On Thu, 5 Dec 1996 22:10:04 -0800, Jamie Lawrence wrote:

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I'm not sure if Gilbert chemistry sets went off the market for liablity reasons, or for "lack of interest." The "4-banger" I had in 1961, supplemented with varius Bunsen burners, arc furnaces, Erlenmayer flasks, and whatnot, was amazing for its time. (And not terribly expensive, in case some of the "social democrats" on this list are thinking I lived a

I can provide a datapoint here. I started getting into chemistry when I was about 8, which was in 1981. I can't remember the brand name, but my first (and last, actually) 'value-added' kit was designed to keep kids from doing anything that could be dangerous, a fact tactfully explained on the packaging.

Or how about those TrashShack kits everyone buys a science-oriented kid (until you warn them not to)? Geez. It's about as fun as one of those slide-show demo programs.

To solve that problem, my mother gave me an Edmund Scientific catalog and a (severely limited, given my family background) budget for whatever I wanted. I ordered direct for supplies from then on.

Gee, you too? I probably could have broke the $30k mark, though, if given the chance. Still could, easily, but it'd be Computer Shopper now.

computers as a daily part of their work. You can run, but you can't hide.

Hehe ... Person one: "And they [computer illiterates] will call us" Person two: "Secretaries" Bonus points if you get the reference.

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get the point. Being 44 years old, and almost 45, I claim no knowledge about what the "latest generation" is all about. Maybe it's the "Beavis and Butthead" generation...I don't know.) Yes, many of us are devoted to the study of Brute Force Insect Dissection.

Many others are devoted to "the study of Chaotic systems involving realtime exothermic reactions with common household substances". (Pyromania might not be a bad sub title) Others still are most interested in Brute Force Wallet Extraction. Or, of course, the ever popular: Members of the Opposite Sex and How to Attract Them. # Chris Adams <adamsc@io-online.com> | http://www.io-online.com/adamsc/adamsc.htp # <cadams@acucobol.com> | send mail with subject "send PGPKEY" "That's our advantage at Microsoft; we set the standards and we can change them." --- Karen Hargrove, Microsoft (quoted in the Feb 1993 Unix Review editorial)