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It’s fascinating to watch old science fiction movies and compare the technology onscreen with current state-of-the-art technology in real life. For example, isn’t it funny that the world of interplanetary travel depicted in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” should not have thought of mobiles and invented them – though in fact, such devices were in reality just another five or so years away from commercial feasibility! And it’s funny how with all the cinematic attention focused on such grand ambitious technologies like extraterrestrial travel the wonders that really did take place, in the real world, should carry, arguably, a lot more weight, impacting as they do our lives in perhaps much more important ways. Take, for instance, the kind of rides operated by serial entrepreneur Zalman Silber.

Zalman Silber is the founder of a number of tourist attractions in the United States and Australia. Some are really great, such as Skywalk and The Edge, while others are rather uninspired, such as the Skyride and Oztrek. These latter two are billed as an immersive you-are-there experience for the whole family – blah blah blah – but they’re nothing more than travel flicks the type you can get on public TV, educational fare you’ve seen a million times over already in school, even. They are helicopter fly-overs of New York and Sydney, respectively, with the only concession to “multimedia” (a buzzword that’s been commonly used to ballyhoo them) being so-called motion seating providing kinetic feedback in sync with goings-on onscreen.

Nothing, as noted already, anyone hasn’t seen before.

Yet such things were to be found in many a science fiction film (albeit B-grade knock-offs, admittedly), someone’s vision of what hi-tech audio-visuals would be like one day! Obviously, that just speaks to the poverty of the imagination on the part of the writers more than anything else, but the point is that such contemplation makes for much amusement when screening the science fiction films of yesteryear.

Or take one of the earliest scenes from “Logan’s Run,” when the title character uses a kind of television-teleporter to find a date. Instead of going to a bar, the people of that world use this device to summon dates! It’s nothing short of a kind of 3-D Craig’s List!

These “everyday details” are especially likely to show up in the more thoughtful and interesting movies, and on the whole make up one useful yardstick by which much of the best examples may be separated from the mundane. For most sci-fi flicks focus on laser guns and starships, but leave out what really makes science fiction interesting in the first place, the nexus between science and technology and the everyday lives of human beings.

Notice how the worldwide web has changed everything? And what is it but a network of computers connecting to one another, serving up information, normally in a graphical (and truly multimedia) way? Nothing especially difficult here; no “warp drive” or “plasma cannon” here – proving the old adage that life is stranger than fiction!

The NEMO Equipment tent is the main product category of NEMO Equipment, an outdoors company specializing in high-level design and engineering. The company was started by Cam Brensinger while still in school, and was moved after his graduation to its present location between New Hampshire’s gorgeous White Mountains and RISD and MIT, the Rhode Island School of Design and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

From the very beginning, the NEMO Equipment tent was destined to put the new business on the map, targeted as it was to bring significant innovation to the industry. Early concepts researched the probability of creating an entire tent from one compound beam rather than sewing them together.

Once successfully developed, the business began hiring its first employees. Its expertise in the field even allowed it to provide consultation on human habitats for lunar and martian exploration! And so, with its credibility thus established, the organization branched out beyond the original NEMO Equipment tent to research other designs for an increasingly diverse market of outdoorsmen and women.

The spirit of extreme sports had by then taken hold of campers, hikers, climbers, and trekkers alike, and so the AST range of products designed for extreme situations was unveiled. Industry accolades poured in right alongside increased sales, and no less than U.S. Navy Seals have endorsed NEMO products for real-world use that’s reliable like no other.

Most recently, NEMO Equipment has been exploring greener products, work that has resulted in the first-ever nearly hundred percent recycled tent, with poles made of bamboo. Product lines have expanded to offer tent accessories and even fan gear, in response to the company’s dedicated following!

Actually, the business is staffed with individuals whose pastimes generally incorporate company products. Being avid outdoorsmen and women themselves has surely lent the business invaluable marketing insight.

During those bygone halcyon times of console gaming, when a system failed, the oft reaction was to raise one’s hands toward the sky and curse the God’s of each and every pantheon for having smote your system. There was little in the way of diagnostic options leaving most to wonder vainly what affliction had stricken their beloved console, snatching it from this mortal coil. The power would be activated and nothing would happen and there’d be little choice beyond cursing nefarious fortune and her ambiguous design, frequently plunging into a void of existential woe. However, with the most recent generation of consoles, there’s at least some onboard sign of what evils have befallen your system, most infamously the X-box 360 and the Red Ring of Death.

