“Xark” is a word that came to Dan in a dream in 2004. It is a verb that means “to move from one topic of intense interest to another.” His online handle in those days — when he was an associate features editor, a meaningless title that basically meant he was free to report on whatever interested him — was “xarker.”
In 2006 he launched the Xark! group blog based on the idea that “There Are No Unrelated Topics.” It was fun while it lasted.