There follows a few miles of mental gymnastics. My two thoughts stay with me for several miles. Did anyone else see that? Have emergency crews been called? Nothing was moving, so either the person(s) involved is out or already gone and the car is still there. Should I go back and make sure? Should I go back and get a picture?

I pulled off at the next exit and went back.

Fortunately emergency people (a roadside assistance truck and some firefighters) were on the scene, inspecting the car. And again I had a choice to make before I had to pull over or get back on the highway: stop and get pics of the scene? Or go on in to work?

I went to work. And I've been bummed since.

I could have stopped. I have press credentials, I know how to be polite and respect the emergency crews and not get in the way. And it would have been an amazing shot that could have made it into news-journalonline.com or the print edition or both. And my gut instinct was to keep moving, and I'm wondering why.

Part of it, I think, is my long-held habit of not wanting to be in the way, something you have to shed and shed quickly to be a journalist*. But the larger problem is that I can't quite make myself take pictures of what could be someone in pain. A car in the trees, absolutely. A car in the trees with someone hurt inside it?

No.

I was talking to one of our crime reporters a few weeks ago, right after the earthquake in Haiti, and he mentioned he'd love to be there with his camera. I told him I could never do that, I'd drop the camera and start digging right away.

"I can make a wall," he said. "You have to put that wall between you and what you're seeing or you can't report on it."

I don't have a wall. And don't really want one.

I'm still bummed I didn't stop immediately, as soon as I saw the car, to help anyone inside. But I think I'm OK with not hanging around snapping pics. Walls can be handy, but the more you use them they can be tough to put away when you don't want them around.

* I know, you can be a journalist without reporting on people's pain. Work with me, here.

Need to know where you go, out there in the black? Ben Mund and QMx have got you covered, at least as long as you stick to the New Canaan run.

The New Canaan run is favored by captains flying light- and mid-bulk transports for its diverse markets and exports. And for those who must occasionally live on the raggedy edge, its varied levels of law enforcement are a plus, as well. The route described in the 26 full-color pages of the Atlas spans 11 planetary systems, crossing from The Core through The Border to The Rim and back.

Using the same format as the successful Serenity Blueprints Reference Pack, the Atlas of the Verse includes maps and info about Londinium, Persephone, Beaumonde, Silverhold, Harvest (and Higgins’ Moon), New Canaan (and Lilac), Hera, Shadow, Ariel, Osiris and Sihnon, plus lots of "local color" for each. Learn about the ceramics available from Higgins Industrial, check out satellite maps of Eavesdown Docks, get a copy of the tactical map from the Battle of Serenity Valley and a lot more.

I've been privileged to see this developing over the last 2 years and I can tell you the attention to detail borders on the psychotic (but in a good way). Tons of insider easter eggs hidden among insanely detailed renderings and artwork. Ben has done an awesome job.

Available now for $39.95. 26 pages on 100-pound 12"x16" stock, spiral-bound.

You can get Browncoat money for free, though. As a nice little promotion for the Atlas, QMx is offering a PDF of the scrip paid to Independents during the war. Print all you like!

I opened it to find that I had received a small chunk of aerogel as a result of filling out a survey on NASA's new Stardust-NExT website, a new site about our exploration of comets. Answer some questions about the site's usefulness and you might get a prize! I filled it out and forgot about it. Until today.

Aerogel is the lightest solid on earth. That's not hyperbole, it's listed with Guinness. Invented in 1931 to win a bet, it's what you get when you replace the liquid in a gel with a gas, and it's also incredibly strong, extremely resistant to heat, and 1,000 times less dense than glass. NASA uses it to insulate spacecraft (39 times more insulation than fiberglass) and they'll be using it on the Stardust spacecraft to capture comet particles. It's been used for the Mars Pathfinder and other rover missions, and it has a variety of earthbound applications such as skylight insulation, drug delivery, heavy metal absorption from water, and tennis racquets. Also, it's freaking amazing stuff to play with.

It's like it's not there. It's clear and weighs effectively nothing, like solid smoke. On a dark background it glows faintly blue due to the way its honeycomb structure scatters visible light. The edges just fade away to nothingness, it's like looking at a hologram. The accompanying letter explained all the reasons I shouldn't touch it — it would absorb the moisture from my hand, leaving an imprint that can't be removed, any point pressure can scratch or chip it, etc. — but a small chunk had already come off in shipping so I gave that a feel. It's dry to the touch, like brittle old Styrofoam, and it crumbles very easily. You can see the crack mine has through the middle. But it can also handle very high surface loads, bearing 4,000 times its own weight (just don't poke it).

