• Standing with his right arm extended, palm open;

• firing a rifle into the air with one hand;

• waving at cheering crowds;

• smoking a cigar;

• wearing Arab robes;

• talking on the phone and taking notes;

• helping farmers in the fields;

• drinking tea;

• shouldering a container of cement;

• wearing a homburg;

• receiving a kiss from an underling;

• patting a woman on the head;

• holding a sheathed sword and the scales of justice;

• standing in the prow of a boat;

• wearing a beret, with a hand over his heart;

• wearing a dress shirt and sleeveless sweater;

• smiling;

• not smiling;

• wearing aviator sunglasses;

• wearing a winter cap;

• riding a horse

• Wear light-colored clothing that's short enough to prevent tripping. Wear shoes that fit.

• Wear light-colored costumes. Add reflective tape.

• Make sure children can see well through masks. A safe alternative is to use makeup.

• Adults should accompany young children.

• Go out in daylight. If going out after dark, carry a flashlight.

• Map out a safe route. Stay within the neighborhood and visit only homes you know.

• Keep costumed children away from pets. A pet may become frightened and possibly aggressive.

• Avoid hard plastic or wooden props such as daggers or swords. Substitute with foam items.

• Stay on sidewalks and cross only at corners. Walk, don't run.

• Watch for traffic.

• Give and accept only wrapped or packaged candy.

• Examine all candy before allowing children to eat it.

• Should you find a suspicious item, contact police as soon as possible. If injury is involved, call 911.

Japanese roboticist Doctor Masahiro Mori is not exactly a household name — but, for the speculative fiction community at least, he could prove to be an important one. The reason why can be summed up in a simple, strangely elegant phrase that translates into English as “the uncanny valley”.

Though originally intended to provide an insight into human psychological reaction to robotic design, the concept expressed by this phrase is equally applicable to interactions with nearly any nonhuman entity. Stated simply, the idea is that if one were to plot emotional response against similarity to human appearance and movement, the curve is not a sure, steady upward trend. Instead, there is a peak shortly before one reaches a completely human “look” . . . but then a deep chasm plunges below neutrality into a strongly negative response before rebounding to a second peak where resemblance to humanity is complete.

This chasm — the uncanny valley of Doctor Mori’s thesis — represents the point at which a person observing the creature or object in question sees something that is nearly human, but just enough off-kilter to seem eerie or disquieting. The first peak, moreover, is where that same individual would see something that is human enough to arouse some empathy, yet at the same time is clearly enough not human to avoid the sense of wrongness. The slope leading up to this first peak is a province of relative emotional detachment — affection, perhaps, but rarely more than that.

I am ready to predict that it won't be very long before online gaming becomes a spectator sport. Someday in the not-too-distant future, I believe we'll sit around watching online gamers do battle with one another, first on the Internet, and then on something like ESPN.

That will turn gamers into professional "athletes." ...The point being that I think online gaming is going mainstream, joining TV, music, movies, and the Net in the center of our country's entertainment industry.

This may sound outlandish, but no more so than ten exceedingly tall people running around in their underwear bouncing an orange ball. Believe me, stranger successes have been made.

So you're a Bush Administration official looking for a reason -- any reason -- to invade Iraq (say, Donald Rumsfeld). You ask your intelligence agencies (CIA, DIA, NSA, etc.) for confirmation that Iraq has ties to Al Qaeda. The agencies mine their assets, review their data, train satellites and listening devices and whatever other exotic technologies they may have on the Iraqis and scattered Al Qaeda members.

And after analyzing everything, they conclude there are no ties between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.

So what do you do?

Well, given that this admininstration is the most intensely political in the history of our fair nation, you simply follow from the Rove game plan -- you create a new "intelligence agency" and fill it with political appointees who will confirm whatever lies the administration spews.

...So to clarify, the CIA (and other intelligence agencies) gather the information. They then interpret it. But if the administration doesn't like that interpretation (e.g. Hussein and OBL hate each other and would never work together), the new agency can take a look at the info and arrive at a more "acceptable" conclusion (or in Rumsfeld's words, "assist policymakers in assessing the intelligence they receive").

Let her read comics and eat ice cream and take a long nap and maybe play Snood and get sparkles and colored sand all over the living room. Whatever she needs out of being the only one who matters for a day, let her have it.