One can’t help but wonder if this knowledge has been of greater use to mankind, or if the question of console death is one best left unanswered, for where tragedy once came like a breath of wind and left as little trace, it now bears a face and a name to be loathed by mortals. Four times divided, each of the ring’s quadrants on the face of the X-box 360 displays a vibrant green hue when in good health. Nevertheless, when hardware malfunction or pestilence or an ancient curse has marked a console with its wicked taint, the four lights will glow a hellish fiery red to indicate the source of its ailment. The configurations of these cursed runes are telling of the particular affliction and are interpreted as follows.

When the ring is solely aflame in its southeastern most quadrant, facing the same direction as the flight with the migratory birds, the X-box 360 is then victim of hardware failure, the exact nature of which is alluded to only by the apocryphal two-digit sequence of symbols that appear upon the connected display. When the ring is cleft in twain from scalp to groin by the purple hue, a fantastic fever has taken your console causing its components to overheat.

When cloaked entirely in the Masque of the Red Death, you possibly just forgot to plug the AV cables in, jackass. Or some greater malevolence has seized some vital aspect to your console, for which you may seek the guidance of a soothsayer, an apothecary, or even… Microsoft. But seriously, just check to make sure it’s plugged in. Most feared, however, among we mere puppets on this earthly stage are the red lights that seize the ring in all quadrants save for that between north and east.

Glance but for only a moment to confirm your sickly apprehensions, then avert thine eyes for what stares back is the eye of the devil whose red gaze will indelibly sear the soul. General Hardware Failure, plight of men and Gods alike and bane of all things good and sacred, has corrupted your X-box. Abandon all hope, for even among sorcerer’s alchemy and mystic’s incantations there is naught that men of earthly constitution can summon.

But one option remains, to turn over your console to the ethereal high court of Microsoft or perhaps a trusted third party hardware technician whose tangible connection to the divine can provide the steel of nerve, the authority of conviction, the edge of wit, the fortitude of soul required to perform the ritual exorcism that will rid your X-box of its demons. Please allow two to three weeks for repairs.

The Sea Eagle 435ps PaddleSki inflatable catamaran-kayak. Yes, that’s a mouthful – as well as the boat is quite an eyeful, too! But the included boat seats, even in the “pro” and “ultimate” packages, leave much to be desired. They definitely look cool, all sleek and hi-tech in black, but they do not provide much in the way of comfort, barely supporting a kayaker up!

Indeed, the boat seats included in the cheaper packages, which are standard inflatables, seem to be a lot more comfy. Every thing else provided by Sea Eagle makes a good impression, nevertheless. To be fair, the black high-back seats are supposed to be a lot more performance oriented, and that means comfort was a deliberate second-place consideration. Being closer to the water provides far better stability and more paddling power.

In the final analysis, it’s performance in the water that truly matters, and in this regard the PaddleSki is very excellent. It tracks well and is quite fast, thanks to its length and catamaran-style pontoons, respectively. The pontoons keep most of the boat above the surface of the water, making for less drag.

Stability and speed. Sea Eagle’s PaddleSki offers both important characteristics in spades. It’s a really friendly craft only marred, perhaps, by the boat seats available for it. Otherwise, it’s a really sturdy animal, with excellent handling suitable for fishing or camping trips along the river. By being an inflatable, the PaddleSki is easily stowed away. Regrettably, it weights a whopping fifty or sixty pounds when packed, but seems really light, if a bit unwieldy, when fully inflated.

Accessories consist of such useful items as a side motor mount for electric or gasoline engines and a sliding seat and frame for rowing. Sailing is also possible thanks to Sea Eagle’s sailing rig. They all cost a lot of money, however – anywhere from a third to a full half of the price of the most inexpensive PaddleSki package available!

Catholic saints are people canonized by the Catholic Church, officially recognized for their piety as residents of Heaven. Nonetheless, in a technical sense, all who are in Heaven who had once been human on earth are, by definition, saints, folks perfected in holiness; this is the view subscribed to by the Eastern Orthodox Church.

And while the list of Catholic saints can vary between almost a thousand and a half names to over ten thousand, depending on who’s doing the counting (inexplicably, there appears to be no comprehensive official list), it is frequently understood in many quarters that many pious souls are obscure and outright lost to human history.

