I wouldn't describe that "position" as "parasitic." I'd describe that experience as "edifying." I don't merely write from a critical intellectual distance. I actually live around here.

Everybody has a different Internet.

My dream appliance circa 2050 has one big dial on it, and when I twist it to the right, my IQ goes up to 450.

The level of ignorance is declining, and the ability to accumulate data and manipulate it for various ends is increasing.

It's going to be really interesting to see what the heroin market does in the next two years or so. One thing you can be pretty sure of. The Afghan peasants who grow poppies won't get rich. The money will end up in places like Dubai.

My idea of an amusement park story is getting adventurers to go tour environmental disaster areas. After all, if the entire Great Barrier Reef gets killed, which seems like an extremely lively possibility, what are you going to do with all that rotting limestone?

Don't become a well rounded person. Well rounded people are smooth and ull. Become a thoroughly spiky person.