Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Our growing "Technical" Sense of Humor

I am amazed at the complexity in which things evolve over time. We grow - and surprisingly enough we often don't realize it until we look back!

When we were kids, I remember the April Fool days - the worst jokes would be "look there is a bird shit on your head" - and that was it - fool the friends! Technology has entered deep into our blood now, especially the past ten years - thanks to all the web technologies. Consider all the April Fool hoaxes that Google has been coming up with since as early as 2000! You can find a full list here. Please refer to the very funny ones like the Google TiSP where they intended to provide free high speed internet using the power from flushing your toilet; the Google WakeUp kit where they are determined to wake you up in the morning, going as far as spilling a bucket of water on you; and of course this year's hoax of the Custom Time where they apparently solved the issue of the grandfather's paradox! To add more fun April Fool hoaxes: that Taco Bell has bought the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and named it Taco Liberty Bell and that Bill Gates was shot dead by a lone gunman at a charity event! Some of them do sound ridiculous, and some not so nice.

Coming back to jokes - thanks to all these websites hosting so much geeky jokes - phdcomics and XKCD. The funniest part is, they say,
  • Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).
Good fun stuff!

On a different note, I am planning on starting a research blog soon under this blogger profile. You are welcome to visit that, should you like bubbling ideas and crazy thoughts on future technology!

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