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Author	Topic: Another scary Furby moment.....
TrygveLode Neat Newbie Posts: 13 From: a plateau southwest of Denver, Colorado, USA Registered: Dec 2001	posted January 25, 2002 20:32 Maybe truth is stranger than fiction often enough that not even clearly labeling something "HUMOR" is sufficient to convery the idea that it's not really meant to be taken seriously. So today I get yet another serious letter, in this case from a representative of a Well Known Computer Manufacturer, wanting to ask some technical questions about cluster computing and my experiences in developing the Furbeowulf Project www.trygve.com/furbeowulf.html ... and, I run across an article on a Brazilian news site that's used it as a reference. I wonder what would happen if I stopped admitting to people who ask me technical questions about the project (I get maybe one or two a week) that it really is a joke. There is that one international conference on cluster computing that sent me an invitation to present a paper on my findings; all I told them was that my schedule wouldn't allow me to attend this year's sessions--and they asked that I still keep next year's conference in mind. I guess it wouldn't be that hard to make slides from the pictures I'd used for the web version. ------------------ Trygve Lode www.trygve.com IP: Logged
SupportGoddess Highlie Posts: 536 From: The Digital Temple Registered: Jul 2001	posted January 26, 2002 14:41 Is that you? The pictures on your web site, I mean. Wow! edit - Oh, cool site too. ------------------ reality.sys corrupted. universe halted. reboot (y/n)? IP: Logged
Zwilnik Alpha Geek Posts: 298 From: London, UK Registered: Dec 2000	posted January 26, 2002 15:21 That is one excellent site! Will GeekCulture being doing a Furby@home team ? IP: Logged
TrygveLode Neat Newbie Posts: 13 From: a plateau southwest of Denver, Colorado, USA Registered: Dec 2001	posted January 26, 2002 18:48 quote: Originally posted by SupportGoddess: Is that you? The pictures on your web site, I mean. Wow! Um, well, if it's got big, white plush ears or a mop of fluorescent-colored fur on top, then it's probably one of the Furbys...otherwise it's just me. I'm also taller and don't have a battery compartment, so that's another way to tell. quote: Oh, cool site too. Thanks! It's sort of a catch-all site for my stuff (you probably guessed that from the name). Sometimes it's even an instrument of catharsis because I can do something like whip up a little humor page in a couple of hours--and enjoy having gotten something done when all the other real-world projects are moving at a snail's pace, if that. ------------------ Trygve Lode www.trygve.com IP: Logged
LifetimeTrekker Alpha Geek Posts: 348 From: Albuquerque, NM, UD Registered: Sep 2001	posted January 26, 2002 21:18 Take the gig for next year, charge them a small fortune for speaking fees and expenses! Be honest about it being a joke, but do it in such a way that they don't believe you! This will avoid any nasty legal consequences, as you can say you told them all along it was a joke. It's not false pretenses if you tell them the truth and they don't belive you-- BTW, I loved the site! IP: Logged
macadddikt18 SuperBlabberMouth! Posts: 1290 From: In a world beyond your understanding Registered: Jan 2002	posted January 27, 2002 14:33 wow, now that was a cool wen site. Nayt ------------------ Through out your life you will wonder who THEY are. Then you find out who THEY really are. From then on you live you life in fear of THEM and you wish you never knew who THEY were. IP: Logged
Xanthine Highlie Posts: 544 From: the lab Registered: Mar 2001	posted January 27, 2002 16:22 Very cool, though how anyone could be thick enough not to recognize the joke is beyond me. Whoa...I didn't know geeks could look like that! ------------------ Take by surprise and the world gives up resistance. - Tennesee Williams IP: Logged
SupportGoddess Highlie Posts: 536 From: The Digital Temple Registered: Jul 2001	posted January 28, 2002 00:14 The bad part is I now find myself pondering the logistics of networking furbies. I played with one a long time ago and I think they interact with each other if you place one right across from the other? Is that an IR port in their foreheads? So that would mean that they would already support some sort of rudimentry networking? It would be fun to try. I can't seem to find any sort of Furby white papers on http://www.furby.com though, I can't really count stuff about feeding your Furby. They don't have any pictures of the guts either. (I also do not recommend the Furby web site to anyone with a weak stomach.) ------------------ reality.sys corrupted. universe halted. reboot (y/n)? IP: Logged
