Bryan Hewlett wrote:
> It would be intriguing to pole the 'netters', in order to find the ratio of
> 'Breathers' vs 'Non-Breathers', how about it folks?
> It would also be intriguing to find out why the 'Breathers' think it works?
> ... 'Huffing', that arcane, gentle, open mouthed art that Jeff describes.

Dear Bryan,   I'm a breather. 

Gentle low-velocity oral exhalation helps a lot when static 
electricity renders ribbons unduly unruly. As to why? How 
about the same reason that static generally is reduced by 
humidity?  

The dry/damp stuff is probably explained in physics books 
for schoolchildren, but I stopped reading them more than 40 
years ago, and can't remember why water vapour discharges
static.
             John.
-------------------------
John A. Kiernan
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
The University of Western Ontario
London,   Canada   N6A 5C1
   kiernan@uwo.ca
   http://publish.uwo.ca/~jkiernan/