In Japan, they have replaced the impersonal and unhelpful Microsoft error messages with Haiku poetry messages. Haiku poetry has strict construction rules - each poem has only 17 syllables; 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, 5 in the third. They are used to communicate a timeless message, often achieving a wistful, yearning and powerful insight through extreme brevity. Aren't these better than "Your computer has performed an illegal operation"?
Below, the essence of Zen:
Your file was so big. It might be very useful. But now it is gone.
The Web site you seek Cannot be located, but Countless more exist
Chaos reigns within. Reflect, repent, and reboot. Order shall return.
Program aborting: Close all that you have worked on. You ask far too much.
Windows NT crashed. I am the Blue Screen of Death. No one hears your screams
Yesterday it worked. Today it is not working. Windows is like that.
First snow, then silence. This thousand-dollar screen dies So beautifully.
With searching comes loss And the presence of absence: "My Novel" not found.
The Tao that is seen Is not the true Tao - until You bring fresh toner.
Stay the patient course. Of little worth is your ire. The network is down.
A crash reduces Your expensive computer To a simple stone.
Three things are certain Death, taxes and lost data. Guess which has occurred.
You step in the stream, But the water has moved on. This page is not here.
Out of memory. We wish to hold the whole sky, But we never will.
Having been erased, The document you're seeking Must now be retyped.
