Andy

What is the name of a game that involves hitting popping up animals with a hammer. I usually see this game in its mechanical version - it is a box with some machinery inside which makes rubber animals pop up seemingly at random and then hide. Attached is a rubber hammer the player hits the popping up animal before it hides. You score points for each hit. This is a game that I see often in malls or resorts near beaches etc. I wonder - what is its name?

I'm allergic to pollen. Have symptoms (running nose, sore eyes, sneezing) always late June through to late July. Was worse when I was a kid - I was seeing allergists as a kid and theory back then was it is actually caused by pollen from poplars. I now think this must be also some other plants, since poplars are done pollinating by now.

In any case: the question is - is this kind of allergy generic or is it related to plants that live here where I do? In others words - if I move to another climatic zone or continent - where plant species are largely different - is there a chance it will get better?

My in-laws want to buy a bottle of wine or port wine for our daughter with the intention that she will be able to drink it when she'll turn 18. She's turning 1 year old next week, so the wine would have to survive 17 years of storage. We don't have a cellar or a special wine fridge (though within this time we may finally get those) - the wine will be kept in a cabinet or in a regular fridge, which why I thought of port wine - maybe it would age better?

In any case: I need a list of recommended wines or/and port-wines available on the market and costing below $100/bottle that one could reasonably expect to survive 17 years.

I'm writing an e-mail responding to being nominated to a position in an org. I wrote "Thank you for responding and your trust. Will do my best not to fail you." but I don't like the negativity there. How to express this positively? Maybe there are some typical sentences used in this context that I could use?

How to open a Limited Company (equivalent of UK Ltd or US LLC) in NZ without being a resident there and preferably without even being there physically. Is it possible at all? And if yes, is there a guide how to do it, how much it costs and what obligations it creates? Maybe there are some services helping in establishing and operating such businesses?

The National Security Agency was created in 1952. Wikipedia says that it “was authorized in a letter written by President Harry S. Truman in June 1952. The agency was formally established through a revision of National Security Council Intelligence Directive (NSCID) 9 on October 24, 1952 and officially came into existence on November 4, 1952. President Truman's letter was itself classified and remained unknown to the public for more than a generation.”

When exactly NSA’s existence became public? Any sources? I remember reading in Bamford’s book that the US Congress learned of NSA’s existence in early seventies during investigations related to the Watergate affair, however I was unable to find any information on-line as to how and when this happened.

This question sounds like a joke, but in fact it is serious. We have just been wondering with my wife whether Amishes - who basically shun everything modern and technological - allow their women to use those products. So serious answers only, please.

How to get cheapest fare from Europe (Berlin, Dresden or CEE countries) to Chile in Dec-Feb?

I wonder... can a modern military submarine (like US or Russian nuclear attack subs) detect a sailing yacht on the surface via sonar or any means other than sticking the scope up and looking around? A sailing yacht is relatively small (no more usually than 40 feet), built of lightweight materials (mostly composite plastic, rarely aluminum or wood or steel) and usually is under sails, using its engine mostly to enter and exit ports. So the only sound it makes is the sound of the hull moving through water. Can modern passive sonars pick it up and distinguish from other sounds of the sea?

By best I mean:

- fast,

- cost efficient.

Best means:

- low dealer commission,

- certified source,

- preferably prices and the like available in the Internet.