Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Calculator Poetry

Proof, if proof were needed, of the persistence of your web presence comes through to me periodically. It is good to be reminded of the importance of being careful what you write on the web because it can come back to haunt you!

My reminder of this often comes in the shape of an email that comments on some half forgotten page I'd created years before. Once Google has found it, it seems that a page can be thrown up in answer to a search no matter how old it is. The most recent specific example of this is two emails I received about the calculator word pages I created in December 2000. (My definition of a calculator word is a word made up of numbers typed on a calculator that can be read when the calculator is turned upside down. I will not link to the pages because they are on a part of the university's server that I thought had been taken down, however, I might transfer the pages to the new homepages section of the university's server... if I get time. I've already written about these pages (almost four years ago) so you can read about them in Count On Me.

The emails I received were both from a poet called Winston Plowes who wrote to tell me of two calculator word poems he had created - the second of which even rhymes. Brilliant. :-) Look them up yourself. The first is called Sozzle and the second Googlize. I hope you enjoy them - I think they are brilliant.

If you feel inspired, you can download my Calculator Quiz sheet at Scribd... although it's a bit late for Christmas. I'd be interested in hearing from you if you do anything with calculator words.

Update: Minutes after posting this, I came across two calculator word haikus. :-)

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