last week. The great man replied that it was because this week he knew 8817better. 8818% 8819Molecule, n.: 8820 The ultimate, indivisible unit of matter. It is distinguished 8821from the corpuscle, also the ultimate, indivisible unit of matter, by a 8822closer resemblance to the atom, also the ultimate, indivisible unit of 8823matter ... The ion differs from the molecule, the corpuscle and the 8824atom in that it is an ion ... 8825 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 8826% 8827Mollison's Bureaucracy Hypothesis: 8828 If an idea can survive a bureaucratic review and be implemented 8829it wasn't worth doing. 8830% 8831Monday is an awful way to spend one seventh of your life. 8832% 8833Monday, n.: 8834 In Christian countries, the day after the baseball game. 8835 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 8836% 8837Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons. 8838% 8839Money is the root of all evil, and man needs roots. 8840% 8841Money is the root of all wealth. 8842% 8843Moon, n.: 8844 1. A celestial object whose phase is very important to 8845hackers. See PHASE OF THE MOON. 2. Dave Moon (MOON@MC). 8846% 8847Mophobia, n.: 8848 Fear of being verbally abused by a Mississippian. 8849% 8850 MORE SPORTS RESULTS: 8851The Beverly Hills Freudians tied the Chicago Rogerians 0-0 last 8852Saturday night. The match started with a long period of silence while 8853the Freudians waited for the Rogerians to free associate and the 8854Rogerians waited for the Freudians to say something they could 8855paraphrase. The stalemate was broken when the Freudians' best player 8856took the offensive and interpreted the Rogerians' silence as reflecting 8857their anal-retentive personalities. At this the Rogerians' star player 8858said "I hear you saying you think we're full of ka-ka." This started a 8859fight and the match was called by officials. 8860% 8861More than any time in history, mankind now faces a crossroads. One 8862path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total 8863extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly. 8864 -- Woody Allen, "Side Effects" 8865% 8866Mosher's Law of Software Engineering: 8867 Don't worry if it doesn't work right. If everything did, you'd 8868be out of a job. 8869% 8870Most fish live underwater, which is a terrible place to have sex 8871because virtually anywhere you lie down there will be stinging crabs 8872and large quantities of little fish staring at you with buggy little 8873eyes. So generally when two fish want to have sex, they swim around 8874and around for hours, looking for someplace to go, until finally the 8875female gets really tired and has a terrible headache, and she just 8876dumps her eggs right on the sand and swims away. Then the male, driven 8877by some timeless, noble instinct for survival, eats the eggs. So the 8878truth is that fish don't reproduce at all, but there are so many of 8879them that it doesn't make any difference. 8880 -- Dave Barry, "Sex and the Single Amoeba: What Every 8881 Teen Should Know" 8882% 8883Most people can't understand how others can blow their noses differently 8884than they do. 8885 -- Turgenev 8886% 8887Most people wouldn't know music if it came up and bit them on the ass. 8888 -- Frank Zappa 8889% 8890Mother is far too clever to understand anything she does not like. 8891 -- Arnold Bennett 8892% 8893Mother is the invention of necessity. 8894% 8895Mother told me to be good, but she's been wrong before. 8896% 8897Mr. Cole's Axiom: 8898 The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant; the 8899population is growing. 8900% 8901"Multiply in your head" (ordered the compassionate Dr. Adams) 8902"365,365,365,365,365,365 by 365,365,365,365,365,365. He [ten-year-old 8903Truman Henry Safford] flew around the room like a top, pulled his 8904pantaloons over the tops of his boots, bit his hands, rolled his eyes 8905in their sockets, sometimes smiling and talking, and then seeming to be 8906in an agony, until, in not more than one minute, said he, 8907133,491,850,208,566,925,016,658,299,941,583,225!" An electronic 8908computer might do the job a little faster but it wouldn't be as much 8909fun to watch. 8910 -- James R. Newman (The World of Mathematics) 8911% 8912Murphy's Discovery: 8913 Do you know Presidents talk to the country the way men talk to 8914women? They say, "Trust me, go all the way with me, and everything 8915will be all right." And what happens? Nine months later, you're in 8916trouble! 8917% 8918Murphy's Law is recursive. Washing your car to make it rain doesn't 8919work. 8920% 8921Murphy's Law of Research: 8922 Enough research will tend to support your theory. 8923% 8924Murphy's Law, that brash proletarian restatement of Goedel's Theorem ... 8925 -- Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow" 8926% 8927 Murray and Esther, a middle-aged Jewish couple, are touring 8928Chile. Murray just got a new camera and is constantly snapping 8929pictures. One day, without knowing it, he photographs a top-secret 8930military installation. In an instant, armed troops surround Murray and 8931Esther and hustle them off to prison. 8932 They can't prove who they are because they've left their 8933passports in their hotel room. For three weeks they're tortured day 8934and night to get them to name their contacts in the liberation 8935movement.. Finally they're hauled in front of a military court, 8936charged with espionage, and sentenced to death. 8937 The next morning they're lined up in front of the wall where 8938they'll be shot. The sergeant in charge of the firing squad asks them 8939if they have any lasts requests. Esther wants to know if she can call 8940her daughter in Chicago. The sergeant says he's sorry, that's not 8941possible, and turns to Murray. 8942 "This is crazy!" Murray shouts. "We're not spies!" And he 8943spits in the sergeants face. 8944 "Murray!" Esther cries. "Please! Don't make trouble." 8945 -- Arthur Naiman, "Every Goy's Guide to Yiddish" 8946% 8947Mustgo, n.: 8948 Any item of food that has been sitting in the refrigerator so 8949long it has become a science project. 8950 -- Sniglets, "Rich Hall & Friends" 8951% 8952My advice to you, my violent friend, is to seek out gold and sit on it. 8953 -- "Grendel", by John Gardner 8954% 8955My band career ended late in my senior year when John Cooper and I 8956threw my amplifier out the dormitory window. We did not act in haste. 8957First we checked to make sure the amplifier would fit through the 8958frame, using the belt from my bathrobe to measure, then we picked up 8959the amplifier and backed up to my bedroom door. Then we rushed 8960forward, shouting "The WHO! The WHO!" and we launched my amplifier 8961perfectly, as though we had been doing it all our lives, clean through 8962the window and down onto the sidewalk, where a small but appreciative 8963crowd had gathered. I would like to be able to say that this was a 8964symbolic act, an effort on my part to break cleanly away from one state 8965in my life and move on to another, but the truth is, Cooper and I 8966really just wanted to find out what it would sound like. It sounded 8967OK. 8968 -- Dave Barry, "The Snake" 8969% 8970My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless 8971there are three other people. 8972 -- Orson Welles 8973% 8974My God, I'm depressed! Here I am, a computer with a mind a thousand 8975times as powerful as yours, doing nothing but cranking out fortunes and 8976sending mail about softball games. And I've got this pain right 8977through my ALU. I've asked for it to be replaced, but nobody ever 8978listens. I think it would be better for us both if you were to just 8979log out again. 8980% 8981My life is a soap opera, but who has the rights? 8982 -- MadameX 8983% 8984My love runs by like a day in June, 8985 And he makes no friends of sorrows. 8986He'll tread his galloping rigadoon 8987 In the pathway or the morrows. 8988He'll live his days where the sunbeams start 8989 Nor could storm or wind uproot him. 8990My own dear love, he is all my heart -- 8991 And I wish somebody'd shoot him. 8992 -- Dorothy Parker 8993% 8994My love, he's mad, and my love, he's fleet, 8995 And a wild young wood-thing bore him! 8996The ways are fair to his roaming feet, 8997 And the skies are sunlit for him. 8998As sharply sweet to my heart he seems 8999 As the fragrance of acacia. 9000My own dear love, he is all my dreams -- 9001 And I wish he were in Asia. 9002 -- Dorothy Parker 9003% 9004My mother loved children -- she would have given anything if I had been one. 9005 -- Groucho Marx 9006% 9007My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I am right. 9008% 9009My own dear love, he is strong and bold 9010 And he cares not what comes after. 9011His words ring sweet as a chime of gold, 9012 And his eyes are lit with laughter. 9013He is jubilant as a flag unfurled -- 9014 Oh, a girl, she'd not forget him. 9015My own dear love, he is all my world -- 9016 And I wish I'd never met him. 9017 -- Dorothy Parker 9018% 9019My pants just went on a wild rampage through a Long Island Bowling Alley!! 9020 -- Zippy the Pinhead 9021% 9022My pen is at the bottom of a page, 9023Which, being finished, here the story ends; 9024'Tis to be wished it had been sooner done, 9025But stories somehow lengthen when begun. 9026 -- Byron 9027% 9028My theology, briefly, is that the universe was dictated but not signed. 9029 -- Christopher Morley 9030% 9031My weight is perfect for my height -- which varies 9032% 9033Mythology, n.: 9034 The body of a primitive people's beliefs concerning its 9035origin, early history, heroes, deities and so forth, as distinguished 9036from the true accounts which it invents later. 9037 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 9038% 9039 n = ((n >> 1) & 0x55555555) | ((n << 1) & 0xaaaaaaaa); 9040 n = ((n >> 2) & 0x33333333) | ((n << 2) & 0xcccccccc); 9041 n = ((n >> 4) & 0x0f0f0f0f) | ((n << 4) & 0xf0f0f0f0); 9042 n = ((n >> 8) & 0x00ff00ff) | ((n << 8) & 0xff00ff00); 9043 n = ((n >> 16) & 0x0000ffff) | ((n << 16) & 0xffff0000); 9044 9045 -- C code which reverses the bits in a word. 9046% 9047Naeser's Law: 9048 You can make it foolproof, but you can't make it 9049damnfoolproof. 9050% 9051NAPOLEON: What shall we do with this soldier, Guiseppe? Everything he 9052 says is wrong. 9053GUISEPPE: Make him a general, Excellency, and then everything he says 9054 will be right. 9055 -- G. B. Shaw, "The Man of Destiny" 9056% 9057Nasrudin called at a large house to collect for charity. The servant 9058said "My master is out." Nasrudin replied, "Tell your master that next 9059time he goes out, he should not leave his face at the window. Someone 9060might steal it." 9061% 9062Nasrudin returned to his village from the imperial capital, and the 9063villagers gathered around to hear what had passed. "At this time," 9064said Nasrudin, "I only want to say that the King spoke to me." All the 9065villagers but the stupidest ran off to spread the wonderful news. The 9066remaining villager asked, "What did the King say to you?" "What he 9067said -- and quite distinctly, for everyone to hear -- was 'Get out of 9068my way!'" The simpleton was overjoyed; he had heard words actually 9069spoken by the King, and seen the very man they were spoken to. 9070% 9071Nasrudin walked into a shop one day, and the owner came forward to 9072serve him. Nasrudin said, "First things first. Did you see me walk 9073into your shop?" "Of course." "Have you ever seen me before?" 9074"Never." "Then how do you know it was me?" 9075% 9076Nasrudin walked into a teahouse and declaimed, "The moon is more useful 9077than the sun." "Why?", he was asked. "Because at night we need the 9078light more." 9079% 9080Nasrudin was carrying home a piece of liver and the recipe for liver 9081pie. Suddenly a bird of prey swooped down and snatched the piece of 9082meat from his hand. As the bird flew off, Nasrudin called after it, 9083"Foolish bird! You have the liver, but what can you do with it without 9084the recipe?" 9085% 9086Nature abhors a hero. For one thing, he violates the law of 9087conservation of energy. For another, how can it be the survival of the 9088fittest when the fittest keeps putting himself in situations where he 9089is most likely to be creamed? 9090 -- Solomon Short 9091% 9092Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night, 9093God said, "Let Newton be," and all was light. 9094 9095It did not last; the devil howling "Ho! 9096Let Einstein be!" restored the status quo. 9097% 9098Nature is by and large to be found out of doors, a location where, it 9099cannot be argued, there are never enough comfortable chairs. 9100 -- Fran Leibowitz 9101% 9102Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's 9103character, give him power. 9104 -- Abraham Lincoln 9105% 9106Necessity is a mother. 9107% 9108Neckties strangle clear thinking. 9109 -- Lin Yutang 9110% 9111Never be led astray onto the path of virtue. 9112% 9113Never call a man a fool. Borrow from him. 9114% 9115Never commit yourself! Let someone else commit you. 9116% 9117Never count your chickens before they rip your lips off. 9118% 9119Never drink Coke in a moving elevator. The elevator's motion coupled 9120with the chemicals in Coke produce hallucinations. People tend to 9121change into lizards and attack without warning, and large bats usually 9122fly in the window. Additionally, you begin to believe that elevators 9123have windows. 9124% 9125Never eat more than you can lift. 9126 -- Miss Piggy 9127% 9128Never hit a man with glasses. Hit him with a baseball bat. 9129% 9130Never let your schooling interfere with your education. 9131% 9132Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right. 9133 -- Salvor Hardin, "Foundation" 9134% 9135Never make anything simple and efficient when a way can be found to 9136make it complex and wonderful. 9137% 9138Never offend people with style when you can offend them with substance. 9139 -- Sam Brown, "The Washington Post", January 26, 1977 9140% 9141Never put off till tomorrow what you can avoid all together. 9142% 9143Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a 9144law against it by that time. 9145% 9146Never settle with words what you can accomplish with a flame thrower. 9147% 9148Never tell a lie unless it is absolutely convenient. 9149% 9150Never try to outstubborn a cat. 9151 -- Lazarus Long, "Time Enough for Love" 9152% 9153Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes. 9154 -- Dr. Warren Jackson, Director, UTCS 9155% 9156Never underestimate the power of a small tactical nuclear weapon. 9157% 9158Never worry about theory as long as the machinery does what it's 9159supposed to do. 9160 -- R. A. Heinlein 9161% 9162New crypt. See /usr/news/crypt. 9163% 9164New Hampshire law forbids you to tap your feet, nod your head, or in 9165any way keep time to the music in a tavern, restaurant, or cafe. 9166% 9167New members are urgently needed in the Society for Prevention of 9168Cruelty to Yourself. Apply within. 9169% 9170New members urgently required for SUICIDE CLUB, Watford area. 9171 -- Monty Python's Big Red Book 9172% 9173New systems generate new problems. 9174% 9175New Year's Eve is the time of year when a man most feels his age, and 9176his wife most often reminds him to act it. 9177 -- Webster's Unafraid Dictionary 9178% 9179New York is real. The rest is done with mirrors. 9180% 9181New York's got the ways and means; 9182Just won't let you be. 9183 -- The Grateful Dead 9184% 9185Newlan's Truism: 9186 An "acceptable" level of unemployment means that the government 9187economist to whom it is acceptable still has a job. 9188% 9189NEWS FLASH!! 9190 Today the East German pole-vault champion became the West 9191 German pole-vault champion. 9192% 9193 *** NEWSFLASH *** 9194Russian tanks steamrolling through New Jersey!!!! Details at eleven! 9195% 9196Newton's Fourth Law: Every action has an equal and opposite satisfaction. 9197% 9198Newton's Little-Known Seventh Law: 9199 A bird in the hand is safer than one overhead. 9200% 9201Next Friday will not be your lucky day. 9202As a matter of fact, you don't have a lucky day this year. 9203% 9204Next to being shot at and missed, nothing is really quite as satisfying 9205as an income tax refund. 9206 -- F. J. Raymond 9207% 9208Nice boy, but about as sharp as a sack of wet mice. 9209 -- Foghorn Leghorn 9210% 9211Nihilism should commence with oneself. 9212% 9213Niklaus Wirth has lamented that, whereas Europeans pronounce his name 9214correctly (Ni-klows Virt), Americans invariably mangle it into 9215(Nick-les Worth). Which is to say that Europeans call him by name, but 9216Americans call him by value. 9217% 9218Nine megs for the secretaries fair, 9219Seven megs for the hackers scarce, 9220Five megs for the grads in smoky lairs, 9221Three megs for system source; 9222 9223One disk to rule them all, 9224One disk to bind them, 9225One disk to hold the files 9226And in the darkness grind 'em. 9227% 9228Nine-track tapes and seven-track tapes 9229 And tapes without any tracks; 9230Stretchy tapes and snarley tapes 9231 And tapes mixed up on the racks -- 9232 Take hold of the tape 9233 And pull off the strip, 9234 And then you'll be sure 9235 Your tape drive will skip. 9236 9237 -- Uncle Colonel's Cursory Rhymes 9238% 9239Ninety percent of the time things turn out worse than you thought they 9240would. The other ten percent of the time you had no right to expect 9241that much. 9242 -- Augustine 9243% 9244Ninety-Ninety Rule of Project Schedules: 9245 The first ninety percent of the task takes ninety percent of 9246the time, and the last ten percent takes the other ninety percent. 9247% 9248Nirvana? That's the place where the powers that be and their friends 9249hang out. 9250 -- Zonker Harris 9251% 9252No animal should ever jump on the dining room furniture unless 9253absolutely certain he can hold his own in conversation. 9254 -- Fran Leibowitz 9255% 9256No committee could ever come up with anything as revolutionary as a 9257camel -- anything as practical and as perfectly designed to perform 9258effectively under such difficult conditions. 9259 -- Laurence J. Peter 9260% 9261No good deed goes unpunished. 9262 -- Clare Boothe Luce 9263% 9264No man in the world has more courage than the man who can stop after 9265eating one peanut. 9266 -- Channing Pollock 9267% 9268No man is an island, but some of us are long peninsulas. 9269% 9270No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife in the shoulder blades will 9271seriously cramp his style. 9272% 9273No matter what other nations may say about the United States, 9274immigration is still the sincerest form of flattery. 9275% 9276No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. 9277 -- Eleanor Roosevelt 9278% 9279No one gets too old to learn a new way of being stupid. 9280% 9281No part of this message may reproduce, store itself in a retrieval 9282system, or transmit disease, in any form, without the permissiveness of 9283the author. 9284 -- Chris Shaw 9285% 9286No plain fanfold paper could hold that fractal Puff -- 9287He grew so fast no plotting pack could shrink him far enough. 9288Compiles and simulations grew so quickly tame 9289And swapped out all their data space when Puff pushed his stack frame. 9290CHORUS: 9291 Puff the fractal dragon was written in C, 9292 And frolicked while processes switched in mainframe memory. 9293 Puff the fractal dragon was written in C, 9294 And frolicked while processes switched in mainframe memory. 9295Puff, he grew so quickly, while others moved like snails 9296And mini-Puffs would perch themselves on his gigantic tail. 9297All the student hackers loved that fractal Puff 9298But DCS did not like Puff, and finally said, "Enough!" 9299 (chorus) 9300Puff used more resources than DCS could spare. 9301The operator killed Puff's job -- he didn't seem to care. 9302A gloom fell on the hackers; it seemed to be the end, 9303But Puff trapped the exception, and grew from naught again! 9304 (chorus) 9305% 9306No problem is so formidable that you can't just walk away from it. 9307 -- C. Schulz 9308% 9309No problem is so large it can't be fit in somewhere. 9310% 9311No proper program contains an indication which as an operator-applied 9312occurrence identifies an operator-defining occurrence which as an 9313indication-applied occurrence identifies an indication-defining 9314occurrence different from the one identified by the given indication as 9315an indication-applied occurrence. 9316 -- ALGOL 68 Report 9317% 9318No self-respecting fish would want to be wrapped in that kind of paper. 9319 -- Mike Royko on the Chicago Sun-Times after it was 9320 taken over by Rupert Murdoch 9321% 9322No violence, gentlemen -- no violence, I beg of you! Consider the furniture! 9323 -- Sherlock Holmes 9324% 9325No, `Eureka' is Greek for `This bath is too hot.' 9326 -- Dr. Who 9327% 9328Nobody can be exactly like me. Sometimes even I have trouble doing it. 9329 -- Tallulah Bankhead 9330% 9331NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION. 9332% 9333Nobody said computers were going to be polite. 9334% 9335Nobody suffers the pain of birth or the anguish of loving a child in 9336order for presidents to make wars, for governments to feed on the 9337substance of their people, for insurance companies to cheat the young 9338and rob the old. 9339 -- Lewis Lapham 9340% 9341Nobody wants constructive criticism. It's all we can do to put up with 9342constructive praise. 9343% 9344Non-Reciprocal Laws of Expectations: 9345 Negative expectations yield negative results. 9346 Positive expectations yield negative results. 9347% 9348Non-sequiturs make me eat lampshades. 9349% 9350Noncombatant, n.: 9351 A dead Quaker. 9352 -- Ambrose Bierce 9353% 9354Nondeterminism means never having to say you are wrong. 9355% 9356Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. 9357% 9358Not far from here, by a white sun, behind a green star, lived the 9359Steelypips, illustrious, industrious, and they hadn't a care: no spats 9360in their vats, no rules, no schools, no gloom, no evil influence of the 9361moon, no trouble from matter or antimatter -- for they had a machine, a 9362dream of a machine, with springs and gears and perfect in every 9363respect. And they lived with it, and on it, and under it, and inside 9364it, for it was all they had -- first they saved up all their atoms, 9365then they put them all together, and if one didn't fit, why they 9366chipped at it a bit, and everything was just fine ... 9367 -- Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad" 9368% 9369Not Hercules could have knock'd out his brains, for he had none. 9370 -- William Shakespeare 9371% 9372Not only is this incomprehensible, but the ink is ugly and the paper 9373is from the wrong kind of tree. 9374 -- Professor W., EECS, George Washington University 9375% 9376Notes for a ballet, "The Spell": ... Suddenly Sigmund hears the flutter 9377of wings, and a group of wild swans flies across the moon ... Sigmund 9378is astounded to see that their leader is part swan and part woman -- 9379unfortunately, divided lengthwise. She enchants Sigmund, who is 9380careful not to make any poultry jokes ... 9381 -- Woody Allen 9382% 9383Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing. 9384 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson 9385% 9386Nothing cures insomnia like the realization that it's time to get up. 9387% 9388Nothing is faster than the speed of light ... 9389 9390To prove this to yourself, try opening the refrigerator door before the 9391light comes on. 9392% 9393Nothing is illegal if one hundred businessmen decide to do it. 9394 -- Andrew Young 9395% 9396Nothing is more admirable than the fortitude with which millionaires 9397tolerate the disadvantages of their wealth. 9398 -- Nero Wolfe 9399% 9400Nothing makes one so vain as being told that one is a sinner. 9401Conscience makes egotists of us all. 9402 -- Oscar Wilde 9403% 9404Nothing recedes like success. 9405 -- Walter Winchell 9406% 9407Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love. 9408 -- Charlie Brown 9409% 9410November, n.: 9411 The eleventh twelfth of a weariness. 9412 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 9413% 9414Now and then an innocent person is sent to the legislature. 9415% 9416Now I lay me down to sleep 9417I pray the double lock will keep; 9418May no brick through the window break, 9419And, no one rob me till I awake. 9420% 9421Now is the time for all good men to come to. 9422 -- Walt Kelly 9423% 9424Now that you've read Fortune's diet truths, you'll be prepared the next 9425time some housewife or boutique-owner-turned-diet-expert appears on TV 9426to plug her latest book. And, if you still feel a twinge of guilt for 9427eating coffee cake while listening to her exhortations, ask yourself 9428the following questions: 9429 9430(1) Do I dare trust a person who actually considers alfalfa sprouts a 9431 food? 9432(2) Was the author's sole motive in writing this book to get rich 9433 exploiting the forlorn hopes of chubby people like me? 9434(3) Would a longer life be worthwhile if it had to be lived as 9435 prescribed ... without French-fried onion rings, pizza with 9436 double cheese, or the occasional Mai-Tai? (Remember, living 9437 right doesn't really make you live longer, it just *seems* like 9438 longer.) 9439 9440That, and another piece of coffee cake, should do the trick. 9441% 9442Now the Lord God planted a garden East of Whittier in a place called 9443Yorba Linda, and out of the ground he made to grow orange trees that 9444were good for food and the fruits thereof he labeled SUNKIST ... 9445 -- "The Begatting of a President" 9446% 9447Now this is a totally brain damaged algorithm. Gag me with a smurfette. 9448 -- P. Buhr, Computer Science 354 9449% 9450... Now you're ready for the actual shopping. Your goal should be to 9451get it over with as quickly as possible, because the longer you stay in 9452the mall, the longer your children will have to listen to holiday songs 9453on the mall public-address system, and many of these songs can damage 9454children emotionally. For example: "Frosty the Snowman" is about a 9455snowman who befriends some children, plays with them until they learn 9456to love him, then melts. And "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is about 9457a young reindeer who, because of a physical deformity, is treated as an 9458outcast by the other reindeer. Then along comes good, old Santa. Does 9459he ignore the deformity? Does he look past Rudolph's nose and respect 9460Rudolph for the sensitive reindeer he is underneath? No. Santa asks 9461Rudolph to guide his sleigh, as if Rudolph were nothing more than some 9462kind of headlight with legs and a tail. So unless you want your 9463children exposed to this kind of insensitivity, you should shop 9464quickly. 9465 -- Dave Barry, "Christmas Shopping: A Survivor's Guide" 9466% 9467 Now, you might ask, "How do I get one of those complete home 9468tool sets for under $4?" An excellent question. 9469 Go to one of those really cheap discount stores where they sell 9470plastic furniture in colors visible from the planet Neptune and where 9471they have a food section specializing in cardboard cartons full of 9472Raisinets and malted milk balls manufactured during the Nixon 9473administration. In either the hardware or housewares department, 9474you'll find an item imported from an obscure Oriental country and 9475described as "Nine Tools in One", consisting of a little handle with 9476interchangeable ends representing inscrutable Oriental notions of tools 9477that Americans might use around the home. Buy it. 9478 This is the kind of tool set professionals use. Not only is it 9479inexpensive, but it also has a great safety feature not found in the 9480so-called quality tools sets: The handle will actually break right off 9481if you accidentally hit yourself or anything else, or expose it to 9482direct sunlight. 9483 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 9484% 9485Nuclear war can ruin your whole compile. 9486 -- Karl Lehenbauer 9487% 9488Nuclear war would mean abolition of most comforts, and disruption of 9489normal routines, for children and adults alike. 9490 -- Willard F. Libby, "You *Can* Survive Atomic Attack" 9491% 9492Nuclear war would really set back cable. 9493 -- Ted Turner 9494% 9495[Nuclear war] ... may not be desirable. 9496 -- Edwin Meese III 9497% 9498Nudists are people who wear one-button suits. 9499% 9500(null cookie; hope that's ok) 9501% 9502Numeric stability is probably not all that important when you're guessing. 9503% 9504O give me a home, 9505Where the buffalo roam, 9506Where the deer and the antelope play, 9507Where seldom is heard 9508A discouraging word, 9509'Cause what can an antelope say? 9510% 9511O'Toole's Commentary on Murphy's Law: 9512 Murphy was an optimist. 9513% 9514Of ______course it's the murder weapon. Who would frame someone with a 9515fake? 9516% 9517Of all possible committee reactions to any given agenda item, the 9518reaction that will occur is the one which will liberate the greatest 9519amount of hot air. 9520 -- Thomas L. Martin 9521% 9522Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable. 9523 -- Plato 9524% 9525Of all the words of witch's doom 9526There's none so bad as which and whom. 9527The man who kills both which and whom 9528Will be enshrined in our Who's Whom. 9529 -- Fletcher Knebel 9530% 9531Of course power tools and alcohol don't mix. Everyone knows power 9532tools aren't soluble in alcohol ... 9533 -- Crazy Nigel 9534% 9535Of course there's no reason for it, it's just our policy. 9536% 9537Of what you see in books, believe 75%. Of newspapers, believe 50%. 9538And of TV news, believe 25% -- make that 5% if the anchorman wears a 9539blazer. 9540% 9541Office Automation, n.: 9542 The use of computers to improve efficiency by removing anyone 9543you would want to talk with over coffee. 9544% 9545Ogden's Law: 9546 The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch 9547up. 9548% 9549Oh Dad! We're ALL Devo! 9550% 9551Oh don't the days seem lank and long 9552 When all goes right and none goes wrong, 9553And isn't your life extremely flat 9554 With nothing whatever to grumble at! 9555% 9556Oh, I am a C programmer and I'm okay 9557 I muck with indices and structs all day 9558And when it works, I shout hoo-ray 9559 Oh, I am a C programmer and I'm okay 9560% 9561Oh, I don't blame Congress. If I had $600 billion at my disposal, I'd 9562be irresponsible, too. 9563 -- Lichty & Wagner 9564% 9565Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, 9566And danced the skies on laughter silvered wings; 9567Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth 9568Of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things 9569You have not dreamed of -- 9570Wheeled and soared and swung 9571High in the sunlit silence. 9572Hovering there 9573I've chased the shouting wind along and flung 9574My eager craft through footless halls of air. 9575Up, up along delirious, burning blue 9576I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace, 9577Where never lark, or even eagle flew; 9578And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod 9579The high untrespassed sanctity of space, 9580Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. 9581 -- John Gillespie Magee Jr., "High Flight" 9582% 9583Oh, well, I guess this is just going to be one of those lifetimes. 9584% 9585Oh, when I was in love with you, 9586 Then I was clean and brave, 9587And miles around the wonder grew 9588 How well did I behave. 9589 9590And now the fancy passes by, 9591 And nothing will remain, 9592And miles around they'll say that I 9593 Am quite myself again. 9594 -- A. E. Housman 9595% 9596Oh, wow! Look at the moon! 9597% 9598OK, now let's look at four dimensions on the blackboard. 9599 -- Dr. Joy 9600% 9601OK, so you're a Ph.D. Just don't touch anything. 9602% 9603Old age is the most unexpected of things that can happen to a man. 9604 -- Trotsky 9605% 9606Old programmers never die. They just branch to a new address. 9607% 9608Old soldiers never die. Young ones do. 9609% 9610Oliver's Law: 9611 Experience is something you don't get until just after you need 9612it. 9613% 9614Omnibiblious, adj.: 9615 Indifferent to type of drink. "Oh, you can get me anything. 9616I'm omnibiblious." 9617% 9618OMNIVERSAL AWARENESS?? Oh, YEH!! First you need four GALLONS of 9619JELL-O and a BIG WRENCH!! ... I think you drop th' WRENCH in the JELL-O 9620as if it was a FLAVOR, or an INGREDIENT ... or ... I ... um ... 9621WHERE'S the WASHING MACHINES? 9622% 9623On a paper submitted by a physicist colleague: 9624 9625This isn't right. This isn't even wrong. 9626 -- Wolfgang Pauli 9627% 9628On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only 9629nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter 9630what it does. 9631 -- Will Rogers 9632% 9633 On his first day as a bus driver, Maxey Eckstein handed in 9634receipts of $65. The next day his take was $67. The third day's 9635income was $62. But on the fourth day, Eckstein emptied no less than 9636$283 on the desk before the cashier. 9637 "Eckstein!" exclaimed the cashier. "This is fantastic. That 9638route never brought in money like this! What happened?" 9639 "Well, after three days on that cockamamie route, I figured 9640business would never improve, so I drove over to Fourteenth Street and 9641worked there. I tell you, that street is a gold mine!" 9642% 9643On Monday mornings I am dedicated to the proposition that all men are 9644created jerks. 9645 -- H. Allen Smith, "Let the Crabgrass Grow" 9646% 9647On the road, ZIPPY is a pinhead without a purpose, but never without a 9648POINT ... 9649% 9650On the subject of C program indentation: 9651 9652 "In My Egotistical Opinion, most people's C programs should be 9653 indented six feet downward and covered with dirt." 9654 -- Blair P. Houghton 9655% 9656On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!], `Pray, 9657Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right 9658answers come out?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of 9659confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question. 9660 -- Charles Babbage 9661% 9662On-line, adj.: 9663 The idea that a human being should always be accessible to a 9664computer. 9665% 9666Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were 9667forced to live on nothing but food and water for days. 9668 -- W. C. Fields, "My Little Chickadee" 9669% 9670Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that 9671each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his 9672choice. 9673 9674In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians 9675called it "Christmas" and went to church; the Jews called it "Hanukkah" 9676and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People 9677passing each other on the street would say "Merry Christmas!" or "Happy 9678Hanukkah!" or (to the atheists) "Look out for the wall!" 9679 -- Dave Barry, "Christmas Shopping: A Survivor's Guide" 9680% 9681Once at a social gathering, Gladstone said to Disraeli, "I predict, 9682Sir, that you will die either by hanging or of some vile disease". 9683Disraeli replied, "That all depends upon whether I embrace your 9684principals or your mistress". 9685% 9686Once Law was sitting on the bench 9687 And Mercy knelt a-weeping. 9688"Clear out!" he cried, "disordered wench! 9689 Nor come before me creeping. 9690Upon your knees if you appear, 9691'Tis plain you have no standing here." 9692 9693Then Justice came. His Honor cried: 9694 "YOUR states? -- Devil seize you!" 9695"Amica curiae," she replied -- 9696 "Friend of the court, so please you." 9697"Begone!" he shouted -- "There's the door -- 9698I never saw your face before!" 9699 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 9700% 9701Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human 9702beings infinite distances continue to exist, a wonderful living side by 9703side can grow up, if they succeed in loving the distance between them 9704which makes it possible for each to see each other whole against the 9705sky. 9706 -- Rainer Rilke 9707% 9708 Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a 9709great crystal river. Each creature in its own manner clung tightly to 9710the twigs and rocks of the river bottom, for clinging was their way of 9711life, and resisting the current what each had learned from birth. But 9712one creature said at last, "I trust that the current knows where it is 9713going. I shall let go, and let it take me where it will. Clinging, I 9714shall die of boredom." 9715 The other creatures laughed and said, "Fool! Let go, and that 9716current you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed across the 9717rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!" 9718 But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go, 9719and at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks. 9720Yet, in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current 9721lifted him free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more. 9722 And the creatures downstream, to whom he was a stranger, cried, 9723"See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies! See the 9724Messiah, come to save us all!" And the one carried in the current 9725said, "I am no more Messiah than you. The river delight to lift us 9726free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this 9727adventure. 9728 But they cried the more, "Saviour!" all the while clinging to 9729the rocks, making legends of a Saviour. 9730% 9731Once upon a time, when I was training to be a mathematician, a group of 9732us bright young students taking number theory discovered the names of 9733the smaller prime numbers. 9734 97352: The Odd Prime -- 9736 It's the only even prime, therefore it's odd. QED. 97373: The True Prime -- 9738 Lewis Carroll: "If I tell you three times, it's true." 973931: The Arbitrary Prime -- 9740 Determined by unanimous unvote. We needed an arbitrary prime 9741 in case the prof asked for one, and so had an election. 