Rutabaga

He left a huge following hanging when he abruptly stopped writing in the midst of "With Trust." R

The one notable exception that comes to mind is the classic MGM filmed version of "The Wizard of Oz," which turned L. Frank Baum's political screed about the gold standard into a truly entertaining and coherent story with memorable characters and scenes. For example, a comparison of the film's scene where the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion receive their promised rewards with the book's version of that scene shows just how imaginative and creative the screenwriters were. R

Just thought I'd follow up with a couple of screen shots illustrating the problems with styled post text on the mobile platform. The first shows what happens with light blue text color. The second (dude) shows what happens when Comic Sans is selected as the font -- it gets converted to a nearly illegible script font. I'm hoping there's a setting in the forum software to disable font styling only in the mobile version of the site, so that the text will come out looking normal and be readable. Note that for whatever reason these screen shots are reproducing at more than double the size that they appear on the actual iPhone where they were shot. Take that into account when evaluating readability. It really is difficult. And I didn't bother to show one instance where a poster selected white as the text color -- that post is completely invisible with white text against the white background that the mobile version uses. Light blue type color: Comic Sans type font: R

Thanks to both Nick and Pedro for responding. If I follow what seems like the subtext here it throws an entirely different light on things from what I had originally thought. A bit like someone saying "here are my details in Québec -- or should I say Canada," given the political currents of recent decades. R

But how does this apply to the remark in the story? In other words, why was it "or should I say British?" when the address was not in Wales or Scotland? It seems like there must be a political or cultural thing going on as to which I'm clueless. (Of course the list of things as to which I'm clueless is large and ever growing.) R

Can someone explain Lukas's comment about how his card "has my English -- or should I say British -- details on it" ? Is Sheffield not part of England? R

OK. Spoiler alert. Don't click on "Show" unless you don't care. Inquiring minds want to know. R

Fuck a duck, could this night get any worse? Yep, that pretty well sums up Chapter 9. Yes sir. R

There has been increasing buzz in the security community asserting that it was a laid-off Sony employee who provided the keys to hackers to get inside the Sony IT system. See this article: http://variety.com/2014/biz/news/security-experts-doubt-north-korea-role-in-sony-hack-attack-1201389525/ R

Same here. The message expressly states that viewing is limited to the UK. R

I read the whole series (as far as I know) elsewhere and really enjoyed it. I happen to live very close to an area with a lot of horses and riding, although I've never taken advantage of it myself. It's very cool to read about horses and horsemanship. My only regret is that I wish Andrew would resume working on his unfinished story "The Chosen." R

Who said school is boring? (Love the red undies.) R

This looks like it would work: http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-bypass-the-windows-8-log-in-screen/ R

Really exceptional story. Last year I listened to an extended series of college lectures about World War I, and with those details of the horrors of that war in mind, this story was especially poignant. To have any kind of story with a hopeful ending would have seemed impossible to me until I read this one. Good show. R

It is a delightful story. I speak French fluently, and there are definitely some issues in the French in the story. Some of them come from transliteration errors inevitable with software translation programs, where the translated meaning is incorrect in the circumstances. Another issue, and the main one for me, is that no teenager would use the formal "vous" form of address with another teenager, especially one they want to become friends with. They would use the informal "tu" form. And there are other areas where idiomatic French would differ and not have a direct English counterpart. But it doesn't detract from the story, even with the realization that it is improbable that a French teenager in Paris wouldn't know some English since English is routinely taught in high school and kids pick up on a lot of American culture (movies, music, and TV), along with the improbability that an American kid spending months in Paris each summer would not have picked up many bits and pieces of French despite himself. The premise works within the reality of the story. Should anyone ever desire to include French within one of their stories, I would be happy to offer consulting services on how to say things appropriately. R

Quotable quote of the day: "Holy shit balls." R

I have a young acquaintance back east who has worked for several years at a Hollister store, and it always sounded pretty brutal, even during non-holiday times. The only spiff was that he got a good deal on all their clothing, because they wanted all employees to wear that brand on the job. But there were often late nights when they had to reset the whole store after closing to be ready with new displays and merchandise the next morning (I think he called this "impact"). Anyway, I thought of him while reading about Gavin's adventures. One question: Did Gavin wuss out on the plan he had with his supervisor? R

I have three Bosch 18-volt cordless units that I use regularly and work very well: A regular cordless drill, a cordless hammer-drill, and a cordless impact wrench. I confess that tools (of all kinds) and stuff to go with playing the bass guitar are my two biggest weaknesses. Oh, and I have two chain saws -- a small one and a regular-size one. Both are electric because I hate keeping two-cycle engines running properly. R

I've had best luck with Yahoo Messenger in recent years. R

Well, you'd certainly find out real fast!! R

Don't blame the messenger. http://news.distractify.com/alex-scola/merry-punmas/ R

Just remember it seems to work both ways. R

I think the reason is that the information was a statistic contained in some document disclosed under the British equivalent of the Freedom of Information Act. The document itself didn't mention broom handles as I read the article -- all of that was filled in by the reporter and others. The question will be whether this article stirs up enough of a furor to lead to some further official inquiry. I can't help thinking of Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men." R

Seems like someone ought to start a thread for this new short story, so I will. It also seems to me that the story lives up to its title on a number of levels. R