I have taken a look at the television schedules for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: what an absolute mess! They seem to have taken a look at how to put together a good set of programmes as people are feasting, getting together, looking to be entertained ... and then thrown that idea away and gone for something much more uselsss. I hope it's going to be much better where you are! DW

Final notes on Sarajevo until 2003 and maybe my final update on the BANANA SAGA, ever: I got down to breakfast for my final breakfast of this part of my time there to find NO BANANAS. The three or four bananas that have been waiting for me every morning since I learned how to overcome the banana failures had gone. I think the people who were checking out as I went down to the dining room had eaten them! How selfish. What they couldn't know was that I had TWO bananas in my room and just before I left for home I ate them! So a bit of a shock but no terminal disease! You'll think I'm mad with talk of this banana saga: maybe! I'm home for Christmas. Courtesy of Austrian Airlines and two of their finest sandwiches I got home at around 11pm last night, Friday. Can you believe it that the area where I live had been plunged into darkness by a power cut ... modern Britain, eh? The house is all decked up: tree with lights, tinsel, baubles and GIFTS underneath it, christmas cars on the matelpiece. All we have to do now is the shopping ... aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! The shopping! DW

I meddle with learning curves from time to time and you can imagine my delight when I found that the very famous Charles Babbage published a book in 1832 in which he gave an example of learning curves in action. I have incorporated that example in my own learning curves presentation, for your delight! It's a PowerPoint Presentation so may be a bit slow to start with. You can ask for the speaker's notes to go with it too, by clicking on the email link on the final slide. DW

Isn't it nice to receive something like this in the mail, unannounced? thanks for allowing me the privilege of reading your excellent work on your website That's all s/he said and it came from "g" Much appreciated DW

Just trawling the web sometimes can bring forth pearls. Here's part of a course description from Autumn 1995 from the University of Pennsylvania: The Age of Reason? English 3.303 The eighteenth century is often called an age of reason, propriety, and enlightenment; but it was also an age of squalor, filth, disease, crime, prostitution, violence, and insanity: and these less attractive (but perhaps more interesting) elements are favorites of eighteenth-century writers ... no punches pulled there! However, take a look at some songs from this period: bawdy they are! DW