Carl Setzer

After several attempts to over-generalize my key-fobs functionality (front door >2x, mailbox, store-front, kitchen lights), I started wondering how awesome life would be with remote control of every major appliance. Kitchen lights reflecting on my computer screen? Click! Hands full and trying to get in the house? Click! Mailbox? Yep, Click! Oh, wouldn't life be so much easier? Well, no. Imagine the way such could be executed. Either multiple fobs for each action. I'm imagining an electronic age version of the jailers key ring. Or walking with a universal remote that's more like an iPad. Not very practical after all. Wait! How about an implant wired to your nervous system? We're not quite there yet, but we can see the proverbial light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel for this (though faintly). Imagine that world. Need the lights on? Just think it. Etc, etc, etc. But, besides the risk of infection, what other issues would this bring? First, the Revelation/bible based "mar...

A friend of mine ruminated on Facebook whether it was appropriate to celebrate the “lies” of April 1. My first worry was that she, and her chums in the negative (I was the lone dissenting voice), were in dire danger of becoming humorless drones. But then I wondered, as I often do, the deeper points of what she was writing. Is April Fools' Day really, REALLY about celebrating deception and lies? Well, for me at least, no. Actually, the beauty of April Fools is creativity. There’s an elegance and sophistication behind the truly artful prank. Therein lies the fun. A well done AF prank is about more than how many people are deceived. Also, I add “points” for the level of outrageousness to the assertion, or the depth of the deception. With that is the effort and skill behind any supporting work for the prank; whether Photoshop, a video, what-have-you. Important, for me at least, is the absence of malice. A good prank should not be about hurting or humiliating anyone. Ultimately, what...

Up before light, but not early, oddly enough, so I cracked my laptop and read. I was rapt with the notice that today’s For Better or For Worse was the last new one. It was beautiful, and as graceful an exit as one could wish for. I then spent a good chunk of time reading Anthony’s bio on the website. That’s a well done piece. I felt amazingly attached to this fictional character. He was well crafted, indeed. I do wonder if there is a heaven for ideas. That we will have a chance to meet with these characters we love in the afterlife. I can think of many story-lines that I wanted to see the rest of. How many people, both fictional and historical have I wanted to do a Vulcan-Mind-Meld and fully, deeply know and understand? I think that is something that many of us hope for upon our demise, that our questions will be answered, that we will see the entire story. Of course, many of us dread the same. Perhaps, though, that is the ultimate connection; to know each other’s details, all of t...