Need a Way to Use 225m of Blue Duct Tape? 212
pc-0x90 writes "In Canada, when engineers finish their undergraduate degree, they attend a ceremony referred to as Kipling. Alongside the formal ceremony are the kipling pranks. This year, the Software Engineers at McMaster University designed a life sized Pac-Man board, thus answering the question of whether or not software engineering is in fact engineering."
Life sized? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Life sized? (Score:3, Insightful)
That's a let down (Score:5, Funny)
The music still haunts me (Score:1)
Mmm Punk Rock Pac Man (Score:1)
Re:Mmm Punk Rock Pac Man (Score:1)
Re:Mmm Punk Rock Pac Man (Score:3, Interesting)
Obligatory Quote (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:5, Informative)
The main point about this quote is that it was made some time before the 'raves' of the 1990's became popular, and in hindsight is therefore interesting and somewhat amusing. Although I suspect Wilson realised the irony at the time.
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:2)
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:2)
Although you didn't attribute the source, the fact that you titled the post "Obligatory post" made it completely obvious (to anyone with > 2 brain cells) that you weren't trying to pass it off as your own.
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:2)
Crap.. obligatory POST?!? I meant, "Obligatory post^H^H^H^HQuote". Dammit, almost did it again. I would like to claim that this will cause me to "use the preview next time", but I know it won't.
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:1)
The style of the music was called "Acid"
I would've understood the sarcasm of that joke in -89, so Kristian Wilson could surely have come up with it then also.
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:1)
In his defence he did put quotations around it, even if he never attributed to "unknown". I don't think many people put quotes around their own work.
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:2)
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:2)
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:2)
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:2)
The Ecstasy 'Summer of Love' was in the UK in 1988, wasn't it?
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:2)
Sarcasm. (Score:5, Funny)
Pronunciation: 'sär-"ka-z&m
Function: noun
Etymology: French or Late Latin; French sarcasme, from Late Latin sarcasmos, from Greek sarkasmos, from sarkazein to tear flesh, bite the lips in rage, sneer, from sark-, sarx flesh; probably akin to Avestan thwar&s- to cut
Date: 1550
1 : a sharp and often satirical or ironic utterance designed to cut or give pain
2 a : a mode of satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter, caustic, and often ironic language that is usually directed against an individual b : the use or language of sarcasm
synonym see WIT
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Obligatory Quote (Score:2)
Unfortunately I found your post a bit too long to be funny as well.
Maybe if you worked a bit more on your content and delivery?
I shall remain skeptical... (Score:5, Funny)
Slashdotted (Score:5, Interesting)
Well it certainly answered whether a Canadian University could withstand a slashdotting after 2 posts
Yo Grark
Canadian Bred with American Buttering
Re:Slashdotted (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Slashdotted (Score:1)
I survived one slashdotting already, who thinks it can take another? No takers? Awww.... come on!
Really though, try me
Re:Slashdotted (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Slashdotted (Score:2)
It should be provided on the right hand side "Related Links" by Slashdot, even before there are mirrors added.
mirror (Score:4, Informative)
Re:mirror (Score:3, Funny)
Well one mirror down... Any more volunteers?
Wait a minute... (Score:5, Funny)
Typical Canadian prank... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Typical Canadian prank... (Score:1)
20 or so people? (Score:5, Funny)
Hrmm (Score:5, Funny)
What do you get... (Score:1)
A: A labotomy?
Re:What do you get... (Score:1, Funny)
What's the connection? (Score:5, Insightful)
I fail to see how the design of a massive Pac-Man board is, in any way, related to the *art* of designing good software.
Re:What's the connection? (Score:2)
1: Attention to detail
2: Humor
3: Problem solving
Are these enough reasons?
Re:What's the connection? (Score:3, Funny)
I fail to see how the design of a massive Pac-Man board is, in any way, related to the *art* of designing good software.
It answered the question. The answer was 'No'.
wait .. (Score:2, Funny)
which software engineer has far too much free time? the fired ones?
The webpage got slashdotted (Score:5, Informative)
http://skall.no/~termos/pacman/ [skall.no]
Re:The webpage got slashdotted (Score:3, Funny)
*and your* little server too! Muwhahahahaha!
(now where the heck did I put my enchanted broomstick? Wicked Witch Need Coffee)
Re:The webpage got slashdotted (Score:4, Interesting)
and.. (Score:1)
Why... (Score:1)
Robotics? (Score:3, Interesting)
Now THAT would be *very* cool!!!
Re:Robotics? (Score:1)
Re:Robotics? (Score:2)
Silly Canadians (Score:1, Funny)
Kipling? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Kipling? (Score:5, Informative)
Also, this Computer and Software Engineering seems to be part of McMaster's engineering department [mcmaster.ca], as opposed to a misnamed Computer Science degree.
-legolas
Re:Kipling? (Score:1)
McMaster has a day called Kipling.
Early Kipling morning graduating classes leave there mark on the school in the form of a prank. Some last longers then other (I.E. The hanging car lasted about a week, while the cement desk is still in use).
