A Breath of Fresh Air - A Teachable Moment

The ditty was "God Save the Queen" Britain's national anthem, not "America" as a background melody to a particularly dulcet toast. Listen carefully as Queen Elizabeth turns slightly to offer some advice after he finishes ('set it down"). At nearly the same moment, note his head toss as a finishing flourish. Emily Post, Letitia Baldridge, and Miss Manners have been showing the way on etiquette in these matters for nearly a century...but someone must read the books first in order to learn.

Queen Elizabeth and her family have been at these functions for many years...centuries, actually. If you are interested in learning more about her and her family, there have been 3 very well-done films made within the past few years: The Queen; Elizabeth; and Elizabeth the Golden Age.

She has been fulfilling her part in the long history of England all her significant life. One way of looking at this flub is that it's true that what goes around, comes around. As one of his first acts in office he shipped the bronze bust of Churchill back to England and replaced with Martin Luther King. That was his prerogative, of course, but it struck many people as being in poor taste. Wonder if the Queen had a private chuckle? I would imagine so.

God Save the Queen

18 Worst Email Mistakes

Andrew G. Rosen, On Tuesday January 18, 2011, 2:10 pm EST

Most of us rely on e-mail as one of our primary communication tools. And given the number of messages we send and receive, we do it with remarkable success.

But as with anything, the more e-mails we send, the more likely we are to screw one up. And simple e-mail mistakes can be disastrous. They can cost us a raise, promotion--even a job.

With a new year upon us, this is the perfect time to go through some of the worst e-mail mistakes employees make and how to avoid them.

1. Sending before you mean to. Enter the recipient's e-mail address only when your e-mail is ready to be sent. This helps reduce the risk of an embarrassing misfire, such as sending an important e-mail to the wrong person or e-mailing a half-written note.

2. Forgetting the attachment. If your e-mail includes an attachment, upload the file to the e-mail before composing it. This eliminates the embarrassing mistake of forgetting it before hitting "send," and having to send another e-mail saying you forgot to attach the document.

3. Expecting an instant response. Don't send an e-mail and show up at the recipient's desk 30 seconds later asking if they've received it. They did, and they'll answer at their convenience. That's the point of e-mail.

4. Forwarding useless e-mails. I've never seen a single e-mail forward at work that was beneficial. Whether it's a silly joke or a heartwarming charity, there's never a time to share an e-mail forward using your work e-mail.

5. Not reviewing all new messages before replying. When you return to the office after a week or more away, review all new e-mails before firing off responses. It might be hard to accept, but odds are, things did march on without you. Replying to something that was already handled by a co-worker creates extra communication, which can lead to confusion, errors, and at the very least, wasted time for everyone involved.

6. Omitting recipients when you "reply all." Unless there's an important reason to omit someone, don't arbitrarily leave people off the response if they were included on the original message.

7. Including your e-mail signature again and again. Nor do you need to include it at the end of an e-mail you send to your long-time co-worker who sits six feet away. If you have your e-mail program set to automatically generate a signature with each new message, take a second to delete it when communicating with someone who knows who you are. It's always wise to include your phone number, but the entire blurb with your title and mailing address is often nothing but clutter.

8. Composing the note too quickly. Don't be careless; write every e-mail as if it will be read at Saint Peter's Square during the blessing of a new Pope. Be respectful with your words and take pride in every communication.

9. Violating your company's e-mail policy. Many companies have aggressive spam filters in place that monitor "blue" language. From that famous four-letter word to simple terms, such as "job search," don't end up tripping the system by letting your guard down.

10. Failing to include basic greetings. Simple pleasantries do the trick. Say "hi" at the start of the message and "thanks" at the end. Be sure to use the recipient's name. Be polite yet brief with your courtesy.

11. E-mailing when you're angry. Don't do it. Ever. Recall buttons are far from a perfect science, and sending a business e-mail tainted by emotion is often a catastrophic mistake. It sounds cliche, but sleep on it. Save the message as a draft and see if you still want to send it the next morning.

12. Underestimating the importance of the subject line. The subject line is your headline. Make it interesting, and you'll increase the odds of getting the recipient's attention. Our inboxes are cluttered; you need to be creative and direct to help the recipient cut through the noise. You should consistently use meaningful and descriptive subject lines. This will help your colleagues determine what you're writing about and build your "inbox street cred," which means important messages are more likely to be read.

