Look Mom, I’ve got a weblog!
A few days ago I started playing around with Greymatter. So far I’m impressed. It allows you to have online journal software right on your own server, which means you have complete control over how it works. Much better than signing up for one of those blog services (in my humble opinion). Oh, and the best part is, Greymatter is free!
Watch this space for more journal entries.
It’s great to have something to get your mind off the events of the day. Right now my diversion of choice is the book Sign-Talker by James Alexander Thom. It’s a fictional account of George Drouillard, a Native American / French-Canadian man, and his adventures while he was the guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition. Definitely a recommended read for fans of historical fiction.
Not a day goes by when I don’t listen to public radio. My local public radio station is in the middle of their annual fund drive. To quote Tom and Ray from Car Talk: “I’ve upped my pledge — up yours.”
This weekend I got an e-mail from a Jonathan Bloy who lives in England. He was searching for the Bloy name and found this site. Last year I got an e-mail from another Jonathan Bloy who lives in New Zealand. That makes three so far. I wonder how many more of us are. Hmmm… sounds like a bad horror movie…
Run for your lives! Jonathan Bloys are taking over the planet!
I recently discovered bookmarklets. What are they? Small sections of JavaScript that you can use as a bookmark (or favorite). There are all kinds of bookmarklets around and if you know how to code JavaScript you can even create your own. What are some of the things they can do? Help you search faster, calculate or convert figures, view web pages differently (like change the font or background color)… the possibilities are endless.
I have a bookmarklet parked on my personal toolbar to search Google, which I use all the time. You can find a copy of it (tailored for your browser) here. The Bookmarklets Home Page also has quite a few more to get you started.
Photoshop Tennis. An excellent Internet time waster if there ever was one — at least for the spectators like me. I’m sure it’s a lot of work for the players. My current favorite is the match posted on October 12.
Last night I was outside around midnight, and saw the Aurora Borealis. Words cannot describe what an amazing sight that is. It was the second time in my life I’ve seen the Northern Lights. Although they didn’t fill up as much of the sky as the first time I saw them, last night’s aurora did have more brilliant color (streaks of deep red) than my first aurora experience. To learn more about auroras and when you might see them, visit SpaceWeather.com.
I’ve been a loyal user of Homesite for several years now. I’ve tried just about every HTML editor out there, and I always come back to Homesite. I was anxious to get the upgrade to version 5 when I heard that Macromedia (who merged with Homesite’s previous company, Allaire) was releasing a new version. So yesterday with credit card in hand, I logged onto Macromedia’s Homesite Upgrade Page and downloaded my copy.
After I had a problem with the original install (the validator component would not work) I reinstalled the program, and it worked fine. So far I think the $30 I spent on the upgrade has been worth it. My only concern is, after the validator component would not work I spend twenty minutes clicking around in circles on the Macromedia web site, looking for a way to contact for technical support. There is none! No e-mail address, no phone, not even a feedback form. The only thing I could find was a link to Allaire’s Homesite user forum. I hope that’s not a bad omen for what has been an excellent piece of software.
It must be Aurora season. Last night for the second time in nine days, I saw the Northern Lights. Unfortunately, this time I was closer to the Milwaukee metro area, so the display was subdued quite a bit by city lights, but there were definite streaks of red and green visible from my house. In case you missed it, the SpaceWeather.com site has some spectacular pictures of last night’s display in their Aurora Gallery.
This weekend I saw the movie O Brother, Where Are Thou? for the first time. It’s a comedy set in the depression era south. The story is based on Homer’s Odyssey (yes, there is even a cyclops and sirens). It was a real hoot. George Clooney did a great job as Ulysses Everett McGill (the lead character). My favorite thing about the film is the soundtrack, filled with old-time country gems. Rent this one if you haven’t seen it yet. Then go get the CD.
