This on-line magazine ran a contest to see who could come up with haiku poems to replace the sometimes brusque and unimaginative error messages that computers usually cough up when something goes wrong. Here are some of the entries received.....
TWO WINNERS:
Three things are certain:
Death, taxes, and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
Server's poor response
Not quick enough for browser.
Timed out, plum blossom.
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A file that big? It might be very useful. But now it is gone. |
Windows NT crashed. I am the Blue Screen of Death. No one hears your screams. |
Errors have occurred. We won't tell you where or why. Lazy programmers. |
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Seeing my great fault Through darkening blue windows, I begin again |
The code was willing, It considered your request, But the chips were weak. |
Printer not ready. Could be a fatal error. Have a pen handy? |
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Chaos reigns within. Reflect, repent, and reboot. Order shall return. |
Login incorrect. Only perfect spellers may enter this system. |
This site has been moved. We'd tell you where, but then we'd have to delete you. |
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Wind catches lily scatt'ring petals to the wind: segmentation fault |
ABORTED effort: Close all that you have. You ask way too much. |
First snow, then silence. This thousand dollar screen dies so beautifully. |
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With searching comes loss and the presence of absence: "My Novel" not found. |
The Web site you seek cannot be located but endless others exist |
Stay the patient course. Of little worth is your ire. The network is down. |
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A crash reduces your expensive computer to a simple stone. |
There is a chasm of carbon and silicon the software can't bridge |
Yesterday it worked. Today it is not working. Windows is like that. |
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You step in the stream, but the water has moved on. This page is not here. |
No keyboard present, Hit F1 to continue: Zen engineering? |
Out of memory. We wish to hold the whole sky, But we never will. |
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Having been erased, The document you're seeking Must now be retyped. |
The ten thousand things. How long do any persist? Netscape, too, has gone. |
Rather than a beep Or a rude error message, These words: "File not found." |
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Serious error. All shortcuts have disappeared. Screen. Mind. Both are blank. |
To have no errors Would be life without meaning. No struggle, no joy |