I just got an add from Dell for "A laptop as unique as you are". I'm in a cubicle, reading e-mails, scamming time by reading on the net, i live in the burbs, have one child who watches too much TV, and have an unhappy marriage... I think their laptops come in 3 or 4 models.

Resistance is futile. You will be cuddled.

OK, I've gone the "all identical sock" route and its 75% of awesome. I have two sock types: black for work (suit, tie, aaarrrgggh) and white for sneakers, working out etc. The white ones are 100% of awesome: ten-20 socks in the drawer, they all match. Black one are 50% of awesome: they get different cleaning/fading histories. So I'm still pulling out one and looking for the best match in terms of shade.

You guys have fabulous balls!

I didn't like it. It was like Wes Anderson made a stop-motion movie. Actually I quite like his movies, but I took my 10 year-old to see it and ... eh. Nothin like Chick Run or a dozen others as far as the kids go...

Is it bad of me to say that I watched those hips with the the sound off three times and... aaahhh... I'm done now? Yes, I think it is.

Solo fired first.

speaking of making things, but almost entirely off the point, I was reading: http://networkchallenge.darpa.mil/ and I remembered that Wil Wheaton has a posse.... go for it.

Dan Rydell: They say it's always calmest before the storm. That's not true. I'm a serious sailor. It isn't calm before the storm. Stuff happens. Eli's coming.

Less words: Minutes later, I walked down a landscaped path toward a mirrored building. Workers with badges stood under a tree, staring at infinity while they talked to each other through machines. They ignored me. I passed. Through automatic doors I entered a spacious atrium.

What would you do, if you knew you couldn't fail?

And I love Neal Stephenson's Baroque trilogy, but if you can tell me why that is considered Sci-Fi then I'll give you a piece of heavy gold. (OK, if you can tell me of anything other than the heavy gold and its restorative properties...). Its definately set in a real world and it'll teach you more history than a thousand text books.

Reading these lists I'm amazed by how much lame-ness there is in picking the "new" books. Lets set 10 years as the difference between new and old. That's What Wil W. Would Do. For "new" read anything by Iain M. Banks' ... but ignore books by Iain Banks (inside joke, but serious). And if you get into that try China Mieville's "Perdido Street Station" and "The Scar", but don't imagine you'll get a happy ending. To my mind these are the best two writers producing serious Sci-Fi today. If you want humorous fantasy then TP's your man. (all British, but very different people... is there a reason for that?)

Old: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein New: The Scar by Chine Melveille (or some similar name... there's a spare "e" in his last name) Wil, great idea to have one old and one new.... if you like that person's "old" you'll probably like their "new".

it rocks + its polka = it rolks

Good to see the Long Walk mentioned. Whatever happened to the writer, Bachman...? cast

>>Academic discussions about the reliability of "six degrees" aside, wouldn't you all agree that it's much more likely in 2007 that sharing this Conet challenge online, including a place like my blog that gets a fair amount of reders, increases the chance that someone who is willing to respond to the challenge will actually be made aware of it? Sure, far more than passing notes... However, I know the kind of people who might know these kinds of things. The papers that they sign don't say that things are classified only until you leave, retire, or die. They also don't say that the maximum penalty is a hefty fine...

More detail from "Small world phenomenon" on wikipedia: Milgram sent 60 letters to various recruits in Omaha, Nebraska who were asked to forward the letter to a stockbroker living at a specified location in Sharon, Massachusetts. The participants could only pass the letters (by hand) to personal acquaintances who they thought might be able to reach the target — whether directly or via a "friend of a friend". While 50 people responded to the challenge, only three letters eventually reached their destination. Milgram's celebrated 1967 paper [1] refers to the fact that one of the letters in this initial experiment reached the recipient in just four days, but neglects to mention that only 5% of the letters successfully "connected" to their target. In two subsequent experiments, chain completion was so low that the results were never published. It goes on to say that later researhers were more successfull and "For those chains that did reach completion, the number six emerged as the mean number of intermediaries." But i think its wishfull thinking to think that people are really that connected... they just have a certain intelligence about how to route mail. i.e. six degrees of seperation is B.S.

The whole "6-degrees of separation" thing is a bit of an urban legend. I think the history of that was that a college professor in NY gave a letter to his graduate students and told them to pass it to people who they thought could pass it to his buddy in SanFran. On average it took six steps to get there. If it were me I would send it to the one person I know in SanFran who would send it on to someone he knew in that area etc... I would be surprised if it took six steps. HOWEVER, that was a very directed experiment... they knew where the link had to be and they found it. In my case the guy I know in San francisco is probably not in my top 200 contacts. AND the letter was to someone in the same country within the same socio-economic do-hickey. Unless you include obscure contacts there are a lot more than 6 degrees between people in the world. An obscure contact would be "I've met my congressman, he's probably met Wil's congressman, and I expect Wil's met his congressman so I'm 3 degrees from Wil." Oh and, a higher pitched voice is much easier to hear through static.. or so i've been told...

Dude, sorry but I don't parlay I-taliano... speeke english? After all: Te audire non possum. Musa sapeintum fixa est in aure.

Monty Python could have done it. the difference between SNL sketch comedy and the English tradition of sketch comedy is that SNL style requires every sketch to last at least 5 minutes... how can that possibly work? In one show (within the Argument Sketch) Monty Python did have a visit to a Complaints Department. >>Protagonist Opens Door >>Protagonist: "I'd like to complain..." >>Complaints department guy: "You want to complain! Look at these shoes I've only had them two weeks and they're completely..." >>Protagonist shuts door. So my version of the Baggage Department would be: >>Protagonist opens door marked Baggage Department. >>Clerk behind desk speaking on the phone: "Mother, I've told you I can't go over this again while I'm at work..." >>Hangs up phone. >>Protagonist closes door.

One day it was announced by Master Joshu that the young monk Kyogen had reached an enlightened state. Much impressed by this news, several of his peers went to speak to him. "We have heard that you are enlightened. Is this true?" his fellow students inquired. "It is," Kyogen answered. "Tell us," said a friend, "how do you feel?" "As miserable as ever," replied the enlightened Kyogen. --ANONYMOUS--