ASSORTED PLUGS & COMMUNICATIONS
Dimitris sends the following as discordant satire, but I tend to believe it especially, the bit about pirates and global warming. And I really want one of those faux-Michelangelo mugs, maybe for my upcoming birthday.
http://www.venganza.org/.

LEARNED AND FREE
Our friend Jake has been a-publishing and now writes...
Invisible Books is pleased to announce the online publication of Hours One through Six of the Book Amduat. The complete text, in English, Hieroglyphics and transliteration, with all illustrations reproduced and explicated, is available without charge in PDF format.
Amduat, describes Ra's journey through the twelve hours of the night. It is the Divine Comedy of Ancient Egypt, and the most influential religious text ever produced there.
This is the first complete translation to appear in English in 100 years, the only version of the hieroglyphic text available online or currently print.
http://www.invisiblebooks.com/Amduat.htm

He also sends a kind encouragement for my kicking nicotine...
Burroughs once told me it was harder to quit than junk. I'm not sure about that, since he never really managed to quit either. If you can manage this, you have strength such as few men possess. And if you fall off the wagon, dust yourself off and get back on in a few days. "Seven falls make a rider."

NOT FREE BUT NICE
Plus another plug for Ellen, a good friend of Doc40, who has her own crafts store on ebay. Check it out...
http://stores.ebay.com/MooCat-Arts_W0QQssPageNameZviQ3asibQ3astoreviewQQtZkm

IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS
A number of people have asked when Conflagration, the sequel to Kindling, will be published and my only answer right now – and until September when Tor Books and the rest of New York gets fully back to work – is "I don’t have a clue", except it will probably be a while since the paperback of Kindling has still to come out.

The secret word is Waiting