The town installed a digital noticeboard outside the library. Residents could post announcements, but every message needed approval.
On Monday, it displayed: NOTICEBOARD TEMPORARILY OUT OF SERVICE.
On Tuesday, someone added: PLEASE REPORT FAULTS TO THE LIBRARY.
By Wednesday there were four messages asking how to report the broken noticeboard. A librarian came out with a ladder and opened the case.
“Who approved all these notices?” a passer-by asked.
“The automatic system,” she said. “It approves anything containing the word noticeboard.”
The passer-by thought for a moment. “Then post the repair instructions without that word.”