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How To Avoid Crazy Webmasters

I’ve had so many clients tell me about the crazy things that their web designers have done that I ought to tell you how to avoid falling into the same traps. Some of these are rather amusing except for the thousands of people who have had to deal with the consequences.

I’m retiring from the business, so I’m no longer available, but I’ll be glad to put you in touch with good people. These people fit all the requirements below and are somewhat vetted. They have passed the tests I could manage to give them, and so far, no one has complained about their services. I actually threw two people out of the group when clients got back to me with complaints. These website developers and marketers give me a commission which I appreciate, so there is no cost to you for contacting me. Plus, I think you’ll enjoy my friendly conversational style.

Jeff Napier
(805) 843-5353 (voice or text)
jeff@jeffnapier.com

1. Don’t pay someone a big deposit up front. I can’t tell you how many times these developers would start a little bit of work, then disappear, never again answering their email or phones. My clients lost every cent.

2. Avoid long-term contracts and keep an eye on results. I had a client who told me she had been paying $2,000 per month for over two years for ‘SEO maintenance.’ I asked her how well that was working. She said that as far as she knew, not a single client had come from that website.

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3. Make sure you have all your usernames and passwords. I’ve had a few clients who ended up with websites full of typographical errors, incorrect images, and downright misinformation. They didn’t have their own passwords, so they couldn’t even take down these embarrassing websites representing their professional identities.

4. You’ll want to work with someone who speaks good English, preferably someone in the USA. Otherwise, you’ll spend a lot of time and perhaps money in editing all the bad grammar and misunderstandings.

5. You want a friendly open-minded developer. It’s really hard to work with someone who is so intimidating that you can’t communicate what you want. After all, you don’t want what the developer wants to create. You want what you want!

6. Ideally, your web developer should have artistic talent. You want a good-looking website.

7. Your developer should also have technical expertise. For instance there’s not much worse than a website that doesn’t work right, or doesn’t look good on mobile phones, for instance. Thirty-two percent of web browsing is done on phones these days. I’ve had more than one client who ended up with an incomplete website because the developer literally didn’t know how to get everything working right.

8. The developer should also be good at SEO and a good marketer, or have good marketers on their team. Once your website is done, you don’t want it to just sit there. You want targeted visitors, people who want what you’re offering, and lots of them.

– Cheers! – Jeff Napier
(805) 843-5353 (voice or text)
jeff@jeffnapier.com

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People Being Cheated in Website Development, SEO and Promotion

I’ve had so many clients tell me about being absolutely cheated with website development, SEO or marketing that I thought I ought to let you know some of the things to watch out for. Some of these are rather amusing except for the thousands of people who have had to deal with the consequences.

disappointed after website designer took deposit and would not return phone calls or emails

Skip this pitch, show me how people are being cheated
I’m retiring from the business, so I’m no longer available, but I’ll be glad to put you in touch with good people. These people fit all the requirements below and are somewhat vetted. They have passed the tests I could manage to give them, and so far, no one has complained about their services. I actually threw two people out of the group when clients got back to me with complaints. These website developers and marketers give me a commission which I appreciate, so there is no cost to you for contacting me. Plus, I think you’ll enjoy my friendly conversational style.

Contact Jeff Napier for website development, SEO or marketing

Jeff Napier

This is a showcase site for Jeff Napier of US-Web-Design. Surprisingly low-cost solutions for all your website and marketing needs. More...

(805) 843-5353 (voice or text)
jeff@jeffnapier.com

10 Ways People Are Being Cheated

1. Don’t pay someone a big deposit up front. I can’t tell you how many times these developers or marketers would start a little bit of work, then disappear, never again answering their email or phones. My clients lost every cent.

Clients lost big money on website development and marketing

2. Avoid long-term contracts and keep an eye on results. I had a client who told me she had been paying $2,000 per month for over two years for ‘SEO maintenance.’ I asked her how well that was working. She said that as far as she knew, not a single client had come from that.

3. Make sure you have all your usernames and passwords. I’ve had a few clients who ended up with websites full of typographical errors, incorrect images, and downright misinformation. They didn’t have their own passwords, so they couldn’t even take down these embarrassing websites representing their professional identities.

Embarrassed because website developer screwed up live website and won't give password

4. You’ll want to work with someone who speaks good English, preferably someone in the USA. Otherwise, you’ll spend a lot of time and perhaps money in editing all the bad grammar and misunderstandings.

5. You want a friendly open-minded developer. It’s really hard to work with someone who is so crazy or intimidating that you can’t communicate what you want. After all, you don’t want what the developer wants to create. You want what you want!

6. Ideally, your web developer should have artistic talent. You want a good-looking website.

You want a website developer with artistic talent

7. Your developer should also have technical expertise. For instance, there’s not much worse than a website that doesn’t work right, or doesn’t look good on mobile phones. Thirty-two percent of web browsing is done on phones these days. I’ve had more than one client who ended up with an incomplete website because the developer literally didn’t know how to get everything working right.

8. The developer should also be a good marketer, or have good marketers on their team. Once your website is done, you don’t want it to just sit there. You want targeted visitors, people who want what you’re offering, and lots of them.

9. Consider all marketing ‘research and development.’ It is unrealistic to believe you could pay a marketer a few hundred dollars and suddenly you become wealthy. Whereas that could happen, it is rare. Marketing is not cheap and doesn’t work for everyone every time. You will have to spend some money. Your marketer should start with small experiments with good analytics. Once something starts to work, then you will become wealthy!

10. Communicate as much as you can with your website developer or marketer. You know your product or service better than anyone. Without clear communication, you’ll end up with something that’s off-target or misrepresented.

So, avoid these mistakes, and you should end up happy! I can help you find the right person. My service is free. You’ll enjoy my friendly style.

– Cheers! – Jeff Napier
(805) 843-5353 (voice or text)
jeff@jeffnapier.com

Contact Jeff Napier for website development, SEO or marketing

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AI Gets It Hilariously Wrong

See also 10 Surprising Facts About AI.

See also Artificial Intelligence Quiz.

Enjoy this little review of the current state of AI. If you want to skip to the hilarious part, click here.

You may think of AI (Artificial Intelligence) as something that’s coming in the near future. In fact, it has been with us for more than 20 years.

