T W wrote: « ...if you attempt this task yourself you will find yourself in the same difficult situation every humorist has always found themselves in : you will always offend someone. »

Sure your lengthy post had little other utility or purpose than offending, using irony. That example doesn't demonstrate however that humor is *always* offending; James Marlin recalled above that it can be not.

Andy Parker, there are several persons in France (about 60 million), not just one, and they don't necessarily share the same behaviors. Yours is nearer BTW from the French (from the worse of them in facts) than from the American.

Anyway what about stopping endlessly adding new layers of offenses and hypocrisy, and trying instead to find a bit of usefulness, or at least of friendliness and honesty?

Paris, Thu 23 Oct 2003 11:17:50 +0200

Judging by the content of your posts, I think it is you (and a minority), that appear to have made a mountain out a pimple.

Read the concluding chapter:

"....As a DISCLAIMER, the above is meant for AMUSEMENT and is NOT to be taken seriously...."

"...but we both covered all of the requirements to utterly destroy your computer with little effort..."

Even before I reached this point, I knew that this entire article wasn't meant to be a serious piece, but somehow you appear to have made up your mind that it's deadly serious and have jumped on it like a small furry feline on a smaller furry rodent.

I think everyone needs to step back, take a deep breath, and look at this article in the way it was meant to be taken.....AS A JOKE.

Now, if you still feel the need to criticise the "hidden agenda" that you feel is contained in this article, be my guest, but I hope you'll realise (sooner rather than later) how foolish your entire tirade has been.



Andy

Andy Parker wrote: « I think everyone needs to step back »

then don't step ahead with a new lengthy post bringing nothing but a new disparaging misrepresentation of others.

Paris, Thu 23 Oct 2003 11:40:40 +0200

Fine by me but I can assure you, Michel, that I intended no offense (surprised Andy how nice I was !) and very, very little irony yet you can choose to construe my comments, like the original article, in any way you want. My (since when is ten sentences lengthy ?) post may have had little utility for you but it made me feel better.

James Marlin spoke of the "rules" of comedy. What "rules ?" Perhaps I've been missing something all these years.

Please, please give me some examples of humor that are inoffensive to everyone.

And you still didn't tell us the stupidest thing you've done with a piece of hardware.

If you are indeed an old engineer you could be more instructive by providing examples of stupidity (so that they may be avoided by the rest of us) than by pretending you (and your friends) seldom make mistakes.

Lose the pride.

« ...than by pretending you (and your friends) seldom make mistakes »

I didn't say that. Please read before replying, this will spare you ridiculous assumtions and gratuitous offenses.

Since there are nothing here but stupid inventions, disparaging misrepresentations, intentionally false assumptions and insinuations, with never an attempt at bringing something useful - then swapping the roles and accusing your target if he dares defend himself - I stop reading that board: it has been proved over and over that the article was dishonest, superficial, unserious, and that all the pretended rebutals were void (I remain open however if ever you or friends came back to reason). Bye.

Paris, Thu 23 Oct 2003 20:10:55 +0200

TW, I don't want to jump in to the middle of what is obviously turning in to a bit of a "flame" war. So don't take this as any more then what it seems to be, an explanation of what I said and meant. I can see both sides in this debate, and agree with both to a limited degree.

By rules I didn't mean any hard and fast or written rules, simply more what is normaly considered what it takes to make something funny. Again I could tell that the piece was meant to be humourous, I personally just didn't find that much humor in the amount I had read.

It seemed contrived, stilted, and too close to the true issue in question. Are users all most all ways the cause of thier computer woes? Yet tend to blame every one but themselves.
Some do, some don't.
But I'm sure every one has at one time run in to a retailer/tech support, that treated them like it was thier fault. When in fact they had done nothing wrong, or were ill informed.
It happens often in this expensive hobby, and can be extremly frustrating when the ones with the power to correct the problem won't, and the user is left high and dry with out any way to resolve things.

On the other hand my sense of humor like most people is my own, so others may of found the piece a laff riot, or are simply defending it as such in retrospec. Some find Andrew Dice Clay funny, and George Carlin not, others like myself find it the reverse.

In fact my original post was not meant as a response to the article, but more to the starting post in this thread. I felt it produced an extreme response to the article, and in doing so polerized the issue between it and the articles obvious underlying theme. Many of the posts, other then the debate on humor, seemed to be increasing this polerization, so I felt I might add a little perspective to the issue. And maybe let both sides see a little of where the other was coming from.

I guess that failed.

Resume your flame war, just leave me on the side lines where I prefer to be, thank-you.

Heres and Honest Mistake i did, learned from it too hehe, Plugged in a AGP Card while system was off but not unplugged or PSU was off, Found out this, if plug in AGP card while system not unplugged system will boot up, this sort of scared me and i thought it would damage vid card and or mobo but it didnt i guess it was luck, but dont try this at home or with anyones hardware LOL!

where i said "i thought it would damage vid card or mobo" i meant to say i thought it did damage vid card and system.

Oh one more thing this website wouldnt be here if it werent for Peeps having problems and Peeps here to fix those problems.

To clarify things for me personally: Michel, do you not say that Sander orignally intended this to be a joke?

This is getting Real Stupid Now, Arguing Over an Article that was really meant to poke fun at stupid things we do.

Well put, James. But flame war ? Don't know bout anyone else but it's been hard to stop giggling .... sorry, one day I'll be eleven years old, I'm sure.

Look guys, some of you just need to realize that not everything in the world is meant to be deadly serious. Take it for what it is, a very funny article, at least in my opinion. I didn't see anything that I would consider offensive to anyone. And if you would reread the first page I believe, Sander states that he considers himself to fall under the same "enthusiast" category that he writes about. Can you take a bit of humor?

i agree Martin, arguing over this stuff is real stupid, just meant to poke fun at the stupid things we do.