C# 411Apple’s share of the U.S. PC market jumped to 8.1% in the third quarter of 2007, a 37% increase from the previous year. One reason for Apple’s surging success is its catchy “Hello, I’m a Mac” commercials starring Justin Long as “Mac” and John Hodgman as “PC”:
As you might expect, these successful Mac vs. PC commercials have spawned a legion of spin-offs and parodies.
Senryu (literally ‘river willow’) is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku, with three lines of 5-7-5 syllables. Senryu tends to be about human foibles, while haiku tends to be about nature; senryu is often cynical or darkly humorous, while haiku is serious.
Assembled from the Internet is a collection of senryu about software and computers:
“To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.” –Paul Ehrlich
Software errors cost the U.S. economy $60 billion annually in rework, lost productivity and actual damages. We all know software bugs can be annoying, but faulty software can also be expensive, embarrassing, destructive and deadly. Following are 20 famous software “disasters” in chronological order:
“Men Behaving Badly” was a cheeky British comedy from the 90’s that was voted “Best Sitcom in BBC History” for the BBC’s 60th anniversary in 1996. The series featured two men in their thirties taking a keen interest in “booze, birds and football” (that’s alcohol, women and soccer to our American readers). The otherwise lovable pair often behaved badly, causing those around them to suffer with comedic results. Today we discuss a few examples of otherwise good software that occasionally behaves badly, causing its users to suffer with frustrating results.
“People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn’t they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines. There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear. But with time, people will come to accept their silicon masters.”
As Bill Gates once warned, computers have indeed become our silicon masters, pervading nearly every aspect of our modern lives. As a result, some of the greatest minds of our time have pondered the significance of computers and software on the human condition. Following are 101 great quotes about computers, with an emphasis on programming, since after all this is a software development site.
Tags: Bill-Gates, Computer Programming, Quotes
