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From: rn10+@andrew.cmu.edu (Ronald J. Notarius)
Newsgroups: rec.humor,comp.misc
Subject: Re: Looking for Computer Folklore
Message-ID: <cY03nNy00XoBI13GMf@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: 20 Feb 89 16:29:13 GMT
References: <530@tcsc3b2.UUCP> <2491@cuuxb.ATT.COM> <89959@sun.uucp> <6375@saturn.ucsc.edu>,
	<614@island.uu.net>
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Lines: 46
In-Reply-To: <614@island.uu.net>

True Story:

I teach several computer classes for the Continuing (ie. Adult) Education
Department at the Allegheny Campus, Community College of Allegheny County (YES
that's a MOUTHFUL!).  Last summer I was teaching an "Introduction to the IBM PC"
class,  which includes BASIC, Word Perfect (ugh!), Lotus 1-2-3 and dBase III+.
I had one older woman in my class who just couldn't seem to get the hang of
using a computer.

For example, if I said (while working on 1-2-3) "Now type slash (/) for
commands, W for Worksheet, C for Columns..." she would try to (two-finger!) type
"slash for commands, W for Worksheet, C for Columns..."

Either that, or she would sit there with her hands in her lap looking helpless,
until her ride (also in the class) came over to do the work for her.   (He later
told me that she was always like that with her late husband, waiting for him to
do everything for her, and that she had been lost since he passed away).

(OK, it's rather sad, but it's true)


Second true story:

Like most universities, Carnegie (No-Hyphen) Mellon has their own way of
thinking.  Even though I have taken many classes in C and have taught one at
CCAC,  they insist that I take their "intro" class for computer science, 15-211,
Fundamental Structure of Computer Science.  (They've given me credit for most of
the electives that follow this class & the next one, 15-212 -- but I still have
to take them.)

A large part of this class concerns programming in C.

We can call our functions anything we wish, so long as the names are relative to
the program in question.

We have to include an error routine.

Mine is called hell().

Therefore, the program logic contains the phrase:

"On Error, Go To Hell()"

I got away with it.  So far, at least...

-- rjn --