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« Friday Cephalopod: How sad to be saddled with the name “Warty Octopus” | Main | My Fargo visit makes the local news! »

Destroy your computer NOW!

Category: Weirdness
Posted on: September 26, 2009 12:48 AM, by PZ Myers

It's a homo's Devil Machine!

Oh, wait. We like that stuff. Never mind, carry on.

(via Mark Allen)

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Comments

Posted by: gyeong-hwa | September 26, 2009 12:56 AM

Poe?

Sorry, I'm no good at Poes. Sometimes, crazy religious fanatics are this ignorant.

Posted by: Scott | September 26, 2009 1:04 AM

I call parody. She's holding a rainbow flag...

Posted by: Conversational Atheist | September 26, 2009 1:06 AM

Gotta be a Poe -- why else say, "crack the code... win WWII"?

Also, holding a rainbow flag helps the case.

Posted by: Armand K. | September 26, 2009 1:10 AM

Yeah, agreed--definitely sarcastic... But put next to some Westboro BC protesters, I guess fundamentanutties wouldn't note the difference...

Posted by: tsig0 | September 26, 2009 1:16 AM

Fundies will not read the fine print on the sign(that would be everything between Homosexual and homo's devil)

Posted by: 6-bleen-7 | September 26, 2009 1:26 AM

Definitely a parody: the stickers on her sign and coat read "I agree with the SJC" (Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts).

Posted by: Sean3:16 | September 26, 2009 1:33 AM

I think if she was serious, it would be in handwriting. Unless making that sign was the last thing that evil homo computer ever did!

Posted by: luna1580 | September 26, 2009 1:41 AM

would've been more effective if the text:

"who cares if he cracked the german enigma code and won world war II."

ended in "?" and was in large red caps........

nice that the UK finally apologized to him, though.

can anyone read the web address on the sign? all i can get is the phone number.

clever use of ironic signage. the problem is that the opponents are not clever.......

Posted by: Brian | September 26, 2009 1:41 AM

Yay for homo devil machines WOOOOOOO!

#10

Posted by: 386sx | September 26, 2009 1:47 AM

Sorry but it doesn't have crazy underlines and bolds other crazy text formatting that the crazies do!

#11

Posted by: Zeno | September 26, 2009 2:02 AM

All is forgiven, Alan Turing! (Except for the real sickos at places like Free Republic.)

#12

Posted by: https://services.mozilla.com/openid/IanWatson | September 26, 2009 2:15 AM

Wait, didn't Babbage invent the computer?

#13

Posted by: Sean3:16 | September 26, 2009 2:26 AM

Wait, didn't Babbage invent the computer?

i bet you learned that on a computer didn't you? it's a homo conspiracy to make computers look less homo, and thus more evil:P

#14

Posted by: maximilian. | September 26, 2009 2:43 AM

Charles Babbage gets no respect.

#15

Posted by: Peter McKellar | September 26, 2009 3:07 AM

Ian @ 12

Wait, didn't Babbage invent the computer?

yes and no. It was never built until a few years ago (and worked). All his previous calculating machines worked (eg difference engine), but apparently were not true computers.

Turing was electronic era, Babbage was purely mechanical computing.

#16

Posted by: WowbaggerOM | September 26, 2009 3:41 AM

I ♥ homo's devil machine!

#17

Posted by: Kitty | September 26, 2009 3:46 AM

The web address is www.mysign.com

#18

Posted by: Shawn | September 26, 2009 3:53 AM

However will I live without my Homo's Devil Machines? Had that been trademarked?

#19

Posted by: Nick Hofstede | September 26, 2009 4:21 AM

Higher res image at http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/6076/10639tc.jpg

The address is www.myage.us
http://web.archive.org/web/20060206231039/http://myage.us/

The picture is probably a bit dated as the website went defunct in 2006
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.myage.us

#20

Posted by: SEF | September 26, 2009 4:38 AM

Public Service Post:

#21

Posted by: shonny | September 26, 2009 4:42 AM

Just got ALAN TURIN the enigma by Andrew Hodges.
Highly recommended! (Ain't finished yet, but it is very well written in all respects).

And the good lady in the picture is definitely a sarcastic Poe, - look, no spelling errors, but a slightly cheeky take on xian grammar and punctuation (as opposed to normal grammar and punctuation).

