Word: snails
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Some sites, of course, were better prepared than others. By bringing on enough servers to handle peak-load traffic, the best avoided "site busy" messages and snail-like downloads. They also kept puzzled shoppers from fleeing by providing an 800 number or offering real-time Instant Messaging chats with customer reps. And they avoided apoplectic rages by "integrating" their inventory systems so that what appears to be in stock on the website corresponds with what's actually on the shelves...
...beat anything, anything you'll ever see in Barnum and Bailey--in "Mystere," there's an entire sequence of bungee jumping acrobats costumed as birds), you're treated to a two or three minute interlude of dazzling fantasy: a parade of stilted clowns dressed as elephants, a giant inflated snail floating across the stage, a five-foot baby bouncing a giant ball around the theater, a mirror reflecting the audience onto the ceiling. Maybe one day it will be trendy to like Cirque du Soleil--and shows will pop up all over the country just like Riverdance. Oooh. The thought...
...Reserve. He is currently undergoing basic training - boot camp - and then will spend several months in an Army journalism school. Given the difficulty the armed forces are experiencing in recruiting qualified young people these days, we think his experiences and impressions are worth sharing. His dispatches, some handwritten and snail-mailed (Internet cafes are evidently not part of the standard equipment at basic training), are arriving irregularly. Here is the first, and others will be posted as they arrive. I was expecting something, well, more paternalistic. An Army that would take me off the bus with nothing but the clothes...
...free hotmail account, it allowed AOL buddy-list users to sign in too--if they entered their password. That set off alarm bells at AOL, which promptly blocked Microsoft's access to its server. Microsoft came up with a fix, which AOL also jammed. A terse exchange of snail mail followed. Late last week AOL customers were greeted at login by an ominous new start-up screen warning of the dangers of giving passwords to strangers...
...VITED If you think it's a drag to send out invitations by snail mail, consider a new website called evite.com All you need to do is fill out one of the site's prepared invitations and, with a click, send it off. It keeps track of acceptances, lets invitees make comments, even offers a place to pick, say, chicken or beef for dinner. There's a benefit for recipients too. They can peek at the R.S.V.P. list--and decide after casing the names on the acceptances whether it's a bash they would really like to attend...