During the afternoon they have there Iron Ring Ceremony, followed by the Kipling socail event.
Relevant links:
Kipling 2003 [mcmaster.ca]
MES brief kipling write up [mcmaster.ca]
mcs
sfwr eng & scty III
Re:Kipling? (Score:1)
The story said "a ceremony referred to as Kipling", not "a pre/post iron ring ceremony social activity referred to as Kipling".
Anyways, Dalhousie [www.dal.ca] is boring, and all we get is a post-iron ring exam crunch.
-legolas
Re:Kipling? (Score:1)
Re:Kipling? (Score:4, Informative)
Be great if (Score:1)
if only I had known (Score:5, Funny)
Re:if only I had known (Score:5, Funny)
Note to everyone: if you ever buy a used car with a vinyl top, make sure the top is in good condition. If not, you're likely to find palm-sized rust holes underneath.
Re:if only I had known (Score:2)
You must be very sauve. Normally I'd think it'd keep the girls out too. Didn't Adam Sandler write a song about this?
Re:if only I had known (Score:2)
Seriously, though, I use the old standbys: Good personality, good sense of humor, decent looks, respect
Re:if only I had known (Score:2)
First-hand experience. (Score:5, Interesting)
Woooh!!! Ok, gotta get over my excitement -- it's not everyday that I find an article relating to something that took place in a building no more than 300m away from my bedroom. I go to McMaster and have actually walked on said Pac-Man board.
Generally the Kipling pranks here at Mac are rather well-done (cars are a common theme -- putting them on roofs, hanging them on sides of buildings, etc.) but this year things were slightly lackluster, if you will. I may have just not been out before some got taken down, who knows. That said, the Pac-Man board is still around (I've been in my room for a few days, so I don't know for sure) and still looks impressive.
There was a comment questioning the "life-sizedness" of the board, and being 6'1", 200lbs. I can say I fit most comfortably in the maze. The dots may have been slightly insubstantial for consumption (they were only the labels off beer, not the actual product itself... damn Engineers probably drank it all before hand, come to think of it) and the aliens/ghosts (please, no flames from those who know Pac-Man far better than I and who think I'm an idiot for not knowing at the very least what those things are called) weren't so large as to be intimidating. Other than that the "life-sized" label fits very well (they didn't just follow the pattern of the floor tiles, as this post [slashdot.org] suggested -- it's all measured out on their own scale).
I'm going to have to run over to the Computer department after I finish studying for this exam and observe the smoulding hulk of server that I'm sure now exists :). Wheee, what a fun day already, and all because of slashdot!
Adam, I don't know if you read slashdot, but my compliments on the good work. That and nice pics.
At least they left the hampsters alone (Score:5, Funny)
lecture was eventually held in tutorial room out the back, and lecturer was unexpectedly lecherous - yuk.
Best prank engineers did was hang a roadworthy(?) volkswagon underneath the footbridge and over the river.
Best prank I ever contributed to was the kidnap and ransom of a local politician (with his consent). Raised $40 from the parliament house to keep him, and $300 from the uni bar to give him back.
Re:First-hand experience. (Score:3, Informative)
Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde, if memory serves me right.
No flames, just edification.
Re:incorrect. (Score:2)
Jon
Kipling?!? (Score:1)
We had the IRS (Iron Ring Stag), and the Iron Ring Ceremony, and of course graduation, but that's all *I* recall...
Re:Kipling?!? (Score:1)
You call yours IRS, we calls ours Kipling, and I'm sure UofT calls there some 'kewl'-ly spelt word.
Re:Kipling?!? (Score:2)
Ok, I was one of those guys.
I've been away from Waterloo for a little bit now... anyone who attends right now - what happened to the countdown clock in POETS? I was the one who built it back for the countdown to IRS 2000 (with some help from Matt, of course) for my class: 2000 Com-E's!!! It was about $50 worth of parts, mostly LED's, some shift registers, and a PIC 16C84 microcontroller.
Anyway, I'm sure it stopped wo
Re:Kipling?!? (Score:2)
No kidding? Wow! There's a picture of it in my yearbook... I'll have to dig it out for nostalgia. I wasn't actually there when it counted down to zero in 2000 because I was at the Iron Ring Ceremony.
You made an alumni very happy - thanks for the update!
SFWR Kipling @ Mac... (Score:3, Interesting)
was by far the best this year. Not only was there the pac man board in the student centre, but the SFWR Graveyard was great too (although, politically, with everything going on in the world, I think some of the crazy artsies may have been offended - or mistook the prank for a political stance, meh).
The Graveyard [mcmaster.ca] was everything that a Software Engineer lays dead to the world after 4 years. For example the ablility to pick up women [mcmaster.ca], Hit by bus error [mcmaster.ca], Deadlock because "Has X waiting for Y [mcmaster.ca]" was buried right beside "Has Y waiting for X", and from all the exams we have no chance in ever passing we bury our anal viginity [mcmaster.ca].
