Thursday, March 04, 2010
The Goldberg Robinson Continuum
Thanks to Neil Gaiman for posting this truly awesome video by OK Go, called This Too Shall Pass. You've heard of Rube Goldberg machines - this is the ultimate. I can't even begin to describe how neat this was to watch and I can't imagine how many takes it must have taken to get it right.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
A naughty typeface
The Effing typeface, designed by Alex Merto, was designed as an ode to the letter F. It's made up of a bunch of suggestive and naughty elements. Maybe NSFW if your work environment is conservative. Others may find it funny.
Labels: funny
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Why publishing won't go away soon
Here's John Scalzi's take on why publishers and publishing won't go away any time soon. It's a satirical, funny, and short three-act play.
CHARACTERS:
ELTON P. STRAÜMANN, a modern-thinking man with exciting ideas
JOHN SCALZI, a humble writer
KRISTINE SCALZI, the wife of a humble writer
ACT I
SCENE OPENS ON STRAÜMANN and SCALZI, standing.
STRAÜMANN: The publishing world is changing! In the future, authors will no longer need those fat cat middle men known as “publishers” to get in the way of their art! It will just be the author and his audience!
SCALZI: Won’t I need an editor? Or a copy editor? Or a cover artist? Or a book designer? Or a publicist? Or someone to print the book and get it into stores?
STRAÜMANN (waves hand, testily): Yes, yes. But all those things you can do yourself.
SCALZI: And I’m supposed to write the book, too?
STRAÜMANN (snorts): As if writing was hard. Now go! And write your novel!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
The life of the Spirit rover
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Your future at the airport
I don't know who made this video, explaining Transport Canada's new regulations for flying to the U.S., but it's hilarious.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Some techical writing humour
You don't see a lot of jokes about technical writers (I guess we're just not as funny as lawyers or banjo players), so it's nice to see some cartoons from Ben Minson, who is both a technical writer and cartoonist.
Labels: funny, technical communication
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Why I believe printers were sent from hell
This is one of the funniest things I've seen online in a while, speaking as somebody who's spent too much time messing around with recalcitrant printers.
Labels: funny, technology
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Neutra Face - An Ode on a Typeface
I haven't seen many videos about type faces. In fact, I think this is only the second - the other being the hilarious Arial versus Helvetica. This one, or so my daughter tells me, is a parody of Lady Gaga's Pokerface. In any case, this too is hilarious, and do listen to the words.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Harlan Ellison reading "I will not read your fuckking script"
Recently, the Village Voice published an article by Josh Olson called "I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script", explaining, in precise and explicit detail, why he won't read other writer's scripts. Steve Jarrett was inspired to turn it into a poem, and a twisted homage to Dr. Suess. Here it's read, with glee and delightful emphasis by Harlan Ellison. Obviously NSFW if you are listening on speakers. It's also one of the funniest things I've heard in months.
Update: I've fixed the link to Ellison't reading. Sorry.
I will not read your fucking script
I will not read it in a car
I will not read it in a bar
I will not have it in my house
I will not click it with my mouse
I will not read it here or there
I will not read it anywhere
I'd rather be tied up and whipped
Than have to read your fucking script
Update: I've fixed the link to Ellison't reading. Sorry.
Friday, August 28, 2009
How projects really work
Here's an updated version of a cartoon that I first saw when I took a course on the Rational Unified Process back in 2001, after I'd joined the TSX. Sadly, it's true for some projects, especially the documentation part.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Yes, it's real
MSNBC has an interview with the couple who took the hilarious picture of the the camera-happy squirrel in Banff National Park. Yes, the picture is real - they show the others in the sequence leading up to the one with the squirrel. It is funny.
Labels: funny, photography
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Star Trek meets Star Wars
Have you ever wondered what would happen if the Enterprise ended up in the Star Wars universe? Wonder no more. Hint: it's not pretty, but it is well done.
Labels: funny, movies and television, SF
Friday, May 08, 2009
Font Fight pits Arial against Helvetica
Here's an hilarious video pitting Arial against Helvetica in a fight to the death. Watch it all the way through to see who tries to save the day.
Update: Oops, I really should be more careful with the links in my morning posts. It's fixed now.
Update: Oops, I really should be more careful with the links in my morning posts. It's fixed now.
Labels: funny, technical communication, video
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Waking up Canadian
Monday, February 02, 2009
Translating scientific reports
Scientific terminology can often be difficult for the lay reader to understand. Here's a handy guide to understanding the more common expressions used in scientific papers.
Update: I've fixed the link, sorry!
