Random Thoughts

I'm guest blogging for Elayne on the 29th and 30th, as she's headed to a con. What do people expect from a guest blogger? Should I be trying to appeal to Elayne's audience, or should I just be myself and hope nobody quits reading in disgust? Should I pick a topic in advance and do a couple of blogs on that? Thoughts? Suggestions? What do you expect when a guest blogger is writing at a blog you like?

Browse the news with images. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. via Slashdot

Where are the most dangerous intersections in your state? I wasn't surprised too much by the Washington State list. via OxBlog

Eugene Volokh on voting machine problems. Key quote (which he quoted from The Washington Post): School Board member Rita S. Thompson (R), who lost a close race to retain her at-large seat, said yesterday that the new computers might have taken votes from her. Voters in three precincts reported that when they attempted to vote for her, the machines initially displayed an "x" next to her name but then, after a few seconds, the "x" disappeared. In response to Thompson's complaints, county officials tested one of the machines in question yesterday and discovered that it seemed to subtract a vote for Thompson in about "one out of a hundred tries," said Margaret K. Luca, secretary of the county Board of Elections. Frankly, that sounds like the vote was tainted and there should be a revote. You can't do a recount, because the only back-up is the faulty machines themselves. See the problem?

Johnny Bacardi directs my attention to Born Today, which gives you some celebrities (with quotes) that were born (or died) on a particular day, like my birthday.

Oh yeah, the BBC has put up some new Doctor Who in time for the 40th anniversary. These are animated shorts for the true fanatics, featuring Richard E Grant as the Doctor in Scream of the Shalka.

You can also find DC for February on the DC website. Best solicitation: Plastic Man #3 - Kyle Baker takes comics' most pliable hero on his wackiest adventure yet! Will Plastic Man take it on the lam to clear his name? You'd want to clear your name, too, if it was Eel O'Brian! Agent Morgan continues to look great – and Woozy Winks continues to do stupid things because he's the comic relief! In PLASTIC MAN. How dumb do you have to be to be comic relief in PLASTIC MAN?

If you are at all interested in Aquaman, the next two issues are stand alones written by John Ostrander: Aquaman #13 - Aquaman rescues people from a storm, and Aquaman #14 - A reporter looks into the Aquaman mythos, and finds something unexpected. Then if you want to see what Rick Veitch did, there's a collection of his stories coming out in a couple of weeks, Aquaman: The Water Bearer, which collects Aquaman #1-4 and the lead story from the Aquaman Secret Files. I hope DC collects the rest of Veitch's run. Starting in February, a new creative team of Will Pfeifer, Pat Gleason, and Alan Davis on covers take over Aquaman. Aquaman #15 starts with an earth-moving event.

Current BBBB Computer Fund Total: $10.00 - Number of "Blue Screens" yesterday: 2