"Five" is a new weekly feature, a series of lists that implicitly say something important about Our Bold Hero. This week: five bad situations that, while not necessarily a big deal, loom large in my world.

1. Scientists in the Netherlands have magnetically levitated hazelnuts, frogs, and a hamster named Tisha, but I can't find any pictures. The Internet still contains many unexpected dead ends, and I continue to wander into them.

2. Various federal policies effectively double the price I pay for butter and sugar. So I bake less at home, and commercial products are made with significantly-less-tasty substitutes.

3. The narrative arcs of my favorite television shows will continue to be (artificially) influenced by the various sweeps weeks. A while ago, Wired wrote about 24/7 "people meters," which seem to have many advantages, but I haven't heard a peep about this technology for at least a year.

4. Some newspapers are still evaluating prospective copy editors in what I feel to be a too conservative, decidedly pre-Internet way. It seems unfair, but I'm still an outsider, and my commentary on the subject – if it's gotten through at all – hasn't changed any minds.

5. I'm finally excited about another game: Spore. It looks incredible. But it'll be almost a year before I can get my hands on a copy.