There may finally be signs of hope with this New York summer. Blown papers and small children no longer spontaneously ignite in the street; Manhattan is again visible from Brooklyn, and some of the neighbors have even left their hammocks and plastic patio chairs to go inside for the first time in two months. The scraggly tre…

This hybrid audio/text post has an optional soundtrack.

I first got pulled into computer programming - in a very loose sense - through the need to sell paintings. It was 1999, the Web was taking off, and it seemed like a good way to reach a large audience. The traditional way to sell artwork is through an art gallery, but as there…

The Space Shuttle Discovery is up in orbit, safely docked to the International Space Station, and for the next five days, astronauts will be busy figuring out whether it's safe for them to come home. In the meantime, the rest of the Shuttle fleet is grounded (confined to …