The son of my mother's friend had recently received a Ph.D. in sociology or something similar. "He's a doctor," the friend said, "but not the kind that can help you."

For two days in a row I didn't spill a cup of coffee in the computer lab. I've been setting up a system in the lab and have needed some assistance with a couple of things. On the way back from the espresso machine the last two days, I have met up with one of the support engineers and we've gone into the lab to take a look at my problems. There was no place to leave the coffee outside the lab, so I brought it in with me, a clear violation of all that is sensible. What will I do in the future? Well, we've set up the systems with remote access software so that I can spill coffee in my office as often as I need to.

I've found that Walter Mossberg's Wall Street Journal columns on Wednesdays and Thursdays are a good source of clear information about personal computers and related technology.

Because I've been keeping more sensible work hours, which includes coming home before 7PM, I haven't listened to David Brudnoy as much in the past couple of years. He was erudite, an old-school professor, with a thoughtful libertarian view of things large and small.