5:30 a.m.

After more than a year and a half of being a dad, I’ve come to the conclusion that 5:30 a.m. is the golden time, or as close to it as I’m likely to get. On a good day, Sue’s asleep, StarGirl is [fingers-crossed] asleep, and I can catch a shower and spend an hour writing … Read more

Debate at the State

Easton’s historic state theatre is hosting a debate featuring four candidates — Republican, Democrat, Libertarian and Green — for the House of Representatives. The event will be held Thursday, Oct. 14 at the State Theatre on Northampton Street in Easton, Pa. It is sponsored by the Express-Times (Easton’s daily newspaper), moderated by State Theatre Executive … Read more

Attack of the Pod People

Radio sucks. iPods are everywhere. So someone got the brilliant idea of bypassing the vast audio wasteland that is the radio dial nowadays, and broadcasting original content directly to people’s iPods. Well, almost directly. The idea behind “podcasting” is brilliantly simple. We’ve already got a standard for syndicating text content on the Web, called “RSS” … Read more

Democrats Want Me

The Democrats want me. Really they do. Why else would they keep calling me at home? Over the last month, I’ve received two phone calls from Democratic volunteers querying me about how I intended to vote in the election (and, of course, drumming up voter participation in general — presumably not mentioning that would get … Read more

Thoughts from a 17 Month Old’s Dad

Talk Soup: StarGirl’s language skills are growing tremendously, and she’s starting to combine words into phrases, including “Hi Daddy” and “Hi Mommy!” This is very cool, and surprising — I mean, heck, I knew she’d be talking eventually, but it’s downright shocking the first time you ask a question, and get a real answer back. … Read more

John Kerry, Luke-warm Warrior

I’ve been watching John Kerry’s “swift boat” controversy with some interest for the last few weeks. At this point I’m one of those all-important uncommitted independent voters who hasn’t decided which lesser evil he wants to vote for yet. I haven’t seen any of the infamous “Swiftie” ads attacking the circumstances surrounding Kerry’s valorous conduct … Read more

Thoughts on the New iMac

It’s no great secret around here that I’m a Mac fan, but I’ve got to say that Apple’s design for the new iMac has left me cold. As with the previous iMacs, it’s an all in one design. This time around though, that design takes the form of a flat-screen monitor that’s been bulked up … Read more

Oh I Wish I Were in the Land of GenCon…

GenCon, that gaming mecca held once a year in Indianapolis, is drawing to a close. And despite having gamed until unconsciousness at our home-grown NukemCon convention, I really wished I’d been there. The immensity of GenCon — the thousands of gamers gather together to play countless games, the cathedral-like exhibition hall, the electric buzz of … Read more

Questioning the Questions about Home Schooling

CNN has a story about the growth of home schooling in the United States, which has increased by 29% since 1999. What I found interesting about the article isn’t the growth of home schooling — it’s hardly a surprise to anyone outside of liberal circles (and maybe them as well), it’s this paraphrase from Ted … Read more