Item:

“I heard about this Towers of Hanoi puzzle that supposedly will only be solved by several Buddhist monks, which will result in the the universe ending. These monks were the alleged keepers of three towers. There were 64 rings stacked on one tower, in order of increasing size from bottom to the top. The monks needed to move the rings, one at a time, from the first tower to the third tower; however, the major caveat was that they could not place a larger ring on top of a smaller ring. Finally, after all the 64 rings had been rearranged, the world would come to an end.”

General Information about Item:

• Oral folklore: eschatological myth
• English
• USA

Informant Data:

Shaket Chaudhary is a Dartmouth computer science major in the class of 2019 from Omaha, Nebraska.

Contextual Data:

The interviewee first heard about this myth from his professor in his CS1 class during 15W.

Transcript of Associated File:

Towers of Hanoi Transcript

Informant’s Comments:

Basically, it’s a puzzle that takes a really long time to compute by hand. Thus, the significance of this myth is to demonstrate how important and helpful computers can be in our modern age since they can make accomplishing tasks much quicker for us.

Collector’s Comments:

This can be classified as an eschatological myth since it provides a reasoning for the end of the world.

Tags/Keywords:

myth, programming, towers of hanoi

Item:

“Eight bytes walk into a bar.  The bartender asks, “Can I get you anything?”

“Yeah,” reply the bytes.  “Make us a double.””

General Information about Item:

• Oral Folklore: joke
• English
• USA

Informant Data:

Arun Hari is a Dartmouth computer science major, in the class of 2019, from Collegeville, Pennsylvania.

Contextual Data:

The informant first heard this joke from a friend in his high school computer science class. He would tell this joke to his fellow programmer classmates, typically when he is doing problem sets with his peers and wants to lighten the mood with a novel spin on the classic “walk into a bar” joke.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Eight bytes walks into a bar…

Informant’s Comments:

A byte is a unit of information. So a double is anything with a decimal point in it. To store a double on the computer, you need 8 bytes of information.

Collector’s Comments:

This joke can be classified as verbal folklore. Furthermore, one can identify this joke as a form of riddle because it incorporates a comparison between a “double” in terms of alcohol, which is essentially two times the amount of alcohol, and a “double” in computer science terms, which is a reference to numbers containing a decimal point.

Tags/Keywords:

• jokes, bytes, double

Item: After a group of Microsoft interns drank too much and damaged Bill Gates’ property, interns are no longer invited to the Gates’ house.

General Information about Item:

• Oral Folklore: urban legend
• English
• USA

Informant Data:

Afnan Enayet is a Dartmouth computer science major, in the class of 2019, from Richmond, Virginia.

Contextual Data:

During his time as a Microsoft intern, the informant heard this urban legend from other interns. No one knows exactly when this incident occured, who was involved, or if it even happened, nor can they agree on a definitive version of events, but they continue to tell new interns this story to explain why they are never invited to Bill Gates’ house despite their hard work. The informant believes the story to be true, especially because the interns frequently throw large parties where alcohol is served.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Interns Banned from Gates’ House

Informant’s Comments:

The informant confirms that he has helped continue the spread of the urban legend, telling new and potential interns the story, both to entertain, and to show the growing party culture amongst programmers. The informant notes that despite common stereotypes, programmers are actually very social and enjoy parties, as evidenced in the urban legend. He believes this is due to the fact that programmers are getting younger and younger.

Collector’s Comments:

This urban legend can be categorized under both the stereotype and etiological headers. It reverses the common stereotype that programmers tend to avoid social gatherings and parties. It also explains the origins why interns are no longer invited to BIll Gates’ house.

Tags/Keywords:

urban legend, microsoft, bill gates, stereotypes

Item: “A programmer is going to the store and his wife tells him to buy a gallon of milk, and if there are eggs, buy a dozen. So the programmer goes shopping, does as she says, and returns home to show his wife what he bought. But she gets angry and asks, ‘Why’d you buy 13 gallons of milk?’ The programmer replies, ‘There were eggs!’”

• Oral Folklore: joke
• English
• USA

Informant Data:

Anonymous is a Dartmouth computer science major, in the class of 2018, from Miami, Florida.

