leifw

I've been listening to and really enjoying Cory Doctorow's podcasts recently. Therein, the author or an invited guest reads 7-20 minute segments of Doctorow's short stories. The quality of reading isn't up to audio book standards, but it really is quite good with solid underlying recording technology and infrequent corrections. In general, I recommend Cory's stuff with the caveat of a blanket PG-13 rating.

While listening to When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth, an apocalyptic tale in which primarily only those sheltered in data centers survive, I laughed out loud, a dangerous proposition when running on a treadmill as I was, upon hearing the following exchange between two star-crossed sysadmins.

I've got a 486 downstairs with over five years of uptime. It's going to break my heart to reboot it.

What the everlasting s--- do you use a 486 for?

Nothing. But who shuts down a machine with five years uptime? That's like euthanizing your grandmother.