91 9742 received the most votes (well, it *looks* prime) and 3+4i the 9743 next most. However, 31 was the only candidate to receive none 9744 at all. 9745 9746Since the composite numbers are formed from primes, their qualities are 9747derived from those primes. So, for instance, the number 6 is "odd but 9748true", while the powers of 2 are all extremely odd numbers. 9749% 9750... Once you're safely in the mall, you should tie your children to you 9751with ropes so the other shoppers won't try to buy them. Holiday 9752shoppers have been whipped into a frenzy by months of holiday 9753advertisements, and they will buy anything small enough to stuff into a 9754shopping bag. If your children object to being tied, threaten to take 9755them to see Santa Claus; that ought to shut them up. 9756 -- Dave Barry, "Christmas Shopping: A Survivor's Guide" 9757% 9758Once, adv.: 9759 Enough. 9760 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 9761% 9762One advantage of talking to yourself is that you know at least 9763somebody's listening. 9764 -- Franklin P. Jones 9765% 9766"One basic notion underlying Usenet is that it is a cooperative." 9767 9768Having been on USENET for going on ten years, I disagree with this. 9769The basic notion underlying USENET is the flame. 9770 -- Chuq Von Rospach 9771% 9772One can't proceed from the informal to the formal by formal means. 9773% 9774One cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs -- but it is amazing 9775how many eggs one can break without making a decent omelette. 9776 -- Professor Charles P. Issawi 9777% 9778One day the King decided that he would force all his subjects to tell 9779the truth. A gallows was erected in front of the city gates. A herald 9780announced, "Whoever would enter the city must first answer the truth to 9781a question which will be put to him." Nasrudin was first in line. The 9782captain of the guard asked him, "Where are you going? Tell the truth 9783-- the alternative is death by hanging." "I am going," said Nasrudin, 9784"to be hanged on that gallows." "I don't believe you." "Very well, if 9785I have told a lie, then hang me!" "But that would make it the truth!" 9786"Exactly," said Nasrudin, "your truth." 9787% 9788One difference between a man and a machine is that a machine is quiet 9789when well oiled. 9790% 9791One good reason why computers can do more work than people is that they 9792never have to stop and answer the phone. 9793% 9794One is not superior merely because one sees the world as odious. 9795 -- Chateaubriand (1768-1848) 9796% 9797One learns to itch where one can scratch. 9798 -- Ernest Bramah 9799% 9800One man's brain plus one other will produce one half as many ideas as 9801one man would have produced alone. These two plus two more will 9802produce half again as many ideas. These four plus four more begin to 9803represent a creative meeting, and the ratio changes to one quarter as 9804many ... 9805 -- Anthony Chevins 9806% 9807One man's theology is another man's belly laugh. 9808% 9809One monk said to the other, "The fish has flopped out of the net! How 9810will it live?" The other said, "When you have gotten out of the net, 9811I'll tell you." 9812% 9813One nice thing about egotists: they don't talk about other people. 9814% 9815One of my less pleasant chores when I was young was to read the Bible 9816from one end to the other. Reading the Bible straight through is at 9817least 70 percent discipline, like learning Latin. But the good parts 9818are, of course, simply amazing. God is an extremely uneven writer, but 9819when He's good, nobody can touch Him. 9820 -- John Gardner, NYT Book Review, Jan 1983 9821% 9822One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to 9823do and always a clever thing to say. 9824 -- Will Durant 9825% 9826One of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, 9827lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of 9828their C programs. 9829 -- Robert Firth 9830% 9831One of the oldest problems puzzled over in the Talmud is: "Why did God 9832create goyim?" The generally accepted answer is "________somebody has to buy 9833retail." 9834 -- Arthur Naiman, "Every Goy's Guide to Yiddish" 9835% 9836 One of the questions that comes up all the time is: How 9837enthusiastic is our support for UNIX? 9838 Unix was written on our machines and for our machines many 9839years ago. Today, much of UNIX being done is done on our machines. 9840Ten percent of our VAXs are going for UNIX use. UNIX is a simple 9841language, easy to understand, easy to get started with. It's great for 9842students, great for somewhat casual users, and it's great for 9843interchanging programs between different machines. And so, because of 9844its popularity in these markets, we support it. We have good UNIX on 9845VAX and good UNIX on PDP-11s. 9846 It is our belief, however, that serious professional users will 9847run out of things they can do with UNIX. They'll want a real system and 9848will end up doing VMS when they get to be serious about programming. 9849 With UNIX, if you're looking for something, you can easily and 9850quickly check that small manual and find out that it's not there. With 9851VMS, no matter what you look for -- it's literally a five-foot shelf of 9852documentation -- if you look long enough it's there. That's the 9853difference -- the beauty of UNIX is it's simple; and the beauty of VMS 9854is that it's all there. 9855 -- Ken Olsen, President of DEC, 1984 9856% 9857One of the rules of Busmanship, New York style, is never surrender your 9858seat to another passenger. This may seem callous, but it is the best 9859way, really. If one passenger were to give a seat to someone who 9860fainted in the aisle, say, the others on the bus would become 9861disoriented and imagine they were in Topeka, Kansas. 9862% 9863The Seventh Commandments for Technicians 9864 Work thou not on energized equipment, for if thou dost, thy 9865fellow workers will surely buy beers for thy widow and console her in 9866other ways. 9867% 9868The First Commandment for Technicians: 9869 Beware the lightening that lurketh in the undischarged 9870capacitor, lest it cause thee to bounce upon thy buttocks in a most 9871untechnician-like manner. 9872% 9873One Page Principle: 9874 A specification that will not fit on one page of 8.5x11 inch 9875paper cannot be understood. 9876 -- Mark Ardis 9877% 9878One planet is all you get. 9879% 9880One promising concept that I came up with right away was that you could 9881manufacture personal air bags, then get a law passed requiring that 9882they be installed on congressmen to keep them from taking trips. Let's 9883say your congressman was trying to travel to Paris to do a fact-finding 9884study on how the French government handles diseases transmitted by 9885sherbet. Just when he got to the plane, his mandatory air bag, 9886strapped around his waist, would inflate -- FWWAAAAAAPPPP -- thus 9887rendering him too large to fit through the plane door. It could also 9888be rigged to inflate whenever the congressman proposed a law. ("Mr. 9889Speaker, people ask me, why should October be designated as Cuticle 9890Inspection Month? And I answer that FWWAAAAAAPPPP.") This would save 9891millions of dollars, so I have no doubt that the public would violently 9892support a law requiring airbags on congressmen. The problem is that 9893your potential market is very small: there are only around 500 members 9894of Congress, and some of them, such as House Speaker "Tip" O'Neil, are 9895already too large to fit on normal aircraft. 9896 -- Dave Barry, "'Mister Mediocre' Restaurants" 9897% 9898One reason why George Washington 9899Is held in such veneration: 9900He never blamed his problems 9901On the former Administration. 9902 -- George O. Ludcke 9903% 9904One seldom sees a monument to a committee. 9905% 9906One thing the inventors can't seem to get the bugs out of is fresh paint. 9907% 9908One thing they don't tell you about doing experimental physics is that 9909sometimes you must work under adverse conditions ... like a state of 9910sheer terror. 9911 -- W. K. Hartmann 9912% 9913One way to make your old car run better is to look up the price of a 9914new model. 9915% 9916One way to stop a runaway horse is to bet on him. 9917% 9918One, with God, is always a majority, but many a martyr has been burned 9919at the stake while the votes were being counted. 9920 -- Thomas B. Reed 9921% 9922One-Shot Case Study, n.: 9923 The scientific equivalent of the four-leaf clover, from which 9924it is concluded all clovers possess four leaves and are sometimes 9925green. 9926% 9927Only adults have difficulty with childproof caps. 9928% 9929Only God can make random selections. 9930% 9931Only presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to 9932use the editorial "we." 9933% 9934Only through hard work and perseverance can one truly suffer. 9935% 9936Optimization hinders evolution. 9937% 9938Oregano, n.: 9939 The ancient Italian art of pizza folding. 9940% 9941Oregon, n.: 9942 Eighty billion gallons of water with no place to go on Saturday 9943night. 9944% 9945Organic chemistry is the chemistry of carbon compounds. 9946Biochemistry is the study of carbon compounds that crawl. 9947 -- Mike Adams 9948% 9949Osborn's Law: 9950 Variables won't; constants aren't. 9951% 9952Others will look to you for stability, so hide when you bite your nails. 9953% 9954Our country has plenty of good five-cent cigars, but the trouble is 9955they charge fifteen cents for them. 9956% 9957Our documentation manager was showing her two year old son around the 9958office. He was introduced to me, at which time he pointed out that we 9959were both holding bags of popcorn. We were both holding bottles of 9960juice. But only *__he* had a lollipop. 9961 9962He asked his mother, "Why doesn't HE have a lollipop?" 9963 9964Her reply: 9965 9966 "He can have a lollipop any time he wants to. That's what it 9967 means to be a programmer." 9968% 9969Our OS who art in CPU, UNIX be thy name. 9970 Thy programs run, thy syscalls done, 9971 In kernel as it is in user! 9972% 9973Our policy is, when in doubt, do the right thing. 9974 -- Roy L. Ash, ex-president Litton Industries 9975% 9976... Our second completely true news item was sent to me by Mr. H. Boyce 9977Connell Jr. of Atlanta, Ga., where he is involved in a law firm. One 9978thing I like about the South is, folks there care about tradition. If 9979somebody gets handed a name like "H. Boyce," he hangs on to it, puts it 9980on his legal stationery, even passes it to his son, rather than do what 9981a lesser person would do, such as get it changed or kill himself. 9982 -- Dave Barry, "This Column is Nothing but the Truth!" 9983% 9984Our vision is to speed up time, eventually eliminating it. 9985 -- Alex Schure 9986% 9987Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. 9988 -- General Omar N. Bradley 9989% 9990 OUTCONERR 9991Twas FORTRAN as the doloop goes 9992 Did logzerneg the ifthen block 9993All kludgy were the function flows 9994 And subroutines adhoc. 9995 9996Beware the runtime-bug my friend 9997 squrooneg, the false goto 9998Beware the infiniteloop 9999 And shun the inprectoo. 10000% 10001Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend: and inside a dog, 10002it's too dark to read. 10003 -- Groucho Marx 10004% 10005Over the years, I've developed my sense of deja vu so acutely that now 10006I can remember things that *have* happened before ... 10007% 10008Overdrawn? But I still have checks left! 10009% 10010Overflow on /dev/null, please empty the bit bucket. 10011% 10012Overload -- core meltdown sequence initiated. 10013% 10014Ozman's Laws: 10015 (1) If someone says he will do something "without fail," he 10016 won't. 10017 (2) The more people talk on the phone, the less money they 10018 make. 10019 (3) People who go to conferences are the ones who shouldn't. 10020 (4) Pizza always burns the roof of your mouth. 10021% 10022Painting, n.: 10023 The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather, and 10024exposing them to the critic. 10025 -- Ambrose Bierce 10026% 10027panic: can't find / 10028% 10029panic: kernel trap (ignored) 10030% 10031Paradise is exactly like where you are right now ... only much, much 10032better. 10033 -- Laurie Anderson 10034% 10035Parallel lines never meet, unless you bend one or both of them. 10036% 10037Paranoia is simply an optimistic outlook on life. 10038% 10039Paranoid schizophrenics outnumber their enemies at least two to one. 10040% 10041Paranoids are people, too; they have their own problems. It's easy to 10042criticize, but if everybody hated you, you'd be paranoid too. 10043 -- D. J. Hicks 10044% 10045Pardo's First Postulate: 10046 Anything good in life is either illegal, immoral, or 10047fattening. 10048 10049Arnold's Addendum: 10050 Everything else causes cancer in rats. 10051% 10052Pardon this fortune. Database under reconstruction. 10053% 10054Parker's Law: 10055 Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone. 10056% 10057Parkinson's Fifth Law: 10058 If there is a way to delay an important decision, the good 10059bureaucracy, public or private, will find it. 10060% 10061Parkinson's Fourth Law: 10062 The number of people in any working group tends to increase 10063regardless of the amount of work to be done. 10064% 10065Parsley 10066 is gharsley. 10067 -- Ogden Nash 10068% 10069Parts that positively cannot be assembled in improper order will be. 10070% 10071Pascal is not a high-level language. 10072 -- Steven Feiner 10073% 10074Pascal is Pascal is Pascal is dog meat. 10075 -- M. Devine and P. Larson, Computer Science 340 10076% 10077Pascal Users: 10078 To show respect for the 313th anniversary (tomorrow) of the 10079death of Blaise Pascal, your programs will be run at half speed. 10080% 10081Pascal, n.: 10082 A programming language named after a man who would turn over in 10083his grave if he knew about it. 10084% 10085Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. 10086 -- Eric Hoffer 10087% 10088Patageometry, n.: 10089 The study of those mathematical properties that are invariant 10090under brain transplants. 10091% 10092Paul Revere was a tattle-tale. 10093% 10094Paul's Law: 10095 In America, it's not how much an item costs, it's how much you 10096save. 10097% 10098Paul's Law: 10099 You can't fall off the floor. 10100% 10101Peace, n.: 10102 In international affairs, a period of cheating between two 10103periods of fighting. 10104 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 10105% 10106Peanut Blossoms 10107 101084 cups sugar 16 tbsp. milk 101094 cups brown sugar 4 tsp. vanilla 101104 cups shortening 14 cups flour 101118 eggs 4 tsp. soda 101124 cups peanut butter 4 tsp. salt 10113 10114Shape dough into balls. Roll in sugar and bake on ungreased cookie 10115sheet at 375 F. for 10-12 minutes. Immediately top each cookie with a 10116Hershey's kiss or star pressing down firmly to crack cookie. Makes a 10117hell of a lot. 10118% 10119Pecor's Health-Food Principle: 10120 Never eat rutabaga on any day of the week that has a "y" in 10121it. 10122% 10123Pedaeration, n.: 10124 The perfect body heat achieved by having one leg under the 10125sheet and one hanging off the edge of the bed. 10126 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 10127% 10128Penguin Trivia #46: 10129 Animals who are not penguins can only wish they were. 10130 -- Chicago Reader 10/15/82 10131% 10132People need good lies. There are too many bad ones. 10133 -- Bokonon, "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 10134% 10135People often find it easier to be a result of the past than a cause of 10136the future. 10137% 10138People think love is an emotion. Love is good sense. 10139 -- Ken Kesey 10140% 10141People usually get what's coming to them ... unless it's been mailed. 10142% 10143People who are funny and smart and return phone calls get much better 10144press than people who are just funny and smart. 10145 -- Howard Simons, "The Washington Post" 10146% 10147People who claim they don't let little things bother them have never 10148slept in a room with a single mosquito. 10149% 10150People who have what they want are very fond of telling people who 10151haven't what they want that they don't want it. 10152 -- Ogden Nash 10153% 10154People will accept your ideas much more readily if you tell them that 10155Benjamin Franklin said it first. 10156% 10157People will buy anything that's one to a customer. 10158% 10159People will do tomorrow what they did today because that is what they 10160did yesterday. 10161% 10162Pereant, inquit, qui ante nos nostra dixerunt. 10163"Confound those who have said our remarks before us." 10164 -- Aelius Donatus 10165% 10166Perfect day for scrubbing the floor and other exciting things. 10167% 10168Perfection is reached, not when there is no longer anything to add, but 10169when there is no longer anything to take away. 10170 -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery 10171% 10172Personifiers Unite! You have nothing to lose but Mr. Dignity! 10173% 10174Peter's Law of Substitution: 10175 Look after the molehills, and the mountains will look after 10176themselves. 10177% 10178Philadelphia is not dull -- it just seems so because it is next to 10179exciting Camden, New Jersey. 10180% 10181Philogeny recapitulates erogeny; erogeny recapitulates philogeny. 10182% 10183Philosophy will clip an angel's wings. 10184 -- John Keats 10185% 10186Pick another fortune cookie. 10187% 10188Picture the sun as the origin of two intersecting 6-dimensional 10189hyperplanes from which we can deduce a certain transformational 10190sequence which gives us the terminal velocity of a rubber duck ... 10191% 10192Pig, n.: 10193 An animal (Porcus omnivorous) closely allied to the human race 10194by the splendor and vivacity of its appetite, which, however, is 10195inferior in scope, for it balks at pig. 10196 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 10197% 10198PISCES (Feb. 19 - Mar. 20) 10199 You have a vivid imagination and often think you are being 10200followed by the CIA or FBI. You have minor influence over your 10201associates and people resent your flaunting of your power. You lack 10202confidence and you are generally a coward. Pisces people do terrible 10203things to small animals. 10204% 10205PISCES (Feb. 19 to Mar. 20) 10206 Take the high road, look for the good things, carry the 10207American Express card and a weapon. The world is yours today, as 10208nobody else wants it. Your mortgage will be foreclosed. You will 10209probably get run over by a bus. 10210% 10211 Pittsburgh Driver's Test 10212 10213(7) The car directly in front of you has a flashing right tail light 10214 but a steady left tail light. This means 10215 10216 (a) one of the tail lights is broken; you should blow your horn 10217 to call the problem to the driver's attention. 10218 (b) the driver is signaling a right turn. 10219 (c) the driver is signaling a left turn. 10220 (d) the driver is from out of town. 10221 10222The correct answer is (d). Tail lights are used in some foreign 10223countries to signal turns. 10224% 10225 Pittsburgh Driver's Test 10226 10227(8) Pedestrians are 10228 10229 (a) irrelevant. 10230 (b) communists. 10231 (c) a nuisance. 10232 (d) difficult to clean off the front grille. 10233 10234The correct answer is (a). Pedestrians are not in cars, so they are 10235totally irrelevant to driving; you should ignore them completely. 10236% 10237Pity the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 10238 -- Don Marquis 10239% 10240PL/1, "the fatal disease", belongs more to the problem set than to the 10241solution set. 10242 -- Edsger W. Dijkstra, SIGPLAN Notices, Volume 17, Number 5 10243% 10244Plaese porrf raed. 10245 -- Prof. Michael O'Longhlin, S.U.N.Y. Purchase 10246% 10247Plato, by the way, wanted to banish all poets from his proposed Utopia 10248because they were liars. The truth was that Plato knew philosophers 10249couldn't compete successfully with poets. 10250 -- Kilgore Trout (Philip J. Farmer) "Venus on the Half 10251 Shell" 10252% 10253Play Rogue, visit exotic locations, meet strange creatures and kill them. 10254% 10255Playing an unamplified electric guitar is like strumming on a picnic table. 10256 -- Dave Barry, "The Snake" 10257% 10258Please ignore previous fortune. 10259% 10260Please take note: 10261% 10262Please try to limit the amount of "this room doesn't have any bazingas" 10263until you are told that those rooms are "punched out". Once punched 10264out, we have a right to complain about atrocities, missing bazingas, 10265and such. 10266 -- N. Meyrowitz 10267% 10268Please, won't somebody tell me what diddie-wa-diddie means? 10269% 10270 Plumbing is one of the easier of do-it-yourself activities, 10271requiring only a few simple tools and a willingness to stick your arm 10272into a clogged toilet. In fact, you can solve many home plumbing 10273problems, such as annoying faucet drip, merely by turning up the 10274radio. But before we get into specific techniques, let's look at how 10275plumbing works. 10276 A plumbing system is very much like your electrical system, 10277except that instead of electricity, it has water, and instead of wires, 10278it has pipes, and instead of radios and waffle irons, it has faucets 10279and toilets. So the truth is that your plumbing systems is nothing at 10280all like your electrical system, which is good, because electricity can 10281kill you. 10282 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 10283% 10284PLUNDERER'S THEME 10285(to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius) 10286 10287Pillage, rape, and loot and burn, but all in moderation. 10288If you do the things we say, then you'll soon rule the nation. 10289Kill your foes and enemies and then kill your relations. 10290Pillage, rape, and loot and burn, but all in moderation. 10291% 10292Pohl's law: 10293 Nothing is so good that somebody, somewhere, will not hate it. 10294% 10295Police: Good evening, are you the host? 10296Host: No. 10297Police: We've been getting complaints about this party. 10298Host: About the drugs? 10299Police: No. 10300Host: About the guns, then? Is somebody complaining about the guns? 10301Police: No, the noise. 10302Host: Oh, the noise. Well that makes sense because there are no guns 10303 or drugs here. (An enormous explosion is heard in the 10304 background.) Or fireworks. Who's complaining about the noise? 10305 The neighbors? 10306Police: No, the neighbors fled inland hours ago. Most of the recent 10307 complaints have come from Pittsburgh. Do you think you could 10308 ask the host to quiet things down? 10309Host: No Problem. (At this point, a Volkswagen bug with primitive 10310 religious symbols drawn on the doors emerges from the living 10311 room and roars down the hall, past the police and onto the 10312 lawn, where it smashes into a tree. Eight guests tumble out 10313 onto the grass, moaning.) See? Things are starting to wind 10314 down. 10315% 10316Political T.V. commercials prove one thing: some candidates can tell 10317all their good points and qualifications in just 30 seconds. 10318% 10319Politician, n.: 10320 An eel in the fundamental mud upon which the superstructure of 10321organized society is reared. When he wriggles, he mistakes the 10322agitation of his tail for the trembling of the edifice. As compared 10323with the statesman, he suffers the disadvantage of being alive. 10324 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 10325% 10326Politician, n.: 10327 From the Greek "poly" ("many") and the French "tete" ("head" or 10328"face," as in "tete-a-tete": head to head or face to face). Hence 10329"polytetien", a person of two or more faces. 10330 -- Martin Pitt 10331% 10332Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even 10333where there is no river. 10334 -- Nikita Khrushchev 10335% 10336Politics is like coaching a football team. You have to be smart enough 10337to understand the game but not smart enough to lose interest. 10338% 10339Polymer physicists are into chains. 10340% 10341Pope Goestheveezl was the shortest reigning pope in the history of the 10342Church, reigning for two hours and six minutes on 1 April 1866. The 10343white smoke had hardly faded into the blue of the Vatican skies before 10344it dawned on the assembled multitudes in St. Peter's Square that his 10345name had hilarious possibilities. The crowds fell about, helpless with 10346laughter, singing 10347 10348 Half a pound of tuppenny rice 10349 Half a pound of treacle 10350 That's the way the chimney smokes 10351 Pope Goestheveezl 10352 10353The square was finally cleared by armed carabinieri with tears of 10354laughter streaming down their faces. The event set a record for 10355hilarious civic functions, smashing the previous record set when Baron 10356Hans Neizant B"ompzidaize was elected Landburgher of K"oln in 1653. 10357 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 10358% 10359Portable, adj.: 10360 Survives system reboot. 10361% 10362Positive, adj.: 10363 Mistaken at the top of one's voice. 10364 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 10365% 10366Pound for pound, the amoeba is the most vicious animal on earth. 10367% 10368Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat. 10369 -- John Lehman, Secretary of the Navy 1981-1987 10370% 10371Power corrupts. And atomic power corrupts atomically. 10372% 10373Power, n: 10374 The only narcotic regulated by the SEC instead of the FDA. 10375% 10376Practical people would be more practical if they would take a little 10377more time for dreaming. 10378 -- J. P. McEvoy 10379% 10380Predestination was doomed from the start. 10381% 10382President Reagan has noted that there are too many economic pundits and 10383forecasters and has decided on an excess prophets tax. 10384% 10385President Thieu says he'll quit if he doesn't get more than 50% of the 10386vote. In a democracy, that's not called quitting. 10387 -- The Washington Post 10388% 10389Pretend to spank me -- I'm a pseudo-masochist! 10390% 10391Preudhomme's Law of Window Cleaning: 10392 It's on the other side. 10393% 10394[Prime Minister Joseph] Chamberlain loves the working man -- he loves 10395to see him work. 10396 -- Winston Churchill 10397% 10398Pro is to con as progress is to Congress. 10399% 10400Probable-Possible, my black hen, 10401She lays eggs in the Relative When. 10402She doesn't lay eggs in the Positive Now 10403Because she's unable to postulate how. 10404 -- Frederick Winsor 10405% 10406Probably the question asked most often is: Do one-celled animals have 10407orgasms? The answer is yes, they have orgasms almost constantly, which 10408is why they don't mind living in pools of warm slime. 10409 -- Dave Barry, "Sex and the Single Amoeba: What Every 10410 Teen Should Know" 10411% 10412Prof: So the American government went to IBM to come up with a data 10413 encryption standard and they came up with ... 10414Student: EBCDIC! 10415% 10416Professor Gorden Newell threw another shutout in last week's Chem. 10417Eng. 130 midterm. Once again no student received a single point on 10418his exam. Newell has now tossed five shutouts this quarter. Newell's 10419earned exam average has now dropped to a phenomenal 30% 10420% 10421Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to 10422build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying 10423to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning. 10424 -- Rich Cook 10425% 10426Proof techniques #1: Proof by Induction. 10427 10428This technique is used on equations with "_n" in them. Induction 10429techniques are very popular; even the military used them. 10430 10431SAMPLE: Proof of induction without proof of induction. 10432 10433 We know it's true for _n equal to 1. Now assume that it's true 10434for every natural number less than _n. _N is arbitrary, so we can take _n 10435as large as we want. If _n is sufficiently large, the case of _n+1 is 10436trivially equivalent, so the only important _n are _n less than _n. We 10437can take _n = _n (from above), so it's true for _n+1 because it's just 10438about _n. 10439 QED. (QED translates from the Latin as "So what?") 10440% 10441Proof techniques #2: Proof by Oddity. 10442 SAMPLE: To prove that horses have an infinite number of legs. 10443(1) Horses have an even number of legs. 10444(2) They have two legs in back and fore legs in front. 10445(3) This makes a total of six legs, which certainly is an odd number of 10446 legs for a horse. 10447(4) But the only number that is both odd and even is infinity. 10448(5) Therefore, horses must have an infinite number of legs. 10449 10450Topics to be covered in future issues include proof by: 10451 Intimidation 10452 Gesticulation (handwaving) 10453 "Try it; it works" 10454 Constipation (I was just sitting there and ...) 10455 Blatant assertion 10456 Changing all the 2's to _n's 10457 Mutual consent 10458 Lack of a counterexample, and 10459 "It stands to reason" 10460% 10461Proposed Additions to the PDP-11 Instruction Set: 10462 10463BBW Branch Both Ways 10464BEW Branch Either Way 10465BBBF Branch on Bit Bucket Full 10466BH Branch and Hang 10467BMR Branch Multiple Registers 10468BOB Branch On Bug 10469BPO Branch on Power Off 10470BST Backspace and Stretch Tape 10471CDS Condense and Destroy System 10472CLBR Clobber Register 10473CLBRI Clobber Register Immediately 10474CM Circulate Memory 10475CMFRM Come From -- essential for truly structured programming 10476CPPR Crumple Printer Paper and Rip 10477CRN Convert to Roman Numerals 10478% 10479Proposed Additions to the PDP-11 Instruction Set: 10480 10481DC Divide and Conquer 10482DMPK Destroy Memory Protect Key 10483DO Divide and Overflow 10484EMPC Emulate Pocket Calculator 10485EPI Execute Programmer Immediately 10486EROS Erase Read Only Storage 10487EXCE Execute Customer Engineer 10488HCF Halt and Catch Fire 10489IBP Insert Bug and Proceed 10490INSQSW Insert into queue somewhere (for FINO queues [First in never out]) 10491PBC Print and Break Chain 10492PDSK Punch Disk 10493% 10494Proposed Additions to the PDP-11 Instruction Set: 10495 10496PI Punch Invalid 10497POPI Punch Operator Immediately 10498PVLC Punch Variable Length Card 10499RASC Read And Shred Card 10500RPM Read Programmers Mind 10501RSSC Reduce Speed, Step Carefully (for improved accuracy) 10502RTAB Rewind Tape and Break 10503RWDSK Rewind Disk 10504RWOC Read Writing On Card 10505SCRBL Scribble to disk - faster than a write 10506SLC Search for Lost Chord 10507SPSW Scramble Program Status Word 10508SRSD Seek Record and Scar Disk 10509STROM Store in Read Only Memory 10510TDB Transfer and Drop Bit 10511WBT Water Binary Tree 10512% 10513Protozoa are small, and bacteria are small, but viruses are smaller 10514than the both put together. 10515% 10516Psychiatrists say that one out of four people are mentally ill. Check 10517three friends. If they're OK, you're it. 10518% 10519Psychotherapy is the theory that the patient will probably get well 10520anyhow and is certainly a damn fool. 10521 -- H. L. Mencken 10522% 10523Puns are little "plays on words" that a certain breed of person loves 10524to spring on you and then look at you in a certain self-satisfied way 10525to indicate that he thinks that you must think that he is by far the 10526cleverest person on Earth now that Benjamin Franklin is dead, when in 10527fact what you are thinking is that if this person ever ends up in a 10528lifeboat, the other passengers will hurl him overboard by the end of 10529the first day even if they have plenty of food and water. 10530 -- Dave Barry, "Why Humor is Funny" 10531% 10532Pure drivel tends to drive ordinary drivel off the TV screen. 10533% 10534Pushing 40 is exercise enough. 10535% 10536Put no trust in cryptic comments. 10537% 10538Put your Nose to the Grindstone! 10539 -- Amalgamated Plastic Surgeons and Toolmakers, Ltd. 10540% 10541Putt's Law: 10542 Technology is dominated by two types of people: 10543 Those who understand what they do not manage. 10544 Those who manage what they do not understand. 10545% 10546Q: Do you know what the death rate around here is? 10547A: One per person. 10548% 10549Q: How did you get into artificial intelligence? 10550A: Seemed logical -- I didn't have any real intelligence. 10551% 10552Q: How many DEC repairmen does it take to fix a flat ? 10553A: Five; four to hold the car up and one to swap tires. 10554% 10555Q: How many DEC repairmen does it take to fix a flat? 10556A: Five; four to hold the car up and one to swap tires. 10557 10558Q: How long does it take? 10559A: It's indeterminate. It will depend upon how many flats they've 10560 brought with them. 10561 10562Q: What happens if you've got TWO flats? 10563A: They replace your generator. 10564% 10565Q: How many existentialists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? 10566A: Two. One to screw it in and one to observe how the lightbulb 10567 itself symbolizes a single incandescent beacon of subjective 10568 reality in a netherworld of endless absurdity reaching out toward a 10569 maudlin cosmos of nothingness. 10570% 10571Q: How many heterosexual males does it take to screw in a light bulb 10572 in San Francisco? 10573A: Both of them. 10574% 10575Q: How many IBM CPUs does it take to do a logical right shift? 10576A: 33. 1 to hold the bits and 32 to push the register. 10577% 10578Q: How many IBM CPUs does it take to execute a job? 10579A: Four; three to hold it down, and one to rip its head off. 10580% 10581Q: How many IBM types does it take to change a light bulb? 10582A: 100. Ten to do it, and 90 to write document number GC7500439-0001, 10583 Multitasking Incandescent Source System Facility, of which 10% of 10584 the pages state only "This page intentionally left blank", and 20% 10585 of the definitions are of the form "A ...... consists of sequences 10586 of non-blank characters separated by blanks". 10587% 10588Q: How many journalists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? 10589A: Three. One to report it as an inspired government program to bring 10590 light to the people, one to report it as a diabolical government 10591 plot to deprive the poor of darkness, and one to win a Pulitzer 10592 prize for reporting that Electric Company hired a lightbulb 10593 assassin to break the bulb in the first place. 10594% 10595Q: How many Martians does it take to screw in a lightbulb? 10596A: One and a half. 10597% 10598Q: How many mathematicians does it take to screw in a lightbulb? 10599A: One. He gives it to six Californians, thereby reducing the problem 10600 to the earlier joke. 10601% 10602Q: How many Oregonians does it take to screw in a light bulb? 10603A: Three. One to screw in the lightbulb and two to fend off all those 10604 Californians trying to share the experience. 10605% 10606Q: How many surrealists does it take to change a light bulb? 10607A: Two. One to hold the giraffe and the other to fill the bathtub 10608 with brightly colored machine tools. 10609% 10610Q: How many Zen masters does it take to screw in a light bulb? 10611A: None. The Universe spins the bulb, and the Zen master stays out 10612 of the way. 10613% 10614Q: What's a light-year? 10615A: One-third less calories than a regular year. 10616% 10617Q: Why did the tachyon cross the road? 10618A: Because it was on the other side. 10619% 10620Q: Why do ducks have flat feet? 10621A: To stamp out forest fires. 10622 10623Q: Why do elephants have flat feet? 10624A: To stamp out flaming ducks. 10625% 10626Q: Why do mountain climbers rope themselves together? 10627A: To prevent the sensible ones from going home. 10628% 10629Q: Somebody just posted that Roman Polanski directed Star Wars. What 10630 should I do? 10631 10632A: Post the correct answer at once! We can't have people go on 10633 believing that! Very good of you to spot this. You'll probably be 10634 the only one to make the correction, so post as soon as you can. No 10635 time to lose, so certainly don't wait a day, or check to see if 10636 somebody else has made the correction. 10637 10638 And it's not good enough to send the message by mail. Since you're 10639 the only one who really knows that it was Francis Coppola, you have 10640 to inform the whole net right away! 10641 10642 -- Brad Templeton, "Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions 10643 on Netiquette" 10644% 10645Quality Control, n.: 10646 The process of testing one out of every 1,000 units coming off 10647a production line to make sure that at least one out of 100 works. 10648% 10649Question: 10650Man Invented Alcohol, 10651God Invented Grass. 10652Who do you trust? 10653% 10654Quick!! Act as if nothing has happened! 10655% 10656Quick, sing me the BUDAPEST NATIONAL ANTHEM!! 10657% 10658Quidquid latine dictum est, altum videtur. 10659 10660(Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound.) 10661% 10662Quigley's Law: 10663 Whoever has any authority over you, no matter how small, will 10664attempt to use it. 10665% 10666QUOTE OF THE DAY: 10667 10668 ` 10669 10670% 10671Qvid me anxivs svm? 10672% 10673QWERT (kwirt), n. [MW < OW qwertyuiop, a thirteenth]: 10674 1. a unit of weight equal to 13 poiuyt avoirdupois (or 1.69 10675kiloliks), commonly used in structural engineering; 2. [colloq.] one 10676thirteenth the load that a fully grown sligo can carry; 3. [anat.] a 10677painful irritation of the dermis in the region of the anus; 4. [slang] 10678person who excites in others the symptoms of a qwert. 10679 -- Webster's Middle World Dictionary, 4th ed. 10680% 10681Radioactive cats have 18 half-lives. 10682% 10683Rattling around the back of my head is a disturbing image of something 10684I saw at the airport ... Now I'm remembering, those giant piles of 10685computer magazines right next to "People" and "Time" in the airport 10686store. Does it bother anyone else that half the world is being told 10687all of our hard-won secrets of computer technology? Remember how all 10688the lawyers cried foul when "How to Avoid Probate" was published? Are 10689they taking no-fault insurance lying down? No way! But at the current 10690rate it won't be long before there are stacks of the "Transactions on 10691Information Theory" at the A&P checkout counters. Who's going to be 10692impressed with us electrical engineers then? Are we, as the saying 10693goes, giving away the store? 