Recent Comments

1. 9 days ago on Kliban

   Sentient quahogs.

2. 30 days ago on Kliban

   Yes, a mayo old soul was he.

3. about 1 month ago on Doonesbury

   I’m nearly 70, and my creative work – which includes composing, modular synthesis, computer animation, and film production – gives demonstrable proof that the lights are still on upstairs.

   There are 30-year-olds that have no business being in public office, and 80-year-olds whose wisdom and presence in public life is a gift to us all.

   It’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. I don’t have the answers here; there are clearly situations where it’s time to gracefully leave the stage. But bringing out the hook should be a response of last resort.

4. 2 months ago on Kliban

   I always loved Good King Wencil.

5. 3 months ago on Doonesbury

   I started when they were first syndicated … for example, I remember the first time the “guilty, guilty, guilty!” strip was published.

   But somewhere along the line, I stopped reading the Providence Journal (which printed Doonesbury) and was just reading the NY Times and the Washington post.

   As a result, many of these online reprints are completely new to me, and they’re a real joy!

6. 3 months ago on Prickly City

   So help me, this is a true story.

   There was a time – not all that long ago – when I augmented my income by doing freelance computer consulting. Mostly Mac, but sometimes PC, if the client was truly helpless.

   I had a client that called me over because her computer wouldn’t play a DVD. Ever helpful, I asked if she was sure it had a DVD drive. She said “yes, the DVD is in the computer right now.”

   I headed for her house, expecting to be working with the Mac I’d helped with many times before. The prescient among you already know that wasn’t the case.

   On her kitchen table was the Osborne 1 computer I had only encountered in the issues of Byte Magazine I had learned BASIC from, over 20 years earlier. For anyone who doesn’t know, DVDs (and in fact, CDs) had yet to be invented back when she had bought her Osbourne.

   I still give myself credit for not putting my head in my hands, as I patiently explained that she had wedged the DVD into one of the slots for the two 5.25" floppy drives the Osborne booted from.

   In addition, the portable’s extremely low-res screen was monochrome … either amber or green; I don’t recall which. The individual glowing dots that displayed each character were clearly visible. Definitely not DVD-friendly.

   I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of this story over the years; I hope you enjoyed it.

7. 5 months ago on Doonesbury

   Here, here.

8. 5 months ago on Doonesbury

   What about Walla Walla Wash, and Kalamazoo?

9. 6 months ago on Nancy

   This one really made me happy.

10. 7 months ago on B.C.

    Miff.