This is a test of Larry's anti-spam software, which has been rejecting
my e-mail for about a week.  My ISP is a major vendor in Silicon Valley
and one of the alegedly reputable ones, but seems to be in the data base
of abusers in Larry's software.  As instructed in the "bounce-back"
message, I forwarded the information to my ISP. If you are reading this,
they may have managed to get their name off the "bad-ISP" list.

Spam is a serious problem, I get about 50/day by virtue of running a
home business with a web site.  It's an inconvenience at home and a real
burden on the road using a hotel dial-up connection. The spammers have
software that mines web sites for e-mail addresses and compiles lists. 
You can buy a CD ROM with several million addresses for about $30, and
since e-mail is free, send out millions of junk for free.  I'm ready for
that tax on e-mail just to eliminate this.

To be consistent with this thread, here is a copy of my response sent by
regular e-mail to the mom with the science fair problem.  While all the
comments were valid and helpful, this was my approach to creating a
display in two days for a 10-year old. Admittedly, we're not talking
great science here, and certainly not a winning entry, but probably some
good parent-child quality time.

> Desperate Mom

> Construct a simple seismograph from hardware store materials?

> One method is to use a plumb bob, available from your local hardware
> store.  Construct a pendulum with the plumb bob. Make the string long
> enough so that the period is about one second.  Construct an aparatus to
> hold the string to make it portable.

> After you establish the period, put a tray at the bottom and fill it
> with fine sand (level).  The sand will provide damping for the pendulum
> and record the vibrations when your earthquake comes.

> You can see a photo of a similar device at
> http://www.earthquakerose.com/ along with a recording from the recent
> Seattle earthquake.  A downloaded copy of that photo would make a nice
> addition to the display at the science fair.

-- 
Doug Crice			 http://www.georadar.com
19623 Via Escuela Drive		      phone 408-867-3792
Saratoga, California  95070  USA	fax 408-867-4900
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