Contextual Data:

The informant first read the joke about two years ago on Reddit, a social media and content aggregating website. Specifically, it was posted on the r/programming subreddit, which is a fairly large subreddit with over 700,000 subscribers. Therefore, it was read and shared by computer programmers from all over the world. The joke sticks out in contrast to the normally technical posts that arise on the subreddit. Despite this, it was one of the top posts of the day.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

“If there are eggs…” transcript

Informant’s Comments:

The informant explains that this joke relies on the stereotype of programmers as very literal, so when the wife didn’t specify what to buy a dozen of, he gets the last thing she said, even though it makes no sense. This joke has been circulating amongst programmers for a while, although it has likely been in existence for much longer, just not necessarily about programmers specifically. The interviewee first heard it online, but has continued to spread it through word of mouth to beginning programmers to help lighten the mood and explain coding logic in a humorous way.

Collector’s Comments:

This joke would fall under the stereotypes category, since it plays on the common belief that computer programmers are highly logical and lack social competence, and would therefore misinterpret such simple directions. It is also interesting to note that since the joke was posted online and can be viewed at any time, the exact context of the joke is dependent upon each individual viewer. This could indicate a transition in how our society consumes and produces folklore, as our culture shifts online.

Tags/Keywords:

jokes, if-then, stereotypes

Item: “A programmer goes out to buy some milk. His wife stops him and says, ‘while there are eggs, grab a dozen.’ He never returns.”

• Oral Folklore: joke
• English
• USA

Informant Data:

Nan Hu is an Dartmouth computer science major, in the class of 2018, from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Contextual Data:

The informant first read the joke about a year ago on Reddit, a social media and content aggregating website. Although he can’t remember the exact subreddit, he knows it was one made exclusively of computer programmers. The joke was one of the top posts that day, which means it was very popular amongst the programmers who frequent that subreddit. Since the joke was posted online, its exact context is dependent upon each individual viewer. However, its general purpose to lighten the mood, and its immediate context within the programmer subreddit is still constant.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

“While there are eggs…”

Informant’s Comments:

The informant explains that this joke relies on the audience’s understanding of how a while-loop works. Since there are always eggs in the market, the programmer continually grabs a dozen, and never returns. Although the informant has not heard this item offline, nor has he told this joke to anyone personally, he has seen this joke and many of its variations online multiple times. Due to the interconnectedness of the internet, jokes like this often get shared repeatedly, and thus are spread throughout the population.

Collector’s Comments:

This joke would fall under the stereotypes category, since it plays on the common belief that computer programmers are highly logical and lack social competence, and would therefore misinterpret such simple directions. It is also interesting to note that since the joke was posted online and can be viewed at any time, the exact context of the joke is dependent upon each individual viewer. This could indicate a transition in how our society consumes and produces folklore, as our culture shifts online.

Tags/Keywords:

jokes, while-loop, stereotypes

Item: “ERTW!” (Engineers Rule the World!)

• Oral Folklore: saying, tradition
• English
• Canada

Informant Data:

Emily Whiting is a Dartmouth computer science assistant professor from Toronto, Canada. She has degrees in engineering, computational design, and computer graphics.

Contextual Data:

The informant first heard the saying “ERTW!” during her time at the University of Toronto. It stands for “Engineers Rule the World.” It was traditionally repeated by many of her engineering classmates to inspire or to celebrate. For instance, one might say it while working on a particularly difficult group project in order to encourage everyone to continue working, or after finishing said project to congratulate group members. The informant also noted that this saying may be exclusive to her university, as she has not heard it during her time at Dartmouth.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

“ERTW!”

Informant’s Comments:

The informant states that engineering is a very difficult, very problem-oriented field. Therefore, the use of the phrase helps to motivate those pursuing a degree in engineering despite how tough it may get.

Collector’s Comments:

This saying falls under the motif of community-building, since it develops a sense of greater purpose within computer engineers. There are similar phrases for other communities– for instance, the saying “the geek shall inherit the earth”– which unites the members of its group with a larger shared goal.

Tags/Keywords:

sayings, phrases, traditions