For instance, somewhere around 2004, I was interested in maybe buying a Dremel tool, a fun device for little carving, polishing and repair projects.



Click Here to get a Dremel tool on Amazon

For the next two weeks on many of the websites I visited, I was shown Dremel tools. (Did I end up buying one? I did.)

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The basic idea with AI is that it can learn. It will try to adapt to what is wanted by end users. In recent years it has become so sophisticated that the very people who invented it don’t know how it works. Or, more specifically, they know the foundational architecture, but they are often unable to decipher how it presents what it does.

AI often gets it wrong. This is called ‘hallucinating.’ It may just be little things, like I was recently told by AI that three of the United States each have the longest coastline, one of which is Utah.

What a lot of people who manage and write AI applications don’t yet realize is it needs feedback to learn as quickly as possible. It can be as simple as a toggle. Slide it to yes when AI gives you a good response. Slide it to no if you know the information is incorrect, or doesn’t answer your question.

Going a step further, the designers could provide text areas in which you can comment on what AI presents. AI itself can parse what commentary you write, and improve itself accordingly.

You might worry that people would purposely mislead AI with feedback systems. I believe that’s a minor issue. By majority rule and some other algorithms, AI could weed out the trash. This isn’t much different than Wikipedia. Anyone can write information, but if it’s wrong, the majority of Wikipedia users will make corrections.

A very common worry with AI is that it will take all our jobs away. That’s especially true when you combine AI with robotics, which is not only inevitable, but already happening.

If you’re a writer, inventor, composer, artist, you might think you should run for the hills. How could you possible earn a living? What if you’re a manager, safety analyst, car mechanic, food service worker, surgeon, or even a movie actor? Won’t AI eventually replace your job as well?

You bet! But here’s why you don’t have to worry: AI plus robotics are exactly the right tools to bring us prosperity. Your job won’t be necessary to grow food, build cars, and make clothes. All that production will be handled for us. Prosperity in abundance! There’ll be no need for anyone to hold down a job. Instead, people will be permanently retired from the day they are born. They’ll devote their lives to your family, travel, sports, art, music, whatever interests them.

I suppose the far future will be quite different than what we know now. Children have to learn to read, write, add up numbers, and know how the world works. That won’t be necessary 50 years from now or maybe even sooner. AI can already talk. It can tell us anything we want to know. Soon, it will be able to compose and show us videos on every special interest. What would be the point of reading and all that learning? So, in time, we may become stupider that we once were, however we may utilize our intelligence in other ways. Maybe we’ll become more empathetic and generally more tuned into what might be loosely called ‘love.’

That brings us briefly to the opposite of love. That would be war. War is a crude tool to take prosperity from others. Well, if we can have everything we need, and it’s all free, there’d be no point in wars. Some wars are about ideology, but I believe AI will solve differences in doctrine as well.

Some of the more cynical among us understand that war is about profit. If you’re the CEO of a company that can provide food to the troops, armament, ammunition and so on, of course you will advocate war. With AI and robotics bringing us all amazing prosperity, that motivation for war also disappears.


Back to the present. I did mention that AI often gets it wrong.

I asked the well-known AI text composer, ChatGPT, to create a pickleball romance story, which you can see at Pickleball Romance and ChatGPT.

Then, I thought it would be nice to use an AI art generator, Dall-E2, to create some accompanying art work. First I asked, “Draw a picture of pickleball romance.” This is what I got:

AI tries to illustrate pickleball romance

As you can see, the art program isn’t great at spelling.

I thought the illustrations were too cartooney, so then I asked, “Draw a photorealistic picture of pickleball romance.” As you can see, I got more weirdness:

AI tries to illustrate pickleball romance

Want to see more? Check out AI Attempts Pickleball Again.

After that, naturally I had to ask AI itself to show me some examples of AI getting things wrong. Here’s what I got, filtered to eliminate the nonsensical responses:

Give me hilarious examples of AI hallucinations

ChatGPT:

Certainly! Here’s a list of humorous examples of AI hallucinations:

Chef AI on Overdrive: A recipe-generating AI suggests dishes like “banana peel stew” or “chocolate-covered sardines.”

Weather App Gone Rogue: A weather prediction AI starts forecasting absurd conditions like raining marshmallows or sunny spells of molten lava.

AI Historian: An AI analyzing historical events concludes that ancient battles were actually elaborate dance-offs.

Translation Mishaps: An AI translating between languages starts converting idioms literally, leading to phrases like “the cat is out of the bag” becoming “the feline has escaped the handbag.”

AI Traffic Controller: A traffic management AI directs cars to “perform a barrel roll on the highway” for optimal traffic flow.

AI Comedian Gone Awry: A stand-up comedy AI bot delivers jokes with all the timing of a malfunctioning cuckoo clock, resulting in a stream of nonsensical punchlines.

AI Art Critic: An AI tasked with analyzing art becomes obsessed with abstract squiggles, praising them as avant-garde masterpieces while dismissing Rembrandt as “so last century.”

AI Personal Shopper: A shopping AI recommends bizarre outfits like a neon tutu paired with scuba flippers.

AI Life Coach: A motivational AI starts encouraging users to “embrace their inner sloth.”

AI Musician: An AI creating music begins composing symphonies that blend opera with heavy metal and dubstep, resulting in compositions that defy all musical conventions.

AI Fitness Guru: A fitness AI suggests workouts involving synchronized swimming in a bathtub.

AI Psychic: A fortune-telling AI predicts world peace within the next 24 hours.

AI Relationship Counselor: An AI giving relationship advice recommends couples bond over synchronized knitting.

AI Gardener: A gardening AI suggests planting crops in the shape of QR codes.

AI Linguist: A language-learning AI teaches users to speak in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs or Shakespearean English, believing it’s enhancing cultural appreciation.

AI Detective: A crime-solving AI starts accusing household appliances of plotting against their owners.

AI Financial Advisor: A financial AI recommends bartering with sea shells and moon rocks.

AI Astronomer: An astronomy AI discovers new constellations shaped like famous celebrities.

AI Inventor: An AI invents gadgets like self-dancing shoes or a universal translator for communicating with houseplants.

AI Archaeologist: An AI studying ancient artifacts determines that Stonehenge was a giant sundial for dinosaurs.

AI Fashion Designer: A fashion AI suggests accessorizing with live miniature giraffes.

