It's a very sad day for me today, as my dad died yesterday afternoon. This came very shortly after he was diagnosed with lung cancer, though it's quite apparent that he must have been sick for quite some time, as by the time it was identified, it was already an extremely advanced case. This is in part because he was very averse to doctors and hospitals, and clearly avoided seeking any sort of diagnosis or treatment until things got to this point, but considering what a horrible disease this is, he did not end up suffering as badly as many do, and for that we are thankful (the fact is that even when it's caught early, the long-term prognosis for lung cancer patients is pretty grim anyway). With apologies in advance, I'm going risk sounding preachy to take this as an opportunity to suggest that those of you who smoke cigarettes look at my dad's example and consider quitting. He quit himself about 10 years ago, but that was after smoking for decades, and while lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, according to the Wikipedia almost 90% of lung cancer deaths across the developed world are caused by smoking, so this is widely avoidable. Take that as you will, but if even one person could take a lesson from my dad's situation to avoid a similar fate, it would mean that some good could come from all of this.

Anyway this was the family emergency I mentioned early last week, and it may cause a further disruptions, as it sounds likely that the funeral will be during the week. I am expecting things to settle down to "normal" by next weekend.

Mournful Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez and Acleacius.
Play:	Atomic Reactor. Spectrum TD. One Step Back.
Links:	Being Keith Apicary -- Meet the Borat of the Gaming World. The Video Games of Today Reimagined in 8 Bits. Space Invaders Chair. Thanks Neatorama.
Stories:	I Wonder Woman take you Batman. Thanks Matthew. Elmhurst eye-rolling incident raises questions. Thanks Neatorama. Broadway sings blues over synthesizer invasion. Thanks Slashdot.
Science:	Some trees 'farm' bacteria to help supply nutrients. Calcium pills 'increase' risk of heart attack.
Images:	Lisa Simpson's Wedding. Inception the LEGO version.
Media:	If Cartoons Were Real. Conan works for Best Buy. Happy Birthday Sam Raimi from James Franco.
The Funnies:	Dilbert.
Follow-up:	A Consumer's Guide to the Latest Credit-Card Traps. Mars Rover Spirit May Never Wake from Deep Sleep. Thanks Digg.