First, the good news. Neil Gaiman reads this site, which is really quite a compliment, since the man is one of my favorite authors.

He's worked in several genres, but I first came across his work when he was collaborating with Dave McKean in the classic Sandman series. The two did several books together, my favorite being the strange and moving Mr. Punch. He collaborated with Terry Pratchett in Good Omens, and he's written several great novels, including American Gods.

William Gibson, one of the defining authors of the "cyberpunk" movement and author of the classic Neuromancer, also reads here.

I'm also referenced on this very odd site. I'm not sure what's going on, but the idea that ninjas may be acting on an extraterrestrial level certainly gives me pause.

Turn signals are for the weak, but if you feel the need to use one, make sure you don't use it until after you've begun the maneuver. Remember: announce your decision, not your intentions! Keep 'em guessing.
When an officially-marked vehicle …

I think it was Sartre who once wrote something along the lines of, "walking away in disgust is not the same thing as surrender." Or maybe it was Camus. I'm pretty sure it was one of those Existentialists. Or maybe Absurdists. Probably just a little crazy, too.

In any case, insanity is defined as the practice of repeating the same action over and over again, expecting different results. That's kind of my relation with Internet Explorer.

I’ve had many positive experiences on eBay, and I consider it a great way to find obscure items. The feedback system is a great incentive for both buyers and sellers to operate in a professional and honest manner.

…

Well, I've got the 360 back. It took Microsoft a bit longer than expected, but three weeks isn't bad. Of course, I had the misfortune of having it malfunction just before they acknowledged the prevalence of the problem and extended the warranty to three years. As a result, mine was only one unit being returned in a deluge of others, so this was to be expected.

Still, three weeks or so isn't too bad of a wait considering I was dealing with what amounts to a massive corporate recall.

…and they said it couldn't happen here.

I've long considered manned space travel a dead-end. I suppose it comes from the fact that the Challenger disaster had burned itself into my memory as a child. I remember being stunned by the images coming back from the Voyagers at Jupiter and Saturn and getting my mind around the fact that those were whole other worlds. We could go such fascinating places with machines, but getting humans off the planet was obviously a costly, dangerous and futile proposition.

I could bolster that argument with the tragedies of Apollo 13, Skylab and recently, the shuttle Columbia. And for many years, I did.

No, I'm just happy to see you.

Got home from the new job tonight, and after greeting the dogs, I pulled everything off my belt and out of my pockets and flopped it down on the desk. I've never really stopped to look, but man, I carry around alot of stuff.

Left to right: Luna, Dante and Rashid.

Some people say ignorance is bliss. I think those people deserve to be killed with garden tools.

Ignorance is a cancer on our society, and it needs to be stamped out, not celebrated. There are those of us who think and act above the 5th-grade level, and we'd appreciate not feeling that we're a rare breed on the verge of extinction.

Well, it's official: Pluto is no longer classified as a sovereign planet. Lots of people who don't get out much are arguing and foaming over the mouth right about now over an issue that …

Over the last couple of years, all the telcos and cable companies around these parts have merged into one supermegaloconglamerate under the Comcast banner. That's what I'm stuck with, at least for cable television. Since I want cable …