GOOD news for dupes of the infamous Nigerian spam frauds who sent money to 鈥�419鈥� scammers but never received their promised rewards. We鈥檝e been told that the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is going to make it up to you.
Feedback has just received a letter from one Bello Ahmed of 鈥淓FCC Prohibits Office鈥� telling us, 鈥淭he Nigeria Government has set side for your compensation for all your past efforts and attempts to assist this duped character.鈥� Just tell Ahmed all the information you used in sending money to the scammers, and the Nigerian government will give you $150,000.
Advertisement
In case past losses have left you wary, Ahmed thoughtfully provides a link to the commission鈥檚 website, , which oddly fails to mention the compensation programme and uses rather better English than Ahmed鈥檚 letter. Could our ingenious friends in Nigeria have created some sort of metascam?
WHEN a large group of scientists collaborates on research, their names tend to appear in alphabetical order on the resulting papers. What do you do, then, when the lead scientist鈥檚 name starts with 鈥淶o鈥︹��, which would put him last of 75 authors? Look carefully at the paper describing the dust from Comet 81P/Wild 2 in Science, vol 314, p 1735, and you鈥檒l find the authors鈥� names are in inverse alphabetical order. We wonder if the person who suggested this was Michael Zolensky, who has the intriguing title of cosmic dust curator at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
鈥淭he editor of Gut, a leading gastroenterology journal, is Robin Spiller鈥�
A DIALOGUE box popped up when Gerry Bond was surveying an aerial view of southern England on Google Earth to inform him that 鈥渢he feature being edited has been destroyed鈥�. What was on his screen at the time was an area next to Windsor Castle, one of the residences of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. It left Bond anxiously awaiting the evening news on TV.
YOU would think that the editors of Time magazine know where cotton comes from, but their online 鈥淕lobal warming survival guide鈥� casts doubt. It tells us: 鈥淵ou could make your own clothes with a needle and thread using 100 per cent organic cotton sheared from sheep you raised on a wholefoods diet, but the environmental quality of your wardrobe is ultimately determined by the way you wash it.鈥� of Scottsdale, Arizona, has a mission of 鈥渋mproving food and health conditions around the world鈥�. The company declares that 鈥渋t has formulated a novel all-natural cold remedy in the form of a chewable lozenge featuring Citroxin O2鈥�.
Ray Quartermain wonders how these two sentences in the press release can be reconciled: 鈥淐itroxin O2 is an all-food-grade formula, containing no chemicals or pharmaceuticals鈥� and 鈥淭his Citroxin O2 formula will contain zinc, several vital electrolytes, vitamin C and immune-enhancing probiotics.鈥�
Another chemical-free substance
A ROLL of 鈥渆nvironmentally friendly鈥� black plastic sacks that Vernon Winslow bought are labelled: 鈥淭his bag will fully degrade to carbon dioxide, water and a small amount of inorganic residue after approximately four years in the domestic waste stream. This compares to conventional plastic bags taking over 100 years to degrade.鈥� Given that greenhouse gases are the great issue of the day, Winslow is now wondering which of the two is the more eco-friendly. To us, it looks like the conventional ones.
AS THEIR train was pulling out of London鈥檚 Euston station, Phil and Joanna Hodgson heard the guard warning passengers that as smoking was banned throughout the train, 鈥渁nyone found smoking will be extinguished鈥�. The Hodgsons felt that this was taking the idea that the punishment should fit the crime a little too far.
鈥淧AINTING should be carried out within 28 days of application,鈥� say the instructions for a pack of putty Mike Holland bought. However, they also insist: 鈥淎llow 28 days for surface of putty to sufficiently harden before overpainting.鈥�
Holland is stumped. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not even a nanosecond gap between the two,鈥� he complains.
FROM the department of the blindingly obvious: John Ormond鈥檚 Nokia 2280 phone manual says: 鈥淵ou will need to remove the existing battery if you want to install a new battery.鈥�
FINALLY, we want to rename this column in preparation for its branching out as a blog on newscientist.com, and to avoid the confusion experienced by those who think 鈥淔eedback鈥� means 鈥渃ontact us鈥� (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. The editor鈥檚 decision on the winner is final.