______ __
/ ____/___ _____/ /___ ______ ___
/ /_ / __ \/ ___/ __/ / / / __ \/ _ \
/ __/ / /_/ / / / /_/ /_/ / / / / __/
/_/ \____/_/ \__/\__,_/_/ /_/\___/
Hoare's Law of Large Problems:
Inside every large problem is a small problem struggling to get out.
At a recent meeting in Snowmass, Colorado, a participant from Los
Angeles fainted from hyperoxygenation, and we had to hold his head
under the exhaust of a bus until he revived.
Proposed Additions to the PDP-11 Instruction Set:
PI Punch Invalid
POPI Punch Operator Immediately
PVLC Punch Variable Length Card
RASC Read And Shred Card
RPM Read Programmers Mind
RSSC Reduce Speed, Step Carefully (for improved accuracy)
RTAB Rewind Tape and Break
RWDSK Rewind Disk
RWOC Read Writing On Card
SCRBL Scribble to disk - faster than a write
SLC Search for Lost Chord
SPSW Scramble Program Status Word
SRSD Seek Record and Scar Disk
STROM Store in Read Only Memory
TDB Transfer and Drop Bit
WBT Water Binary Tree
"There is nothing which cannot be answered by means of my doctrine,"
said a monk, coming into a teahouse where Nasrudin sat. "And yet just
a short time ago, I was challenged by a scholar with an unanswerable
question," said Nasrudin. "I could have answered it if I had been
there." "Very well. He asked, 'Why are you breaking into my house in
the middle of the night?'"
Look, we play the Star Spangled Banner before every game. You want us
to pay income taxes, too?
-- Bill Veeck, Chicago White Sox
Scott's first Law:
No matter what goes wrong, it will probably look right.
"Have you lived here all your life?"
"Oh, twice that long."
If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.
-- Maslow
Tuesday, 3 November 2026 Michael J. Chappell Contact me at:
mcsuper5@freeshell.org
