Excuse the mess. I'm working on fixing the old, crappy HTML in the Blogger template.

I picked this template when I first started blogging, but it isn't available anymore. I like to think it's "rare" and unique. That's why I stick with it. But, like I said, the HTML is really crappy, so I'm in the process of cleaning it up.

Man, I keep forgetting to blog. I finally got our cable/internet/TiVo setup working peachy on Wednesday afternoon. Initial TiVo setup requires a phone line, so I had to bring it over to Kelly's parents house for a couple of hours to do that. After that, I hooked it up to the network and it works great. Today I signed up to expedite download of the new software version that will allow us to transfer files from the TiVo to our personal computers. This is almost like having TiVo in every room in the house!

I decided to hook my computer up to the TV because we download HBO shows off the internet (rather than paying an extra $10 a month just for Six Feet Under). Unfortunately, my computer is now only good for that because any sort of text looks pretty crappy on the TV, even though video looks fine. All the stuff we used to do on my computer we can now use Kelly's computer for.

Kelly and I are moved into our new place, but it's still a mess and the cable doesn't even work yet (Cox guy comes by tomorrow morning). I'll contact people soon with our new address.

In other news, I've recently discovered something both cool and useful. Konfabulator is software that run "widgets" on your computer desktop. I used to think that widgets only existed in theoretical economics problems (Tom can make XX widgets in YY hours with $ZZ in parts. How much should he charge per widget?) but I guess they refer to any little piece of software that displays information. The widget I like in particular (and I think would be really useful to everybody) is "What To Do", which simply presents a nice-looking to-do list on the desktop. I've been using the analog version of this widget (= pen and paper) for a while, so you can imagine how much better this is. This little gem is included with Konfabulator, but there are tons of other useful/entertaining widgets to download as well.

CNET has revealed their top 10 list of internet fads. I'd come across most of them before except for #7, Ellen Feiss. She did one of the commercials for Apple's "switch-to-mac" ad campaign, and can be seen here. I remember some other commercials for that campaign, but not hers. Then I found some parody ads...

• Monkey switch


• Tweek switch


• Canada switch


• Star Wars switch

In case you didn't know (because I didn't), HTML is going to way of the dodo, to be replaced in the future with XHTML. XHTML is pretty similar to its predecessor, but it is much more strict. More importantly, XHTML is supposed to separate style from content (in other words, no more formatting with tables!), and because of this, XHTML is much more flexible in how webpages can be designed. In the spirit of things, I took a little time to redesign my homepage with XHTML 1.0 (transitional), using CSS2 for all styling (and I didn't have to use a single < TABLE > tag). I didn't know a lick of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) before starting this, and I'm really impressed at how simple the HTML becomes.

Moving, moving, moving...

There's been quite a few things going on this week. On Tuesday, I did TEM all morning, attended Paul Niles' Ph.D defense, and finished a coherent GSA abstract. Joe has a practice defense this afternoon to prepare for his real one next week. I also got a new TiVo in the mail, and we get the keys to the house tomorrow.

Doh! I had forgotten that GSA abstracts are due tomorrow. Better start working on them!

I also have TEM tomorrow.

One more week

Kelly and I are supposed to get the keys for our new rental home this week. I'm very excited to finally start moving in, although we probably won't be living there for good until the end of the month, when our current lease expires. I'd rather be moving non-essential furniture than sitting around trying to not spend money.

Teaching Field Camp at the beginning of summer was a wise financial decision. Not only did it cut down on my food and entertainment costs for almost two weeks, but I get paid for it as well. My income for June was almost 3 time normal. This allowed me to afford the rent and deposit on Kelly and my new rental home (as well as pay for this months rent for our apartment) as well as paying off the rest of my auto loan early and buying a TiVo. The last two items will definitely save me money in the long run, since I don't have to worry about making car payments anymore or paying $10/month for Cox's crappy DVR. Kelly and I use that thing so much nowadays that we can't go back to "normal" television, just like how once you experience high-speed internet, you can't stand dial-up.

Too many exciting things to mention!

NEW Junko Mizuno book
NEW Braveland Design stuff
FREE TiVo deal

But I really should be saving up my money for moving in to Kelly and my new rental home. Drats!