Programming Memes
Image by Lisa Zins on Flickr
A fun, silly way to share your coding trials and triumphs with friends — because everything is better with kittens!
Kittens and cats and dogs plus text can make some really fun (and silly) humor about programming. Mixing and remixing photographs with text creates a meme. People then post memes online or send them to friends by email or text. Memes became common when websites and email became common in the 1990s and beyond.
Some memes are sweet, like the one Microsoft posted with an adorable kitten saying your code looks perfect, as if kittens can recognize good code! Other memes reuse the same image but have different text, as if kittens and cats have the attention span required to read then debug code.
Another kind of meme mixes two photos together, for example, to describe the two common feelings software programmers experience as they work: total joy and happiness after their code actually works followed by despair when they have no idea how to fix their code. Or another common experience for programmers, developing a perfectly simple software application only to watch users completely misunderstand how to user their application.
Programmers often use reference books from O’Reilly. Their book covers include a drawing of an animal. There’s also memes that play off these drawings to describe common problems programmers face, for example, trying stuff until something works, blaming the user if code doesn’t work, and changing code to see what happens.
Still other memes play with common terms like Escape key. While we humans know pressing the Escape key (usually) stops a computer process like loading a web page, it’s possible a cat might think pressing the Escape key would get them out of a bad or boring situation. It’s silly and funny. It’s a meme.
It might be fun to find a silly image and add text.
Most of all, memes are a way for people to have fun by themselves and sharing with others.
Learn More
Grumpy cat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumpy_Cat
What is a meme?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme
Kid Friendly memes
https://www.pinterest.com/ericalynett/kid-friendly-memes/
8-year old meme star
https://www.twincities.com/2019/04/02/thanks-to-memes-8-year-old-minneapolis-boy-is-an-internet-star-in-china/
Also In The February 2020 Issue
Can you figure out how to divide up coconuts between a group of sailors and a monkey? This puzzle mixes math and coding. Plus you can go online to try the code yourself!
Recreate the classic game in this simple Python tutorial. What whimsical stories can you write?
If you like ships, then you’ll love this easy-to-use website that keeps track of seafaring vessels around the world. Bonus: it helps prevent maritime collisions!
Ready for some good old-fashioned winter fun? In this article, build a digital snowman with Sketchup.
A fun, silly way to share your coding trials and triumphs with friends — because everything is better with kittens!
Should you learn Python, Scratch, Java, Assembly? If you’re feeling overwhelmed by too many options, this article is here to help.
Illustrating computational concepts like decomposition and algorithms with simple, hands-on, and occasionally messy activities.
How do street lights know when to turn on? And what’s in store for the street lights of the future?
In the old days, before video game systems had cameras and sensors, programmers had to get creative.
Six women were hired to use their math skills to program the ENIAC computer. They called themselves The First Programmers Club.
Learn about the key software that keeps your computer safe from viruses.
Programs are constantly being patched and improved. How do we keep track of all this new code?
Dive into the nitty-gritty details of binary numbers: how they work, why they’re used, and where they come from.
Binary might be the language of the computer, but we humans can use it to decode secret messages.
An easy way to code your own 3D graphics online. Dive into the world of pixels, triangles, textures, and colours!
Learn about the smallest, simplest computers and where they’re still used today.
Why Smalltalk is such a unique language, and how it evolved into modern variants like Scratch, Squeak, and Pharo.
Interesting stories about science and technology for February 2020.
Links from the bottom of all the February 2020 articles, collected in one place for you to print, share, or bookmark.