OT - On the Windows CD

[Josette]

Thought MB and presumably others would enjoy this; hopefully you've read or seen Lord of the Rings:

On the Windows CD

Recently one of my friends, a computer wizard, paid me a visit. As we were talking I mentioned that I had recently installed Windows on my PC, I told him how happy I was with this operating system and showed him the Windows CD. Too my astonishment and distress he threw it into my micro-wave oven and turned it on. I was upset because the CD had become precious to me, but he said 'Do not worry, it is unharmed.'

After a few minutes he took the CD out, gave it to me and said 'Take a close look at it.' To my surprise the CD was quite cold and it seemed to have become thicker and heavier than before. At first I could not see anything, but on the inner edge of the central hole I saw an inscription, in lines finer than anything I have ever seen before. The inscription shone piercingly bright, and yet remote, as if out of a great depth:

4F6E65204F5320746F2072756C65207468656D20616C6C2C 204F6E65204F5320746F2066696E64207468656D2C0D0A4F 6E65204F5320746F206272696E67207468656D20616C6C20 616E6420696E20746865206461726B6E6573732062696E64 207468656D

'I cannot read the fiery letters,' I said.

'No,' he said, 'but I can. The letters are Hex, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Microsoft, which I shall not utter here. But in common English this is what it says"

'One OS to rule them all, One OS to find them, One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them...."

[Midnite]

Now that's precious.   But also sadly plausible.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Unfortunately, I've never read the Tolkien books or seen the movies, but I'm pretty sure I get it.    And like Midnite, especially given the things we know for sure Microsoft has pulled, I think it's definitely sadly plausible.   

A curse on the CD, or in my case the DVD, would also explain why my recovery DVD won't fully read in any of the three DVD drives I own (bizarrely, only a certain group of files will read in each drive - but it's a totally different group in each drive  ) and I've had to pay $29 to order a replacement from my desktop computer's manufacturer.    Not that $29 is anywhere near as expensive as a new copy of Windows would be - but it's the principle. A DVD that has never been taken out of its sleeve should be able to be read successfully in every drive it's attempted in, and especially in the drive that came with the computer it's intended to rescue...

[Josette]

For those who aren't familiar with "The Ring":

Gandalf, who does and says the things referenced here, is a wizard.  The joke refers to a computer wizard.

The ring had a powerful effect on those who had it - one could say it was “precious” to all of them, but Gollum in particular called it “my precious.”

At one point early in the story, Gandalf throws the ring into the fire, partly to learn if it really was the One Ring and also to explain things to Frodo.  Afterwards, it was cool and seemed to be heavier.

An inscription now showed on the previously plain ring, which Frodo could not read.  The next quotes are exact, except for the specifics of the name of the language, etc.  He says that it is the language of Mordor, which he won’t utter here.  The quote is:

One Ring to Rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.