#22

Posted by: Knockgoats | September 26, 2009 4:51 AM

Turing was electronic era, Babbage was purely mechanical computing.

Anyone who hasn't, is recommended to read The Cogwheel Brain by Doron Swade, which describes both Babbage's life and work, and Swade's own project to build Babbage's design for Difference Engine Number 2; and The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling - the original steampunk science fiction, in which Babbage and Byron (who became Prime Minister after the revolution of 1831), sparked a steam-and-clockwork computer age.

#23

Posted by: Peter McKellar | September 26, 2009 5:31 AM

Thanks for the references Knockgoats and Shonny.

Another good alternate history centred around this is Iain M. Banks's Feersum Endjinn. I don't tend to read alternate histories much anymore but I may make the exception for Stephenson's Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle.

When just checking wiki I noticed Stephenson released "anathem" in 2008 (with a deal for a new one called "README" announced in July 2009 - for release in 2011). Has anyone read this? Would you recommend it? Snow Crash and Diamond Age are classics imo.

#24

Posted by: fernaldo | September 26, 2009 5:57 AM

luna1580 @8, &
Kelly @ 17

The web address is www.myage.us. The number is 687 080 2515 (maybe 2815).

#25

Posted by: Crewvy | September 26, 2009 6:23 AM

I suspect photoshop,I have seen this woman in other photos with WBC god hates ...... slogans.

#26

Posted by: 'Tis Himself, OM | September 26, 2009 7:01 AM

Will I get queer cooties if I continue to use my Homo Devil Machine?

#27

Posted by: Cimourdain | September 26, 2009 7:35 AM

Are we talking about all computers here, or just some of them? I've always felt that macs had a faintly camp air...

Gotta be a parody.

#28

Posted by: Louis | September 26, 2009 7:49 AM

Well I've been using computers for years and I'm definitely not in any way homosexual.

My lover Frank however.....

....DAMN!

Louis

P.S. Thankyew, thankyew, I'm here all week, try the ~~veal~~ bacon, tip your waitress. Is this thing on?

#29

Posted by: MAJeff, OM | September 26, 2009 8:16 AM

Yup, it's a parody. the image itself is about 5 1/2 years old--it was shot at the Massachusets Statehouse during the protests over same-sex marriage in the Bay State.

At Iowa State, we always gave credit for the computer to Atanasoff.

#30

Posted by: AnneH | September 26, 2009 8:22 AM

clicking through the Mark Allen link, the comments on his blog led to this, confirming it's a Poe:

http://bostonphoenix.com/pages/03709277.asp

11:30 a.m. Employing irony in the marriage debate
Outside the State House, there are many more gay rights protesters than anti-gay marriage demonstrators. One of the anti-gay marriage proponents, Susie Hicks from Woburn, said this was because everyone thinks gay marriage is a "done deal." She was at the State House with her friend Angela Mitchell, also from Woburn. Mitchell held a sign that read WE WANT THE BAY STATE NOT THE GAY STATE, THAT WOULD MEAN A SAD STATE.

Her sign was in sharp contrast to some of those held by gay marriage supporters that focus on gays who've made history such as Leonardo da Vinci, Alan Turing, who invented the computer, and Katherine Lee Bates, who wrote "America the Beautiful." The sign focusing on Turning, for example, reads: DESTROY THE COMPUTER! IT'S A HOMOSEXUAL INVENTION BY ALAN TURING. WHO CARES IF HE CRACKED THE GERMAN ENIGMA CODE AND WON WORLD WAR II. IT'S A HOMO'S DEVIL MACHINE.

Tom Lang of Manchester by the Sea held one of the signs -- which have taken some viewers a few moments to figure out. "We're trying to show how important gay people are to the American culture," Lang explained. "We're not mental. We're not immoral. But we're important to society and interwoven into the tapestry of America."

— reported by Deirdre Fulton

#31

Posted by: Fred The Hun | September 26, 2009 8:24 AM

Does this mean I won't be legally able to marry my computer?

#32

Posted by: mister-fire | September 26, 2009 8:24 AM

Louis @27

"Take my same-sex husband, please..."

#33

Posted by: daveau | September 26, 2009 8:31 AM

Dibs on the band name "Homo's Devil Machine".

