China Sunday 3

Camping in Africa

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Haiku poetry

In Japan , they have replaced the impersonal Microsoft error messages with Haiku poetry messages. Haiku Poetry has strict construction rules: Each poem has only 17 Syllables - 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, 5 in the third. They often achieve a wistful, yearning, and powerful insight through extreme brevity. Here are some actual error messages from Japan . Aren't these better than "your computer has performed an illegal operation?"

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ------

The Web site you seek

Cannot be located, but

Countless more exist.

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Chaos reigns within.

Reflect, repent, and reboot.

Order shall return.

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Program aborting.

Close all that you have worked on.

You ask far too much.

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Windows NT crashed.

I am the Blue Screen of Death.

No one hears your screams.

------------ --------- --------- --------- -----

Yesterday it worked.

Today it is not working.

Windows is like that.

------------ --------- --------- --------- -----

Your file was so big.

It might be very useful.

But now it is gone.

------------ --------- --------- --------- -----

Stay the patient course.

Of little worth is your ire.

The network is down.

------------ --------- --------- --------- -----

A crash reduces

Your expensive computer

To a simple stone.

------------ --------- --------- --------- -----

Three things are certain:

Death, taxes and lost data.

Guess which has occurred.

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You step in the stream,

But the water has moved on.

This page is not here.

------------ --------- --------- --------- -----

Out of memory.

We wish to hold the whole sky,

But we never will.

------------ --------- --------- --------- -----

Having been erased,

The document you're seeking

Must now be retyped.

------------ --------- --------- --------- -----

Serious error.

All shortcuts have disappeared.

Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

------------ --------- --------- --------- -----

I ate your Web page.

Forgive me; it was tasty

And tart on my tongue.

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Who Writes Maxine?

This is interesting. I never knew who the creator of Maxine was! After the Maxine jokes there is a summary on how she was created and a photo of her creator. More from the gal everyone loves and admires and you finally get to meet her creator at the end.

Creator

of Maxine

John

Wagner, Hallmark artist since 1970, says Maxine was inspired by his mother, his

maiden aunts and his grandmother, the woman who bought him art lessons when

'fill in the pumpkins' was about the extent of his art classes at St. John's

Catholic School in

Leonia N.J. John remembers doodling as a preschooler and says both his

grandmother and his mother encouraged his artistic interests. He eventually

attended the Vesper George School of Art in Boston and landed at Hallmark as

part of a new artists group. But it was the birth of the humorous Shoebox

Greetings (a tiny little division of Hallmark) in 1986 that added a new

dimension to John's professional life. The Shoebox way of seeing the world

unleashed his talents and he created Maxine.

'Cartoonists are sensitive

to the insanities of the world; we just try to humanize them,' John says.

'If Maxine can get a laugh out of someone who feels lonely or someone who is

getting older and hates the thought of another birthday, or if she can make

someone! chuckle about stressful interpersonal relationships, then I'm happy.

Putting a smile on someone's face is what it's all about.'

Those smiles

have led to Maxine's becoming a bit of a celebrity. She (and John) have been the

subject of media stories, including People, USA Today, Good Morning America, The

Wall Street Journal, St. Petersburg (FL) Times, and Las Vegas Journal-Review,

and they have been included in a major Associated Press story.

Collector and trade publications have reported fans nationwide are collecting

Maxine items. Letters from consumers and fans to John and Maxine reveal a very

personal connection to Maxine.

Many people say they are just like her.

Why the name 'Maxine'? 'People at Shoebox started referring to the

character as 'John Wagner's old lady,' and I knew that would get me into trouble

with my wife,' John says. The Shoebox team had a contest among themselves to

name the character and three of the approximately 30 entries suggested 'Maxine'.

John says the name is perfect.

John, who says he's humbled by such

acceptance of Maxine, admits he's proud of her.

Now you know the story of

how Maxine came to be.

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Driver or pilot?

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Nice dance move!

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When things just work

There are no computer graphics or digital tricks in these images. Everything that you see happened in real time exactly as you see it. The recording required 606 takes and in the first 605 takes there always was something, usually of minor importance, that didn't work. It was necessary for the recording team to install the set-up time after time and it took several weeks working day and night to achieve this effect. The recording cost 6 million dollars and it took 3 months to finish, including the engineering design of the sequence. The duration of the video is only 2 minutes, but every time that Honda shows the commercial on British television, they make enough money to support any of us for the rest of our lives. However, this commercial has turned out to be the most displayed in the history of the Internet. Honda execs think that it will pay for itself simply because of the free showings. When Honda senior execs viewed it, they immediately approved it without hesitation -- including costs. Everything you see in the sequence (besides the walls, floor, ramp and untouched Honda Accord) is part of two automobiles. The voice is that of Garrison Keiller. The commercial was so well received by Honda execs that when they saw it, their first comment was how amazing the computer graphics were. They almost fell out of their chairs when told that the recording was real without any graphics manipulation. By the way, about the windshield wipers in the new Honda Accords, they are sensitive to water and designed to start working as soon as they get wet.

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amazing stuff...