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Boring Conference Still Vows: We Will Not Rock You

An anonymous reader writes "The Boring 2012 Conference, the celebration of unexciting things served with dry British humor, now belongs to the wastepaper basket of history. Correspondents at the third annual London conference report that speakers covered a range of such dull topics as supermarket self-service checkouts; a photographic survey of results produced by breakfast toasters; a web site tracking the physical heights of celebrities; and the use of Google Maps to the chart the location of IBM cash registers around London." Funny thing is, the talks described actually sound fascinating.

42 comments

  1. Big fan of irony here by gagol · · Score: 1

    Would have loved to attend before it shut down. Anyone did? If so, how was it?

    --
    Tomorrow is another day...
    1. Re:Big fan of irony here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Boring?

    2. Re:Big fan of irony here by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Boring?

      Was there a presentation on tungsten-carbide drills? I love tungsten-carbide drills.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:Big fan of irony here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Vernon Dursley would LOVE to hear from YOU. (book 1, chap 1, para 1)

  2. " the talks described actually sound fascinating" by G3ckoG33k · · Score: 1

    "Funny thing is, the talks described actually sound fascinating".

    How would you know that?

  3. misread by ipquickly · · Score: 4, Funny

    I accidentally misread "a photographic survey" as "pornographic survey" and for a fraction of a second this article became more interesting.
    Then I re-read it and the feeling subsided.

    1. Re:misread by khallow · · Score: 1

      Someone please kill that klaxon before my ears bleed. Disaster has been adverted.

    2. Re:misread by bosef1 · · Score: 1

      Your ideas are intriguing to me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

  4. Wait until you read by Neil_Brown · · Score: 3, Funny

    my 677 page summary of proceedings — it's in point 8 Times New Roman, three columns to the A5 page.

    1. Re:Wait until you read by pr0nbot · · Score: 4, Funny

      I invite you to submit it to the prestigious Journal of Universal Rejection for peer review.

    2. Re:Wait until you read by Spinalcold · · Score: 1

      Or you can read Leviticus

  5. Yawn! by bdwoolman · · Score: 1

    Nothing to see here.

    --
    "No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
  6. Slate.com? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Another one from slate.com?

    The other news were about the maze..

  7. Re:" the talks described actually sound fascinatin by vlm · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Funny thing is, the talks described actually sound fascinating".

    How would you know that?

    They sound like extremely stereotypical technology demonstrators. So I wanna show off my new statistical analysis / HBASE backend /AJAX presentation / wiimote controlled scala classes, but I've got no data at work that's non-proprietary to share with the world, so you get ... um ... a database of movie star height, yeah thats it.. True, they could be "ancient" technology that's not really new anymore, or they could be poorly done demonstrations, but optimistically they could be pretty interesting. Or at least good for a laugh (ha ha ha I was doing that back in 2008, etc)

    --
    "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  8. If an exploit is found on IBM cash registers . . . by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 2

    . . . that location information of them might be useful . . . and profitable.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  9. Re:" the talks described actually sound fascinatin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Funny thing is, the talks described actually sound fascinating".

    How would you know that?

    It's a statement of prsonal opinion based on the descriptions provided. How could he not know his own reaction?

  10. Wikipedia. by Seumas · · Score: 1

    Why the fuck doesn't Wikipedia include the heights of celebrities? Afraid of the backlash when the world realizes how short all the men are?

    1. Re:Wikipedia. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does it include the weight of female celebrities?

  11. Re:" the talks described actually sound fascinatin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "How could he not know his own reaction?"

    We don't know that. How would you?

  12. I want my money back! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It was interesting.

  13. Wait, it wasn't an ichnology conference? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    These guys should have presented their paper at it.

  14. Slashdot - news for imbecilles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    idle is killing /. next probably come fart jokes, facebook accounts and show wrestling...

    for fucks sake, stop

    1. Re:Slashdot - news for imbecilles by aix+tom · · Score: 1

      Now show farting and wrestling jokes on the other hand .......

    2. Re:Slashdot - news for imbecilles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      .... hilarity ensues. But somehow, I can't find OW MY BALLS! on TV... maybe we just need to wait a few more years... once the House of Representin' comes into place, you will know Idiocracy has become fully true.

      (it's far too accurate already for my comfort zone)

  15. How can you have a boring conference in London? by smittyoneeach · · Score: 2

    They need to be more authentic, and go to Boring, Oregon: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Boring,+oregon&hl=en&ll=45.431226,-122.353363&spn=0.580164,1.231842&sll=39.531771,-76.822755&sspn=0.019926,0.038495&hnear=Boring,+Damascus,+Clackamas,+Oregon&t=m&z=10
    I'll note that there is also a Boring, Maryland northwest of Baltimore (The City That Breeds). However, the proximity of DC means that something interesting could happen. For example, a hardcopy of ObamaCare could fall on you, causing injury.

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    1. Re:How can you have a boring conference in London? by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

      Oregon is probably a bit far for people in the UK though. They could have held in in Boring's twin city^w town^w village of Dull in Scotland, however.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  16. I work in the POS industy by Lozrus · · Score: 1

    Supermarket checkout and cash registers are the subject of every bloody conference I visit!

    1. Re:I work in the POS industy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Supermarket checkout and cash registers are the subject of every bloody conference I visit!

      Next one you're at, please suggest they make them not suck so much. Ta.

  17. Fascinating? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does it mean attenders can rightfully demand their money back?

  18. Premature by ve3oat · · Score: 1

    ... for a fraction of a second this article became more interesting. Then I re-read it and the feeling subsided.

    Ha!! Premature satisfaction!

    1. Re:Premature by chromas · · Score: 1

      Premature infatuation; rhymes better.

  19. Re:" the talks described actually sound fascinatin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I think you're missing the point (disclaimer: I did not attend). The talks were on subjects that were absurdly mundane, and yet the speakers managed to become engrossed in the details and (in the successful talks) were able to convey that interest to the audience, which was willing to suspend judgement. And everyone enjoying a good laugh on themselves for sitting patiently through such "boring" presentations. It's like being roped into a board game at a party which sounds really lame, and ending up getting taken in by the strategy and turns of fate.

  20. Made me laugh by foniksonik · · Score: 1

    "Waiting for more than half an hour in the November cold to get in, one conferencegoer wondered aloud whether the surprise queue was what it seemed. "Maybe it just goes on and on and at 5pm they'll let us out the other side?" he mused. "That would be really boring." "

    Lol

    --
    A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
  21. Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? by Dan+East · · Score: 2

    Please tell me Ben Stein narrated the slideshow of toasted bread pictures.

    --
    Better known as 318230.
  22. If news was plural it would have an apo'strophe by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    The other news were

    News are singular. Or possibly uncountable, which is close enough for the likes of you.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  23. You Want Boring? by Ganty · · Score: 1

    Fifteen years ago I worked in I.T. Support at a company making paper products. One of the salesmen was quite proud of his 120 slide Powerpoint presentation on toilet paper.

    Ganty

    1. Re:You Want Boring? by pjt33 · · Score: 1

      That sounds quite interesting - more interesting than showing it on a normal screen, at least...

    2. Re:You Want Boring? by Amouth · · Score: 1

      you laugh, but there is a lot of science in making toilet paper, i can easily see 120 slides in a presentation on the topic.

      --
      '...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
  24. Misunderstanding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But it hasn't been shut down. It's just been renamed TechEd.