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That annoying book meme

I really hate memes like this, but since everybody else an their frickin' dog has done this (and I guess it all started here), here you go:

1) Grab the nearest book
2) Open the book to page 23
3) Find the fifth sentence
4) Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions

For me, the nearest book is one I'm selling on eBay, the Corel Draw 9 User Guide:

Click file, New, From Template.

OK, that sucked, let me see if any of these other books have anything useful on page 23. The next closest books have chapter/section page numbers (1-3, 4-2, etc...) and I don't feeling like doing the math, so what else can I find here? [looking around my office]

OK, here's a coherent sentence from The Hip Pocket Guide to HTML 4 (a book that you'd think I'm not actually using, looking at some of my sites):

The text is rendered by browsers in many ways, such as a tool tip over graphics.

This is referring to the "TITLE" attribute.

Wow, that sucked. Carry on.

Posted by Jake on 04/26/04 @ 02:15 PM
Posted in Stupid | 10 Comments | Permalink
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10 Comments

Rick said on 04/26/04 @ 04:30 PM:
Perhaps Im just stupid, but what on earth is a "meme"? And how is it pronounced?

Neil T. said on 04/26/04 @ 04:32 PM:
Dude, buy some better books ;-)

Rick: I think it's pronounced 'meem' and it's basically a common idea spread among several people. Try asking dictionary.com :-)

Jake said on 04/26/04 @ 04:35 PM:
I don't know how to pronouce it, but a meme in the blogging world, is one of those common themes, jokes, links, stories, whatever that you see spread across a ton of different blogs. A fad, of sorts.

Or you can read this def here.

Jake said on 04/26/04 @ 04:46 PM:
Yes, I know I need better books, Neil. The last time I had time to read a book, it was Microserfs, and that was about 5 years ago. Have a couple kids, and watch what free time you have go out the window.

Jon said on 04/26/04 @ 04:53 PM:
Yeah, having kids kills all sorts of free time... any free reading time I can find now is late at night after everyone else went to bed.

Another way to define "meme" (one that I like) is that it's an "idea gene"--an idea or concept that self-replicates and undergoes a form of "natural selection" by passing from host to host (via books, music, etc.). Like biological genes, the strongest memes grow into powerful ideologies/beliefes/whatever--the more people they "infect," the more powerful they are.

Jon said on 04/26/04 @ 04:53 PM:
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme.

Rick said on 04/27/04 @ 08:39 AM:
Alright then, here it is

"If the header file name is enclosed in double quotes, the processor starts searching for the file in the current directory and then goes to the INCLUDE path.

Jake said on 04/27/04 @ 08:57 AM:
Boy, you have the same kind of boring books on your shelf that I have :)

Lucas said on 04/27/04 @ 12:35 PM:
The Art of War. Am I the only one with good book? ;-)

The I Ching says, "The sovereign uses three chasers, letting the game ahead escape," and "if you are too adamant, action is unlukcy, even if you are right."

Rick said on 04/27/04 @ 02:50 PM:
Actually, this book is quite good, though I dont really do much C++ programming, so its not of a lot of use anymore.

I dont have time to read for the same reason as Jake, though I only have 1, and shes only 10 weeks old, but still takes plenty of time.

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