We believe in "Lean and Mean". Time is very valuable, we won't waste yours downloading unnecessary graphics and cute animations.

We are attempting to write web pages that can be successfully viewed with any modern browser. You will, however, need a browser that supports JavaScript, tables, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), and frames. Starting with Netscape 4.0 and Internet Explorer 5.0, most browsers include support for these features, however, CSS support is spotty on the 4.x and 5.x level browsers.

For security reasons we don't recommend using outdated browsers. Also, be sure to install the latest security updates.

We are not running a data mine on this site. A "data mine" is some sort of clever technique that attempts to identify you, find out where you live, your credit history, interests, where you've been on the web, what you've purchased, and where you've eaten lately. Frankly, we believe that is none of our business, we respect everyone's privacy.

In many cases we have already been to your home and spent some time with you. We know where the cat sleeps. We don't need to resort to any website trickery to get to know our customers or let you get to know us.

Since our website does not collect any personal data, none is stored on the web server, and there is nothing for an internet prowler to steal or discover. The website runs on a remote server that is not connected to any system that stores your personal data.

Note that we do examine our server logs that track each page view. The server logs allow us to learn how the site is used, and if there are any problems. Theoretically, if armed with a court order, we could send our server log to your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and find out who you are, but it would be quite a lot of trouble.

For the curious, this is what we (or anyone who runs a commercial website) could learn about you from the server logs:

Your IP address

This is the port that connects you to the internet, It is a number of the form 111.222.333.444 that tells the internet which wire connects you to the network. If you are using a modem, your IP address usually changes each time you log-in. If you have a fixed connection, such as a cable modem or DSL phone line, your IP address may or may not change periodically, depending on the type of service you have.

For a small fee we could submit your current IP address to a 3rd party and find out where this IP address connects to the internet (to the nearest zipcode or better).

The page or pages viewed

Each page viewed generates one line in the server log.

The date and time of the page view

We also know if you stopped loading the page for some reason.

Who sent you to our site

If you found our site by clicking a link somewhere, perhaps on a search engine or link site, the name of that site appears in the log entry.

Your browser and operating system

It is a standard internet courtesy to give the name of the browser and operating system when visiting a site. Since each browser has its own set of quirks, the website can tailor the pages it sends for the best results, if it knows which browser you are using. (Our pages are so simple, we don't need to do this.)

That is the extent of our knowledge of you.

Currently, there are no "cookies" associated with our site. That may change in the future because we plan to add an interesting application that will be much easier for you to use if you allow a cookie to be set on your system.

Try our crude little cookie demo if you are curious.

We don't like cluttered screens. Therefore, we do not include any "back one page" navigation aids on our pages. Most browsers support a key combination, typically <ALT><LEFT ARROW>, for returning to the most recently viewed page. There is also a "Back" button on the tool bar if you don't like keyboards. We find using a consistent browser feature is much easier and faster than finding and clicking on a magic link that may appear at a different location on each page.

What do you think? Do you like Lean and Mean? Should we include more or less of something? We'd love to hear from you.

Find a spelling, grammar, or (gasp) factual error? Don't sit there and be smug about it -- let us know. We want to fix it.