So I was reading Kopaka's Ice Engineering's latest entry (linky), and I read the article about the portable machine that lets you test substances and all that jazz, and a while later I thought, Oh great, now the conspiracy theorists will be going out in droves to buy it! It'll jack up the paranoia level as they test their meals for poison, and rely even more on bottled water (mind-control chemicals in the tap water, you know), and add more tin foil to their hats... I can imagine the following conversation between a paranoid conspiracy theorist and an airport screener: "I'm sorry sir, but we can't let you bring that on the aircraft with you." "But I need it!" "I'm sorry, but we can't let you." "AHA! I KNEW YOU WERE AIDING THE GOVERNMENT IN PREVENTING ME FROM DETECTING THE BRAIN-DISSOLVING POISON THAT THEIR SECRET THREE-EYED FLAMING SPACE BABY OVERLORDS HAD PLANTED!" "Um, security?"

To change the subject, I love the comic strip Dilbert. The world of Dilbert is a cynical, wacky place much like our own, and the strips never fail to make me laugh. My favorites include the 'Just thought I'd poke my head in', 'Space heater', and... I forget other strips but hey, the strip is a complex, witty construct that harnesses human flaws, cynicism, and the bureaucracy of the workplace to create an atmosphere of irony and hilarity. Scott Adams is definitely one of my absolute favorite comic strip authors. Seriously. Long live Scott Adams and his creation of Dilbert. And I have to say, I can identify with Dilbert even though I'm just thirteen... My teachers and classmates can be even and more than as stupid as some of the people Scott Adams portrays in the strip.