Why are some people -- like, ahem Susan Sarandon -- so freaking happy about the Big Blackout? Becuase it makes America look like the rest of the world. But maybe the leason she's missing is that the rest of the world should try looking like us. Read the full story.

Women and families are heading to the Texas geek fest. Read the full story.

On the 14th of August I saw my first annoying political ad of the 2003 presidential campaign season. And it wasn't on TV ... it was in my inbox.

The message was from Gov. Howard Dean (but don't look for an apology on his Web site -- you won't find one) and was sent by "SuperEmailBargains.com".

It was pure spam, the sort of unsavory, unsolicited, annoying e-mail that politicians like Dean normally demand government regulation to prevent.

How do I know its spam? Well, I can safely say there's no way in hell that I would have visited a Howard Dean Web site, opted into his mailings, registered Democrat or otherwise given my explicit or implicit ok to receive an e-mail from him.