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I'm addicted to science news, in case you haven't noticed, so one of the best discoveries I've made recently is Seed Media's <I>ScienceBlogs</I>, which is billed as "the web's largest conversation about science. It features blogs from a wide array of scientific disciplines, with new voices coming on board regularly. It is a global, digital science salon."

Back in college, I used to spend <I>waaay</I> too much time in the morning contemplating all the text on the label of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. One day I realized that this was a bad way to start the day before coffee and I began to decant the stuff into unlabeled bottles. Still do, for that matter. If you've never seen the original, the quotes are no less random in sequence.

That's what a newly discovered 1763 copy of an earlier map is said to "prove." Has anybody else out there read Kim Stanley Robinson's alternative history <I>The Years of Rice and Salt</I>? It's a good 'un.

Evidence that a Black Hole leaves a dent in space-time "just like a dimple in one's favorite spot on the sofa."<I>Right</I>, that's precisely the homey metaphor that immediately occurred to me. Isn't anybody else alarmed by alterations in reality as we perceive it? i mean, it is all about <I>me</I>, isn't it?

The recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and T.H.E. Show exhibits at Las Vegas' Alexis Villas and St. Tropez hotels reminded us once again that many audiophiles turn their passion into a business. Have you ever thought about starting up or working for an audiophile-oriented business?

Apple's release of its latest version of the iTunes software for Macs on January 10 promised "stability and performance improvements" over the 6.0.1 version already in existence. It also included a new iTunes MiniStore feature that "watches" what you click on your library or playlist and, when you double-click on a selection to play it, changes its display to reflect "matches" you might consider purchasing. This means that iTunes 6.0.2 is sending your now-playing information to an outside server.

Certain ideas (or <I>memes</I> in Internet jargon) seem to achieve instantaneous critical mass, at least if you judge them by how frequently certain web URLs are transmitted among friends. One article that appeared in our inbox many times this week linked us to research by music psychologist Adrian North of the University of Leicester, who led a team of researchers who monitored 346 people for two weeks, evaluating how they <A HREF="http://www.toptechnews.com/news/Research-Claims-MP3s-Create-Apathy/stor… to music</A>.