November 18, 2001

Saturday, December 29, 2001

Way cool . . . 20 factors that will change PCs in 2002 Digital tools are not only getting smaller, faster, and cheaper, they're also insinuating themselves into every corner of life. And these days they're as likely to be found in your pocket as on your desk. http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/ptech/12/25/pc.changes.idg/index.html

Who died in 2001? Ken Kesey, George Harrison, Caroll O'Connor, Eudora Welty, and others. Check out the The Dead People Server . . .
http://dpsinfo.com/dps/2001.html

"It had been startling and disappointing to me to find out that story books had been written by people, that books were not natural wonders, coming of themselves like grass."
- Eudora Welty

Rules of Thumb

For pet owners
-"Spot" really will breed his sister (substitute mother, daughter, etc.). Dogs, cat and horses don't think of these relationships the way you do.

-There should be one more litter pan than the number of cats in your household. Sharing litter pans is probably the leading cause of house soiling problems in cats. If you only have one cat, and it isn't reliably using the litterpan, give it two litter pans and clean them frequently.

-Pets are like vacations - they cost at least twice as much as you think they will.

-Declawed cats can be let outside. They just shouldn't be forced to fend for themselves out there. We used to think that declawing cats increased the incidence of biting, but new studies seem to disprove that notion.

-Dogs don't really need to run free. They are social animals and want to be with their "pack". If you make room in your life for them, they don't need to seek another family -- two or four footed.

For Evil Overlords
-Legions of terror should have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones.

-Ventilation ducts should be too small to crawl through.

-The noble half-brother whose throne you usurped should be killed, not kept
anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell in the dungeon.

-Shooting is not too good for your enemies.

-The artifact which is the source of your power will not be kept on the
Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of
Eternity. It should be kept in a safe-deposit box.

-Do not gloat over enemies' predicament before killing them.

For Writers
-A 60-second radio ad should repeat the product's name at least five times.

-Billboard text should consist of six or fewer words.

-A business letter should be kept to one page.

-A text whose sentences average 10 words will be understood by an average fifth grader.

-The greater the average number of syllables per word, the harder the text is to understand.

-If the same quantity of text is printed in a narrow column and a wider column, it will be read faster in the narrow column.

The Liar's Index, a semiannual survey conducted by Jude M. Werra Associates, a Wisconsin-based executive search firm, found that 20.4 percent of upper-level applicants -- up from 13.6 percent in the second half of 2000 -- lie about their majors, graduation or attendance dates and degrees.

Did you know the reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases. This and other important facts at:
http://www.palmerpage.com/rickworld/facts.htm

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