Wondering where your favorite life-on-the-edge patron is, since usually he or she is at the library all damn day? Perhaps he or she is in jail. But there’s still no way to see if they’re at Harborview.

Telehaptics "combines virtual touch technology with networking to allow people to feel things locally that could be happening miles away." Teledildonics (probably worksafe) is more specific (probably not worksafe).

Speaking of deadly and mysterious incidents, do you miss the terrible tragedies of Kent, WA? Sure! We all do! Well, catch up on your old hometown’s mayhem.

Yes, the “funny” aspect of this story is the killer lava lamp (actually a much less funny shard of glass through heart), but here are the elements that make it an FP story:
1. Kent, WA
2. Trailer home
3. the lamp was being heated on the stove for reasons unknown
4. “Police found no evidence of drug or alcohol use.”

Some time ago, I deactivated fpcraig at this domain, after entering it into a "remove me" page. The spam bots are still hitting it—my mail host bounced ten messages in the last month—but even more troubling than that is that my gmail account with that alias is getting spammed. I can only infer that eventually every alias that has ever been identified at any domain will be tried at gmail.
As an experiment, I think I’ll set up an fpcraig alias in another domain I have access to, and which I know gets dictionary-spammed, to see if fpcraig is now just part of the spammers’ alias dictionary.
Update: five years on, I believe the gmail spam was due to some invitations I sent: I have not seen spam to fpcraig at any other domains I have access to.

If you live in a western state, you may, as of today, go to www.annualcreditreport.com to try to examine your credit report at any of the three major credit reporting agencies. So far, Experian’s server failed (the NSAPI plugin says "No backend server available for connection"), and both Transunion and Equifax have been "unable" to show me my report on the web. Less than wholly satisfying. I’d be interested in hearing other folks’ experiences.

Earlier, I was all sarcastic about some advice on protecting your child from syphilis by making sure that no visiting relatives have it. But in the 1920 book The care and feeding of children: a catechism for the use of mothers and children’s nurses, page 195:

“Are there any valid objections to kissing infants?
There are many serious objections. Tuberculosis, diphtheria, syphilis, and many other grave diseases may be communicated in this way. The kissing of infants upon the mouth by other children, by nurses, or by people generally, should under no circumstances be permitted. Infants should be kissed, if at all, upon the cheek or forehead, but the less even of this the better.”

Jeez! How long did this myth persist? “No, really, honey, I got it from kissing a baby!”

Later note: OK, turns out I wasn’t paying enough attention in health class. Syphilis can be passed by kissing if the sores are on the mouth. Never again will I mock old medical or child-rearing advice.

Would you like to discover the wonders of the Kamchatka peninsula? Why not visit by dogsled?

Earlier, I recommended Robert Sullivan’s book, Rats. One of the (many) cool things he mentioned was Audubon’s engravings of rats, which the modern observer can find (where else?) in New York, at the library!

If this blog had categories, this would be in the "shut up and think what I tell you" category.