Feature Rich

The origins of defense contracting are shrouded in the mists of history — or at least cloaked by the Official Secrets Act. I’ll bet, though, that the original defense contractors were the guys who came up with the Swiss Army knife.
Really.
The Swiss Army knife inconveniently combines unrelated tools in a package which is simultaneously [...]

Press One for Frustration

Last week I realized that I can spend an entire day on the telephone and never have to speak to an actual human being.
Really.
After I’d returned a half-dozen voice-mail messages with tag-you’re-it-style replies, I tried calling to check on an order I’d placed and got to play Phone Menu Cryptography.  It’s the game where the [...]

Telephone Fun!

(Editor’s Note:  Next weekend I’ll be busy all day Saturday so I’m writing two essays and posting both of them this weekend.  The recording and release schedule will continue as usual.)
When the phone rings it’s like an alert that you’re about to receive an unexpected gift.  You drop whatever you’re doing – cleaning house, watching [...]

Cell Phone Zombies

I just finished reading Stephen King’s horror novel Cell.  It’s a frightening tale of the near future in which a mysterious pulse turns cell phone users into mindless zombies.  At the terrifying climax the zombies herd the heroes into an abandoned building and then …
WARNING:  The following description contains concepts and images dangerous to anyone [...]

Cell Out

For years I resisted buying a cell phone.  As near as I could tell, it was just a very long leash.  If I carried one I could never be alone or out of reach.  In a moment of weakness, I succumbed and, to my surprise … I found out I was right all along.
A trip [...]