It even filtered into my work today. Testing a fix to the page that creates a new user, the user name was of course "harrypotter" with the password "horcrux7" and an email address of "harry.potter@hogwarts.edu." Which naturally triggered the question of what computing would look like in the semi-medieval world of Hogwarts and Diagon Alley and such. A few conjectures:
- The most hackable passwords would be variations on "alohamora."
- Monitors (and their corresponding windowing systems) would be replaced by crystal balls. (Kinda cool when you think about it...)
- Avatars would be replaced by patronuses.
- Wizard programmers would complain about the knut-pinching (goblin) bean-counters outsourcing their jobs to house elves.
- Pen computing would necessarily be replaced by wand computing.
- The strongest crypto-algorithm would be based on Parseltongue.
- Rogue processes would be terminated by bringing up a command prompt and typing "aveda kedavra."
- User manuals and operating systems would need to support Mermish.
- Gryffindors would use Linux, Slytherins would use Macs, Hufflepuffs would use Windows, and Ravenclaws would roll their own operating systems over summer break.
- Google Earth would resemble the love-child of Foursquare and a giant version of the Marauder's Map. ("Rubeus Hagrid just became mayor of The Leaky Cauldron.")
