[Click for answer to #1]

I intersected the lines y = -3x + 1 and y = 1/3x - 2 and got the point (9/10, -17/10). Its distance to the point (0, -2) is 3/1010^(1/2).  You could also intersect  y = -3x - 2 and y = 1/3x + 1 and get the point (-9/10, 7/10), whose distance to (0, 1) is also (naturally),   3/1010^(1/2).

Created by Mathematica  (December 3, 2004)