DrumNet Errata

Miscellany
Cat Pictures	Pictures of the Drum household's favorite little feline furballs. (December 2000)
Searching the Web	Tips and tricks on how to find what you want on the Web. (July 1997)
Taxonomy of Man	More than you ever wanted to know about the complete phylogenetic classification of Homo sapiens. (April 1997)
DrumCo Downloads	Windows utilities that no one should be without, offered here absolutely free and absolutely without guarantee. (February 1999)
Politico-Economic and Social Commentary
Managing the Economy	Who manages the economy better, Democrats or Republicans? Find out the answer in this hard hitting analysis of economic performance since World War II. (March 1997)
Balancing the Budget	Can the federal budget really be balanced? Kevin thinks so.... (April 1997)
Conservative Thought	What are the guiding principles behind American conservatism? There are more questions than answers in this essay, but feedback from the masses will be duly posted. (February 1997)
Nazis and Genocide	Was the Holocaust worse than other acts of genocide? Is there really something rotten at the core of German culture? (March 1997)
Is TV Evil?	Three good reasons why television is sapping the strength of the nation. (August 1997)
Men vs. Women	Will women ever match men in sports? If so, which sport will be the first? You won't find out here, but you'll get a hint.... (August 1997)
"Top Ten" Lists
1997 DrumNet Awards	Check out Kevin's favorite books and movies of 1997, plus year-end bridge and tennis results, and more. (December 1997)
1998 DrumNet Awards	Check out Kevin's favorite books and movies of 1998, plus year-end bridge and tennis results, and more. (December 1998)
1999 DrumNet Awards	Check out Kevin's favorite books and movies of 1999, plus year-end bridge and tennis results, and more. (December 1999)

2000 DrumNet Awards

Check out Kevin's favorite books and movies of 2000, plus year-end tennis results. (December 2000)

2001 DrumNet Awards	Check out Kevin's favorite books and movies of 2001, plus year-end tennis results. (December 2001)
Favorite Books	What are Kevin's favorite books of all time? This exhaustive list covers favorites from science fiction, general fiction, and nonfiction. (November 1997)
Favorite Movies	How about favorite movies too? This list covers them all. (December 1997)
Best Inventions	What are the five most important inventions of all time? (February 1997)
Influential Scientists	Which scientists have made the biggest contributions to human knowledge? Find out here, along with a few who didn't make the grade. (January 1997)
Heinlein's Works	What's the best book that Robert Heinlein ever wrote? What's the worst? Kevin ranks them all in this "don't miss" list. (August 1997)
Fastest Championships	Which expansion franchises have won major sports championships the fastest? This exhaustive list covers baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. (October 1997)
Short Stories
I wrote the following short stories during a brief fiction writing career that spanned the second half of 1983 (with one last story written later--around 1986). They were all submitted to Analog, Asimov's, Amazing, and F&SF and were soundly rejected by each. About halfway through my career I began to get personal rejection letters rather than the usual form letter, and the closest I got to actual publication was an encouraging rejection of "The Powers Within" from George Scithers at Amazing ("It did hold interest, but there was more wallowing in woe than we think works for us..."), a close miss for "Mercy" from Stanley Schmidt at Analog ("Taken by itself, this a rather effective little story -- but too many readers would inevitably compare it with Theodore Sturgeon's 'Thunder and Roses'..."), and another encouraging rejection from George Scithers for "Cyclops" ("It almost works for us, but alas it misses...."). For what it's worth, my personal favorites are "The Powers Within," "Mercy," "Cold War," and "Speed Limit." I also like "The Last Days of the Falcon" a little bit. The stories are listed in the approximate order in which they were written.
Title	Description
Observer	Were Aristotle and Darwin actually aliens trying to help us along? Yes. Did it work? Find out here. (52 KB)
Cold War	The Law of Unintended Consequences throws a monkey wrench into a put-upon professor's well meaning effort to solve the smoking problem. (41 KB)
Robot	Is work still meaningful in a world run by robots? (44 KB)
In the Valley of the Shadow of Death	The flatheads invite homo sapiens to join them in eternal harmony. Not everybody is thrilled by the invitation.... (27 KB)
The Vita War	The secret of immortality lies on a small planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. What's it worth to keep control of it? (96 KB)
Mercy	If the missiles were flying, would you push the button? (11 KB)
Crisis on L-5	Why are starships suddenly crashing into the L-5 docking station? Daniel Webster Jacklin aims to find out. (59 KB)
The Powers Within	Powers of mind can be unleashed by rage and fear, but they can also be tamed by love. (24 KB)
Cyclops	Cyclops knows all, sees all, and hears all. Can a couple of regular guys figure out a way to rob a casino anyway? (38 KB)
Trends	A grim look at mall bookstores of the future. (12 KB)
Speed Limit	Everybody know that FTL travel is simple enough, but what's the real speed limit of the universe? (6 KB)
Total Control	Aka "Cyclops II: The Homecoming." Cyclops has made America safe again, but who's watching the watchman? (60 KB)
The Last Days of the Falcon	If you lock up a bunch of people in a starship for 5000 years, what will they be like when the voyage is finished? (85 KB)

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