Discount Maxi-Post: Transformers, Second Life, Hawking, Apple, Bees

My body has been invaded by strep-bearing nanites that are sapping my ability to type coherently and without hallucinating. So I will transmit this post in compressed bullet-point form (I wanted to use the phrase “stuttered tight-point” right there, but I don’t think that actually means anything outside the Culture novels of Iain Banks).