What would you think if this message popped up on your computer without warning? (No peeking!)
Not sure? Here’s a hint: You were not sending a fax, at least not that you know of.
Maybe you need to click “Answer call” to receive a fax. It’s hard to be sure of that either, with the information we have, so let’s look at the “details.”
Now we’re getting somewhere! Apparently, you have just received a fax. (Actually, it’s hard to be sure. There are no dates on the messages, and they could be months old, but let’s set that aside.)
So why does the original message say “Ready to send or receive a fax” instead of “Received a fax”? Why is it considered a “detail” that you have received a fax? I don’t know what goes on in the mind of a Microsoftie, but I can say the message is completely true; you really are ready to send or receive a fax. This reminds me of the joke about the helicopter near the Microsoft building, which is repeated below in case you don’t remember it.
WHERE AM I?
A helicopter was flying around above Seattle yesterday when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft's electronic navigation and communication equipment. Due to the clouds and haze the pilot could not determine his position or course to steer to the airport. The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign and held it in the helicopter's window. The sign said "WHERE AM I?" in large letters.
People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign and held it in a building window. Their sign said, "YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER." The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map and determined the course to steer to SEATAC (Seattle/Tacoma) airport and landed safely.
After they were on the ground, the co-pilot asked the pilot how the "YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER" sign helped determine their position. The pilot responded, "I knew that had to be the MICROSOFT building because they gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer."
http://www.bastichlabz.org/~tigger/TechHumor/mshelicopter.txt