The trickiest thing about aerogel? Photographing it with a digital camera. Try as I might I simply could not get my camera to focus on it, or on anything else if it was in the frame. Something about the way it reflects light confuses the hell out of my poor camera; I had to focus on something the same distance away and then face the aerogel with my finger on the button. So keep in mind that the real stuff looks approximately 20-25% cooler than it does here, you just can't see it.

Now to figure out what to do with it so it won't get messed up. How do you display solid smoke?

Oh, and when NASA asks you to fill out a survey, do it.

The Firefly Replica Keychain was created using the TV series' special effects files and carefully scaling them down to just over two inches. The keychain is cast in solid metal with a pewter finish and contains an incredible amount of detail – leaving no doubt that when you travel, you do it in Firefly style.

This is the first item QMx has prioduced with their new Firefly license (as opposed to their Serenity license) and it's seriously cool and very affordable.  You're gonna order one anyway, you know it. Might as well get in on a chance for an even shinier one.

But for now you can get sneak peeks by following Ben Mund on Twitter. He's posting tiny factoids and changing his avatar every day to a new slice of art. So far:

@Qmxinsider Serenity Atlas sneak peek 3: Look closely: you'll see a Tall Card game in the Companion House. Think they play for garbage duty?

@Qmxinsider Serenity Atlas sneak tidbit 2: Eavesdown Docks shot (p7) includes an "Ariel" ship & two darkly dressed men you may recognize …

@Qmxinsider Serenity Atlas sneak tidbit 1: The actual prop peach can River hits Jayne with shows up on p15. Surprisingly, it's undented.

Please note that since he's starting these with @QMxInsider, the QMx Twitter feed, you'll need to follow both Ben and QMxInsider in order to see these tweets in your own feed. Or you can just go to Ben's Twitter page every day.

When the Atlas does get announced, you're gonna want it. I've seen it already and I want it.

DriveThruRPG announced a major incentive to the roleplaying gamer community today to incite donations to aid in rescue and recovery in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Called the "Gamers Helping Haiti Bundle," the product includes over a hundred products totaling over $1000.00 in retail value. For a simple donation of $20 – all of which goes to Doctors Without Borders to support their post-earthquake Haiti relief efforts – RPG fans can have this once-in-a-lifetime collection of gaming products.

Click here for more details. This is an incredible deal, and a great way to help out.

Jane's story will be a short one, around 2,000 words. In an interview while promoting her new series Caprica, she said, "Oh, I just came up with a very clever little short story that involves Kaylee and Wash, two characters that we haven't seen together that much."

Jose Molina had mentioned his several times on his own Twitter feed: 'Working on my Firefly short story. Assuming Jane has finished and Edlund will write his 6 hours before it’s due."

While Titan Books is still not quite ready to announce it formerly despite Jane's leak ("to be fair, we did not ask her not to!"), they have verified to me that original stories will form part of "Still Flyin: A Celebration of Joss Whedon's Acclaimed TV Series," the third Firefly Companion book coming this spring.

"Still Flyin'" will include 'unseen photos, costume designs, behind the scenes secrets and much more," and if "much more" means new stories by these guys I want it even more now. Titan's previous Firefly Companions (reviews here and here) have been amazing collections of photos and articles with stuff I had never seen before, and it looks like this one will be even cooler.

"Still Flyin: A Celebration of Joss Whedon's Acclaimed TV Series" is scheduled to hit shelves April 27 and you can preorder it from Amazon for $13.46.

Supplies:
Messenger bag. I liked the look of this one and it was marked down at Burlington Coat Factory. Price: 20 bucks.
Foam padding. Closed-cell padding is better and thinner — you can find it at some fabric stores or camping supply retailers — but I went with some old packing foam I already had. Price: free.
Duct tape. Price: $3.95 because I splurged on a color roll.
That's it.

Total price: $23.95.

I picked the bag for comfort, a decent number of pockets, ease of access, and wide comfortable strap, but your mileage may certainly vary. Mainly, I didn't want something that looked like a camera bag ("Look! I have an expensive, easily pawnable camera inside!") and it had to have enough room inside for my stuff without being bulky.

