Michael B. Duff

[Fascinating new way to market books!] Greg Bear's new novel, Hull Zero Three, is just out in hardcover — but you can read it for free if you go to a Starbucks from Nov. 23 to Dec. 7. Just use your computer or wireless device.

The country's borrowing costs shot up to 9% last week amid fears that the extent of the country's banking crisis would make it impossible for Ireland to keep paying back its debt.

A great concise explanation of what's happening and why it's scary, for people who don't have time to read 100 links a day on this topic.

Google Goggles is a very early version of Augmented Reality. Use your phone to take a picture of an object and Google will return search results related to that object. If it's a product, it'll take you to an immersive ad experience for that product. This will be a fundamental technology once they really do build it into Goggles.

"Agents have to think you're a genius. I know way too many people with semi-indifferent agents, and they don't like the way they're getting handled. If the agent has never really loved, genuinely loved something you've written, you should probably get out. Other than this, a lot of it depends on what you want from an agent. But publishing is a game of telephone: whatever your agent feels and says about your work is most of what comes back to you in terms of your career, and so it has to start out strong."

"If you had someone moving along the corridor, it would appear to a distant observer as if they had relocated instantaneously, creating the illusion of a Star Trek transporter," says McCall. "So, theoretically, this person might be able to do something and you wouldn't notice."

"Whew! I'd hate to see a powerful government official held responsible for his actions. What kind of message would that send to the children?"

Gap Inc., J.C. Penney Co. and other U.S. retailers may have to pay Chinese suppliers as much as 30 percent more for clothes as surging cotton prices boost costs.

Yipes! Stocks are down. Gold is down. Oil is down. Copper is down. I was really getting nervous about inflation so I'm going to tentatively call this "good news." Asia is tightening monetary policy and Europe is slowly coming to admit their losses, so there are a lot of deflationary forces out there.

No Blizzard. Just…no. The Mage set looks okay but belongs on the Warlock. The priest is wearing an aquarium on her head and a toilet bowl on each shoulder. And the Rogue, the ROGUE is wearing a GIANT SPOTLIGHT ON HIS HEAD. And the rest…the rest are just…stupid.

There's been some talk of whether Facebook needs a "thumbs down" option, but honestly that won't be necessary. At least, not if the "Meh" button ever comes to fruition, since that's how I feel about pretty much every newsfeed update.

The U.S. central bank, called the Federal Reserve, was created in 1913. No one promoted this institution with the slogan that it would make wars more likely and guarantee that nearly half a million Americans would die in battle in foreign lands, along with millions of foreign soldiers and civilians. No one pointed out that this institution would permit Americans to fund, without taxes, the destruction of cities abroad and overthrow governments at will. No one said that the central bank would make it possible for the U.S. to be at large-scale war in one of every four years for a full century. It was never pointed out that this institution would make it possible for the U.S. government to establish a global empire that would make Imperial Rome and Britain look benign by comparison.

It's no Yellow Submarine iPod, but it's official—The Beatles (are) For Sale.

Texting and calling work exactly the way you want it to, but you can't really change a lot of settings from the app. There's no way to add new phones or change calling groups or schedules or anything. But for the very basic functions, this is a winner. And it has push notifications as well as dialing from Google's direct access numbers for decreased connection times.

The EU's finely tuned (and well-greased by assorted bankers) Nash Equilibrium is about to become history. Austria is the first major country to say enough to Greece's endless lies. Why? Who knows – Austrian banks will be first on the firing squad line when, not it, Greece implodes. Perhaps even Europe is getting sick of this charade. Next up – every man for themselves, but only those who defect first win.

"My class size will have dropped by 50% by next year," Buffini said. "Even lecturers took part in the recent student protests over fees because society here is going to be left with very few educated people. My best friends have already left – they're doing bar work in Spain and Australia."

Horror movie production begins NOW! Working title: BACTIFIED

Taylor told the Howell, Mich., school board last week that he attempted suicide at age 9 because he was bullied for being gay. He was speaking on behalf of Howell High teacher Jay McDowell, who had been suspended for two days for asking a student to remove her Confederate flag belt buckle and for ejecting two students from class after a heated exchange about gay rights.

It's widely known that ultraviolet light has bacteria killing properties. Unfortunately, its usefulness is limited since it also harms us. But now researchers have developed a high intensity, narrow spectrum wavelength that's safe enough to be used as lighting in hospitals.