Apr 29

The seven stages

Posted on by

If you read a lot, you’ll probably have the same reaction to “The Seven Stages of Falling in Love With an Author” that I did — which was “That is so true!” I’ve gone through that process many times, especially the Worry and Denial stages. (For me, the Denial stage is mostly Withdrawal.)
Tamara has clearly discovered another aspect of the Acceptance stage. If you can’t read any more books by your favorite author, you can at least try to get your friends addicted to the stuff. That’s almost as much fun.

Apr 28

Getting rid of junk mail

Posted on by

A year or two ago, I noticed that virtually all of the paper mail addressed to me was junk, and I decided to find out what I could do about it. After researching my options at Junkbusters, I did two things:

  • I signed up for the Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service, which is basically just a list of people who have asked that DMA members not send them any mail.
  • Because the vast majority of junk mail that I was getting consisted of offers to lend me money in some fashion (pre-approved credit cards, mortgage refinancing, home equity loans, and so forth), I thought it was worthwhile to also sign up for the Opt-Out list maintained by the four credit reporting companies. This list informs lenders that I don’t want to receive offers from them by mail.

I’m not sure what result I was expecting, but I was astonished to find that these two actions eliminated virtually all my junk mail. These days I receive almost none. So if you are tired of junk in your mailbox, these are a couple of things you probably should try.
Note: After I signed up for the Mail Preference Service, the DMA started charging a one-time fee of $1.00 for it. That’s mildly annoying, but I wouldn’t hesitate to pay it if I were signing up today.

Apr 27

No good deed goes unpunished

Posted on by

On the evening of April 25, while driving home from work, I accidentally strayed a foot or so onto the right shoulder of Highway 1. As luck would have it, there is a deep pothole in that particular stretch of shoulder. BAM! Flat tire.
While I was struggling to get the lug nuts off, a pickup truck stopped on the shoulder behind my car. It was a company truck bearing the logo of the construction firm that’s handling the I-540 project, and the driver was a construction worker wearing a hardhat and an orange safety vest. He brought tools from his truck and took over the task of changing my tire. In a few minutes, he was done. After I shook his hand and thanked him, he got back in his truck and drove away.
I didn’t get his name, but I wrote down the name of the company and the number on the side of the truck. The next morning, I called the company’s Raleigh office and left a message saying that I would like to find out who my anonymous benefactor was, so I could write a letter to his supervisor expressing my gratitude for his help.
This morning, they called me back. The caller was a very nice woman who explained that, while they appreciated my call, it’s best if I don’t write that letter. It turns out that their employees are not allowed to stop and help people. In the past, some people who were aided have responded by suing the company. So the company now has a policy forbidding that sort of rescue. The worker who changed my tire was breaking the rules by doing so.
I was stunned. I told the nice lady that I didn’t blame them for their policy, but I was appalled that people would sue them under those circumstances. She agreed, and assured me that I didn’t get the worker in trouble by calling. Her husband is the man’s supervisor and has told him, off the record, that he did a good thing by helping me out. But officially, he shouldn’t do it again.
I thanked her and agreed to let the matter drop.
What kind of person would repay a spontaneous act of kindness by filing a lawsuit?

Apr 20

Exit the Dragon

Posted on by

Dragon Magazine has been a part of the Dungeons & Dragons gaming hobby for over three decades. From its inaugural issue in 1976, Dragon was published every month — first by TSR Inc., then (after TSR went bankrupt in 1997) by Wizards of the Coast, and finally (after WotC outsourced its periodicals in 2002) by Paizo Publishing.
But later this year, the magazine will close its doors. Dragon and its sister magazine Dungeon will cease publication after their September issues. In its announcement, Paizo stated that WotC will be “moving to an online model” for publication of those kinds of content.

Apr 06

Bamboo saves the planet

Posted on by

I was pleased to read on the Cali Bamboo site that the problem of global warming has been solved:

It is believed that if bamboo were planted on a mass basis it could completely reverse the effects of global warming in just 6 years, and provide a renewable source of food, building material, and erosion prevention.

Sounds good to me. I’m glad that’s settled.

Apr 06

A place to write stuff

Posted on by

Ben has started a new blog. He says its purpose is “to have a place to write stuff”. Despite the title (But Seriously . . .), it’s actually rather amusing. Well, it makes me laugh, anyway. Check it out for yourself and let him know what you think.
I notice that he’s using WordPress, as Bob and Virgil do for their blogs. Perhaps I should find out what advantages WordPress has in comparison to Movable Type (which is what I’m using here). A lot of people seem to like it.

Mar 30

The Hex Nut of the Giants

Posted on by

Science reporter John Tierney has challenged his readers to come up with an inventive name and/or explanation for the Saturn hexagon.
I’ve already posted one theory about it, but here’s another one: it’s part of a publicity campaign by the Saturn Corporation. You know, the company that makes Saturn cars. They will soon be unveiling a new vehicle called the Saturn Hexagon, and the six-sided feature on the planet Saturn is just a really big billboard.

Mar 28

Polar vortex

Posted on by

A polar vortex is (in the words of Wikipedia) “a persistent, large-scale cyclone located near the Earth’s poles.” But some other planets have them too. Saturn, for example, has vortices at both of its poles. The south polar vortex is pretty typical; it looks like a giant hurricane. But Saturn’s north polar vortex is hexagonal. Nobody knows why.
When I saw the pictures of Saturn’s polar hexagon, the first thing I thought of was the Well of Souls series of novels by Jack Chalker. It takes place on the Well World, a planet almost entirely tiled with hexagonal features that are visible from space. But the Well World is an artificial structure. And, ironically, the poles are among the few parts of it that are not covered by hexagons. (The only other exception is the equator.)
So Saturn’s polar hexagon must be caused by something else. I’ll bet there’s a black monolith at the center of it.

Mar 26

The dawn of blogging

Posted on by

According to CNet, the phenomenon of blogging is ten years old this year — but we don’t really know who invented the blog. It depends on exactly how you define the term. You can read the CNet article and decide for yourself who deserves to be called “father of the blog”.
I don’t agree that blogs originated in 1997. If you ask me, The Daily Illuminator qualifies as a blog, and its archives go all the way back to 1994.
Source: Buzz Out Loud podcast