Once the domain of spies, military incursion forces, and yachts of the super-rich, satellite phones are increasingly being used for business applications. Their main benefit: they let you send and receive calls just about anywhere. Places like oil rigs in the North Sea or Guatemalan jungles where pharmaceutical companies are searching for the next "miracle cure." Present-generation satellite phones offer coverage of nearly 90% of the planet's surface. To paraphrase Archimedes: "… give you but AC power and someplace to mount an antenna, and you can squirt the bird."

The speed with which humor migrates via e-mail explains why it's so hard to find any evidence that computers have improved job efficiency. A recent sampling from the Net: . . .

Squirt the Bird: To transmit a signal up to a satellite. "Crew and talent are ready . . . what time do we squirt the bird?"