An old woman had died. Before burying the her, the residents of the village of Obo — in southern Central African Republic, just north of the Congolese border — gathered around a campfire to eat, drink, cry and sing in celebration of the woman’s long life. It was a night in March 2008, just another beat in the slow rhythm of existence in this farming community of 13,000 people.

Then the dreadlocked fighters from the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel group — tongo-tongo, the villagers call them — rose from their hiding places in the shadows and advanced toward the fire. Others blocked the paths l...

Simon Pegg writes about his ascent to the upper echelons of geek culture in his autobiography Nerd Do Well.

Simon Pegg shouldn’t be famous. He’s the kind of goofy nerd who in his youth would kiss a picture of Carrie Fisher each night before going to bed — not the kind of guy that Hollywood executives would put in the “highly bankable” column.

At least that’s what his quirky and inspiring new autobiography Nerd Do Well would lead you to believe. (Seriously, there’s a section that claims most articles about him start similarly to the above — Wired.com is just following form).

But, truth be told,...