Therefore the term “Catholic saints” refers to those formally recorded and so honored while not making the claim that such a list are the only such people of piety and thus the only group in Heaven. Canonization is the process whereby an individual’s life and deeds is examined for evidence of such recognition by the Church.

It is lengthy and can take many years, and even whole centuries. Beatification is an official declaration that an individual is near sainthood. The final determination rests, however, on the provenance of two posthumous miracles of some importance.

In a certain sense, miracles are one of the most important aspects of a saint; the veneration of saints frequently rests on this point for numerous lay Catholics. Patron saints are those designated as being particularly associated with certain professions, causes, or qualities.

Saints are not considered to have power in their own right, but only that which has been granted by God. Yet the bodily remains and other relics of a saint is believed to be holy and may be utilized in certain ceremonies. Originally, saints were mostly martyrs, but over time other considerations became just as prominent.

Virtual travel has just only come of age now, in the 21st Century, thanks to the kinds of Web 2.0 applications like Google Magps’ Streetview function. Unlike something like the sort of uninspired movie one might view at a Zalman Silber Skyride or Oztrek, where the audience simply sits back and watches tape of a helicopter flyover intended to induce a you-are-there feeling, virtual travel today is really virtual, and much more interactive – which is all to say, realistic like never before.

Indeed, two buddies have even embarked on that time-honored tradition of The Great American Road Trip – only this time, thanks to the marvels of modern technology, they will do it all from the comfort of their own homes. Working with Google Maps and its Streetview option, Peter Baldes and Marc Horowitz have managed to trek across the country without paying for gas – or speeding tickets!

Perhaps best of all, however, are all the strangers you can meet along during such a road trip – and they aren’t necessarily locals, either! Thanks to those same marvels of modern technology, it’s easy for others to check in on you, joining you for a part of the virtual trip by webcasting the trip live, just as Marc and Pete mentioned above had done. After all, what’s virtual travel without virtual companions?

Unlike the travel videos of yesteryear, virtual sightseeing this way is fully open-ended, just as if you’d won the lottery and can afford to do whatever you want, whenever you want to! No longer will you merely be following along passively; with the simple click and drag of a mouse you can instantly teleport anywhere! Started off in Rome and suddenly longing for Paris? Have most of Germany covered and now want to check out Japan? It’s easy, and fast, thanks to virtual travel in the 21st Century!

Of course, as any Physics 101 student will tell you, you don’t get something for nothing in this universe. And with respect to sightseeing virtually, you give up a lot even as you save a lot of time and money. You won’t meet folks face-to-face, or feel the wonderful weather or sample regional specialties, culinary and otherwise. Most of all, as any globetrotter knows, much of the fun lies in the journey itself, the very getting there. All this, and much more, are lost on a virtual trip.

It is, in many ways, about what you get with a Zalman Silber spectacle, only without the professional production values – a flowing stream of images, as if instead of a juicy well-done steak on your plate you are presented with a glossy high-resolution photo of one! Virtual travel will likely never replace really being there yourself, and it still has a long way to go before it can even begin to rival the same level of fun offered by the real thing – for right now, the sizzle is the most attractive thing about it.

Tourist traps. Thought-up to wring every last dollar out of you. It’s as if they were thought up to ruin your vacation. And sightseeing rides rank right up there.

Take Zalman Silber’s Skyride in New York’s Empire State Building. With a name like that, you’d expect it was up there at the top, where it’s located. Instead, it’s merely on the second floor. Moreover, express access to the top – for which you pay an additional fifty percent of the ticket price – is just a matter of skipping a few lines. It’s not as if you go straight to the top. You’ll still have to wait on lines, only perhaps one or two less.

And so what is the Skyride? A movie. A half-hour film. That’s it! Definitely a case where the sizzle sounds better than how the steak tastes.

But Zalman Silber redeems himself with his other attractions, the Skywalk and The Edge. The first amusement is aptly named for sure, essentially a catwalk a thousand feet above street level outside the top of the Sydney Tower in Sydney, Australia. It’s an exhilarating experience where, unlike traditional observation decks enclosed behind glass, visitors walk out onto a metal plank that juts out of the building, creating the breath-taking feeling of being suspended in mid-air!

As can be imagined, wind gusts are quite strong at such a height, and special “skysuits” cable-tethered to support structures are used to ensure guest safety. But the Skywalk is open in most kinds of weather, and available practically the whole year.

