MARTIN GARDINER writes to tell us that he was wondering about phone phobia – as one does – so he visited , the website that offers advice on how to “live free of fears, phobias and anxiety attacks”.
The site defines phone phobia as “a persistent, abnormal and unwarranted fear of telephones”. It goes on: “To learn more about our 24-Hour Phone Phobia Program, please call us at 1-800-828-7484…”
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AS WELL as demanding usernames, passwords and PINs, many websites now insist, as an extra security measure, that you respond to a “secret” question to which only you know the answer. This is not as straightforward as it might seem.
The website is an online community of film-makers (not assassins). Peter Newman tells us that one of its administrators recently informed members: “My own mini survey shows that 90 per cent of Shooters who have chosen as their secret question ‘What was the name of the first person you slept with?’ can’t remember the answer they gave when they first signed up for Shooting People, while 100 per cent of Shooters who chose ‘What did you call your first pet?’ remember the answer, no problem.”
Retrospective energy reduction
DAVID WHITEHEAD came across an article on reporting that Hewlett-Packard has made a remarkable breakthrough in the field of energy conservation: “The Palo Alto, California-based company announced Wednesday that by 2010 it will reduce the amount of energy it used in 2005 by 20 per cent.”
“When Mark Jones was shopping on Amazon, the following wildly generous offer popped up on his screen: “Product Promotions. Save £0.02 when you spend £100,000.00 or more on Qualifying Items offered by “ĝ
“Why stop there?” Whitehead wonders, imagining the potential benefits from applying HP’s retrospective energy-reduction technology on a global scale.
FROM an AFP news release earlier this month: “John Billings, founder of the natural contraceptive system known as the Billings Method, has died in Australia aged 89, his colleagues said Monday… Billings is survived by his wife and eight of their nine children.”
IT WAS not so much the title “Superhero-related injuries in paediatrics: a case series” that amused us (Archives of Disease in Childhood, vol 92, p 242), as its use of language in this statement in the text: “Three of them tried to imitate Spiderman and one Superman. Three were injured after initiating flight without having planned for landing strategies.”
AND here is a distinctly unsurprising summary of a research paper: “Sword swallowers more likely to be injured when distracted or swallowing unusual swords” is from the press release about a paper in the BMJ (vol 333, p 1285).
We were also not very surprised by this headline for an article on the US National Academies website: “High School Survey Finds That Students Are Bored in Class.”
Gosh. Hold the front page.
HARD on the heels of the “To my wife” card that is not suitable for children under 3 years (17 March), several readers have told us about a “Happy 1st Birthday” card that warns it is “not suitable for children under 36 months”.
ON THE main staircase of the physics building at the University of Tasmania is a sign: “Welcome to the School of Maths and Physics. You are on level 2. Level 3 is one floor up.”
Jon Marsden-Smedley feels reassured that the mathematics department is able to tell us this.
ACCORDING to the blurb on the jacket of Daisy’s Wild Ride by Bob Graham, which school librarian Jenny Wilson recently added to her school’s book collection, “This series of first learning books provides young children with the perfect introduction to basic scientific concepts.”
At the end of the story, which is all about Jane’s pet pig Daisy hurtling down a hill in a cart, are some helpful “Background notes for parents and teachers”. They include: “Gravity is what keeps everybody’s feet on the ground – literally. When astronauts go to the moon, where there is no gravity, they just float about.”
We’re sure parents and teachers will be grateful for that insight.
FINALLY, we want to rename this column in preparation for its branching out as a blog on , and to avoid the confusion experienced by those who think “Feedback” means “contact us” (14 April). We invite readers to send in ideas for a new name by email or post. Please restrict each suggestion to a maximum of two words and do not send in more than two suggestions. You could be the winner of a magnum of champagne if we adopt your suggestion.
All suggestions must reach us by Monday 14 May and the editor’s decision on the winner is final.