Paul's writings:

[Note: this page has not been updated since 1995.]

COMICS FOR PHYSICISTS (April 1988)
(my very first post to Usenet!)

MY .PLAN COLLECTION (October 1992 to October 1995)
(various quotes, jokes, tales, etc.)

COMPLEXITY THEORY AND ME (May 1994)
(a long essay combining topics I was thinking about at the time with a personalized outline of the book _Complexity_ by M. Mitchell Waldrop)

IT'S A CRIME, BILL (September 1994)
(essays and discussion on 1994 Crime Bill and gun control in general)

SLIDING INTO OBLIVION (April/May 1995)
(collected posts about "Sliders," and why SF and TV often don't mix well)

PULP FICTION & "GOOD BECAUSE IT'S DIFFERENT" (May 1995)
("Pulp Fiction" and other works I have enjoyed not because they're intrinsically good but because they're distinctive)

WHY I LEFT ALT.CALLAHANS (the "nice" version) (June 1995)
(plus, some comments on net.interaction in general)

WHY FEAR JUST THE U.S. REPUBLICAN PARTY? (June 1995)
(two brief articles rebutting two arguments I hear too often: (1) The U.S. restricts freedom, but Canada doesn't. (2) Only the Republicans want to take away freedom.)

"FRIENDS" AND ACQUAINTANCES (September 1995)
(discussion on "Friends" and how "realistic" a sitcom should be)

Other people's writings:

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SCIENCE FICTION CLUB CONSTITUTION (Michael Schiffer, January 1990)

HOW SPEED LIMITS CAN COST LIVES (Gary M. Galles, February 1993)

SQUISHY SCIENCE IN TV SF (David Hines, May 1995)

JMS, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH "STAR TREK: VOYAGER"? (J. Michael Straczynski, June 1995)