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Tuesday, April 5th, 2005
I'm just trying to see whether this one will come through.
posted morning of April 5th, 2005: Respond
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Monday, April 4th, 2005
The site is back up and ASP is scripting courtesy of Selisoft. I'm tired right now and am not going to link to them but I will do it tomorrow. This computer is pretty slow so the blog is going to take a little while to load. I have ideas for improving the performance but they will have to wait a while too. I am going downstairs and watch "The Daily Show".
posted evening of April 4th, 2005: Respond
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Wednesday, March 23rd, 2005
My former employers, Xyris Software, who have been graciously providing me with web space free of charge for several years now, are reorganizing their server space and givin me the boot. So I've got to look around for an ISP or figure out how to host the site on my home computer. So this site is going to go down at some point in the next week or so and not come back until I get off my butt and work something out.
posted evening of March 23rd, 2005: Respond
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Tuesday, March 22nd, 2005
PZ Myers introduces me to the latest meme going around the academic blogs. Here are my answers: - You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
Not sure, I think an epic poem like Iliad or Beowulf but that is a hasty thought, such an important decision would take some consideration when the time came. - Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Don't be silly. Well maybe. When reading short stories, I think that happens; but not in novels. Mostly. (Note: the name "Jessica Swanlake" was running through my head when I wrote this but I'm not sure why -- it's Roger has a crush on her, not me...) - The last book you bought is:
The Economist's Tale by Peter Griffiths - The last book you read:
Ditto - What are you currently reading?
Call it Sleep by Henry Roth - Five books you would take to a deserted island:
I'll think about this for a while and then update. (Or not.) - Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons)? And Why?
Whoever reads this, consider it passed. Update: Roy did this too, and passed the stick to me, so I am retroactively crediting him.
posted afternoon of March 22nd, 2005: Respond
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I've been reading Call it Sleep by Henry Roth for a little while now, and enjoying it. This is a book which I bought many years ago (either at Yesterday's Books in Modesto, CA, or at the used book store on Market St. in Potsdam, NY) meaning to read right away, and has been sitting balefully on my shelf ever since... I think a good essay topic would be the difference in experience between reading a book you have just acquired (and shades of such experience depending on the source -- bookstore, yard sale, second-hand shop, found...) versus a book that has been on your shelf for a long time pleading to be read. Lord knows I have enough of the latter sort to keep me occupied for a while. As I was turning the pages in the middle of Part III, The Coal, I ran across a bookmark from some previous reader. It is a piece of tan paper about 2 1/2" square, on which has been scribbled, "He's having a nervous breakdown".
posted morning of March 22nd, 2005: Respond
➳ More posts about Call it Sleep
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Monday, March 21st, 2005
We have always had board games around and Sylvia has always enjoyed playing them. All of a sudden she has developed a real fascination for them, touched off by learning how to play Monopoly Jr. (which is sort of like real Monopoly, with most of the strategy simplified out.) Every time I have walked in the door in the past week and a half, she has run to meet me and said, "Hi Dad, how was your day, want to play Monockoly?" So we do; and when that is done (we each seem to win about half the time), we play Candyland and Chutes & Ladders.
posted evening of March 21st, 2005: Respond
➳ More posts about Sylvia
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Thursday, March 17th, 2005
Our venture into chapter books continues apace -- two nights ago we finished Winnie-the-Pooh, last night we started Just-So Stories.
posted morning of March 17th, 2005: Respond
➳ More posts about Just-So Stories
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Monday, March 14th, 2005
Living with Sylvia (who is busy discovering how to use computers and the internet) means that you will frequently Google around for interactive dinosaur games hoping to find something that will be interesting to you and her both. Today I may have hit the jackpot in the form of the BBC's Dinosaurs page. There are a lot of things to do there of which we have only looked at a few; but the very latest addition to the site is Dinosaur World, which just knocked my socks off. It is a multimedia program that lets you explore your way around an ancient landscape, watching dinosaurs and listening to descriptions of them. The graphics are jaw-droppingly great and the soundtrack is quite well done too. The download (which is free) is 20 M; there is also a "low spec" option which I assume is smaller. The product is still in beta and will crash frequently.
posted evening of March 14th, 2005: Respond
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Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C / Go here to make your own list. (Link via Unqualified Offerings.) -- or you can follow this link, courtesy of Patrick Nielsen Hayden, to create a graphical representation of what states you have visited.
posted morning of March 14th, 2005: Respond
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Wednesday, March 9th, 2005
This morning I finished reading The Economist's Tale by Peter Griffiths. (Thanks D2 for the recommendation!) An excellent book and you ought to read it; I haven't really got anything to add to Daniel's review except to say this book is an extremely good pay-off in terms of how much pleasure, sorrow and enlightenment you will get out of reading it, versus how much effort is involved. Update: And here is a link to Griffiths' home page.
posted morning of March 9th, 2005: Respond
➳ More posts about The Economist's Tale
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