First step was a sturdy-ish bottom. I used a sheet of foam from an old computer box, trimmed it to fit, and sliced two lines halfway through the foam where I wanted the corners to be. That way when I flipped it over and folded on those lines, I'd get a squared corner instead of a bent piece of foam.I could have just pieced some together, but I had a sheet large enough to keep it one piece.

This fits snugly into my bag, like so. I made it a touch wider than the bottom so it wouldn't slip around.

My bottom and sides.

Next I cut foam bits a little larger than I needed and wrapped them with duct tape. If I recall correctly, the foam packing once cradled a new hard drive.

Black or charcoal gray duct tape would probably have looked cooler, but I went with white to make it easier for me to find dropped filters, lens caps, etc. in the bag later. I made individual walls with the foam so I could easily piece them together with the tape, which peels right back off itself if I screw up and have to redo. And I did, a couple of times. Even wrapped in duct tape, it stays squishy and the tape helps keep your camera from catching on anything.

I crafted padding of various shapes to hold my camera face down, with a lens hood attached. Then I wrapped softer foam around it to form higher sides. No real reason to use different foam here, that was just the type I had in big enough sizes to wrap. I could have wrapped that foam individually in duct tape as well but wasn't sure how far my roll would go so I held off.

Here's the result. It ain't pretty, but my camera fits in it nicely.

And it fits quite snugly in my bag.

I pieced together some loose bits of foam into pockets for my accessories; filter adapter, filters, cleaning supplies, whatever. I didn't put a lot of work into that because I want to carry the bag around for a bit and see how I'll be using it. Duct-tape-wrapped foam walls can be easily separated from each other and retaped in new configurations, so no worries there.Here I just made a frame and stuck some loose, thin foam dividers in afterward.

The finished (so far), loaded camera bag. Camera secure, accessories stashed, camera already in shooting position as soon as I open my bag and pull it out. I can still access the interior pockets of the bag for more storage (batteries, lens cleaner, memory cards, pens, notebook, flashlight, Kruggerands, whatever you need). And the result is extremely light and I can move the compartments from side to side whenever I wish for more convenient accessibility. Doesn't look as snazzy but who cares?  The bag itself is comfortable to carry, soft against my hip, and sturdy enough that I won't panic about my camera gear.

It doesn't close tightly (this bag has magnetic catches) but I knew that when I bought the bag; just make sure you buy one you're happy with. The local Army-Navy store will likely have an incredible collection of just about any sort of carrying bag, pouch, map case or backpack you can imagine, and thrift stores can't be beat for the prices. Diaper bags make great camera bags, by the way; they're waterproof and that have tons of pockets.

And if I get tired of my bag or find one I like better, I can move my padding over or throw it out and do it again from scratch.

Total time: about an hour, mostly because I kept stopping and taking pictures.

If you like the customization but don't feel like mucking about with foam and tape, you can buy padded compartment inserts and mix and match as you like, but my way is cheaper.

Short review: Meh.

Long review after the jump, where spoilers live.

Don't get me wrong, there were some great scenes, some good lines here and there, and it's always fun to see Enver be Topher. Mellie's death was touching, Boyd's end was perfectly fitting and still sad, and Amy Acker turns out to be a pretty convincing guy. But there were more disappointments than rewards here for me. The highlights:

Are we supposed to believe that Whiskey was Clyde while she was hiding with Boyd? (Not that there's anything wrong with that, but what happened to Claire?) Or are we to believe that she, out of all the possible bodies/dolls available, was spirited from LA all the way to the home office just so Clyde could have that body? Before this ep I had no sense she was anything but Dr. Saunders. And wouldn't Boyd be really pissed that Clyde emptied out Boyd's girlfriend and moved in?

Also, if she's Clyde now that means that once again Amy Acker's soul was wiped clean and replaced with an evil one. Except this time it happened off camera, so we didn't even get to see her go.

Didn't buy Boyd. He's been too rational, too intelligent, too moral up till now, and his sudden slip into crazytown seemed forced. Might have helped if he had shown a little desperation over trying to bring things to a head before the tech got out there. He had to have known how the others would treat him and his plans — he's been by far the most perceptive, empathic character on the show — so seeing him suddenly oblivious to how he had to have known they would take his plan was horribly forced. Couldn't he had tried to earnestly convince them? Maybe some anger, even? We were never even really told whom he was racing against. His own company? Other dollhouses? The government? Who?

