Computer Jokes

MICROSOFT NEWS RELEASE:

It has come to our attention that a few copies of the Georgia edition of Windows 98 may have accidentally been shipped outside Georgia. If you have one of the Georgia editions you may need some help understanding the commands.

The Georgia edition may be recognized by looking at the opening screen.

It reads WINDERS 98 with a background picture of the General Lee super imposed on a Confederate flag. It is shipped with a Daisy Duke screen saver.

Also note:

Other features:

Also note that winders 98 does not recognize capital letters or punctuation marks.

Some programs that are exclusive to winders 98:

We regret any inconvenience it may have caused if you received a copy of the Georgia edition. You may return it to Microsoft for a replacement version.


Some of you are not particularly adept in the use of the computer, so I thought it well to pass along some hints on how to use your computer efficiently with the Internet.

Remember that the information with which you are dealing is in the form of electrons. Electrons are very small (so small that it takes two full professors of physics and a graduate student just to see one), but they are real entities with mass and weight and which occupy space. This can be used to your advantage.

For example, electrons have mass and weight and therefore are subject to the laws of gravity. So if you are downloading a file from the net, the process can be made faster by having your computer, hard disk, and modem BELOW your telephone jack so gravity can speed the process. On the other hand, when you upload a file to the net, hold your computer, hard drive, and modem ABOVE your telephone jack, thus combining uploading with a brisk cardiovascular workout. If your phone jack is at floor level, have it raised or your downloading will always be slow.

You will note that when uploading, the weight of your hard disk becomes a real factor. You can reduce the weight of your hard disk in two ways. First, remove all unnecessary files and store them on a separate storage device. Secondly, change the typeface and size of all retained files to 3 point Times Condensed. Considerably less space and hence, fewer electrons and less weight will be on your hard drive.

The Internet is complex and delicate and easily thrown out of balance. Therefore, it is important to balance carefully your downloads and uploads so that they are roughly equal. (The Internet can compensate for small imbalances.) If you have just downloaded an 8 megabyte program you should immediately upload an 8 megabyte transmittal. The easiest way to do this is to create (by cut and paste) an 8 megabyte file of gibberish which you can transmit to a friend or news group chosen at random. (For all you AOLers, just click the FORWARD button when you receive a FWD: and make sure that it goes out to your entire recipient list, those generally take up about 8 MB as well.


A retired sailor purchased a computer and began to learn all about computing. Being a sailor, he was used to addressing his ships as "She" or "Her". But was unsure what was proper for computers. To solve his dilemma, he found two groups of computer experts: one group was male, and the other group was female. 

The group of women reported that computers should be refereed to as "HE" because: 

1. In order to get their attention you have to turn them on. 
2. They have a lot of data but are still clueless. 
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems but half the time they are the problem. 
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have had a newer and better model. 

The group of men reported that computers should be referred  to as "SHE" because: 

1. No one but the creator understands their logic. 
2. The native language they use to talk to other computers is incomprehensible to anyone else. 
3. Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for later retrieval. 
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it. 


================================

It's really not too difficult to fix your own hard drive, if the problem is a head crash, or the infamous Seagate "traction" problem, if you know what to do. You will require #4/0 steel wool, Varsol, WD-40, a few hand tools, and about 45 minutes. 

First, you need a clean room, so make sure the garage door is closed before you begin. Move those old lawnmower parts off the bench. 

Disassemble the sealed unit and carefully wash all parts with Varsol. Bend the read/write heads out of the way and then disassemble the platter stack. 

VERY CAREFULLY buff the platter surfaces with the #4/0 steel wool. This will remove any existing data, level out any surface defects, and help to redistribute the magnetic media and fill in those pesky "bad sectors" that most drives have. 

Reassemble the platter stack, and using a .015" feeler gauge, bend the read/write head back to the platter surface, using the feeler gauge to set the gap. This is a slightly higher gap than the factory uses, but it reduces the chance of head collisions with any flotsam you neglected to remove. 

Give the head and platters a good shot of WD-40 and reassemble the unit. If your drive has a filter, replace it with a clean section of gauze pad. 

All that's left is to low level and DOS format the drive, and you're back in business. 

I haven't tried this yet myself, but my friend's wife's sister-in-law's husband knows a technician who does it all the time. 

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Now that Bill Gates has moved into his brand spanking new house in the Seattle suburbs, the following is a conversation overheard last week: Bill: "There are a few issues we need to discuss." 

Contractor: "Ah, you have our basic support option. Calls are free for the first 90 days and $75 a call thereafter. Okay?" 

Bill: "Uh, yeah... the first issue is the living room. We think it's a little smaller than we anticipated." 

Contractor: "Yeah. Some compromises were made to have it out by the release date." 

Bill: "We won't be able to fit all our furniture in there." 