13. Using incorrect subject lines. Change the subject line if you're changing the topic of conversation. Better yet, start a new e-mail thread.

14. Sending the wrong attachment. If you double-check an attachment immediately before sending and decide that you need to make changes, don't forget to update the source file. Making corrections to the version that's attached to the e-mail does not often work, and it can lead to different versions of the same doc floating around.

15. Not putting an e-mail in context. Even if you were talking to someone an hour ago about something, remind them in the e-mail why you're writing. In this multi-tasking world of ours, it's easy for even the sharpest minds to forget what's going on.

16. Using BCC too often. Use BCC (blind carbon copy) sparingly. Even though it's supposed to be a secret, it rarely is. Burn someone once, and they'll never trust you again. Likewise, forwarding e-mail is a great way to destroy your credibility. When people send you something, they aren't expecting you to pass it on to your co-workers. The e-mail might make its way back to the sender, who will see that their original message was shared. They might not call you out on it, but they'll make a mental note that you can't be trusted.

17. Relying too much on e-mail. News flash! No one is sitting around staring at their inbox waiting for your e-mail. If something is urgent, use another means of communication. A red "rush" exclamation point doesn't compare to getting up from your desk and conducting business in person.

18. Hitting "reply all" unintentionally. This is a biggie. And it's not just embarrassing; depending on what you wrote in that e-mail, it can ruin your relationship with a co-worker or even your boss. Take extra care whenever you respond so you don't hit this fatal button.

Now it's time to fess up: Are you guilty of any of these common work e-mail mistakes? Any you'd like to add to the list?

Motor Mania

Teach Me Tiger - 1965

I can't speak for other households, but for me growing up in the 1950s and 1960s had strong elements of a "Leave it to Beaver" lifestyle.  Playing was free and wide-ranging, interacting with other kids was simple and straight-forward, and notions of sex were mostly repressed.  Not so much from active suppression, but more from lack of exposure.

We had 3 TV stations in the DFW area, broadcasts were in black and white, and with the exception of a risque late night program called, "Playboy After Dark" in the early 1960s, we really weren't exposed to anything very sexy.  Movies and TV programming were subject to censorship by some kind of industry group seeking to protect its licensing from the FCC.

However, nature being nature, some of us experimented sooner than others and the result was often either a forced teenage marriage or the girl disappeared into one of the local "homes" during her pregnancy.  I don't recall having any school sponsored sex education and there wasn't any such education taking place at home either.  There was an 8th grade class entitled, "Health and Safety" where sex education was intended to be done, but about all I recall about that class was that it was boring and clinical.

Soon enough, we discovered where the soft parts were, where the fun parts were, and what parts caused the stirring within.  Nature has its own way of conducting class.  The subtleties of stimulating attraction between the sexes was something that took time to develop and you took cues from where ever you could find them.  One of those simulations was a little song that came out in 1965.  All I recalled of it for nearly a half-century was the title, "Teach Me Tiger" and the singer, April Stevens.

When the song came out, it was considered so naughty that many radio stations would not play it and the record was often a bootleg item, not readily available.  Nowadays with Youtube and a title, you can find most anything...and here it is:
 

1960's Surfer Slang

Amped:
Overdoing it; excited; stoked.

Anglin':
Turning left and/or right on a wave.

Ankle Busters:
Small waves.

Avalanche:
An outer reef surf spot on Oahu, Hawaii; the white water pouring down the face of a wave.

Awesome:
Great; fantastic (also see "Off the Richter," "Off the Wall," "Outrageous").

Back Down:
To decide not to take off on a wave.

Baggys/Baggies:
Oversized, loose fitting boxer-type swim trunks worn for show or comfort by surfers.

Bail out:
To get away from, jump off, or dive off the surfboard just before a potential wipe out.

Banzai:
A gung-ho type of yell given by surfers as they shoot the curl (also see "Cowabunga").

Banzai Pipeline:
A surf spot on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, between Waimea Bay and Sunset Beach; also called Pipeline (also see "Pipeline").

