Just a brief constructive criticism on Rudy's survey on life expectancies
(meant in good spirit, not as a criticism - so no flames).  I think it is a
luadable thing for Rudy to offer to do (not to mention a lot of work), but
I am afraid the answer would be statistically biased.  The survey would be
conducted among internet-types and, while I think that access might still
be growing rapidly among all segments, is biased towards young people
(remember - it started in academia, which is just full of college students.
 As a result, many of these readers may not have had ferrets long enough to
live out their life, unless it was unusually short.  As a result, you may
get a boas towards shorter life spans.  This doesn't say its not worth
doing the survey, only that there may be a bias in the answer.
 
Best - Mason (Slinky and Leila have nothing to say about statistical
matters, and Pogo doesn't have a lot to say about very much at all yet!).
[Posted in FML issue 1150]