Ummm....

Ford over on Uncensored! asked a couple of interesting questions: How long have you had your handle? What's the oldest reference to your handle on the web?

So, for the second, I looked. It's my standings in the Duel of Magic (pretty sad, really, I didn't play regularly enough...but at least I had a perfect record). That's not the disturbing part. The disturbing part was discovering that somebody is using my handle (this one) to publish fic. I saw "nc" and realized I shouldn't poke around at this at work, but I'm kind of weirded out. I think of this handle as uniquely identifying me . . ..

I'm curious if it's any good, though, if anybody who's interested in such things and not at work where they can't read wants to go check it out and report back . . ..

P.S. Now I'm trying to remember . . . was this someone in college messing around with writing atrocious fics under other people's names as a practical joke? I have a vague memory of something like that happening . . ..

Skybus: interesting economic experiment

I just discovered Skybus today. It's a new low-cost, zero-frills airline with its hub in Columbus, OH.

It looks to be an interesting experiment in capitalism. They charge you for your seat, and that gets you a seat on the plane (no guarantee you'll arrive on time, but they guarantee they'll get you there or compensate you) and space for the usual carryon plus personal item. That's about it. If you want to check a bag, you pay for it ($5 for each of the first two, $50 each beyond that, with fees for oversize/overweight). If you want something to eat or drink, you buy it on the plane. If you want travel insurance, they have a partner you can buy it from. You can also pay for "priority boarding" . . . for $10, you get to be in the first group of people to board after the people with documented disabilities. Pay for what you use, it's a perfect capitalist model. Well, heading in that direction, anyway.

There's also supposed to be advertising both outside and inside the plane, and rumor has it the plane will be a bit of a flying shopping mall. And they say you can't bring your own food on the plane (I'm a little less comfortable with that one, but I don't know how picky they're going to be about it).

So I'm flying to Columbus for Origins on 4 July. For $36.30, assuming they get their FAA license by then like they expect to. It'll be interesting to see how I feel about tons of advertising and crap to save a hundred dollars or so. But . . . $10 each way plus fees and taxes. If a few of these spring up with different hubs and destinations, the result could be really pleasant. (I miss Independence Air with their cheap flights from wherever to DC...)