On July 7, 2010 I'll have the distinct pleasure of opening for two of Chicago's modern masters of mystery: Eugene Burger and Ross Johnson. It's sure to be a fantastic show. Tickets are available at the Magic Chicago website. Hope to see you there!

Lustrous Musings asks if the iPad might be the ultimate home automation controller. Well, actually, they're looking at it from the perspective of an X10 controller. That's all well and good, as Smart Home Hacks demonstrates, but thinking more generically. opens additional doors. But don't miss the discussion of Shion embedded in the piece too.

The cultural impact of the automobile on the United States, particularly in the West, cannot be overstated. Privately owned vehicles, a vast road system, and inexpensive gasoline have profoundly shaped the economics, cities, and family patterns of generations of citizens.

A new report, however, might signal a sea change. In Is Digital Revolution Driving Decline in U.S. Car Culture? a decline of automobile use, ownership, and general interest is laid bare. And while the "cause" of the decline is questionable, the trends, if accurate, are fascinating.

Craig Conley's latest book, The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine, is now available at Amazon. It's another amazing work, and to describe it merely as a curated collection of mis-scans from Google Books would be too simplistic. Conley's union of ghostly images and enigmatic quotations is near perfect.