Ken Newquist Bill Gates is a very, very rich man. Perhaps wealthier than many of us could imagine, but even with all of his money, not even Bill Gates could afford to give everyone on the net a share of his fortune. Yet that’s exactly what a hoax that’s been circulating the net for decades (well, in … Read more
Not to long ago, I updated a hoax about killer South American spiders that were allegeldy infesting airplanes as well as a certain restaurant in Chicago. That very same hoax has now mutated, and shows all the signs of becoming a truly enduring urban legend. You can read about the original hoax here; to learn about … Read more
Today I had the unfortunate pleasure to have to download and install Netscape Communicator 4.06, a browser which I have loathed since its release back in 1998. As a browser, the Netscape 4.x was slow, buggy and prone to screwing up perfectly coded Web pages, and the damn thing was barfing over one of the … Read more
I got my latest issue of Dragon yesterday and discovered its section dedicated to a “countdown” to the revised edition of D&D, which is supposed to be released this summer. The new release includes revisions and tweaks based on customer feedback, rules integrated from the various handbooks, and about 25% new material. I’m ambivalent about … Read more
It must be some kind of record … at least for the Newquists. Our Christmas tree is down and it’s only January 13. It seems strange not to have it in the library any more — it’s something of a tradition in my family to keep the tree up until at least the third week … Read more
It had been weeks since I’d had a fix. Oh, I’d gone to my dealer, and picked up the goods, sampling them as soon as I got to the car. But the holiday’s wrecked havoc with my free time, and I was forced to lock them away in their little plastic cases for most of … Read more
So what’s a NukeBlog? Good question. In thinking about Nuketown, I’ve found that there really wasn’t any place for me to post quick hits about topics currently on my mind. Admittedly, I could’ve just used “editorials” for that, but personally, I view an editorial as something a little more thought out, a little more polished. … Read more
Forget about faulty wings and bad engines — the “killer spiders on airplanes” hoax wants you to believe that scary South American arachnids are preying on our friends in Chicago. Here’s the original e-mail: WARNING An article by Dr. Beverly Clark, in the Journal of the United Medical Association (JUMA), the mystery behind recent deaths … Read more
Has the dead hand of a notorious atheist succeeded in getting the federal government to ban the word “God” from America’s airways, thus forcing CBS to cancel Touched by an Angel? In a word, no. This hoax has been circulating since 1975, and shows no signs of going away, despite the fact that its primary … Read more
DC HeroClix: Hypertime builds on WizKids Games’ success with Marvel HeroClix: Infinity Challenge, adding some of the biggest names in the DC universe to the game’s superhero fray. As with Marvel HeroClix (read my review of the initial release in Science Fiction Weekly (Internet Archive), DC HeroClix is a miniatures based game played on one of … Read more