Flashes of Panic

As of yesterday, I have now had to explain my sudo make me a sandwich t-shirt twice, both times to non-computer people. (Yesterday, it was the ART therapist.) As the Times noted, it’s not an easy joke to explain to people who aren’t already familiar with sudo (which may be best understood as a sort of “Simon Says” command for when the computer refuses to do something you asked it for.) The cartoonist brings up the old E.B. White saying about explaining jokes (“Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.”) which is one of my favorites.

I’m a little disappointed that “/Everybody stand back/ I know regular expressions” hasn’t had anywhere near the same level of interest.