Wow... I was really confused until I read the whole message. I read Poe as Power over Ethernet. Nice poem anyway! Eric On 8/25/07, Chuck Cole <cncole at earthlink.net> wrote: > an old gem some may enjoy... > > > -----Original Message----- > > Date sent: Mon, 21 Jul 1997 > Subject: If Poe hadda had a PC (drivel) > > For you you poet wannabees ... > > > SUPPOSE EDGAR ALLAN POE HAD USED A COMPUTER > > Once upon a midnight dreary, fingers cramped and vision bleary, > System manuals piled high and wasted paper on the floor, > Longing for the warmth of bed sheets, > Still I sat there, doing spreadsheets: > Having reached the bottom line, > I took a floppy from the drawer. > Typing with a steady hand, I then invoked the SAVE command > And waited for the disk to store, > Only this and nothing more. > > Deep into the monitor peering, long I sat there wond'ring, fearing, > Doubting, while the disk kept churning, turning yet to churn some more. > "Save!" I said, "You cursed PC! Save my data from before!" > One thing did the phosphors answer, only this and nothing more, > Just, "Abort, Retry, Ignore?" > > Was this some bizarre illusion? Some maniacal intrusion? > These were choices undesired, ones I'd never faced before. > Carefully, I weighed the choices as the disk made impish noises. > The cursor flashed, insistent, waiting, baiting me to type some more. > > Clearly I must press a key, choosing one and nothing more, > >From "Choose Abort, Retry, Ignore?" > > With my fingers pale and trembling > Slowly toward the keyboard bending, > Longing for a happy ending, hoping all would be restored, > Praying for some guarantee > Timidly I pressed a key. > But on the screen there still persisted words appearing as before. > Ghastly grim they blinked and taunted, haunted, as my patience wore, > Saying "Abort, Retry, Ignore?" > > I tried to catch the chips off-guard -- > I pressed again, but twice as hard. > I pleaded with the cursed machine: I begged and cried and then I swore. > Now in desperation, trying random combinations, > Still there came the incantation, just as senseless as before. > Cursor blinking, angrily winking, blinking nonsense as before. > Reading, "Abort, Retry, Ignore?" > > There I sat, distraught, exhausted by my own machine accosted > Getting up I turned away and paced across the office floor. > And then I saw a dreadful sight: a lightning bolt cut through the night. > > A gasp of horror overtook me, shook me to my core. > The lightning zapped my previous data, lost and gone forevermore. > And no "Abort, Retry, Ignore?" > > To this day I do not know > The place to which lost data go. > What dreaded nether world is wrought where all lost data will be stored? > Beyond the reach of mortal souls? Beyond the ether? In black holes? > But sure as there is C, Pascal, and Lotus, Ashton-Tate and more, > One day you'll be left to wonder, data trying to restore, > "Will I see it nevermore?" > > Author Unknown > > > > --- > Chuck Cole > > One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, > see a fine picture and, if it were possible, speak a few reasonable words. > > - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) > > > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list >