TrygveLode Neat Newbie Posts: 13 From: a plateau southwest of Denver, Colorado, USA Registered: Dec 2001	posted January 28, 2002 10:12 To be fair, a lot of the people who think it's serious are not native English speakers--and the article I ran into was in Portuguese, so the language barrier might have something to do with it. Still, I keep getting surprised by how many people do take my humor writing seriously--I get letters from people asking about the "nbsp virus" and see searches for it in the logs (but to date I haven't seen an official anti-virus site listing it as a hoax). ( www.trygve.com/doomsday.html if you're wondering what I'm talking about) and I've run across a lot of what certainly seemed like serious discussions of the "uncanny accuracy" of "NerdSigns, the Y2K-Compliant Horoscope" ( www.trygve.com/nerdsigns.html ) which I'd really just made up on the spot. Can't complain about that, though; part of my intent was to whip up personality type descriptions that would sound fairly specific, but that most people would read and think, "hey, that sounds just like me!" (I shouldn't admit to doing anything so premeditated and nefarious, so just forget that I said any of this, okay?) quote: Take the gig for next year, charge them a small fortune for speaking fees and expenses! Not a bad idea--except I'm kinda stuck close to home these days; got too much going on that I need to be around for, and too many "not quite completed and stable" upgrades and projects going on with the various servers. Maybe by next year I'll get everything stable enough that I'd be up for travelling again; here's hoping, anyway. quote: Whoa...I didn't know geeks could look like that! No? But I thought one of the privileges of geekdom is that you could get away looking any way you wanted? My take on the difference between "nerds" and "geeks" is that a nerd is someone who is out-of-step with mainstream values and interestes and generally focused (if not obsessed) on at least some scientific and technical areas, but who still wishes he were "cool." A geek, on the other hand, is all of the above, but is convinced that's what is cool. quote: I can't seem to find any sort of Furby white papers on http://www.furby.com though, I can't really count stuff about feeding your Furby. They don't have any pictures of the guts either. Have you been to http://www.phobe.com/furby or http://www.hackfurby.com ? Doesn't look like either's been updated in a long time, but that's as close to a "white paper" as I know of. At least they do have plenty of pictures of the guts. Now, if they could communicate via the "third eye" optical port, would we have to worry about Furby viruses or worms? ------------------ Trygve Lode www.trygve.com IP: Logged
macadddikt18 SuperBlabberMouth! Posts: 1290 From: In a world beyond your understanding Registered: Jan 2002	posted January 28, 2002 12:32 Ok, me personaly, i think Furbies are cute. But that is just me. Nayt ------------------ Through out your life you will wonder who THEY are. Then you find out who THEY really are. From then on you live you life in fear of THEM and you wish you never knew who THEY were. IP: Logged
Geordie Super Geek Posts: 174 From: Fairfax Station, VA, USA Registered: Nov 2001	posted January 28, 2002 17:47 Trygve, please stop creating interesting content on your website. I keep stumbling on links to it and then thinking wait I've been here before. Then next thing I know another hour of my life is gone. IP: Logged
macadddikt18 SuperBlabberMouth! Posts: 1290 From: In a world beyond your understanding Registered: Jan 2002	posted January 28, 2002 18:47 Yes, his page is huge. That is what makes it so amazing. That he has the time to do all that. I was quite impressed. Nayt ------------------ Through out your life you will wonder who THEY are. Then you find out who THEY really are. From then on you live you life in fear of THEM and you wish you never knew who THEY were. IP: Logged
TrygveLode Neat Newbie Posts: 13 From: a plateau southwest of Denver, Colorado, USA Registered: Dec 2001	posted January 31, 2002 20:07 quote: Originally posted by Geordie: Trygve, please stop creating interesting content on your website. I keep stumbling on links to it and then thinking wait I've been here before. Then next thing I know another hour of my life is gone. But, but...there's still so much left to do I'm too young to stop writing web content. 'Course from out here it seems like I get stuff done a lot more slowly. My personal web stuff just gets done in the gaps between business stuff and admin stuff, and from up close what I do get finished writing always looks small in the shadow of the remaining "to do" list. (But, then, the business/admin "to do" lists are even more daunting, so a little playing around on the net isn't so bad.) ------------------ Trygve Lode www.trygve.com IP: Logged
