| Palm-Mensa | Newsletter | |
|---|
Palm-Mensa
Palm Beach County Mensa Newsletter
October, 2005
Contents
Next Newsletter
Next Newsletter Information due: October 15th
Send newsletter items, e-mail address changes, updates and announcements to mensa@ritchason.net
Notes from the Underground
by Barry Karas
PARTICIPATION Last Spring I invited you to participate in writing this newsletter. It should be for and by the members of Palm Beach County Mensa. We have several new members [we are one of the top two Florida chapters in recruiting new members] and some of them may be interested in writing for this newsletter. Just because I am LocSec doesn’t mean your newsletter is in my private domain. The LocSec does have a column but not nearly the whole newsletter.
Please contact OUR Editor, Andy Ritchason (561-451-3934 or mensa@ritchason.net) for details.
PASSWORDS One of the most annoying things about personal computing is the requirement for these. I can accept a password requirement for a financial website or a website that has confidential information. However, I cannot accept a password requirement for a website that requires neither type of information…and there are plenty of those.
LUCK We are very lucky that we escaped the effects from Hurricane Katrina. The eye missed us and hit Broward County where there were at least 11 deaths. Then the hurricane traveled a across the state, was energized by the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and headed for New Orleans… Many people consider it good luck when they hit it big in Las Vegas, etc. That is luck. But when you think about it, not getting hit by a major natural or other disaster is real luck.
NATIONAL TESTING DAY (“NTD”) October 25, 2005 is NTD. That is the day that many prospects take THE admission test. If there are friends/relatives who you think may score in the upper two percent of the test, please notify Hank Colman, our Proctor Coordinator, Janice Johnson in Martin County, Bobbie Kadlecz in Ste. Lucie County, or me.
PET INSURANCE I do not have a pet so I don’t know how important this is, but by being a PBC Mensa member you can get a 5% discount on VPI Co, Inc. pet insurance.
Coming Attractions!!
The qualifying test for entry into Mensa will be held on October 29, 2005 at the Delray library, 29 SE 4th Ave, at 11 AM.
If interested, please call or write for all details.
Hank Colman
561-352-4154
RVC Column
By Maggie Truelove
I am sure that many of you have joined me in heartfelt sadness watching the horrific devastation of the Gulf Coast region of the United States, from New Orleans to Biloxi and Gulfport and Mobile. It was made personal for many of us because we had so recently enjoyed the hospitality of New Orleans for the 2005 Mensa Annual Gathering. Now we need to realize that several local Mensa groups in those areas have been severely uprooted, with many members scattered to other locations for extended periods. We may find some of them becoming part of our local groups, for whatever length of time, until they are able to return to homes and jobs which are currently not available to them. Join me in welcoming them with open arms if and when they appear.
Heather Miller, who was the chair of the aforementioned AG in New Orleans and is the new AMC Membership Officer, and her membership committee have been hard at work finding new member benefits for all of us. Within the last few days, there has been notice of no less than three. First, you can save 15% off anything you order from Edmund Scientific (www.scientificsonline.com), delighting both your inner scientific geek and your inner accountant, by including the member promotion code AE57724 when placing your order. Second, VPI pet insurance is now available to Mensans, with quite affordable health coverage for pets, as well as a 5% group discount on base policy premiums for Mensans (www.petinsurance.com/affiliates/americanmensa_npr). Third, Mentalfloss, a magazine that is proving quite appealing to many Mensans, is giving us a $4.00 discount on the subscription rate (www.mentalfloss.com/mensa). I have been a member of Mensa for more than 20 years, and I don't remember there ever before being so many member benefits available. Heather and her committee are doing an outstanding job!
