On Oct. 30, an enjoyable discussion of human rights as applied to embryos was attached to this thread:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=166783&threshold=1&commentsort=0&tid=191&mode=nested&cid=13907932

Eventually, four butterflies made it from the caterpillar stage to release. I took pics and everything, but I don't have any webpage to post them on :-)

Sorry, not the ruling kind. The Monarch (Danaus plexippus) is the well-known butterfly.

A lovely Monarch female came and laid a few eggs on some milkweed in my garden. Now I have an egg and two caterpillars that I'm watching. More details to come, and maybe some pics if I can find a way to do it.

Never bothered to update the journal record, but this might actually help someone. Turns out that a source of EM waves near the DSL modem can progressively cripple the modem (until it's turned off and reset). Solution: modem on floor, monitor on desk. Problem solved. Only one of three Verizon employees was able to come up with a diagnosis and solution, though ...

Trying to get Verizon DSL to work at our house. Connection is flaky; filters haven't helped. Verizon support staff is pretty good, though. It's taking forever to find the problem. Bleah. So what do I do when bored at the terminal? Try to figure out the journal features on /. *sigh*