Tim Everson

Fast Company Article Summary

Report From the Future: Funny Business

By: Gina Imperato

I enjoyed Imperatos article talking about humor on the web. According to the article, Internet humor is gaining in popularity and shes not talking Bill Gates jokes. Shes talking about humor on the Web targeted at the Web itself. More and more sites are popping up poking fun at the Web.

I especially liked her opening comment to the article which stated how technology is making peoples lives richer and at the same time making us feel overwhelmed. It also mentions how this same technology is generating great wealth and at the same time generating worries about those left behind. I find these comments to be very meaningful. Being a computer instructor, I can see how technology can overwhelm your life. I find that the more I find that computers can do, the more I feel that I should be able to get accomplished. This can be true in some aspects. More can be accomplished, but more time will probably be required. The computers today can do almost miraculous things but a human operator is required for many operations. Since this can often cause burnout and fatigue, humor can prove to be a vital link to sanity. This article highlights just a few sites on the Net to do just that.

I went to a couple of the web sites listed in the article and found them quite amusing. I think that its important to include humor in our everyday activities. The Internet should be no exception. One of the sites listed was www.thecorporation.com which started as a site created by two computer professionals as a place for them to vent work frustrations and chuckle at their own lives. This site pokes fun at many Internet issues. If you spend much time at all on the Internet, this site will make you laugh. Since the composers of these sites cant hear the laughing audience, they depend on e-mail messages.

I found the article to be a great example of the importance of humor. I like to incorporate humor into each and every hour of my day at school. I think that it makes the hours more enjoyable and gives the kids a chance to let their guard down a bit and have fun. A teacher does have to be careful when using humor, however. A class that is let go too far can sometimes become irretrievable and may be lost for the hour.

Check out some of the humor on Web. You may be surprised.

-- Anonymous, January 07, 2000