This is The 38th Signal, a weblog about design, coding, design, experience, design, constraints, cookware, and so much more. Established 2007 in Angola.

Mata Hari was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was executed by firing squad for espionage during World War I. Before she was executed by a firing squad, she was pretty successful at what she did. Here're a few tips from Mata:

Use an exotic name
Nobody's going to be impressed if you have a name they understand or can relate to. Get a name that means something in a language they don't understand. That automatically makes you more important to them, because other cultures are better than theirs.

Give the people what they want
Sexy Women have been in demand since there were Men. Men are the decision makers. Give them Sexy Women. Come on, it's not rocket science.

Show some skin
You've got it... don't hide it! Let them call you shallow or decadent or whatever, at least you have a business model that doesn't go out of style. See point number two.

Sleep your way to the top
There are some powerful people out there that know how to get you where you want to go... Britain, Spain, Germany, past enemy lines, wherever. Give those people what they want and you'll go far. See points number two and three.

Dress up nice for your execution
When all else fails, keep your sense of style and mystique until the end. And stay positive! If nothing else, people will wonder if there's something they're missing, which will keep them off their guard. After you're gone, they may make legends about you.

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There is undoubtedly a time and a place for agents when purchasing real estate. Maybe you don't know anything about real estate, or anything about buying things, or anything about anything. Getting an agent who does can certainly ease the frustrations of life.

But don't for a minute buy the baloney that your agent knows anything about anything either. Sometimes, they know about something, and maybe it's even something that's useful to your situation, like pricing and geography, but other times they simply don't know anything. For instance, I once had a guy who told me to buy a house in the Ural's since it was close to Asia. Right - like I care about Asia. Even if I did eat rice or wear silk, the roving Cossacks make the region too dangerous for habitation. Any agent worth his/her salt should know that, but this one didn't. Idiot.

The thinking goes that if you hire an expert, they know something about what they're talking about. It's important to question your supposed expert before hiring them to see if they really do. Pick up a book at the local library and ask them some questions on topics from the index. If they seem to know the answers, try some harder ones, and then maybe a word problem or two. The satisfaction of knowing that your agent is qualified will give you better piece of mind and help you find a better place to buy.

What this has to do with web design I simply can't tell you.

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