NaNoWriMo
No, NaNoWriMo isn’t some type of microscopic poetry. It’s the National Novel Writing Month.
I’ve decided that I’m going to participate this year. I’ve had a few stories rattling around my cranium for a while, and I’m going to use this to kick-start my getting one of them down finally.
My daughter is also participating in their junior competition.
If you are interested, sign up quick. The writing starts on November 1.
To help you out a little, Spacejock has some information on getting started writing, as well as a novel writing software called yWriter that simplifies the process. He has quite a bit of advice for people wanting to write with tips and examples. He also recommends using mind mapping software like FreeMind to keep track and help with the outline.
If I get anything worthwhile, I’ll post snippets here.
Geek Humor
If you hang around geeks long enough, you’ll figure out that there is a unique sense of humor that they share.
It is not uncommon for the verbal humor to include references to Orwell, Star Trek, Star Wars, Monty Python, and Sci-fi books and movies. Geek jokes also frequently involve geek jargon as well. One of the better examples of this is the ‘turboencabulator‘. Geek humor can also involve math – especially geek math.
My two favorite geek ‘math’ type jokes are:
There are 10 types of people in the world, those that know binary, and those that don’t.
spoiler: In binary (base 2), 10 is the same as decimal 2
Why do geeks have trouble distinguishing between Halloween and Christmas?
Because Oct 31 = Dec 25
spoiler: Oct is short for Octal (base 8), and Dec is short for Decimal (standard base 10) – and they are the same number – 25.
My opportunity for contribution to the fine art of geek humor came when the company I work for moved. I was in the last group, and went ’shopping’ through the vacated spaces to see what had been left behind.
If it’s hard to see, the clocks from left to right are:
Toronto, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, Miami, & Turks and Caicos.
