Big, fat, smug, damn, stupid, crappy piece of crappy crap!

On this day, 25 years ago, Microsoft Windows 1.0 launched. Whether the world is better or worse because of it is for the PC vs. Mac fanatics to argue about. And I'm sure they will until the end of time, if not longer.

Jake, on the other hand, just wants that damn hourglass to spin, dammit!

Fanfic Update:

• 20 Minutes from Now..., by Erin M.: "Rail...hit the rail...garage...office building...files...Orwell files...Is this what they want? Maybe they'll tell me."


• Daria/Dorian 11: So This Is Bonding, by LadieT (part 1): "After school, Dorian and Jane arrived at his house to find both of his parents already home. Walking inside, Dorian and Jane saw Jake reading a book written by the guy who invented the Pizza Forest chain; Terry Barry Barlowe, while Helen was on the phone with her law firm. Waving to his parents as they walked upstairs, Dorian and Jane were stopped when Helen motioned for them to join them."


• General Semantics, Private Angst, by gwrtheyrn (part 31): "'Great,' she snarled, then. 'Just freaking great. So, my enemies want me to live forever, and my lovely new "friends" want me to die.' So that's what the Machine had been tiptoeing around, in its message to her!"


• God Save The Esteem Ep12: Misery, Clicked, by Charles RB (part 1): "On the school lawn, after Tom and Jane had looked at her expectantly for a full minute, Daria finally asked: 'What's the big deal about this football guy, anyway?' 'I knew you’d break,' said Tom."


• Helping/Hoping hand (Whatever happened to Tommy Sherman), by Chris Tucker: "It was her first full day home from the hospital."


• In Silence Sarcastic, by Trscroggs: "That evening found the beginning of the Morgendorffer siblings' grounding. Much to both their surprise, Helen had come home 'early' from work to supervise their punishment. What’s more, Helen had declared a ‘family game night’ to keep the children busy. Instead of the traditional games of Monopoly, however, which Daria almost always won anyway, Helen had borrowed another game from her secretary. That hadn’t worked out quite as Helen hoped."


• It's Eureka, Daria: Spiral Dynamics, by RLobinske (part 4): "Joining up with Daria at lunch, Jane held up a small Mystik Spiral poster and said, 'What do you think?' 'It has a tune and you can dance to it?'"


• The James Lane Chronicles Chapter 3, by InvisibleDan (COMPLETE!): "They turned the corner and were stopped by two security guards. One of them was the one from the night before. The other was bigger -- well over six feet tall, pushing 300 pounds, and his chest seemed to be a yard wide. 'Okay, Daria, you get the big one and I'll get the little one.'"


• Legends Of The Metal, by TheExcellentS (parts 4 and 5): "Tom drove for a few more minutes, until he saw a large tusk formation. This served as the gates to the Bladehenge settlement. Out the front of the gate, stood a young woman. Her medium length black hair almost covered one eye, while her ensemble of black shorts, shirt, tights and boots and red sleeveless jacket made her look every bit of a fighter. Not to mention the piercings, tattoos, spiky bracelets and extremely large blade she was carrying." (Part 5.1) (Part 5.2)


• Lurking in His Smile (Iron Chef: No Bromwell For Tom), by HolyGrail2007 (COMPLETE!): "'Dear Mr. Sloane' the note had read. 'We thank you for your interest in Bromwell University. Due to a record number of qualified applicants, you have been placed on the waiting list.' Was the meat of the message. But Tom knew better. 'Waiting List' was just the fancy term of saying 'You'll maybe get in as a junior.'"


• Means Of Escape, by breitasparrow: "'You're... what?' Jane asked. To say she was stunned after hearing the news would be an understatement. The unthinkable had happened: Tom decided to leave the country. 'When?' Aside from questions, she was at a loss for words."


• Raft College: The First Year, by rglovejoy (part 35): "A soft sigh fluttered out of Daria's lips. 'It's something that's been building up for a while, ever since I came to this town. I haven't told anyone this, but this is the first time in my entire life that I'm surrounded by smart people and a lot of the time, I don't think I measure up.'"


• [series name redacted], Book 1, by vlademir1 (part 3): "None of the security guards at all ten major exits nor in the parking lot, Principal Timothy O'Neill and the police had closely questioned every one of them, had seen the girl leave the school. She had simply vanished like she had never even been there, and no one had found a single trace to determine what may have happened to her in the intervening two weeks. Even their parents had begun giving up hope as she'd been missing so long."


• Unnamed story (Whatever happened to Tommy Sherman), by VPrad: "'I never expected that guy to punch me, I never expected to spend almost a month in a coma, I never expected my sister to help me the way she did, I never expected people to genuinely care about me, I never expected to have more than one friend, I never expected to be happy. Surprises will come along the way, some of them good, some of them bad. Some of them will change your perception of the world, so don’t close yourself from accepting other points of view.'"


• The Vision of the Burning Cities, by jtranser: "As she walked towards the terminal, Daria could actually see Dream Waveform generation in operation as multiple realities exfoliated from her body, then asymmetrically propagated into alternate universes at multiples of the speed of light in a dream."


• Worldburner: When It Rains, by RLobinske (part 2): "A few minutes later, a handsome man entered the laboratory. Slowly and carefully, he inspected the facility while more troops entered and took up guard positions. Rolling the Vengeance Ring on his finger, Ian Llywd said, 'So the chase continues. Excellent.'"


• Y-Me?, by HolyGrail2007 (parts 37 and 38): "To Quinn’s surprise, everyone, including Mitch, decided to attend. He seemed a little nervous around all these people, unsure what to expect. No concerts either? What did he do for fun. All that plant stuff couldn’t have been fun all the time: Quinn’s mother said she might have taken pleasure from her work, but Quinn knew she did other things for fun." (Part 38)