Barrel:
The breaking motion of a perfect wave; a hollow channel formed inside a good wave when it breaks and curls over.

Beach Bunny:
A girl who goes to the beach to watch surfing.

Beached:
Totally stuffed from eating.

Beaver tail:
A wet suit that features a snap-on crotch, the shape of which resembles a beaver's tail.

Big Gun:
A 9-foot or longer surfboard especially designed for large waves.

Big Surf:
Extremely large waves (also see "Bombora," "Heavies").

Bitchin:
(also "Bitchen") Very good; tops; excellent (also see "Boss," "Excellent," "Primo," "Rad").

Blown Out:
Winds blowing so hard as to chop up the surf and render it unridable.

Body Surfing:
Riding the waves without a surfboard.

Bogus:
False; lame; ridiculous; unbelievable.

Bombora:
An Australian word that refers to a big wave that breaks outside the normal surf line.

Bone Yard:
The area where the waves break.

Boogie Board:
A soft, flexible foam bodyboard invented in the 1970s (unlike a surfboard, a boogie board is ridden lying down).

Boss:
Outstanding; the best (also see "Bitchin," "Excellent," "Primo," "Rad").

Breaker:
Any wave that breaks on the way to the beach.

Breakwater:
A line of large boulders, cement, and/or steel extending out into the water and designed to reduce shoreline erosion.

Bro:
(also "Bra") Short for "brother" (also see "Dude").

Bummer:
Too bad; a total drag.

Bunny:
(see "Beach Bunny")

Carve:
To make a radical turn (also see "Hot-Dogging," "Shred").

Catch a Wave:
To ride a breaking wave.

Climbing:
To carve an S-shaped path on a wave, making a radical

Dropping:
bottom turn, climbing to the wave's crest, then radically cutting back

Cheater Five:
Five toes on the nose - keep your weight back on the board to maintain trim and speed, squat down and extend one foot forward

Coffin:
Riding a surfboard while lying stiffly on one's back with arms crossed.

Cowabunga:
(also "Kowabunga") A yell of excitement by a surfer (also see "Banzai").

Crest:
The top portion of a wave.

Cruncher:
A big, hard-breaking wave that folds over and is almost impossible to ride.

Curl:
The portion of the wave that is spilling over and breaking.

Cut Back:
To turn toward the breaking part of the wave.

Cut out:
To pull out of the wave, like kicking out.

Ding:
A hole, crack, dent, or scratch on the surface of a surfboard.

Doggers:
Multicolored swimming trunks.

Dork:
Someone behaving inappropriately (also see "Geek," "Kook").

Double Spinner:
Two consecutive 360-degree body spins on a surfboard.

Drop Knee:
One foot on the bodyboard, with the other hanging off the back. Difficult and fun.

Dude:
A male surfing enthusiast (women are referred to as "dudettes").

Dweeb:
A geek; someone who acts or looks like a simpleton.

Eat It:
To fall off of a surfboard (also see "Wipe Out").

El Rollo:
Lying prone on a surfboard and holding on to the sides while rolling 360-degrees during a ride.

Excellent:
Great; fantastic; exceptional (also see "Bitchin," "Boss," "Primo," "Rad").

Face:
The unbroken wall, surface, or nearly vertical front of a wave.

Fer Sure:
The surfer pronunciation of "for sure," meaning absolutely, correct, or definitely.

Geek:
Someone behaving inappropriately (also see "Kook," "Dork").

Glasshouse:
(see "Green Room")

Glassy:
A smooth water surface condition caused by absence of local winds.

Gnarlatious:
Anything that's really great or awesome.

Gnarly:
Treacherous; large and dangerous. Also bitchin

Goofy-Foot:
Riding a surfboard with the right foot forward (left foot forward is the more common stance).

Green Room:
The space inside of a tube.

Gremlin:
A young hodad; a beginning surfer (also see "Grommet").

Gremmy/Gremmie:
(See "Hodad")

Grommet:
A young hodad; a beginning surfer (also see "Gremlin").

Ground Swell:
Large waves generated by distant storms.

Gun:
A large surfboard designed for very big waves (see "Big Gun").

Hairy:
(see "Gnarly")

Hang Five/Ten:
To place five (or ten) toes over the nose of the surfboard (also see "Toes on the Nose").