A similar attraction is The Edge at the Eureka Tower in Melbourne, Australia. This time, visitors are in a fully enclosed cube that sticks out of the building near the very top, with fully transparent glass all around – even underneath one’s feet! A really cool feature of this amusement is how everything is initially opaque, and only suddenly transparent to create an exciting sense of unexpected suspension almost a thousand feet above ground!

These two are great fun and a must for any to-do list when in Sydney or Melbourne. These are the kinds of experiences that really make vacations memorable. After all, vacations are about more than simple relaxation and getting away from work. They are about experiences – ideally, new experiences, positive experiences, unique experiences. And while such attractions as the Skywalk exist elsewhere, such as over the Grand Canyon in the State of Arizona, there’s only one such thing in Sydney and one such thing in Melbourne, offering stunning vistas outdone only by a helicopter flyover.

So beware the tourist traps and spend your hard-earned dollars instead where it would go the furthest. Patronize only those rides which offer true value for the money!

It’s crucial to go with the right equipment when in the great outdoors. Though amazing, Mother Nature can be deadly – quickly. One important part of anyone’s gear when experiencing our national parks needs to be portable shelter – in other words, a tent. Some thing like the Big Agnes tent, as fine a line as any made anywhere.

They’re made from dye-free fabric that is breathable but waterproof, venting moisture to the outside while keeping everyone dry inside. Their poles are constructed from an anodizing process which is environmentally friendly.

You see, tent poles usually require two extremely toxic chemicals as a part of the anodizing process. But the Big Agnes tent are made from a unique method that eliminates phosphoric and nitric acid, eliminating the polishing stage altogether.

This also has the added benefit of reducing waste water, because with out employing these toxic chemical substances, any rinsing water that’s used can be safely recycled. Of course, there are numerous reasons why a Big Agnes tent is such a best-seller.

Top quality and reliability is one, plus design and features. And the company’s reputation for other items is solid, which makes consumers of portable sheltering curious about the entire Big Agnes product line. Indeed, it appears that the business is most famous for its sleeping bags, which are unlike traditional designs in that the bag and the pad are united into one.

How they do this, they slide the pad into an built-in sleeve located at the bottom of the bag. This way, the top two-thirds is insulated as per usual however the bottom simply contains the pad, doing away with insulation material that loses most of its ability when compressed under the weight of a body anyway. For many individuals, such details don’t really matter, but for true enthusiasts, such craftsmanship is essential.

The all-important first date. This getting-to-know-you can be greatly enhanced by an amusement ride, and the most exhilarating one of all must be the Skywalk by Zalman Silber. A serial entrepreneur who made his first big fortune with New York’s infamous Skyride, a much ballyhooed but modest thirty-minute movie of helicopter flyovers, Sydney, Australia’s Skywalk is a much more visceral affair – and for a first-date, visceral is where it’s got to be at!

No, get your mind out of the gutter – “visceral” here simply means heart-pounding thrills which, studies show, make dates more attracted to one another. Yes, that’s right: the more physically exciting the activities the more likely dates are to perceive one another as being physically attractive. Scientists have paired up total strangers of the opposite sex and asked them to secretly judge one another’s attractiveness. Then each pair was put through a roller-coaster, sitting side-by-side, and asked again to rate one another’s attractiveness after the ride. The second set of responses were almost always substantially higher than than the first set!

So if you really want to make a great impression, make sure to get her (or him!) engaged in some kind of physically exhilarating activity with you – such as the aforementioned Skywalk from Zalman Silber. Set at the top of the Sydney Tower, the Skywalk is simply a catwalk with glass flooring that provides visitors with a panoramic view of the city a thousand feet above street level. Being a catwalk, everything is out in the open, with no windows between guests and…nothingness. The Skywalk offers not only a bird’s-eye view of the Harbour City but all the visceral feelings to go with it as well!

And if the simple fact of being up so high doesn’t get your date’s heart throbbing, make sure she looks down! Visiting the Skywalk is a perfect first date because the Skywalk is the perfect ice-breaker. Don’t be surprised if she reflexively grabs your arm! Even though everyone is tethered by cable to sturdy metal support structures, the frequent gusts of wind can be strong enough to make one forget all the safety features built into the experience. Afterward, you and your date can retire to the conventional observation deck of the Sydney Tower to enjoy the romantic view while sharing fond memories of your Skywalk. Or better yet, purchase another set of tickets to really jack up the excitement and send her emotions through the roof!

