No, no mom, I mean HOW do they pee?

Some naughty language, but otherwise work-safe.

Vylar_Kaftan is now on Twitter, for all of your tweeting needs. I think. We’ll see how this goes. Chirp chirp.

Come to think of it, I’m also interested in seeing some voice recognition software and experimenting with it. I know you have to train it to be specific to your voice, but I’d still like to see it. I would need Mac software eventually, but anything is fine for now.

Anyone have some? Anyone used it? How do you like it?

Anyone local have voice recognition software I can come over and see? (purplerabbit, maybe you do?)

This is the weirdest thing I’ve seen on the internet in a long time. And that’s saying something.

NSFW.

As my friend put it, “Has sound and unicorns jizzing rainbows and THAT IS NOT THE WEIRDEST PART.”

I’m considering a Kindle 2. Anyone have one, or an original Kindle? What do you think?

I’m especially interested if anyone coming to Potlatch has one that I can play with, so I can see how it works.

We started with pear champagne for me and blood orange champagne for Shannon. Then:

Amuse (appetizer): whisky smoked salmon mousse next to bergamot preserve on baguette toast

1st course: lobster purses on pea sprouts, paired with a sparkling wine

2nd course: frittata with duck & fig sausage and red potatoes, paired with a red wine

Intermezzo: champagne sorbet

3rd course: barramundi (fish) lacquered with mirin and served on a bed of couscous with a green curry sauce, paired with a white wine (I should have written which ones)

Cheese course: Andante Pianoforte paired with preserves, Torta la Serena Serra de Estrela paired with honey, and Rogue Creamery Rogue River Blue paired with apple slices and ginger biscuits, plus a white dessert wine

Dessert: Vanilla poundcake with orange custard and whipped cream

All at Nibblers, our very favorite restaurant, serving gourmet food in tapas-style portions. Nearly all organic and local foods, chosen personally by the chef.

Lemons, lemons…

I used to keep tropical aquariums. 10 gallon, 30 gallon, lots of different danios, tetras, and the like. I had a knack; some of my fish lived 3-5 years. Fishkeeping is half chemistry and half devotion. I changed their water faithfully and I kept the water chemicals balanced–things like the pH and ammonia levels and so on. Fish are incredibly sensitive to their environment; using soap on the aquarium might kill them all, for example.

My last aquarium in Phoenix was the biggest I’d ever kept. In Phoenix, I didn’t have a neighbor to feed the fish when I was away. I didn’t travel much, and usually it was just a weekend. For three days, I could let the fish be hungry; it wouldn’t hurt them.

But one time, I needed to be gone for eight days. I decided to try one of those vacation feeders. They gradually release food into the water so the fish can eat for a week. I went on my vacation, not too worried.

I returned to find 10 dead fish and a whole bunch of sick ones. Turns out the vacation feeders aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. It ruined the chemical balance in my water and killed a bunch of fish. A great fish tragedy indeed. Many eulogies were spoken over the toilet.

But here’s the kicker–no matter what I did to that tank afterwards, no matter what treatments I used or how I changed the water… I never got that tank healthy again. I kept losing fish. Randomly and inexplicably. They became ghosts in a haunted mansion. I had to abandon that tank.

Which brings me to my gloomy thought. Even if technology advances dramatically–even if we find a way to remove pollutants from the air or clean the oceans or cool the planet back down–it may never be able to sustain healthy humans again.

President Bush signs the Partial Birth Abortion Act.

President Obama signs the Ledbetter Act (a Fair Pay Act).

Discuss.

If anyone’s looking for stories to nominate for the Hugo, I’ve got my 2008 publications listed on my bibliography. Some are available online, and I’m happy to send the others to anyone who’s doing some reading right now. Just let me know.