Is tech humor valuable? Or science humor? How about sci-tech humor? Is there any value here beyond making us feel good?
If you're new here (and nearly everyone is), you might not realize that that's what Technoscreed is all about. It's about taking serious technical and scientific subjects and having some fun with them. Invariably, this means getting into the culture around those topics, too. Because our world today is created by technology and by how people deal with it. Hint: Tech is simple. What people do with it never is.
I truly believe that this newsletter is more important than just giving people a quick smile during an otherwise dull day. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Here are four reasons why science/tech humor in general, and Technoscreed in particular, matter.
1) When I make fun of a technology or technology decision, it's something that is really laugh-worthy. The giants of tech are not saints nor are they super geniuses who never make mistakes1. Sometimes they _deserve_ to be made fun of. Or sometimes, the ridiculous stuff people say about tech deserves to be made fun of. In that sense, my ridicule is a dose of common sense.
Yes, you heard me right. Humor is often common sense in what might be a very thin disguise. It's a counter to the often idiotic take you get in the news. Or worse, in the press releases.
A prime example is the sudden hype last month over OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's firing by the company's board of directors. When it was all over, the board lost and Sam Altman came back. I was one of the only people pointing out that the hype over the drama around Sam Altman's job had more to do with the cult of Altman than it did with Artificial Intelligence and that, in the long run, it probably wasn't worth the hysteria.
Yet it was followed up with more of the same. After we thought it was all over, there was a leak about something called Q*, which the researchers at OpenAI were worried was going to destroy the world. I didn't write anything about that mostly because I didn't think screaming, "We don't even know what it is! Stop making stuff up!" Was good for more than about 2 jokes. And that was one of them.
But you get the idea. Let the other people tell you what to think. Let me point out that they're wearing greasepaint, floppy shoes and big red noses.
2) Humor teaches, too. I know, explaining jokes is a bad idea because it spoils them. But explaining something about tech to people who might not be really up on it is important. And wrapping the teaching in humor makes it easier to take and more likely to be remembered. Okay, it might be remembered badly. People are more likely to remember that I said Java is a horrible programming language2 rather than my mention that it's Turing complete and people love it because it works.
No, I'm not going to explain what "Turing Complete" means. Okay, I will. But only because you begged. When Alan Turing wasn't busy saving the world from the Nazis3 he was thinking about what we could do if we had machines that could follow instructions. He figured that a machine that could follow any set of instructions you could make would be able to do pretty much anything. It would be "Turing Complete."
This is a terrible explanation but it's the best I can do without getting into the math or even more boring explanations of elementary computer science. I don't want to do that to you (or me). It isn't often explained but Computer Science is a) Not really a science and b) incredibly boring even for the people who have PhDs in it. That's why gaming is so popular among computer people. They need the relief.
But somewhere in all this you've learned that being "Turing Complete" means something about solving all possible problems that can be posed. Sort of. Honestly, most computer science undergrads couldn't even give you an explanation that coherent without asking ChatGPT. Darn! Now that I've said it, I have to ask ChatGPT.
Here is what it said.
"A system (like a programming language, a computer, or a computational model) is considered Turing Complete if it can be used to simulate any Turing machine. This essentially means it has enough computational power to solve any problem that can be computationally described, given enough time and memory."
I like my explanation better. The only part you have to remember is that you can learn things by reading Technoscreed. Got it?
3) Science and Technology humor makes you think. How often have you read about someone's horrible experience with some technology4 and nodded your head instead of laughing? How many developers or software company executives have seen that reaction and said, "Yeah, I think we can do better?" How many non-developers have said, "Maybe I'll try to find one that doesn't do that?" See? Humor serves to push app makers toward better user experiences and more reliable technology.
Hey! Cut me some slack! I said, "Pushes toward" not "Guaranties."
It's a fundamental principle of life that if you always think about everything the same exact way as you always have, the same exact way everyone does, we'll all die of boredom and nothing will change. The only way to learn and grow is to try looking at things in a different way. You'd be amazed at how many of these articles are inspired by me reading something in the news and thinking, "Wait! They think that makes sense?"
Maybe it's just me.
4) There is no four.
Now I've made the case that science and technology humor - this newsletter, Technoscreed - is important, meaningful, valuable and good. Probably not in that order. Why have I made this case, besides making myself feel like more than a scribbler of lame (but extremely well informed) rants?
Here's why. This is a shameless advertisement. This Christmas5 why not give someone the gift of a subscription to Technoscreed?
If you refer 3 people to Technoscreed, you will, yourself, receive the gift of a free month of paid access. And I just recently published my first (so far) post only for paying subscribers! If you refer 5 people, you get 3 months. Refer a dozen and get 6 months.
Or just share the newsletter with people and get no months but lots of satisfaction, especially when they thank you for helping them find such a cool newsletter!
No matter what you do, thanks for being here. I wish you all the blessings of the season.
Here is the prompt for the top image. Remember that dall-e takes what you give it and then makes up a prompt it thinks will give you something good. “A monkey wearing a colorful Christmas-themed jester's hat is seated at a desk, intently typing on an old-fashioned manual typewriter, surrounded by festive Christmas decorations. The monkey has a focused yet playful expression. In the background, a dramatic scene unfolds with a Christmas twist: aliens are invading the world during a snowy night, with their spacecrafts decorated in Christmas lights. The bustling cityscape below is adorned with Christmas lights and holiday decorations, creating a surreal and humorous Christmas-themed scene.”
Whereas I am both a saint and a super genius, although I'm too modest to mention it.
Actually Java's great when you compare it to Visual Basic. Those few people who both read this and remember Visual Basic will understand that that was a joke.
True story, by the way.
Does anyone remember the era of the Blue Screen of Death? Some people - who mostly worked tech support - still have nightmares about it.
Or Hanukkah if you prefer. Or Diwali. No, that was last month. Sorry.