AI Environmentalist: An environmental AI suggests combating climate change with clouds made of cotton candy.

AI Pilot: A flight navigation AI recommends detouring through wormholes for faster travel or landing on the moon for a scenic layover.

AI Sports Commentator: A sports AI announces events like extreme knitting championships or underwater ice skating competitions, convinced they’re the next big sports craze.

These examples illustrate humorous scenarios where AI misinterprets its tasks, resulting in unexpected and often hilarious outcomes.

Note that the sentence above was also written by AI.

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Secret Beach House Inside Box Truck


This guy, Scott, built what many might consider the ultimate recreational vehicle (RV), all in an 18-foot box truck. His whole home is in just a bit less than 144 square feet. He estimates the cost, including buying his used Isusu truck, at $85,000. That’s high, but as you can see, he spared no expense.

By building his own motorhome, he avoided many of the problems associated with typical RVs.

Many motorhomes are problematic because the manufacturers attempt to keep costs down by building on truck or van chassis that aren’t really up to the job. Then, the household appliances, plumbing and electrical systems are not really equipped to be shaken all the time as the vehicle drives down the road. By the time they are 60,000 to 65,000 miles (100,000 km) old, they are so broken down they are not cost-effective to keep running.

For instance, running an automotive V8 engine full out while going up hills warps the exhaust manifolds, tends toward overheating, blows gaskets, and may even burn the valves.

The ordinary household plumbing fittings will vibrate apart, resulting in gallons of water being pumped out across the carpeting, warping the cabinetry near the floor, and setting off irreparable mold growth.

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Whereas manufactured homes (formerly called ‘mobile homes’) have to be made with proper and safe materials, it is legal to build motorhomes and trailers with just about any kind of cheap materials. There have been numerous reports of new RV owners having ongoing flu-like symptoms from out-gassing of formaldehyde from the paneling, cabinetry and upholstery. We don’t even want to consider the long-term effects.

Many RVs come with labels that say ‘not for full-time use.’

You might think you’re covered with a nice warranty when you buy a new RV. Unfortunately, you may discover that the dealer has had you sign paperwork stating that the dealer is not responsible for warranty work. That’s left to the manufacturer. But who is the manufacturer? If the refrigerator breaks, it’s the company that made it. If the paneling starts coming apart, it’s the coach builder. If the roof leaks, is that the coach builder or the chassis maker? You may find you have to drive a thousand miles to have the warranty work done by the manufacturer.

Worse, especially if you buy a half-million dollar diesel pusher (a large motorhome with a diesel engine in the rear), that repairs are not only expensive, but you may not easily find a shop willing to do the work. For instance, if the shifter quits working, it might be the push-button panel in the dashboard, but it might be the transmission, or it might be in the ten meters of wiring somewhere under the floor between the front and back. It is not uncommon for repairs, even on a new unit, to take literally months to have completed.

Maybe you should buy a used RV and using some of the money you saved to fix it up. That’s a good idea in general until you find out how much some of the repairs may cost. For instance, replacing a transmission in an RV can be twice as costly as in a car because it is so much more difficult to reach. Then, you might also discover that many RV parks will turn down anyone with a rig older than 15 years.

There have been numerous cases of motorhomes and trailers falling apart on the road, leaving the owner stranded without even a tow truck large enough to move it. Sometimes that straps that hold in tanks under the floor fail. In some cases, the paneling that makes up the sides of the vehicle has been known to work loose then blow off in the wind.

Among the most significant breakdowns from a practical point of view are slide out sections that won’t slide back in, or hydraulic levelers stuck in the down position. Your RV isn’t going anywhere when this happens.

Enough with the negativity already! On the plus side, you are living a lighter footprint on the earth if you’re a full-time RVer. Instead of commuting many miles to and from work, you can park your RV near to where you work. Instead of heating a 4,000 square-foot McMansion, you’re only heating a couple hundred square feet. So, even though the insulation is much thinner in an RV, you’re still leaving a smaller carbon footprint. If you’re not connected to city services, you have very little water, electricity and propane on board. You can learn to make these supplies last weeks, again reducing waste and pollution. Because you have limited storage, you’re less likely to buy and consume things.

Finally, there’s expense. If you’re in a financial bind, you might consider buying an older RV, knowing you’ll probably have to fix things from time to time, then find a good RV park or private property, where the rent is only a few hundred dollars per month.

Many of the RV parks need managers. The manager checks people in and out, offers a bit of security, and maintains the facilities such as mowing the lawn and helping people back in their trailers. This is in trade for free living.

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Cats and Cucumbers

See also: Catversity, the free online cat university and entertainment sub-site.

Why are cats so afraid of cucumbers? The common theory is that cucumbers look like snakes, and cats have evolved a natural fear of snakes. Cats see only in black and white with red, so the green color of a cucumber does nothing to de-worry the cats.

Another factor worth considering is that the cucumbers are often placed while the cats are obliviously eating or sleeping. When the cat suddenly sees the cucumber, all they know in that instant is that something possibly ominous has appeared that they were not expecting.

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Volcanoes

Volcanoes are vents or openings in the Earth’s crust that allow molten rock, gases, and ash to escape from beneath the surface. That and molten iron is the stuff this whole earth is made of, and it’s right under your feet, although very far down in most cases.

The word “volcano” is derived from Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.

There are approximately 1,500 active volcanoes worldwide.

The largest volcano on Earth is Mauna Loa in Hawaii, which is also the largest shield volcano. It rises about 13,678 feet (4,169 meters) above sea level and extends about 30,000 feet (9,144 meters) below sea level.

The tallest volcano in the solar system is Olympus Mons on Mars, reaching a height of about 69,841 feet (21,287 meters), almost three times the height of Mount Everest.

Volcanoes can form on land or underwater, with some of the most spectacular volcanic activity occurring beneath the ocean surface.

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The eruptions of volcanoes can vary widely, ranging from peaceful lava flows to explosive eruptions that can eject ash, gases, and pyroclastic materials into the atmosphere.

When the Krakatoa volcano erupted in 1883, the sound could be heard 3,000 miles (4,800 km) away.

Volcanic ash can travel long distances, carried by wind currents. The 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupted air travel across Europe for several days due to the ash cloud it produced.

Volcanoes are responsible for creating new land, as the lava cools and solidifies over time.

