Our program, who art in memory
“hello” be thy name
Ages ago, back when I edited a computer magazine (The Byte Buyer, later called ComputorEdge), I came across an interesting prophet of the digital age. He called himself Saint $ilicon, spelling silicon with a $ sign.
He was definitely a prophet as he was well ahead of his time, underestimated, and seriously funny.
The prayer you see at the start of this post is from Saint $ilicon’s book, the Binary Bible. It’s still available — from Any Key Press, of course — and you can click the image above to buy a copy at Amazon. I still have my copy from many, many years ago.
Our magazine featured Saint $ilicon when he came to town. That issue’s cover appears below. I’m not certain why he stopped by, but I do remember seeing him perform at some high-tech event. He really had the crowd in stitches.
The Byte Buyer cover from December 18, 1987. St. Silicon comes to town.
The genius behind Saint $ilicon was comedian Jeffrey Armstrong. He brilliantly parodied technology as a religion. The puns flew out fast and furious. The only reason he didn’t sell out to packed houses was that his jokes were way above most people’s heads. I mean, this happened four years before DOS For Dummies.
Today, of course, everyone would get the humor. It’s relevant now, but in the late 1980s only a handful of geeks and hobbyists caught on to the nonstop stream of silliness.
It’s too bad that today we don’t have a digital comedian to regale us with pithy puns on smartphones, tablets, and the ubiquitous computer. The potential for such silliness is great, especially given how serious everyone is about technology and the constant connection interruption. I’m sure that those fields are ripe for plowing with rich, appreciated humor.
Saint $ilicon, where are you?
