I was recently asked to validate and review a promising email from a loved one.

As a result, here are Dave's Rules for Spam Chain Emails.
These simple rules apply to silly emails which are only a waste of time and even to very direct fraud originating from Nigeria.

Dave's Rules for Spam Chain Emails:

Rule 1) if it contains text which reads "I never forward these types of emails", then you should not forward.
Rule 2) if it has been forwarded more then twice then you should not forward. Everyone you know on earth probably got it already.
Rule 3) if it is offering something for nothing, remember there is no free lunch.
Rule 4) grab a salient sentence and paste it into a google search
Rule 5) send it to your son-in-law or a respected expert to confirm.
Rule 6) embarrass the person who sent it to you, by sending them my rules as a reply.

Result: it's so false, that if you look in the dictionary for "false email hoaxes" you will find this very example. That's how false it is.

See this link for the email which inspired my rules:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/billgate.asp#micro2

This week was a very busy one for the infamous Brookyn Atlantic Yards project.

Last week, architect Frank Gehry and Ratner unveiled a new plan for the project that is substantially quite un-new.

Brooklyn residents received propaganda in the mail painting the huge pork-barrel project in the rosiest of colors, not unlike that of raw bacon. Here's just one of the lies. And here's the developer's official images of the project. You can't easily tell, but the big building is 60 stories tall and taller than the landmark Williamsburg Savings bank.

I just saw this unpublished story about Forest City Ratner and Brooklyn atlantic yards.
It's worth a look.

Also last week a documentary opened on Mr. Gehry at the Sunshine Theaters. Sketches of Frank Gehry is directed by Sydney Pollack.

Meanwhile

-dave