The bcm43xx driver in my Dell appeared to stop working. I thought about it, and realized that at the time when it did work, I had first loaded and then unloaded the bcm43xx_d80211 driver, which is from an alternative development line. Sure enough, that seems to be what it takes. Evidently the alternative driver initializes something the regular driver misses. Or something.

Anything written by Michael Pollan is certain to be well worth reading. Books include "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "The Botany of Desire". (The latter reveals that what Johnny Appleseed of history and legend promoted was not apples for eating, but rather apples to juice for hard cider: a sort of American Dionysus.) A recent article in NYT Magazine, "Unhappy Meals", gets more interesting with each page.

I made my first edit to Wikipedia yesterday. Thus far it's escaped the attention of vandals, many of whom seem obsessed with that entry.