#34

Posted by: DingoJack | September 26, 2009 8:54 AM

NB: All computers owned by heterosexuals are owned by the devil designated for that particular gender attraction. Thank you - DJ

#35

Posted by: heironymous | September 26, 2009 9:06 AM

Well, I guess the logic works. The internet's primary purpose is porn. Gay people created the computer. All porn is therefore gay porn.

I guess the Butlerian Jihad is right around the corner.

#36

Posted by: BlueIndependent | September 26, 2009 9:07 AM

Well then.

To me it looks like the middle part was generated much the same way the Church Sign Generator works. It seems a bit odd that an idiot fundagelical protestor would admit something so exceedingly good yet proclaim "HDM!" But then, fundagelicals are aren't the types to care much for consistency.

#37

Posted by: DingoJack | September 26, 2009 9:09 AM

OK just to clarify.
The computers of Fili (and other denizens of 'The Apple Isle') are owned by a Sarcophilus harrisii called Butch Bruce. :)

#38

Posted by: Larry | September 26, 2009 9:17 AM

I don't know about whether this is Poe or not but I think Homo's Devil Machine would be a great name for a rock band.

#39

Posted by: aratina cage | September 26, 2009 9:45 AM

It's a homo's Devil Machine!

*Smiles at a nearby homo's Devil Machine in a knowing way*

The Rapture will commence on assembly of Turing Jesus.

#40

Posted by: Dahan | September 26, 2009 10:01 AM

I will NOT give up my computer. It's so amazing it just blows me away.

#41

Posted by: SEF | September 26, 2009 10:22 AM

The Rapture will commence on assembly of Turing Jesus.

Just as soon as the Shroud of Turing Jesus is whipped away to reveal its awesomeness to the admiring crowd.

And lo, after dying with the blue screen of death (or similar proprietory display of anguish), a team of crack engineers will be able to resurrect it again by the third day - as long as you're careful to leave them alone to work quietly away in the dark somewhere, with a "do not disturb" notice on the cave door.

#42

Posted by: lordshipmayhem | September 26, 2009 10:29 AM

Is being a homo devil machine only for those computers running freeBSD as their operating systems, or do all *nixes count because they use daemons?

#43

Posted by: momkat | September 26, 2009 10:31 AM

Can I get CTDs* from my homo computer's viruses? And will Valtrex treat them? Where can I get a full coverage computer condom? Just trying to be responsible.
*computer transmitted diseases

#44

Posted by: liveparadox | September 26, 2009 10:34 AM

You can tell it's a Poe just from the lack of spelling mistakes. Of course, the rainbow flag helps too.

#45

Posted by: Donnie B. | September 26, 2009 10:35 AM

MAJeff said:

At Iowa State, we always gave credit for the computer to Atanasoff.

"It vas a Rrrrusian inwention!" [/Pavel Chekov]

Perhaps it's more accurate to say that Turing was the father of Computer Science as a formal discipline.

#46

Posted by: InfraredEyes | September 26, 2009 10:44 AM

@Peter MacKellar, Anathem is well worth reading if you like Stephenson's previous work. All it lacks is the traditional badly written sex scene.

#47

Posted by: seanjjordan | September 26, 2009 11:00 AM

That's the problem with irony. It's easy for it to be taken seriously out of context.

I LOLed, though. :-)

#48

Posted by: Dr.Woody | September 26, 2009 11:13 AM

I noticed mine was eying me, speculatively, the other day.

But I thought it was just being friendly...

#49

Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM | September 26, 2009 11:18 AM

Can I get CTDs* from my homo computer's viruses? And will Valtrex treat them?

Just typo cooties that infest the keyboard. No, but just being alert seems to make them scurry for cover.

#50

Posted by: j h woodyatt | September 26, 2009 11:49 AM

The nitrile gloves are what make the picture especially creepy for me. Good thing it's just a Poe.

#51

Posted by: Becky | September 26, 2009 12:39 PM

I feel so bad, I would never have come up with a slogan like "homo's Devil Machine!" Oh yeah, I'm not a fundi twit. Leave it to the undies...

