Family Condoms

The image says it all...

Now ISO 9001 compliant!

Charles Stross - the new Neal Stephenson

So, I was really disappointed when Neal Stephenson stopped writing that awesome cyberpunk (I hate the genre name but tend to love the actual books) and started writing those steampunk books. I've been moping around and reading other stuff, but I finally found a replacement...

Charles Stross writes amazing hard SF set from 20 to 500 years in the future.

He has a bunch of stuff (and a bunch of other stuff) online for you to read for free, and a ton of great stuff you can buy in stores. In particular, I recommend Iron Sunrise, Singularity Sky, and Glasshouse (which I just finished and loved).

Amusing anecdote: I just discovered that he invented the Githyanki, one of my favorite D&D monsters. I thought I would mention that to Deb, my wife. The conversation went like this:

Bobby: Do you know what a githyanki is?

Debbie: The name of Don Quixote's burro?

Which I, at least, thought was amusing...

Dream come true

Buy a human sized (7') hamster ball from Target for 200 bucks.

Dangerous = fun

What better way to burn down your house than making cool glowing plasma in your microwave with nothing but a grape and a glass?

Here's the video how-to.