Pass by a statue in the park, and odds are that it’s a bronze sculpture, which rank among the most common of cast metal works because of a naturally occurring trait that makes it a lot more convenient to fashion than numerous other materials. Bronze alloys expand a little prior to being set, and this helps to make certain that even the finest details of a mold are filled.

Moreover, bronze sculptures are strong while not being brittle, a quality known as ductibility, so that works may be fashioned that express actions performed mid-sequence, as if frozen in time, for example leaps and flights, simply because the needed supports require will smaller and thus less obvious (that is, visually intrusive) cross-sections.

Few examples from antiquity exist comparable to those sculpted of stone and ceramics due to the precious nature of the metal. In instances of war, such art was simply melted down for arms, or victorious conquerors melting them down for recasting and to produce new statues.

Few bronze statues survived from ancient times, and those which do are usually not in good condition. The originals on display in museums have been painstakingly restored to a quality suitable enough for exhibition but even the naked eye can still easily discern traces of wear and tear.

Modern-day works are typically some ninety percent cooper and ten percent tin, though in ages past other materials figured into the alloy, elements like phosphorus and manganese and aluminum and silicon. But reactive chemicals are frequently added nowadays to be able to obtain novel effects such as a marble-like luster.

This kind of corrosive materials are applied after final polishing to be able to form a patina or film, establishing for the sculptor a degree of control over the color and finish. As can be imagined, working properly with bronze requires a high degree of technical skill.

We might have brought a backpacking tent along. Instead, being young guys we relished in challenging ourselves and flirting with danger. We cavalierly enjoyed our mountaintop vista even as the sun threatened to dip, and by the time we had turned home we could scarcely go another thousand yards before we noticed that we could not see very well.

Real hikers would have just easily pitched or otherwise put together a backpacking tent but obviously we didn’t have one because we are novices and never imagined we’d need one. This was meant to have been a casual day-hike, after all. And yet, here we were at the end of the day and barely started on our descent. What we did not count on was how incredibly fast darkness could grow in a forest.

Although light was still in the sky, it wasn’t getting to us because of the thick canopy of leaves. Even throughout high noon the ground would be mostly shaded, never mind now, right before nightfall. And in one of the most awesome experiences ever, I saw my own hand fade away right in front of me, literally in seconds, melting away into the enveloping darkness like some movie fade-out.

Except that it was happening all to me; We were still practically two thousand feet up from the trail head; and we did not even have a backpacking tent!

Fortunately, friends below summoned local volunteer park rangers and we were eventually rescued. But not before spending six or seven hours shivering in the cold and dark! Though it had been a humid summer day, it felt more like late autumn in rural New York at night. When I started to finally shiver and shiver I thought it was going to be the end of me! So never,never,never – ever – go hiking without a tent or sleeping bag.

Camping supplies are a necessity even when merely hiking. This is due to the fact there’s always the possibility of mishap which will cause you to stay the night in the forest (mountain or desert or wherever else you’re trekking through).

Never underestimate the power of Mother Nature; the climate can change in a sudden flash in numerous places upon the earth. Indeed, our planet is really a living one, and the very ground upon which we walk can betray us. A rockslide, or worse, can present insurmountable obstacles in our way, necessitating some fieldcraft to maneuver around.

Thus it’s usually a good idea to take along camping supplies, just in case. You don’t need to bring everything, but some things are absolutely essential. At a minimum you’ll most likely need some kind of shelter, so a tent or sleeping bag should be the first thing on your list. Food and water is next, and it’s a good idea to bring at least one day’s worth, though three days’ is the standard recommended minimum.

Emergency supplies for instance first-aid kits and flare signals should also be packed. Obviously, a lot depends on your choice of venue, the time of year, and your own familiarity with the place as well as your general expertise in the field, but having the right equipment around should disaster or, even, just a relatively minor setback, strike won’t cost you too much in terms of weight.

Vital camping gear should be no more than thirty pounds or so, easily portable and convenient. Don’t skimp on common sense! Most serious hikers, campers, and outdoors types know that the possibility of danger is always present, however minimized. If you’re just a casual camper or hiker, then you truly will need to do things by the book and think a few steps ahead!