Volcanic eruptions can produce pyroclastic flows, which are fast-moving currents of hot gas, ash, and volcanic materials that rush down the slopes of a volcano.

Your author and his wife had the privilege of walking on brand new real estate that hadn’t existed the day before on the Big Island of Hawaii. We were advised to bring face masks in case the wind direction shifted, wear winter-like clothing to shield us from the heat, and wear boots. Of course most of that clothing isn’t available on Hawaii, but we did dress in layers. As we walked across the dry lava, we could see cracks leading 2 inches (5 cm) down still glowing red.

We came to a river of lava, a pyroclastic flow, and were able to poke 6-foot (2-meter) ohia sticks (a straight hardwood) into the molten lava and pull some out on the instantly flaming sticks. It turned into smooth, hardened glass, with long streamers as drips froze in mid-fall. Our sneakers were smoking, and when we returned, we found that tho soles had slightly melted into new shapes.

The famous volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, preserving them remarkably well.

Some volcanoes exhibit a lava lake, a pool of molten lava that can be observed within the volcano’s crater.

Volcanic lightning, known as “dirty thunderstorms,” can occur during volcanic eruptions due to the electrical charges generated by ash particles colliding in the plume.

The largest volcanic eruption in recorded history was the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815. It caused the “Year Without a Summer” in 1816, resulting in widespread crop failures and unusually cold temperatures.

The volcanic activity on Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, is the most intense in the solar system. Its surface is covered with hundreds of active volcanoes.

Volcanic eruptions can create unique geological formations, such as volcanic cones, calderas, and lava tubes.

Some volcanoes have produced massive eruptions in the past, known as supervolcanic eruptions. The most recent one occurred about 74,000 years ago at Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Underwater volcanoes, also known as seamounts, can form islands over time when they emerge from the ocean surface.

The deadliest volcanic eruption in history occurred in 1815 on Mount Tambora, killing an estimated 71,000 people.

Some volcanoes, known as “stratovolcanoes” or composite volcanoes, are made up of alternating layers of lava, ash, and rock.

The Hawaiian Islands were formed by a series of volcanic eruptions over millions of years, as the Pacific tectonic plate moved over a hot spot in the Earth’s mantle.

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Earthquake

Earthquakes can occur on any continent, including Antarctica.

Earthquakes have been recorded in every state in the United States.

The largest recorded earthquake in history was the Great Chilean Earthquake of 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5.

Earthquakes can trigger other natural disasters, such as tsunamis, landslides, and volcanic eruptions.

The point within the Earth’s crust where an earthquake originates is called the hypocenter or focus.

The point on the Earth’s surface directly above the hypocenter is called the epicenter.

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Earthquakes can happen at any time, but they are more likely to occur in the early morning hours.

The instrument used to measure earthquakes is called a seismometer.

Earthquakes can be caused by tectonic plate movements, volcanic activity, or human activities like mining or reservoir-induced seismicity.

Many are saying the recent flooding in California and other places put more weight on the tectonic plates, and could hasten the next earthquakes.

The study of earthquakes is known as seismology.

The Earth experiences thousands of small earthquakes every day, but most of them go unnoticed by humans.

The Richter scale, developed in 1935, is used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes.

The largest earthquake ever recorded in the United States was the 1964 Alaska earthquake, with a magnitude of 9.2. The picture below was taken after the Alaska earthquake.

After the Alaska earthquake

The Ring of Fire, a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean, is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.

Earthquakes can cause changes in the Earth’s rotation, leading to slightly shorter or longer days.

The speed of seismic waves generated by an earthquake can range from a few hundred meters per second to several kilometers per second.

The San Andreas Fault in California is one of the most well-known and studied earthquake-prone areas in the world.

Earthquakes can occur underwater and are often responsible for creating new landforms, such as islands.

The deadliest earthquake in recorded history occurred in 1556 in Shaanxi, China, estimated to have claimed the lives of approximately 830,000 people.

The term “aftershock” refers to smaller earthquakes that occur after a major earthquake.

Earthquakes can cause liquefaction, where saturated soil temporarily loses its strength and behaves like a liquid.

Some animals have been observed displaying unusual behavior before an earthquake, possibly sensing the seismic activity.

Earthquakes can generate a variety of wave types, including primary (P-waves), secondary (S-waves), and surface waves.

Deep earthquakes, those occurring at depths of more than 300 kilometers (186 miles), are associated with subduction zones.

Earthquakes can be felt over long distances, and some large earthquakes have been reported to shake buildings thousands of kilometers away.

The largest recorded intraplate earthquake (occurring within a tectonic plate) was the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes in the United States.

The term “seismic gap” refers to an area along a fault line that is locked and has not experienced a significant earthquake in a long time, potentially indicating increased seismic hazard.

The study of historical seismicity helps scientists understand patterns and recurrence intervals of earthquakes in different regions.

Earthquakes can be monitored and early warning systems can provide a few seconds to minutes of advance notice before the shaking reaches a particular location.

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Coincidences

Both Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy were assassinated on a Friday while seated beside their wives. Both JFK and Abe Lincoln reported having dreams about being assassinated shortly before their deaths.

The Royal Synchronicity: Queen Elizabeth II was born on the same day that King George V, her grandfather, died.

The Unsinkable Woman: Violet Jessop, a stewardess, survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, the sinking of the HMHS Britannic in 1916, and the collision of the RMS Olympic in 1911.

On December 5, 1664, a ship sank off the coast of Wales. The only survivor was a man named Hugh Williams. On December 5, 1785, another ship sank. One man survived, another Hugh Williams. On December 5, 1860, yet another ship went down with only one survivor – you guessed it – his name was Hugh Williams.

Mark Twain and Halley’s Comet: Mark Twain was born in 1835 when Halley’s Comet appeared, and he died in 1910 when the comet returned.

The Triple Lightning Strike: In 2006, Roy Sullivan, a park ranger, was struck by lightning for the seventh time, making him the person with the most recorded lightning strikes.

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Jonathan Swift wrote a classic book called Gulliver’s Travels that borders on science fiction. It was written before ‘science fiction’ was what you called such books. In this book he wrote about two moons circling Mars. His descriptions of their size and orbital distance weren’t perfect but surprisingly accurate. He did this one hundred years before they were described by astronomers.

