Got enough work to keep you busy? I thought so, so you might not want to visit this page. It's home to a vast array of logic-driven pencil puzzles, from easy to impossible. You can subscribe, if you really don't have any work to do, but the free samples should keep you busy for quite a while. It's a Japanese publisher (Japanese language page), so the English instructions can be a little tricky to parse. The puzzles themselves are language-independent.

Found on the Net:

"Among a fringe community of paranoids, aluminum helmets serve as the protective measure of choice against invasive radio signals. We investigate the efficacy of three aluminum helmet designs on a sample group of four individuals. ... Statistical evidence suggests the use of helmets may in fact enhance the government's invasive abilities. We theorize that the government may in fact have started the helmet craze for this reason."

(Via Good Morning Silicon Valley)

In a Congressional hearing on high energy prices and oil company profits, Conoco CEO Jim Mulva said, "As Americans, we all feel for those who are less fortunate. We want to make sure they get the energy they need. We feel it's not a good precedent for one industry to fund a [energy assistance] program as such. We think that's a responsibility of the government."

Fair enough. And in fact the government already has a program to help low income families pay their heating bills. Unfortunately, that program is facing a significant budget cut, even as heating prices have jumped more than 50%. Funds are likely to run out in mid-January, right in the middle of heating season.

So, if it isn't the responsibility of millionaire CEOs to fund energy assistance through charitable contributions, and if a tax on windfall oil profits is out of the question, where would Mr. Mulva suggest the money come from?

The courts haven't spoken yet, but the citizens of Dover, PA have. Dover, of course, is the town whose school board required science teachers to read a statement emphasizing gaps in the theory of evolution and promoting intelligent design as an alternative view. Eight of the nine board members were up for re-election yesterday, and all eight lost.

I found this interesting article on self promotion over at 43 Folders. Aimed at musicians, but substitute "speaking engagement" or "book signing" for "gig" and most of what he has to say is applicable to anyone who depends on an audience.