Another Evany Update
Hey there readers.

First and foremost, we should let you know that our editor Evany is doing very well. She's out of the hospital and resting at home. Lots of fruit smoothies and soft pasta for her!

The whole appendix thing is strange, we've decided. I mean, you don't really need it, but if it turns bad it can harm you very seriously. At any rate, we should have our Evany back in just a couple of weeks. Here's to speedy recoveries!

Evany Update
First of all, thanks to everyone who sent in well-wishings and good tidings to Evany. I know that she appreciates it. (This is Mike speaking)

We went to visit her in the hospital, and she's looking positively tip-top considering that she just had surgery less than 48 hours previous to our visit. She's doing well and she wants everyone to know that she'll be back in the game in no time. A couple of weeks resting in bed and getting her fill of daytime television ought to do the trick.

Meanwhile, yours truly will be pinch-hitting and fielding those pop-up flies as they come. The monkey quad is rather quiet this week. We had a few whirlwind days with the RSA conference and the editor-going-under-the-knife and all. Actually, it's kind of odd to think about... an editor being edited. Taking out the parts that don't belong. OK, OK, I won't go there. Feel free to leave your comments here or to drop her an email sayin' "Hi" or something along those lines.

It's starting to look like summer out here in San Francisco. Sun and breezes. I'm going to hop up onto the roof and snap a few four by sixes with the digital camera. Until next week!

Paging Doctor Monkey
In one of those "Wow, I can't believe this is happening" moments, our very own Managing Editor Evany underwent appendix-out surgery this afternoon!

The word is that she's going to be fine. She was in pain yesterday and had been feeling under the weather all weekend, so she decided to pay a visit to her doctor. It's a good thing that she did, because after a few quick tests, the doctor told her that her appendix needed to come out — stat!

We here at Webmonkey are off to visit her in the hospital and deliver some flowers. If you'd like to offer your "get well" message to the one and only Evany, feel free to email her at Evany@wired.com and say hi.

Meanwhile, everything continues on in the monkey quad. Mike is biting his nails, Jay is laughing at all the sarcastic vegan jokes, and the stereo is pumping. We want our Evany back.

The Big Apple Gets Bigger?
As you may have heard by now, Apple Computer is considering buying a slice of Vivendi. One of those round slices, as in the whole Universal Music arm of the company. At least, that's what was reported across the news sites on the Web this morning after the Los Angeles Times broke the story.

In their trademark "Shhhh!" fashion, Apple isn't saying a word about the deal. Actually, the only people talking are financial analysts. We'll just have to wait and see if Apple CEO Steve Jobs, also known as Mr. "Rip, Mix, Burn," will turn the recording industry on its head. My vote is yes.

BE the paintbrush
The only art supplies you need to make your own GPS drawings are a GPS receiver and some comfortable walking shoes (or a reliable set of wheels, or a sea-worthy vessel). And they're a hell of a lot easier to make than crop circles.

Dull like a fox!
Some people think that the Webmonkey blog is the dullest in the world.

We've never thought so. Actually, now it's official -- we're not the dullest blog in the world. We do have pictures of our shoes, though.

Rules for Play
Alright, corporate-types and marketing suits, listen up. If you give a geek a computer and tell him/her what NOT to do, you're just asking for trouble.

Maybe video game makers and Hollywood studios should simply be grateful that so many people out there are actually consuming and enjoying their products?

Well, technically, the DeCSS case can be construed as stealing, but only because the MPAA hasn't seen the need to develop a quality decoder to play DVDs on Linux and FreeBSD. But the stealing of movies on DVD has been going on a lot longer than the whole DeCSS fiasco. Please draw your own conclusions.

re: you're fired
Ever hit "reply" when you really, really meant to "forward" an email? Or worse, selected "reply to all"? Or maybe autocomplete dropped in the wrong name, the worst possible name ... the name of your boss or the CEO?

Don't worry. You may be out of a job or in the middle of a messy divorce, but at least you're not alone.

(completely un-web-dev-related) jeers and cheers
When bumping into someone in a school hallway is considered worthy of a lawsuit, especially when a full-grown, adult-sized teacher is the sue-er (sewer?) and a 90-pound boy is on D, you really get that "what is the world coming to" feeling. On the flip side: This world also has room for a training bento boxes, which is encouraging.

Geek me
This is Mike speaking. I'm only going to show you this shirt because I think it's so damn cool. As a career technical writer, I cannot think of a more appropriate display of snarkiness. Now you have to promise me that you won't buy one and wear it because that would significantly decrease the coolness factor of me owning one. Got that? Good.