Going back to my earlier question about what Region 10 groups do to welcome new members, I received a reply from Pat Hamilton, Manasota's worthy Membership Coordinator. She has developed several varied letters, one for new members, one for move-ins, one for reinstating members, and so on. She uses a merge file on her computer, so each of them receives a personalized letter. For new members, she includes a "kitty coupon" worth $3.00 for events that have a kitty. She also includes a complete membership list for each new member, suggesting that they might look through it for any members who might live nearby. Now that's an idea worth considering! Good job, Pat! She goes above and beyond as membership coordinator, and even contacts prospects, suggesting that they not only contact the proctor for testing information, but she invites them to one of the group's public events. Another great idea! Sadly, I hear that Pat is moving away and leaving Manasota's area. Hearing about the job she has done for the last several months, I think she will be leaving big shoes to fill.
I have just begun the process to set up a Region 10 website. Like most of our local group websites, it will be on the Mensa national website. Now I would like to hear from you about what you would like to see on that website. Of course we will list upcoming Regional Gatherings in the region. Of course we will include basic information about the different groups in Region 10, perhaps with a Florida map and links to the local websites. But what else should we include? Would you like a section telling of awards members from Region 10 have received? Should there be a section for poetry or artwork from members in Region 10? I want this to be OUR website, for all of our members. Tell me what you would like to see there. I really do want to hear from you!
Did you know that there are more than 750 Mensans, both from the USA and internationally, already registered for the 2006 World Gathering? Actually, I can't believe that there aren't already more than that, from right here in Region 10; how often does such a monumental event takes place close enough to home that you can drive there? This is an opportunity not to be missed - the chance to socialize with Mensans from all over, the chance to attend programs from around the world and the best of the best of programs from around the country from all the RGs we don't get to . . . I can't wait!
Speaking of the World Gathering, you undoubtedly know that the program chair, yours truly, has been lining up terrific speakers, many Mensan, some from outside. As of this writing, there are about 100 programs already on the list. But believe it or not, that doesn't come close to filling all the time slots for speakers! So if you have been thinking about it, or maybe thinking that it is too late, do get in touch with me (truluvs@cfl.rr.com or rvc10@cfl.rr.com). And if you want to volunteer for ANYTHING at the WG, contact Kay Klasen, volunteer chair (volunteers@WG06.us.mensa.org). MANY volunteers are needed, in MANY areas, such as hospitality, registration, speaker shepherds, security, and even just sign up as a volunteer if you don't know where you want to help. One new type of volunteer needed is "stuffers" - the folks who will "stuff" all those goodies into goodie bags at the start of the gathering. While we are at in, we need lots of GOODIES to put into those bags, especially Florida related. Not sure about what kind of goodies? Contact me or any member of the WG committee for ideas. I think I am running on too long to list them all!!
Maggie Truelove, RVC10
rvc10@cfl.rr.com
3333 Honeysuckle Lane
Belle Isle, FL 32812
407-855-9078
Member News
Palm Beach County Mensa ended September with 333 members. We gained 10 brand new, renewing or moving into our area. Welcome or welcome back to: Rutger Fraher, Ondine Fraher, Albert Sims, Ashley Sims, Corey Kubber, Michael Antori, Edith Niles, Molly Leban, Lindy Southwick, and Gregory Van Dam. Come on out to an event (the First Friday is an event favorite), organize one yourself, or write an article for this newsletter.
Mensa Scholarship
Palm Beach Mensa is participating again this year in theMensa Education and Research Foundation Scholarship Program.
The only eligibility requirements are that the applicant be enrolled, for the academic year following the award, in a degree program in an accredited American institute of post-secondary education. For the general awards, the applicant need not be a member of Mensa. Awards are made on the basis of an essay of fewer than 550 words which describes the applicant's career, vocational or academic goal. Awards range from $300 to $1,000.
To apply, go to
http://foundation.us.mensa.org/scholarships/zipfinder.php
or send an SASE to P.O. Box 77, Palm City, FL 34991 postmarked by January 5, 2006.
