“I want to vapourise you with a death ray from space”

Warren Ellis latest column for WIRED UK is out on the innertubes:

I don’t think, however, that Interorbital Systems has fully embraced the science-fictional condition. There is one important omission in its list, and it’s the reason why I need to borrow $8,000 from you.

Orbiting death rays.

Ah, see, now you’re interested.

Like most of his WIRED columns, this one is almost criminally short, but it does the job.

Graffiti from Pompeii

This is, apparently, not a joke. Recall that these must all have been written before AD 79, when Pompeii was covered by molten rock from Mt. Vesuvius. It is simply humanity doing what we do. Personal favorites include:

II.2.3 (Bar of Athictus; right of the door); 8442: I screwed the barmaid

and

If anyone sits here, let him read this first of all: if anyone wants a screw, he should look for Attice; she costs 4 sestertii.

I could go on, but I’ll leave the rest for you.