I was typing in a browser window, when all of a sudden this dialog popped up:

I don’t even know what software was trying to start; I don’t think it was related to the browser. I clicked on the Details expander, and it expanded to show this:

It would have been nice if the responsible program [...]

In the twilight of a beautiful day, when fancy seized upon my mind, I passed by the edge of the city and tarried before the wreck of an abandoned house of which only rubble was left.  In the rubble I saw a dog lying upon dirt and ashes. Sores covered his skin, and sickness [...]

I need some #2 PLASTITE® 45 or PLASTITE 48-2 thread-forming screws, and had some difficulty finding a source for them in quantities less than 10,000. I really don’t want to invest $700 in screws.
I inquired on a mailing list, and people suggested various vendors. Two people suggested McMaster-Carr, and they had the screws [...]

Ralph Griswold invented the SNOBOL and Icon programming languages.

MAKE THE PIE HIGHER
by George W. Bush
I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It’s a world of madmen and uncertainty
and potential mental losses.
Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the Internet become more few?
How many hands have I shaked?
They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull [...]

In response to a message about a donation of a large quantity of 16.9K resistors to the 6502 Group, Scot K. Anderson replied with a story of an unusual usage of resistors:
This reminds me of a story, a cautionary tale. When Crump Electronics went out of buisness a buddy called and said “lets go get [...]

Richard Ottosen and Al Brown sent me the full set of photos and explanation of the mystery machine. The short answer is that it is a machine for molding Zometool balls.
I’m still looking for photos of a spaghetti straightener!
Update:  The photos have been removed as of 8-May-2006 at the request of Zometool, Inc.

Al and Richard took photos of some sort of obsolete machine, and we’re supposed to guess what it is. My first guess, that it was a machine for making stranded wire, was incorrect. The most amusing guess so far is from Dennis Tillman:
I’ve seen this exact machine being used when I was in [...]

On the way to work I saw a car carrier loaded with brand new police cars — black sedans with white doors and roofs. They had the automaker’s window stickers, but no police insignias and no light bars.

I’m not making any New Year’s resolutions, because some years back I made a New Year’s resolution to never make any further New Year’s resolutions.  That’s been working out pretty well for me so far.