People at work are loving the new Discovery Channel show "Planet Earth." However, one colleague described a heartbreaking scene where a mama elephant has to leave the worse-performing of her two babies behind during a …

I won a little competition, so Gareth L. Powell will, as I suggested, name a protagonist in his new story "Shweta Venkatesh." I found out about the contest from the Futurismic blog. Futurismic is publishing …

Yesterday, I sat down over coffee with the Fog Creek system administrator and learned how a specific piece of our network architecture works. As he talked and I asked questions and tried saying things in …

Patrick McKenzie has a funny story from Palm Sunday, with a child's suggested revision of the holiday's name. I pointed out to Leonard that this child has an admirably meritocratic view of holiday-naming, where the …

So Adam Parrish and I have different readings of a recent essaylet by Aaron Swartz. Look, I've never read any of this Steven Johnson stuff, so I can't speak to Swartz's* criticism there. But when …

Now, I foist upon you an extended excerpt from Rachel Chalmers's "I follow my nose": ...It occurs to me that all the really important decisions of my life - who to marry, where to work, …

Edward James Olmos + Admiral William Adama = Does Eddie Adama have a deal for you?! Just look at the prices on this Raptor! Why are my prices so low? I have no choice. Just …

Speaking of horror: Dr. Andrew L. Creighton once told my Sociology class that he watches a particular clip from Alien when he needs to stay awake. He was a fantastic lecturer, and the best PowerPoint …

Morning work discussion included proposing which films, and which films' special effects, still hold up on contemporary viewing. Suggested watersheds in special effects: Star Wars, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, The Matrix. Candidates without a broad …

In a discussion about She-Hulk #1 this morning: "Robert's Rules of Order are not a suicide pact." -Leonard.Thanks for the recommendation, Zed.