Welcome to BenWoods.com

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Here's hope for unbiased information

Can you believe anything anymore? I'm starting to wonder this myself. I open

the paper and see accusations flung about everyone from Michael Jackson, the

king of pop, to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the kindergarten cop. Are they innocent?

Are they guilty? Are they both aliens from a different planet anyway?

Amazingly enough, there is a place on the Web that you are GUARANTEED to find

actual facts about many different items. And when I say guarantee, I don't

mean it like, "I guarantee you will enjoy this lifetime supply of shark

Do your friends REALLY know you?

If you're like me, you receive a large number of forwarded emails from friends;

many of them are funny, many are factually incorrect and many are just pointless.

Then again, if you are like me, you have worn an eye patch for the eighth consecutive

year at Halloween, but that's beside the point.

Another popular email forward are those in which people list a bunch of questions

about themselves. They might mention their favorite food, their middle name,

their favorite smell, anything that could help you understand who they are,

SiteFinder leaves Web users at a loss

Imagine going to the library to find a specific piece of literature. The problem is, you remember the words "corn" and "facade" are in the title, but you can't remember the author or any other information. Was it "The Children of the Corn Facade"? Or maybe "The Facade of Corn Flakes"?



Answers to your darkest, deepest, imaginary questions

I decided to open up the mailbag and answer some of the questions that readers

have asked me recently. Then I realized that I'm not Santa Claus, and people

don't send me letters. This isn't completely true, as I did portray Santa in

a third-grade Christmas play, even though I ripped part of the suit just before

the play began.

So I don't have any letters with questions, just comments about various columns.

But this will not stop me from answering some of those questions that people

Movies filled with computer nonsense

I cannot really say there is a particular genre of movies I like the best. Comedy, suspense, sci-fi, horror, even those touted by some as chick flicks are enjoyable. Regardless of the type, computers seem to be popping up in movies about as often as I receive email viruses with the subjects "Your details" or "Wicked Screensaver." Way gnarly, dude!

From the Archive

BookExpo update

So far, so good at the BookExpo. Los Angeles is a pretty cool place, and I've made a fair number of contacts on my first day. I still have a number of people to speak with, though, as I try to pitch "Polos to Ties" as well as give away a few more copies of "The Developers." But for tonight, I'd better get off here ... it's almost my turn on the karaoke mic!

YouTube awards are out

Are you one of those people who can't hold a conversation for more than three sentences without saying "Uh, huh-huh, yesterday on YouTube I saw (noun) and it was (adjective)." If you are, then you probably already know that the YouTube Video Awards were announced recently.

If not, you should click on the link above to check out the winners. Or, if you prefer to play Mad Libs (or Mad Glibs), I would recommend that you (verb) somewhere else.

Baltimore indie bookstore carrying 'Corporate Ties'

The Book Escape in Federal Hill is now carrying Corporate Ties. I just noticed online that this store is selling a copy of The Developers for $5. That's a great deal (although I won't get a penny if someone purchases it).

Here's a way for the U.S. government to keep track of you

How easy would it be for the United States government to keep tabs on people via the Internet? Soon, Congress could call a vote against Net Neutrality, which would allow ISPs to deliver partner websites faster than others. While this would be disruptive to the World Wide Web as a whole, this still wouldn't give access to data logs from all ISPs.

Way too many Web sites for contest-crazy fans

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you are bad in any way if you aren't a college basketball fan. But being from this area, you'd better know a little something about it because if not, your co-workers are sure to avoid you like a 72-year-old cheese log during the next few days.

March Madness is like a vacation; you wait forever for it to get here, then it's over before you know it. But rarely can you go on vacation and have a chance to win prizes and cash. There's a much better chance of just blowing it all.

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