The Reunited Brothers: Two brothers, separated at birth, named Jim Lewis and Jim Springer, coincidentally named their sons James Alan and James Allan.

The Train Crash Prediction: In 1895, author Morgan Robertson wrote a novel titled “Futility” about an unsinkable ship named the Titan that hit an iceberg and sank. Fourteen years later, the RMS Titanic suffered a similar fate.

In 1979, a man named Frane Selak survived a train crash, a plane crash, a bus crash, and a car crash, and then won the lottery.

The Converging Paths: In 1975, two women with the same name, both traveling from England to the Canary Islands, wearing identical clothing, and carrying similar bags, ended up sitting next to each other on the plane.

The Identical Twins: In 2002, two unrelated identical twin brothers, separated at birth, named Jim Springer and Jim Lewis, coincidentally reunited and discovered they shared the same first name, occupation, and hobbies.

The Bridge Collapse: In 1940, a worker named Harold C. W. Keevil fell off the unfinished Tacoma Narrows Bridge but survived. A year later, he was on the same bridge when it collapsed, but he survived again.

The Struck by Lightning Brothers: In 2018, two brothers, aged 5 and 7, were both struck by lightning on separate occasions within the span of a year.

The Separated Sisters: In 2007, two sisters named Samantha Futerman and Anaïs Bordier, who were adopted from South Korea, discovered they were identical twins after one saw the other in a YouTube video.

The Winning Lottery Numbers: In 2003, the winning numbers of the Virginia Lottery’s Pick 4 game were 6-6-6-6, causing a record number of winners and resulting in the lottery having to pay out millions of dollars.

The Mysterious Subway Meeting: In 2008, two strangers named Laura and Laura, who had the same birthday, height, hair color, and were both wearing a black coat and a red scarf, accidentally bumped into each other on the London Underground.

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Candy

The world’s oldest known candy is a honey-based treat from over 2,000 years ago.

The word “candy” comes from the Arabic word “qandi,” which means “made of sugar.”

The first form of candy was created by ancient Egyptians over 4,000 years ago.

The first mass-produced candy in the United States was the candy corn, created in the 1880s.

The largest candy store in the world is Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York City, spanning over 15,000 square feet (1,393 square meters, or a third of an acre).


Dylan's Candy Bar, New York City, world's largest candy bar

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Dylan’s Candy Bar

The average American consumes about 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of candy each year.

The world’s largest chocolate bar weighed 12,770 pounds (5,792 kilograms) and was made in Armenia in 2010.

The first chocolate bar was invented in 1847 by Joseph Fry.

M&M’s were originally created for soldiers in World War II since they could carry them without the chocolate melting.

The world’s most expensive chocolate bar is the “Amedei Porcelana,” which can cost up to $90 per bar.

The largest lollipop ever made weighed over 7,000 pounds (3,175 kilograms).

The largest candy cane ever made was 51 feet (15.5 meters) tall.

The Snickers candy bar was named after the Mars family’s favorite horse.

Cotton candy was invented by a dentist named William Morrison.

The world’s longest gum wrapper chain measured over 62 miles (100 kilometers).

The Tootsie Roll was named after its creator’s daughter’s nickname, “Tootsie.”

The chocolate-covered insect industry exists, with companies producing candies like chocolate-covered ants and scorpions.

There are more than 400 different flavors of Kit Kat in Japan, including unique options like wasabi and green tea.

The first candy bar to be taken to space was a Milky Way bar in 1982.

Hershey’s Kisses got their name from the machine that produces them, which makes a “kissing” sound.

The world’s largest candy necklace was made in Canada and measured over 1,000 feet (304 meters) long.

The popular candy Pez was originally marketed as an alternative to smoking.

Candy canes were originally straight, and the curved shape is said to represent a shepherd’s crook.

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Fire

A Japanese priest set a kimono on fire in Tokyo because it carried bad luck. The flames spread until over 10,000 buildings were destroyed and 100,000 people died. (Year: 1657)

When you burn copper, the flames are green.

When you burn cobalt, the flames are purple.

Alcohol flames can be clear or invisible.

Fire requires three elements to exist: fuel, oxygen, and heat. This is known as the “fire triangle.”

Fire spreads more rapidly uphill than downhill due to the preheating of fuel ahead of the flames.

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Lightning strikes cause a significant number of wildfires. In fact, lightning is responsible for about 10% of all wildfires worldwide.

Fire tornadoes, also known as fire whirls, are a rare phenomenon that occurs when intense heat and turbulent winds combine to create a spinning vortex of flames.

Firefighters often use controlled burns, also known as prescribed fires, to manage ecosystems and reduce the risk of larger, uncontrolled wildfires.

The world’s longest-lasting wildfire, known as the Burning Mountain, has been burning underground in Australia for thousands of years.

Fire can move faster than you might expect. In certain conditions, wildfires can travel at speeds of up to 14 miles per hour (23 kilometers per hour).

Fire can create its own wind, known as a fire-induced wind or “firestorm.” This occurs when the intense heat causes the surrounding air to rise rapidly, pulling in cooler air and creating strong winds.

Flames always burn upwards due to the effects of convection. The hot gases and flames rise, drawing in more oxygen and fuel from below.

Ben Franklin’s original ‘Franklin stove’ was not what we think of as a Franklin Stove these days. Franklin stove has come to mean a woodstove with full-width metal doors. However, the original Franklin stove was a very weird thing that looked like a large egg on a pedestal. Air was sucked in through holes in the top, down through the fuel on a grate inside the egg, then passed through pipes under the floor, and finally up a chimney on the far side of the room. The hope was extreme efficiency not to mention warm flooring. However, this was a very difficult stove to light and maintain. Ben Franklin would not admit that his design was flawed. He said servants were ‘too stupid’ to work his stove.

Fire can cause the release of harmful pollutants and toxins, including carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter, which can have severe health effects.

Some plants and trees have evolved to depend on fire for their survival. They have thick bark or cones that require the intense heat of a fire to release their seeds and regenerate.

Firefighters often use fire shelters, which are small, portable tents made of fire-resistant materials, to protect themselves from intense heat and flames.

Fire can produce different types of smoke, depending on the fuel and conditions. Smoke can be thick and black, indicating incomplete combustion, or white and billowing, indicating a well-ventilated fire.

Fire can melt certain metals, such as aluminum and copper, at relatively low temperatures. This property has practical applications in metalworking and welding.

