And like you, when I come across an article that I find particularly interesting or enjoyable, I like to share it with people I know who might not otherwise see it. The one article I've shared more than any other in recent memory appeared in our Dec. 19, 2005, issue. Written by Matt Hamblen, it was entitled "No Fun," and it raised an intriguing question: "When did life in IT get so darn dreary, and what can you do about it?" I have a hunch that a lot of people outside of IT are asking the same question about their own professions.

So, regardless of our lines of work, it's good for all of us to read in Hamblen's story what Dale Sanders, CIO at the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, has observed: "You can predict a successful business if you can hear heartfelt laughter 10 to 12 times a day."

I have to think he's right. Way too often, we take ourselves way too seriously. And if we'd only admit it, there's a lot about ourselves that we can laugh at.

That brings me to another recent Computerworld story that I especially enjoyed: Todd Weiss' piece "Technology Victim: Western Union Sends Its Last Telegram," which was posted on our Web site on Feb. 3. Beyond the humor inherent in the fact that, as Weiss' story noted, there were actually 20,000 telegrams sent via Western Union in 2005 (by whom, I can't begin to fathom), my own association of telegrams with Morse code brought to mind the most embarrassing moment in my professional career.

In the early '80s, when I was working for the National Security Agency, I had to learn Morse code for an upcoming assignment. I was put in a class of kids who were fresh out of high school and who had been hired by the NSA to do some sort of Morse grunt work. As the lone, thirtyish intelligence officer in the class, I was the center of attention of my young female classmates, who were clearly enthralled by my experience.