Wes Phillips

Great, readable essay by William Gibson on the season that changed his life. He has some fascinating thoughts on H.G. Wells that have made me want to dip back into that writer's work.

Here's an article from USA Today about vendors selling fully loaded iPods on eBay. Is this a legitimate fair use issue? My gut reaction is no—if vendors were selling loaded iPods for market value or used value, it might not trip my BS detector. But when you are charging several hundred bucks extra for the 11,000 songs you've loaded on the iPod, it seems to me that you've crossed that fair use line in the sand—we've established what you are and now we're just negotiating price.

I link to this review of David Crystal's How Language Works not so much because it is deeply informative—I'm pretty sure I want to read it, but the review doesn't make that compelling a case—but rather because of my admiration at the way John Humphrys manages to work one of my favorite grammar jokes into the review.

The Inquirer goes medieval on DRM's butt. This rant is passionate and incandescent. Wish I'd said it, but linking to it is pretty satisfying, too.

This online dialog between Neal Stephenson and the readers of Slashdot isn't new, but I'd never read it before. There's good stuff on money, copyright, and his three deathmatch battles with William Gibson.

I'd try this myself, but I expect that Huckleberry's revenge would be severe.

Not just for cooling tweeters any more. Strangely arresting.