Systematic Buzz Phrase Projector

A digital homage to Philip Broughton's 1968 satirical management-jargon matrix. Pick a three-digit code or hit Generate — you'll get a grammatically correct, authoritative-sounding phrase that means absolutely nothing.

Live at buzz.waynetellis.com

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What it does

Three word matrices, three display skins, one joke that never gets old.

Modes

• Original (1968) — Broughton's own 10×10×10 matrix, unchanged
• Modern (2026) — the same structure, restocked with AI/agile/cloud vocabulary
• Chaos — both matrices combined; 8,000 combinations

Display skins

• Split-Flap — animated tile flip with Web Audio click synthesis
• Slot Machine — scrolling reels with bounce easing
• Dot-Matrix — typewriter character reveal with CRT scanline overlay

Other things it does

• Manual code entry: type 257 and press Enter to get a specific phrase
• Shareable URLs: every phrase is encoded in the address bar (?code=257&mode=original)
• Space bar generates a new phrase
• Save phrases to a local favourites drawer (no account needed)
• Easter eggs: try 000 in each mode

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Running it locally

npm install
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000.

npm run build    # production build + TypeScript check
npm run lint     # ESLint
npm test -- --run  # Vitest unit tests

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Stack

Next.js 16 App Router · React 19 · TypeScript · Tailwind CSS 4 · Vitest

No backend. All state is client-side (localStorage + URL params).

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Verification

• 257 in Original mode → "systemised logistical projection"
• 257 in Modern mode → "generative telemetry alignment"

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Background

Philip Broughton published the original Systematic Buzz Phrase Projector in Time magazine on 13 May 1968. Frustrated by impenetrable bureaucratic language, he built a satirical matrix: any three-digit number maps to a phrase that sounds authoritative and says nothing.

"No-one will have the remotest idea of what you're talking about. But the important thing is that they're not going to admit it." — Philip Broughton, 1968

The Modern and Chaos modes are Wayne Ellis's additions — the same joke, updated for the era of AI, cloud, and agile frameworks.