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Upcoming book fair and student writing contest in Evansville

The newly created Midwest Writers Guild in Evansville, Ind., is hosting a book fair and sponsoring a student writing contest.

The Spring Book Fair will take place 9 a.m.-4 p.m. March 17 at the Washington Square Mall in Evansville. High school students (grades 8-12) must submit their work during this time. Here is the contest registration form.

Authors who are interested in participating in the event must complete this registration form. The cost is $20 for a partial table. Barnes & Noble will handle the transactions.

'The Developers' coming to the BookExpo America

I will be participating in the 2007 BookExpo America, which will be held May 31-June 3 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. This will be my first book expo, which is billed as "the premier event serving the U.S. book publishing industry."

Zzzzzz ... uh? Yes, I'm at work!

Sitting in front of a computer all day (not to be confused with Otis Redding's "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay") isn't that glamorous. In fact, it's pretty easy to relax, lose focus on what you are typing slightly, hIT teh wrogn keys, and ... er, what was I saying?

Oh yes, the issue of people falling asleep at their cubes. Wouldn't it be nice to have nap time? At least in New Jersey, bosses aren't enamored with the notion of providing beds for employees.

Missing: the talking paper clip

Microsoft Office 2007 is missing one minor annoyance, er, ingredient that everyone commonly refers to as "Clippy." Yes folks, I'm talking about the talking paper clip, which ranks up there with file folders and the cubicle as the greatest workplace inventions in the history of ... um ... the workplace.

Public broadcasting in danger of losing its funding

George W. Bush is trying - yet again - to slash funding for NPR and PBS. This week, Bush proposed a new budget with devastating cuts to public broadcasting. "Sesame Street" and other ad-free kids' shows are under the knife. So is the independent journalism our country needs.

Enough is enough. We've fought this fight before and won - but we can't afford the risk anymore. With the new Congress, we can make sure this never happens again. We need Congress to insulate NPR and PBS from the political winds.

From the Archive

Kick off the season online

Even though the college football season started two weeks ago, this past weekend was the real beginning. Just a few teams played last weekend, and most of the games were boring. They were so boring that even my nachos tasted funny.

But by the time you are reading this, you should have gotten a good fill of football. But don't let that stop you because there are plenty of Web sites in which you can get more in-depth analysis.

New stalking, er, tracking, er, technology tool

Google recently announced a new product available for a number of cell phone devices called Google Latitude. The program allows you to see other people, assuming they have opted into the system, on a Google-generated map.

Secrets to the Apples to Apples Expert Edition

I've played my fair share of board games, and I'm pretty up to speed with a majority of newer games. I have to say that the basic version of Apples to Apples is one of the best. You can play it with a group of adults or kids, and it's fun to play at any level.

Listen and/or watch past presidential campaigns

We're down to the home stretch in the 2008 American presidential nomination. As usual, the television ads are full of interesting tidbits, many not even true, about the candidates. It hasn't always been this way. In fact, in the recent past, nominees actually created ads for reasons other than seducing the United States into a trance to vote for them.

Haha, just kidding. I mean, would this great country all a politician to just speak the truth and lay out the facts?

March Madness indeed

I typically don't use my website to profess my obsession with University of Louisville sports. But the end of the 2012 season is worth documenting, not only for me, but for the ridiculousness (Russdiculous?) involved.

In January, there was some discussion about attending the Big East Tournament. My stepdad, who splits time between Texas and Louisville, would already be there; my mom, who lives in Louisville, was assuredly going; my brother, who lives in Los Angeles, wanted to check it out; and my uncle, who was overseas until March, was considering as well.

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