Nat Random

When I was a kid, I loved reading newspapers. The feel of them in your hand, the sounds they made as you turned the pages, and everything in them were an attraction to me. I don't think you get that tactile sense of something in your hand when you look at the computer monitor.

One of my favorite things to read in the paper was a feature that would appear weekly called Nat Random. No real coherent theme, just an odd assortment of jumbled information. A lot like my own thought processes:). Well, here is my attempt to recreate a piece of that feature......

In Plato's Republic, when Socrates expresses a belief in the essential goodness of man, a student named Glaucon counters with the tale of the sheperd Gyges, who discovered a ring that made him invisible. With no one able to monitor his behavior, Gyges proceeded to do woeful things -- seduced the queen, murdered the king, and so on. The story poses a moral question: can a person resist the temptation of evil if he knows his acts cannot be witnessed?

Sydney, Australia, developed a creative approach to driving late-night hooligans from a public park --the city took to blasting Barry Manilow songs. The tactic was hugely effective, but not without a downside: the people that live near the park were driven crazy by the Manilow music. The hooligans probably moved off to some nice quiet spot, while the tax-paying, law-abiding citizens became involuntary Fanilows.

Who doesn't need a good alibi every now and then? For people who can't come up with a legitimate one, AlibiNetwork.com is there to help: "Alibi Network is a cutting edge full service agency providing alibibs and excused absences as well as assistance with a variety of sensitive issues." The company's fee includes covering your trail with fake phone calls, phony travel documents, and so forth.

Like so many seemingly overwhelming problems, the horse-manure dilemma problem in NYC at the turn 19th to 20th century was resloved, quite painlessly, by technology. The electric streetcar and then the automobile led to the disappearance of the widespread use of horses in the city, and with them their dung.

Power of Music

It is a force! Good and evil, yes indeed. A tool for inspiration and tool for manipulation. But crime prevention? I offer you this tidbit......

Officials in Sydney, Australia, attempted to discourage hooligans from gathering at night in parking lots by playing loud Barry Manilow music. The hooligans stayed away, but the residents were miserable.

Source: Useless information calendar, April 4, 2008

In this country this would have resulted in a media circus, a court injunction by the ACLU and a full scale invasion by the Fanilows. Next internet search: immigration process to Australia.