More than  25,000  lined up in a Chicago suburb to compete for the 325 jobs open in new store. Some 150 million Americans shop each year at a Wal-Mart.

Recent studies say that for every dollar an employee earns, the boss gets $431.

Predictions of the obsolescence of fax machines in pre-mature. Last year more than 1.5    million were sold. Fax alone units  10 years ago cost $200. Today, faxes go for $45 ;multi-uses faxes for $99.

Newest marketing/ad rage is “word-of-mouth”; tapping into est. 27% of personal conversations that include product comparisons. Get the names:” Ground Forces,” “M80”, “BuzzPlant”, “Discovery Education Network.” Word of Mouth Advertising Assoc. 250 members in 18 months, reckons WOM is at stage where internet was 10 years ago. Is dream management next?

Pushing the envelope on advant garde ad copy, Volkswagen offered “Turbone-Cojones” tag line for new Volks AG. Said it was using the term in the American Translation of “daring.” No go; Hispanics vehemently objected to offensive term. Volks withdrew ads. Lesson? What’s provocative in one culture may be odious in Another

A customer walks into Cingular’s swank Park Avenue store to pay a bill. “Sorry but we don’t take cash,” was the clerk’s response. “We’re not setup to handle cash.” Harbinger ?