DON鈥橳 you get furious when obnoxious adverts keep popping up on a website you have visited? A middle-aged colleague recently encountered one on the site of, would you believe it, The New York Times. Out of the blue, the advert started warning him about sexual inadequacies 鈥� and it did so not just with written words but very loudly over his computer鈥檚 speakers. Pop-up blockers and complaints to the site produced no result, but the noisy ads disappeared when our colleague edited his user profile. People in their 20s get a much better class of adverts.
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THE prestigious Harvard Business Review is read, naturally enough, by the business world鈥檚 top movers and shakers. Despite this, Doug Spencer notes, the review鈥檚 subscription staff seems to have a distinctly poor opinion of its clientele鈥檚 alertness and knowledge of the world.
The Payment Details section of the review鈥檚 online subscription form asks for credit card details and puts an asterisk beside the words 鈥淐ard Number鈥�. For those in doubt about the meaning of these words, an explanation is provided beside another asterisk at the bottom of the form. Here we are told soberly that the card number is: 鈥淭he large numbers across the middle of the card鈥�.
鈥淎 Tesco supermarket display promised Helen Ribchester 鈥淗ealthy Living Fresh Fish鈥�, but she checked and they were definitely dead鈥�
Searching for the meaning of life
SEARCHING for the meaning of life? If a higher power can鈥檛 help, then there鈥檚 always Google. Last week it transpired that people in India lead the world in searching for 鈥渘anotechnology鈥� on Google (29 July, p 25). Now we find that the people of Brisbane, Australia, come top in their eagerness to type 鈥渕eaning of life鈥� into the search engine. (We also spotted that the city comes top for the word 鈥渁liens鈥�, but the two probably aren鈥檛 linked).
Hidden inside Google Labs, where the company road-tests new ideas and software, you can find out what the world is searching for. Which cities search the most for 鈥渇orgiveness鈥�? Top sinner is Philadelphia, perhaps unsurprisingly followed by Salt Lake City. Meanwhile, Londoners are probably too busy for penitence: they top the world in searches for 鈥渓ost keys鈥�. In a city well known for its hellish driving, our readers in the Boston area are busy trying to find a place to put their car. Cambridge, Massachusetts, comes highest for 鈥減arking space鈥�.
So who could be searching the most for Osama Bin Laden? Naturally, it鈥檚 Washington DC.
INTRIGUED by our report of a dramatic breakthrough by Norman McVea, PhD, which enables him to produce 鈥淓nergized 5D Sound CD鈥檚鈥� imprinted with 鈥淟ife Energy Amplified fields鈥� (10 June), Phil McSharry did a little digging. First he wondered, as one does, where McVea had acquired his doctorate.
He failed to uncover this, though he did find out that in 1968 one Norman McVea, PhD, undertook 鈥渁 course of metaphysical study鈥� 鈥� one related to the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard. This is yet another addition to McVea鈥檚 already-crowded journey through the 鈥渁lternative鈥�, from the Esalen Institute via Erhardt Seminar Training to the Oxygen Research Institute.
Then, looking for biographies, McSharry searched for phrases matching the Oxygen Research Institute鈥檚 description of McVea鈥檚 work as 鈥渞esearch in the fields of neuro-performance鈥� youthing, longevity and higher states of consciousness鈥�. No trace of such a doctorate emerged. But it turns out at that 鈥淛ohn Keen, PhD, has spent more than 20 years researching neuro-performance, rejuvenation, longevity and higher states of consciousness.鈥�
Are McVea and Keen just colleagues in close agreement? Or has a fifth-dimensional transformation caused them to share life paths, transcending the narrow bounds of 鈥渟elfhood鈥�, even to share the same coordinates in our mundane space-time?
鈥淛OIN me and my friends on WAYN,鈥� read the email that Nam Khuan Chua鈥檚 friend sent, 鈥渁nd meet more than 5,007,919 million members from all around the world!鈥� Has the world鈥檚 population exploded, unnoticed? Or has the web reached out across species barriers?
WE probably shouldn鈥檛 encourage him, but we鈥檝e agreed to pass on Bob Hunter鈥檚 claim that our story on Cornell University鈥檚 press release about its CD of owl voices 鈥� 鈥渁 veritable 鈥榃hoo鈥檚 Hooo鈥� of North American owl sounds鈥� (15 July) 鈥� reminded him that the university had earlier cut a vinyl recording entitled 鈥淏uzzes of North American Wasps鈥�. There was, he says, some initial controversy over the recording in that many wasp experts did not recognise the buzzes. The controversy was put to rest when it was pointed out that the experts were actually playing the 鈥淏鈥� side.
FINALLY, Jana 鈥渟kinny鈥� water is 鈥渁 no-calorie water鈥� it says at 鈥� and its list price is $43.20 plus shipping for 24 bottles. Nicky Thompson wishes to be reminded by way of comparison what the calorific content of a glass of ordinary tap water is.