I did a really dumb thing a few days ago: I was hosing off the pool deck, and fell in. With the water at 83 degrees and outside temps at 106 that would ordinarily have been a welcome break...except that my Samsung Note 4 smartphone was in my gym shorts pocket.

I tried hard not to hit the water, and bruised up my left arm a ( Read more... )

I got a note from a chap at a major NY publisher who's been reading Contra for some time and has a special interest in new business models, particular those that allow the reduction of retail returns. He thinks the notion of "just-in-time" bookstore replenishment will happen someday, but it ( Read more... )

• Here's a new concept weapon that suggests the first step toward the smart bullets that Peter Novilio was ducking in Chapter 1 of The Cunning Blood. How hard could it be to give the damned thing a CCD eye and steerable fins?
• I managed to get a new free Carl & ( Read more... )

During the five weeks I recently spent in the Chicago area, I saw something that I hadn't seen before: Retailers with a cash-only policy-and a small ATM by the front door. Although I have been slouching toward credit card use over the years, I have also run a small business, and I know that in ( Read more... )

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First of all, I need to be clear what the problem is here: I'm spread too thin on too many spare-time passions, and I'm not getting much accomplished on any of them. Keep in mind that I have a day job, though I don't talk about it much (simply because that's what I do all day, and there's a sameness about it that doesn't make for dazzling copy) and ( Read more... )

With the cost of natural gas exploding, the papers are running articles on alternative fuels again. Back when I tried this, your alternative fuels were wood, wood, and...lemme see here...oh yeah, wood. It was obnoxious, especially when we had a cold snap (this was in Rochester, NY) and everybody else on the block started throwing logs on the fire. ( Read more... )