Good-bye www.eng.mcmaster.ca Slashdot now has a hold of you, fair well.
Not to diss them but... (Score:5, Funny)
"Would you like a McMaster or a McBSc with that ?
Don't read this sig
Re:Not to diss them but... (Score:1)
Oh, don't worry, our cafeterias have a field day with that one. How often would you like to eat a Fried Egg-McMaster(with bacon or ham) or a McMaster Maurader Burger?
Yeah.
Re:Not to diss them but... (Score:2)
http://www.rileycom.co.uk/rileycom/data/documen
They lost a case against a Clan MacDonald scotsman tho
For any youngster considering CS ... (Score:1)
Mirror! (Score:2, Interesting)
Here's a recompressed mirror [80.225.28.245]. It should be there until 16:40 GMT.
Or maybe not. Do your worst
Re:Mirror! (Score:2)
Nah... (Score:5, Funny)
Great job guys! Looks awesome.
"Kipling" reminds me of a very old joke... (Score:1, Offtopic)
Young man (trying to sound literate): "So, do you like Kipling?"
Young woman (suddenly coy): "Goodness, I don't know; I've never kippled before..."
Well, I thought it was funny.
the real prank... (Score:4, Insightful)
That isn't duct tape! (Score:1)
Flawed logic (Score:5, Insightful)
That's like saying "The president played the saxophone, thus answering the question of whether or not politics is in fact music".
Repeat after me.... (Score:4, Funny)
Lameness filter encountered.
Your comment violated the "postercomment" compression filter. Try less whitespace and/or less repetition. Comment aborted.
ARGH!! YOU IDIOTS! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:ARGH!! YOU IDIOTS! (Score:2, Informative)
I got a use for duct tape (Score:1)
Handy mans secret weapon (Score:1)
Alma matter (Score:1)
Looks like they set that up in the new student centre that I paid for for 5 years but never got to see. Enjoy it.
Off for my morning coffee, in my Kipling mug in honour of it's new found fame.
Cheers,
James, Chem Eng '96
The ups, downs and escaping chickens of Kipling (Score:4, Interesting)
That aside, Kipling has oft been at the root of distruction and vandalism. HOG and Kipling can be seen spraypainted on many signs, buildings, and sidewalks all over campus from Kiplings past. One year they actual released chickens in the middle of the Engineering building while the nursing students had set up their projects in the main hall for educating students on health issues, causing great stress to both the nursing students and the chickens. Laugh if you want, but I don't find the ruination of someone's school project and the injury of innocent animals entertaining - nor do I see that it shows any creativity or skill. The car on the roof of the library awning, while interesting, was also dangerous to passers by and damaged property. Silly Engineers.
I believe my favorite prank, because it was both harmless and amusing, was when they chalked every sidewalk on the campus to have road symbols, including dividing and passing lines, stop lines at intersections, etc.
Re:The ups, downs and escaping chickens of Kipling (Score:5, Interesting)
This proved quite a poser for the janitorial staff, since they didn't know how to remove this without killing the fish...
I think the main reason the pranks got more destructive in the past years is because the University wouldn't let them have their fun. I remember the engineers spent half the night painting the shuttle busses that travel across campus every day. They used water soluble paints to be non-destructive, but the University had the cleaning staff in at 6:00 AM to wash the busses clean, so no one saw the prank. They should have just let them have their fun for the day...
Now I want a shopping mall floor video screen (Score:1)
Now I really want to see an animated version. How about getting a video game, connecting it to a video projection system aimed at the floor?
Even crazier, add a motion detection system that would generate input based on people moving across the floor.
Have they even played Pacman ever? (Score:5, Interesting)
If they entered university at 19, then they must be about 23, which means they were born around 1980 +- 1 year.
Pacman was long gone by the time they could reach the joystick!
I bet none of them ever played the original Pacman or even understood how big of a fad it was!!!
I remember taking my mom's silver quarters that she had been saving (remember when quarters were made out of real silver?!?), not understanding the value of them, and using them to play video games like Pacman.
"That's Incredible" would have segments on kids getting the highest scores ever, playing it the longest, etc. I got the crappy version of Pacman for the Atari 2600 (at first disappointed, but it was better than nothing, so I accepted it). I watched the terrible Pacman cartoon on ABC. I think they also had a Q-bert cartoon as well.
Ahhh, the good old days.
Re:Have they even played Pacman ever? (Score:2)
I watched the terrible Pacman cartoon on ABC. I think they also had a Q-bert cartoon as well.
Yup, they did... and about the same time, there was a "Supercade" cartoon that borrowed from a number of popular games.
I recently TiVoed a few eps of Pacman from one of the ABC-owned networks, which was doing a "cartoon flashback" type of thing. (They also showed Smurfs, Shirt Tales, and others. But still no Kidd Video.)
Re:Have they even played Pacman ever? (Score:2)
Idiots... (Score:2)
Re:Idiots... (Score:2, Informative)
With all that duct tape... (Score:2)
Re:the only redeeming feature... (Score:2, Funny)
Carleton (Score:2)