10694 -- Robert W. Lucky, IEEE President 10695% 10696Ray's Rule of Precision: 10697 Measure with a micrometer. Mark with chalk. Cut with an axe. 10698% 10699Razors pain you; 10700Rivers are damp; 10701Acids stain you; 10702And drugs cause cramp. 10703Guns aren't lawful; 10704Nooses give; 10705Gas smells awful; 10706You might as well live. 10707 -- Dorothy Parker, "Resume", 1926 10708% 10709Re graphics: A picture is worth 10K words -- but only those to describe 10710the picture. Hardly any sets of 10K words can be adequately described 10711with pictures. 10712% 10713Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of 10714Congress. But I repeat myself. 10715 -- Mark Twain 10716% 10717Real computer scientists admire ADA for its overwhelming aesthetic 10718value but they find it difficult to actually program in it, as it is 10719much too large to implement. Most computer scientists don't notice 10720this because they are still arguing over what else to add to ADA. 10721% 10722Real computer scientists despise the idea of actual hardware. Hardware 10723has limitations, software doesn't. It's a real shame that Turing 10724machines are so poor at I/O. 10725% 10726Real computer scientists don't comment their code. The identifiers are 10727so long they can't afford the disk space. 10728% 10729Real computer scientists don't program in assembler. They don't write 10730in anything less portable than a number two pencil. 10731% 10732Real computer scientists don't write code. They occasionally tinker 10733with `programming systems', but those are so high level that they 10734hardly count (and rarely count accurately; precision is for 10735applications.) 10736% 10737Real computer scientists only write specs for languages that might run 10738on future hardware. Nobody trusts them to write specs for anything homo 10739sapiens will ever be able to fit on a single planet. 10740% 10741Real programmers disdain structured programming. Structured 10742programming is for compulsive neurotics who were prematurely toilet- 10743trained. They wear neckties and carefully line up pencils on otherwise 10744clear desks. 10745% 10746Real programmers don't bring brown-bag lunches. If the vending machine 10747doesn't sell it, they don't eat it. Vending machines don't sell 10748quiche. 10749% 10750Real programmers don't comment their code. It was hard to write, it 10751should be hard to understand. 10752% 10753Real programmers don't draw flowcharts. Flowcharts are, after all, the 10754illiterate's form of documentation. Cavemen drew flowcharts; look how 10755much good it did them. 10756% 10757Real Programmers don't play tennis, or any other sport that requires 10758you to change clothes. Mountain climbing is OK, and real programmers 10759wear their climbing boots to work in case a mountain should suddenly 10760spring up in the middle of the machine room. 10761% 10762Real programmers don't write in BASIC. Actually, no programmers write 10763in BASIC after reaching puberty. 10764% 10765Real programmers don't write in FORTRAN. FORTRAN is for pipe stress 10766freaks and crystallography weenies. FORTRAN is for wimp engineers who 10767wear white socks. 10768% 10769Real Programmers don't write in PL/I. PL/I is for programmers who 10770can't decide whether to write in COBOL or FORTRAN. 10771% 10772Real Programmers think better when playing Adventure or Rogue. 10773% 10774Real Programs don't use shared text. Otherwise, how can they use 10775functions for scratch space after they are finished calling them? 10776% 10777Real software engineers don't debug programs, they verify correctness. 10778This process doesn't necessarily involve execution of anything on a 10779computer, except perhaps a Correctness Verification Aid package. 10780% 10781Real software engineers don't like the idea of some inexplicable and 10782greasy hardware several aisles away that may stop working at any 10783moment. They have a great distrust of hardware people, and wish that 10784systems could be virtual at *___all* levels. They would like personal 10785computers (you know no one's going to trip over something and kill your 10786DFA in mid-transit), except that they need 8 megabytes to run their 10787Correctness Verification Aid packages. 10788% 10789Real software engineers work from 9 to 5, because that is the way the 10790job is described in the formal spec. Working late would feel like 10791using an undocumented external procedure. 10792% 10793Real Time, adj.: 10794 Here and now, as opposed to fake time, which only occurs there 10795and then. 10796% 10797Real Users are afraid they'll break the machine -- but they're never 10798afraid to break your face. 10799% 10800Real Users find the one combination of bizarre input values that shuts 10801down the system for days. 10802% 10803Real Users hate Real Programmers. 10804% 10805Real Users know your home telephone number. 10806% 10807Real Users never know what they want, but they always know when your 10808program doesn't deliver it. 10809% 10810Real Users never use the Help key. 10811% 10812Real World, The n.: 10813 1. In programming, those institutions at which programming may 10814be used in the same sentence as FORTRAN, COBOL, RPG, IBM, etc. 2. To 10815programmers, the location of non-programmers and activities not related 10816to programming. 3. A universe in which the standard dress is shirt and 10817tie and in which a person's working hours are defined as 9 to 5. 108184. The location of the status quo. 5. Anywhere outside a university. 10819"Poor fellow, he's left MIT and gone into the real world." Used 10820pejoratively by those not in residence there. In conversation, talking 10821of someone who has entered the real world is not unlike talking about a 10822deceased person. 10823% 10824Reality is a cop-out for people who can't handle drugs. 10825% 10826Reality is an obstacle to hallucination. 10827% 10828Reality is bad enough, why should I tell the truth? 10829 -- Patrick Sky 10830% 10831Reality is for people who lack imagination. 10832% 10833Reality is for those who can't face Science Fiction. 10834% 10835Reality is just a convenient measure of complexity. 10836 -- Alvy Ray Smith 10837% 10838Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away" 10839 -- Philip K. Dick 10840% 10841Really ?? What a coincidence, I'm shallow too!! 10842% 10843Receiving a million dollars tax free will make you feel better than 10844being flat broke and having a stomach ache. 10845 -- Dolph Sharp, "I'm O.K., You're Not So Hot" 10846% 10847Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you 10848lose your job. These economic downturns are very difficult to predict, 10849but sophisticated econometric modeling houses like Data Resources and 10850Chase Econometrics have successfully predicted 14 of the last 3 10851recessions. 10852% 10853Reclaimer, spare that tree! 10854Take not a single bit! 10855It used to point to me, 10856Now I'm protecting it. 10857It was the reader's CONS 10858That made it, paired by dot; 10859Now, GC, for the nonce, 10860Thou shalt reclaim it not. 10861% 10862 "Reflections on Ice-Breaking" 10863Candy 10864Is dandy 10865But liquor 10866Is quicker. 10867 -- Ogden Nash 10868% 10869"Reintegration complete," ZORAC advised. "We're back in the universe 10870again ..." An unusually long pause followed, "... but I don't know 10871which part. We seem to have changed our position in space." A 10872spherical display in the middle of the floor illuminated to show the 10873starfield surrounding the ship. 10874 10875"Several large, artificial constructions are approaching us," ZORAC 10876announced after a short pause. "The designs are not familiar, but they 10877are obviously the products of intelligence. Implications: we have been 10878intercepted deliberately by a means unknown, for a purpose unknown, and 10879transferred to a place unknown by a form of intelligence unknown. 10880Apart from the unknowns, everything is obvious." 10881 -- James P. Hogan, "Giants Star" 10882% 10883Reisner's Rule of Conceptual Inertia: 10884 If you think big enough, you'll never have to do it. 10885% 10886Religion has done love a great service by making it a sin. 10887 -- Anatole France 10888% 10889Rembrandt's first name was Beauregard, which is why he never used it. 10890 -- Dave Barry 10891% 10892Remember that whatever misfortune may be your lot, it could only be 10893worse in Cleveland. 10894 -- National Lampoon, "Deteriorata" 10895% 10896Remember, drive defensively! And of course, the best defense is a good 10897offense! 10898% 10899Remember, even if you win the rat race -- you're still a rat. 10900% 10901Remember, UNIX spelled backwards is XINU. 10902% 10903Remember: Silly is a state of Mind, Stupid is a way of Life. 10904 -- Dave Butler 10905% 10906Renning's Maxim: 10907 Man is the highest animal. Man does the classifying. 10908% 10909Reporter (to Mahatma Gandhi): Mr Gandhi, what do you think of Western 10910 Civilization? 10911Gandhi: I think it would be a good idea. 10912% 10913Reporter, n.: 10914 A writer who guesses his way to the truth and dispels it with a 10915tempest of words. 10916 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 10917% 10918REPORTER: Senator, are you for or against the MX missile system? 10919 10920SENATOR: Bob, the MX missile system reminds me of an old saying that 10921the country folk in my state like to say. It goes like this: "You can 10922carry a pig for six miles, but if you set it down it might run away." 10923I have no idea why the country folk say this. Maybe there's some kind 10924of chemical pollutant in their drinking water. That is why I pledge to 10925do all that I can to protect the environment of this great nation of 10926ours, and put prayer back in the schools, where it belongs. What we 10927need is jobs, not empty promises. I realize I'm risking my political 10928career by being so outspoken on a sensitive issue such as the MX, but 10929that's just the kind of straight-talking honest person I am, and I 10930can't help it. 10931 -- Dave Barry, "On Presidential Politics" 10932% 10933Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing. 10934 -- Wernher von Braun 10935% 10936Resisting temptation is easier when you think you'll probably get 10937another chance later on. 10938% 10939Review Questions 10940 10941(1) If Nerd on the planet Nutley starts out in his spaceship at 20 KPH, 10942 and his speed doubles every 3.2 seconds, how long will it be before 10943 he exceeds the speed of light? How long will it be before the 10944 Galactic Patrol picks up the pieces of his spaceship? 10945 10946(2) If Roger Rowdy wrecks his car every week, and each week he breaks 10947 twice as many bones as before, how long will it be before he breaks 10948 every bone in his body? How long will it be before they cut off 10949 his insurance? Where does he get a new car every week? 10950 10951(3) If Johnson drinks one beer the first hour (slow start), four beers 10952 the next hour, nine beers the next, etc., and stacks the cans in a 10953 pyramid, how soon will Johnson's pyramid be larger than King 10954 Tut's? When will it fall on him? Will he notice? 10955% 10956Rhode's Law: 10957 When any principle, law, tenet, probability, happening, 10958circumstance, or result can in no way be directly, indirectly, 10959empirically, or circuitously proven, derived, implied, inferred, 10960induced, deducted, estimated, or scientifically guessed, it will always 10961for the purpose of convenience, expediency, political advantage, 10962material gain, or personal comfort, or any combination of the above, or 10963none of the above, be unilaterally and unequivocally assumed, 10964proclaimed, and adhered to as absolute truth to be undeniably, 10965universally, immutably, and infinitely so, until such time as it 10966becomes advantageous to assume otherwise, maybe. 10967% 10968Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. 10969 -- Steven Wright 10970% 10971Rocky's Lemma of Innovation Prevention 10972 Unless the results are known in advance, funding agencies will 10973 reject the proposal. 10974% 10975Romeo wasn't bilked in a day. 10976 -- Walt Kelly, "Ten Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Years With Pogo" 10977% 10978ROMEO: Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much. 10979MERCUTIO: No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church- 10980 door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve. 10981% 10982Rudin's Law: 10983 If there is a wrong way to do something, most people will do it 10984every time. 10985% 10986Rule 46, Oxford Union Society, London: 10987 Any member introducing a dog into the Society's premises shall 10988be liable to a fine of one pound. Any animal leading a blind person 10989shall be deemed to be a cat. 10990% 10991Rule of Creative Research: 10992 (1) Never draw what you can copy. 10993 (2) Never copy what you can trace. 10994 (3) Never trace what you can cut out and paste down. 10995% 10996Rule of Defactualization: 10997 Information deteriorates upward through bureaucracies. 10998% 10999Rule of Feline Frustration: 11000 When your cat has fallen asleep on your lap and looks utterly 11001content and adorable, you will suddenly have to go to the bathroom. 11002% 11003Rule of the Great: 11004 When people you greatly admire appear to be thinking deep 11005thoughts, they probably are thinking about lunch. 11006% 11007Rules for Academic Deans: 11008 (1) HIDE!!!! 11009 (2) If they find you, LIE!!!! 11010 -- Father Damian C. Fandal 11011% 11012Rules for driving in New York: 11013 (1) Anything done while honking your horn is legal. 11014 (2) You may park anywhere if you turn your four-way flashers 11015 on. 11016 (3) A red light means the next six cars may go through the 11017 intersection. 11018% 11019RULES OF EATING -- THE BRONX DIETER'S CREED 11020 (1) Never eat on an empty stomach. 11021 (2) Never leave the table hungry. 11022 (3) When traveling, never leave a country hungry. 11023 (4) Enjoy your food. 11024 (5) Enjoy your companion's food. 11025 (6) Really taste your food. It may take several portions to 11026 accomplish this, especially if subtly seasoned. 11027 (7) Really feel your food. Texture is important. Compare, 11028 for example, the texture of a turnip to that of a 11029 brownie. Which feels better against your cheeks? 11030 (8) Never eat between snacks, unless it's a meal. 11031 (9) Don't feel you must finish everything on your plate. You 11032 can always eat it later. 11033 (10) Avoid any wine with a childproof cap. 11034 (11) Avoid blue food. 11035 -- Richard Smith, "The Bronx Diet" 11036% 11037Rules: 11038 (1) The boss is always right. 11039 (2) When the boss is wrong, refer to rule 1. 11040% 11041 Safety Tips for the Post-Nuclear Existence 11042 Tip #1: How to tell when you are dead. 11043 11044(1) Little things start bothering you: little things like worms, bugs, 11045 ants. 11046(2) Something is missing in your personal relationships. 11047(3) Your dog becomes overly affectionate. 11048(4) You have a hard time getting a waiter. 11049(5) Exotic birds flock around you. 11050(6) People ignore you at parties. 11051(7) You have a hard time getting up in the morning. 11052(8) You no longer get off on cocaine. 11053% 11054 Safety Tips for the Post-Nuclear Existence 11055(1) Never use an elevator in a building that has been hit by a nuclear 11056 bomb; use the stairs. 11057(2) When you're flying through the air, remember to roll when you hit 11058 the ground. 11059(3) If you're on fire, avoid gasoline and other flammable materials. 11060(4) Don't attempt communication with dead people; it will only lead to 11061 psychological problems. 11062(5) Food will be scarce; you will have to scavenge. Learn to 11063 recognize foods that will be available after the bomb: mashed 11064 potatoes, shredded wheat, tossed salad, ground beef, etc. 11065(6) Put your hand over your mouth when you sneeze; internal organs 11066 will be scarce in the post-nuclear age. 11067(7) Try to be neat; fall only in designated piles. 11068(8) Drive carefully in "Heavy Fallout" areas; people could be 11069 staggering illegally. 11070(9) Nutritionally, hundred dollar bills are equal to ones, but more 11071 sanitary due to limited circulation. 11072(10) Accumulate mannequins now; spare parts will be in short supply on 11073 D-Day. 11074% 11075SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 - Dec 21) 11076 You are optimistic and enthusiastic. You have a reckless 11077 tendency to rely on luck since you lack talent. The majority 11078 of Sagittarians are drunks or dope fiends or both. People 11079 laugh at you a great deal. 11080% 11081San Francisco isn't what it used to be, and it never was. 11082 -- Herb Caen 11083% 11084San Francisco, n.: 11085 Marcel Proust editing an issue of Penthouse. 11086% 11087Sanity is the trademark of a weak mind. 11088 -- Mark Harrold 11089% 11090Santa Claus wears a Red Suit, 11091 He must be a communist. 11092And a beard and long hair, 11093 Must be a pacifist. 11094 11095 What's in that pipe that he's smoking? 11096 -- Arlo Guthrie 11097% 11098Satellite Safety Tip #14: 11099 If you see a bright streak in the sky coming at you, duck. 11100% 11101Sattinger's Law: 11102 It works better if you plug it in. 11103% 11104Saturday night in Toledo Ohio, 11105 Is like being nowhere at all, 11106All through the day how the hours rush by, 11107 You sit in the park and you watch the grass die. 11108 -- John Denver, "Saturday Night in Toledo Ohio" 11109% 11110Sauron is alive in Argentina! 11111% 11112Save energy: be apathetic. 11113% 11114Save the Whales -- Harpoon a Honda. 11115% 11116Save the whales. Collect the whole set. 11117% 11118Saw a sign on a restaurant that said Breakfast, any time -- so I 11119ordered French Toast in the Renaissance. 11120 -- Steven Wright 11121% 11122SCCS, the source motel! Programs check in and never check out! 11123 -- Ken Thompson 11124% 11125Schapiro's Explanation: 11126 The grass is always greener on the other side -- but that's 11127because they use more manure. 11128% 11129Schizophrenia beats being alone. 11130% 11131Schlattwhapper, n.: 11132 The window shade that allows itself to be pulled down, 11133hesitates for a second, then snaps up in your face. 11134 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 11135% 11136Schnuffel, n.: 11137 A dog's practice of continuously nuzzling in your crotch in 11138mixed company. 11139 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 11140% 11141Schwiggle, n.: 11142 The amusing rotation of one's bottom while sharpening a 11143pencil. 11144 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 11145% 11146Science is facts; just as houses are made of stones, so is science made 11147of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house and a collection of facts 11148is not necessarily science. 11149 -- Henri Poincar'e 11150% 11151Science is what happens when preconception meets verification. 11152% 11153Scientists are people who build the Brooklyn Bridge and then buy it. 11154 -- William Buckley 11155 11156% 11157SCORPIO (Oct 23 - Nov 21) 11158 You are shrewd in business and cannot be trusted. You will 11159 achieve the pinnacle of success because of your total lack of 11160 ethics. Most Scorpio people are murdered. 11161% 11162Scott's first Law: 11163 No matter what goes wrong, it will probably look right. 11164% 11165Scott's second Law: 11166 When an error has been detected and corrected, it will be found 11167to have been wrong in the first place. 11168 11169Corollary: 11170 After the correction has been found in error, it will be 11171impossible to fit the original quantity back into the equation. 11172% 11173Scotty: Captain, we din' can reference it! 11174Kirk: Analysis, Mr. Spock? 11175Spock: Captain, it doesn't appear in the symbol table. 11176Kirk: Then it's of external origin? 11177Spock: Affirmative. 11178Kirk: Mr. Sulu, go to pass two. 11179Sulu: Aye aye, sir, going to pass two. 11180% 11181Screw up your courage! You've screwed up everything else. 11182% 11183Scrubbing floors and emptying bedpans has as much dignity as the 11184Presidency. 11185 -- Richard Nixon 11186% 11187Second Law of Business Meetings: 11188 If there are two possible ways to spell a person's name, you 11189will pick the wrong one. 11190 11191Corollary: 11192 If there is only one way to spell a name, you will spell it 11193wrong, anyway. 11194% 11195Section 2.4.3.5 AWNS (Acceptor Wait for New Cycle State). 11196 In AWNS the AH function indicates that it has received a 11197multiline message byte. 11198 In AWNS the RFD message must be sent false and the DAC message 11199must be sent passive true. 11200 The AH function must exit the AWNS and enter: 11201 (1) The ANRS if DAV is false 11202 (2) The AIDS if the ATN message is false and neither: 11203 (a) The LADS is active 11204 (b) Nor LACS is active 11205 11206 -- from the IEEE Standard Digital Interface for 11207 Programmable Instrumentation 11208% 11209Security check: INTRUDER ALERT! 11210% 11211Seduced, shaggy Samson snored. 11212She scissored short. Sorely shorn, 11213Soon shackled slave, Samson sighed, 11214Silently scheming, 11215Sightlessly seeking 11216Some savage, spectacular suicide. 11217 -- Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad" 11218% 11219See - the thing is - I'm an absolutist. I mean, kind of ... in a way ... 11220% 11221Seleznick's Theory of Holistic Medicine: 11222 Ice Cream cures all ills. 11223% 11224Self Test for Paranoia: 11225 You know you have it when you can't think of anything that's 11226your own fault. 11227% 11228Seminars, n.: 11229 From "semi" and "arse", hence, any half-assed discussion. 11230% 11231Sen. Danforth: "There is nothing on the face of the album which would 11232 notify you if the record has pornographic material or 11233 material glorifying violence?" 11234Tipper Gore: "No, there is nothing that would suggest that to me." 11235Frank Zappa: "I would say that a buzz saw blade between the guy's 11236 legs on the album cover is good indication that it's 11237 not for little Johnny." 11238 11239 -- The Senate Commerce Committee hearing on rock 11240 lyrics, from The Village Voice, 6 Oct 1985 11241% 11242Senate, n.: 11243 A body of elderly gentlemen charged with high duties and 11244misdemeanors. 11245 -- Ambrose Bierce 11246% 11247Serenity through viciousness. 11248% 11249Serocki's Stricture: 11250 Marriage is always a bachelor's last option. 11251% 11252Serving coffee on aircraft causes turbulence. 11253% 11254 "Seven years and six months!" Humpty Dumpty repeated 11255thoughtfully. "An uncomfortable sort of age. Now if you'd asked MY 11256advice, I'd have said `Leave off at seven' -- but it's too late now." 11257 "I never ask advice about growing," Alice said indignantly. 11258 "Too proud?" the other enquired. 11259 Alice felt even more indignant at this suggestion. "I mean," 11260she said, "that one can't help growing older." 11261 "ONE can't, perhaps," said Humpty Dumpty; "but TWO can. With 11262proper assistance, you might have left off at seven." 11263 -- Lewis Carroll 11264% 11265Several years ago, some smart businessmen had an idea: Why not build a 11266big store where a do-it-yourselfer could get everything he needed at 11267reasonable prices? Then they decided, nah, the hell with that, let's 11268build a home center. And before long home centers were springing up 11269like crabgrass all over the United States. 11270 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 11271% 11272Sex is a natural bodily process, like a stroke. 11273% 11274Sex is not the answer. Sex is the question. "Yes" is the answer. 11275 -- Swami X 11276% 11277Sex is the mathematics urge sublimated. 11278 -- M. C. Reed 11279% 11280Sex without love is an empty experience, but, as empty experiences go, 11281it's one of the best. 11282 -- Woody Allen 11283% 11284Shamus, n. [Yiddish]: 11285 A shamus is a guy who takes care of handyman tasks around the 11286temple, and makes sure everything is in working order. 11287 A shamus is at the bottom of the pecking order of synagogue 11288functionaries, and there's a joke about that: 11289 A rabbi, to show his humility before God, cries out in the 11290middle of a service, "Oh, Lord, I am nobody!" The cantor, not to be 11291bested, also cries out, "Oh, Lord, I am nobody!" 11292 The shamus, deeply moved, follows suit and cries, "Oh, Lord, I 11293am nobody!" The rabbi turns to the cantor and says, "Look who thinks 11294he's nobody!" 11295 -- Arthur Naiman, "Every Goy's Guide to Yiddish" 11296% 11297Sharks are as tough as those football fans who take their shirts off 11298during games in Chicago in January, only more intelligent. 11299 -- Dave Barry, "Sex and the Single Amoeba: What Every 11300 Teen Should Know" 11301% 11302Shaw's Principle: 11303 Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will 11304want to use it. 11305% 11306She is descended from a long line that her mother listened to. 11307 -- Gypsy Rose Lee 11308% 11309She is not refined. She is not unrefined. She keeps a parrot. 11310 -- Mark Twain 11311% 11312She liked him; he was a man of many qualities, even if most of them 11313were bad. 11314% 11315She missed an invaluable opportunity to give him a look that you could 11316have poured on a waffle ... 11317% 11318She said, `I know you ... you cannot sing'. I said, `That's nothing, 11319you should hear me play piano.' 11320 -- Morrisey 11321% 11322She's genuinely bogus. 11323% 11324Sherry [Thomas Sheridan] is dull, naturally dull; but it must have 11325taken him a great deal of pains to become what we now see him. Such an 11326excess of stupidity, sir, is not in Nature. 11327 -- Samuel Johnson 11328% 11329SHIFT TO THE LEFT! SHIFT TO THE RIGHT! 11330POP UP, PUSH DOWN, BYTE, BYTE, BYTE! 11331% 11332Show me a man who is a good loser and I'll show you a man who is 11333playing golf with his boss. 11334% 11335Show respect for age. Drink good Scotch for a change. 11336% 11337Signs of crime: screaming or cries for help. 11338 -- from the Brown University Security Crime Prevention Pamphlet 11339% 11340Silverman's Law: 11341 If Murphy's Law can go wrong, it will. 11342% 11343Simon's Law: 11344 Everything put together falls apart sooner or later. 11345% 11346Since I hurt my pendulum 11347My life is all erratic. 11348My parrot, who was cordial, 11349Is now transmitting static. 11350The carpet died, a palm collapsed, 11351The cat keeps doing poo. 11352The only thing that keeps me sane 11353Is talking to my shoe. 11354 -- My Shoe 11355% 11356Since we have to speak well of the dead, let's knock them while they're 11357alive. 11358 -- John Sloan 11359% 11360Since we're all here, we must not be all there. 11361 -- Bob "Mountain" Beck 11362% 11363[Sir Stafford Cripps] has all the virtues I dislike and none of the 11364vices I admire. 11365 -- Winston Churchill 11366% 11367Sixtus V, Pope from 1585 to 1590 authorized a printing of the Vulgate 11368Bible. Taking no chances, the pope issued a papal bull automatically 11369excommunicating any printer who might make an alteration in the text. 11370This he ordered printed at the beginning of the Bible. He personally 11371examined every sheet as it came off the press. Yet the published 11372Vulgate Bible contained so many errors that corrected scraps had to be 11373printed and pasted over them in every copy. The result provoked wry 11374comments on the rather patchy papal infallibility, and Pope Sixtus had 11375no recourse but to order the return and destruction of every copy. 11376% 11377Skinner's Constant (or Flannagan's Finagling Factor): 11378 That quantity which, when multiplied by, divided by, added to, 11379or subtracted from the answer you get, gives you the answer you should 11380have gotten. 11381% 11382Slang is language that takes off its coat, spits on its hands, and goes 11383to work. 11384% 11385Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work ... I did not, 11386when a slave, understand the deep meanings of those rude, and 11387apparently incoherent songs. I was myself within the circle, so that I 11388neither saw nor heard as those without might see and hear. They told a 11389tale which was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension: they 11390were tones, loud, long and deep, breathing the prayer and complaint of 11391souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish. Every tone was a 11392testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from 11393chains. 11394 -- Frederick Douglass 11395% 11396Slick's Three Laws of the Universe: 11397 (1) Nothing in the known universe travels faster than a bad 11398 check. 11399 (2) A quarter-ounce of chocolate = four pounds of fat. 11400 (3) There are two types of dirt: the dark kind, which is 11401 attracted to light objects, and the light kind, which is 11402 attracted to dark objects. 11403% 11404Slowly and surely the unix crept up on the Nintendo user ... 11405% 11406Slurm, n.: 11407 The slime that accumulates on the underside of a soap bar when 11408it sits in the dish too long. 11409 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 11410% 11411Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics. 11412 -- Fletcher Knebel 11413% 11414Snacktrek, n.: 11415 The peculiar habit, when searching for a snack, of constantly 11416returning to the refrigerator in hopes that something new will have 11417materialized. 11418 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 11419% 11420So as your consumer electronics adviser, I am advising you to donate 11421your current VCR to a grate resident, who will laugh sardonically and 11422hurl it into a dumpster. Then I want you to go out and purchase a vast 11423array of 8-millimeter video equipment. 11424 11425... OK! Got everything? Well, *too bad, sucker*, because while you 11426were gone the electronics industry came up with an even newer format 11427that makes your 8-millimeter VCR look as technologically advanced as 11428toenail dirt. This format is called "3.5 hectare" and it will not be 11429made available until it is outmoded, sometime early next week, by a 11430format called "Elroy", so *order yours now*. 11431 -- Dave Barry, "No Surrender in the Electronics 11432 Revolution" 11433% 11434So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in 11435praise of intelligence. 11436 -- Bertrand Russell 11437% 11438... so long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those 11439who wish to tyranize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, 11440and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious 11441and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men. 11442 -- Voltarine de Cleyre 11443% 11444 So Richard and I decided to try to catch [the small shark]. 11445With a great deal of strategy and effort and shouting, we managed to 11446maneuver the shark, over the course of about a half-hour, to a sort of 11447corner of the lagoon, so that it had no way to escape other than to 11448flop up onto the land and evolve. Richard and I were inching toward 11449it, sort of crouched over, when all of a sudden it turned around and -- 11450I can still remember the sensation I felt at that moment, primarily in 11451the armpit area -- headed right straight toward us. 11452 Many people would have panicked at this point. But Richard and 11453I were not "many people." We were experienced waders, and we kept our 11454heads. We did exactly what the textbook says you should do when you're 11455unarmed and a shark that is nearly two feet long turns on you in water 11456up to your lower calves: We sprinted I would say 600 yards in the 11457opposite direction, using a sprinting style such that the bottoms of 11458our feet never once went below the surface of the water. We ran all 11459the way to the far shore, and if we had been in a Warner Brothers 11460cartoon we would have run right INTO the beach, and you would have seen 11461these two mounds of sand racing across the island until they bonked 11462into trees and coconuts fell onto their heads. 11463 -- Dave Barry, "The Wonders of Sharks on TV" 11464% 11465So she went into the garden to cut a cabbage leaf to make an apple 11466pie; and at the same time a great she-bear, coming up the street pops 11467its head into the shop. "What! no soap?" So he died, and she very 11468imprudently married the barber; and there were present the Picninnies, 11469and the Grand Panjandrum himself, with the little round button at top, 11470and they all fell to playing the game of catch as catch can, till the 11471gunpowder ran out at the heels of their boots. 11472 -- Samuel Foote 11473% 11474... So the documentary-makers stick with sharks. Generally, their 11475procedure is to scatter bleeding fish pieces around their boat, so as 11476to infest the waters. I would estimate that the primary food source of 11477sharks today is bleeding fish pieces scattered by people making 11478documentaries. Once the sharks arrive, they are generally fairly 11479listless. The general shark attitude seems to be: "Oh God, another 11480documentary." So the divers have to somehow goad them into attacking, 11481under the guise of Scientific Research. "We know very little about the 11482effect of electricity on sharks," the narrator will say, in a deeply 11483scientific voice. "That is why Todd is going to jab this Great White 11484in the testicles with a cattle prod." The divers keep this kind of 11485thing up until the shark finally gets irritated and snaps at them, and 11486then they act as though this was a totally unexpected and very 11487dangerous development, although clearly it is what they wanted all 11488along. 11489 -- Dave Barry, "The Wonders of Sharks on TV" 11490% 11491So, what's with this guy Gideon, anyway? 11492And why can't he ever remember his Bible? 11493% 11494Sodd's Second Law: 11495 Sooner or later, the worst possible set of circumstances is 11496bound to occur. 11497% 11498Software, n.: 11499 Formal evening attire for female computer analysts. 11500% 11501Some don't prefer the pursuit of happiness to the happiness of pursuit. 11502% 11503Some men are alive simply because it is against the law to kill them. 11504 -- Ed Howe 11505% 11506Some of you ... may have decided that, this year, you're going to 11507celebrate it the old-fashioned way, with your family sitting around 11508stringing cranberries and exchanging humble, handmade gifts, like on 11509"The Waltons". Well, you can forget it. If everybody pulled that kind 11510of subversive stunt, the economy would collapse overnight. The 11511government would have to intervene: it would form a cabinet-level 11512Department of Holiday Gift-Giving, which would spend billions and 11513billions of tax dollars to buy Barbie dolls and electronic games, which 11514it would drop on the populace from Air Force jets, killing and maiming 11515thousands. So, for the good of the nation, you should go along with 11516the Holiday Program. This means you should get a large sum of money 11517and go to a mall. 11518 -- Dave Barry, "Christmas Shopping: A Survivor's Guide" 11519% 11520Some people are born mediocre, some people achieve mediocrity, and some 11521people have mediocrity thrust upon them. 11522 -- Joseph Heller, "Catch-22" 11523% 11524Some people have a way about them that seems to say: "If I have only 11525one life to live, let me live it as a jerk." 11526% 11527Some people in this department wouldn't recognize subtlety if it hit 11528them on the head. 11529% 11530Some people live life in the fast lane. You're in oncoming traffic. 11531% 11532Some performers on television appear to be horrible people, but when 11533you finally get to know them in person, they turn out to be even 11534worse. 11535 -- Avery 11536% 11537Some points to remember [about animals]: 11538 11539(1) Don't go to sleep under big animals, e.g., elephants, rhinoceri, 11540 hippopotamuses; 11541(2) Don't put animals with sharp teeth or poisonous fangs down the 11542 front of your clothes; 11543(3) Don't pat certain animals, e.g., crocodiles and scorpions or dogs 11544 you have just kicked. 11545 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 11546% 11547Some primal termite knocked on wood. 11548And tasted it, and found it good. 11549And that is why your Cousin May 11550Fell through the parlor floor today. 11551 -- Ogden Nash 11552% 11553Some programming languages manage to absorb change but withstand 11554progress. 11555% 11556Some programming languages manage to absorb change, but withstand 11557progress. 11558 -- Epigrams in Programming, ACM SIGPLAN Sept. 1982 11559% 11560Somebody ought to cross ball point pens with coat hangers so that the 11561pens will multiply instead of disappear. 11562% 11563Someone will try to honk your nose today. 11564% 11565Sometimes I simply feel that the whole world is a cigarette and I'm 11566the only ashtray. 11567% 11568Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world. 11569 -- Lily Tomlin 11570% 11571"Somewhere", said Father Vittorini, "did Blake not speak of the 11572Machineries of Joy? That is, did not God promote environments, then 11573intimidate these Natures by provoking the existence of flesh, toy men 11574and women, such as are we all? And thus happily sent forth, at our 11575best, with good grace and fine wit, on calm noons, in fair climes, are 11576we not God's Machineries of Joy?" 11577 11578"If Blake said that", said Father Brian, "he never lived in Dublin." 11579 -- R. Bradbury, "The Machineries of Joy" 11580% 11581Somewhere, just out of sight, the unicorns are gathering. 11582% 11583Song Title of the Week: 11584 "They're putting dimes in the hole in my head to see the change 11585in me." 11586% 11587Sooner or later you must pay for your sins. 11588(Those who have already paid may disregard this fortune). 11589% 11590Sorry, no fortune this time. 11591% 11592Sorry. I forget what I was going to say. 11593% 11594Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- 11595bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the 11596road to the drug store, but that's just peanuts to space. 