"TYPICAL RESULTS ARE SHOWN"... This is the prettiest graph.
"THESE RESULTS WILL BE IN A SUBSEQUENT REPORT"... I might get around to this sometime, if pushed/funded.
"IN MY EXPERIENCE"... Once
"IN CASE AFTER CASE"... Twice
"IN A SERIES OF CASES"... Thrice
Update: I've fixed the link, sorry!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Another reason not to use Outlook
As if you needed one, here's another reason not to use Outlook - especially if you order a birthday cake by email from Wegman's bakery in New York.
Labels: funny, Microsoft, Office 2007
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The the impotence of proofreading
This video from poet Taylor Mali is hilarious. Don't try drinking coffee or any other liquid while watching this. You have been warned.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Technical writing crossword
Here's something to while away the last few hours at work before the holidays start - a technical writing crossword puzzle.
Labels: funny, technical communication
Monday, December 22, 2008
Why developers should never write documentation
Here's a good example of why developers should never write documentation for end users.
1. Enter through the door next to where you park, using the key with the “W” on it.
2. Walk through the laundry and turn immediately to the left in the hallway (your left, not my left).
3. Open the closet door.
4. Enter the closet.
5. Do not trip over stuff.
6. Turn on the torch that I neglected to mention that you should have grabbed prior to step 1.
And so on ...
Labels: funny, technical communication
Sunday, December 21, 2008
The ultimate Christmas tree
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
If programming languages were religions
I've seen arguments over the merits of various programming languages that rivalled religious wars in their intensity, so I found this post comparing progamming languages to religions quite interesting. It's also very funny. I do think the author was a bit hard on Visual Basic though.
Java would be Fundamentalist Christianity - it's theoretically based on C, but it voids so many of the old laws that it doesn't feel like the original at all. Instead, it adds its own set of rigid rules, which its followers believe to be far superior to the original. Not only are they certain that it's the best language in the world, but they're willing to burn those who disagree at the stake.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Error message of the week
From Ed Bott's Windows Expertise blog:
"Program isn't meant to be run like this, don't do it again!"
"Program isn't meant to be run like this, don't do it again!"
Labels: funny
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Monty Python's YouTube channel
The excellent folks from Monty Python have set up their own YouTube channel and are putting their much loved (and much bootlegged) clips and films up on it for our enjoyment. The hope is that people will return the favour by buying some of their DVDs, at least the few that they don't have already. It's a wonderful way to treat their fans, and the announcement video is pure Python.
Labels: funny, movies and television
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Words the Internet killed
Language is always evolving, but the Internet seems to have hastened this evolution. Many common words now have new meanings.
Word: Friend
Old meaning: Someone you knew, had a personal relationship with, occasionally spoke to, and frequently drank beers with.
New Meaning: Someone who found your email address and typed it into Facebook and/or LinkedIN. You may have met said person at a conference once, and possibly even conversed with for 5 or more minutes.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
George Carlin's last interview
The Psychology Today blog has a very long interview with George Carlin, apparently his last, recorded just 10 days before his death. He covers all sorts of territory: the nature of comedy, how he gets his inspiration, politics, his early life. A must read.
So, sitting in front of a computer, “Wait till they hear this, this is great material.” What’s the difference between that and actually standing on stage hearing the audience roaring with laughter?
The difference is, at the computer you can stop, think back, think forward, look around, turn the page as it were, you can see the whole world all at once. On stage you’re only in a single moment ever—your mind can hear what you just said. This is a funny thing that happens for me: when I’m up there doing something I’ve memorized perfectly, and it has pauses in it—and of course the laughs are all the pauses. As you’re going along, you’re thinking of what you’re saying, you want to give it the proper vocal values, so you are kind of thinking about it, not reaching for the words, but kind of thinking about them. You’re also aware of the echo of what you just said, and whether it worked or not, and what that might mean. It’s all part of the trigonometry, I guess. And then there is the faint anticipation of what comes next.
It’s like the feeling of conducting an orchestra. It’s like conducting an orchestra, this group of people who already like you, predisposed to appreciate you, at your service, at you’re command, and you’re just waving the baton and bringing them in, leading them forward and it’s just a nice kind of feeling.
Labels: funny
Monday, June 23, 2008
George Carlin, RIP
Comedian George Carlin has died of heart failure at the age of 71. Carlin was a hero of the counterculture for his edgy comedy that focused on drugs, politics, and the abusrdities of things like words you can't say on television. He will be missed.
His comedic sensibility revolved around a central theme: humanity is a cursed, doomed species.
