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.

Honda made the <A HREF="http://www.metacafe.com/watch/7521/cool_honda_commercial/">best commercial ever</A>. Now it has made one that's almost as good. Call it a concerto for Civic and chorus.

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?

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.