The Microsoft trial is not all fireworks by any means.  There are long stretches of tedium and droning testimony on the dry technical details of computing.

To lighten things up, United States District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson began the afternoon session here today by saying that the court is on "some e-mail humor list."  He then read a computer humor entry he thought amusing.

Both men and women, it seems, were asked what gender would be the most appropriate for computers.

The women, the e-mail message said, agreed that computers should be masculine for the following four reasons.

1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data, but they are still clueless.
3. Most of the time, they are the problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one you realize that if you waited a little longer you could have had a better model.

1. No one but the Creator understands their internal logic.
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.
3. Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for later retrieval.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories.