A $40-Million Oops
It was front-page news early last week when federal regulators closed two insolvent financial institutions in Orange County, North America Savings and American Diversified Savings. But the names got mangled in some inaccurate broadcasts around the state.
When Channel 4 co-anchor Keith Morrison reported the news in Los Angeles, he inadvertently told KNBC viewers that “American Savings & Loan Corp.” had been closed. Because of this and mistakes by others, nervous depositors reportedly took out about $40 million from the branches of American Savings, which has deposits of almost $16 billion.
Co-anchor Kelly Lange corrected the error two days later, saying the word “North” had been dropped from the name of the S&L;, and Morrison gave this plug for the printed word: “Well, you know, that’s an example of why reading is so terribly important, isn’t it? One hopes that people will read more.”
It Gags a Computer
Looking for a way to liven things up on your neighbor’s personal computer terminal at work? If you’re at all computer literate, PC-Prankster may be just for you. This piece of software from Weirdware Co. of San Luis Obispo allows you to program an unsuspecting victim’s personal computer with any one of 10 gag messages that will pop up on the screen whenever you want.
The animated graphic gags, which include a face blowing a kiss, a flasher wearing a fig leaf and a blinking Cyclops, interrupt the victim’s work after he has typed a predetermined numbers of keystrokes. It could be every 10 strokes or every 10,000.
After the gag runs its course, the victim’s work reappears, without any damage, Weirdware marketing director John Ames promises. The best part of the gag, he says, is that it’s virtually permanent and anonymous and may take a computer expert to deprogram the gags.
Perhaps the only downside is that the program works only on IBM and compatible PCs. So if your boss or colleague has an Apple, you’ll have to think of something else.
Cruising to the Top
Black Enterprise magazine says Shack-Woods & Associates in Long Beach has moved into first place as the nation’s top black-owned auto dealership company. Last year, co-owners Bill Shack and Lenny Woods racked up total sales of $89 million, up from $48 million in 1986. The pair has accumulated a string of seven dealerships across California, Arizona and Colorado. The dealerships include Chino Hills Ford, Yucca Valley Ford, and the flagship Queen City Ford in Long Beach. Shack and Woods passed last year’s No. 1 dealer: Porterfield Wilson of Detroit, now in fourth place.
Glued to the Tube
This is a real Southern California story. We all know how hard working financial types are. So it’s not too strange that Gary Gray, chief foreign currency trader at First Interstate Bank, has three Reuters financial data screens at his home in San Marino.
One is near the television, so he can track foreign currency prices in London and Europe while watching the Lakers. Another is in his home office, where he also sleeps when he has a big position, say $200 million or so.
The third, in true Southern California fashion, is beside the swimming pool. So when he takes a dip, there’s no danger of First Interstate taking a bath.