11597 -- Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" 11598% 11599Spare no expense to save money on this one. 11600 -- Samuel Goldwyn 11601% 11602Spark's Sixth Rule for Managers: 11603 If a subordinate asks you a pertinent question, look at him as 11604if he had lost his senses. When he looks down, paraphrase the question 11605back at him. 11606% 11607Speak roughly to your little boy, 11608 And beat him when he sneezes: 11609He only does it to annoy 11610 Because he knows it teases. 11611 11612 Wow! wow! wow! 11613 11614I speak severely to my boy, 11615 And beat him when he sneezes: 11616For he can thoroughly enjoy 11617 The pepper when he pleases! 11618 11619 Wow! wow! wow! 11620 -- Lewis Carroll, "Alice in Wonderland" 11621% 11622Speak roughly to your little VAX, 11623 And boot it when it crashes; 11624It knows that one cannot relax 11625 Because the paging thrashes! 11626 11627 Wow! Wow! Wow! 11628 11629I speak severely to my VAX, 11630 And boot it when it crashes; 11631In spite of all my favorite hacks 11632 My jobs it always thrashes! 11633 11634 Wow! Wow! Wow! 11635% 11636Speak softly and carry a +6 two-handed sword. 11637% 11638Speak softly and own a big, mean Doberman. 11639 -- Dave Millman 11640% 11641Speaking as someone who has delved into the intricacies of PL/I, I am 11642sure that only Real Men could have written such a machine-hogging, 11643cycle-grabbing, all-encompassing monster. Allocate an array and free 11644the middle third? Sure! Why not? Multiply a character string times a 11645bit string and assign the result to a float decimal? Go ahead! Free a 11646controlled variable procedure parameter and reallocate it before 11647passing it back? Overlay three different types of variable on the same 11648memory location? Anything you say! Write a recursive macro? Well, 11649no, but Real Men use rescan. How could a language so obviously 11650designed and written by Real Men not be intended for Real Man use? 11651% 11652Speaking of Godzilla and other things that convey horror: 11653 11654 With a purposeful grimace and a Mongo-like flair 11655 He throws the spinning disk drives in the air! 11656 And he picks up a Vax and he throws it back down 11657 As he wades through the lab making terrible sounds! 11658 Helpless users with projects due 11659 Scream "My God!" as he stomps on the tape drives, too! 11660 11661 Oh, no! He says Unix runs too slow! Go, go, DECzilla! 11662 Oh, yes! He's gonna bring up VMS! Go, go, DECzilla!" 11663 11664* VMS is a trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation 11665* DECzilla is a trademark of Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of Death, Inc. 11666 -- Curtis Jackson 11667% 11668Speaking of love, one problem that recurs more and more frequently 11669these days, in books and plays and movies, is the inability of people 11670to communicate with the people they love; Husbands and wives who can't 11671communicate, children who can't communicate with their parents, and so 11672on. And the characters in these books and plays and so on (and in real 11673life, I might add) spend hours bemoaning the fact that they can't 11674communicate. I feel that if a person can't communicate, the very _____least 11675he can do is to Shut Up! 11676 -- Tom Lehrer, "That Was the Year that Was" 11677% 11678Speed is subsittute fo accurancy. 11679% 11680Speer's 1st Law of Proofreading: 11681 The visibility of an error is inversely proportional to the 11682number of times you have looked at it. 11683% 11684Spelling is a lossed art. 11685% 11686Spend extra time on hobby. Get plenty of rolling papers. 11687% 11688Spirtle, n.: 11689 The fine stream from a grapefruit that always lands right in 11690your eye. 11691 -- Sniglets, "Rich Hall & Friends" 11692% 11693Spouse, n.: 11694 Someone who'll stand by you through all the trouble you 11695wouldn't have had if you'd stayed single. 11696% 11697Star Wars is adolescent nonsense; Close Encounters is obscurantist 11698drivel; Star Trek can turn your brains to pur'ee of bat guano; and the 11699greatest science fiction series of all time is Doctor Who! And I'll 11700take you all on, one-by-one or all in a bunch to back it up! 11701 -- Harlan Ellison 11702% 11703Stay away from flying saucers today. 11704% 11705Stay away from hurricanes for a while. 11706% 11707Stealing a rhinoceros should not be attempted lightly. 11708% 11709Steele's Plagiarism of Somebody's Philosophy: 11710 Everybody should believe in something -- I believe I'll have 11711another drink. 11712% 11713Steinbach's Guideline for Systems Programming: 11714 Never test for an error condition you don't know how to 11715handle. 11716% 11717Stop searching. Happiness is right next to you. 11718% 11719Stop searching. Happiness is right next to you. 11720Now, if they'd only take a bath ... 11721% 11722Stult's Report: 11723 Our problems are mostly behind us. What we have to do now is 11724fight the solutions. 11725% 11726Stupid, adj.: 11727 Losing $25 on the game and $25 on the instant replay. 11728% 11729Stupidity got us into this mess -- why can't it get us out? 11730% 11731Sturgeon's Law: 11732 90% of everything is crud. 11733% 11734Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very"; your 11735editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. 11736 -- Mark Twain 11737% 11738Subtlety is the art of saying what you think and getting out of the way 11739before it is understood. 11740% 11741Succumb to natural tendencies. Be hateful and boring. 11742% 11743Suddenly, Professor Liebowitz realizes he has come to the seminar 11744without his duck ... 11745% 11746(Sung to the tune of "The Impossible Dream" from MAN OF LA MANCHA) 11747 11748 To code the impossible code, 11749 To bring up a virgin machine, 11750 To pop out of endless recursion, 11751 To grok what appears on the screen, 11752 11753 To right the unrightable bug, 11754 To endlessly twiddle and thrash, 11755 To mount the unmountable magtape, 11756 To stop the unstoppable crash! 11757% 11758Support bacteria -- it's the only culture some people have! 11759% 11760Support wildlife -- vote for an orgy. 11761% 11762Support your local police force -- steal!! 11763% 11764Support your local Search and Rescue unit -- get lost. 11765% 11766Sure he's sharp as a razor ... he's a two-dimensional pinhead! 11767% 11768Surprise due today. Also the rent. 11769% 11770Surprise your boss. Get to work on time. 11771% 11772Surprise! You are the lucky winner of random I.R.S. Audit! Just type 11773in your name and social security number. Please remember that leaving 11774the room is punishable under law: 11775 11776Name # 11777 11778 11779% 11780Swahili, n.: 11781 The language used by the National Enquirer to print their retractions. 11782 -- Johnny Hart 11783% 11784Sweater, n.: 11785 A garment worn by a child when its mother feels chilly. 11786% 11787Swipple's Rule of Order: 11788 He who shouts the loudest has the floor. 11789% 11790Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semicolon. 11791 -- Epigrams in Programming, ACM SIGPLAN Sept. 1982 11792% 11793Systems have sub-systems and sub-systems have sub-systems and so on ad 11794infinitum -- which is why we're always starting over. 11795 -- Epigrams in Programming, ACM SIGPLAN Sept. 1982 11796% 11797 _ 11798 _ / \ o 11799 / \ | | o o o 11800 | | | | _ o o o o 11801 | \_| | / \ o o o 11802 \__ | | | o o 11803 | | | | ______ ~~~~ _____ 11804 | |__/ | / ___--\\ ~~~ __/_____\__ 11805 | ___/ / \--\\ \\ \ ___ <__ x x __\ 11806 | | / /\\ \\ )) \ ( " ) 11807 | | -------(---->>(@)--(@)-------\----------< >----------- 11808 | | // | | //__________ / \ ____) (___ \\ 11809 | | // __|_| ( --------- ) //// ______ /////\ \\ 11810 // | ( \ ______ / <<<< <>-----<<<<< / \\ 11811 // ( ) / / \` \__ \\ 11812 //-------------------------------------------------------------\\ 11813 11814Every now and then when your life gets complicated and the weasels 11815start closing in, the only cure is to load up on heinous chemicals and 11816then drive like a bastard from Hollywood to Las Vegas ... with the 11817music at top volume and at least a pint of ether. 11818 -- H. S. Thompson, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" 11819% 11820T: One big monster, he called TROLL. 11821 He don't rock, and he don't roll; 11822 Drink no wine, and smoke no stogies. 11823 He just Love To Eat Them Roguies. 11824 -- The Roguelet's ABC 11825% 11826Tact is the ability to tell a man he has an open mind when he has a 11827hole in his head. 11828% 11829Tact, n.: 11830 The unsaid part of what you're thinking. 11831% 11832Take everything in stride. Trample anyone who gets in your way. 11833% 11834Take heart amid the deepening gloom that your dog is finally getting 11835enough cheese. 11836 -- National Lampoon, "Deteriorata" 11837% 11838Take it easy, we're in a hurry. 11839% 11840Take my word for it, the silliest woman can manage a clever man, but it 11841needs a very clever woman to manage a fool. 11842 -- Kipling 11843% 11844Take the folks at Coca-Cola. For many years, they were content to sit 11845back and make the same old carbonated beverage. It was a good 11846beverage, no question about it; generations of people had grown up 11847drinking it and doing the experiment in sixth grade where you put a 11848nail into a glass of Coke and after a couple of days the nail dissolves 11849and the teacher says: "Imagine what it does to your TEETH!" So 11850Coca-Cola was solidly entrenched in the market, and the management saw 11851no need to improve ... 11852 -- Dave Barry, "In Search of Excellence" 11853% 11854Take your dying with some seriousness, however. Laughing on the way to 11855your execution is not generally understood by less advanced life forms, 11856and they'll call you crazy. 11857 -- "Messiah's Handbook: Reminders for the Advanced Soul" 11858% 11859Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish. 11860 -- Euripides 11861% 11862Talkers are no good doers. 11863 -- William Shakespeare, "Henry VI" 11864% 11865Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself. 11866 -- Friedrich Nietzsche 11867% 11868TAURUS (Apr 20 - May 20) 11869 You are practical and persistent. You have a dogged 11870 determination and work like hell. Most people think you are 11871 stubborn and bull headed. You are a Communist. 11872% 11873Tax reform means "Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that fellow behind 11874the tree." 11875 -- Russell Long 11876% 11877Taxes are going up so fast, the government is likely to price itself 11878out of the market. 11879% 11880Taxes, n.: 11881 Of life's two certainties, the only one for which you can get 11882an extension. 11883% 11884Teach children to be polite and courteous in the home, and, when they 11885grows up, they will never be able to edge their car onto a freeway. 11886% 11887Teamwork is essential -- it allows you to blame someone else. 11888% 11889Technological progress has merely provided us 11890with more efficient means for going backwards. 11891 -- Aldous Huxley 11892% 11893Telephone, n.: 11894 An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the 11895advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance. 11896 -- Ambrose Bierce 11897% 11898Tell me, O Octopus, I begs, 11899Is those things arms, or is they legs? 11900I marvel at thee, Octopus; 11901If I were thou, I'd call me us. 11902 -- Ogden Nash 11903% 11904Ten years of rejection slips is nature's way of telling you to stop 11905writing. 11906 -- R. Geis 11907% 11908Terence, this is stupid stuff: 11909You eat your victuals fast enough; 11910There can't be much amiss, 'tis clear, 11911To see the rate you drink your beer. 11912But oh, good Lord, the verse you make, 11913It gives a chap the belly-ache. 11914The cow, the old cow, she is dead; 11915It sleeps well the horned head: 11916We poor lads, 'tis our turn now 11917To hear such tunes as killed the cow. 11918Pretty friendship 'tis to rhyme 11919Your friends to death before their time. 11920Moping, melancholy mad: 11921Come, pipe a tune to dance to, lad. 11922 -- A. E. Housman 11923% 11924Termiter's argument that God is His own grandmother generated a 11925surprising amount of controversy among Church leaders, who on the one 11926hand considered the argument unsupported by scripture but on the other 11927hand were unwilling to risk offending God's grandmother. 11928 -- Len Cool, "American Pie" 11929% 11930Tertullian was born in Carthage somewhere about 160 A.D. He was a 11931pagan, and he abandoned himself to the lascivious life of his city 11932until about his 35th year, when he became a Christian .... To him is 11933ascribed the sublime confession: Credo quia absurdum est (I believe 11934because it is absurd). This does not altogether accord with historical 11935fact, for he merely said: 11936 11937 "And the Son of God died, which is immediately credible because 11938 it is absurd. And buried he rose again, which is certain 11939 because it is impossible." 11940 11941Thanks to the acuteness of his mind, he saw through the poverty of 11942philosophical and Gnostic knowledge, and contemptuously rejected it. 11943 -- C. G. Jung, in Psychological Types 11944 11945(Tertullian was one of the founders of the Catholic Church). 11946% 11947Test-tube babies shouldn't throw stones. 11948% 11949Texas law forbids anyone to have a pair of pliers in his possession. 11950% 11951Text processing has made it possible to right-justify any idea, even 11952one which cannot be justified on any other grounds. 11953 -- J. Finnegan, USC. 11954% 11955Thank goodness modern convenience is a thing of the remote future. 11956 -- Pogo, by Walt Kelly 11957% 11958That boy's about as sharp as a pound of wet liver. 11959 -- Foghorn Leghorn 11960% 11961That must be wonderful! I don't understand it at all. 11962 -- Moliere 11963% 11964That secret you've been guarding, isn't. 11965% 11966That woman speaks eight languages and can't say "no" in any of them. 11967 -- Dorothy Parker 11968% 11969The 80's -- when you can't tell hairstyles from chemotherapy. 11970% 11971The [Ford Foundation] is a large body of money completely surrounded by 11972people who want some. 11973 -- Dwight MacDonald 11974% 11975The Abrams' Principle: 11976 The shortest distance between two points is off the wall. 11977% 11978The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper 11979 -- Thomas Jefferson 11980% 11981The Advertising Agency Song: 11982 11983 When your client's hopping mad, 11984 Put his picture in the ad. 11985 If he still should prove refractory, 11986 Add a picture of his factory. 11987% 11988The algorithm to do that is extremely nasty. You might want to mug 11989someone with it. 11990 -- M. Devine, Computer Science 340 11991% 11992... The Anarchists' [national] anthem is an international anthem that 11993consists of 365 raspberries blown in very quick succession to the tune 11994of "Camptown Races". Nobody has to stand up for it, nobody has to 11995listen to it, and, even better, nobody has to play it. 11996 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 11997% 11998The Arkansas legislature passed a law that states that the Arkansas 11999River can rise no higher than to the Main Street bridge in Little 12000Rock. 12001% 12002The Army has carried the American ... ideal to its logical conclusion. 12003Not only do they prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race, creed 12004and color, but also on ability. 12005 -- T. Lehrer 12006% 12007The Army needs leaders the way a foot needs a big toe. 12008 -- Bill Murray 12009% 12010The assertion that "all men are created equal" was of no practical use 12011in effecting our separation from Great Britain and it was placed in the 12012Declaration not for that, but for future use. 12013 -- Abraham Lincoln 12014% 12015The average income of the modern teenager is about 2 a.m. 12016% 12017The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the 12018average man can see better than he can think. 12019% 12020The bad reputation UNIX has gotten is totally undeserved, laid on by 12021people who don't understand, who have not gotten in there and tried 12022anything. 12023 -- Jim Joyce, owner of Jim Joyce's UNIX Bookstore 12024% 12025The basic idea behind malls is that they are more convenient than 12026cities. Cities contain streets, which are dangerous and crowded and 12027difficult to park in. Malls, on the other hand, have parking lots, 12028which are also dangerous and crowded and difficult to park in, but -- 12029here is the big difference -- in mall parking lots, THERE ARE NO 12030RULES. You're allowed to do anything. You can drive as fast as you 12031want in any direction you want. I was once driving in a mall parking 12032lot when my car was struck by a pickup truck being driven backward by a 12033squat man with a tattoo that said "Charlie" on his forearm, who got out 12034and explained to me, in great detail, why the accident was my fault, 12035his reasoning being that he was violent and muscular, whereas I was 12036neither. This kind of reasoning is legally valid in mall parking 12037lots. 12038 -- Dave Barry, "Christmas Shopping: A Survivor's Guide" 12039% 12040The basic menu item, in fact the ONLY menu item, would be a food unit 12041called the "patty," consisting of -- this would be guaranteed in 12042writing -- "100 percent animal matter of some kind." All patties would 12043be heated up and then cooled back down in electronic devices 12044immediately before serving. The Breakfast Patty would be a patty on a 12045bun with lettuce, tomato, onion, egg, Ba-Ko-Bits, Cheez Whiz, a Special 12046Sauce made by pouring ketchup out of a bottle and a little slip of 12047paper stating: "Inspected by Number 12". The Lunch or Dinner Patty 12048would be any Breakfast Patties that didn't get sold in the morning. 12049The Seafood Lover's Patty would be any patties that were starting to 12050emit a serious aroma. Patties that were too rank even to be Seafood 12051Lover's Patties would be compressed into wads and sold as "Nuggets." 12052 -- Dave Barry, "'Mister Mediocre' Restaurants" 12053% 12054The best book on programming for the layman is "Alice in Wonderland"; 12055but that's because it's the best book on anything for the layman. 12056% 12057The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep. 12058 -- W. C. Fields 12059% 12060The best defense against logic is ignorance. 12061% 12062The best thing about growing older is that it takes such a long time. 12063% 12064"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and 12065blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. 12066You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at 12067night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only 12068love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or 12069know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only 12070one thing for it then -- to learn. Learn why the world wags and what 12071wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, 12072never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never 12073dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a 12074lot of things there are to learn." 12075 -- T.H. White, "The Once and Future King" 12076% 12077The best way to make a fire with two sticks is to make sure one of them 12078is a match. 12079 -- Will Rogers 12080% 12081The bigger the theory the better. 12082% 12083The biggest difference between time and space is that you can't reuse 12084time. 12085 -- Merrick Furst 12086% 12087The birds are singing, the flowers are budding, and it is time for Miss 12088Manners to tell young lovers to stop necking in public. 12089 12090It's not that Miss Manners is immune to romance. Miss Manners has been 12091known to squeeze a gentleman's arm while being helped over a curb, and, 12092in her wild youth, even to press a dainty slipper against a foot or two 12093under the dinner table. Miss Manners also believes that the sight of 12094people strolling hand in hand or arm in arm or arm in hand dresses up a 12095city considerably more than the more familiar sight of people shaking 12096umbrellas at one another. What Miss Manners objects to is the kind of 12097activity that frightens the horses on the street ... 12098% 12099The bland leadeth the bland and they both shall fall into the kitsch. 12100% 12101The bogosity meter just pegged. 12102% 12103The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up 12104in the morning, and does not stop until you get to school. 12105% 12106The Briggs/Chase Law of Program Development: 12107 To determine how long it will take to write and debug a 12108program, take your best estimate, multiply that by two, add one, and 12109convert to the next higher units. 12110% 12111The buffalo isn't as dangerous as everyone makes him out to be. 12112Statistics prove that in the United States more Americans are killed in 12113automobile accidents than are killed by buffalo. 12114 -- Art Buchwald 12115% 12116The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of an expanding 12117bureaucracy. 12118% 12119The C Programming Language -- A language which combines the 12120flexibility and power of assembly language with the readability 12121of assembly language. 12122% 12123The camel has a single hump; 12124The dromedary two; 12125Or else the other way around. 12126I'm never sure. Are you? 12127 -- Ogden Nash 12128% 12129The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly 12130greater than that of any other animals. Some of their most esteemed 12131inventions have no other apparent purpose, for example, the dinner 12132party of more than two, the epic poem, and the science of metaphysics. 12133 -- H. L. Mencken 12134% 12135The chain which can be yanked is not the eternal chain. 12136 -- G. Fitch 12137% 12138The chicken that clucks the loudest is the one most likely to show up 12139at the steam fitters' picnic. 12140% 12141The chief cause of problems is solutions. 12142 -- Eric Sevareid 12143% 12144The chief danger in life is that you may take too may precautions. 12145 -- Alfred Adler 12146% 12147The church is near but the road is icy; the bar is far away but I will 12148walk carefully. 12149 -- Russian Proverb 12150% 12151The climate of Bombay is such that its inhabitants have to live elsewhere. 12152% 12153The Computer made me do it. 12154% 12155The computing field is always in need of new cliches. 12156 -- Alan Perlis 12157% 12158The confusion of a staff member is measured by the length of his 12159memos. 12160 -- New York Times, Jan. 20, 1981 12161% 12162The conservation movement is a breeding ground of Communists and other 12163subversives. We intend to clean them out, even if it means rounding up 12164every bird watcher in the country. 12165 -- John Mitchell, Atty. General 1969-1972 12166% 12167The Consultant's Curse: 12168 When the customer has beaten upon you long enough, give him 12169what he asks for, instead of what he needs. This is very strong 12170medicine, and is normally only required once. 12171% 12172The correct way to punctuate a sentence that starts: "Of course it is 12173none of my business, but --" is to place a period after the word "but." 12174Don't use excessive force in supplying such a moron with a period. 12175Cutting his throat is only a momentary pleasure and is bound to get you 12176talked about. 12177 -- Lazarus Long, "Time Enough for Love" 12178% 12179The cost of living hasn't affected its popularity. 12180% 12181The cost of living is going up, and the chance of living is going down. 12182% 12183The cow is nothing but a machine which makes grass fit for us people to 12184eat. 12185 -- John McNulty 12186% 12187The Crown is full of it! 12188 -- Nate Harris, 1775 12189% 12190The cry has been that when war is declared, all opposition should 12191therefore be hushed. A sentiment more unworthy of a free country could 12192hardly be propagated. If the doctrine be admitted, rulers have only to 12193declare war and they are screened at once from scrutiny ... In war, 12194then, as in peace, assert the freedom of speech and of the press. 12195Cling to this as the bulwark of all our rights and privileges. 12196 -- William Ellery Channing 12197% 12198The day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life. 12199% 12200The day-to-day travails of the IBM programmer are so amusing to most of 12201us who are fortunate enough never to have been one -- like watching 12202Charlie Chaplin trying to cook a shoe. 12203% 12204The debate rages on: Is PL/I Bachtrian or Dromedary? 12205% 12206The devil finds work for idle circuits to do. 12207% 12208The difference between a misfortune and a calamity? If Gladstone fell 12209into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone dragged him 12210out again, it would be a calamity. 12211 -- Benjamin Disraeli 12212% 12213The difference between science and the fuzzy subjects is that science 12214requires reasoning while those other subjects merely require scholarship. 12215 -- Robert Heinlein 12216% 12217The distinction between Jewish and goyish can be quite subtle, as the 12218following quote from Lenny Bruce illustrates: 12219 12220 "I'm Jewish. Count Basie's Jewish. Ray Charles is Jewish. 12221Eddie Cantor's goyish. The B'nai Brith is goyish. The Hadassah is 12222Jewish. Marine Corps -- heavy goyish, dangerous. 12223 "Kool-Aid is goyish. All Drake's Cakes are goyish. 12224Pumpernickel is Jewish and, as you know, white bread is very goyish. 12225Instant potatoes -- goyish. Black cherry soda's very Jewish. 12226Macaroons are ____very Jewish. Fruit salad is Jewish. Lime Jell-O is 12227goyish. Lime soda is ____very goyish. Trailer parks are so goyish that 12228Jews won't go near them ..." 12229 -- Arthur Naiman, "Every Goy's Guide to Yiddish" 12230% 12231The District of Columbia has a law forbidding you to exert pressure on 12232a balloon and thereby cause a whistling sound on the streets. 12233% 12234The doctrine of human equality reposes on this: that there is no man 12235really clever who has not found that he is stupid. 12236 -- Gilbert K. Chesterson 12237% 12238The duck hunter trained his retriever to walk on water. Eager to show 12239off this amazing accomplishment, he asked a friend to go along on his 12240next hunting trip. Saying nothing, he fired his first shot and, as the 12241duck fell, the dog walked on the surface of the water, retrieved the 12242duck and returned it to his master. 12243 "Notice anything?" the owner asked eagerly. 12244 "Yes," said his friend, "I see that fool dog of yours can't swim." 12245% 12246The early bird who catches the worm works for someone who comes in late 12247and owns the worm farm. 12248 -- Travis McGee 12249% 12250The earth is like a tiny grain of sand, only much, much heavier. 12251% 12252The easiest way to figure the cost of living is to take your income and 12253add ten percent. 12254% 12255The economy depends about as much on economists as the weather does on 12256weather forecasters. 12257 -- Jean-Paul Kauffmann 12258% 12259The eleventh commandment was `Thou Shalt Compute' or `Thou Shalt Not 12260Compute' -- I forget which. 12261 -- Epigrams in Programming, ACM SIGPLAN Sept. 1982 12262% 12263The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of 12264civilization. 12265 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson 12266% 12267The end of the world will occur at 3:00 p.m., this Friday, with 12268symposium to follow. 12269% 12270The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach 12271their children to speak it. 12272 -- G. B. Shaw 12273% 12274The fact that boys are allowed to exist at all is evidence of a 12275remarkable Christian forbearance among men. 12276 -- Ambrose Bierce 12277% 12278The fact that it works is immaterial. 12279 -- L. Ogborn 12280% 12281The faster we go, the rounder we get. 12282 -- The Grateful Dead 12283% 12284The Fifth Rule: 12285 You have taken yourself too seriously. 12286% 12287The first duty of a revolutionary is to get away with it. 12288 -- Abbie Hoffman 12289% 12290The first Great Steward, Parrafin the Climber, was employed in King 12291Chloroplast's kitchen as second scullery boy when the old King met a 12292tragic death. He apparently fell backward by accident on a dozen salad 12293forks. Simultaneously the true heir, his son Carotene, mysteriously 12294fled the city, complaining of some sort of plot and a lot of 12295threatening notes left on his breakfast tray. At the time, this looked 12296suspicious what with his father's death, and Carotene was suspected of 12297foul play. Then the rest of the King's relatives began to drop dead 12298one after the other in an odd fashion. Some were found strangled with 12299dishrags and some succumbed to food poisoning. A few were found 12300drowned in the soup vats, and one was attacked by assailants unknown 12301and beaten to death with a pot roast. At least three appear to have 12302thrown themselves backward on salad forks, perhaps in a noble gesture 12303of grief over the King's untimely end. Finally there was no one left 12304in Minas Troney who was either eligible or willing to wear the accursed 12305crown, and the rule of Twodor was up for grabs. The scullery slave 12306Parrafin bravely accepted the Stewardship of Twodor until that day when 12307a lineal descendant of Carotene's returns to reclaim his rightful 12308throne, conquer Twodor's enemies, and revamp the postal system. 12309 -- Harvard Lampoon, "Bored of the Rings" 12310% 12311The first myth of management is that it exists. The second myth of 12312management is that success equals skill. 12313 -- Robert Heller 12314% 12315The first riddle I ever heard, one familiar to almost every Jewish 12316child, was propounded to me by my father: 12317 "What is it that hangs on the wall, is green, wet -- and 12318whistles?" 12319 I knit my brow and thought and thought, and in final perplexity 12320gave up. 12321 "A herring," said my father. 12322 "A herring," I echoed. "A herring doesn't hang on the wall!" 12323 "So hang it there." 12324 "But a herring isn't green!" I protested. 12325 "Paint it." 12326 "But a herring isn't wet." 12327 "If it's just painted it's still wet." 12328 "But -- " I sputtered, summoning all my outrage, "-- a herring 12329doesn't whistle!!" 12330 "Right, " smiled my father. "I just put that in to make it 12331hard." 12332 -- Leo Rosten, "The Joys of Yiddish" 12333% 12334The first rule of magic is simple. Don't waste your time waving your 12335hands and hoping when a rock or a club will do. 12336 -- McCloctnik the Lucid 12337% 12338The First Rule of Program Optimization: 12339 Don't do it. 12340 12341The Second Rule of Program Optimization (for experts only!): 12342 Don't do it yet. 12343 -- Michael Jackson 12344% 12345The first time, it's a KLUDGE! 12346The second, a trick. 12347Later, it's a well-established technique! 12348 -- Mike Broido, Intermetrics 12349% 12350The following quote is from page 4-27 of the MSCP Basic Disk Functions 12351Manual which is part of the UDA50 Programmers Doc Kit manuals: 12352 12353As stated above, the host area of a disk is structured as a vector of 12354logical blocks. From a performance viewpoint, however, it is more 12355appropriate to view the host area as a four dimensional hyper-cube, the 12356four dimensions being cylinder, group, track, and sector. 12357 . . . 12358Referring to our hyper-cube analogy, the set of potentially accessible 12359blocks form a line parallel to the track axis. This line moves 12360parallel to the sector axis, wrapping around when it reaches the edge 12361of the hyper-cube. 12362% 12363The fortune program is supported, in part, by user contributions and by 12364a major grant from the National Endowment for the Inanities. 12365% 12366The four building blocks of the universe are fire, water, gravel and vinyl. 12367 -- Dave Barry 12368% 12369The full impact of parenthood doesn't hit you until you multiply the 12370number of your kids by 32 teeth. 12371% 12372The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to 12373chance. 12374% 12375The gentlemen looked one another over with microscopic carelessness. 12376% 12377The geographical center of Boston is in Roxbury. Due north of the 12378center we find the South End. This is not to be confused with South 12379Boston which lies directly east from the South End. North of the South 12380End is East Boston and southwest of East Boston is the North End. 12381% 12382The giraffe you thought you offended last week is willing to be nuzzled 12383today. 12384% 12385The goal of Computer Science is to build something that will last at 12386least until we've finished building it. 12387% 12388The goal of science is to build better mousetraps. 12389The goal of nature is to build better mice. 12390% 12391The gods gave man fire and he invented fire engines. They gave him 12392love and he invented marriage. 12393% 12394THE GOLDEN RULE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES 12395 The one who has the gold makes the rules. 12396% 12397The good Christian should beware of mathematicians and all those who 12398make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that mathematicians 12399have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and confine 12400man in the bonds of Hell. 12401 -- St. Augustine 12402% 12403The good die young -- because they see it's no use living if you've got 12404to be good. 12405% 12406 "The Good Ship Enterprise" (to the tune of "The Good Ship Lollipop") 12407 12408On the good ship Enterprise 12409Every week there's a new surprise 12410Where the Romulans lurk 12411And the Klingons often go berserk. 12412 12413Yes, the good ship Enterprise 12414There's excitement anywhere it flies 12415Where Tribbles play 12416And Nurse Chapel never gets her way. 12417 12418 See Captain Kirk standing on the bridge, 12419 Mr. Spock is at his side. 12420 The weekly menace, ooh-ooh 12421 It gets fried, scattered far and wide. 12422 12423It's the good ship Enterprise 12424Heading out where danger lies 12425And you live in dread 12426If you're wearing a shirt that's red. 12427 -- Doris Robin and Karen Trimble of The L.A. Filkharmonics 12428% 12429The government [is] extremely fond of amassing great quantities of 12430statistics. These are raised to the _nth degree, the cube roots are 12431extracted, and the results are arranged into elaborate and impressive 12432displays. What must be kept ever in mind, however, is that in every 12433case, the figures are first put down by a village watchman, and he puts 12434down anything he damn well pleases. 12435 -- Sir Josiah Stamp 12436% 12437The grand leap of the whale up the Fall of Niagara is esteemed, by all 12438who have seen it, as one of the finest spectacles in nature. 12439 -- Benjamin Franklin 12440% 12441The Great Bald Swamp Hedgehog: 12442 The Great Bald Swamp Hedgehog of Billericay displays, in 12443courtship, his single prickle and does impressions of Holiday Inn desk 12444clerks. Since this means him standing motionless for enormous periods 12445of time he is often eaten in full display by The Great Bald Swamp 12446Hedgehog Eater. 12447 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 12448% 12449The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men 12450of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding. 12451 -- Justice Louis D. Brandeis 12452% 12453The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax. 12454 -- Albert Einstein 12455% 12456The hearing ear is always found close to the speaking tongue, a 12457custom whereof the memory of man runneth not howsomever to the 12458contrary, nohow. 12459% 12460The Heineken Uncertainty Principle: 12461 You can never be sure how many beers you had last night. 12462% 12463The herd instinct among economists makes sheep look like independent 12464thinkers. 12465% 12466The hieroglyphics are all unreadable except for a notation on the back, 12467which reads "Genuine authentic Egyptian papyrus. Guaranteed to be at 12468least 5000 years old." 12469% 12470The human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for 12471lists of "Ten Best". 12472 -- H. Allen Smith 12473% 12474The human brain is like an enormous fish -- it is flat and slimy and 12475has gills through which it can see. 12476 -- Monty Python 12477% 12478The human mind ordinarily operates at only ten percent of its 12479capacity -- the rest is overhead for the operating system. 12480% 12481The human mind treats a new idea the way the body treats a strange 12482protein -- it rejects it. 12483 -- P. Medawar 12484% 12485The human race has been fascinated by sharks for as long as I can 12486remember. Just like the bluebird feeding its young, or the spider 12487struggling to weave its perfect web, or the buttercup blooming in 12488spring, the shark reveals to us yet another of the infinite and 12489wonderful facets of nature, namely the facet that it can bite your head 12490off. This causes us humans to feel a certain degree of awe. 12491 -- Dave Barry, "The Wonders of Sharks on TV" 12492% 12493The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter. 12494 -- Mark Twain 12495% 12496The human race is a race of cowards; and I am not only marching in that 12497procession but carrying a banner. 12498 -- Mark Twain 12499% 12500The idea is to die young as late as possible. 12501 -- Ashley Montague 12502% 12503The idea there was that consumers would bring their broken electronic 12504devices, such as television sets and VCR's, to the destruction centers, 12505where trained personnel would whack them (the devices) with 12506sledgehammers. With their devices thus permanently destroyed, 12507consumers would then be free to go out and buy new devices, rather than 12508have to fritter away years of their lives trying to have the old ones 12509repaired at so-called "factory service centers," which in fact consist 12510of two men named Lester poking at the insides of broken electronic 12511devices with cheap cigars and going, "Lookit all them WIRES in there!" 