(I did love how he "cracked" the door security, though )

Why no mention of Alpha? He clearly had the same physiological quirk as Caroline. Was he an early test that went wrong?

I was wincing through the spinal fluid scene. She was moving around an awful lot for someone getting spinal taps. How was Echo not paralyzed afterward, much less doing the crouching tiger thing?

As soon as Paul and Mellie were sent off on their own I knew she'd be dying soon. (Me, if I were Ballard I'd have been screaming "There are three flowers in a vase! The first flower is red! No, dammit, um, second flower! Second flower!")

No problems with the Adelle or Topher scenes, or Priya and Anthony.

The lower budget was also more apparent here, much more so than in previous episodes. Bashing the server coolers was unimpressive, the explosion looked more like the Buffy high school greenscreen blowup (complete with running star in front) and we didn't even get an exterior visual, no smoke, nothing, just the tired heroes reacting and suddenly Echo/Caroline appearing casually on the sidewalk.

But this is mostly nitpicking and open to opinion. What really bugged me, what I found unforgiveable about this episode, was that we had this big buildup over integrating Caroline back with Echo. It's been the undercurrent for the whole season. Would Echo die? Would Caroline fight for control? Would they integrate, come to terms, become a new third person? How would this show, which has produced some of the most brilliant and subtle examinations of what it means to be human, deal with Echo's sacrifice to bring Caroline back? What would we learn about the self, the soul?

Nothing, actually. What we got was a somewhat harsher Echo, a Caroline with skillz, and no real sign of which one, both or neither was in there.

I'm sorry, I was expecting something huge, like the superBuffy fighting Adam with ease at the end of S4 or the dramatic "everyone's a Slayer" end of S7. I expected a mental battle of wills or some sign that she's more than she was before. I wanted to see that even though she's the result of Boyd's machinations that she's become more than he expected, more than he could plan for. I wanted to see Echo's worst fear realized — Caroline back in full control of her body, Echo gone — and then see Caroline come to terms with the fact that Echo was needed for the mission, or (worse) that Echo was a better person. I wanted Caroline to sacrifice a little of herself to bring Echo back. I wanted to know that Echo and Caroline were working together, or maybe even that Caroline took over but then stepped aside to let Echo emerge for the good of the mission. Maybe Caroline is still Caroline, but there's some Echo in there guiding her. Or something better; this show has been amazing at twists that this jaded TV-watcher didn't see coming, I have no doubt they could come up with something believable, surprising, triumphant, tragic, and deeply emotionally satisfying.

What I got was her charging up and down empty halls, getting into fairly standard fights and muttering sullen defiance. Woo. She did absolutely nothing in this episode (other than supply spinal fluid) that couldn't have been done equally well by Anthony. There was no use of any of her other personalities/skills, no sign of warring minds, and no emotional payoff.

That's why I was disappointed.

I'm still looking forward to the final episode, "Epitaph Two," written by "Epitaph One" writers Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon, and Andrew Chambliss. But this one, despite some excellent bits, was a letdown.

Chronicling the hilarious on- and offline lives of a group of Internet role-playing gamers, the Knights of Good, The Guild has become a cult hit and is the winner of numerous awards from SXSW, YouTube, Yahoo, and the Streamys. Now Day brings the wit and heart of the show to this three-issue miniseries. In this origin tale of the Knights of Good, we learn about Cyd's life before joining the guild, how she became Codex, and how she began to meet the other players who would eventually become her teammates. This storyline fills in details never before revealed on the web show, making it a delightful new chapter for existing fans as well as a perfect jumping-on point for new fans!

(Pictured is the Georges Jeanty cover; you can also order the Cary Nord one.)

***

With the passing of a show comes the chance for picking up momentoes. FOX is auctioning off Dollhouse props and costumes. Get dresses and shoes from Echo, Bennett and Adele, a suit from Ballard, Adele's tea set, Topher's sneakers, an all-access pass to the Rayna concert from "Stage Fright"… Lots of great stuff from what has become a truly amazing show.

***

Finally, we discover what the iPhone was made for: taking Samuel L. Jackson wherever you go.

There have been lots of celebrity apps — Pink, Kevin Smith — but they all shared a similar problem. They talk to you. They tell you just what the celebrity is doing or saying or simply wanting you to know. But with iSamJackson you finally get someone on your side, making you cooler by extension than you ever would be without him.

OK, frankly if this was anyone but Sam Jackson it wouldn't work. But it is, and it does.