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Here's a new version of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" story.
Welcome to BenWoods.com
Have you ever seen an advertisement and wondered how truthful it was? For example, does the leading toothpaste really fight cavities, gum disease and world poverty? Is your favorite politician's opponent actually planning to raise taxes while lowering tooth decay?
I will be making three book appearances in September, marking my first events since the early summer. Yeah, work and other things have gotten in the way! First, on Sept. 13, I will be selling books and raising money for the Waverly branch of Baltimore's Pratt Library. I'll also be there doing a little volunteer work, as I tutor at the Waverly library on a weekly basis.
In case you missed it, the National Federation of the Blind recently won a reasonably large lawsuit against Target, claiming that Target.com did not meet minimal standards for people using screen access technology. While I normally side with the little guy over big corporations, there are a number of ridiculous things involved with this ruling, so I'll try to point out each one individually.
Did Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax even enjoy playing baseball? As one of baseball's all-time best pitchers (and arguably the best left-handed pitcher), Koufax grew up wanting to play basketball. Instead, he turned in eight so-so years and four ridiculously remarkable ones in his second-favorite sport.
From the Archive
Like any sane human, I like apples. Yes, I like both the fruit and the computer, but let's stick with the edible one for now.
The problem, however, is there are many varieties of apples, so when I go to the grocery, it can be somewhat difficult to pick me favorite. Then again, I do like just about all varities, but I'm sure there are some I've never had. So how would I find out about the types of apples I'm missing?
Have you ever seen an advertisement and wondered how truthful it was? For example, does the leading toothpaste really fight cavities, gum disease and world poverty? Is your favorite politician's opponent actually planning to raise taxes while lowering tooth decay?
Are you one of those people who have boxes of old business cards sitting around, hoping that someday they might be worth something on eBay? Of course not, that would be insane. Unfortunately, I'm not here to tell you today that they are worth something, because they aren't.
That is, unless you are Steve Patterson of Knoxville, Tenn., a certified cardeologist. He has almost reached the 100,000 plateau of business cards, and he's heading toward 1 million.
And I thought Hypercolor shirts were high-tech.
Philips Research recently touted its new and improved production-ready Lumalive textile garments at the Berlin IFA consumer electronic trade fair. This essentially means that in the near future, you will start seeing people walking around with logos lit up, flashing and/or moving right across an ordinary t-shirt, jacket or sofa.
Just so you follow, let's start from the beginning.
There are a plenty of new careers and opportunities these days, yet you rarely see anyone entering the piracy field. Some people have invented their own versions of a shipwrecked pirate - stealing stereos, hacking into computer files, playing baseball in Pittsburgh - but few take their chances on the high seas.
On the other hand, the Assocated Press said pirates killed more people in 1998 than the year before. The International Maritime Bureau reported Malaysian pirates, who killed 67 crewmen last year, are "getting increasingly violent."
Pirates? Violent?