Actually DARPA, or what was then called ARPA, did invent the internet -- it was then called ARPANET -- and linked among other things educational institutions and defense contractors. It was first deployed at the very end of the 60s. I was on ARPANET myself in the early 80s. The World Wide Web, on the other hand, which newcomers to this technology think is the internet, was invented by Tim Berners-Lee much later, in the very early 90s.

DARPA no more invented the internet than Al Gore did, but they both, each in their own way, did their part to make it happen. They and many others contributed to the result.

The current Straw Poll asks about our feelings about "killer drones." I am bothered by the fact that their use in Afghanistan doesn't bother me so much. If I think about it late at night I lose sleep over it. However, I have a cousin who lost both legs in Afghanistan. I have been to Walter Reed in D.C. to visit, and I have seen the damage and waste that IEDs cause to our service men and women. Bishop Desmond Tutu wrote an editorial in the NY Times asking "Are these people worth less than Americans?" I think they are worth as much as me and you; I don't think they value themselves as much as we do. How else can it be explained that they send their young men and women out to blow themselves up in the name of jihad?

Kudos to Doonesbury for making the NRA Enemies List while others are outraged that they didn't. The NRA has taken the list down twice, but it is still available via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

I refuse to be distracted. I'm still waiting to hear Drew's big news.

Jeff will be stuck in the laundry room for a while longer. A form of weaponized skateboard/rapid Special Ops transport is already on the Pentagon wish list. Behold, The Shredder.

Jeff continues to delight, in the sense that he is still as harebrained as he was the day he walked into Walden. He seems to have eased into the Uncle Duke role in the next generation Doonesbury family: confident, brash, and completely lacking self-awareness.

Jeff Redfern is wasting his time trying to write a book. He needs to sell the rights to his existing book to a video game company and make a regular amount of money, but not a lot. Then he will again be stuck with the question "Do I want to mean anything in this life?"

The final panel in today's strip is priceless. What a contrast between the two: One stuck in adolescent fantasies and living at home, and the other solidly educated and working on serious engineering problems in which she has invested years of hard work. It's a contrast I saw all too often in the later portion of my teaching years. Too many kids (especially boys) seem to make it their major priority to become experts at skateboarding and playing video games.

Weaponized skateboards? HYDRA was using those in a Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. comic back in the Sixties. Hardly a new idea, Jeff.

DARPA drives the future. Congress would do well to grow its funding, along with NIH. This will create new jobs in the future. And please stop with the baby-killing military robot research; what can be done for you, can be done to you.

Alex at DARPA. Truly scary. Any idea she has must violate at least three laws of physics. That will be no challenge for her.

I'm sorry to see there has been no follow-up on Monday's "internet porn" strip. This is actually a very big issue, with the high prevalence of internet porn use and the detrimental physical effect it has on a man's sex life in real life, especially younger men. Get those two talking!

I'll take Alex's word that DARPA invented the internet, but it was an Englishman (Tim Berners-Lee) who invented the world wide web. And he made no money on it whatsoever; he just gave it to the world. Not a lot of Americans seem to know that.

As I recall, Joanie rebuffed Rick's efforts to "co-nurture" because his administration of bathtime got water all over the floor.

Audible quotations are done with a short pause, with lips closed, before and after the word or phrase in question.

Really, Jeff? DARPA doesn't ring a bell? Turn in your CIA credentials. You have finally proved beyond any doubt that you have no business in the CIA.

With Alex and Toggle expecting, GBT has a great chance to create another new kind of family. I hope he addresses issues like finances and the developmental needs of babies and young children. Given that most parents must both work long hours today, good child care is a huge expense, and in our culture of videos, texting, and tweets today's kids often go without the time and attention they need. Rick and Joanie had it easy, in comparison, back in the day. Then again, I seem to remember Rick (whom I adored when I was a young parent) dodging his share of Jeff-care, to Joanie's annoyance.

When speaking, how does one distinguish between a book and a "book" ?

Wow! Audible quotation marks! Where can I get some?