Nicer in Iowa

Big city people won't ever believe you when you say that small-town folk are nicer, but it's true. It isn't that they aren't worldly enough to be savvy, it's that they spend a bit more time looking at people and getting to know them than most of the world does. When I lived in Southeast...

Dot the i’s with circles

My sister had a book on handwriting analysis that I stumbled across in 4th grade. Being a gullible kid, I believed every word -- that my aggressively-crossed t's indicated that I was a braggart, while the backward slant of my l's said I was introverted and shy. I'm not denying that I was all those...

Spam and Gouda, part 2

Monty Python doesn't get much credit for their contribution to technology, but geeks have always loved the Flying Circus. Beyond their help in christening e-mail spam, they (or, rather, the game developers who adored them) also took the first steps to anti-pirating software. Today when you buy a new game (assuming you're still purchasing DVDs...

Spam and Gouda, part 1

I often hear people ask why unwanted e-mail is called spam. Nobody ever gives the right answer to this. How do I know? Because I was there, kiddies. I remember. Pull up a chair and I'll tell you a story ... a story of a lamer time, when many of us had heard of this...