h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Why do they insist on writing "This Page Intentionally Blank" on pages that are supposed to be blank in computer software manuals, when they patently are not blank, due to the inscription of the words "This Page Intentionally Blank" upon them? If the idea was to organise the material by the judicious use of white space, then they have clearly undermined their objective by diverting the reader with a useless piece of information. If it was to save the costs of printing on the page, that has failed too. Why do technical authors, uniquely among writers and publishers, fear that someone will call and demand the page be filled, in order to meet their contractual obligations to the reader? Regular books feel no need to point out the blank pages and fear no reprisal if they include the odd informationless leaf. Are readers of technical manuals assumed to be too dim to spot the absence of print on a page? Is this a subtle way for the technical author to show his contempt for the average intelligence of his intended audience? What is wrong with the people who write computer manuals (limit answers to 25 items or less)?

Or ... I saw a paper that had an "Errata" page. The only entry was "Above should be 'Erratum' ".

Do you want to join I.C.A.R.U.S.? It's a place for people with questions like yours. You can get there through my user page.

Just zis Guy, you know? has a page about this at http://www.h2g2.com/P162497

"This page intentionally left blank" was a blank pge label originally used in government documents to reassure the reader that the blank page wasn't the result of a cock up in the copy pool. The computer industry has adopted it for the same reason, so that software useres won't come to the conclusion that the answer to the problem they're having was supposed to be on the blank page.

The reason people say "This page/space/room/etc. intentionally left blank" is because in an old video game series called Zork (which Activision still makes and you should check out.) had strange gothic lettering written over it. The lettering translated to "This space intentionally left blank." Ever since, this has been a running joke in the computer industry.

Also, the blank pages show up frequently because the printing process involves printing on a large sheet and folding and cutting it to create a booklet. This is done in groups of pages that are powers of two for the above reason, and then joined with other booklets to form the manual book, etc. MAny times people don't write things in exactly 32 pages. It is simply cheaper and harder to screw up if the pages are left in, rather than having someone, or something, try to remove just the blank pages, or even better yet, remove the blank backside to a page that isn't blank.

Is that true, or did you invent it? It certainly ought to be true; I like the idea of a running inside joke in the computer industry.

All I know for sure is, a friend of mine wrote that phrase on a blank page in my yearbook, which unfortunately got written on later by someone else.

Sure it's true. I think. I suppose it could have been around before Zork, but I haven't heard any reports about it. That's not the only inside joke in the computer industry. Another one is the word "Xyzzy." Xyzzy was originally from a game called Adventure, and later used in the Zork game I was talking about, and is now one of the most commonly used words in video games. There's even a Minesweeper code involving Xyzzy, but I forget what it is. Anyway, if you want to know a little more about Zork, I wrote a ridiculously long article on it on my user page. I'm U99500. But I'd respond fast, because I like to update about once every 24 hours, or so. By the way, you might want to ask your friend if he/she/it knows the word Zork. If you get slammed by a tidal wave of boring or non-boring information, then I think the answer will be yes.

I was once sent a parcel from IBM that was a)particularly fragile and b)very small. It arrived in a very large box (presumably to accomodate the mass of forms, papers, shipping lists, useless barcodes, returns forms....), that was padded out with numerous smaller boxes (About 30x15x10), bearing the inscription "EMPTY BOX". Sadly the box is no longer empty, it being filled with a large collection of 'Empty' CD cases.....

Reminds me of a story I heard somewhere. This guy got an electric bill for zero dollars and zero cents. He forgot about it until he was sent several threatening letters to pay it or else he would loose electricity. He sent off a check for $0.00 and everything was cleared up. Funny. This sounded a lot funnier in my head. I think its a true story, though.

Sadly, it probably is.. Although I'm nearly sure it wasn't an electric bill and I was in no danger of losing a vital service, I do recall getting 'past due' notices about a zero-balance bill. Fortunately I can't recall what it was, much less how the situation resolved.

If I have photographic memory and read that page, will a section
of my mind be intentionally left blank and does anybody know
a good lawyer/doctor to get it back.
remember-- your memory is a terrible thing to loose. On the
other hand you wont miss it when it's gone

I've got a memory like a ..........round cooking type thing.......with holes.....

Oh.. you mean a collan--- OOOOooh! What's that shiny thing?!