I can't believe I'm excitedly looking forward to a children's movie, but indeed <i>The Golden Compass</i> is doing that for me, and while I'm not rereading that series right now I do have some other Pullman books.  So when you observe that <font size="+3" color="maroon"><i><b>DUST</b></i></font> can interfere with computer operations, I have to agree ... on both practical and metaphysical levels!  ==mitch