11/12/00: Party Opponents, Two Dogs

Hi,

If you have been following what is going on in the Internet economy, you
probably know that many startups are shutting down and laying off people.
Most of these startups didn't have a sustainable business model and venture
funding for startups have slowed down significantly.

As a result, my partner Steve Lee and I have decided to stop our own
startup venture, Leisure Planner. I am still positive that the use of
personalization technology in making people's lives better will happen, but
it may take a while and more likely to happen through established tech
companies.

I will be looking for a job in Southern Cal, either in marketing or
business development. I think that I'm most passionate about the wireless
and entertainment industries, since these industries are related to Leisure
Planner's products and services.

The two responses to last week's thought provoking question are Walt
Disney, and Coach Mike K, basketball coach of Duke U. (who would you like
to work for?)

This week's thought provoking question is: "If you had to select any
single manmade object that best represents your personality, what would it
be?"

This week's humor was forwarded from Anna Man and Genevieve Owyang. The
puzzle is from "The Ideal Problem Solver". Finally, the inspirational
piece was forwarded from Susan Hasegawa.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
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Party Opponents

Two opposing county chairman were sharing a rare moment together. The
Democratic chairman said, "I never pass up a chance to promote the party.
For example, whenever I take a cab, I give the driver a sizable tip and
say, 'Vote Democratic.'"

His opponent said, "I have a better scheme, and it doesn't cost me a
nickel. I don't give any tip at all. And when I leave, I also say, 'Vote
Democratic.'"
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Question: Why did the chicken cross the road?

VICE PRESIDENT GORE
I fight for the chickens and I am fighting for the chickens right now. I
will not give up on the chickens crossing the road! I will fight for the
chickens and I will not disappoint them.

GOVERNOR GEORGE W. BUSH
I don't believe we need to get the chickens across the road. I say give the
road to the chickens and let them decide. The government needs to let go of
strangling the chickens so they can get across the road.

SENATOR LIEBERMAN
I believe that every chicken has the right to worship his or her God in his
or her own way. Crossing the road is a spiritual journey and no chicken
should be denied the right to cross the road in his or her own way.

SECRETARY CHENEY
Chickens are big-time because they have wings. They could fly if they
wanted to. Chickens don't want to cross the road. They don't need help
crossing the road. In fact, I'm not interested in crossing the road myself.

RALPH NADER
Chickens are misled into believing there is a road by the evil tire makers.
Chickens aren't ignorant, but our society pays tire makers to create the
need for these roads and then lures chickens into believing there is an
advantage to crossing them. Down with the roads, up with chickens.

PAT BUCHANAN
To steal a job from a decent, hardworking American.
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Puzzle: Inconsistencies?

Do you see any inconsistencies in the passage below? If so, are there ways
they might be resolved?

The man was worried. His car came to a halt, and he was all alone. It was
extremely dark and cold. The man took off his overcoat, rolled down the
window, and got out of the car as quickly as possible. Then he used all
his strength to move as fast as he could. He was relieved when he finally
saw the lights of the city, even though they were far away.
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Two Dogs

A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this
manner:

"Inside of me there are two dogs.
One of the dogs is mean and evil.
The other dog is good.
The mean dog fights the good dog all the time."
When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied,
"The one I feed the most."

-- unknown
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Last Week's Puzzle Solution: Murder Mystery
(No one sent me the correct solution, so here's the solution from the book.)

This problem is similar to the classic nine-dot problem in that people tend
to make assumptions that are not necessarily true and that make a solution
impossible. In this case most people make the assumption that the tire
tracks were produced by a car. The only reason the sheriff knew which man
he wanted was because the tire tracks were produced by a wheelchair and the
man sitting in the middle of the porch was in a wheelchair.

Here's the original puzzle:

A county sheriff arrived at the scene of an apparent homicide and found the
victim lying on the side of the road, dead. The only clue to the crime was
a pair of tire tracks left on the little-traveled dirt road. The sheriff
followed the tracks to a country farmhouse less than a mile away. Although
there were three men sitting on the front porch, the sheriff was certain
that the man he wanted for questioning was sitting in the middle even
though he knew that none of the men had a car and none had mud on their
boots. How did the sheriff know he should question the man sitting in the
middle?