#52

Posted by: Glen Davidson | September 26, 2009 12:46 PM

Turing, of course, great man. Did not invent the computer, however. Did invent code-cracking machines, which were electro-mechanical, not electronic. Hollerith and others had made sort-of mechanical computers prior to that, and Babbage is famous, although his designs for a computer had almost nothing to do with the development of later computers.

Aiken and IBM finished making a huge electro-mechanical computer in 1943, but the idea for it existed in 1936, or so.

The British machine that was a kind of electronic computer that was very much faster than Turing's machines is credited mostly to Tommy Flowers.

Credit Turing where it's due, but he never invented the computer. He invented very fine code-cracking machines, and was adept with mathematical and information theories.

Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p

#53

Posted by: 'Tis Himself, OM | September 26, 2009 12:50 PM

heironymous #35

The internet's primary purpose is porn.

#54

Posted by: aratina cage | September 26, 2009 1:17 PM

the Shroud of Turing Jesus...after dying with the blue screen of death -SEF

LOL! :) I walked right into that one.

Continuing on that path, the Shroud of Turing's fiber will of course consist of one infinite strip of square-celled tape that can only be read by the Godhead.

#55

Posted by: Richard Smith | September 26, 2009 1:28 PM

Babbage's device didn't make a difference.

Hollerith was a real card.

Turing has withstood the test of time.

#56

Posted by: mtgap.wordpress.com | September 26, 2009 1:42 PM

This has to be a joke. But still...

NO! MY COMPUTER!

#57

Posted by: dauphinb.pip.verisignlabs.com | September 26, 2009 3:30 PM

Finally managed to get a usable sign-in ID!

Not to be too awful pedantic, but this sign is not "a Poe." Poe's Law refers to the inability to distinguish between parody and real whackaloonery... but this isn't parody; it's sarcasm. Rather hilarious sarcasm, but unfortunately liable to be taken seriously by the whackaloons of the world.

This propensity of whackjobs to miss the point of satire and take it seriously might be some sort of corollary to Poe's Law, but it's not quite the same thing.

#58

Posted by: billdauphin.pip.verisignlabs.com | September 26, 2009 3:50 PM

Arrgh! No. 57 is Bill Dauphin, as is this post. I hate that the OpenID login overrides the Name field as the display name. I see that Movable Type doesn't do that... but Movable Type can't seem to find my old account, yet won't let me create a new account because "there's already an account [which we can't seem to find or reset the password of] associated with that e-mail address."

Catch-22 much?

mumble-mumble-mumble...

#59

Posted by: Rey Fox | September 26, 2009 4:11 PM

So if I may play along for a second, does this mean that the computer prefers the company of other machines of the same gender?

#60

Posted by: tony | September 26, 2009 4:29 PM

Peter McKellar @ 23

I thought Anathem was* a great read -- better than the baroque cycle (which I really liked, but which had some rough spots, and just way too many words!). One thing I do like about Stephenson - I know he'll introduce some ideas that will require me to think. Anathem succeeds admirably in this regard.

Well worth the price of entry!

*unfortunately I left my copy on a plane -- so who knows where it is now? I haven't bought another copy yet, 'cos there are always too many new books that I want to read! I do hope that whomever read it next became a fan!

#61

Posted by: JohnnieCanuck | September 26, 2009 5:35 PM

tony:

It's a neat concept.

http://www.bookcrossing.com/

#62

Posted by: The Leif | September 26, 2009 6:55 PM

Alright, this is definitely 100% parody, and here's the supporting evidence.

1) Rainbow Flag
2) It's in Massachusetts. In fact, it's at the State House in Boston, supported by the 617 phone number on the sign and the appearance of the background. Trust me, religo-nuts don't last long in Boston.
3) The URL on the sign is myage.us -- It's defunct, BUT it's the same URL as the "We can quote the bible too" sign, which is also obviously an anti-wingnut message.

Yoinks! Mystery solved, gang!

#63

Posted by: MAJeff, OM | September 26, 2009 10:10 PM

Yoinks! Mystery solved, gang!

What mystery? I was there that day and saw her. The Boston Phoenix interviewed the folks with these signs and described it (which is linked above).

what mystery?

#64

Posted by: MikeM | September 26, 2009 10:14 PM

Definitely a Poe; not enough misspellings.

It'd be "Allen Touring" if it was real.

#65

Posted by: DingoJack | September 28, 2009 4:32 AM