Computer Factoids: Tales from the High-Tech UnderbellyComputers are those unfathomable contraptions everyone everywhere loves to hate. We can't live with them, but we can't live without them. Contempt for our byte-based existence has developed universal appeal crossing boundaries of culture, economics, religion, and language. Everyone you know has a "those stupid computers" story. If you think you have heard it all, STOP. The digital revolution began in 1951. Computer Factoids chronicles behind-the-scenes digital weirdness from Day One. Kirk Kirksey covers the landscape of computer history, cyber legend, digital mythology, and Internet lore. Put away your pocket protector because you won't find any techno-babble on these pages. Each of these 39 high-tech yarns is an easy-read with a serious dose of attitude. Whether it is a computer powered by rotting potatoes or a symphony performed by obsolete dot-matrix printers or a computerized bra equipped with a modem, these tales of the digital surreal will make you stand up and shout, "Honey, you're not going to believe this." |
Contents
The Windows 95 Startup Sound | 1 |
Keyboard Crud | 4 |
Computers in the Tabloids | 8 |
Cheeseburgers Cyberspace and Immortality | 13 |
AgeOld Beer Mystery Solved | 17 |
SoftRAMSoftware that Never Was | 22 |
Incident at the WordPerfect Help Desk | 27 |
The Zapatista Effect | 30 |
The Fungus Among Us | 73 |
Nerd An Etymology | 77 |
Microchip Graffiti and the Bill Sux Hoax | 79 |
Spud Server | 84 |
Rage Against the Machine | 86 |
Vendorese A Translation | 89 |
The Warhol Worm | 93 |
The Death Door Riddle | 99 |
The Birth of Baby Cha | 33 |
Kahns Con | 35 |
PawSenseIgNobel Prize Winner | 38 |
Cabbage Divine | 42 |
Pathological Internet Use | 44 |
Buddy Can You Spare a Dime? PayPal Accepted | 48 |
Symphony for Dot Matrix Printers | 52 |
GOG The First Cyber Villain | 56 |
E Divorce or Honey Dont Forget Your Cell Phone | 59 |
Bet Youre Glad You Didnt Say That | 62 |
Isidore Patron Saint of the Internet | 65 |
How to Hide a Secret Message in a Digital Picture of Your Dad and a Catfish | 69 |
The Trojan Room Coffee Pot | 100 |
Weird Online Museums Revisited | 103 |
Electronic Brain Predicts Winner of Presidential Election | 109 |
Confessions Online | 111 |
Easter Eggs and Where to Find Them | 114 |
InterPet Explorer | 120 |
Whacking Your Google | 123 |
The Irina Virus | 127 |
BowLingual | 130 |
The Brava Computerized Bra | 133 |
Capn Crunch and the White House Toilet Paper Shortage | 136 |
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Common terms and phrases
According Baby Cha bird crap BowLingual Brava bubbles Byte Byte Magazine called Cap'n Crunch chip art Click COMPUTER FACTOID fac.toid computer virus computer worm confession created cyberspace digital image Dot Matrix Printers Draper Easter Egg engineers fact or statistic FACTOID fac.toid fak faster Fletcher fungus glass global Google Googlewhack Guinness hackers Here’s hit list hoax Image courtesy infected Internet Irina Isidore Jernigan Kahn keyboard crud look machine Magazine McIntosh memory Microsoft Museum n:a single fact Nerd Nimda Niswander PawSense Pridedaux problem puter scanned scientists secret message servers Sheppard SoftRAM Software Vendors sound Spud Stafford-Fraser statistic variously regarded steganography story stuff symphony things tion Toaster toid Translation Trojan Room Coffee Univac unsubstantiated users virus vulnerable computers Warhol Worm Weekly World Whack Windows 95 word XCoffee Zapatista