Ahhhhh Back in the late 90s, I used to read comp.compilers heavily (I think I might have read it all on deja, to is beginnings) and cc'ers had a habit of sayin

Ahhhhh Back in the late 90s, I used to read comp.compilers heavily (I think I might have read it all on deja, to is beginnings) and cc'ers had a habit of saying something in their messages, then answering themselves in their signature, worded as a quote by some "john". For example Hi, I am looking for a BLISS-16 compiler for DEC Alpha. - russ [I don't think there is a bliss-16 compiler for the alpha. -john] I found the practice humorous and meta, so I started using it in email. Years later, I discovered it was no ironic humor, but the messages where actually edited by the moderator, John Levine, who signed his own changes. I can recall at least two people who I have sent such "ironic" messages who would have been quite confused by it, both of them famous compiler hackers and cc readers. One of them was John Levine :-P