On Tue, 16 May 2006, Philip Hart wrote: > > > On Tue, 16 May 2006, Michele Riccio wrote: > > > On 16 May 2006 at 15:12, Kenneth Gorelick wrote > > > > > >> In fact, the very purpose of the Cycle might be to set up that > > > >> joke, and when somebody tells it the small invisible lights will, > > > >> without any fuss, go out. > > > >> > > > >> > > > > Only if it is told 9 billion times, with 9 billion variations. > > > > > > > > Snarkhunter > > > And I thought no other living person had read that one... > > > > Were we not supposed to get the reference? > > > I assumed people would recognize the premise and last sentence of > one of the classic SF stories (freely available on the web, > incidentally, but no link since I'm not sure about the copyright > status). Is this referring to the short story about [begin vague recognition] a man who sells automating equipment to monks spelling out the names of god, after which the stars start going out?