Head Dip:
Touching the water with your head while surfing.

Headstand:
Standing on one's head while riding a wave.

Heavies:
Very big waves usually higher than 12 feet.

Hit the Surf:
To go surfing.

Honker:
A really big wave (also see "Heavies," "Bombora").

Hot-Dogging:
Fancy surfing done by a skilled surfer.
 
Hodad:
A non-surfer, usually someone who just hangs around the beach.

Honeys:
Female surfers or girlfriends of surfers.

Huarache Sandals:
Leather sandals worn by surfers with a sole made from tire treads.

Jetty:
(see "Breakwater")

Kahuna:
The Hawaiian god of sun, sand, and surf.

Kamikaze:
Riding the board at the nose with arms held straight out to each side.

Kick Out:
To push down on the tail of a surfboard to lift and turn the nose over the top of the wave.

Knots:
Callouses, or calcium deposits, just below the knee and on the tops of the foot caused by kneeling on the surfboard.

Kook:
(also "Kuk") A surfing beginner; someone who gets in the way or into trouble because of ignorance or inexperience (also see "Dork," "Geek").

Kowabunga:
(see "Cowabunga")

Kuk:
(see "Kook")

Leash:
A cord attaching the surfer's ankle to the surfboard.

Locked In:
Firmly set in the curling portion of the wave with water holding down the tail of the board.

Log:
Slang for pre-foam board made of wood.

Longboard:
A surfboard eight to ten feet long.

Max Out:
To be over the limit.

Meatball:
The yellow flag with the black circle indicating "No Surfing".

Mondo:
Something huge; of epic proportions.

Nailed:
To get badly wiped out.

Neptune Cocktail:
The large bellyful of seawater that one ingested during a particularly gnarly wipeout. Usually happened concurrently with the Sand Facial.

Nose:
The bow or front end of a surfboard.

Off the Richter:
Used to describe something that's very good, excellent, or "off the scale" (also see "Awesome," "Off the Wall," "Outrageous").

Off the Wall:
Incredible, excellent (also see "Awesome," "Off the Richter," "Outrageous").

Outrageous:
Incredible, excellent (also see "Awesome," "Off the Richter," "Off the Wall").

Outside Break:
The area farthest from shore where the waves are breaking.

Over the Falls:
To wipe out, or to get dragged over as the wave breaks.

Pearl:
Driving the nose of a surfboard under water to stop or slow down the ride. The term is borrowed from "pearl diving."

Pendleton:
A brightly colored plaid wool or flannel shirt worn by some surfers.

Pipeline:
A surf spot on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, between Waimea Bay and Sunset Beach; also called Banzai Pipeline. Originally named by surfing filmmaker Bruce Brown (also see "Banzai Pipeline").

Point Break:
A type of surf break where waves wrap around a promontory of land and curl as they break. A classic example of a point break is located at Rincon, California, just south of the Santa Barbara/Ventura County line.

Poser:
A surfer "wanna-be"; someone who only dresses the part.

Pounder:
A hard-breaking wave.

Prone:
Ride with your belly on the board. The most common and easiest way to ride a bodyboard.

Prone Out:
Pulling out of a wave by dropping to your belly causing the nose to go under water and the tail to turn around.

Primo:
The best (also see "Bitchin," "Boss," "Excellent," "Rad").

Pull Out:
To steer a surfboard over or through the back of a wave to end a ride.

Quasimoto:
Riding forward in a hunched-over position; riding a wave on the nose of a surfboard in a crouched position with one arm forward and one arm back, named by surfer Mickey Muöoz.

Rad/Radical:
Very good; tops; excellent (also see "Bitchin," "Boss," "Primo," "Excellent").

Rails:
The rounded edges of the surfboard.

Re-Entry:
Attacking the lip, usually going vertically and then turning nose down and re-entering the wave.

Ripping:
Executing drastic and radical moves on the wave. Having it your way with a wave.

Sand Facial:
The result of wiping out and being dragged along the bottom, face first.

Sano:
Abbreviated form of San Onofre; also means a very clean, nicely contoured wave condition.

Selling Buicks:
The process of reversing the ingestion of the dreaded Neptune Cocktail. After selling Buicks, it was generally assumed that ones day at the beach was pretty much over.