New Circulation Manager
Cheryl Gommelhas volunteered to handle circulation for the PB Mensa newsletter. Thanks!! Cheryl is taking over from this position from Joan Zieff. Joan handled circulation for several years and we really appreciate her efforts!
From our friends in the UK
On behalf of the Board of British Mensa I'd like to express our sympathy and support to any members of American Mensa who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. You are in our thoughts.
Best regards,
John (Paines)
Chairman - British Mensa
The First Friday Event by Barry Karas
10 September 2005. We met for dinner at Payathai yesterday, 9 September 2005. Note: this was the SECOND Friday, not the first when we usually have them. Attending were Lynn O'Dwyer [our previous LocSec who'll be moving to New Mexico in a few weeks], Andy Ritchason, Joan Zieff, Dianna Loy, Jan Carnelli, Bryan Reeves, Matt Laskowski, and yours' truly. As usual, the food was quite good, but the service was lacking. By this I mean it took a very long time for us to get our checks. Luckily, the atmosphere, and our discussions and banter with each other were very nice.
Get a little more from Google
Google (www.google.com) is used by just about everybody to search the Internet. Jumping to google and entering a few terms in the search box is quick and easy. If too may hits are found, you can enter more terms in the search box to narrow down the list. There are other means of narrowing the list that are pretty handy. Keep in mind that grammatical signs (,.?!) are usually ignored.
Negative search: Pre-pending a ‘-‘ will find sites without the negative word. E.g., searching for Ritchason yields over 9,000 sites. But searching for Ritchason –Auctioneers brings the list down to under 900 sites.
Phrase search: Surrounding a phrase with quotes will find site with that exact phrase Searching for “Andy Ritchason” (surrounded by quotes) will find only 13 sites.
Positive Search: Common words (i.e. where or how) are ignored unless they are pre-pended with ‘+’. A google search for "Andy Ritchason" how yields 39 sites. A search for "Andy Ritchason" +how will yield only 22 sites.
Positive-negative search: A search for "Andy Ritchason" +-how will yield 17 sites. If you can figure out what a positive-negative search does, please email me.
Bracket search: A search for a complete string containing the word inside the brackets, but not necessarily in any order. A search for [Ritchason Andy] will find sites with Andy Ritchason or Ritchason Andy
Wild-card search: Not quite the same type of wild-card search as a dir *.* , but still pretty handy. This is a search for a complete string with ‘something’ or nothing within the string. A search for [Ritchason * Andy] will find sites with Andy Ritchason, Ritchason, Andy, Mensa, Mensa (Andy ritchason .
OR search: Search for sites with strings of either Andy Ritchason or Michelle Ritchason with [ritchason andy OR michelle]
Site search: Search only a specific site with site:<url> (including the colon), so searching for site: ritchason.net maxwill yield any page on the site ritchason.net can contains the word max
Synonym search: Pre-pending a word with the tilde sign ‘~’ will search for synonyms to the word, so searching for ~Mensa will find sites that contain the word Mensa or the word IQ.
NumRange search: Two numbers separated by two periods will search for sites with numbers between the two numbers. Searching for battlestar order dvd 41..45 will find sites with Battlestart Galactica DVDs that contain numbers between 41 to 45 (not necessarily prices).
Call for Articles
We are looking for articles and requests for articles from our members. The Ms in our county have a diverse knowledge of all kinds of fascinating things. Don’t be shy, this is a great way to advertise your knowledge! Email the editor with your ideas: mensa@ritchason.net
Happenings at the Palm Beach County Library System
Happenings at the Palm Beach County Library System
Definitely check this out!!
http://www.pbclibrary.org/sep05Happenings.pdf
Andy Ritchason
mensa@ritchason.net
23053 Old Inlet Bridge Dr
Boca Raton. FL
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.
© 2000-2007 Palm Beach County Mensa. The Mensa logo is a registered trademark of Mensa International Limited and American Mensa Limited, all rights reserved. Mensa does not hold any opinion or have, or express, any political or religious views.