May The Force Be With You

By Anonymous

[Editorial note: this article will be meaningless unless you have seen the Star Wars trilogy - preferably several times]

In a conference far, far away. I gave my first ICSE presentation...As an apprentice Ph.D., I had looked to my supervisor for wisdom and advice. "ICSE - you must present at ICSE. Only then a Ph.D. will you be." So there I was. It was the Death Hour - the last presentation slot after lunch. The audience's energy shield was down, and the words of my supervisor rang in my ears. "A Software Engineer's strength flows from The Force. Too many slides, the software crisis and COBOL - the Dark Side are they..." "I'm doomed." "May The Force Be With You." "Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen...." It went well after that. I resisted the temptation to speak at hyperspeed; I waved my Life-saver at the projector screen not the projector; and I managed to deliver my main points before the Audience erupted into (non)spontaneous applause. There was another.