Contractor: "Well, you have two options. You can purchase a new, larger living room; or you can use Stacker." 

Bill: "Stacker?" 

Contractor: "Yeah, it allows you to fit twice as much furniture into the room. By stacking it, of course, you put the entertainment center on the couch... the chairs on the table... etc. You leave an empty spot, so when you want to use some furniture you can unstack what you need and then put it back when you're done." 

Bill: "Uh... I dunno... issue two. The second issue is the light fixtures. The bulbs we brought with us from our old home won't fit.  The threads run the wrong way." 

Contractor: "Oh! That's easy. Those bulbs aren't plug and play. You'll have to upgrade to the new bulbs." 

Bill: "And the electrical outlets? The holes are round, not rectangular. How do I fix that?" 

Contractor: "Just uninstall and reinstall the electrical system." 

Bill: "You're kidding!?" 

Contractor: "Nope. Its the only way." 

Bill: "<sigh> Well... I have one last problem. Sometimes, when I have guests over, someone will flush the toilet and it won't stop.  The water pressure drops so low that the showers don't work." 

Contractor: "That's a resource leakage problem. One fixture fails to terminate and is hogging the resources preventing access from other fixtures." 

Bill: "And how do I fix that?" 

Contractor: "Well, after each flush, you all need to exit the house,  turn off the water at the street, turn it back on, re-enter the house and then you'll be back on track." 

Bill: "That's the last straw. What kind of product are you selling me?" 

Contractor: "Hey, remember, if you don't like it, nobody made you buy it." 

Bill: "And when will this be fixed?" 

Contractor: "Oh, in your next house-which will be ready to release sometime near the end of 2000. Actually it was due out earlier this year, but we've had some delays..." 

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- 


The Shiftkey FAQ - Version 0.001 
by Alan Meiss 

Unleash the Power of Shift! 

Q. My shift keys have little arrows on them. Does that mean the *real* shift keys are located above them, and these keys are just little signs to point them out? 

A. Nope, they're the Real McCoy. The little arrows mean "up", as in "look up at the screen". Your keyboard is telling you to learn to touch type and quit staring at your fingers. 

Q. What happens if I press both shift keys? 

A. Even bigger letters may show up on your screen. You should not use this feature, however, because these letters are also brighter, and may cause Screen Burn-In, which would be particularly embarrassing if you were typing something naughty at the time. You might consider obtaining the author's Shift Key Burn-In Protector program for only $139.95. Or you might not, it's your computer, but don't say I didn't warn you. 

q. my religion prohibits the use of shift keys. how can i type capital letters and punctuation 

A. Discuss alternatives to the shift key with your spiritual advisor. Perhaps your deity would not be angered by repeated use of the Caps Lock key, or maybe you can retain a consultant to depress the shift for you. You might also consider replacing punctuation marks that require the use of shift keys with lower case expressions; replace ? with "huh" and ! with "zowie". 

Q> I PRESSED SHIFT AND IT'S STUCK DOWN NOW> 

A. Do small children with a fondness for peanut butter use your keyboard frequently? If so, you may want to clean it off for more reliable operation. First, disconnect your keyboard by gripping each of its ends firmly and pulling as hard as you can. Next, immerse the keyboard in warm water and scrub thoroughly with your favorite lemon-scented detergent and lots of steel wool. Finally, you need to dry the keyboard. Either dry it to touch with a handheld blow-dryer, or place it it the dryer for not less than 60 minutes. Be sure to clean the lint screen when you are finished. 

Q. Why are there are no "shift" keys on my keyboard, but there are two keys labeled "hif"? 

A. Again, you may want to consider cleaning your keyboard, and washing your hands more frequently for that matter. 

Q. Are there shift keys on my Macintosh? 

A. Yes, although instead of the notation "shift", the key may be labeled with an excited Mac face, something like :O . Press this key to use shift, and be thankful you're using a friendly Mac instead of a mean old PC with all them confusin' words 'n stuff on it. 

Q. I'm sick of pushing the shift key every single time I want big letters. Is there any other way to do this? 

A. This is the Modern Age of Convenience, and you may be able to activate the shift key merely with the power of your voice! Check to see whether your computer is equipped with speech-recognition equipment by saying the word "shift" very clearly and slowly into its speaker. Then watch the keyboard closely to see if the Shift key moves down. Note that you may have to repeat this action several times to "train" the computer to recognize your voice before the feature works reliably. 

Q. There are two shift keys, which should I use? 

A. Avoid unnecessary wear on either shift key by alternating between the two. Keep track of your usage of each key so that you press them in equal amounts. Your keyboard may be equipped with a small notepad; you should use this to make little tally marks in two columns for each time you shift. Remember, it's better to go to a little trouble than wind up with a broken shift key. 