"I don't have any beliefs or allegiances. I don't believe in this country, I don't believe in religion, or a god, and I don't believe in all these man-made institutional ideas," he told Reuters in a 2001 interview.
Carlin told Playboy in 2005 that he looked forward to an afterlife where he could watch the decline of civilization on a "heavenly CNN."
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
I always thought it looked like a harmonica
Here's an hilarious Star Wars mashup - Darth Vader as a blues harmonica player.
Labels: funny, movies and television, SF
Friday, April 18, 2008
And you thought your users were dumb
It's something of a canard in the technical communication and IT fields that users are dumb. (They aren't, although sometimes it does feel that way.) However, it may be different if you're an airline ticket agent.
In five years, I've received more than a boot camp education regarding the astonishing lack of awareness of our American citizenry. This lack of awareness encompasses every region of the country, economic status, ethnic background, and level of education. My battles have included everything from a man not knowing how to spell the name of the town he was from, to another not recognizing the name as "Iowa" as being a state, to another who thought he had to apply for a foreign passport to fly to West Virginia. They are the enemy and they are everywhere.
In the history of the world there has never been as much communication and new things to learn as today. Yet, after I asked a woman from New York what city she wanted to go to in Arizona, she asked, "Oh... is it a big place?"
Labels: funny
Friday, March 28, 2008
The fractal theory of Canada
The Canadian identity has now been rigorously defined in mathematics, in The Fractal Theory of Canada.
Labels: funny
Friday, March 07, 2008
Funny support transcripts
Here's something funny for a Friday morning - an article in the New York Times about funny support calls. Some time ago, writer David Pogue visited a call center and they gave him a CD of their "best of" calls. This one is a classic:
A Canadian customer was calling to find out if there was a faster way to trigger menu commands than mousing up to the menus.
Agent: Certainly, sir. There are keyboard shortcuts for many of those commands. For example, suppose you want to trigger the Select All command…
Caller: Yes, I use that one all the time! How do I do it?
Agent: Well, you just press Control-A.
Caller (after a pause): Well, that’s not working for me.
Agent: Do you have a text document open in front of you?
Caller: Yes, I sure do.
Agent: OK, now press Control-A.
Caller: I am, but nothing happens.
Agent: The text isn’t highlighted?
Caller: No, there’s no change at all.
Agent: That’s odd. If you press Control-A, the whole document should be highlighted. Try it again. Press Control-A. Tell me exactly what’s happening.
Caller (nearing his Canadian breaking point): Listen. I’m pressing Control, eh? And nothing’s happening, eh?
Friday, February 29, 2008
Economic cow jokes
Here's a bunch of cow jokes, collected by Bruce Sterling, based on different world economies. They're pretty funny.
FRENCH CORPORATION You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows. You go to lunch and drink wine. Life is good.
JAPANESE CORPORATION You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains. Most are at the top of their class at cow school.
GERMAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour. Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.
ITALIAN CORPORATION You have two cows but you don't know where they are. While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman. You break for lunch. Life is good.
Labels: funny
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Science fictionalized movie posters
Worth1000.com is sponsoring another Photoshopping contest - this on one movie posters altered with science fiction themes. Some of them are truly hilarious - take a look at Pinnochio's Revenge and the Shrekinator.
Labels: funny, movies and television, SF
Monday, January 14, 2008
2007 Darwin Award winners announced
The winners of the 2007 Darwin Awards have been announced. As Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle said in Oath of Fealty, "Think of it as evolution in action".
Labels: funny
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Space western limerick contest winners
Here are the winners of a contest for space western limericks. They're hilarious. Here's an example:
Update: I should have credited the author, who is Sean Logan.
I’ve been to the most distant of stars
And had drinks with locals in bars
I’ve met interesting creatures
With unusual features
That I removed and collected in jars
Update: I should have credited the author, who is Sean Logan.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
A manual for your cat
Our cat is almost 9 years old, and there are times when I still don't understand her - quite a few times, actually. Maybe The Cat Owner's Manual would help. And it will certainly appeal to any technical writer who lives with a cat (I won't say owns, because you don't own a cat, you just share your life with it) because it's written like a typical user manual for a high-tech piece of equipment. And there's a companion manual for dog people. The Content Wrangler says:
Cats and dogs are described as “products” that are of a certain “model” and that come with “features”, a “parts list”, a “brand” identity, and whose usage instructions include “warnings”, “cautions” and “expert tips”. The books are loaded with excellent graphic illustrations, well-written prose, and structured much like any “owner’s manual”—only better—much better!
