Tom the Dancing Bug: Why Johnny Joins the Taliban. Link relayed by an Awaiter who commented, “it’s pathetic that anyone even has to point this out.” Funny, tho.

Many years later: Newer link.

Then Charlie drove in with a great big grin
Past the signs of “do not enter”;
While the warning beeps made a raucous din
In the operations center;
Fred said “Charlie, come back if you please,
You’re making me kind of nervous,”
While by degrees all the ISPs
Were reporting lack of service.

(thanks to Avram Grumer for the link)

George MacDonald Fraser’s Lord of the Rings

2010: That link is unsurprisingly dead; try this one, though it’s probably not the same story.

The Blogs of War suggests that there’s room in the market for a left-wing rag featuring n*ked l*dies. What should it be called? Playboy?

Recently a friend said to me out of the blue, “Home is where you wear your hat!” I spun mental wheels for a moment and came back, “Character is who you are in the dark!”

You know what that means (skip down to March 06), or you don’t, and don’t sweat it. By the way, JL: he spells it Bigbouté.

Gary Farber observes that science reporters would benefit by exposure to some of the clichés of science fiction.

Awesome orbital simulations in Java, including an answer to “everyone’s favorite question about Klemperer Rosettes. Is Larry Niven’s Puppeteer solar system stable?”