Palm-Mensa

Palm Beach County Mensa Newsletter
February, 2005

Notes from the Underground -- Barry Karas
Member News
Wanted
The Tenth Story (RVC column for Region 10) -- Elissa Rudolph

Notes from the Underground
by Barry Karas

TOURISTS IN ROME. Tourists can go to a coffee bar right on the rooftop at the Vatican. There great views of St. Peter's Square, the Tiber River, and beyond. The bar does not serve booze but there already may be spirits there...

I don't think it serves roast songbird, the signature dish of Calabria.

RENEWAL. The membership year runs from April 1 through March 31, so renewal time is upon us. The dues are $52 for one year, $140 for three years, and $230 for five years. If it hasn't already been sent, a bill should arrive shortly.

TRIVIAL MATTERS. Some restaurants carry NTN, the National Trivia Network. Difficulty runs the gamut from difficult/obscure to easy. Topics include most anything - and I mean ANYTHING. Playing Trivia is a lot of fun. Hours are extremely flexible, usually limited by the restaurants. We normally play on Tuesday evenings from 8:30 to 11:00... that's when the hard corps play. HOWEVER, other days and times are available (e.g. Sunday afternoon) to play. Please get in touch with me (561-964-4360 or bkaras@adelphia.net by e-mail) if you are interested.

Attachments

A "message" with a freebie attachment was sent to me from Microsoft.com today. I was immediately suspicious 'cause I know that Microsoft doesn't send attachments. Also, why would Microsoft send an attachment to me when I didn't order anything?

Then I remembered...NEVER open a suspicious e-mail message. It is okay to read it (In other words, if your computer automatically downloads e-mail -- and it's okay if you download it yourself) BUT DO NOT OPEN ("execute") THE ATTACHMENT.

Some personal computer users never open attachments, no matter who they're from. Doing this is a bit too much. Install a good anti-virus program, and KEEP IT UPDATED at least once per week -- if not more often, especially if you're paranoid like me. (If a friend's computer has been infected, he/she could have unwittingly sent a bad thingy to you. But living itself is a risk. If you do all that you can to prevent bad thingies from invading your computer, that's enough.)

CULTURE QUEST 2005

Culture Quest will be on Sunday, April 10, 2005 at 4:00 PM. We can have an unlimited number of teams consisting of five members each. (Young peoples' teams, with age limits, are available too.) We would be competing with teams from other chapters, nationwide. The contest consists of short questions, the answers of which can be discussed by team members. Even if you're not very competitive, participating is fun. Culture Quest is only one - two hours long, so it won't take up your whole day.

If you are interested in participating in Culture Quest on April 10, 2005, please contact me (bkaras@adelphia.net or 561-964-4360) for no obligation further information.

Member News

Palm Beach County Mensa ended December with 340 members. We gained 3, brand new, renewing or moving into our area and lost one member who moved to Tallahassee. Welcome or welcome back to: Edward Modestino, Delray Beach; Karin Lindgren, Lantana; and Dr. Robert Furlong, Delray Beach. Come on out to an event or organize one yourself. We'd like to meet you!

Wanted!

A Membership Director to welcome new members and keep track of our numbers. Call Elissa if interested (561-496-0124).

The Tenth Story - February 2005
By Elissa Rudolph

Exercise your brain to get ready for CultureQuest®! Here's a tough question to ponder:

Name a feat that became one.

a. A woman in Brazil tapdanced for exactly 23.58 days in 2001. She was allowed to eat and use the bathroom, of course, but those feet had to keep going as she did both.

b. Now here's a weird one. A 38-year old magician in Quebec learned how to swallow his entire hand [up to his watch]. In 1987 he managed to keep it engorged for 28 hours and 17 minutes. He claims he could have gone longer but got hungry.

c. A young man in Milwaukee (just 17 years old) made 604 successful foul shots in a row in 1999. The oddest thing about it is that this fellow named Kevin Humphries was not even on his high school basketball team!

d. In 2004 a man in Germany took only 11.8 seconds to calculate the 13th root of a randomly given 100-digit number in his head. The big question now is: Can he balance his checkbook?

While you're pondering the answer (or maybe googling to find it), mark your calendar for Sunday, April 10, CultureQuest day. CQ rules and application are available under Event Registration in the Member Resources area of the Mensa website: https://secure.us.mensa.org/members/eventreg.php. Or email CQ Chair Mick Richmond at CultureQuest@us.mensa.org. The answer to the silly question will be in this column next month; it's true that one feat is documented fact and the others are total fiction. If you can't wait, contact me.

Have you renewed your membership? At the end of 2004, Mensa went over the 50,000 mark, doing better than 2003's 49,337. Renew via the website to save time, www.us.mensa.org. To make things even easier, Mensa now accepts American Express and Discover in addition to Visa and MasterCard. You can also do a debit from your checking account. So there's no excuse. Do it today!

Have a sweet and loving Valentine's Day!

Coming Events:

Colloquium 2005, Earth in Mind: Fueling the Future: March 4-6, 2005, Tucson, AZ, www.colloquium.us.mensa.org

MindGames, April 15-17, hosted by our very own Tampa Bay Mensa, Double Tree Hotel-Tampa Westshore Airport. Registration-$65 to 4/1. Send registrations to MindGames 2005, 1229 Corporate Drive W, Arlington, TX 76006-6103.

FloRanGe '05-Suite Mayhem, Broward Mensa's RG over Memorial Day weekend, May 27-30, Tampa Bay Mensa's traditional spot on the calendar. Since that group is doing MindGames, Broward Mensa is hosting the 3-day RG in Fort Lauderdale. Can't miss a chance to party! Contact Robin Rhea, 954.575.1639, robinrhea@bellsouth.net for information.

Elissa Rudolph
RVC10@us.mensa.org
5054 Lakefront Blvd., Apt. D
Delray Beach, FL 33484
561-496-0124

Note: The opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and DO NOT reflect opinions of Palm Beach County Mensa, its officers, or of American Mensa, Ltd., which holds NO opinions.

Palm-Mensa

Palm Beach County Mensa Newsletter February, 2005

Contents

Notes from the Underground by Barry Karas