Labels: funny, technical communication
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Cover letters from hell
Most of us have written cover letters for job applications at some point in our careers. Hopefully none of our letters have ended up on the Cover Letters from Hell page. The excerpts are hilarious and sad at the same time:
"I also want to obtain a deeper understanding of how Advertising firms."
I am seeking a new position as i have recently been laid."
"Strong writing abilities. Able to analysis data and problem solve."
Labels: funny, technical communication
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Why you shouldn't put Mentos in beer
Monday, July 16, 2007
Librarians pimp their bookcarts
If you thought you couldn't do much to spruce up your average bookcart, then you'd be wrong, and you'd be seriously underestimating both the imagination and the sense of humour of the library community. Here are the results of the Pimp My Bookcart contest.
Labels: funny
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Font rage
Saturday, May 26, 2007
The perils of bear spray
Scroll down through Robert Bruce Thompon's Saturday post and an absolutely hilarious story about a hike gone wrong. Do not drink or eat anything while reading it - you have been warned.
Labels: funny
Friday, March 09, 2007
Dylan Hears a Who
This has got to be one of the best mashups I've ever heard - it's a dead on, perfect immitation of Subterranean Homesick Blues-era Bob Dylan singing Dr. Suess. Cat in a Hat has to be heard to be believed. Here's a link to a zip file of all six songs.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Externination by chocolate
This is not the thing to look at if you're trying to lose weight. Chocablog has published instructions for building a chocolate Dalek. They refer to it as "extermination by chocolate".
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Clippy's exit interview
One of the "features" missing in Office 2007 is Clippy, the infamous office assistant. I don't miss it, and Office 2007 has a surfeit of helpful tooltips and other features that make Clippy quite redundant. The author of the MonkeyPi blog must have connections in Microsoft, because he's somehow managed to transcribe Clippy's exit interview
It's hilarious.
“I can’t believe what I am hearing.” Clippy stands up, and walks to the window. He stares at the wooded skyline of Washington for a few moments. “What about the users? Who will take care of them?”
“Well, we have a crack team of user assistance experts and technical writers that are more than qualified for the job.”
A lightbulb appears on the clip’s head. “But what if a user wants to write a letter?”
“It turns out that our users already know how to write letters, Clippy,” says Bill. “That’s the kind of thing that has turned our customers against your team.”
It's hilarious.
Labels: funny, Office 2007, technical communication
Friday, February 16, 2007
ACME catalog
Anyone who remembers the Road Runner cartoons should like this site - a catalog of the ACME products that were prominently featured in the show.
ACME is a worldwide leader of many manufactured goods. From its humble beginnings providing corks and flypaper to bug collectors ("Buddy's Bug Hunt/1935") to its heyday in the American Southwest supplying a certain coyote, from Ultimatum Dispatchers to Batman outfits, ACME has set the standard for excellence.
For the first time ever, information and pictures of all ACME products, specialty divisions, and services featured in Warner Bros. cartoons (made by the original studio from 1935 to 1964) are gathered here, in one convenient catalog. For more information about any ACME product, simply click on the thumbnail picture.
Labels: funny, movies and television
Friday, February 09, 2007
The Crazy Years - The Hoohah Monologues
A theatre in Florida changed the marquee for The Vagina Monologues to "The Hoohaa" Monologues after receiving a complaint. The BoingBoing post lists some possible alternatives, which I'm not going to list here so I won't offend the delicate sensibilities of some of my readers, but there were certainly lots of alternatives.
Labels: funny, The Crazy Years
Monday, January 29, 2007
Engrish
I should probably save this one for Friday, but it's too good to wait. Engrish.com collects examples of mangled English that we've all seen in signs and product manuals from Japanese products. From their FAQ: "Engrish can be simply defined as the humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design." I think my favourite example of the ones I've looked at so far is "Azabu Psycho Clinic".
Labels: funny
Friday, January 12, 2007
Typographical joke
Sunday, December 31, 2006
2006 Darwin awards
What better way to end the year than with a link to the 2006 Darwin awards. Read how people have found new and creative ways of ensuring that they will no longer contribute to the human gene pool, for which we can all be thankful.
Labels: funny
Friday, December 29, 2006
The 13,000 kilometre typo
This has to be one of the classic typos of all time. A German tourist typed "Sidney" instead of "Sydney" into an online ticket booking site and ended up in Sidney, Montana instead of Sydney, Australa.
I've heard of people ending up in Sydney, Nova Scotia instead of Sydney Australia, but this one is definitely one for the tpyo hall of fame.
I've heard of people ending up in Sydney, Nova Scotia instead of Sydney Australia, but this one is definitely one for the tpyo hall of fame.
Labels: funny
