Computer Screen Character Shortage

The major networks and newspaper have not picked up on this story yet, but you'll be hearing about it on ZD85.com in the near future... that's right we can now predict the future... but there is a serious shortage of characters used on computer screens.

Each computer monitor comes with a vacuum bottle filled with compressed alpha-numeric characters. As you type, and words appear on your screen, characters are drawn out of the vacuum bottle and displayed on the screen. Most people have never thought about where those letters and numbers come from. They can't came from nothing. The laws of conservation of text and numerals say that characters can not be created out of nothing. As the vacuum bottle empties additional characters are transferred through the internet to refill the vacuum bottle.

So where do they come from? Most of the letters and numbers you see on your screen were manufactured in China. There are some factories in South Korea and Taiwan, but most of the production has now been shifted to China. The problem is that a fire destroyed a major factory located in Shache and that has reduced the supply of computer characters. This means that most vacuum bottles are no longer getting a full refill.

We are releasing this information here, in advance of it being posted on ZD85.com, because of the urgency of the situation. It is important that computer users reduce their use of alpha-numerical characters for at least the next 30-60 days. You should use abbreviations as much as possible, and when possible cut and paste existing characters so that new characters are not used.

Thank you for your cooperation and help during this emergency situation.