(I’m not an expert on the Illuminati, nor do I want to be. This is likely an oversimplification or just plain wrong.) In Illuminati conspiracy lore, as far as I can make out, there is talk of a word that we non-members of the conspiracy are pre-programmed to not be able to see. Illuminati members put it in plain sight all around us both to have a jolly joke at our expense, and to signal to other members that they are part of the grand conspiracy. On Usenet, that word is often represented as “fnord”, although of course that’s not the real word because if it was we couldn’t see it.
I have discovered a phrase that seems to have a similar effect. If you put it in an email or usenet post, or even a web site FAQ, people who aren’t part of the “in group” evidently are unable to read the phrase, nor anything that comes after it. The “in group” are the people who “get” computers. I’m not talking about the guy who thinks he’s “1337” (elite) because he managed to get the latest, most drool-proof version of Linux mostly installed on his computer, or the person who can find the on button and the “E” icon for Internet Explorer on his computer 3 times out of 4, I mean people who really “get” it. They don’t have to know everything, but they know how to find out what they don’t know and have the capacity to learn.
The phrase in question? “And if that doesn’t work, try”.
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