12512 -- Dave Barry, "'Mister Mediocre' Restaurants" 12513% 12514The identical is equal to itself, since it is different. 12515 -- Franco Spisani 12516% 12517The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a bit longer. 12518 -- Henry Kissinger 12519% 12520The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf 12521has. Even when you make a tax form out on the level, you don't know 12522when it's through if you are a crook or a martyr. 12523 -- Will Rogers 12524% 12525The individual choice of garnishment of a burger can be an important 12526point to the consumer in this day when individualism is an increasingly 12527important thing to people. 12528 -- Donald N. Smith, president of Burger King 12529% 12530The intelligence of any discussion diminishes with the square of the 12531number of participants. 12532 -- Adam Walinsky 12533% 12534The IQ of the group is the lowest IQ of a member of the group divided 12535by the number of people in the group. 12536% 12537The IRS spends God knows how much of your tax money on these toll-free 12538information hot lines staffed by IRS employees, whose idea of a 12539dynamite tax tip is that you should print neatly. If you ask them a 12540real tax question, such as how you can cheat, they're useless. 12541 12542So, for guidance, you want to look to big business. Big business never 12543pays a nickel in taxes, according to Ralph Nader, who represents a big 12544consumer organization that never pays a nickel in taxes... 12545 -- Dave Barry, "Sweating Out Taxes" 12546% 12547The Kennedy Constant: 12548 Don't get mad -- get even. 12549% 12550The Killer Ducks are coming!!! 12551% 12552The ladies men admire, I've heard, 12553Would shudder at a wicked word. 12554Their candle gives a single light; 12555They'd rather stay at home at night. 12556They do not keep awake till three, 12557Nor read erotic poetry. 12558They never sanction the impure, 12559Nor recognize an overture. 12560They shrink from powders and from paints ... 12561So far, I've had no complaints. 12562 -- Dorothy Parker 12563% 12564The last time somebody said, "I find I can write much better with a 12565word processor," I replied, "They used to say the same thing about 12566drugs." 12567 -- Roy Blount, Jr. 12568% 12569The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the 12570law free. 12571 -- Henry David Thoreau 12572% 12573The Law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich, as well as the 12574poor, to sleep under the bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal 12575bread. 12576 -- Anatole France 12577% 12578The lawgiver, of all beings, most owes the law allegiance. He of all 12579men should behave as though the law compelled him. But it is the 12580universal weakness of mankind that what we are given to administer we 12581presently imagine we own. 12582 -- H. G. Wells 12583% 12584 THE LESSER-KNOWN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES #10: SIMPLE 12585 12586SIMPLE is an acronym for Sheer Idiot's Monopurpose Programming Language 12587Environment. This language, developed at the Hanover College for 12588Technological Misfits, was designed to make it impossible to write code 12589with errors in it. The statements are, therefore, confined to BEGIN, 12590END and STOP. No matter how you arrange the statements, you can't make 12591a syntax error. Programs written in SIMPLE do nothing useful. Thus 12592they achieve the results of programs written in other languages without 12593the tedious, frustrating process of testing and debugging. 12594% 12595 THE LESSER-KNOWN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES #12: LITHP 12596 12597This otherwise unremarkable language is distinguished by the absence of 12598an "S" in its character set; users must substitute "TH". LITHP is said 12599to be useful in protheththing lithtth. 12600% 12601 THE LESSER-KNOWN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES #13: SLOBOL 12602 12603SLOBOL is best known for the speed, or lack of it, of its compiler. 12604Although many compilers allow you to take a coffee break while they 12605compile, SLOBOL compilers allow you to travel to Bolivia to pick the 12606coffee. Forty-three programmers are known to have died of boredom 12607sitting at their terminals while waiting for a SLOBOL program to 12608compile. Weary SLOBOL programmers often turn to a related (but 12609infinitely faster) language, COCAINE. 12610% 12611 THE LESSER-KNOWN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES #17: SARTRE 12612 12613Named after the late existential philosopher, SARTRE is an extremely 12614unstructured language. Statements in SARTRE have no purpose; they just 12615are. Thus SARTRE programs are left to define their own functions. 12616SARTRE programmers tend to be boring and depressed, and are no fun at 12617parties. 12618% 12619 THE LESSER-KNOWN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES #18: C- 12620 12621This language was named for the grade received by its creator when he 12622submitted it as a class project in a graduate programming class. C- is 12623best described as a "low-level" programming language. In fact, the 12624language generally requires more C- statements than machine-code 12625statements to execute a given task. In this respect, it is very 12626similar to COBOL. 12627% 12628 THE LESSER-KNOWN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES #18a: FIFTH 12629 12630FIFTH is a precision mathematical language in which the data types 12631refer to quantity. The data types range from CC, OUNCE, SHOT, and 12632JIGGER to FIFTH (hence the name of the language), LITER, MAGNUM and 12633BLOTTO. Commands refer to ingredients such as CHABLIS, CHARDONNAY, 12634CABERNET, GIN, VERMOUTH, VODKA, SCOTCH, and WHATEVERSAROUND. 12635 12636The many versions of the FIFTH language reflect the sophistication and 12637financial status of its users. Commands in the ELITE dialect include 12638VSOP and LAFITE, while commands in the GUTTER dialect include HOOTCH 12639and RIPPLE. The latter is a favorite of frustrated FORTH programmers 12640who end up using this language. 12641% 12642 THE LESSER-KNOWN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES #2: RENE 12643 12644Named after the famous French philosopher and mathematician Rene 12645Descartes, RENE is a language used for artificial intelligence. The 12646language is being developed at the Chicago Center of Machine Politics 12647and Programming under a grant from the Jane Byrne Victory Fund. A 12648spokesman described the language as "Just as great as dis [sic] city of 12649ours." 12650 12651The center is very pleased with progress to date. They say they have 12652almost succeeded in getting a VAX to think. However, sources inside the 12653organization say that each time the machine fails to think it ceases to 12654exist. 12655% 12656 THE LESSER-KNOWN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES #5: VALGOL 12657From its modest beginnings in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, 12658VALGOL is enjoying a dramatic surge of popularity across the industry. 12659 12660Here is a sample program: 12661 LIKE, Y*KNOW(I MEAN)START 12662 IF PIZZA = LIKE BITCHEN AND GUY = LIKE TUBULAR AND 12663 VALLEY GIRL = LIKE GRODY**MAX(FERSURE)**2 THEN 12664 FOR I = LIKE 1 TO OH*MAYBE 100 12665 DO*WAH - (DITTY**2) 12666 BARF(I)=TOTALLY GROSS(OUT) 12667 SURE 12668 LIKE BAG THIS PROGRAM 12669 REALLY 12670 LIKE TOTALLY (Y*KNOW) 12671 IM*SURE 12672 GOTO THE MALL 12673 12674When the user makes a syntax error, the interpreter displays the message: 12675 12676 GAG ME WITH A SPOON!! 12677% 12678 THE LESSER-KNOWN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES #8: LAIDBACK 12679 12680This language was developed at the Marin County Center for T'ai Chi, 12681Mellowness and Computer Programming (now defunct), as an alternative to 12682the more intense atmosphere in nearby Silicon Valley. 12683 12684The center was ideal for programmers who liked to soak in hot tubs 12685while they worked. Unfortunately few programmers could survive there 12686because the center outlawed Pizza and Coca-Cola in favor of Tofu and 12687Perrier. 12688 12689Many mourn the demise of LAIDBACK because of its reputation as a gentle 12690and non-threatening language since all error messages are in lower 12691case. For example, LAIDBACK responded to syntax errors with the 12692message: 12693 "i hate to bother you, but i just can't relate to that. can 12694 you find the time to try it again?" 12695% 12696The light at the end of the tunnel is the headlight of an approaching 12697train. 12698% 12699The light at the end of the tunnel may be an oncoming dragon. 12700% 12701The lion and the calf shall lie down together but the calf won't get 12702much sleep. 12703 -- Woody Allen 12704% 12705The longer I am out of office, the more infallible I appear to myself. 12706 -- Henry Kissinger 12707% 12708The Lord gave us farmers two strong hands so we could grab as much as 12709we could with both of them. 12710 -- Joseph Heller, "Catch-22" 12711% 12712The makers may make 12713And the users may use, 12714But the fixers must fix 12715With but minimal clues 12716% 12717The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the 12718crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no 12719one has ever been. 12720 -- Alan Ashley-Pitt 12721% 12722The man who sets out to carry a cat by its tail learns something that 12723will always be useful and which never will grow dim or doubtful. 12724 -- Mark Twain 12725% 12726The marvels of today's modern technology include the development of a 12727soda can, when discarded will last forever ... and a $7,000 car which 12728when properly cared for will rust out in two or three years. 12729% 12730... the Mayo Clinic, named after its founder, Dr. Ted Clinic ... 12731 -- Dave Barry 12732% 12733The meek shall inherit the earth -- they are too weak to refuse. 12734% 12735 The men sat sipping their tea in silence. After a while the 12736klutz said, "Life is like a bowl of sour cream." 12737 12738 "Like a bowl of sour cream?" asked the other. "Why?" 12739 12740 "How should I know? What am I, a philosopher?" 12741% 12742The meta-Turing test counts a thing as intelligent if it seeks to 12743devise and apply Turing tests to objects of its own creation. 12744 -- Lew Mammel, Jr. 12745% 12746The misnaming of fields of study is so common as to lead to what might 12747be general systems laws. For example, Frank Harary once suggested the 12748law that any field that had the word "science" in its name was 12749guaranteed thereby not to be a science. He would cite as examples 12750Military Science, Library Science, Political Science, Homemaking 12751Science, Social Science, and Computer Science. Discuss the generality 12752of this law, and possible reasons for its predictive 12753power. 12754 -- Gerald Weinberg, "An Introduction to General Systems 12755 Thinking." 12756% 12757The modern child will answer you back before you've said anything. 12758 -- Laurence J. Peter 12759% 12760The mome rath isn't born that could outgrabe me. 12761 -- Nicol Williamson 12762% 12763The moon is a planet just like the Earth, only it is even deader. 12764% 12765The moon may be smaller than Earth, but it's further away. 12766% 12767The more data I punch in this card, the lighter it becomes, and the 12768lower the mailing cost. 12769 -- Stan Kelly-Bootle, "The Devil's DP Dictionary" 12770% 12771The more laws and order are made prominent, 12772the more thieves and robbers there will be. 12773 -- Lao Tsu 12774% 12775The more things change, the more they stay insane. 12776% 12777The more we disagree, the more chance there is that at least one of us 12778is right. 12779% 12780The mosquito is the state bird of New Jersey. 12781 -- Andy Warhol 12782% 12783The most difficult thing in the world is to know how to do a thing and 12784to watch someone else do it wrong without comment. 12785 -- Theodore H. White 12786% 12787The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new 12788discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but "That's funny ..." 12789 -- Isaac Asimov 12790% 12791The moving cursor writes, and having written, blinks on. 12792% 12793... the MYSTERIANS are in here with my CORDUROY SOAP DISH!! 12794% 12795 "... The name of the song is called 'Haddocks' Eyes'!" 12796 "Oh, that's the name of the song, is it?" Alice said, trying to 12797feel interested. 12798 "No, you don't understand," the Knight said, looking a little 12799vexed. "That's what the name is called. The name really is, 'The Aged 12800Aged Man.'" 12801 "Then I ought to have said "That's what the song is called'?" 12802Alice corrected herself. 12803 "No, you oughtn't: that's quite another thing! The song is 12804called 'Ways and Means': but that's only what it is called you know!" 12805 "Well, what is the song then?" said Alice, who was by this time 12806completely bewildered. 12807 "I was coming to that," the Knight said. "The song really is 12808"A-sitting on a Gate": and the tune's my own invention." 12809 -- Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass" 12810% 12811The National Association of Theater Concessionaires reported that in 128121986, 60% of all candy sold in movie theaters was sold to Roger Ebert. 12813 -- D. Letterman 12814% 12815The National Short-Sleeved Shirt Association says: 12816 Support your right to bare arms! 12817% 12818The net of law is spread so wide, 12819No sinner from its sweep may hide. 12820Its meshes are so fine and strong, 12821They take in every child of wrong. 12822O wondrous web of mystery! 12823Big fish alone escape from thee! 12824 -- James Jeffrey Roche 12825% 12826The new Congressmen say they're going to turn the government around. I 12827hope I don't get run over again. 12828% 12829The New Testament offers the basis for modern computer coding theory, 12830in the form of an affirmation of the binary number system. 12831 12832 But let your communication be Yea, yea; nay, nay: for 12833 whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. 12834 -- Matthew 5:37 12835% 12836The New York Times is read by the people who run the country. The 12837Washington Post is read by the people who think they run the country. 12838The National Enquirer is read by the people who think Elvis is alive 12839and running the country ... 12840 -- Robert J. Woodhead 12841% 12842The nice thing about standards is that there are so many of them to 12843choose from. 12844 -- Andrew S. Tanenbaum 12845% 12846The notion of a "record" is an obsolete remnant of the days of the 1284780-column card. 12848 -- Dennis M. Ritchie 12849% 12850The notion that the church, the press, and the universities should 12851serve the state is essentially a Communist notion ... In a free society 12852these institutions must be wholly free -- which is to say that their 12853function is to serve as checks upon the state. 12854 -- Alan Barth 12855% 12856The number of arguments is unimportant unless some of them are 12857correct. 12858 -- Ralph Hartley 12859% 12860The objective of all dedicated employees should be to thoroughly 12861analyze all situations, anticipate all problems prior to their 12862occurrence, have answers for these problems, and move swiftly to solve 12863these problems when called upon. 12864 12865However, when you are up to your ass in alligators it is difficult to 12866remind yourself your initial objective was to drain the swamp. 12867% 12868The Official MBA Handbook on business cards: 12869 Avoid overly pretentious job titles such as "Lord of the Realm, 12870Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India" or "Director of Corporate 12871Planning." 12872% 12873The older a man gets, the farther he had to walk to school as a boy. 12874% 12875The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age 12876brings wisdom. 12877 -- H. L. Mencken 12878% 12879The older I grow, the less important the comma becomes. Let the reader 12880catch his own breath. 12881 -- Elizabeth Clarkson Zwart 12882% 12883The one good thing about repeating your mistakes is that you know when 12884to cringe. 12885% 12886The only possible interpretation of any research whatever in the 12887`social sciences' is: some do, some don't. 12888 -- Ernest Rutherford 12889% 12890The only problem with being a man of leisure is that you can never stop 12891and take a rest. 12892% 12893The only real way to look younger is not to be born so soon. 12894 -- Charles Schulz, "Things I've Had to Learn Over and 12895 Over and Over" 12896% 12897The only really decent thing to do behind a person's back is pat it. 12898% 12899The only really good place to buy lumber is at a store where the lumber 12900has already been cut and attached together in the form of furniture, 12901finished, and put inside boxes. 12902 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 12903% 12904The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. 12905It is never any use to oneself. 12906 -- Oscar Wilde 12907% 12908The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history. 12909 -- Hegel 12910 12911I know guys can't learn from yesterday ... Hegel must be taking the 12912long view. 12913 -- John Brunner, "Stand on Zanzibar" 12914% 12915The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. 12916 -- Oscar Wilde 12917% 12918The opossum is a very sophisticated animal. It doesn't even get up 12919until 5 or 6 p.m. 12920% 12921The opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth. 12922 -- Niels Bohr 12923% 12924The optimum committee has no members. 12925 -- Norman Augustine 12926% 12927The other day I put instant coffee in my microwave oven ... I almost 12928went back in time. 12929 -- Steven Wright 12930% 12931The past always looks better than it was. It's only pleasant because 12932it isn't here. 12933 -- Finley Peter Dunne (Mr. Dooley) 12934% 12935The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it 12936were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence. 12937 -- H. L. Mencken 12938% 12939 The people of Halifax invented the trampoline. During the 12940Victorian period the tripe-dressers of Halifax stretched tripe across a 12941large wooden frame and jumped up and down on it to `tender and dress' 12942it. The tripoline, as they called it, degenerated into becoming the 12943apparatus for a spectator sport. 12944 12945 The people of Halifax also invented the harmonium, a device for 12946castrating pigs during Sunday service. 12947 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 12948% 12949The Pig, if I am not mistaken, 12950Gives us ham and pork and Bacon. 12951Let others think his heart is big, 12952I think it stupid of the Pig. 12953 -- Ogden Nash 12954% 12955The pitcher wound up and he flang the ball at the batter. The batter 12956swang and missed. The pitcher flang the ball again and this time the 12957batter connected. He hit a high fly right to the center fielder. The 12958center fielder was all set to catch the ball, but at the last minute 12959his eyes were blound by the sun and he dropped it. 12960 -- Dizzy Dean 12961% 12962The plot was designed in a light vein that somehow became varicose. 12963 -- David Lardner 12964% 12965The polite thing to do has always been to address people as they wish 12966to be addressed, to treat them in a way they think dignified. But it 12967is equally important to accept and tolerate different standards of 12968courtesy, not expecting everyone else to adapt to one's own 12969preferences. Only then can we hope to restore the insult to its proper 12970social function of expressing true distaste. 12971 -- Judith Martin, "Miss Manners' Guide to 12972 Excruciatingly Correct Behavior" 12973% 12974The porcupine with the sharpest quills gets stuck on a tree more often. 12975% 12976The Preacher, the Politician, the Teacher, 12977 Were each of them once a kiddie. 12978A child, indeed, is a wonderful creature. 12979 Do I want one? God Forbiddie! 12980 -- Ogden Nash 12981% 12982The President publicly apologized today to all those offended by his 12983brother's remark, "There's more Arabs in this country than there is 12984Jews!". Those offended include Arabs, Jews, and English teachers. 12985 -- Baltimore, Channel 11 News, on Jimmy Carter 12986% 12987The price of seeking to force our beliefs on others is that someday 12988they might force their beliefs on us. 12989 -- Mario Cuomo 12990% 12991The primary cause of failure in electrical appliances is an expired 12992warranty. Often, you can get an appliance running again simply by 12993changing the warranty expiration date with a 15/64-inch felt-tipped 12994marker. 12995 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 12996% 12997The primary purpose of the DATA statement is to give names to 12998constants; instead of referring to pi as 3.141592653589793 at every 12999appearance, the variable PI can be given that value with a DATA 13000statement and used instead of the longer form of the constant. This 13001also simplifies modifying the program, should the value of pi change. 13002 -- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers 13003% 13004The primary requisite for any new tax law is for it to exempt enough 13005voters to win the next election. 13006% 13007The primary theme of SoupCon is communication. The acronym "LEO" 13008represents the secondary theme: 13009 13010 Law Enforcement Officials 13011 13012The overall theme of SoupCon shall be: 13013 13014 Avoiding Communication with Law Enforcement Officials 13015 13016 -- M. Gallaher 13017% 13018... the privileged being which we call human is distinguished from 13019other animals only by certain double-edged manifestations which in 13020charity we can only call "inhuman." 13021 -- R. A. Lafferty 13022% 13023The probability of someone watching you is proportional to the 13024stupidity of your action. 13025% 13026The problem ... is that we have run out of dinosaurs to form oil with. 13027Scientists working for the Department of Energy have tried to form oil 13028using other animals; they've piled thousands of tons of sand and Middle 13029Eastern countries on top of cows, raccoons, haddock, laboratory rats, 13030etc., but so far all they have managed to do is run up an enormous 13031bulldozer-rental bill and anger a lot of Middle Eastern persons. None 13032of the animals turned into oil, although most of the laboratory rats 13033developed cancer. 13034 -- Dave Barry, "Postpetroleum Guzzler" 13035% 13036The problem with any unwritten law is that you don't know where to go 13037to erase it. 13038 -- Glaser and Way 13039% 13040The problem with engineers is that they tend to cheat in order to get 13041results. 13042 13043The problem with mathematicians is that they tend to work on toy 13044problems in order to get results. 13045 13046The problem with program verifiers is that they tend to cheat at toy 13047problems in order to get results. 13048% 13049The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be 13050pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues. 13051 -- Elizabeth Taylor 13052% 13053The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard. 13054% 13055The Psblurtex is an 18-inch long anaconda that hides in the gentlemen's 13056outfitting departments of Amazonian stores and is often bought by 13057mistake since its colors are those of the London Reform Club. Once 13058tied around its victim's neck, it strangles him gently and then claims 13059the insurance before running off to Germany where it lives in hiding. 13060 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 13061% 13062"The pyramid is opening!" 13063"Which one?" 13064"The one with the ever-widening hole in it!" 13065 -- The Firesign Theatre, "How Can You Be In Two Places At 13066 Once When You're Not Anywhere At All" 13067% 13068The qotc (quote of the con) was Liz's: 13069 "My brain is paged out to my liver" 13070% 13071The question is, why are politicians so eager to be president? What is 13072it about the job that makes it worth revealing, on national television, 13073that you have the ethical standards of a slime-coated piece of 13074industrial waste? 13075 -- Dave Barry, "On Presidential Politics" 13076% 13077The rain it raineth on the just 13078 And also on the unjust fella, 13079But chiefly on the just, because 13080 The unjust steals the just's umbrella. 13081 --Lord Bowen 13082% 13083The reader this message encounters not failing to understand is 13084cursed. 13085% 13086The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much. 13087% 13088The reason it's called "Grape Nuts" is that it contains "dextrose", 13089which is also sometimes called "grape sugar", and also because "Grape 13090Nuts" is catchier, in terms of marketing, than "A Cross Between Gerbil 13091Food and Gravel", which is what it tastes like. 13092 -- Dave Barry, "Tips for Writer's" 13093% 13094The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one 13095persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all 13096progress depends on the unreasonable man. 13097 -- George Bernard Shaw 13098% 13099The revolution will not be televised. 13100% 13101The reward of a thing well done is to have done it. 13102 -- Emerson 13103% 13104The rhino is a homely beast, 13105For human eyes he's not a feast. 13106Farewell, farewell, you old rhinoceros, 13107I'll stare at something less prepoceros. 13108 -- Ogden Nash 13109% 13110The right half of the brain controls the left half of the body. This 13111means that only left handed people are in their right mind. 13112% 13113The Right Honorable Gentleman is indebted to his memory for his jests 13114and to his imagination for his facts. 13115 -- Sheridan 13116% 13117The right to revolt has sources deep in our history. 13118 -- Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas 13119% 13120The rights you have are the rights given you by this Committee [the 13121House Un-American Activities Committee]. We will determine what rights 13122you have and what rights you have not got. 13123 -- J. Parnell Thomas 13124% 13125The road to hell is paved with good intentions. And littered with 13126sloppy analysis! 13127% 13128The Roman Rule 13129 The one who says it cannot be done should never interrupt the 13130 one who is doing it. 13131% 13132The Ruffed Pandanga of Borneo and Rotherham spreads out his feathers in 13133his courtship dance and imitates Winston Churchill and Tommy Cooper on 13134one leg. The padanga is dying out because the female padanga doesn't 13135take it too seriously. 13136 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 13137% 13138The rule on staying alive as a forecaster is to give 'em a number or 13139give 'em a date, but never give 'em both at once. 13140 -- Jane Bryant Quinn 13141% 13142"The Schizophrenic: An Unauthorized Autobiography" 13143% 13144The Schwine-Kitzenger Institute study of 47 men over the age of 100 13145showed that all had these things in common: 13146 13147 (1) They all had moderate appetites. 13148 (2) They all came from middle class homes 13149 (3) All but two of them were dead. 13150% 13151The scum also rises. 13152 -- Dr. Hunter S. Thompson 13153% 13154The seven deadly sins ... Food, clothing, firing, rent, taxes, 13155respectability and children. Nothing can lift those seven millstones 13156from Man's neck but money; and the spirit cannot soar until the 13157millstones are lifted. 13158 -- George Bernard Shaw 13159% 13160 The seven eyes of Ningauble the Wizard floated back to his hood 13161as he reported to Fafhrd: "I have seen much, yet cannot explain all. 13162The Gray Mouser is exactly twenty-five feet below the deepest cellar in 13163the palace of Gilpkerio Kistomerces. Even though twenty-four parts in 13164twenty-five of him are dead, he is alive. 13165 13166 "Now about Lankhmar. She's been invaded, her walls breached 13167everywhere and desperate fighting is going on in the streets, by a 13168fierce host which out-numbers Lankhmar's inhabitants by fifty to one -- 13169and equipped with all modern weapons. Yet you can save the city." 13170 13171 "How?" demanded Fafhrd. 13172 13173 Ningauble shrugged. "You're a hero. You should know." 13174 -- Fritz Leiber, from "The Swords of Lankhmar" 13175% 13176The sheep that fly over your head are soon to land. 13177% 13178The shortest distance between two points is under construction. 13179 -- Noelie Alito 13180% 13181The Sixth Commandment of Frisbee: 13182 The greatest single aid to distance is for the disc to be going 13183in a direction you did not want. (Goes the wrong way = Goes a long 13184way.) 13185 -- Dan Roddick 13186% 13187The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity 13188and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted 13189activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy ... 13190neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water. 13191% 13192The sooner all the animals are dead, the sooner we'll find their 13193money. 13194 -- Ed Bluestone, "The National Lampoon" 13195% 13196The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up! 13197% 13198The sooner you make your first 5000 mistakes, the sooner you will be 13199able to correct them. 13200 -- Nicolaides 13201% 13202The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears. 13203% 13204The Soviet pre-eminence in chess can be traced to the average Russian's 13205readiness to brood obsessively over anything, even the arrangement of 13206some pieces of wood. Indeed, the Russians' predisposition for quiet 13207reflection followed by sudden preventive action explains why they led 13208the field for many years in both chess and ax murders. It is well 13209known that as early as 1970, the U.S.S.R., aware of what a defeat at 13210Reykjavik would do to national prestige, implemented a vigorous program 13211of preparation and incentive. Every day for an entire year, a team of 13212psychologists, chess analysts and coaches met with the top three 13213Russian grand masters and threatened them with a pointy stick. That 13214these tactics proved fruitless is now a part of chess history and a 13215further testament to the American way, which provides that if you want 13216something badly enough, you can always go to Iceland and get it from 13217the Russians. 13218 -- Marshall Brickman, Playboy, April, 1973 13219% 13220 "Yoda", by "Weird Al" Yankovic; 13221 Sung to the tune of "Lola", by the Kinks: 13222 13223I met him in a swamp down in Dagobah 13224Where it bubbles all the time like a giant carbonated soda 13225 S-O-D-A soda 13226I saw the little runt sitting there on a log 13227I asked him his name and in a raspy voice he said Yoda 13228 Y-O-D-A Yoda, Yo-Yo-Yo-Yo Yoda 13229 13230Well I've been around but I ain't never seen 13231A guy who looks like a Muppet but he's wrinkled and green 13232 Oh my Yoda, Yo-Yo-Yo-Yo Yoda 13233Well I'm not dumb but I can't understand 13234How he can raise me in the air just by raising his hand 13235 Oh my Yoda, Yo-Yo-Yo-Yo Yoda, Yo-Yo-Yo-Yo Yoda 13236% 13237The state law of Pennsylvania prohibits singing in the bathtub. 13238% 13239The steady state of disks is full. 13240 -- Ken Thompson 13241% 13242 THE STORY OF CREATION 13243 or 13244 THE MYTH OF URK 13245 13246In the beginning there was data. The data was without form and null, 13247and darkness was upon the face of the console; and the Spirit of IBM 13248was moving over the face of the market. And DEC said, "Let there be 13249registers"; and there were registers. And DEC saw that they carried; 13250and DEC separated the data from the instructions. DEC called the data 13251Stack, and the instructions they called Code. And there was evening 13252and there was morning, one interrupt. 13253 -- Rico Tudor 13254% 13255The streets are safe in Philadelphia, it's only the people who make 13256them unsafe. 13257 -- Mayor Frank Rizzo 13258% 13259The student in question is performing minimally for his peer group and 13260is an emerging underachiever. 13261% 13262The study of non-linear physics is like the study of non-elephant 13263biology. 13264% 13265The subspace _W inherits the other 8 properties of _V. And there aren't 13266even any property taxes. 13267 -- J. MacKay, Mathematics 134b 13268% 13269The sum of the Universe is zero. 13270% 13271The sun was shining on the sea, 13272Shining with all his might: 13273He did his very best to make 13274The billows smooth and bright -- 13275And this was very odd, because it was 13276The middle of the night. 13277 -- Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass" 13278% 13279The superfluous is very necessary. 13280 -- Voltaire 13281% 13282The surest protection against temptation is cowardice. 13283 -- Mark Twain 13284% 13285The temperature of Heaven can be rather accurately computed. Our 13286authority is Isaiah 30:26, "Moreover, the light of the Moon shall be as 13287the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun shall be sevenfold, as 13288the light of seven days." Thus Heaven receives from the Moon as much 13289radiation as we do from the Sun, and in addition 7*7 (49) times as much 13290as the Earth does from the Sun, or 50 times in all. The light we 13291receive from the Moon is one 1/10,000 of the light we receive from the 13292Sun, so we can ignore that ... The radiation falling on Heaven will 13293heat it to the point where the heat lost by radiation is just equal to 13294the heat received by radiation, i.e., Heaven loses 50 times as much 13295heat as the Earth by radiation. Using the Stefan-Boltzmann law for 13296radiation, (_H/_E)^4 = 50, where _E is the absolute temperature of the 13297earth (-300K), gives _H as 798K (525C). The exact temperature of Hell 13298cannot be computed ... [However] Revelations 21:8 says "But the 13299fearful, and unbelieving ... shall have their part in the lake which 13300burneth with fire and brimstone." A lake of molten brimstone means 13301that its temperature must be at or below the boiling point, 444.6C. We 13302have, then, that Heaven, at 525C is hotter than Hell at 445C. 13303 -- From "Applied Optics" vol. 11, A14, 1972 13304% 13305The Third Law of Photography: 13306 If you did manage to get any good shots, they will be ruined 13307when someone inadvertently opens the darkroom door and all of the dark 13308leaks out. 13309% 13310The Three Laws of Thermodynamics: 13311 13312The First Law: You can't get anything without working for it. 13313The Second Law: The most you can accomplish by working is to break 13314 even. 13315The Third Law: You can only break even at absolute zero. 13316% 13317 The Three Major Kind of Tools 13318 13319* Tools for hittings things to make them loose or to tighten them up or 13320 jar their many complex, sophisticated electrical parts in such a 13321 manner that they function perfectly. (These are your hammers, maces, 13322 bludgeons, and truncheons.) 13323 13324* Tools that, if dropped properly, can penetrate your foot. (Awls) 13325 13326* Tools that nobody should ever use because the potential danger is far 13327 greater than the value of any project that could possibly result. 13328 (Power saws, power drills, power staplers, any kind of tool that uses 13329 any kind of power more advanced than flashlight batteries.) 13330 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 13331% 13332The trouble with a kitten is that 13333When it grows up, it's always a cat 13334 -- Ogden Nash 13335% 13336The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all your time. 13337% 13338The trouble with being punctual is that nobody's there to appreciate 13339it. 13340 -- Franklin P. Jones 13341% 13342The trouble with being punctual is that people think you have nothing 13343more important to do. 13344% 13345The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody 13346appreciates how difficult it was. 13347% 13348The trouble with superheros is what to do between phone booths. 13349 -- Ken Kesey 13350% 13351The truth is what is; what should be is a dirty lie. 13352 -- Lenny Bruce 13353% 13354The truth of a proposition has nothing to do with its credibility. 13355And vice versa. 13356% 13357The turtle lives 'twixt plated decks 13358Which practically conceal its sex. 13359I think it clever of the turtle 13360In such a fix to be so fertile. 13361 -- Ogden Nash 13362% 13363The two most common things in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity. 13364% 13365The typewriting machine, when played with expression, is no more 13366annoying than the piano when played by a sister or near relation. 13367 -- Oscar Wilde 13368% 13369The United States also has its native Fascists who say that they are 13370"100 percent American"... 13371 -- U. S. Army (1945) 13372% 13373The United States is like the guy at the party who gives cocaine to 13374everybody and still nobody likes him. 13375 -- Jim Samuels 13376% 13377The universe does not have laws -- it has habits, and habits can be 13378broken. 13379% 13380The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination -- but the 13381combination is locked up in the safe. 13382 -- Peter DeVries 13383% 13384The University of California Bears announced the signing of Reggie 13385Philbin to a letter of intent to attend Cal next Fall. Philbin is said 13386to make up for no talent by cheating well. Says Philbin of his 13387decision to attend Cal, "I'm in it for the free ride." 13388% 13389The USA is so enormous, and so numerous are its schools, colleges and 13390religious seminaries, many devoted to special religious beliefs ranging 13391from the unorthodox to the dotty, that we can hardly wonder at its 13392yielding a more bounteous harvest of gobbledygook than the rest of the 13393world put together. 13394 -- Sir Peter Medawar 13395% 13396The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be 13397regarded as a criminal offense. 13398 -- Edsger W. Dijkstra, SIGPLAN Notices, Volume 17, Number 5 13399% 13400The verdict of a jury is the a priori opinion of that juror who smokes 13401the worst cigars. 13402 -- H. L. Mencken 13403% 13404The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid 13405prejudice. 13406 -- Mark Twain 13407% 13408The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. 