I was at the Physics-Math-Astronomy Library at the University of Texas
today and found the following on a piece of paper tucked in French and
Taylor's "An Introduction to Quantum Physics". It really has nothing to
do with physics in any sense except possibly how someone perceives some
physics internet mail list works. I have no idea as to what list
(lists) the author of this piece makes reference to. Also, I didn't add
up the numbers to see if they do sum to 1332.
"Q: How many physicists internet mail list subscribers does it take to
change a light bulb?
A: 1,332
1 to change the light bulb and to post to the mail list that the
light bulb has been changed
14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the
light bulb could have been changed differently.
7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs.
28 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing
light bulbs.
53 to flame the spell checkers
156 to write to the list administrator complaining about the light
bulb discussion and its inappropriateness to this mail list.
41 to correct spelling in the spelling/grammar flames.
109 to post that this list is not about light bulbs and to please
take this email exchange to alt.lite.bulb
203 to demand that cross posting to alt.grammar, alt.spelling and
alt.punctuation about changing light bulbs be stopped.
111 to defend the posting to this list saying that we all use light
bulbs and therefore the posts **are** relevant to this mail list.
306 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior,
where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best
for this technique, and what brands are faulty.
27 to post URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs
14 to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly, and to post
corrected URLs.
3 to post about links they found from the URLs that are relevant to
this list which makes light bulbs relevant to this list.
33 to concatenate all posts to date, then quote them including all
headers and footers, and then add "Me Too."
12 to post to the list that they are unsubscribing because they
cannot handle the light bulb controversey.
19 to quote the "Me Too's" to say, "Me Three."
4 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQ.
1 to propose new alt.change.lite.bulb newsgroup.
47 to say this is just what alt.physic.cold_fusion was meant for,
leave it here.
143 votes for alt.lite.bulb."
--
Carl C. Gaither and Alma E. Cavazos-Gaither http://www.angelfire.com/tx/StatBook/
Authors of:
Statistically Speaking: Quotations about Statistics and Probability
Physically Speaking: Quotations about Physics and Astronomy
Mathematically Speaking: Quotations about Mathematics
Practically Speaking: Quotations about Engineering and Architecture
Medically Speaking: Quotations about Dentistry, Medicine and Nursing
Scientifically Speaking: Quotations about Science
Naturally Speaking: Quotations about Biology, Botany, Zoology and Nature