Happy New Year

This is the time of year we typically see a lot of year end wrap-ups and beginning of year predictions. You won’t see them here. Wrap-up and prediction articles always seem sort of like cheating to me — as if we have a deadline, and have to write something, but it’s the holidays and we’re having so much fun and well, here’s a thought, let’s just write a wrap-up of all that happened this year, or better yet, let’s predict what we think will happen in the coming year! Aha, mission accomplished!

I also don’t like New Year’s Resolutions. If there’s something I need to do to improve myself or the world, there is no special and magic time to start the thing. If it needs to be done, and I know it should be done, I should do it when I think of it!

Anyway, in the interest of getting something posted, even though it is a holiday week and I’ve eaten too much, I’ll do my own version of cheap subject matter! Here are some interesting facts that I will not explain or comment on…they’re just things that made me stop and think, “Hmmmm.” Also, they are in no particular order.

Here we go:

• The average weight of an adult male elephant’s trunk is 290 lbs.

• The average weight that trunk can lift is 550 lbs.

• Studies show that people misjudge the tone of an online communication almost 50% of the time.

• In 2005, the average loss experienced by individuals responding to the infamous Nigerian email letter was $5000. That was up 67% over 2004.

• 71% of the net fraud investigated by the FBI was committed by people from the United States. In second place, with just under 8%, were Nigerians.

• If you get an email offer that sounds too good to be true (or even if it just sounds really good), you should go to www.snopes.com/ or http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/ to check it out before responding.

So that’s it for tonight and for this year. Have a Happy New Year. Let’s be careful out there!

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