Thursday, February 18, 2021

On Curse-Tech

 On Curse-Tech

 

On Jan 22, 2020, at 2:21 PM, paradoctor wrote:

Dear Friends:

Just now I have been reacquainted, by hard experience, with something I call "curse-tech". I also call it "user-hostile software".

This is software which malfunctions inexplicably when you use it in a genial state of mind; but the very moment you curse the machine, it operates flawlessly; and the more fiery the imprecations you are moved to utter, the swifter it operates.

How this is so is a mystery to me; but I cannot deny the reality of the phenomenon. What is your experience of this?

 

From: levanah

To: paradoctor

Sent: Wed, Jan 22, 2020 10:59 pm

Subject: Re: Curse-tech

Well… I remember one time years ago (back in the 1980s, I think), one of our TVs was, um, misbehaving… and kept at it no matter how Stan adjusted the whatever it was… until finally, he held a sledgehammer directly over it, and said… something like “Do you want to behave?” And waited.

It did. Never fritzed again.

Not the only time this kind of thing has happened, either.

Just sayin.’

 

 

From: paradoctor

Thu, Jan 23, 2020 9:31 am

Percussive maintenance is an industry standard. It often works, and it always feels natural.

The first major abuse of AI will be to install Punish buttons.

 

 

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