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The XY Files — The Computer Widow Exposes Herself
March 6, 2000

By Nattalia Lea

One day, I wasn't one. The next day I was a geek. It happened so quickly. I crossed the Digital Divide. Last November, I was in a meeting at a Calgary-based multimedia company. A pony-tailed internet wizard stepped into the boardroom for a nanosecond. Cordial greetings were exchanged. I don't even remember if we shook hands. With time being of the essence, I felt a surge of adrenalin as I ranted, "Just give me your e-mail address."

We were going to go for coffee? I e-mailed David the next day. He replied, not now. I e-mailed him again. Still, no coffee. But now, every day without fail, David sends me an e-mail. Three months later, I'm safe to assume that human contact is now out of question. As I look back, I've come to realize it was during that uneventful meeting (ended up that I never got the contract I was bidding on), I became a geek.



It's here... Revenge of the Computer Widow!
Whether you're a newbie, an average computer user, or a professional geek.. . if technology's got you wired up, and you're finding that you just can't hack it anymore, your best bet is to turn off your computer and unwind by reading Nattalia Lea's new book...

The Revenge of the Computer Widow

Revenge can be sweet, claims Ms. Lea, who's been in matrimony one year and committed to computer widowhood for 13 years.

If you confess to being a luddite, The Revenge of the Computer Widow will delight you with its easy to understand description of what the hot technology of the 1990's is all about.

Author/cartoonist Lea, an engineer cum freelance writer and entrepreneur has spent many hours researching some of the techno-lingo that's a must for survial in the next millennium.

Read the Introduction!
Check out the back cover!

Now Available!
Only $29.99 plus shipping and handling.



Testimonials!
"Revenge of the Computer Widow is an enlightening look into the culture emerging from the technology revolution…a culture that is evolving as quickly as the technology that drives it. As someone who has personally crossed ‘the digital divide’ career-wise, I wish this book had been available during my own transition. It is filled with fascinating stories of many of the landmark developments in computing history, punctuated with comments and observations from the survey respondents. What emerges from the survey results is sometimes surprising, insightful, occasionally disturbing, often funny, and always entertaining…
Where you are a novice or power-user, you will find Revenge of the computer Widow a delightful read…not to mention, it is a great alternative to taking your laptop to bed…"
Greg Abrams, Director of Production, Sonoptic Technologies Inc., [email protected]


"Revenge of the Computer Widow" gives a glimpse into the sometimes strange workings of the computer geek’s mind. Nattalia Lea has exhaustively documented the likes, dislikes, foods, drinks, prejudices, habits and innermost thoughts of those who work with computers, whether as practitioners or as victims. If you are a programmer, or user, analyst or tech writer, or merely a civilian who loves to hate Bill Gates, you’ll find plenty of kindred spirits in Ms. Lea’s comprehensive analysis of the inhabitants of Silicon Cowtown. If you don’t recognize yourself, you’ll be sure to recognize your co-worker!"
Revett Eldred, founder of Minerva Technology Inc., (now part of xwave solutions.),


"Revenge of the Computer Widow mixes research and analysis with humor (sometimes sardonic) and techno-poignancy to create what I believe will become a watershed work. Nattalia Lea has an amazing capacity to inform you while you think you are just being entertained. Enjoy."
Jim Blasingame, The Small Business Advocate, www.smallbusinessadvocate.com



"Oh, dear, Revenge of the Computer Widow slam-dunks our Cyber generation with thoughtfulness, information and humor. Us geeks aren’t all that bad, now are we? Revenge of the Computer Widow is another well-researched work by Nattalia Lea that bridges the gap between them and us. A must-read for anyone interested in people and computing."
Matthew Gray & Angelina, Love Life Radio Network, Honolulu www.LoveLife.Com/menu.html


"Revenge of the Computer Widow provides a comprehensive review that discusses how the new Internet wealth has created a young upscale socio-economic elite and the impact of on-line relationships in our daily lives. Most important, the book outlines the significant impact of Cyber widows, or those who are not hooked on the Net live with a cyber-obsessed loved one. As Cyber affairs rapidly become a prominent issue in divorce cases, the book addresses how Cyber widows or those left in the aftermath of such an event will survive."
Dr. Kimberly S. Young, Founder and President of Center for On-Line Addiction and author of Caught in the Net


"If life has appeared to be treating you poorly in recent days, you need a good laugh. Try reading Revenge of the Computer Widow by Nattalia Lea. In the 11,820 seconds (that’s 197 minutes for those weak in numeracy) it took me reading non-stop (except for bursts of laughter), Ms. Lea goes from 1800 BC (when the computer was in the mathematical womb) through the 14th Century Yuan Dynasty. Then creators of what was eventually the abacus, which even today in the right hands can equal many (most?) when it comes to totaling numbers on a modern computer. Lea also gets more modern explaining the now 37 year-old text-only Internet. The Internet was created and generously donated to the world I would point out by DARPA, the American military think-tank – that barely could walk until hackers showed it how, to the dynamic colorful 30 frames per second visual global fire hose (with T1 or fiber-optic line) it is today.

Lea built her access ramp of humor to the Information Highway everywhere. Her Mac fan versus Microsoft fan jokes for starters should be enshrined in the Apple Hall of Fame immediately.

Read this reasonably-priced book based on Lea’s lifestyle survey of 800 widely and wildly-mixed computers to see where stand in the New 21st Century World. Astral signs, psychological, personality and computer types, family status and computer addiction, it’s all there. Seek and thou shall find.

Don’t just sit there in front of your computer, go out and BUY IT."
Frank Ogden, a.k.a. "Dr. Tomorrow" e-mail:[email protected]

Here's a look at the table of contents, or "levels"...

Introduction
Level 1 -- Metamorphosis of the Magic Black Box
Level 2 -- Silicon Cowtown, how Digital Cowboys came of Age
Level 3 --. Meet the Nerd Next Door
Level 4 -- Sex, Computers or Chocolate
Level 5 -- Geek Consumerism
Level 6 -- Young Hip and Now; A Career In Computers
Level 7 -- De-Coding the Geek Mystique
Level 8 -- Geek Girl Power
Level 9 -- Digital People and Techno-Cults
Level 10 -- Humor in Hyper-Drive, Boolean Logic and Binary Code
Level 11 -- Nerds in Love
Level 12 -- Forever On-Line
Level 13 -- Cruising Cyberspace for Sex, Money and Love
Level 14 -- Computer Widows Speak Geek-Free
Level 15 -- Crossing the Digital Divide; Overcoming Computer Phobia
Level 16 -- The Lego Effect; Raising Your Computer Quotient
Level 17 -- Games People Play
Level 18 -- Star-Gazing For Web Cruisers, Luddites and Super Geeks
Level 19 -- Revenge, Indictment and Black Widows
Level 20 -- Homo Geek,The Next Generation
Epilogue
Index
Bibliography
Appendices

  • Appendix I: Computer History 101 Time-Line
  • Appendix II: Revenge of the Computer Widow Survey
  • Appendix III: Salary Survey
  • Appendix IV: Glossary of Terms

Revenge of the Computer Widow
Now Available!

Only $29.99 plus shipping and handling.





Or you can treat those Prozac moments in your life with a dose of...
Miracles for the Entrepreneur

-- a must have funny book for anyone in business.