Q. Why are the shift keys bigger than the other keys? 

A. They aren't. This is simply an optical illusion. Just as the moon appears much larger when it is close to the horizon, your shift keys look larger because of their proximity to other keys. To verify this, go out in a large field at night with your keyboard, place it in an upright position, and view it from a distance of 200 yards. Sure enough, the keys all look the same size! 

Q. If I press the shift key at the wrong time, or too many times, will my computer explode? 

A. No. Well, generally no. Not unless you are using a NEC laptop. Or vt100 terminal emulation. But even then, hardly ever. Really, don't worry about it. Forget I mentioned it. Just type softly. Move along, next question. 

Q. No matter what I do, the shift key just doesn't seem to work. What's wrong?


A. Have you ever considered that the problem may not be your keyboard, the problem may be YOU? Perhaps God Himself has suspended the operation of these keys to send you a Message that you have strayed from the path of righteousness. Use this as an opportunity to reflect on your life. Before rushing blindly ahead with a lot of shifting, consult the spiritual advisor of your choice for help in dealing with any unresolved issues in your relationship with the Almighty.
 



1. In the beginning GOD created the Bit and the Byte. And from those he created the Word.

2. And there were two Bytes in the Word; and nothing else existed. And God separated the One from the Zero; and he saw it was Good.

3. And God said - Let the Data be; And so it happened. And God said - Let the Data go to their proper places. And he created floppy disks and hard disks and compact disks.

4. And God said - Let the computers be, so there would be a place to put floppy disks and hard disks and compact disks. Thus God created computers and called them hardware.

5. And there was no Software yet. But God created programs; small and big...And told them - Go and multiply yourselves and fill all the Memory.

6. And God said -I will create the Programmer; And the Programmer will make new programs and govern over the computers and programs and Data.

7. And God created the Programmer; and put him at Data Center; And God showed the Programmer the Catalog Tree and said You can use all the volumes and sub-volumes but DO NOT USE Windows.

8. And God said - It is not Good for the programmer to be alone. He took a bone from the Programmer's body and created a creature that would look up at the Programmer; and admire the Programmer; and love the things the Programmer does; And God called the creature: the User.

9. And the Programmer and the User were left under the naked DOS and it was Good.

10. But Bill was smarter than all the other creatures of God. And Bill said to the User - Did God really tell you not to run any programs?

11. And the User answered - God told us that we can use every program and every piece of Data but told us not to run Windows or we will die.

12. And Bill said to the User - How can you talk about something you did not even try. The moment you run Windows you will become equal to God. You will be able to create anything you like by a simple click of your mouse.

13. And the User saw that the fruits of the Windows were nicer and easier to use. And the User saw that any knowledge was useless since Windows could replace it.

14. So the User installed the Windows on his computer; and said to the Programmer that it was good.

15. And the Programmer immediately started to look for new drivers. And God asked him - What are you looking for? And the Programmer answered: "I am looking for new drivers because I can not find them in the DOS". And God said :" Who told you need drivers? Did you run Windows?" And the Programmer said :" It was Bill who told us to!"

16. And God said to Bill - Because of what you did you will be hated by all the creatures. And the User will always be unhappy with you. And you will always sell Windows.

17. And God said to the User - Because of what you did, the Windows will disappoint you and eat up all your Resources; and you will have to use lousy programs; and you will always rely on the Programmers help.

18. And God said to the Programmer - Because you listened to the User you will never be happy. All your programs will have errors and you will have to fix them and fix them to the end of time.

19. And God threw them out of the Data Center and locked the door and secured it with a password.

20. GENERAL PROTECTION FAULT


Warning: There's a new virus on the loose that's worse than
anything I've seen before! It gets in through the power line,
riding on the powerline 60 Hz subcarrier. It works by changing the
serial port pinouts, and by reversing the direction one's disks
spin. Over 300,000 systems have been hit by it here in Murphy,
West Dakota alone! And that's just in the last 12 minutes.

It attacks DOS, Unix, TOPS-20, Apple-II, VMS, MVS, Multics, Mac,
RSX-11, ITS, TRS-80, and VHS systems.

To prevent the spread of the worm:

1) Don't use the power line.
2) Don't use batteries either, since there are rumors that this
virus has invaded most major battery plants and is infecting the
positive poles of the batteries. (You might try hooking up just
the negative pole.)
3) Don't upload or download files.
4) Don't store files on floppy disks or hard disks.
5) Don't read messages. Not even this one!
6) Don't use serial ports, modems, or phone lines.
7) Don't use keyboards, screens, or printers.
8) Don't use switches, CPUs, memories, microprocessors, or
mainframes.
9) Don't use electric lights, electric or gas heat or
air conditioning, running water, writing, fire, clothing or the
wheel.

I'm sure if we are all careful to follow these 9 easy steps, this
virus can be eradicated, and the precious electronic fluids of
our computers can be kept pure.

---RTM III

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