This post brought to you by the letter "B"

... and the user cflute.

Here's how it works: Comment on this entry that you'd like to play,and I will give you a letter.Write ten words beginning with that letter in your journal, including an explanation what the word means to you and why, and then pass out letters to those who want to play along.

For some unguessable reason, cflute has assigned me the letter "B":

1. Blog -- It only seems appropriate to open with blogs, blogging, and of course this particular blog that has come to play such an important part in my life. Everyone has to have an addiction.
2. Bits -- If it wasn't for bits, and the data and instructions they represent, I would probably be teaching math or philosophy at some Midwestern college. (Whether this would have been a better thing is left as an exercise for the reader.) If it wasn't for the ability to buy big boxes of bits at an exponentially-declining rate, I'd still be storing my words in notebooks, and my music on analog tape. Let's hear it for bits.
3. Binary -- There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. I had to throw that in somehow.
4. Boolean Algebra -- Intimately tied to the binary number system, computers, and logic, it was probably the clean simplicity of Boolean algebra that got me hooked on math and computers. In the long-ago days before the concepts of number systems and set theory were taught in grade school, Boolean algebra was quite a revelation.
5. Babbage -- Charles Babbage was, of course, the inventor of the digital computer (and thereby the inspiration for dozens of steampunk novels). Also the ruling engine and the diffraction grating. Contrary to popular myth, the precision of the tooling available to him was not what kept him from building a working Analytical Engine: it was the fact that he kept improving the design.
6. Books -- What can I say about books? Mom is a librarian; our house was always full of books, and everyone was always reading something. These days computers often take the place of print, but I still read a lot and our house is still full of books.
7. Birch -- I have to get woodworking in here somehow. Birch is a good, reliable hardwood; not as pretty as oak or maple, but with a nice even grain that doesn't get in your way and takes a good finish. In the form of Baltic birch plywood it's stable, smooth, strong, and a pure delight to work with. The door of my CD cabinet is made of it.
8. Boats -- Back in my misspent youth in Connecticut I used to crew for my uncle Lionel occasionally; he had a 26-foot Quincy Adams sloop on Long Island Sound. It spent winters in our side yard being refinished and repainted. I always figured I'd have a sailboat, and possibly even live on it. Didn't work out that way.
9. Bicycles -- I've always had a bike, and it used to play a big part in my life. But about 35 years ago I managed to damage my knee during a long ride, and my biking gradually tapered off to nothing. Ought to do something about that.
10. Boredom -- Something I'm very rarely afflicted with these days. Between a job and a wife I love, and two kids who I love no matter how exasperating they are, and hobbies like fandom, filking, and LJ, I'm hardly ever bored.
11. Bonus -- here are a couple more, bringing the total to a Baker's Dozen. Thirteen is my lucky number -- I was born on March 13^th (not a Friday, unfortunately).
12. Banks -- and banking, the reason my family have a roof over our heads, and can continue living somewhat beyond our means. And "Banks of Sicily", a darned good song that has often been filked.
13. Bush -- and in particular King George Dubya, who apparently thinks that the voice in the Burning Bush is talking directly to him. Won't somebody tell him it's only Rumsfeld?

Big brother is watching

Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling

A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.

"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.

ABC News does not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.

Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation.

They seem surprised. Damned if I know why.

The comments are a mixed bag -- everything from "leakers are traitors -- hang them" to "welcome to the KGB", plus a couple of moderately insightful folks asking where the media were when Bush was running for re-election.

Baycon final schedule

I just got the final schedule for Baycon (in [gulp!] less than two weeks).

1. Fri, 19:00, San Carlos/San Juan: Concert
   (right before cflute's concert)
2. Sat, 13:00, Cedar: Cynthia McQuillin Memorial
3. Sun, 13:00, Chardonnay: Found Filk
4. Sun, 15:00, San Juan: Filk Sing-A-Long
   Anyone with songs suitable for a kids' singalong is welcome to join in the fun. It would be useful, though not necessary, if you could bring multiple copies.
5. Sun, 20:00, San Jose: Music Publishing and Recording (M)