13409Instead of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts 13410to fit their views ... which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to 13411be one of the facts that needs altering. 13412 -- Doctor Who, "Face of Evil" 13413% 13414The wages of sin are death; but after they're done taking out taxes, 13415it's just a tired feeling: 13416% 13417The wages of sin are high but you get your money's worth. 13418% 13419The warning message we sent the Russians was a calculated ambiguity 13420that would be clearly understood. 13421 -- Alexander Haig 13422% 13423The way to make a small fortune in the commodities market is to start 13424with a large fortune. 13425% 13426 THE WOMBAT 13427 13428The wombat lives across the seas, 13429Among the far Antipodes. 13430He may exist on nuts and berries, 13431Or then again, on missionaries; 13432His distant habitat precludes 13433Conclusive knowledge of his moods. 13434But I would not engage the wombat 13435In any form of mortal combat. 13436% 13437The world is coming to an end ... SAVE YOUR BUFFERS!!! 13438% 13439The world is coming to an end! Repent and return those library books! 13440% 13441The world is coming to an end. Please log off. 13442% 13443The world's as ugly as sin, 13444And almost as delightful. 13445 -- Frederick Locker-Lampson 13446% 13447The years of peak mental activity are undoubtedly between the ages of 13448four and eighteen. At four we know all the questions, at eighteen all 13449the answers. 13450% 13451Then a man said: Speak to us of Expectations. 13452 13453He then said: If a man does not see or hear the waters of the Jordan, 13454then he should not taste the pomegranate or ply his wares in an open 13455market. 13456 13457If a man would not labour in the salt and rock quarries then he should 13458not accept of the Earth that which he refuses to give of himself. 13459 13460Such a man would expect a pear of a peach tree. 13461Such a man would expect a stone to lay an egg. 13462Such a man would expect Sears to assemble a lawnmower. 13463 -- Kehlog Albran, "The Profit" 13464% 13465Then here's to the City of Boston, 13466The town of the cries and the groans. 13467Where the Cabots can't see the Kabotschniks, 13468And the Lowells won't speak to the Cohns. 13469 -- Franklin Pierce Adams 13470% 13471 THEORY 13472Into love and out again, 13473 Thus I went and thus I go. 13474Spare your voice, and hold your pen: 13475 Well and bitterly I know 13476All the songs were ever sung, 13477 All the words were ever said; 13478Could it be, when I was young, 13479 Someone dropped me on my head? 13480 -- Dorothy Parker 13481% 13482There *__is* intelligent life on Earth, but I leave for Texas on Monday. 13483% 13484There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable, 13485and praiseworthy ... 13486 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 13487% 13488There are many intelligent species in the universe. They all own 13489cats. 13490% 13491There are no data that cannot be plotted on a straight line if the axes 13492are chosen correctly. 13493% 13494There are no games on this system. 13495% 13496There are no physicists in the hottest parts of hell, because the 13497existence of a "hottest part" implies a temperature difference, and any 13498marginally competent physicist would immediately use this to run a heat 13499engine and make some other part of hell comfortably cool. This is 13500obviously impossible. 13501 -- Richard Davisson 13502% 13503There are people so addicted to exaggeration 13504that they can't tell the truth without lying. 13505 -- Josh Billings 13506% 13507There are really not many jobs that actually require a penis or a 13508vagina, and all other occupations should be open to everyone. 13509 -- Gloria Steinem 13510% 13511 There are some goyisha names that just about guarantee that 13512someone isn't Jewish. For example, you'll never meet a Jew named 13513Johnson or Wright or Jones or Sinclair or Ricks or Stevenson or Reid or 13514Larsen or Jenks. But some goyisha names just about guarantee that 13515every other person you meet with that name will be Jewish. Why is 13516this? 13517 Who knows? Learned rabbis have pondered this question for 13518centuries and have failed to come up with an answer, and you think ___you 13519can find one? Get serious. You don't even understand why it's 13520forbidden to eat crab -- fresh cold crab with mayonnaise -- or lobster 13521-- soft tender morsels of lobster dipped in melted butter. You don't 13522even understand a simple thing like that, and yet you hope to discover 13523why there are more Jews named Miller than Katz? Fat Chance. 13524 -- Arthur Naiman, "Every Goy's Guide to Yiddish" 13525% 13526There are some micro-organisms that exhibit characteristics of both 13527plants and animals. When exposed to light they undergo photosynthesis; 13528and when the lights go out, they turn into animals. But then again, 13529don't we all? 13530% 13531There are those who claim that magic is like the tide; that it swells 13532and fades over the surface of the earth, collecting in concentrated 13533pools here and there, almost disappearing from other spots, leaving 13534them parched for wonder. There are also those who believe that if you 13535stick your fingers up your nose and blow, it will increase your 13536intelligence. 13537 -- The Teachings of Ebenezum, Volume VII 13538% 13539There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics. 13540 -- Disraeli 13541% 13542There are three possibilities: 13543Pioneer's solar panel has turned away from the sun; 13544there's a large meteor blocking transmission; or 13545someone loaded Star Trek 3.2 into our video processor. 13546% 13547There are three possible parts to a date, of which at least two must be 13548offered: entertainment, food, and affection. It is customary to begin 13549a series of dates with a great deal of entertainment, a moderate amount 13550of food, and the merest suggestion of affection. As the amount of 13551affection increases, the entertainment can be reduced proportionately. 13552When the affection IS the entertainment, we no longer call it dating. 13553Under no circumstances can the food be omitted. 13554 -- Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior 13555% 13556There are three principal ways to lose money: wine, women, and 13557engineers. While the first two are more pleasant, the third is by far 13558the more certain. 13559 -- Baron Rothschild, ca. 1800 13560% 13561There are three schools of magic. One: State a tautology, then ring 13562the changes on its corollaries; that's philosophy. Two: Record many 13563facts. Try to find a pattern. Then make a wrong guess at the next 13564fact; that's science. Three: Be aware that you live in a malevolent 13565Universe controlled by Murphy's Law, sometimes offset by Brewster's 13566Factor; that's engineering. 13567% 13568There are three things I always forget. Names, faces -- the third I 13569can't remember. 13570 -- Italo Svevo 13571% 13572There are three ways to get something done: 13573 (1) Do it yourself. 13574 (2) Hire someone to do it for you. 13575 (3) Forbid your kids to do it. 13576% 13577There are three ways to get something done: do it yourself, hire 13578someone, or forbid your kids to do it. 13579% 13580There are times when truth is stranger than fiction and lunch time is 13581one of them. 13582% 13583There are two kinds of solar-heat systems: "passive" systems collect 13584the sunlight that hits your home, and "active" systems collect the 13585sunlight that hits your neighbors' homes, too. 13586 -- Dave Barry, "Postpetroleum Guzzler" 13587% 13588There are two types of people in this world, good and bad. The good 13589sleep better, but the bad seem to enjoy the waking hours much more. 13590 -- Woody Allen 13591% 13592There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to 13593make is so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the 13594other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious 13595deficiencies. 13596 -- C. A. R. Hoare 13597% 13598There are two ways of disliking poetry; one way is to dislike it, the 13599other is to read Pope. 13600 -- Oscar Wilde 13601% 13602There are two ways to write error-free programs. Only the third one 13603works. 13604% 13605There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a 13606suitable application of high explosives. 13607% 13608There can be no twisted thought without a twisted molecule. 13609 -- R. W. Gerard 13610% 13611There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full. 13612 -- Henry Kissinger 13613% 13614There exist tasks which cannot be done by more than 10 men or fewer 13615than 100. 13616 -- Steele's Law 13617% 13618There has been an alarming increase in the number of things you know 13619nothing about. 13620% 13621There is a certain impertinence in allowing oneself to be burned for an 13622opinion. 13623 -- Anatole France 13624% 13625There is a great discovery still to be made in Literature: that of 13626paying literary men by the quantity they do NOT write. 13627% 13628There is a green, multi-legged creature crawling on your shoulder. 13629% 13630There is a Massachusetts law requiring all dogs to have their hind legs 13631tied during the month of April. 13632% 13633There is a natural hootchy-kootchy to a goldfish. 13634 -- Walt Disney 13635% 13636There is a road to freedom. Its milestones are Obedience, Endeavor, 13637Honesty, Order, Cleanliness, Sobriety, Truthfulness, Sacrifice, and 13638love of the Fatherland. 13639 -- Adolf Hitler 13640% 13641There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly 13642what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly 13643disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and 13644inexplicable. 13645 13646There is another theory which states that this has already happened. 13647 13648 -- Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" 13649% 13650There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum. 13651 -- Arthur C. Clarke 13652% 13653There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress. 13654 -- Mark Twain 13655% 13656There is no realizable power that man cannot, in time, fashion the 13657tools to attain, nor any power so secure that the naked ape will not 13658abuse it. So it is written in the genetic cards -- only physics and 13659war hold him in check. And also the wife who wants him home by five, 13660of course. 13661 -- Encyclopedia Apocryphia, 1990 ed. 13662% 13663There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home. 13664 -- Ken Olsen, President of DEC, World Future Society 13665 Convention, 1977 13666% 13667There is no satisfaction in hanging a man who does not object to it. 13668 -- G. B. Shaw 13669% 13670There is no substitute for good manners, except, perhaps, fast reflexes. 13671% 13672There is no such thing as fortune. Try again. 13673% 13674There is no time like the pleasant. 13675% 13676There is no time like the present for postponing what you ought to be 13677doing. 13678% 13679There is no TRUTH. There is no REALITY. There is no CONSISTENCY. 13680There are no ABSOLUTE STATEMENTS I'm very probably wrong. 13681% 13682"There is nothing which cannot be answered by means of my doctrine," 13683said a monk, coming into a teahouse where Nasrudin sat. "And yet just 13684a short time ago, I was challenged by a scholar with an unanswerable 13685question," said Nasrudin. "I could have answered it if I had been 13686there." "Very well. He asked, 'Why are you breaking into my house in 13687the middle of the night?'" 13688% 13689There is nothing wrong with Southern California that a rise in the 13690ocean level wouldn't cure. 13691 -- Ross MacDonald 13692% 13693There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and 13694that is not being talked about. 13695 -- Oscar Wilde 13696% 13697There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale 13698returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact. 13699 -- Mark Twain 13700% 13701There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. 13702 -- C. S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia 13703% 13704There was a plane crash over mid-ocean, and only three survivors were 13705left in the life-raft: the Pope, the President, and Mayor Daley. 13706Unfortunately, it was a one-man life-raft, and quickly sinking, so they 13707started debating who should be allowed to stay. 13708 13709The Pope pointed out that he was the spiritual leader of millions all 13710over the world, the President explained that if he died then America 13711would be stuck with the Vice-President, and so forth. Then Mayor Daley 13712said, "Look! We're not solving anything like this! The only fair 13713thing to do is to vote on it." So they did, and Mayor Daley won by 97 13714votes. 13715% 13716There was an interesting development in the CBS-Westmoreland trial: 13717both sides agreed that after the trial, Andy Rooney would be allowed to 13718talk to the jury for three minutes about little things that annoyed him 13719during the trial. 13720 -- David Letterman 13721% 13722There were in this country two very large monopolies. The larger of 13723the two had the following record: the Vietnam War, Watergate, double- 13724digit inflation, fuel and energy shortages, bankrupt airlines, and the 137258-cent postcard. The second was responsible for such things as the 13726transistor, the solar cell, lasers, synthetic crystals, high fidelity 13727stereo recording, sound motion pictures, radio astronomy, negative 13728feedback, magnetic tape, magnetic "bubbles", electronic switching 13729systems, microwave radio and TV relay systems, information theory, the 13730first electrical digital computer, and the first communications 13731satellite. Guess which one got to tell the other how to run the 13732telephone business? 13733% 13734There's a fine line between courage and foolishness. Too bad it's not 13735a fence. 13736% 13737There's an old proverb that says just about whatever you want it to. 13738% 13739There's little in taking or giving, 13740 There's little in water or wine: 13741This living, this living, this living, 13742 Was never a project of mine. 13743Oh, hard is the struggle, and sparse is 13744 The gain of the one at the top, 13745For art is a form of catharsis, 13746 And love is a permanent flop, 13747And work is the province of cattle, 13748 And rest's for a clam in a shell, 13749So I'm thinking of throwing the battle -- 13750 Would you kindly direct me to hell? 13751 -- Dorothy Parker 13752% 13753There's no easy quick way out, we're gonna have to live through our 13754whole lives, win, lose, or draw. 13755 -- Walt Kelly 13756% 13757There's no future in time travel. 13758% 13759There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes. 13760 -- Dr. Who 13761% 13762There's no real need to do housework -- after four years it doesn't get 13763any worse. 13764% 13765There's no room in the drug world for amateurs. 13766% 13767There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government 13768working for you. 13769 -- Will Rodgers 13770% 13771There's nothing in the middle of the road but a yellow stripe and 13772dead armadillos. 13773 -- Jim Hightower, Texas Agricultural Commissioner 13774% 13775There's nothing wrong with teenagers that reasoning with them 13776won't aggravate. 13777% 13778There's only one way to have a happy marriage and as soon as I learn 13779what it is I'll get married again. 13780 -- Clint Eastwood 13781% 13782There's so much plastic in this culture that vinyl leopard skin is 13783becoming an endangered synthetic. 13784 -- Lily Tomlin 13785% 13786"These are DARK TIMES for all mankind's HIGHEST VALUES!" 13787"These are DARK TIMES for FREEDOM and PROSPERITY!" 13788"These are GREAT TIMES to put your money on BAD GUY to kick the CRAP 13789out of MEGATON MAN!" 13790% 13791These days the necessities of life cost you about three times what they 13792used to, and half the time they aren't even fit to drink. 13793% 13794They also surf who only stand on waves. 13795% 13796They make a desert and call it peace. 13797 -- Tacitus (55?-120?) 13798% 13799They spell it "da Vinci" and pronounce it "da Vinchy". Foreigners 13800always spell better than they pronounce. 13801 -- Mark Twain 13802% 13803They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary 13804safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. 13805 -- Benjamin Franklin, 1759 13806% 13807They told me I was gullible ... and I believed them! 13808% 13809They told me you had proven it When they discovered our results 13810 About a month before. Their hair began to curl 13811The proof was valid, more or less Instead of understanding it 13812 But rather less than more. We'd run the thing through PRL. 13813 13814He sent them word that we would try Don't tell a soul about all this 13815 To pass where they had failed For it must ever be 13816And after we were done, to them A secret, kept from all the rest 13817 The new proof would be mailed. Between yourself and me. 13818 13819My notion was to start again 13820 Ignoring all they'd done 13821We quickly turned it into code 13822 To see if it would run. 13823% 13824They're only trying to make me LOOK paranoid! 13825% 13826They're unfriendly, which is fortunate, really. They'd be difficult to like. 13827 -- Avon 13828% 13829Things are more like they used to be than they are now. 13830% 13831Things will be bright in P.M. A cop will shine a light in your face. 13832% 13833Think big. Pollute the Mississippi. 13834% 13835Think honk if you're a telepath. 13836% 13837Think of it! With VLSI we can pack 100 ENIACs in 1 sq. cm.! 13838% 13839Think of your family tonight. Try to crawl home after the computer 13840crashes. 13841% 13842Think twice before speaking, but don't say "think think click click". 13843% 13844"Thirty days hath Septober, 13845April, June, and no wonder. 13846all the rest have peanut butter 13847except my father who wears red suspenders." 13848% 13849This Fortue Examined By INSPECTOR NO. 2-14 13850% 13851This fortune cookie program is out of order. For those in desperate need, 13852please use the program "________randchar". This program generates random 13853characters, and, given enough time, will undoubtedly come up with 13854something profound. It will, however, take it no time at all to be 13855more profound than THIS program has ever been. 13856% 13857This fortune intentionally not included. 13858% 13859This fortune is false. 13860% 13861This fortune is inoperative. Please try another. 13862% 13863This is a country where people are free to practice their religion, 13864regardless of race, creed, color, obesity, or number of dangling keys... 13865% 13866This is a job for BOB VIOLENCE and SCUM, the INCREDIBLY STUPID MUTANT DOG. 13867 -- Bob Violence 13868% 13869This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. If this had been an 13870actual emergency, do you really think we'd stick around to tell you? 13871% 13872This is an especially good time for you vacationers who plan to fly, 13873because the Reagan administration, as part of the same policy under 13874which it recently sold Yellowstone National Park to Wayne Newton, has 13875"deregulated" the airline industry. What this means for you, the 13876consumer, is that the airlines are no longer required to follow any 13877rules whatsoever. They can show snuff movies. They can charge for 13878oxygen. They can hire pilots right out of Vending Machine Refill 13879Person School. They can conserve fuel by ejecting husky passengers 13880over water. They can ram competing planes in mid-air. These 13881innovations have resulted in tremendous cost savings which have been 13882passed along to you, the consumer, in the form of flights with 13883amazingly low fares, such as $29. Of course, certain restrictions do 13884apply, the main one being that all these flights take you to Newark, 13885and you must pay thousands of dollars if you want to fly back out. 13886 -- Dave Barry, "Iowa -- Land of Secure Vacations" 13887% 13888This is an unauthorized cybernetic announcement. 13889% 13890This is for all ill-treated fellows 13891 Unborn and unbegot, 13892For them to read when they're in trouble 13893 And I am not. 13894 -- A. E. Housman 13895% 13896This is lemma 1.1. We start a new chapter so the numbers all go back 13897to one. 13898 -- Prof. Seager, C&O 351 13899% 13900This is National Non-Dairy Creamer Week. 13901% 13902THIS IS PLEDGE WEEK FOR THE FORTUNE PROGRAM 13903 13904If you like the fortune program, why not support it now with your 13905contribution of a pithy fortune, clean or obscene? We cannot continue 13906without your support. Less than 14% of all fortune users are 13907contributors. That means that 86% of you are getting a free ride. We 13908can't go on like this much longer. Federal cutbacks mean less money 13909for fortunes, and unless user contributions increase to make up the 13910difference, the fortune program will have to shut down between midnight 13911and 8 a.m. Don't let this happen. Mail your fortunes right now to 13912"fortune". Just type in your favorite pithy saying. Do it now before 13913you forget. Our target is 300 new fortunes by the end of the week. 13914Don't miss out. All fortunes will be acknowledged. If you contribute 1391530 fortunes or more, you will receive a free subscription to "The 13916Fortune Hunter", our monthly program guide. If you contribute 50 or 13917more, you will receive a free "Fortune Hunter" coffee mug .... 13918% 13919This is the ____LAST time I take travel suggestions from Ray Bradbury! 13920% 13921This is the first numerical problem I ever did. It demonstrates the 13922power of computers: 13923 13924Enter lots of data on calorie & nutritive content of foods. Instruct 13925the thing to maximize a function describing nutritive content, with a 13926minimum level of each component, for fixed caloric content. The 13927results are that one should eat each day: 13928 13929 1/2 chicken 13930 1 egg 13931 1 glass of skim milk 13932 27 heads of lettuce. 13933 -- Rev. Adrian Melott 13934% 13935This is the story of the bee 13936Whose sex is very hard to see 13937 13938You cannot tell the he from the she 13939But she can tell, and so can he 13940 13941The little bee is never still 13942She has no time to take the pill 13943 13944And that is why, in times like these 13945There are so many sons of bees. 13946% 13947This is your fortune. 13948% 13949This land is full of trousers! 13950this land is full of mausers! 13951 And pussycats to eat them when the sun goes down! 13952 -- The Firesign Theatre 13953% 13954This land is made of mountains, 13955This land is made of mud, 13956This land has lots of everything, 13957For me and Elmer Fudd. 13958 13959This land has lots of trousers, 13960This land has lots of mousers, 13961And pussycats to eat them 13962When the sun goes down. 13963% 13964This life is a test. It is only a test. Had this been an actual life, 13965you would have received further instructions as to what to do and where 13966to go. 13967% 13968This login session: $13.99, but for you $11.88 13969% 13970This novel is not to be tossed lightly aside, but to be hurled with 13971great force. 13972 -- Dorothy Parker 13973% 13974This planet has -- or rather had -- a problem, which was this: most of 13975the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many 13976solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were 13977largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, 13978which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of 13979paper that were unhappy. 13980 -- Douglas Adams 13981% 13982This process can check if this value is zero, and if it is, it does 13983something child-like. 13984 -- Forbes Burkowski, Computer Science 454 13985% 13986This quote is taken from the Diamondback, the University of Maryland 13987student newspaper, of Tuesday, 3/10/87. 13988 13989 One disadvantage of the Univac system is that it does not use 13990 Unix, a recently developed program which translates from one 13991 computer language to another and has a built-in editing system 13992 which identifies errors in the original program. 13993% 13994This sentence contradicts itself -- no actually it doesn't. 13995 -- Douglas Hofstadter 13996% 13997... This striving for excellence extends into people's personal lives 13998as well. When '80s people buy something, they buy the best one, as 13999determined by (1) price and (2) lack of availability. Eighties people 14000buy imported dental floss. They buy gourmet baking soda. If an '80s 14001couple goes to a restaurant where they have made a reservation three 14002weeks in advance, and they are informed that their table is available, 14003they stalk out immediately, because they know it is not an excellent 14004restaurant. If it were, it would have an enormous crowd of 14005excellence-oriented people like themselves waiting, their beepers going 14006off like crickets in the night. An excellent restaurant wouldn't have 14007a table ready immediately for anybody below the rank of Liza Minnelli. 14008 -- Dave Barry, "In Search of Excellence" 14009% 14010This will be a memorable month -- no matter how hard you try to forget it. 14011% 14012 Thompson, if he is to be believed, has sampled the entire 14013rainbow of legal and illegal drugs in heroic efforts to feel better 14014than he does. 14015 As for the truth about his health: I have asked around about 14016it. I am told that he appears to be strong and rosy, and steadily 14017sane. But we will be doing what he wants us to do, I think, if we 14018consider his exterior a sort of Dorian Gray facade. Inwardly, he is 14019being eaten alive by tinhorn politicians. 14020 The disease is fatal. There is no known cure. The most we can 14021do for the poor devil, it seems to me, is to name his disease in his 14022honor. From this moment on, let all those who feel that Americans can 14023be as easily led to beauty as to ugliness, to truth as to public 14024relations, to joy as to bitterness, be said to be suffering from Hunter 14025Thompson's disease. I don't have it this morning. It comes and goes. 14026This morning I don't have Hunter Thompson's disease. 14027 -- Kurt Vonnegut Jr. on Dr. Hunter S. Thompson: Excerpt 14028 from "A Political Disease", Vonnegut's review of "Fear 14029 and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72" 14030% 14031Those of you who think you know everything are very annoying to those 14032of us who do. 14033% 14034Those who can't write, write manuals. 14035% 14036Those who can, do. Those who can't, simulate. 14037% 14038Those who do not do politics will be done in by politics. 14039 -- French Proverb 14040% 14041Those who do not understand Unix are condemned to reinvent it, poorly. 14042 -- Henry Spencer 14043% 14044Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, 14045for these only gave life, those the art of living well. 14046 -- Aristotle 14047% 14048Those who express random thoughts to legislative committees are often 14049surprised and appalled to find themselves the instigators of law. 14050 -- Mark B. Cohen 14051% 14052Those who in quarrels interpose, must often wipe a bloody nose. 14053% 14054Those who make peaceful revolution impossible 14055will make violent revolution inevitable. 14056 -- John F. Kennedy 14057% 14058Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are 14059men who want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean 14060without the roar of its many waters. 14061 -- Frederick Douglass 14062% 14063Three great scientific theories of the structure of the universe are 14064the molecular, the corpuscular and the atomic. A fourth affirms, with 14065Haeckel, the condensation or precipitation of matter from ether -- 14066whose existence is proved by the condensation or precipitation ... A 14067fifth theory is held by idiots, but it is doubtful if they know any 14068more about the matter than the others. 14069 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 14070% 14071Time flies like an arrow 14072Fruit flies like a banana 14073% 14074Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana. 14075% 14076Time is an illusion; lunchtime, doubly so. 14077 -- Ford Prefect 14078% 14079Time is nature's way of making sure that everything doesn't happen at 14080once. 14081% 14082'Tis the dream of each programmer, 14083Before his life is done, 14084To write three lines of APL, 14085And make the damn things run. 14086% 14087 (to "The Caissons Go Rolling Along") 14088Scratch the disks, dump the core, Shut it down, pull the plug 14089Roll the tapes across the floor, Give the core an extra tug 14090And the system is going to crash. And the system is going to crash. 14091Teletypes smashed to bits. Mem'ry cards, one and all, 14092Give the scopes some nasty hits Toss out halfway down the hall 14093And the system is going to crash. And the system is going to crash. 14094And we've also found Just flip one switch 14095When you turn the power down, And the lights will cease to twitch 14096You turn the disk readers into trash. And the tape drives will crumble 14097 in a flash. 14098Oh, it's so much fun, When the CPU 14099Now the CPU won't run Can print nothing out but "foo," 14100And the system is going to crash. The system is going to crash. 14101% 14102 To A Quick Young Fox: 14103Why jog exquisite bulk, fond crazy vamp, 14104Daft buxom jonquil, zephyr's gawky vice? 14105Guy fed by work, quiz Jove's xanthic lamp -- 14106Zow! Qualms by deja vu gyp fox-kin thrice. 14107 -- Lazy Dog 14108% 14109To be intoxicated is to feel sophisticated but not be able to say it. 14110% 14111To be is to do. 14112 -- I. Kant 14113To do is to be. 14114 -- A. Sartre 14115Yabba-Dabba-Doo! 14116 -- F. Flintstone 14117% 14118To be responsive at this time, though I will simply say, and therefore 14119this is a repeat of what I said previously, that which I am unable to 14120offer in response is based on information available to make no such 14121statement. 14122% 14123To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and, whatever you hit, 14124call it the target. 14125% 14126To err is human, to forgive is Not Company Policy. 14127% 14128To err is human, to forgive, beyond the scope of the Operating System 14129% 14130To err is human, to moo bovine. 14131% 14132To every Ph.D. there is an equal and opposite Ph.D. 14133 -- B. Duggan 14134% 14135To generalize is to be an idiot. 14136 -- William Blake 14137% 14138To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three 14139men, two of them absent. 14140% 14141To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. 14142 -- Thomas Edison 14143% 14144To iterate is human, to recurse, divine. 14145 -- Robert Heller 14146% 14147To the best of my recollection, Senator, I can't recall. 14148% 14149To the systems programmer, users and applications serve only to provide 14150a test load. 14151% 14152To those accustomed to the precise, structured methods of conventional 14153system development, exploratory development techniques may seem messy, 14154inelegant, and unsatisfying. But it's a question of congruence: 14155precision and flexibility may be just as dysfunctional in novel, 14156uncertain situations as sloppiness and vacillation are in familiar, 14157well-defined ones. Those who admire the massive, rigid bone structures 14158of dinosaurs should remember that jellyfish still enjoy their very 14159secure ecological niche. 14160 -- Beau Sheil, "Power Tools for Programmers" 14161% 14162To understand this important story, you have to understand how the 14163telephone company works. Your telephone is connected to a local 14164computer, which is in turn connected to a regional computer, which is 14165in turn connected to a loudspeaker the size of a garbage truck on the 14166lawn of Edna A. Bargewater of Lawrence, Kan. 14167 14168Whenever you talk on the phone, your local computer listens in. If it 14169suspects you're going to discuss an intimate topic, it notifies the 14170computer above it, which listens in and decides whether to alert the 14171one above it, until finally, if you really humiliate yourself, maybe 14172break down in tears and tell your closest friend about a sordid 14173incident from your past involving a seedy motel, a neighbor's spouse, 14174an entire religious order, a garden hose and six quarts of tapioca 14175pudding, the top computer feeds your conversation into Edna's 14176loudspeaker, and she and her friends come out on the porch to listen 14177and drink gin and laugh themselves silly. 14178 -- Dave Barry, "Won't It Be Just Great Owning Our Own 14179 Phones?" 14180% 14181To vacillate or not to vacillate, that is the question ... or is it? 14182% 14183To YOU I'm an atheist; to God, I'm the Loyal Opposition. 14184 -- Woody Allen 14185% 14186Today is a good day to bribe a high-ranking public official. 14187% 14188Today is National Existential Ennui Awareness Day. 14189% 14190Today is the first day of the rest of the mess. 14191% 14192Today is the first day of the rest of your lossage. 14193% 14194Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. 14195% 14196Today's scientific question is: What in the world is electricity? 14197 14198And where does it go after it leaves the toaster? 14199 -- Dave Barry, "What is Electricity?" 14200% 14201Today's thrilling story has been brought to you by Mushies, the great new 14202cereal that gets soggy even without milk or cream. Join us soon for more 14203spectacular adventure starring ... Tippy, the Wonder Dog. 14204 -- Bob & Ray 14205% 14206Today, of course, it is considered very poor taste to use the F-word 14207except in major motion pictures. 14208 -- Dave Barry, "$#$%#^%!^%&@%@!" 14209% 14210Toilet Toup'ee, n.: 14211 Any shag carpet that causes the lid to become top-heavy, thus 14212creating endless annoyance to male users. 14213 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 14214% 14215Tomorrow will be canceled due to lack of interest. 14216% 14217Tonight's the night: Sleep in a eucalyptus tree. 14218% 14219Too clever is dumb. 14220 -- Ogden Nash 14221% 14222Too much of a good thing is WONDERFUL. 14223 -- Mae West 14224% 14225Too much of everything is just enough. 14226 -- Bob Wier 14227% 14228Too often I find that the volume of paper expands to fill the available 14229briefcases. 14230 -- Governor Jerry Brown 14231% 14232Top 10 things likely to be overheard if you had a Klingon Programmer: 14233 10) Specifications are for the weak and timid! 14234 9) You question the worthiness of my code? I should kill you where you stand! 14235 8) Indentation?! - I will show you how to indent when I indent your skull! 14236 7) What is this talk of 'release'? Klingons do not make software 'releases'. 14237 Our software 'escapes' leaving a bloody trail of designers and quality 14238 assurance people in its wake. 14239 6) Klingon function calls do not have 'parameters' - they have 'arguments' 14240 - and they ALWAYS WIN THEM. 14241 5) Debugging? Klingons do not debug. Our software does not coddle the weak. 14242 4) A TRUE Klingon Warrior does not comment his code! 14243 3) Klingon software does NOT have BUGS. It has FEATURES, and those features 14244 are too sophisticated for a Romulan pig like you to understand. 14245 2) You cannot truly appreciate Dilbert unless you've read it in the 14246 original Klingon. 14247 1) Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! 14248 Ship it and let them flee like the dogs they are! 14249% 14250Top scientists agree that with the present rate of consumption, the 14251earth's supply of gravity will be exhausted before the 24th century. 14252As man struggles to discover cheaper alternatives, we need your help. 14253Please... 14254 14255 CONSERVE GRAVITY 14256 14257Follow these simple suggestions: 14258 14259(1) Walk with a light step. Carry helium balloons if possible. 14260(2) Use tape, magnets, or glue instead of paperweights. 14261(3) Give up skiing and skydiving for more horizontal sports like 14262 curling. 14263(4) Avoid showers ... take baths instead. 14264(5) Don't hang all your clothes in the closet ... Keep them in one big 14265 pile. 14266(6) Stop flipping pancakes 14267% 14268Travel important today; Internal Revenue men arrive tomorrow. 14269% 14270Troubled day for virgins over 16 who are beautiful, wealthy, and live 14271in eucalyptus trees. 14272% 14273Truly great madness can not be achieved without significant intelligence. 14274 -- Henrik Tikkanen 14275% 14276Truth is the most valuable thing we have -- so let us economize it. 14277 -- Mark Twain 14278% 14279Truth will be out this morning. (Which may really mess things up.) 14280% 14281Truthful, adj.: 14282 Dumb and illiterate. 14283 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 14284% 14285Try not to have a good time ... This is supposed to be educational. 14286 -- Charles Schulz 14287% 14288Try to be the best of whatever you are, even if what you are is no good. 14289% 14290Try to find the real tense of the report you are reading: Was it done, 14291is it being done, or is something to be done? Reports are now written 14292in four tenses: past tense, present tense, future tense, and 14293pretense. Watch for novel uses of CONGRAM (CONtractor GRAMmer), 14294defined by the imperfect past, the insufficient present, and the 14295absolutely perfect future. 14296 -- Amrom Katz 14297% 14298Try to get all of your posthumous medals in advance. 14299% 14300Trying to be happy is like trying to build a machine for which the only 14301specification is that it should run noiselessly. 14302% 14303Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth. 14304 -- Alan Watts 14305% 14306Trying to establish voice contact ... please ____yell into keyboard. 14307% 14308Turnaucka's Law: 14309 The attention span of a computer is only as long as its 14310electrical cord. 14311% 14312Tussman's Law: 14313 Nothing is as inevitable as a mistake whose time has come. 14314% 14315TV is chewing gum for the eyes. 14316 -- Frank Lloyd Wright 14317% 14318'Twas midnight, and the UNIX hacks 14319Did gyre and gimble in their cave 14320All mimsy was the CS-VAX 14321And Cory raths outgrabe. 14322 14323"Beware the software rot, my son! 14324The faults that bite, the jobs that thrash! 