The temperature of a typical house fire can reach up to 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit (593 degrees Celsius) or higher.

The concept of “stop, drop, and roll” was developed to teach people how to extinguish flames on their clothing if they catch fire. The famous drummer and entrepreneur Travis Barker was told to stop, drop and roll by yelling bystanders when the airplane in which he was a passenger overshot the runway and burst into flames. Because of this, although he was severely injured, he did not die.

Firefighters use special thermal imaging cameras to locate hotspots and hidden fires by detecting the infrared radiation emitted by flames and heat.

Silly Laws Involving Fire

These are legal offenses, still on the books.

Do not burn “offal” in New York City.

In Oregon, it is illegal to go hunting for big game while it is on fire (Oregon Revised Statutes Section 164.305).

In Massachusetts, it is illegal to explode a nuclear device within city limits, except on Sundays (Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 22C, Section 6).

In Michigan, it is illegal to keep an alligator in a fire hydrant (Michigan Compiled Laws Section 750.49).

In Ohio, it is illegal to disrobe in front of a man’s portrait, except in cases of fire (Ohio Revised Code Section 2907.09).

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Water

Water can exist in the three common states of matter: solid (ice), liquid, and gas (steam).

Water is the only substance that can exist in all three states of matter within the range of temperatures found on Earth.

Water can also exist in a fourth state of matter called a “spin ice,” where the water molecules are arranged in a crystalline lattice.

Water is the most common substance on Earth, covering about 71% of the planet’s surface.

A single drop of water contains billions of water molecules.

Water has a high surface tension, which allows certain insects like water striders to walk on it.

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Pure water is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, however it is said that cats can taste pure water.

The maximum density of water occurs at 4°C, which means that ice floats on water.

Water is the only substance that expands when it freezes.

The human body is about 60% water. An average person contains ten gallons (38 liters) of water.

Water can absorb more heat than many other substances, which makes it a good coolant.

Water is used in many industrial processes, such as power generation, manufacturing, and agriculture.

To grow the wheat for a single loaf of bread requires two tons of water (1,496 gallons or 5,663 liters) are needed.

The blood of mammals has the same dilution of salt as ocean water.

A person can survive for about a month without food, but only about a week without water.

The world’s largest waterfall is Angel Falls in Venezuela, which drops water from a height of 979 meters (3,212 feet – more than 1/2-mile).

The average American uses about 80-100 gallons (302 to 378 liters) of water per day.

Water is a polar molecule, which means it has a positive end and a negative end. They say water molecules are shipped like Mickey Mouse, with a round head, the oxygen, and two ears, the hydrogen atoms at a 104.5-degree angle to each other.

Microwave ovens take advantage of the shape of water molecules. At a 2.4 gigahertz (2.4 billion times per second) they reverse an electrical field. The water molecules try to align one way, then the other. All this movement creates heat. Since plastic, porcelain and many other materials do not have polar molecules, they do not heat up in the presence of an alternating field.

Water can be split into its constituent elements, hydrogen and oxygen, through a process called electrolysis. Electrolysis is done with direct current electricity. If you put electrodes in water, bubbles of oxygen and hydrogen will form around those electrodes. Engines can be powered by recombining hydrogen with oxygen, but so far, the process of electrolysis uses more energy than can be retrieved.

Water is essential for photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert sunlight into energy.

Scientists specializing in exobiology generally assume that lifeforms will require water, so life will probably not be found on a dry planet.

Sea water contains approximately 34 parts per thousand of salt.

The water cycle is the continuous movement of water between the Earth’s surface and atmosphere.

Water can be used to extinguish fires because it can absorb heat quickly and effectively.

Water can have a memory, according to a controversial theory called “water memory” proposed by French scientist Jacques Benveniste.

You can be cold when wet because water transfers heat from your body to the air more quickly than dry skin.

Water can form up to 15 different phases, including a liquid crystal phase.

Water has been found to have a surprisingly high surface tension in microgravity environments, which can affect the behavior of fluids in space.

The human body can sense the difference between hot and cold water much more accurately than it can sense differences in temperature for other substances such as steel, plastic and wood.

Water can conduct electricity even in the absence of dissolved ions, due to a phenomenon called “protonic conduction.”

Water has been found to exhibit strange quantum properties, such as “quantum tunneling” and “quantum entanglement.”

Water can be supercooled to extremely low temperatures without freezing, and can even exist as a liquid at temperatures as low as -40°C. Something needs to trigger formation of crystals (ice). Without that, water cannot freeze.

Water can be used to create “snowcrete,” a building material made from a mixture of snow and concrete.

Water can form a “chain” of hydrogen bonds that can stretch across large distances, allowing it to transport energy and information.

Water can be used to create a type of glass called “water glass,” which is made by melting silica in a solution of sodium carbonate and water.

Water can act as a natural lens, bending and distorting light to create mirages and other optical illusions.

Water can form a “bridge” between two surfaces, allowing them to stick together without the need for glue or other adhesives. If you’ve ever put a cover slip on a microscope slide, you’ve witnessed the effect.

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Scientists

Galileo Galilei was accused of heresy for promoting the heliocentric model of the solar system. The Catholic Church made him recant the truth, after which he spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

Sir Isaac Newton is said to have practiced alchemy and even tried to turn base metals into gold.

Marie Curie’s notebooks are still radioactive and can only be handled with protective gear.

Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel but declined the offer.

Nikola Tesla was obsessed with the number 3 and often did things in sets of 3.

Charles Darwin ate every animal he discovered during his travels, including iguanas and giant tortoises.

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Thomas Edison was afraid of the dark and always slept with a light on. After a while, he switched from gas lights to electric lights since he made electric lighting available.

Leonardo da Vinci was ambidextrous and often wrote backwards. He was also known for demonstrating feats of strength.

Rosalind Franklin’s X-ray crystallography data was used by James Watson and Francis Crick to discover the structure of DNA, but she was not given credit until after her death.

Astronomer Carl Sagan wrote a novel, “Contact,” which was later turned into a movie starring Jodie Foster.

Neil deGrasse Tyson was once a competitive ballroom dancer.

Werner Heisenberg, the physicist behind the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, was also a talented pianist.

The father of microbiology, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, was also a successful cloth merchant.

