‘The Book’ A Handy Research Tool

With all the talk about the many genealogy sources available on CD-ROM and the Internet, I thought you’d like to know of another exciting source: “The BOOK,” or the Built-in Orderly Organized Knowledge device.

It’s a revolutionary breakthrough in technology; it needs no wires, electric circuits or batteries and has nothing to be connected or switched on.

It’s so easy to use a child can do it; just lift its cover and you’re there! Compact and portable, “The BOOK” can be used anywhere - even sitting in an armchair by the fire - yet it’s powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM.

Here is how it works: “The BOOK” is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper, usually recyclable, each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binding, which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. By using both sides of each sheet, manufacturers cut costs in half.

Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of a finger takes you to the next sheet. “The BOOK” may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it.

The browse feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet and move forward or backward as you wish. Most come with an index that pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval.

An optional BOOKmark accessory allows you to open “The BOOK” to the exact place you left it in a previous session - even if it has been closed.

BOOKmarks fit universal design standards, so a single one can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers.

Portable, durable and affordable, “The BOOK” is the entertainment and educational wave of the future. Many new titles are expected due to the surge in popularity of its programming tool, the Portable Erasable-Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus - a k a PENCIL.

Look for “The BOOK,” coming soon to a favorite store near you.

(Thanks to a friend who found this on the Internet.)

Here’s a perhaps true story regarding exams at Cambridge University in England.

Seems during an examination one day, a bright young student popped up and asked the proctor to bring him cakes and ale. The proctor, taken aback, asked, “What?” And the student repeated the request.

“Sir, I really require and request you bring me cakes and ale.”

At this point, the student produced a copy of the 400-year-old “Laws of Cambridge,” written in Latin and still nominally in effect. He pointed to the section that read (roughly translated): “Gentlemen sitting examinations may require and request Cakes and Ale.” So, the proctor, judging Pepsi and hamburgers the modern equivalent to cakes and ale, brought them to the student, who happily munched away as he finished the examination.

Three weeks later, the student was fined five pounds for not wearing a sword to the examination.

Hmmm. Did your ancestor attend Cambridge?

Two more signs you may be an e-mail junkie: (1) You don’t know the sex of three close friends because they have neutral names and you never bothered to ask. (2) You move into a new house and decide to go with Netscape before landscape.

, DataTimes MEMO: Donna Potter Phillips welcomes letters from readers. Write to her at The Spokesman-Review, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. For a response, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Donna Potter Phillips The Spokesman-Review