The Slice: The search for artificial intelligence

“Maybe this is only a North Side thing,” began a note from a reader who lives in that part of Spokane.

Her question: Do people all over town display fake flowers and artificial plants outdoors?

I don’t know. But perhaps someone else does.

“Sizing up image and reality: “I was at the county fair admiring the tremendous rack on a longhorn steer,” wrote Chuck Huber of Cheney. “I was chatting with the owner and I remarked that if a steer has horns like this, a bull must really be outrageous. He replied that, actually, the steers tend to have bigger sets of honkers. I thought to myself that this is a very human trait for a beast who cannot afford a Hummer or a Harley.”

“Slice answers: College administrator Tim Osborn said his greatest store of useless knowledge involves “Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers in general.”

Retired professor Bill Mahaney nominated “the breadth and depth of my knowledge of medieval science and medicine.”

And onetime antique car dealer Grant Lundin mentioned his command of details pertaining to automobiles from the period shortly after World War I.

But another reader said there is no such thing as useless information. “I have discovered that my vast storehouse of tidbits about popular culture, literature, history, etc. are often just the thing that allows a connection between another person and me.”

“A friend in Chewelah wonders: How many small-town residents, when referring to local phone numbers, only mention the last four digits (the three-number prefix being the same for the whole town)?

“Self-serving ruling: You’re not old if at least two teachers who taught at your high school when you attended are still teaching there.

“Slice answer: Carlos Alden saw the question about whether people take it personally when they see someone driving a car like theirs do something inconsiderate.

He drives a Volkswagen Vanagon camper van. “These vehicles don’t go fast enough to do anything really inconsiderate,” he wrote.

Beyond that, he said, Vanagon owners tend to be good people and courteous drivers. “I have never seen a Vanagon do anything I would be ashamed of, and if I did I certainly wouldn’t betray fellow Vanagoners and tell you.”

“Sing, sing a song: About 20 years ago, when Verlynn Koester’s daughter was learning to drive, the girl offered some frank feedback regarding her mom’s vocal stylings: “Mother, if you are going to sing, you can’t sit in the front seat.”

“Today’s Slice question: How many Spokane Chronicle delivery boxes are still in use as S-R receptacles?