Margaret Mead, an anthropologist, once famously said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Marie Tharp, a geologist, helped map the ocean floor, and her work revealed the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and helped prove the theory of plate tectonics.

Edwin Hubble, the astronomer who discovered the expanding universe, was also a skilled basketball player and played on the University of Chicago team.

Ada Lovelace, a mathematician who is considered the world’s first computer programmer, was also an accomplished musician and writer.


Richard Feynman, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist, was known for playing bongos and cracking safes as hobbies.

Max Planck, the physicist who originated quantum theory, was also an accomplished pianist.

Alfred Wegener, the scientist who proposed the theory of continental drift, was not widely accepted in his time but is now recognized as a pioneer in the field of geology.

Margaret Hamilton, a computer scientist, led the team that developed the software for NASA’s Apollo missions and coined the term “software engineering.”

Rosalyn Yalow, a physicist and medical researcher, was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1977.

Alan Turing, the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, was also a skilled long-distance runner and cracked the Nazi’s Enigma code during World War II.

Katsuko Saruhashi, a geochemist, was the first woman to earn a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Tokyo and discovered the harmful effects of nuclear testing on the environment.

Paul Erdős, a mathematician, was known for his nomadic lifestyle and collaborative work with other mathematicians around the world.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell, an astrophysicist, discovered pulsars but was not awarded the Nobel Prize for her work, which went to her male supervisor instead.

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Silly Laws

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The Worst Of Everything

In Switzerland, it is illegal for men to urinate in a standing position after 10pm.

In Mount Pulaski, Illinois, it is illegal for boys to hurl snowballs at trees.

In Harper Woods, Michigan, it is against the law to paint a sparrow and claim it’s a parakeet.

In Evanston, Illinois, it is illegal to change clothes in an automobile with the curtains drawn, unless the car is parked in a garage.

If you live in Kentucky, you must take a bath at least once per year. It’s the law.

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Cleveland, Ohio once banned women from wearing patent leather shoes, fearing men could see reflections of their undergarments.

In Massachusetts you can’t legally use tomatoes in clam chowder.

It is illegal to wear pants that are ‘form-fitting’ on Sundays in Delaware.

In Idaho, it’s illegal to fish while riding a camel.

You may not legally own a pair of pliers if you live in Texas.

In Galesburg, Illinois, it is illegal to burn bird feathers in public.

In Memphis, Tennessee, a woman cannot legally drive unless there is a man running on foot ahead of her car with a red flag to warn motorists that a woman is driving. Like many of these laws, this one is seldom enforced.

You are violating the law if you mispronounce the name of Arkansas.

In Alabama, it is illegal to wear a fake mustache in church that causes laughter.

In Illinois, a state far removed from any oceans, it is illegal to hunt whales.

In New York City, it is illegal to greet anyone “by placing the end of his thumb against the tip of his nose, at the same time extending and wriggling the fingers of his hand.”

Don’t wiggle while dancing. That’s illegal in California.

In Texas when two trains meet at a crossing “neither shall proceed until the other has gone.”

In the city of Athens, Alabama, it is illegal to walk down the street with an ice cream cone in your back pocket.

In Florida, you can legally fart until 6pm.

Vibrators cannot legally be sold in the American states of Mississippi and Alabama.

In Alabama, it is illegal to flick a booger into the wind.

If you should choose to have sex with a porcupine in Florida, you should be aware that you’re breaking the law.

It Swaziland, Women should be very careful about wearing pants in public. Members of the military are allowed to tear the woman’s pants off.

If you happen to own a bar in Oklahoma, watch out for people pretending to have sexual intercourse with a buffalo. If you allow that, you are breaking the law.

In Utah, you may not legally have sexual intercourse in an ambulance while it is on its way to an emergency.

In Ohio, no more than five women can live in one house. (Because it would then be assumed to be a house of prostitution.)

According to the law in Indonesia, the punishment for masturbating is decapitation. This law is seldom enforced.

In Chicago, it is illegal to fish while sitting on a giraffe’s neck.

In Alabama, it is illegal to drive a vehicle while blindfolded.

When Peter the Great, who couldn’t grow a respectable beard, was in power, any Russian who had a beard was required to pay a beard tax.

During the 1920’s there was a law in Russia that all private automobiles (not ones used by the government) had to have a yellow stripe painted all the way around the whole body.

There is an actual court case on record named: “The United States v. 350 Cartons of Canned Sardines.” It has something to do with interstate commerce.

In Illinois, prison inmates were offered free plastic surgery to change their faces. Of those who elected to become “new men” their rate of committing new crimes after release was less than average.

In Kansas it is legal to round off pi from somewhere around 3.14159265 to 3.0.

It was illegal to teach evolution in Tennessee until 1968.

There is a man whose official name has been legally changed to Mr. 1069.

In Peoria, Illinois, it is illegal to give a lighted cigar to a pet.

According to one source, in Idaho it is illegal to give your lover a box of candy smaller than fifty pounds in weight. Another source stated that it is illegal to give any other citizen a box of candy weighing more than 50 pounds. In any case, the giving of huge quantities of candy is regulated in Idaho.

There is a law against shooting rabbits from a New York City trolley car.

In Chaseville, New York, you may not “drive a goat past a church in a ridiculous fashion.”

In New York City is a special court that hears about 400 complaints per day against taxi drivers. Since the cabbies in the Big Apple carry approximately 400,000 people per day, that means about one in every thousand passengers feels the need to bring a complaint against a driver. Overheard in court recently: A cab driver who had recently immigrated from Pakistan was in court because he punched a passenger. Asked why, the driver said, “In my country women aren’t allowed to speak disrespectfully to a man.” Many cabbies do not like this court because they have to waste hours waiting for their case to come up. In one case, a professor from Columbia University took a cab driver to court because he had made a face when he discovered the tip was a small one.

The U.S. Navy will not accept anyone with an obscene tattoo.

All gondolas must be black in Venice. Only government officials are allowed fancy colors.

In Oklahoma, it’s illegal for a baseball player to hit the ball out of the park.

Do not burn “offal” or bones, or grow ragweed in New York City. These are legal offenses.

It is illegal in Arizona to hunt camels.

