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Slashdot outsources headlines to BBSpot

First-poster Viagra

Can't get enough Slashdot? The wags at BBSpot have created a random story generator that should help fill those numb, empty minutes between story postings at the popular VA Linux-owned chat site.

The page faithfully generates Slashdot-style headlines, and in the words of the authors: "just press the convenient 'Next Story' button and you'll get get [sic] the rush you desire when you see your chance to make the 'First Post!'"

And they've done a first class job. We particularly enjoyed "George Lucas Discusses Eudora", the news that KDE is rewriting ICQ in Rexx, and the story that in its entirety reads:-

"Handspring will begin selling their own Xbox Beowulf clusters. They're going to be working with Sun so you can expect a stupid name. I don't see any practical application for these, but I'll probably get one anyway."

To give you any more examples would be to spoil the fun.

It's a perfect companion to Katzdot, which already generates parodies of Jon Katz stories: Katz is Slashdot's much-ridiculed flagship contributor. Here you'll find weighty Katz thinkpieces such as "Can Lurkers Stop The Interactive 21st Century?" and "Seattle: A Whole New Chapter In Post-Columbine MP3s". Both generators obey the first groundrule of satire: meticulous observation.

But what's nice about BBSpot's effort is that less is actually more. With repeated generations, it manages to convey the essential repetitiveness of much of the IT industry's hype organs. Bravo. ®

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