A good camping tent will make the difference between fun and misery. Camping is a favorite outdoor activity, and though some folks make no use of any tent or overnight shelter at all, under most circumstances it will be a much much more enjoyable experience when not assailed by the elements. Thus a camping tent will be one of the most essential pieces of equipment on hand, and when in the market some basic elements should be considered.

First and foremost, determine whether free-standing designs or conventional ones are most appropriate. Much thought and care needs to be taken at this initial step, as for solitary trips no one will be around to help pitch and strike a tent. Fabric material is one more important factor when shopping for a suitable camping tent. Most items offered on the market today will be made of cotton canvas, nylon, felt, or polyester.

Cotton absorbs water but is, ironically, then rendered waterproof when its fibers swell and produce a seal against further drenching, in effect. Cotton is also often treated to further enhance its water-resistant qualities. Then you have synthetic fibers such as nylon and polyester, which are much lighter in weight and tend to whisk away water, made all the more water-resistant and even waterproof via the application of special coatings. Sadly, these will also deteriorate over time under sunlight.

When considering the water resistance of a camping tent, look to its hydrostatic head rating. Tent fabrics are rated in millimeters, and numbers of 1000mm or less are deemed shower resistant while extreme conditions such as monsoons may call for ranges in between 3000 to over 5000mm, particularly where groundsheets are concerned. There are a handful of other aspects when it comes to tent fabrics, but this discussion covers a couple of the most important and should serve to stimulate further research on your own.

Fishing is a popular sport even in our world of modern day conveniences. It seems easy enough, conceptually, but in reality there is a lot technical knowledge involved. Even the simple fishing rod is not immune – there are, for instance, more than three hundred different kinds of Lamiglas fishing pole available. Lamiglas is really a specialty manufacturer with specific rods for specific breeds of fish.

To a layman, it might seem surprising, but given all the different species of fish there are to be caught, it’s logical for a rod to be made with performance characteristics that will best help the angler get his or her catch! Such a variety of rods also makes sense when you consider that there are tens of millions of recreational fishermen and women around the world.

And so each and every Lamiglas fishing pole is made by hand, individually, with good old-fashioned craftsmanship right alongside the most contemporary advances in materials science. That’s over three hundred fly, surf, fresh and salt water rods for steelhead, salmon, bass, and just about any other kind of fish. Lamiglas fishing poles are popular with recreational anglers. At fishing tournaments, it is interesting to see all the various designs sported, every individually suited to all the different personal casting styles and fishing conditions possible!

This profusion of rods is most common to sport fishing, but their advanced technologies make them especially appropriate for subsistence fishing, also known as artisan fishing, an ironic synonym that usually conveys connotations of upscale excess but which here in this context most likely refers to the fact that such fishing, in order to be environmentally sustainable, takes the type of care more commonly associated with the endeavors of conventional artisans and craftsmen.

Subsistence of artisan fishing is almost always less intensive and less stressful on fish populations than are modern day industrial techniques, which fact is due in large part to its much more traditional techniques and individual scales.

Horse racing systems may be as old as the sport itself. It’s not for nothing that racing horses has long been called “the sport of kings” for it takes lots of funds to own horses – and to bet enjoyably on them. Certain it’s achievable to put down extremely modest amounts in today’s races, but that would be like going to a five-star restaurant just to have a glass of water. After all, well-liked though the pastime is, it can be worth a hundred and fifteen billion dollars worldwide, a sum unlikely to consist entirely of small wagers!

Hence, along with this noble equestrian sport has come various racing systems developed to enhance one’s odds. In the United States, betting on horse races is governed by the individual states in which the racetrack is located. Cross state lines, nonetheless, and there is remarkably little oversight, as interstate commerce is really a federal responsibility and apparently not one that preoccupies Washington too much (after all, they hardly bother with illegal immigration). Therefore firms have sprung up to simulcast betting across state lines except through wider statutes on gambling in general.

Thus the numerous racing tips, born of the social phenomenon of parimutuel gambling (from the French for “mutual” gambling) by which all bets are pooled together, with a house take removed immediately before calculating payoff shares. In a typical example, seventeen percent is withheld and eighty-three percent returned within the form of winnings. As with all games of chance, the mathematics of probability is intimately involved, with nuances exploited by those with an understanding with the details. Modern technology aims to make it even simpler, and software exists which purport to help handicap a race with the least amount of user input possible. Interestingly, such computer-assisted handicaps don’t dampen the excitement of a bet!