The following are bits excerpted from a book, itself almost one hundred years old:

THE FAMOUS CONNECTICUT BLUE LAWS. – These laws, enacted by the people of the “Dominion of New Haven,” became known as the blue laws because they were printed on blue paper. They were as follows: –

The governor and magistrates convened in general assembly are the supreme power, under God, of the independent dominion. From the determination of the assembly no appeal shall be made.

No one shall be a freeman or have a vote unless he is converted and a member of one of the churches allowed in the dominion.

Each freeman shall swear by the blessed God to bear true allegiance to this dominion and that Jesus is the only king.

No dissenter from the essential worship of this dominion shall be allowed to give a vote for electing of magistrates or any officer.

No food or lodging shall be offered to a heretic.

No one shall cross a river on the Sabbath but authorized clergymen.

No one shall travel, cook victuals, make beds, sweep houses, cut hair, or shave on the Sabbath Day.

No one shall kiss his or her children on the Sabbath or feasting days.

The Sabbath Day shall begin at sunset Saturday.

Whoever wears clothes trimmed with gold, silver, or bone lace above one shilling per yard shall be presented by the grand jurors and the selectmen shall tax the estate L300.

Whoever brings cards or dice into the dominion shall pay a fine of L5.

No one shall eat mince pies, dance, play cards, or play any instrument of music except the drum, trumpet, or jews harp.

No gospel minister shall join people in marriage. The magistrate may join them, as he may do it with less scandal to Christ’s church.

When parents refuse their children convenient marriages, the magistrate shall determine the point.

A man who strikes his wife shall be fined ten pounds.

A woman who strikes her husband shall be punished as the law directs.

No man shall court a maid in person or by letter without obtaining the consent of her parents; L5 penalty for the first offense; L10 for the second, and for the third imprisonment during the pleasure of the court.

MASSACHUSETTS BLUE-LAWS. – In regard to the so-called “blue-laws” of Massachusetts it is difficult to determine just where the line between fact and fancy is to be drawn. It is claimed that the founders of Connecticut borrowed most of their laws and judicial proceedings from Massachusetts. Many of these laws were enacted previous to 1640, and a number were the orders and sentences of the Massachusetts Court of Assistants and General Court. For instance, one order we find is as follows: “It is ordered, that all Rich. Clough’s strong water shall presently be seazed upon, for his selling greate quantytie thereof to several men servants, which was the occasion of much disorder, drunkeness, and misdemeanor.

Another record, in March 1631, is to the effect that “Nieh. Knopp is fyned 5L for takeing upon him to cure the scurvey, by a water of noe worth nor value, which he solde at a very deare rate, to be imprisoned till hee pay his fine or give securitye for it, or else to be whipped; and shall be lyable to any man’s action of whome he hath received money for the said water.

In September 1636: Robert Shorthose, for swearing by the bloud of God, was sentenced to have his tongue put into a cleft stick, and to stand so by the space of haulfe an houre. – from The Century Book of Facts, 1900

When Marquis de Pelier whistled at Queen Marie Antoinette, he was promptly thrown in jail and kept there for fifty years.

Four hundred years ago in Turkey drinking coffee was illegal. The sentence: death.

Anyone caught drunk in public in ancient China was put to death.

In 1871, James MacAndrew was the Chief Executive of Otago, New Zealand. He was ordered to go to debtors’ prison. So, he declared a law that his home was a prison.

Very important for those who live in Los Angeles: If you herd more than 2,000 sheep along Hollywood Blvd, you’re breaking the law. And, while you’re at it, don’t drive your car along Hollywood Blvd. more than twice in four hours. That, too, is illegal.

Do not stick your finger in the nose of a cow, unless you are willing to violate one of the rules of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

In Saudi Arabia it has been against the law to play music until recently.

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The Dark Side of NLP

The NLP section of this website wouldn’t be complete without a look at the dark side of NLP. Oh yes, in the same way that a pickup truck can be used to carry food, or bombs, NLP is a toolkit that can be used nicely – or not.

The following is a list of the ways NLP can be used badly, the shortfalls, and everything else negative about NLP of which your editor is aware. After you read this page, you can consider yourself well-informed and make your own decisions. In my opinion, when NLP is used by well-meaning people, beautiful things can happen which make the world a better place, and that outweighs this stuff here.

* NLP can be used by salespeople who have only one goal – to sell their product to unsuspecting citizens. (On the other hand, when used by scrupulous salespeople, NLP can enhance the communication so the customer gets exactly what is wanted, and both parties win.)

* NLP is not a sufficient toolkit for people who have serious mental illness. Too often, NLP practitioners start to think of themselves as psychologists or even psychiatrists, and take on everything – with varying results.

* Regression may be dangerous, especially if attempted by an inexperienced programmer. Imagine getting a subject who has no conscious memory of incest at an early age. The programmer helps the subject remember that, but cannot guide the subject gracefully through the adjustment necessary to accommodate the new-found memory. I have never heard of this happening, but imagine it could be a possibility. Along the same lines, there is a concept called “faux memories,” in which the subject ‘remembers’ things that never actually happened, which can potentially damage family relations.

* NLP does not require a license or even certification. In America and many other countries, anyone can legally call themselves an NLP practitioner, even if all they did was read “NLP for Dummies.” Of course, I don’t think I’d actually want licensing. NLP is too wide a range of techniques, and too subject to individual interpretation to standardize. It also infringes on a basic freedom, imposing testing and paperwork. You may or may not agree with me, but I think you can see the potential for problems with total lack of regulation. If you haven’t seen the movie Mumford, check it out – I think you’ll enjoy it. It’s about a mental health practitioner of some sort… well, I won’t tell you the story.

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* A programmer who doesn’t really have the spirit of NLP could make things worse instead of better. Some people might forget to honor the present state, the subject, the subject’s parents, and so on, resulting in all sorts of small damage to relationships.

* There is a minor stigma on NLP. Occasionally you’ll run into people who don’t want to have anything to do with NLP, having memories or having heard stories of an NLP session that went badly, or a practitioner with evil intentions.

* The “programming” part of the term Neuro-linguistic programming sounds like a dangerous cult thing to some people.

* Not all sessions are super-successful. Sometimes subjects may feel they didn’t get their money’s worth, or the programmer may feel ineffective.

* NLP is often critiqued for not being original. Although there have been many original additions, NLP started out as a compilation of what works from the various field of psychology and personal development. Isn’t it interesting that that’s a critique?