Your Tax Dollars at Work
It looks like all that hard work under the hot sun finally took its toll on 12 Colorado highway workers. It seems our hardworking, mixed gender highway studs decided to hire a stripper for a little rest and relaxation break. Nothing unusual about this, of course. But most of us wait until we're off work, especially when we're toiling at a state job site. The band of merry tippers would have been fine (instead of fined...which they were, $289 each) if one of their own hadn't turned them in. The worker, Deborah Hodgson, made her complaint about the on-site stripper service...after she may have helped hire her.

A Rose By Any Other Name...
In a recent article concerning the death of the Sizzler steak restaurant chain, The Oregonian listed a number of mid-priced, casual dining establishments competing with the once great steak giant for the patronage of families. Among such regulars as Carrows, Mexican Express, the Olive Garden and Chili's Southwest Bar and Grill was Beaverton's oh, so tasty and ever so maligned Mama Mia's. Apparently the Oregonian has wisdom that the city of Beaverton could stand to learn from: Mama Mia's has something for every taste.

Smut On The Net? Maybe. But It's Popular!
With all the noise about smut on the Internet, you just have to wonder who all those perverts are (other than you and your friends, of course). A survey centering on the activity of the Penthouse site (http://www.penthousemag.com) revealed that it received 54 million "hits" from December 21 to January 20. Nielsen/Internet explained that this level of activity shows the Penthouse site to be more popular than sites for such "respectable" sites as ESPN, USA TODAY, Time Warner and even Playboy (http://www.playboy.com) or Wired.. The folks who surf to Guccioni's wonderland stay for approximately 13 minutes, usually just after midnight. It's possible they're calling just then because they're taking a break from their studies...thousands of visitors log on from universities, including Wisconsin, Minnesota and our own beloved Washington. IBM employees log on more often than their counterparts at Apple or AT&T. NASA representatives indicated displeasure with the high placement of their own employees on the list of Penthouse fans. There goes that space shuttle web account.

Playmates or Pets -- Who's On Top?
It's been said that there are three kinds of untruths: lies, damn lies and statistics. What bearing that has on this little news brief, I don't know, but Playboy is proudly proclaiming itself to be the winner of the Internet naked lady web site popularity contest. While Penthouse crows about its 54 millions hits (that's about 2 million visits) Playboy simply pities its competitor and points proudly at its 102 million hits (around 4 million visits), declaring itself the true champions of cyberporn. Penthouse, however, stands but its claims, saying that when it offered to compare figures, no one else would show them theirs. Strange to find such shyness among magazines that have shown us so much for so many years. Vanderbilt University marketing professor, Donna Hoffman, says it's all pointless to bicker until measurement standards are decided upon. Don't they remember? It's not the number of hits you get , but what you do with them?