From the "Corporate America" Folder

A colleague had problems accessing a new system that we are using here at the office. So, a bug-report was filed. The bug-report read something like this - "Could not access page ZZZ. A blank white page was returned in the browser."

A bit later, the colleague the filed the report receives a phone call about the bug. "Blah, blah, blah," -- it was the standard "describe what you were doing" dialogue. But the final question completely blew everyone away. Can you send me a screen-shot? The bug-filer was actually asked to submit a screen shot of a blank white page.

Wow. I love corporate America.

Play Dead

Some people try to use `nature' as a way of arguing ethics ... "You shouldn't be homosexual because it is against nature."

There is a fallacy in this. Nature does not always conform to our expectations.

For instance, I recently heard of a spider - Pisaura mirabilis - or the non scientific name - "Nuptial gift giving spider", which behaves in a very non-human way. Male Pisaura mirabilis spiders are smaller than their female counterparts. The smaller size and the fact that the females like to eat the males makes it very hard for the species to continue via reproduction.

So, the male spiders, like male humans, are not daunted by this. In order to overcome adversity, they bring food to the females. After `giving' the food to the females they play dead. While the female is busy chowing down, the male "sneaks in" and takes care of business.

Obviously this is the polar opposite of how humans do it. Sure, in our world, the men give food to the women (sometimes referred to as a date). However, it is usually the female that plays dead during sex.