14325Beware the broken pipe, and shun 14326The frumious system crash!" 14327% 14328 'Twas the Night before Crisis 14329 14330'Twas the night before crisis, and all through the house, 14331 Not a program was working not even a browse. 14332The programmers were wrung out too mindless to care, 14333 Knowing chances of cutover hadn't a prayer. 14334The users were nestled all snug in their beds, 14335 While visions of inquiries danced in their heads. 14336When out in the lobby there arose such a clatter, 14337 I sprang from my tube to see what was the matter. 14338And what to my wondering eyes should appear, 14339 But a Super Programmer, oblivious to fear. 14340More rapid than eagles, his programs they came, 14341 And he whistled and shouted and called them by name; 14342On Update! On Add! On Inquiry! On Delete! 14343 On Batch Jobs! On Closing! On Functions Complete! 14344His eyes were glazed over, his fingers were lean, 14345 From Weekends and nights in front of a screen. 14346A wink of his eye, and a twist of his head, 14347 Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread... 14348% 14349'Twas the nocturnal segment of the diurnal period 14350 preceding the annual Yuletide celebration, And 14351 throughout our place of residence, 14352Kinetic activity was not in evidence among the 14353 possessors of this potential, including that 14354 species of domestic rodent known as Mus musculus. 14355Hosiery was meticulously suspended from the forward 14356 edge of the woodburning caloric apparatus, 14357Pursuant to our anticipatory pleasure regarding an 14358 imminent visitation from an eccentric 14359 philanthropist among whose folkloric appelations 14360 is the honorific title of St. Nicklaus ... 14361% 14362Twenty Percent of Zero is Better than Nothing. 14363 -- Walt Kelly 14364% 14365Two can Live as Cheaply as One for Half as Long. 14366 -- Howard Kandel 14367% 14368Two men came before Nasrudin when he was magistrate. The first man 14369said, "This man has bitten my ear -- I demand compensation." The 14370second man said, "He bit it himself." Nasrudin withdrew to his 14371chambers, and spent an hour trying to bite his own ear. He succeeded 14372only in falling over and bruising his forehead. Returning to the 14373courtroom, Nasrudin pronounced, "Examine the man whose ear was bitten. 14374If his forehead is bruised, he did it himself and the case is 14375dismissed. If his forehead is not bruised, the other man did it and 14376must pay three silver pieces." 14377% 14378Two percent of zero is almost nothing. 14379% 14380Two sure ways to tell a sexy male; the first is, he has a bad memory. 14381I forget the second. 14382% 14383Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do. 14384% 14385U: There's a U -- a Unicorn! 14386 Run right up and rub its horn. 14387 Look at all those points you're losing! 14388 UMBER HULKS are so confusing. 14389 -- The Roguelet's ABC 14390% 14391"Ubi non accusator, ibi non judex." 14392 14393(Where there is no police, there is no speed limit.) 14394 -- Roman Law, trans. Petr Beckmann (1971) 14395% 14396UFO's are for real: the Air Force doesn't exist. 14397% 14398"Uncle Cosmo ... why do they call this a word processor?" 14399 14400"It's simple, Skyler ... you've seen what food processors do to food, 14401right?" 14402 -- MacNelley, "Shoe" 14403% 14404Uncle Ed's Rule of Thumb: 14405 Never use your thumb for a rule. You'll either hit it with a 14406hammer or get a splinter in it. 14407% 14408Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a 14409just man is also a prison. 14410% 14411Under deadline pressure for the next week. If you want something, it 14412can wait. Unless it's blind screaming paroxysmally hedonistic ... 14413% 14414Underlying Principle of Socio-Genetics: 14415 Superiority is recessive. 14416% 14417Unfair animal names: 14418 14419-- tsetse fly -- bullhead 14420-- booby -- duck-billed platypus 14421-- sapsucker -- Clarence 14422 -- Gary Larson 14423% 14424United Nations, New York, December 25. The peace and joy of the 14425Christmas season was marred by a proclamation of a general strike of 14426all the military forces of the world. Panic reigns in the hearts of 14427all the patriots of every persuasion. 14428 14429Meanwhile, fears of universal disaster sank to an all-time low over the 14430world. 14431 -- Isaac Asimov 14432% 14433Universe, n.: 14434 The problem. 14435% 14436University, n.: 14437 Like a software house, except the software's free, and it's 14438usable, and it works, and if it breaks they'll quickly tell you how to 14439fix it, and ... 14440% 14441unix soit qui mal y pense 14442% 14443UNIX was half a billion (500000000) seconds old on 14444Tue Nov 5 00:53:20 1985 GMT (measuring since the time(2) epoch). 14445 -- Andrew S. Tanenbaum 14446% 14447Unnamed Law: 14448 If it happens, it must be possible. 14449% 14450Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out 14451twice as much in taxes as he formerly got in wages. 14452 -- H. L. Mencken 14453% 14454Usage: fortune -P [] -a [xsz] [Q: [file]] [rKe9] -v6[+] dataspec ... inputdir 14455% 14456User n.: 14457 A programmer who will believe anything you tell him. 14458% 14459USER, n.: 14460 The word computer professionals use when they mean "idiot." 14461 -- Dave Barry, "Claw Your Way to the Top" 14462% 14463Using TSO is like kicking a dead whale down the beach. 14464 -- S. C. Johnson 14465% 14466Utility is when you have one telephone, luxury is when you have two, 14467opulence is when you have three -- and paradise is when you have none. 14468 -- Doug Larson 14469% 14470Vail's Second Axiom: 14471 The amount of work to be done increases in proportion to the 14472amount of work already completed. 14473% 14474Valerie: Aww, Tom, you're going maudlin on me ... 14475Tom: I reserve the right to wax maudlin as I wane eloquent ... 14476 -- Tom Chapin 14477% 14478Van Roy's Law: 14479 An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys. 14480% 14481Vanilla, adj.: 14482 Ordinary flavor, standard. See FLAVOR. When used of food, 14483very often does not mean that the food is flavored with vanilla 14484extract! For example, "vanilla-flavored won ton soup" (or simply 14485"vanilla won ton soup") means ordinary won ton soup, as opposed to hot 14486and sour won ton soup. 14487% 14488Velilind's Laws of Experimentation: 14489 (1) If reproducibility may be a problem, conduct the test only 14490 once. 14491 (2) If a straight line fit is required, obtain only two data 14492 points. 14493% 14494Veni, Vidi, Visa. 14495% 14496 "Verily and forsooth," replied Goodgulf darkly. "In the past 14497year strange and fearful wonders I have seen. Fields sown with barley 14498reap crabgrass and fungus, and even small gardens reject their 14499artichoke hearts. There has been a hot day in December and a blue 14500moon. Calendars are made with a month of Sundays and a blue-ribbon 14501Holstein bore alive two insurance salesmen. The earth splits and the 14502entrails of a goat were found tied in square knots. The face of the 14503sun blackens and the skies have rained down soggy potato chips." 14504 14505 "But what do all these things mean?" gasped Frito. 14506 14507 "Beats me," said Goodgulf with a shrug, "but I thought it made 14508good copy." 14509 -- Harvard Lampoon, "Bored of the Rings" 14510% 14511Very few profundities can be expressed in less than 80 characters. 14512% 14513Vila: "I think I have just made the biggest mistake of my life." 14514Orac: "It is unlikely. I would predict there are far greater mistakes 14515 waiting to be made by someone with your obvious talent for it." 14516% 14517Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. 14518 -- Salvor Hardin 14519% 14520Virginia law forbids bathtubs in the house; tubs must be kept in the 14521yard. 14522% 14523VIRGO (Aug 23 - Sept 22) 14524 Learn something new today, like how to spell or how to count to 14525 ten without using your fingers. Be careful dressing this 14526 morning. You may be hit by a car later in the day and you 14527 wouldn't want to be taken to the doctor's office in some of 14528 that old underwear you own. 14529% 14530VIRGO (Aug 23 - Sept 22) 14531 You are the logical type and hate disorder. This nitpicking is 14532 sickening to your friends. You are cold and unemotional and 14533 sometimes fall asleep while making love. Virgos make good bus 14534 drivers. 14535% 14536"Virtual" means never knowing where your next byte is coming from. 14537% 14538Virtue is its own punishment. 14539% 14540Vital papers will demonstrate their vitality by spontaneously moving 14541from where you left them to where you can't find them. 14542% 14543Vitamin C deficiency is apauling. 14544% 14545VMS is like a nightmare about RSX-11M. 14546% 14547Vote anarchist. 14548% 14549Vote for ME -- I'm well-tapered, half-cocked, ill-conceived and 14550TAX-DEFERRED! 14551% 14552VYARZERZOMANIMORORSEZASSEZANSERAREORSES? 14553% 14554 14555 *** System shutdown message from root *** 14556 14557System going down in 60 seconds 14558 14559 14560% 14561Wagner's music is better than it sounds. 14562 -- Mark Twain 14563% 14564Waiter: "Tea or coffee, gentlemen?" 145651st customer: "I'll have tea." 145662nd customer: "Me, too -- and be sure the glass is clean!" 14567 (Waiter exits, returns) 14568Waiter: "Two teas. Which one asked for the clean glass?" 14569% 14570Walk softly and carry a megawatt laser. 14571% 14572War hath no fury like a non-combatant. 14573 -- Charles Edward Montague 14574% 14575War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ketchup is a vegetable. 14576% 14577 WARNING TO ALL PERSONNEL: 14578 14579Firings will continue until morale improves. 14580% 14581WARNING: 14582 Reading this fortune can affect the dimensionality of your 14583mind, change the curvature of your spine, cause the growth of hair on 14584your palms, and make a difference in the outcome of your favorite war. 14585% 14586Warning: Listening to WXRT on April Fools' Day is not recommended for 14587those who are slightly disoriented the first few hours after waking 14588up. 14589 -- Chicago Reader 4/22/83 14590% 14591Warp 7 -- It's a law we can live with. 14592% 14593Washington [D.C.] is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm. 14594 -- John F. Kennedy 14595% 14596Waste not, get your budget cut next year. 14597% 14598Wasting time is an important part of living. 14599% 14600Watson's Law: 14601 The reliability of machinery is inversely proportional to the 14602number and significance of any persons watching it. 14603% 14604We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question which 14605divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being 14606correct. My own feeling is that it is not crazy enough. 14607 -- Niels Bohr 14608% 14609We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. 14610 -- Oscar Wilde 14611% 14612We are all worms. But I do believe I am a glowworm. 14613 -- Winston Churchill 14614% 14615We ARE as gods and might as well get good at it. 14616 -- Whole Earth Catalog 14617% 14618We are confronted with insurmountable opportunities. 14619 -- Walt Kelly, "Pogo" 14620% 14621We are going to give a little something, a few little years more, to 14622socialism, because socialism is defunct. It dies all by itself. The 14623bad thing is that socialism, being a victim of its ... Did I say 14624socialism? 14625 -- Fidel Castro 14626% 14627We are on the verge: Today our program proved Fermat's next-to-last theorem. 14628 -- Epigrams in Programming, ACM SIGPLAN Sept. 1982 14629% 14630We are upping our standards ... so up yours. 14631 -- Pat Paulsen for President, 1988 14632% 14633We can defeat gravity. The problem is the paperwork involved. 14634% 14635We can predict everything, except the future. 14636% 14637We cannot put the face of a person on a stamp unless said person is 14638deceased. My suggestion, therefore, is that you drop dead. 14639 -- James E. Day, Postmaster General 14640% 14641We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty! 14642 -- Vroomfondel 14643% 14644We don't care. We don't have to. We're the Phone Company. 14645% 14646We don't know who discovered water, but we're certain it wasn't a 14647fish. 14648% 14649We don't understand the software, and sometimes we don't understand the 14650hardware, but we can *___see* the blinking lights! 14651% 14652We gave you an atomic bomb, what do you want, mermaids? 14653 -- I. I. Rabi to the Atomic Energy Commission 14654% 14655We had it tough ... I had to get up at 9 o'clock at night, half an 14656hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of dry poison, work 29 hours down 14657mill, and when we came home our Dad would kill us, and dance about on 14658our grave singing Haleleuia ... 14659 -- Monty Python 14660% 14661We have met the enemy, and he is us. 14662 -- Walt Kelly 14663% 14664We have only two things to worry about: That things will never get 14665back to normal, and that they already have. 14666% 14667We have reason to believe that man first walked upright to free his 14668hands for masturbation. 14669 -- Lily Tomlin 14670% 14671We have the flu. I don't know if this particular strain has an 14672official name, but if it does, it must be something like "Martian Death 14673Flu". You may have had it yourself. The main symptom is that you wish 14674you had another setting on your electric blanket, up past "HIGH", that 14675said "ELECTROCUTION". 14676 14677Another symptom is that you cease brushing your teeth, because (a) your 14678teeth hurt, and (b) you lack the strength. Midway through the brushing 14679process, you'd have to lie down in front of the sink to rest for a 14680couple of hours, and rivulets of toothpaste foam would dribble sideways 14681out of your mouth, eventually hardening into crusty little toothpaste 14682stalagmites that would bond your head permanently to the bathroom 14683floor, which is how the police would find you. 14684 14685You know the kind of flu I'm talking about. 14686 -- Dave Barry, "Molecular Homicide" 14687% 14688We may hope that machines will eventually compete with men in all 14689purely intellectual fields. But which are the best ones to start 14690with? Many people think that a very abstract activity, like the 14691playing of chess, would be best. It can also be maintained that it is 14692best to provide the machine with the best sense organs that money can 14693buy, and then teach it to understand and speak English. 14694 -- Alan M. Turing 14695% 14696We may not return the affection of those who like us, but we always 14697respect their good judgement. 14698% 14699We must remember the First Amendment which protects any shrill jackass 14700no matter how self-seeking. 14701 -- F. G. Withington 14702% 14703We ought to be very grateful that we have tools. Millions of years ago 14704people did not have them, and home projects were extremely difficult. 14705For example, when a primitive person wanted to put up paneling, he had 14706to drive the little paneling nails into the cave wall with his bare 14707fist, so generally the paneling wound up getting spattered with 14708primitive blood, which isn't really all that bad when you consider how 14709ugly paneling is to begin with. 14710 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 14711% 14712We really don't have any enemies. It's just that some of our best 14713friends are trying to kill us. 14714% 14715 We were young and our happiness dazzled us with its strength. 14716But there was also a terrible betrayal that lay within me like a Merle 14717Haggard song at a French restaurant. ... 14718 I could not tell the girl about the woman of the tollway, of 14719her milk white BMW and her Jordache smile. There had been a fight. I 14720had punched her boyfriend, who fought the mechanical bulls. Everyone 14721told him, "You ride the bull, senor. You do not fight it." But he was 14722lean and tough like a bad rib-eye and he fought the bull. And then he 14723fought me. And when we finished there were no winners, just men doing 14724what men must do. ... 14725 "Stop the car," the girl said. There was a look of terrible 14726sadness in her eyes. She knew about the woman of the tollway. I knew 14727not how. I started to speak, but she raised an arm and spoke with a 14728quiet and peace I will never forget. 14729 "I do not ask for whom's the tollway belle," she said, "the 14730tollway belle's for thee." 14731 The next morning our youth was a memory, and our happiness was 14732a lie. Life is like a bad margarita with good tequila, I thought as I 14733poured whiskey onto my granola and faced a new day. 14734 -- Peter Applebome, International Imitation Hemingway 14735 Competition 14736% 14737We will have solar energy as soon as the utility companies solve one 14738technical problem -- how to run a sunbeam through a meter. 14739% 14740We will invent new lullabies, new songs, new acts of love, 14741we will cry over things we used to laugh & 14742our new wisdom will bring tears to eyes of gentile 14743creatures from other planets who were afraid of us till then & 14744in the end a summer with wild winds & 14745new friends will be. 14746% 14747We wish you a Hare Krishna 14748We wish you a Hare Krishna 14749We wish you a Hare Krishna 14750And a Sun Myung Moon! 14751 -- Maxwell Smart 14752% 14753We'll cross out that bridge when we come back to it later. 14754% 14755We're deep into the holiday gift-giving season, as you can tell from 14756the fact that everywhere you look, you see jolly old St. Nick urging 14757you to purchase things, to the point where you want to slug him right 14758in his bowl full of jelly. 14759 -- Dave Barry, "Simple, Homespun Gifts" 14760% 14761We're only in it for the volume. 14762 -- Black Sabbath 14763% 14764We've sent a man to the moon, and that's 29,000 miles away. The center 14765of the Earth is only 4,000 miles away. You could drive that in a week, 14766but for some reason nobody's ever done it. 14767 -- Andy Rooney 14768% 14769Weiler's Law: 14770 Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself. 14771% 14772Weinberg's First Law: 14773 Progress is made on alternate Fridays. 14774% 14775Weinberg's Principle: 14776 An expert is a person who avoids the small errors while 14777sweeping on to the grand fallacy. 14778% 14779Weinberg's Second Law: 14780 If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, 14781then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization. 14782% 14783Weiner's Law of Libraries: 14784 There are no answers, only cross references. 14785% 14786Welcome thy neighbor into thy fallout shelter. He'll come in handy if 14787you run out of food. 14788 -- Dean McLaughlin 14789% 14790Well, here it is, 1983, so it won't be long before you start reading a 14791lot of boring stories about people like Vance Hartke. Hartke is a 14792governor or mayor or something from one of the flatter states, and the 14793reason you'll be reading about him is that he's one of the 50 top 14794contenders for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination. These men 14795will spend the next 18 months going around the country engaging in the 14796most degrading activities imaginable, such as wearing idiot hats and 14797appearing on "Meet the Press". "Meet the Press" is one of those Sunday 14798morning public interest shows that the public is not the least bit 14799interested in. It features a panel of reporters who ask questions of a 14800guest politician, who wins an Amana home freezer if he can get through 14801the entire show without answering a single question ... 14802 -- Dave Barry, "On Presidential Politics" 14803% 14804Well, I would -- if they realized that we -- again if -- if we led them 14805back to that stalemate only because our retaliatory power, our seconds, 14806or strike at them after our first strike, would be so destructive they 14807they couldn't afford it, that would hold them off. 14808 -- President Ronald Reagan, on the MX missile 14809% 14810Well, if you can't believe what you read in a comic book, what *___can* 14811you believe?! 14812 -- Bullwinkle J. Moose [Jay Ward] 14813% 14814Well, my terminal's locked up, and I ain't got any Mail, 14815 And I can't recall the last time that my program didn't fail; 14816I've got stacks in my structs, I've got arrays in my queues, 14817 I've got the : Segmentation violation -- Core dumped blues. 14818 14819If you think that it's nice that you get what you C, 14820 Then go : illogical statement with your whole family, 14821'Cause the Supreme Court ain't the only place with : Bus error views. 14822 I've got the : Segmentation violation -- Core dumped blues. 14823 14824On a PDP-11, life should be a breeze, 14825 But with VAXen in the house even magnetic tapes would freeze. 14826Now you might think that unlike VAXen I'd know who I abuse, 14827 I've got the : Segmentation violation -- Core dumped blues. 14828 -- Core Dumped Blues 14829% 14830"Well, that was a piece of cake, eh K-9?" 14831 14832"Piece of cake, Master? Radial slice of baked confection ... 14833coefficient of relevance to Key of Time: zero." 14834 -- Dr. Who 14835% 14836"Well," Brahma said, "even after ten thousand explanations, a fool is 14837no wiser, but an intelligent man requires only two thousand five 14838hundred." 14839 -- The Mahabharata 14840% 14841Westheimer's Discovery: 14842 A couple of months in the laboratory can frequently save a 14843couple of hours in the library. 14844% 14845Wethern's Law: 14846 Assumption is the mother of all screw-ups. 14847% 14848"What are we going to do?" 14849 14850"Me, I'm examining the major Western religions. I'm looking for 14851something that's soft on morality, generous with holidays, and has a 14852short initiation period." 14853% 14854"What are you doing?" 14855 14856"Examining the world's major religions. I'm looking for something 14857that's light on morals, has lots of holidays, and with a short 14858initiation period." 14859% 14860What color is a chameleon on a mirror? 14861% 14862 "What do you give a man who has everything?" the pretty 14863teenager asked her mother. 14864 "Encouragement, dear," she replied. 14865% 14866What does "it" mean in the sentence "What time is it?"? 14867% 14868What does it mean if there is no fortune for you? 14869% 14870What garlic is to food, insanity is to art. 14871% 14872What garlic is to salad, insanity is to art. 14873% 14874What George Washington did for us was to throw out the British, so 14875that we wouldn't have a fat, insensitive government running our 14876country. Nice try anyway, George. 14877 -- D. J. on KSFO/KYA 14878% 14879What good is a ticket to the good life, if you can't find the 14880entrance? 14881% 14882What good is having someone who can walk on water if you don't follow 14883in his footsteps? 14884% 14885What I do, first thing [in the morning], is I hop into the shower 14886stall. Then I hop right back out, because when I hopped in I landed 14887barefoot right on top of See Threepio, a little plastic robot character 14888from "Star Wars" whom my son, Robert, likes to pull the legs off of 14889while he showers. Then I hop right back into the stall because our 14890dog, Earnest, who has been alone in the basement all night building up 14891powerful dog emotions, has come bounding and quivering into the 14892bathroom and wants to greet me with 60 or 70 thousand playful nips, any 14893one of which -- bear in mind that I am naked and, without my contact 14894lenses, essentially blind -- could result in the kind of injury where 14895you have to learn a whole new part if you want to sing the "Messiah", 14896if you get my drift. Then I hop right back out, because Robert, with 14897that uncanny sixth sense some children have -- you cannot teach it; 14898they either have it or they don't -- has chosen exactly that moment to 14899flush one of the toilets. Perhaps several of them. 14900 -- Dave Barry, "Saving Face" 14901% 14902What I tell you three times is true. 14903% 14904What I think is that the F-word is basically just a convenient nasty- 14905sounding word that we tend to use when we would really like to come up 14906with a terrifically witty insult, the kind Winston Churchill always 14907came up with when enormous women asked him stupid questions at 14908parties. 14909 -- Dave Barry, "$#$%#^%!^%&@%@!" 14910% 14911What I want is all of the power and none of the responsibility. 14912% 14913What I've done, of course, is total garbage. 14914 -- R. Willard, Pure Math 430a 14915% 14916What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I 14917definitely overpaid for my carpet. 14918 -- Woody Allen, "Without Feathers" 14919% 14920What if nothing exists and we're all in somebody's dream? Or what's 14921worse, what if only that fat guy in the third row exists? 14922 -- Woody Allen, "Without Feathers" 14923% 14924What is a magician but a practicing theorist? 14925 -- Obi-Wan Kenobi 14926% 14927What is mind? No matter. 14928What is matter? Never mind. 14929 -- Thomas Hewitt Key, 1799-1875 14930% 14931What is the difference between a Turing machine and the modern 14932computer? It's the same as that between Hillary's ascent of Everest 14933and the establishment of a Hilton on its peak. 14934% 14935"What is the Nature of God?" 14936 14937 CLICK...CLICK...WHIRRR...CLICK...=BEEP!= 14938 1 QT. SOUR CREAM 14939 1 TSP. SAUERKRAUT 14940 1/2 CUT CHIVES. 14941 STIR AND SPRINKLE WITH BACON BITS. 14942 14943"I've just GOT to start labeling my software..." 14944 -- Bloom County 14945% 14946What is the robbing of a bank compared to the FOUNDING of a bank? 14947 -- Bertolt Brecht 14948% 14949What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, 14950which is the exact opposite. 14951 -- Bertrand Russell, "Skeptical_Essays", 1928 14952% 14953What is worth doing is worth the trouble of asking somebody to do. 14954% 14955What makes the universe so hard to comprehend is that there's nothing 14956to compare it with. 14957% 14958What publishers are looking for these days isn't radical feminism. 14959It's corporate feminism -- a brand of feminism designed to sell books 14960and magazines, three-piece suits, airline tickets, Scotch, cigarettes 14961and, most important, corporate America's message, which runs: "Yes, 14962women were discriminated against in the past, but that unfortunate 14963mistake has been remedied; now every woman can attain wealth, prestige 14964and power by dint of individual rather than collective effort." 14965 -- Susan Gordon 14966% 14967What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? 14968 -- Ursula K. LeGuin 14969% 14970What the hell, go ahead and put all your eggs in one basket. 14971% 14972What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away. 14973% 14974What the world *really* needs is a good Automatic Bicycle Sharpener. 14975% 14976What this country needs is a dime that will buy a good five-cent bagel. 14977% 14978What this country needs is a good five cent ANYTHING! 14979% 14980What this country needs is a good five cent microcomputer. 14981% 14982What this country needs is a good five cent nickel. 14983% 14984What this country needs is a good five dollar plasma weapon. 14985% 14986What this world needs is a good five-dollar plasma weapon. 14987% 14988What use is magic if it can't save a unicorn? 14989 -- Peter S. Beagle, "The Last Unicorn" 14990% 14991What we need in this country, instead of Daylight Savings Time, which 14992nobody really understands anyway, is a new concept called Weekday 14993Morning Time, whereby at 7 a.m. every weekday we go into a space- 14994launch-style "hold" for two to three hours, during which it just 14995remains 7 a.m. This way we could all wake up via a civilized gradual 14996process of stretching and belching and scratching, and it would still 14997be only 7 a.m. when we were ready to actually emerge from bed. 14998 -- Dave Barry, "$#$%#^%!^%&@%@!" 14999% 15000What you don't know can hurt you, only you won't know it. 15001% 15002What's another word for Thesaurus? 15003 -- Steven Wright 15004% 15005 "What's that thing?" 15006 "Well, it's a highly technical, sensitive instrument we use in 15007computer repair. Being a layman, you probably can't grasp exactly what 15008it does. We call it a two-by-four." 15009 -- Jeff MacNelley, "Shoe" 15010% 15011What's the use of a good quotation if you can't change it? 15012 -- Dr. Who 15013% 15014Whatever became of eternal truth? 15015% 15016Whatever became of Strange de Jim? Well, he found a substitute for 15017cocaine: "You cover Q-tips with sandpaper and ram them up your nostrils 15018as far as they will go. Then you sniff talcum powder while shredding 15019hundred dollar bills." 15020 -- Herb Caen 15021% 15022Whatever is not nailed down is mine. What I can pry loose is not 15023nailed down. 15024 -- Collis P. Huntingdon 15025% 15026Whatever the missing mass of the universe is, I hope it's not cockroaches! 15027 -- Mom 15028% 15029When a Banker jumps out of a window, jump after him -- that's where the 15030money is. 15031 -- Robespierre 15032% 15033When a fellow says, "It ain't the money but the principle of the 15034thing," it's the money. 15035 -- Kim Hubbard 15036% 15037When a fly lands on the ceiling, does it do a half roll or a half 15038loop? 15039% 15040When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is 15041not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space 15042travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere. 15043 -- Robert Heinlein, "Time Enough For Love" 15044% 15045When a shepherd goes to kill a wolf, and takes his dog along to see the 15046sport, he should take care to avoid mistakes. The dog has certain 15047relationships to the wolf the shepherd may have forgotten. 15048 -- Robert Pirsig, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" 15049% 15050When all other means of communication fail, try words. 15051% 15052When are you BUTTHEADS gonna learn that you can't oppose Gestapo 15053tactics *with* Gestapo tactics? 15054 -- Reuben Flagg 15055% 15056When asked by an anthropologist what the Indians called America before 15057the white men came, an Indian said simply "Ours." 15058 -- Vine Deloria, Jr. 15059% 15060When does summertime come to Minnesota, you ask? Well, last year, I 15061think it was a Tuesday. 15062% 15063When God endowed human beings with brains, He did not intend to 15064guarantee them. 15065% 15066When I get real bored, I like to drive downtown and get a great 15067parking spot, then sit in my car and count how many people ask me if 15068I'm leaving. 15069 -- Steven Wright 15070% 15071When I heated my home with oil, I used an average of 800 gallons a 15072year. I have found that I can keep comfortably warm for an entire 15073winter with slightly over half that quantity of beer. 15074 -- Dave Barry, "Postpetroleum Guzzler" 15075% 15076When I said "we", officer, I was referring to myself, the four young 15077ladies, and, of course, the goat. 15078% 15079When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President. Now 15080I'm beginning to believe it. 15081 -- Clarence Darrow 15082% 15083When I was a kid I said to my father one afternoon, "Daddy, will you 15084take me to the zoo?" He answered, "If the zoo wants you let them come 15085and get you." 15086 -- Jerry Lewis 15087% 15088When I was crossing the border into Canada, they asked if I had any 15089firearms with me. I said, `Well, what do you need?' 15090 -- Steven Wright 15091% 15092When I was in school, I cheated on my metaphysics exam: I looked into 15093the soul of the boy sitting next to me. 15094 -- Woody Allen 15095% 15096When I was seven years old, I was once reprimanded by my mother for an 15097act of collective brutality in which I had been involved at school. A 15098group of seven-year-olds had been teasing and tormenting a 15099six-year-old. "It is always so," my mother said. "You do things 15100together which not one of you would think of doing alone." ... 15101Wherever one looks in the world of human organization, collective 15102responsibility brings a lowering of moral standards. The military 15103establishment is an extreme case, an organization which seems to have 15104been expressly designed to make it possible for people to do things 15105together which nobody in his right mind would do alone. 15106 -- Freeman Dyson, "Weapons and Hope" 15107% 15108When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened 15109or not; but my faculties are decaying now and soon I shall be so I 15110cannot remember any but the things that never happened. It is sad to 15111go to pieces like this but we all have to do it. 15112 -- Mark Twain 15113% 15114When in doubt, do what the President does -- guess. 15115% 15116When in doubt, tell the truth. 15117 -- Mark Twain 15118% 15119When in doubt, use brute force. 15120 -- Ken Thompson 15121% 15122When in panic, fear and doubt, 15123Drink in barrels, eat, and shout. 15124% 15125When love is gone, there's always justice. 15126And when justice is gone, there's always force. 15127And when force is gone, there's always Mom. 15128Hi, Mom! 15129 -- Laurie Anderson 15130% 15131When Marriage is Outlawed, 15132Only Outlaws will have Inlaws. 15133% 15134When more and more people are thrown out of work, unemployment 15135results. 15136 -- Calvin Coolidge 15137% 15138When one woman was asked how long she had been going to symphony 15139concerts, she paused to calculate and replied, "Forty-seven years -- 15140and I find I mind it less and less." 15141 -- Louise Andrews Kent 15142% 15143When properly administered, vacations do not diminish productivity: 15144for every week you're away and get nothing done, there's another when 15145your boss is away and you get twice as much done. 15146 -- Daniel B. Luten 15147% 15148When someone says "I want a programming language in which I need only 15149say what I wish done," give him a lollipop. 15150% 15151When the going gets tough, the tough get empirical. 15152 -- Jon Carroll 15153% 15154When the government bureau's remedies don't match your problem, you 15155modify the problem, not the remedy. 15156% 15157When the Ngdanga tribe of West Africa hold their moon love ceremonies, 15158the men of the tribe bang their heads on sacred trees until they get a 15159nose bleed, which usually cures them of ____that. 15160 -- Mike Harding, "The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac" 15161% 15162When the speaker and he to whom he is speaks do not understand, that is 15163metaphysics. 15164 -- Voltaire 15165% 15166When the Universe was not so out of whack as it is today, and all the 15167stars were lined up in their proper places, you could easily count them 15168from left to right, or top to bottom, and the larger and bluer ones 15169were set apart, and the smaller yellowing types pushed off to the 15170corners as bodies of a lower grade ... 15171 -- Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad" 15172% 15173When the weight of the paperwork equals the weight of the plane, the 15174plane will fly. 15175 -- Donald Douglas 15176% 15177When two people are under the influence of the most violent, most 15178insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions, they are 15179required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abnormal, and 15180exhausting condition continuously until death do them part. 15181 -- George Bernard Shaw 15182% 15183When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is 15184not hereditary. 15185 -- Thomas Paine 15186% 15187When we understand knowledge-based systems, it will be as before -- 15188except our fingertips will have been singed. 15189 -- Epigrams in Programming, ACM SIGPLAN Sept. 1982 15190% 15191When you are about to do an objective and scientific piece of 15192investigation of a topic, it is well to have the answer firmly in hand, 15193so that you can proceed forthrightly, without being deflected or 15194swayed, directly to the goal. 15195 -- Amrom Katz 15196% 15197When you are in it up to your ears, keep your mouth shut. 15198% 15199When you don't know what you are doing, do it neatly. 15200% 15201When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship. 15202 -- Harry S. Truman 15203% 15204 When you have shot and killed a man you have in some measure 15205clarified your attitude toward him. You have given a definite answer 15206to a definite problem. For better or worse you have acted decisively. 15207 In a way, the next move is up to him. 15208 -- R. A. Lafferty 15209% 15210When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite. 15211 -- Winston Churchill, on formal declarations of war 15212% 15213When you know absolutely nothing about the topic, make your forecast by 15214asking a carefully selected probability sample of 300 others who don't 15215know the answer either. 15216 -- Edgar R. Fiedler 15217% 15218When you make your mark in the world, watch out for guys with erasers. 15219 -- The Wall Street Journal 15220% 15221When you try to make an impression, the chances are that is the 15222impression you will make. 15223% 15224When you're away, I'm restless, lonely, 15225Wretched, bored, dejected; only 15226Here's the rub, my darling dear 15227I feel the same when you are near. 15228 -- Samuel Hoffenstein, "When You're Away" 15229% 15230When you're not looking at it, this fortune is written in FORTRAN. 15231% 15232Whenever anyone says, "theoretically", they really mean, "not really". 15233 -- Dave Parnas 15234% 15235Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to 15236see it tried on him personally. 15237 -- A. Lincoln 15238% 15239Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong. 15240 -- Oscar Wilde 15241% 15242Whenever the literary German dives into a sentence, that is the last 15243you are going to see of him until he emerges on the other side of his 15244Atlantic with his verb in his mouth. 15245 -- Mark Twain 15246 "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" 15247% 15248Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time 15249to reform. 15250 -- Mark Twain 15251% 15252WHERE CAN THE MATTER BE 15253 15254 Oh, dear, where can the matter be 15255 When it's converted to energy? 15256 There is a slight loss of parity. 