Jul 11
Hilary Moon Murphy of Minneapolis writes, Tyler, I keep hearing different styles of transportation touted as the “most efficient.” What is the most efficient way to travel? Most efficient can mean many things, depending on what you want to optimize your use of. Time, fuel, patience, argumentation about the route, etc. As an example of …
Jul 08
…I thought they might actually mean, “How long can you stand an elephant after it dies?” But on consulting prominent elephysiologists, I learned that elephant post-mortem standing is in fact a matter of some controversy in the field…. (MORE)
Jul 01
Some readers of an earlier blog entry wrote to say that while it’s important to be able to tell the difference between cheese and soap, the technique I described, which employs an electron microscope, is too cumbersome for daily use. (MORE)
Jun 15
Hilary Moon Murphy writes again to ask how to best repel mosquitoes. Now, my pal Socrates would leap right onto that question, but he wouldn’t answer it. Oh, no, that’s too easy. Instead he would ask another question, to wit: Are we sure that’s the question you really want answered? Is it necessary to repel …
Jun 13
A whitish-yellowish block. Could be cheese. Could be soap. How can you be sure? The answer can have definite consequences. Eating soap is unpleasant and bubbly. Cleaning yourself with cheese is ineffective, and attracts mice. In these and many other ways, being able to distinguish between cheese and soap is crucial to your continued happiness. …
Jun 09
Hilary Moon Murphy of Minneapolis wrote to ask how I developed my expertise. I sleep on books. I’ve found that if I place a book under my pillow at night, and skim the table of contents the next day, I can pretend to have read it. This saves a lot of time and lets me …
Young Rey wants to return the amulet to the Blue Wizard, but she's not easy to find! Rey and the Magic Amulet is a fantasy for younger readers. (Published under a different name to sow maximal confusion)
The Deep End is a steampunk intrigue with plenty of reprehensible characters, plots, poisoned stabby things, and a murder mystery where the sleuth has to suspect herself.
