12.0334 into the same river

Humanist Discussion Group (humanist@kcl.ac.uk)
Sun, 10 Jan 1999 14:32:55 +0000 (BST)

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 12, No. 334.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
<http://www.princeton.edu/~mccarty/humanist/>
<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/>

Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1999 11:25:44 +0000
From: Willard McCarty <Willard.McCarty@kcl.ac.uk>
Subject: into the same river...

To signify my return to the editorial chair here in Leyton, London E10
(where roses are blooming though the days are sparing of light) I send
along evidence of imaginative play where it might least be expected. I
also make bold to suggest a possible addition to the humanities computing
curriculum.

To wit, the following message, in response to an attempt to reach a page
no longer maintained by "a worldwide network of meditation centers" known
as Shambhala, at
<http://www.shambhala.org/centers/04gampoabbey/gampo.html>,
gets my nomination for the gentlest, most peaceful error message ever
delivered by a computer:

"You step in the stream,
but the water has moved on.
This page is not here."

Other nominations eagerly awaited.

I wonder -- would Heraclitus be pleased? Should we include his fragmentary
writings in courses that deal with the Web?

Yours, with a Happy (premillennial) New Year's greeting, and apologies for
so many delightful days spent otherwise than attending to Humanist,

WM
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dr. Willard McCarty, Senior Lecturer, King's College London
voice: +44 (0)171 873 2784 fax: +44 (0)171 873 5801
<Willard.McCarty@kcl.ac.uk> <http://ilex.cc.kcl.ac.uk/wlm/>
maui gratia

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