15257 Johnny's so long at the fair. 15258% 15259Where humor is concerned there are no standards -- no one can say what 15260is good or bad, although you can be sure that everyone will. 15261 -- John Kenneth Galbraith 15262% 15263Where there's a will, there's an Inheritance Tax. 15264% 15265Whether you can hear it or not 15266The Universe is laughing behind your back 15267 -- National Lampoon, "Deteriorata" 15268% 15269Which is worse: ignorance or apathy? Who knows? Who cares? 15270% 15271While anyone can admit to themselves they were wrong, the true test is 15272admission to someone else. 15273% 15274While Europe's eye is fix'd on mighty things, 15275The fate of empires and the fall of kings; 15276While quacks of State must each produce his plan, 15277And even children lisp the Rights of Man; 15278Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention, 15279The Rights of Woman merit some attention. 15280 -- Robert Burns, Address on "The Rights of Woman", 15281 November 26, 1792 15282% 15283While having never invented a sin, I'm trying to perfect several. 15284% 15285While it may be true that a watched pot never boils, the one you don't 15286keep an eye on can make an awful mess of your stove. 15287 -- Edward Stevenson 15288% 15289While money can't buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own 15290form of misery. 15291% 15292While money doesn't buy love, it puts you in a great bargaining position. 15293% 15294While most peoples' opinions change, the conviction of their 15295correctness never does. 15296% 15297While you don't greatly need the outside world, it's still very 15298reassuring to know that it's still there. 15299% 15300While your friend holds you affectionately by both your hands you are 15301safe, for you can watch both of his. 15302 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 15303% 15304Whistler's Law: 15305 You never know who is right, but you always know who is in 15306charge. 15307% 15308Who cares if it doesn't do anything? It was made with our new 15309Triple-Iso-Bifurcated-Krypton-Gate-MOS process ... 15310% 15311Who made the world I cannot tell; 15312'Tis made, and here am I in hell. 15313My hand, though now my knuckles bleed, 15314I never soiled with such a deed. 15315 -- A. E. Housman 15316% 15317Who messed with my anti-paranoia shot? 15318% 15319Who needs friends when you can sit alone in your room and drink? 15320% 15321Who's on first? 15322% 15323"Whom are you?" said he, for he had been to night school. 15324 -- George Ade 15325% 15326Whom computers would destroy, they must first drive mad. 15327% 15328Whom the gods wish to destroy they first call promising. 15329% 15330Why are we importing all these highbrow plays like `Amadeus'? I could 15331have told you Mozart was a jerk for nothing. 15332 -- Ian Shoales 15333% 15334Why be a man when you can be a success? 15335 -- Bertolt Brecht 15336% 15337Why bother building any more nuclear warheads until we use the ones we 15338have? 15339% 15340Why can't you be a non-conformist like everyone else? 15341% 15342Why did the Lord give us so much quickness of movement unless it was to 15343avoid responsibility with? 15344% 15345Why did the Roman Empire collapse? 15346What is the Latin for office automation? 15347% 15348Why do we have two eyes? To watch 3-D movies with. 15349% 15350Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food: frequently 15351there must be a beverage. 15352 -- Woody Allen, "Without Feathers" 15353% 15354Why does New Jersey have more toxic waste dumps and California have 15355more lawyers? 15356 15357New Jersey had first choice. 15358% 15359Why don't elephants eat penguins ? 15360 15361Because they can't get the wrappers off ... 15362% 15363Why I Can't Go Out With You: 15364 15365I'd LOVE to, but ... 15366 -- I have to floss my cat. 15367 -- I've dedicated my life to linguini. 15368 -- I need to spend more time with my blender. 15369 -- it wouldn't be fair to the other Beautiful People. 15370 -- it's my night to pet the dog/ferret/goldfish. 15371 -- I'm going downtown to try on some gloves. 15372 -- I have to check the freshness dates on my dairy products. 15373 -- I'm going down to the bakery to watch the buns rise. 15374 -- I have an appointment with a cuticle specialist. 15375 -- I have some really hard words to look up. 15376 -- I've got a Friends of the Lowly Rutabaga meeting. 15377 -- I promised to help a friend fold road maps. 15378% 15379Why is it that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral? It is 15380because we are not the person involved 15381 -- Mark Twain 15382% 15383Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song? 15384% 15385Why isn't there a special name for the tops of your feet? 15386 -- Lily Tomlin 15387% 15388Why must you tell me all your secrets when it's hard enough to love 15389you knowing nothing? 15390 -- Lloyd Cole and the Commotions 15391% 15392Why not have an old-fashioned Christmas for your family this year? 15393Just picture the scene in your living room on Christmas morning as your 15394children open their old-fashioned presents. 15395 15396Your 11-year-old son: "What the heck is this?" 15397 15398You: "A spinning top! You spin it around, and then eventually it 15399 falls down. What fun! Ha, ha!" 15400 15401Son: "Is this a joke? Jason Thompson's parents got him a computer 15402 with two disk drives and 128 kilobytes of random-access memory, 15403 and I get this cretin TOP?" 15404 15405Your 8-year-old daughter: "You think that's bad? Look at this." 15406 15407You: "It's figgy pudding! What a treat!" 15408 15409Daughter: "It looks like goat barf." 15410 -- Dave Barry, "Simple, Homespun Gifts" 15411% 15412Why was I born with such contemporaries? 15413 -- Oscar Wilde 15414% 15415Why You Can't Run When There's Trouble in the Office: 15416 No matter where you stand, no matter how far or fast you flee, 15417when it hits the fan, as much as possible will be propelled in your 15418direction, and almost none will be returned to the source. 15419 -- John L. Shelton 15420% 15421Wiker's Law: 15422 Government expands to absorb revenue and then some. 15423% 15424 William Safire's Rules for Writers: 15425 15426Remember to never split an infinitive. The passive voice should never 15427be used. Do not put statements in the negative form. Verbs have to 15428agree with their subjects. Proofread carefully to see if you words 15429out. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal 15430of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing. A writer must 15431not shift your point of view. And don't start a sentence with a 15432conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a 15433sentence with.) Don't overuse exclamation marks!! Place pronouns as 15434close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more 15435words, to their antecedents. Writing carefully, dangling participles 15436must be avoided. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a 15437linking verb is. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing 15438metaphors. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Everyone should 15439be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their 15440writing. Always pick on the correct idiom. The adverb always follows 15441the verb. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek 15442viable alternatives. 15443% 15444Williams and Holland's Law: 15445 If enough data is collected, anything may be proven by 15446statistical methods. 15447% 15448Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as 15449it was in the summer, when they complained about the heat. 15450% 15451Wit, n.: 15452 The salt with which the American Humorist spoils his cookery 15453... by leaving it out. 15454 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 15455% 15456With a gentleman I try to be a gentleman and a half, and with a fraud I 15457try to be a fraud and a half. 15458 -- Otto von Bismarck 15459% 15460With a rubber duck, one's never alone. 15461 -- Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" 15462% 15463With all the fancy scientists in the world, why can't they just once 15464build a nuclear balm? 15465% 15466With every passing hour our solar system comes forty-three thousand 15467miles closer to globular cluster M13 in the constellation Hercules, and 15468still there are some misfits who continue to insist that there is no 15469such thing as progress. 15470 -- Ransom K. Ferm 15471% 15472With trembling hands he unfurled the ancient cracked parchment, 15473this was the place, it had to be. Uncertainly he began to mumble the 15474chant "rdbms, sql, third normal formal form, java, table, scalable". 15475Something moved... From outside they heard a scream and a thud. 15476The sales department had awoken. 15477% 15478Without ice cream life and fame are meaningless. 15479% 15480Wombat's Laws of Computer Selection: 15481 (1) If it doesn't run Unix, forget it. 15482 (2) Any computer design over 10 years old is obsolete. 15483 (3) Anything made by IBM is junk. (See number 2) 15484 (4) The minimum acceptable CPU power for a single user is a 15485 VAX/780 with a floating point accelerator. 15486 (5) Any computer with a mouse is worthless. 15487 -- Rich Kulawiec 15488% 15489Wood is highly ecological, since trees are a renewable resource. If 15490you cut down a tree, another will grow in its place. And if you cut 15491down the new tree, still another will grow. And if you cut down that 15492tree, yet another will grow, only this one will be a mutation with 15493long, poisonous tentacles and revenge in its heart, and it will sit 15494there in the forest, cackling and making elaborate plans for when you 15495come back. 15496 15497Wood heat is not new. It dates back to a day millions of years ago, 15498when a group of cavemen were sitting around, watching dinosaurs rot. 15499Suddenly, lightning struck a nearby log and set it on fire. One of the 15500cavemen stared at the fire for a few minutes, then said: "Hey! Wood 15501heat!" The other cavemen, who did not understand English, immediately 15502beat him to death with stones. But the key discovery had been made, 15503and from that day forward, the cavemen had all the heat they needed, 15504although their insurance rates went way up. 15505 -- Dave Barry, "Postpetroleum Guzzler" 15506% 15507Work Rule: Leave of Absence (for an Operation): 15508 We are no longer allowing this practice. We wish to discourage 15509any thoughts that you may not need all of whatever you have, and you 15510should not consider having anything removed. We hired you as you are, 15511and to have anything removed would certainly make you less than we 15512bargained for. 15513% 15514Workers of the world, arise! You have nothing to lose but your chairs. 15515% 15516World War Three can be averted by adherence to a strictly enforced 15517dress code! 15518% 15519Worst Month of 1981 for Downhill Skiing: 15520 August. The lines are the shortest, though. 15521 -- Steve Rubenstein 15522% 15523Worst Month of the Year: 15524 February. February has only 28 days in it, which means that if 15525you rent an apartment, you are paying for three full days you don't 15526get. Try to avoid Februarys whenever possible. 15527 -- Steve Rubenstein 15528% 15529Worst Response To A Crisis, 1985: 15530 From a readers' Q and A column in TV GUIDE: "If we get involved 15531in a nuclear war, would the electromagnetic pulses from exploding bombs 15532damage my videotapes?" 15533% 15534Worst Vegetable of the Year: 15535 The brussels sprout. This is also the worst vegetable of next 15536year. 15537 -- Steve Rubenstein 15538% 15539"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" 15540 15541"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. 15542 -- Lewis Carroll 15543% 15544Wouldn't the sentence 'I want to put a hyphen between the words Fish 15545and And and And and Chips in my Fish-And-Chips sign' have been clearer 15546if quotation marks had been placed before Fish, and between Fish and 15547and, and and and And, and And and and, and and and And, and And and 15548and, and and and Chips, as well as after Chips? 15549% 15550Write-Protect Tab, n.: 15551 A small sticker created to cover the unsightly notch carelessly 15552left by disk manufacturers. The use of the tab creates an error 15553message once in a while, but its aesthetic value far outweighs the 15554momentary inconvenience. 15555 -- Robb Russon 15556% 15557Writing about music is like dancing about architecture. 15558 -- Frank Zappa 15559% 15560"Wrong," said Renner. 15561 15562"The tactful way," Rod said quietly, "the polite way to disagree with 15563the Senator would be to say, `That turns out not to be the case.'" 15564% 15565X-rated movies are all alike -- the only thing they leave to the 15566imagination is the plot. 15567% 15568Xerox does it again and again and again and ... 15569% 15570Xerox never comes up with anything original. 15571% 15572XIIdigitation, n.: 15573 The practice of trying to determine the year a movie was made 15574by deciphering the Roman numerals at the end of the credits. 15575 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 15576% 15577"Yacc" owes much to a most stimulating collection of users, who have 15578goaded me beyond my inclination, and frequently beyond my ability in 15579their endless search for "one more feature". Their irritating 15580unwillingness to learn how to do things my way has usually led to my 15581doing things their way; most of the time, they have been right. 15582 -- Stephen C. Johnson, "Yacc guide acknowledgements" 15583% 15584Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of APL, I shall 15585fear no evil, for I can string six primitive monadic and dyadic 15586operators together. 15587 -- Steve Higgins 15588% 15589Yeah, but you're taking the universe out of context. 15590% 15591Year, n.: 15592 A period of three hundred and sixty-five disappointments. 15593 -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" 15594% 15595Yes, but every time I try to see things your way, I get a headache. 15596% 15597Yes, but which self do you want to be? 15598% 15599Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. 15600Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. 15601Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement. 15602 -- Snoopy 15603% 15604Yesterday upon the stair 15605I met a man who wasn't there. 15606He wasn't there again today -- 15607I think he's from the CIA. 15608% 15609Yield to Temptation ... it may not pass your way again. 15610 -- Lazarus Long, "Time Enough for Love" 15611% 15612Yinkel, n.: 15613 A person who combs his hair over his bald spot, hoping no one 15614will notice. 15615 -- Rich Hall, "Sniglets" 15616% 15617You are a very redundant person, that's what kind of person you are. 15618% 15619You are here: 15620 *** 15621 *** 15622 ********* 15623 ******* 15624 ***** 15625 *** 15626 * 15627 15628 But you're not all there. 15629% 15630You are not illiterate. 15631 -- a Mary Chung's fortune cookie 15632% 15633"You are old, Father William," the young man said, 15634 "All your papers these days look the same; 15635Those William's would be better unread -- 15636 Do these facts never fill you with shame?" 15637 15638"In my youth," Father William replied to his son, 15639 "I wrote wonderful papers galore; 15640But the great reputation I found that I'd won, 15641 Made it pointless to think any more." 15642% 15643"You are old, father William," the young man said, 15644 "And your hair has become very white; 15645And yet you incessantly stand on your head -- 15646 Do you think, at your age, it is right?" 15647 15648"In my youth," father William replied to his son, 15649 "I feared it might injure the brain; 15650But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none, 15651 Why, I do it again and again." 15652 -- Lewis Carroll 15653% 15654"You are old," said the youth, "and I'm told by my peers 15655 That your lectures bore people to death. 15656Yet you talk at one hundred conventions per year -- 15657 Don't you think that you should save your breath?" 15658 15659"I have answered three questions and that is enough," 15660 Said his father, "Don't give yourself airs! 15661Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff? 15662 Be off, or I'll kick you downstairs!" 15663% 15664"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak 15665 For anything tougher than suet; 15666Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak -- 15667 Pray, how did you manage to do it?" 15668 15669"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law, 15670 And argued each case with my wife; 15671And the muscular strength which it gave to my jaw, 15672 Has lasted the rest of my life." 15673 -- Lewis Carroll 15674% 15675"You are old," said the youth, "and your programs don't run, 15676 And there isn't one language you like; 15677Yet of useful suggestions for help you have none -- 15678 Have you thought about taking a hike?" 15679 15680"Since I never write programs," his father replied, 15681 "Every language looks equally bad; 15682Yet the people keep paying to read all my books 15683 And don't realize that they've been had." 15684% 15685"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before, 15686 And have grown most uncommonly fat; 15687Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door -- 15688 Pray what is the reason of that?" 15689 15690"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks, 15691 "I kept all my limbs very supple 15692By the use of this ointment -- one shilling the box -- 15693 Allow me to sell you a couple?" 15694 -- Lewis Carroll 15695% 15696"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before, 15697 And make errors few people could bear; 15698You complain about everyone's English but yours -- 15699 Do you really think this is quite fair?" 15700 15701"I make lots of mistakes," Father William declared, 15702 "But my stature these days is so great 15703That no critic can hurt me -- I've got them all scared, 15704 And to stop me it's now far too late." 15705% 15706"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose 15707 That your eye was as steady as ever; 15708Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose -- 15709 What made you so awfully clever?" 15710 15711"I have answered three questions, and that is enough," 15712 Said his father. "Don't give yourself airs! 15713Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff? 15714 Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!" 15715 -- Lewis Carroll 15716% 15717You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely. 15718% 15719You are the only person to ever get this message. 15720% 15721You are wise, witty, and wonderful, but you spend too much time reading 15722this sort of trash. 15723% 15724You buttered your bread, now lie in it! 15725% 15726You can always tell the Christmas season is here when you start getting 15727incredibly dense, tinfoil-and-ribbon- wrapped lumps in the mail. 15728Fruitcakes make ideal gifts because the Postal Service has been unable 15729to find a way to damage them. They last forever, largely because 15730nobody ever eats them. In fact, many smart people save the fruitcakes 15731they receive and send them back to the original givers the next year; 15732some fruitcakes have been passed back and forth for hundreds of years. 15733 15734The easiest way to make a fruitcake is to buy a darkish cake, then 15735pound some old, hard fruit into it with a mallet. Be sure to wear 15736safety glasses. 15737 -- Dave Barry, "Simple, Homespun Gifts" 15738% 15739You can bring any calculator you like to the midterm, as long as it 15740doesn't dim the lights when you turn it on. 15741 -- Hepler, Systems Design 182 15742% 15743You can create your own opportunities this week. 15744Blackmail a senior executive. 15745% 15746You can do this in a number of ways. IBM chose to do all of them. 15747Why do you find that funny? 15748 -- D. Taylor, Computer Science 350, University of Washington 15749% 15750You can get more of what you want with a kind word and a gun than you 15751can with just a kind word. 15752 -- Bumper Sticker 15753% 15754You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, 15755for instance. 15756 -- Franklin P. Jones 15757% 15758You can make it illegal, but you can't make it unpopular. 15759% 15760You can measure a programmer's perspective by noting his attitude on 15761the continuing viability of FORTRAN. 15762 -- Alan Perlis 15763% 15764You can only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. 15765% 15766You can take all the impact that science considerations have on funding 15767decisions at NASA, put them in the navel of a flea, and have room left 15768over for a caraway seed and Tony Calio's heart. 15769 -- F. Allen 15770% 15771You can tell how far we have to go, when FORTRAN is the language of 15772supercomputers. 15773 -- Steven Feiner 15774% 15775You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish. 15776% 15777You can write a small letter to Grandma in the filename. 15778 -- Forbes Burkowski, Computer Science 454 15779% 15780You can't carve your way to success without cutting remarks. 15781% 15782You can't have everything. Where would you put it? 15783 -- Steven Wright 15784% 15785You can't hold a man down without staying down with him. 15786 -- Booker T. Washington 15787% 15788You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair. 15789% 15790You can't make a program without broken egos. 15791% 15792You can't start worrying about what's going to happen. You get spastic 15793enough worrying about what's happening now. 15794 -- Lauren Bacall 15795% 15796You can't survive by sucking the juice from a wet mitten. 15797 -- Charles Schulz, "Things I've Had to Learn Over and 15798 Over and Over" 15799% 15800You can't teach people to be lazy - either they have it, or they don't. 15801 -- Dagwood Bumstead 15802% 15803You cannot achieve the impossible without attempting the absurd. 15804% 15805You cannot kill time without injuring eternity. 15806% 15807You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back. 15808% 15809You could get a new lease on life -- if only you didn't need the first 15810and last month in advance. 15811% 15812You couldn't even prove the White House staff sane beyond a reasonable 15813doubt. 15814 -- Ed Meese, on the Hinckley verdict 15815% 15816You do not have mail. 15817% 15818You don't have to think too hard when you talk to teachers. 15819 -- J. D. Salinger 15820% 15821You don't sew with a fork, so I see no reason to eat with knitting 15822needles. 15823 -- Miss Piggy, on eating Chinese Food 15824% 15825You first have to decide whether to use the short or the long form. 15826The short form is what the Internal Revenue Service calls "simplified", 15827which means it is designed for people who need the help of a Sears 15828tax-preparation expert to distinguish between their first and last 15829names. Here's the complete text: 15830 15831 "(1) How much did you make? (AMOUNT) 15832 "(2) How much did we here at the government take out? (AMOUNT) 15833 "(3) Hey! Sounds like we took too much! So we're going to 15834 send an official government check for (ONE-FIFTEENTH OF 15835 THE AMOUNT WE TOOK) directly to the (YOUR LAST NAME) 15836 household at (YOUR ADDRESS), for you to spend in any way 15837 you please! Which just goes to show you, (YOUR FIRST 15838 NAME), that it pays to file the short form!" 15839 15840The IRS wants you to use this form because it gets to keep most of your 15841money. So unless you have pond silt for brains, you want the long 15842form. 15843 -- Dave Barry, "Sweating Out Taxes" 15844% 15845You have a tendency to feel you are superior to most computers. 15846% 15847You have acquired a scroll entitled 'irk gleknow mizk'(n).--More-- 15848 15849This is an IBM Manual scroll.--More-- 15850 15851You are permanently confused. 15852 -- Dave Decot 15853% 15854You have an unusual magnetic personality. Don't walk too close to 15855metal objects which are not fastened down. 15856% 15857You have junk mail. 15858% 15859You have the body of a 19 year old. Please return it before it gets 15860wrinkled. 15861% 15862You have the capacity to learn from mistakes. You'll learn a lot today. 15863% 15864You know it's going to be a bad day when you want to put on the clothes 15865you wore home from the party and there aren't any. 15866% 15867You know the great thing about TV? If something important happens 15868anywhere at all in the world, no matter what time of the day or night, 15869you can always change the channel. 15870 -- Jim Ignatowski 15871% 15872You know you have a small apartment when Rice Krispies echo. 15873 -- S. Rickly Christian 15874% 15875You know you're a little fat if you have stretch marks on your car. 15876 -- Cyrus, Chicago Reader 1/22/82 15877% 15878You know you've been spending too much time on the computer when your 15879friend misdates a check, and you suggest adding a "++" to fix it. 15880% 15881You know you've landed gear-up when it takes full power to taxi. 15882% 15883 "You know, it's at times like this when I'm trapped in a Vogon 15884airlock with a man from Betelgeuse and about to die of asphyxiation in 15885deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me 15886when I was young!" 15887 "Why, what did she tell you?" 15888 "I don't know, I didn't listen!" 15889 -- Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" 15890% 15891You look like a million dollars. All green and wrinkled. 15892% 15893You may be recognized soon. Hide. 15894% 15895You may be sure that when a man begins to call himself a "realist," he 15896is preparing to do something he is secretly ashamed of doing. 15897 -- Sydney Harris 15898% 15899You may easily play a joke on a man who likes to argue -- agree with 15900him. 15901 -- Ed Howe 15902% 15903You may have heard that a dean is to faculty as a hydrant is to a dog. 15904 -- Alfred Kahn 15905% 15906You men out there probably think you already know how to dress for 15907success. You know, for example, that you should not wear leisure suits 15908or white plastic belts and shoes, unless you are going to a costume 15909party disguised as a pig farmer vacationing at Disney World. 15910 -- Dave Barry, "How to Dress for Real Success" 15911% 15912You might have mail. 15913% 15914You might have had mail. 15915% 15916You must realize that the computer has it in for you. The irrefutable 15917proof of this is that the computer always does what you tell it to do. 15918% 15919You need no longer worry about the future. This time tomorrow you'll 15920be dead. 15921% 15922You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a 15923reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating 15924the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for 15925independence. 15926 -- Charles A. Beard 15927% 15928You never know how many friends you have until you rent a house on the 15929beach. 15930% 15931You or I must yield up his life to Ahrimanes. I would rather it were 15932you. I should have no hesitation in sacrificing my own life to spare 15933yours, but we take stock next week, and it would not be fair on the 15934company. 15935 -- J. Wellington Wells 15936% 15937You possess a mind not merely twisted, but actually sprained. 15938% 15939You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could 15940know how seldom they do. 15941 -- Olin Miller 15942% 15943You should emulate your heros, but don't carry it too far. Especially 15944if they are dead. 15945% 15946You should never bet against anything in science at odds of more than 15947about 10^12 to 1. 15948 -- Ernest Rutherford 15949% 15950You should never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for 15951freedom and liberty. 15952 -- Henrik Ibsen 15953% 15954You should not use your fireplace, because scientists now believe that, 15955contrary to popular opinion, fireplaces actually remove heat from 15956houses. Really, that's what scientists believe. In fact many 15957scientists actually use their fireplaces to cool their houses in the 15958summer. If you visit a scientist's house on a sultry August day, 15959you'll find a cheerful fire roaring on the hearth and the scientist 15960sitting nearby, remarking on how cool he is and drinking heavily. 15961 -- Dave Barry, "Postpetroleum Guzzler" 15962% 15963You should tip the waiter $10, minus $2 if he tells you his name, 15964another $2 if he claims it will be His Pleasure to serve you and 15965another $2 for each "special" he describes involving confusing terms 15966such as "shallots," and $4 if the menu contains the word "fixin's." In 15967many restaurants, this means the waiter will actually owe you money. 15968If you are traveling with a child aged six months to three years, you 15969should leave an additional amount equal to twice the bill to compensate 15970for the fact that they will have to take the banquette out and burn it 15971because the cracks are wedged solid with gobbets made of partially 15972chewed former restaurant rolls saturated with baby spit. 15973 15974In New York, tip the taxicab driver $40 if he does not mention his 15975hemorrhoids. 15976 -- Dave Barry, "The Stuff of Etiquette" 15977% 15978You should, without hesitation, pound your typewriter into a 15979plowshare, your paper into fertilizer, and enter agriculture. 15980 -- Business Professor, University of Georgia 15981% 15982You think Oedipus had a problem -- Adam was Eve's mother. 15983% 15984 YOU TOO CAN MAKE BIG MONEY IN THE EXCITING FIELD OF 15985 PAPER SHUFFLING! 15986 15987Mr. TAA of Muddle, Mass. says: "Before I took this course I used to be 15988a lowly bit twiddler. Now with what I learned at MIT Tech I feel 15989really important and can obfuscate and confuse with the best." 15990 15991Mr. MARC had this to say: "Ten short days ago all I could look forward 15992to was a dead-end job as a engineer. Now I have a promising future and 15993make really big Zorkmids." 15994 15995MIT Tech can't promise these fantastic results to everyone, but when 15996you earn your MDL degree from MIT Tech your future will be brighter. 15997 15998 SEND FOR OUR FREE BROCHURE TODAY! 15999% 16000You too can wear a nose mitten. 16001% 16002You will be a winner today. Pick a fight with a four-year-old. 16003% 16004You will be attacked by a beast who has the body of a wolf, the tail of 16005a lion, and the face of Donald Duck. 16006% 16007You will be surprised by a loud noise. 16008% 16009You will be Told about it Tomorrow. Go Home and Prepare Thyself. 16010% 16011You will feel hungry again in another hour. 16012% 16013You will lose your present job and have to become a door to door 16014mayonnaise salesman. 16015% 16016 You will remember, Watson, how the dreadful business of the 16017Abernetty family was first brought to my notice by the depth which the 16018parsley had sunk into the butter upon a hot day. 16019 -- Sherlock Holmes 16020% 16021You will think of something funnier than this to add to the fortunes. 16022% 16023You worry too much about your job. Stop it. You're not paid enough to 16024worry. 16025% 16026You'd better beat it. You can leave in a taxi. If you can't get a 16027taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, you can leave in a 16028minute and a huff. 16029 -- Groucho Marx 16030% 16031You'll never be the man your mother was! 16032% 16033You're at the end of the road again. 16034% 16035You're being followed. Cut out the hanky-panky for a few days. 16036% 16037You're never too old to become younger. 16038 -- Mae West 16039% 16040You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on. 16041 -- Dean Martin 16042% 16043You're not my type. For that matter, you're not even my species!!! 16044% 16045You've been leading a dog's life. Stay off the furniture. 16046% 16047You've got to have a gimmick if your band sucks. 16048 -- Gary Giddens 16049% 16050"You've got to think about tomorrow!" 16051 16052"TOMORROW! I haven't even prepared for *_________yesterday* yet!" 16053% 16054Your analyst has you mixed up with another patient. Don't believe a 16055thing he tells you. 16056% 16057Your conscience never stops you from doing anything. It just stops you 16058from enjoying it. 16059% 16060Your fault: core dumped 16061% 16062 Your home electrical system is basically a bunch of wires that 16063bring electricity into your home and take if back out before it has a 16064chance to kill you. This is called a "circuit". The most common home 16065electrical problem is when the circuit is broken by a "circuit 16066breaker"; this causes the electricity to back up in one of the wires 16067until it bursts out of an outlet in the form of sparks, which can 16068damage your carpet. The best way to avoid broken circuits is to change 16069your fuses regularly. 16070 Another common problem is that the lights flicker. This 16071sometimes means that your electrical system is inadequate, but more 16072often it means that your home is possessed by demons, in which case 16073you'll need to get a caulking gun and some caulking. If you're not 16074sure whether your house is possessed, see "The Amityville Horror", a 16075fine documentary film based on an actual book. Or call in a licensed 16076electrician, who is trained to spot the signs of demonic possession, 16077such as blood coming down the stairs, enormous cats on the dinette 16078table, etc. 16079 -- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw" 16080% 16081Your life would be very empty if you had nothing to regret. 16082% 16083Your lucky color has faded. 16084% 16085Your lucky number has been disconnected. 16086% 16087Your lucky number is 3552664958674928. Watch for it everywhere. 16088% 16089Your true value depends entirely on what you are compared with. 16090% 16091Yow! Am I having fun yet? 16092 -- Zippy the Pinhead 16093% 16094YOW!! Everybody out of the GENETIC POOL! 16095% 16096Zero Defects, n.: 16097 The result of shutting down a production line. 16098% 16099Zounds! I was never so bethumped with words 16100since I first called my brother's father dad. 16101 -- William Shakespeare, "King John" 16102% 16103Zymurgy's Law of Volunteer Labor: 16104 People are always available for work in the past tense. 16105% 16106 THE LAST BUG 16107 16108"But you're out of your mind," It still wasn't perfect, 16109They said with a shrug. As year followed year, 16110"The customer's happy; And strangers would comment, 16111What's one little bug?" "Is that guy still here?" 16112 16113But he was determined. He died at the console, 16114The others went home. Of hunger and thirst. 16115He spread out the program, Next day he was buried, 16116Deserted, alone. Face down, nine-edge first. 16117 16118The cleaning men came, And the last bug in sight, 16119The whole room was cluttered An ant passing by, 16120With memory-dumps, punch cards. Saluted his tombstone, 16121"I'm close," he muttered. And whispered, "Nice try." 16122 16123The mumbling got louder, 16124Simple deduction, 16125"I've got it, it's right, 16126Just change one instruction." 16127% 16128Speaking of the philosophy involved in moving humanity into space: 16129 16130Furniture will be a largely obsolete concept. Take for example the dresser my 16131mom bought for me when I was a kid. I still have it, and by the standards of 16132its era, it's an admirable household fixture. It is a massive construction of 16133maple wood, expertly joined with cunningly fit pieces, fitted and glued with 16134the strength of iron. It is set with massive brass fixtures, and looks today 16135-- discounting the dust -- as new as the day it was purchased, a quarter 16136century ago. So far, so good; a fine piece of furniture, you might say. But 16137let's look at it objectively, as a machine, as an object with a purpose. Here 16138sit a hundred pounds of hardwood with a compressive strength of 1500 psi, 16139jointed by an expert craftsman into a rigid box that would easily support a 16140bull elephant. And what is the sole purpose of this massive crate, this 16141monument to a dead tree? -- it holds my socks. 16142 16143Not only is it blind engineering overkill of epic proportions, it is also an 16144environmental disaster. The home to generations of squirrels, a sentinel post 16145for falcons, an autumnal banner of golden glory, a living creature, was chopped 16146down to enshrine some underwear. This, my friends, is no way to run a planet. 16147 -- Marshall T. Savage, from The Millennial Project: 16148 Colonizing the Galaxy -- In Eight Easy Steps 16149% 16150Nearly every software professional has heard the term spaghetti code as a 16151pejorative description for complicated, difficult to understand, and impossible 16152to maintain, software. However, many people may not know the other two 16153elements of the complete Pasta Theory of Software. 16154 16155Lasagna code is used to describe software that has a simple, understandable, 16156and layered structure. Lasagna code, although structured, is unfortunately 16157monolithic and not easy to modify. An attempt to change one layer conceptually 16158simple, is often very difficult in actual practice. 16159 16160The ideal software structure is one having components that are small and 16161loosely coupled; this ideal structure is called ravioli code. In ravioli 16162code, each of the components, or objects, is a package containing some meat 16163or other nourishment for the system; any component can be modified or replaced 16164without significantly affecting other components. 16165 16166We need to go beyond the condemnation of spaghetti code to the active 16167encouragement of ravioli code. 16168 -- Raymond J. Rubey, in a letter to the editor of Crosstalk 16169 magazine 16170% 1617163,000 bugs in the code, 63,000 bugs, 16172ya get 1 whacked with a service pack, 16173now there's 63,005 bugs in the code!! 16174% 16175"It's not very common in Crowthorne" 16176% 16177 1) Don't expect fairings. 16178 2) If confused read #1. 16179% 16180Cheer up. You could have all the problems you have now, and then also 16181be named Eustace Clarence Scrubb. 16182% 16183Never leave a macassar and an antimacassar in the same room together. 16184