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To: peter n matzke who wrote (37288)3/25/1998 6:27:00 AM
From: j g cordes  Respond to of 58727
 
Peter, sure I've got a couple of mil (doesn't everyone?), but the risk on every "system" I've seen is too great.

There's an optimum trading account per investment vehicle imo. Ever noticed that when really huge sums of money are assembled it ends up being loaned out at percentage rates as a bank of some sort, or its put to use with government backing, or sets up a retail or construction enterprize. Talking day trading here. Longer term one can step into and out of.

With derivatives smaller sums do better because they don't tip the boat your getting into and out of. Stocks, depending on their size, can take a ton of dough or not. Again, matching investment size to the capacity of the vehicle. Sorry for rambling, or thinking out loud, first cup of coffee.

Where or how did you derive your groups attracting greater capital inflows? I've been looking at cable over the last few days... its been getting big money flows since last Nov- Dec. I missed it completely! Stocks like TCGI, ATHM, UVSGA... the attack on the TV interface is in full swing including mpegs, networkers (CSCO said yesterday it wants 16 companies in that delivery arena), MSFT, INTC, and it seems everyone else. Anyone have favorites in that area?

Jim



To: peter n matzke who wrote (37288)3/25/1998 4:10:00 PM
From: peter n matzke  Respond to of 58727
 
since this is a technology thread the following letter may be appropriate. In your spare time see if you can help out. Its fun for the whole family.

To: +bob (5085 )
From: +Bryan Steffen
Wednesday, Mar 25 1998 3:22PM EST
Reply # of 5087

enjoy...
The story behind the letter below is that there is this nutball in Newport,RI named Scott
Williams who digs things out of his backyard
and sends the stuff he finds to the Smithsonian Institute, labeling them with scientific
names, insisting that they are actual archaeological finds. This guy really exists and does
this in his spare time!

Anyway...here's the actual response from the Smithsonian Institution. Bear this in mind
next time you think you are challenged in your duty to respond to a difficult situation in
writing.
____________________________________________________
Smithsonian Institute
207 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20078

Dear Mr. Williams:

Thank you for your latest submission to the Institute, labeled "93211-D,layer seven,
next to the clothesline post...Hominid skull." We have given this specimen a careful and
detailed examination, and regret to inform you that we disagree with your theory that it
represents conclusive proof of the presence of Early Man in Charleston County two
million years ago.

Rather, it appears that what you have found is the head of a Barbie doll, of the variety
that one of our staff, who has small children, believes to be "Malibu Barbie." It is evident
that you have given a great deal of thought to the analysis of this specimen, and you may
be quite certain that those of us who are familiar with your prior work in the field were
loathe to come to contradiction with your findings. However, we do feel that there are a
number of physical attributes of the specimen which might have tipped you off to its
modern origin:

1. The material is molded plastic. Ancient hominid remains are typically fossilized bone.

2. The cranial capacity of the specimen is approximately 9 cubic centimeters, well below
the threshold of even the earliest identified proto-homonids.

3. The dentition pattern evident on the skull is more consistent with the common
domesticated dog than it is with the ravenous man-eating Pliocene clams you speculate
roamed the wetlands during that time. This latter finding is certainly one of the most
intriguing hypotheses you have submitted in your history with this institution, but the
evidence seems to weigh rather heavily against it. Without going into too much detail, let
us say that:

A. The specimen looks like the head of a Barbie doll that a dog has chewed on.

B. Clams don't have teeth.

It is with feelings tinged with melancholy that we must deny your request to have the
specimen carbon-dated. This is partially due to the heavy load our lab must bear in its
normal operation, and partly due to carbon-dating's notorious inaccuracy in fossils of
recent geologic record. To the best of our knowledge, no Barbie dolls were produced
prior to 1956AD, and carbon-dating is likely to produce wildly inaccurate results.

Sadly, we must also deny your request that we approach the National Science
Foundation Phylogeny Department with the concept of assigning your specimen the
scientific name Australopithecus spiff-arino. Speaking personally, I, for one, fought
tenaciously for the acceptance of your proposed taxonomy, but was ultimately voted
down because the species name you selected was hyphenated, and didn't really sound
like it might be Latin. However, we gladly accept your generous donation of this
fascinating specimen to the museum. While it is undoubtedly not a Hominid fossil, it is,
nonetheless, yet another riveting example of the great body of work you seem to
accumulate here so effortlessly. You should know that our Director has reserved a
special shelf in his own office for the display of the specimens you have previously
submitted to the Institution, and the entire staff speculates daily on what you will happen
upon next in your digs at the site you have discovered in your Newport back yard.

We eagerly anticipate your trip to our nation's capital that you proposed in your last
letter, and several of us are pressing the Director to pay for it. We are particularly
interested in hearing you expand on your theories surrounding the trans-positating
fillifitation of ferrous metal in a structural matrix that makes the excellent juvenile
Tyrannosaurus rex femur you recently discovered take on the deceptive appearance of
a rusty 9-mm Sears Craftsman automotive crescent wrench.

Yours in Science,
Harvey Rowe
Chief Curator-Antiquities