Set:
A group of waves.

Shape:
The configuration, or form, of a wave.

Shoot the Curl:
Riding a surfboard through, or in and out of, the hollow part of the wave formed as it crests over.

Shoot the Pier:
Riding a surfboard in between the pilings of a beachside pier.

Shoot the Tube:
(see "Shoot the curl")

Shore Break:
Waves break very close to the beach.

Shred:
To surf aggressively (also see "Hot-Dogging).

Sidewalk Surfing:
Skateboarding.

Skeg:
The fin at the tail end of a surfboard.

Soup:
The foamy part of the broken wave; the white water.

Spin Out:
The result of a surfboard's skeg and tail end losing contact with the wave face and the surfer wipes out.

Spinner:
A surfer making a complete 360-degree turn in an upright position while the surfboard keeps going straight (also called a "360").

Sponger:
Somebody that bodyboards.

Stick:
Surfboard.

Surfs Up:
Waves are breaking and surfable.

Stoked:
Happy; excited; contented.

Stringer:
The wood strip running down the center of the board; sometimes used for design.

Surf Bunny:
A surfer's girlfriend; a female surfer (also see "Beach Bunny").

Surfari:
A surfing trip; a hunt for good surf.

Swells:
Unbroken waves moving in groups of similar height and frequency.

Tail:
The stern or rear end of a surfboard.

Tail Slide:
Part of a larger maneuver in which the surfer purposely makes his/her fins lose their grip and the board slides.

Takeoff:
The start of a ride.

Taking Gas:
To wipe out.

Tandem:
Two people riding on a surfboard at the same time, usually a man and woman.
360:
(See "Spinner")

Toes on the Nose:
Riding a surfboard with the toes hanging over the front end (also see "Hang Five/Ten")

Tube:
The hollow portion of a wave formed when the crest spills over and makes a tunnel or hollow space in front of the face of the wave. (The Green Room)

Tubed:
Riding inside the "tube".

Val:
Person from the San Fernando Valley, as referred to by persons living in the L.A.-area beach cities.

Walking the Board:
Walking back and forth on the surfboard to maintain control.

Walking the Nose:
Moving forward on the board toward the front or nose.

Wax:
Substance applied to the top, or deck, of surfboards for traction.

Wedge, The:
A famous, but dangerous, body surfing spot located at the tip of the Balboa peninsula in Newport Beach, California.

Wet Suit:
A neoprene rubber suit used by surfers to keep warm.

Wipe Out:
To fall off or be knocked off your board (also see "Eat It").

Woodie:
A station wagon, made in the '40s and '50s, with wood paneling on the sides.

Technology Timelines

Since about 1995 I've felt constantly nudged in the butt by computer technology.  It's been a sense that something was going on that I should know about and perhaps find a way to use.  The nudging had actually been going on since about 1980 when Tandy brought out some of the first reasonably priced PC desktop computers.

Although we didn't really know it at the time, those early 1980s desktops couldn't do very much.  Nevertheless, there was a sense that if your were in business, you needed to have some computers around.  For years, until the mid to late 1990s, after getting the first ones, we used them as little more than expensive and complicated typewriter replacements.  Then came LANs, Internet, dot com...dot com...dot com, and a stock market crash.

Since the very beginning of my involvement with computers, there has been a small group of people moving in and out of my sphere who generally feigned knowing a lot more about computers and all things technological than I did.  I've never had the time nor the interest needed to delve deeply into the intricacies of these various technologies as they were developing.  However, I've always had a general understanding of them and made use of those things I thought might be helpful, but tended to let most other things mature before giving them a try.  That approach helped protect precious time and permitted the market to sort out the winners before I jumped in.

Telling a time-line type of story would be boring for both the writer and a reader, so I've been looking for a graphic way to present a longer view of what has transpired technologically over the past 30-years or so.  The time-lines below represent those things I've found most enlightening, yet maintaining some simplicity.  The overriding problem in understanding the issue is that the story has been developing in several interrelated technologies, each one depending on the other to progress its agenda:  Computer hardware, processors, memory, software, operating systems, communications infrastructure, and the slow development of human interface competencies in a constantly changing environment. 

Intelligence Test