what follows is is the coolest thought virus I have been sent in some time (thx Helene) - apologies to those who've seen it already - and to those who havent, enjoy:
(via netlingo who reported it is a real story, although subsequent digging showed that these haiku originated in a salon.com competition salon.com link)
HAIKU POETRY ERROR MESSAGES
In Japan, they have replaced the impersonal and unhelpful Microsoft error messages with Haiku poetry messages. Haiku poetry has strick construction rules, each poem has only 17 syllables; 5 syllables in the first, 7 in the second, and 5 in the third. They are used to communicate a timeless message, often achieving a wistful, yearning and powerful insight through extreme brevity (and are much better than "Your computer has performed an illegal operation.") Here they are:
Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
The Web site you seek
Cannot be located, but
Countless more exist.
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
Program aborting:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.
Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
First snow, then silence.
This thousand-dollar screen dies
So beautifully.
With searching comes loss
And the presence of absence:
"My Novel" not found.
The Tao that is seen
Is not the true Tao - until
You bring fresh toner.
Stay the patient course.
Of little worth is your ire.
The network is down.
A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.
Three things are certain:
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.
Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.
Having been erased,
The document you are seeking
Must now be retyped.
Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.
3 comments:
i want to hear more about your words: 'Thought virus' -- where did you get this from? What are some other examples?
The haiku is smart. Real smart.
but I couldn't focus as well on it because I loved what you'd already said: thought virus. Although now that I mull it over, it doesn't sound as beautiful the more I write it. Thought virus sounds like a bad thing for a planner. It sounds unshakable, like something I couldn't get away from.
You've got 'thought' which is a beautiful word and then 'virus' which is ugly.
errrr.
interesting haiku. smart one
Love this so much, I am going to hassle our Tech Director to change our system errors.
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