Now that I've had a couple of days to sleep and get most of my brain operational again, how about some stuff that other parts of me have stumbled across?

Building your own electronics is pretty difficult. The actual electrical engineering aside you still have to cut, etch, and drill your own printed circuit boards which is a lengthy and sometimes frustrating task. Doubly so when multi layer circuit boards are involved because they're so fiddly and easy to get wrong. There is one open source project that I know of called the Rabbit Pronto which is a RepRap print …

Last Saturday was 9/11, a day of infamy that went down in United States history as the day in 2001 when everything started going off the rails. In a strange sort of way, the year 2001 also figures into the history of science fiction thanks to the novel of the same name by Arthur C. Clarke, and the history of culture jamming and art hacking by way of license plate-sized wodges of linoleum and adhesive called Toynbee tiles. I've been fascinated by them for years, those cryptic messages which read TOYNBEE IDEA IN MOVIE 2001 RESURRECT DEAD ON PLANET …

One of the big draws at Dragoncon every year are the costumes: all shapes, all sizes, all genres. You name it, chances are there are two of 'em wandering around, a third trying to cool off in the late summer heat, and one more camped out by the Cruxshadows' table waiting for an autograph. But sometimes, just sometimes, you see something that's downright amazing. Harrison Krix, the brains and hands behind Volpin Props, along with his fiancee' Emily amazed everyone at D*C this year with costumes from the videogame Bioshock - Emily went as one of the Little Sisters, and …

I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last Thursday night due to getting ready for Saloncon 2008 and general problems getting a decent amount of rest these days. I think that part of it's the unusually high pollen count in the DC area right now and part of it's the air conditioning filter in the apartment (which Lyssa is having fixed today due to the fact that we can't get into the locked room in which the air conditioner is installed). Also, wedding stress is starting to mount with the end more than an month away. At any rate …

If you've wanted to do something for a while but can't think of when to do it, sit down and think about what it would really take. Once you know what you need, you'll know how hard it would be, and chances are it won't be nearly as difficult as it feels. Sometimes, the feel of something is quite different from the practical aspects of something.