isham research
"Excuse me, Sir."
"Is that you again, Moses."
"I'm afraid it is, Sir."
"What is it this time, Moses. More computer problems."
"How did you guess."
"I don't have to guess, Moses. Remember?"
"Oh, yeah. I forgot."
"Tell me what you want, Moses."
"But you already know. Remember."
"Moses!"
"Sorry, Sir."
"Well, go ahead, Moses. Spit it out."
"Well, I have a question, Sir. You know those 'ten things' you e-mailed me."
"You mean the Commandments, Moses."
"That's it. I was wondering if they were important."
"What do you mean 'were important,' Moses? Of course, they're important. Otherwise I wouldn't have sent them to you."
"Well, sorry, but I lost them. I could say the dog ate them, but of course you would see right through that."
"What do you mean 'you lost them'? Are you trying to tell me you didn't save them, Moses."
"No, Sir. I forgot."
"You should always save, Moses."
"Yeah, I know. You told me that before. I was going to, but I forgot. I did foward them to some people before I lost them though."
"And did you hear back from any of them."
"You already know I did. What about the one guy who said he never uses 'shalt not'? Can he change the words a little bit."
"Yes, Moses. As long as he doesn't change the meaning."
"And what about the guy who thought your stance was a little harsh, and recommended calling them the 'Ten Suggestions,' or letting people pick one or two to try for a while."
"Moses, I'll act like I didn't hear that."
"I think that means 'no.' Well, what about the guy who said I was scamming him."
"I think the term is 'spamming,' Moses."
"Oh, yeah. I emailed him back and told him I don't even eat that stuff, and I have no idea how you can send it to someone through a computer."
"And what did he say."
"You know what he said. He used Your name in vain. You don't think he might have sent me one of those -- er -- plagues, and that's the reason I lost those ten things, do you."
"They're called 'viruses,' Moses."
"Whatever! This computer stuff is just too much for me. Can we just go back to those stone tablets? It was hard on my back taking them out and reading them each day, but at least I never lost them."
"We'll do it the new way, Moses."
"I was afraid you would say that, Sir."
"Moses, what did I tell you to do if you messed up."
"You told me to hold up this rat and stretch it out toward the computer."
"It's a mouse, Moses. Mouse! Mouse! And did you do that."
"No, I decided to try the technical support first. After all, who knows more about this stuff than you, and I really like your hours. By the way, Sir, did Noah have two of these mice on the ark."
"No, Moses."
"One other thing. Why didn't you name them 'frogs' instead of 'mice,' because didn't you tell me the thing they sit on is a pad."
"I didn't name them, Moses. Man did, and you can call yours a frog if you want to."
"Oh, that explains it. Kind of like Adam, huh, sir? I bet some woman told him to call it a mouse. After all, wasn't it a woman who named one of the computers Apple."
"Say good night, Moses."
"Wait a minute, sir. I am stretching out the mouse, and it seems to be working. Yes, a couple of the 'ten things' have come back."
"Which ones are they, Moses."
"Let's see. 'Thou shalt not steal from any grave an image' and 'Thou shalt not uncover thy neighbor's wife.'"
"Turn the computer off, Moses. I'm sending you another set of stone tablets."
(These days, the equivalent of carving in stone is producing a .PDF file. And even mainframes can do it.)