THANKS to all the readers who have written in to tell us that, following our own account of playing the game of Pubmed whacking (21 February), they have had a go at it too 鈥� despite their worries that they were being sad (never!) and that they were wasting their time (er 鈥� what can we say?).
We have greatly enjoyed all the daft combinations of words 鈥� 鈥渉edgehog automation鈥�, 鈥渃razy vegetables鈥�, 鈥渓iverwort hamster鈥�, 鈥渃ervical tomato鈥� and so on 鈥� that produced a whack. And, yes, there seem to be a lot of people out there who are a lot better at it than we are. But we are a little worried about how much the game is being played during people鈥檚 work time. One reader from a publishing company we won鈥檛 name emailed us to say that a colleague 鈥� who had herself emailed us half an hour earlier 鈥� had told her about it, and that it was 鈥渟preading round the office like wildfire鈥�.
We, of course, have no need to worry about this. When we play Pubmed Whack at work, it鈥檚 strictly in the line of research. And, no, we鈥檙e not sad either.
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OUR story about the compass that always points in the direction you are heading (14 February) reminded reader John Bonham-Carter of the advice offered by the Douglas Adams character Dirk Gently, to the effect of: 鈥淧ick a remarkably unremarkable vehicle on the road and follow it. You may not get to where you intended, but you may well find you end up somewhere far more interesting instead.鈥�
Bonham-Carter says he tried this once, and recommends it 鈥渢o anyone who ever gets that feeling that they should go somewhere or do something on a free afternoon, but are not sure where or why. You simultaneously get a sense of purpose and adventure without any real effort on your part.鈥�
Unfortunately, he adds that after spending a pleasant hour or so following a randomly picked van round the streets of London, he eventually arrived at the van鈥檚 destination 鈥� but has no recollection whatsoever of where or what it was. 鈥淚t may have been uneventful, of course,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I prefer to imagine the opposite. Perhaps the memory has been subconsciously hidden in order to protect me from the realisation of its huge importance.鈥�
ARE insurance companies already aiming for the extraterrestrial market? Richard Mallett was filling in a form from ACE Insurance for his business and needed to specify where the company sold to. The options he was given were: 鈥淣orth America/Rest of World/Other.鈥�
PIRATES in Malaysia have been selling Microsoft鈥檚 next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, for under $2. How awful, everyone choruses.
Awful for who? Most likely, awful for anyone who is tempted to buy the pirated disc.
Longhorn, planned as an eventual replacement for Windows XP, is in the very early stages of development. The final version will not be ready for another two years or so. The only versions of Longhorn now available are intended to help the computer industry learn a bit about what鈥檚 coming later.
Anyone who is fool enough to install the pirate Longhorn on a home or office PC will probably find it stops working. They can hardly then ask Microsoft for advice on how to repair the damage, and the seller of the pirated software is even less likely to be strong on customer support.
Anyone with a Longhorned PC will probably have to wipe it clean and start again. Their original version of Windows XP may not reinstall, and they will then have to buy another licenced copy costing $100 or more.
So pirate Longhorn could accidentally do more to turn people against piracy than any of the expensive moral and legal campaigns that Microsoft and the PC industry pay for. Perhaps this is one bit of piracy they won鈥檛 be too upset about.
WHAT will those NASA scientists think of next? One English newspaper has some interesting insights. According to a recent issue of the Newark Advertiser sent to us by reader Jean Matthews, they are 鈥渄reaming up ways of creating a genetically levitated train with the capacity to journey into space鈥�.
LITTLE Bo Peep may soon be out of a job. There鈥檚 a paper by Eva Schlecht and others in Applied Animal Behaviour Science (vol 85, p 185) with the title: 鈥淭he use of differentially corrected Global Positioning System to monitor activities of cattle at pasture鈥�.
FINALLY, another from the department of signs of the times. Associated Press reports that Jon Blake Cusack of Holland, Michigan, who is apparently happy to describe himself as an engineering geek, has persuaded his wife to agree to them naming their son not Jon Blake Cusack Junior, but Jon Blake Cusack 2.0.
And if they have another son? Doubtless he will be called Jon Blake Cusack XP.
Our delicate nature forbids us from reading the grisly details of US patent application 4150505. The title, as reader Dave Woolf points out, already says it all. It鈥檚 鈥淏ird trap and cat feeder鈥