TheAnnoyedCockroach Super Geek Posts: 246 From: Registered: Feb 2002	posted February 10, 2002 17:46 I think it could be done.... well, not really. But at least they'd be good for something then. ------------------ If you flip a coin a thousand times, how many times would it end up heads? IP: Logged
macadddikt18 SuperBlabberMouth! Posts: 1290 From: In a world beyond your understanding Registered: Jan 2002	posted February 10, 2002 18:41 I have to agree with the roach on this one. It is quite possible, but maybe a bit risky. Risk is all part of the Game though. Nayt ------------------ Through out your life you will wonder who THEY are. Then you find out who THEY really are. From then on you live you life in fear of THEM and you wish you never knew who THEY were. IP: Logged
Fesh Geek-in-Training Posts: 34 From: Clinton, MS, USA Registered: Feb 2002	posted February 19, 2002 15:49 So has everyone run across the Furby Suicide Pact phenomenon? No? Ah well. That's what Google's for... grin ------------------ Kill -9 'em all, let root@localhost sort 'em out. IP: Logged
TechnoGram Super Geek Posts: 247 From: USA Registered: Jan 2002	posted March 22, 2002 11:33 quote: Originally posted by Xanthine: *Whoa...I didn't know geeks could look like that!* he truly is a hunk who talks techno, and has a great sense of humor at that... ------------------ Free Speech Is The Right To Shout 'Theater' In A Crowded Fire. IP: Logged
MBoprey Geek Posts: 90 From: In the crevices of my iBook Registered: Mar 2002	posted March 22, 2002 19:37 Haha! That's a hilarious site. I read it a few times just to laugh harder each time. :-D ------------------ Msb IP: Logged
macadddikt18 SuperBlabberMouth! Posts: 1290 From: In a world beyond your understanding Registered: Jan 2002	posted March 24, 2002 07:44 Just because i saw this thread came back to life, i thought i should help keep it alive another day by posting another useless post on it. I am not sure if i should use the standard "ME TOO" or maybe my own patented "PIP PIP CHEERIO". Though i could use some new ones from pinky and teh brain like, "NARF, ZORT, TROZ". Those may add to much excitement to a thread for some geeks to handle though. So in the interest of living longer i will go with "SMOKE". I think the roach will know where i get this one from. I am not against guessing though, take you best shot at it. Nayt ------------------ c:/dos c:/dos/run run/dos/run IP: Logged
TechnoGram Super Geek Posts: 247 From: USA Registered: Jan 2002	posted March 24, 2002 09:38 well, keeping it alive means more people have a chance to read the article, and check out the other humor articles on that site. i really like & n bsp - the Doomsday Tag and WinDuck 2001 Install Accelerator ------------------ Free Speech Is The Right To Shout 'Theater' In A Crowded Fire. IP: Logged
Nitrozac Moderator Posts: 429 From: Registered: Dec 1999	posted March 24, 2002 14:27 Actually I'm not for "punting" or "bumping" threads, but I'm glad you did Technogram with this one! I missed this thread the first time around, and I got a good chuckle from looking at those furbys roosting in a CPU! LOL! Lots of goodies on your site Tryg! It's awesome! Plus a spotting of the rare and elusive real life TTH, that's always a Good Thing. IP: Logged
Hikaru Geek Posts: 78 From: AppleDale, USA Registered: Feb 2002	posted April 07, 2002 20:55 groovy site, you get the official solid gold votie award <gold=solid>Vootie!</gold> ------------------ END OF LINE _ IP: Logged
macadddikt18 SuperBlabberMouth! Posts: 1290 From: In a world beyond your understanding Registered: Jan 2002	posted April 08, 2002 08:18 ahhh, someone brought this thread back again. it is the thread that will not die. Thats ok though, it is a pretty cool site. Nayt ------------------ c:/dos c:/dos/run run/dos/run IP: Logged
GameMaster Super Geek Posts: 103 From: State of insanity Registered: Mar 2002	posted April 09, 2002 00:02 I'm glad it came back. I didn't see it the first time. Cool site, and I agree that you should take some gigs talking... But do fuzzy talks about "thiking outside the box" (think cell phone comercial). You may also want to consider copywriting the idea, then if someone manages to network a cluster of toys you can sue for royalties. On a similar topic remeber Cold Fussion? Hehehe.... You should throw in a paragraph about how your fubywulf system is powered by a Cold Fussion (or Naquida (Star Gate SG1)), and link to a few sites on Cold fussion. IP: Logged

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