Time for Change

Maybe it's because Christopher and Kevin just switched to spiffy new designs. Maybe it is because I am procrastinating on some work. Maybe it's because it has been years since I did more than a cursory update to my site design (2002, if my memory serves). Whatever the case may be, I feel that it is time for change. I'm going to try to dabble in CSS and see if I can bring my site into the modern age. If my dabbling goes well, things may look different later today, if my dabbling fails, you'll just have to live with this look for awhile longer.

Update (2005.02.19 23:59): It isn't going to go up today, if you didn't already guess that. I'm aiming for tomorrow. All I can say is that I have come to really like doing layouts in CSS today. All of my cratchty complaining about CSS layouts may have been ill advised. You can teach an old web-dev dog new tricks!

If All Else Fails...

I cannot seem to get myself to finish the various bits of posts I've started writing for this blog. I have one of the critical study of religion as well as my oft promised reflection on Sixpence None the Richer. I have a few others on the burner too, but they just aren't getting done. So, for tonight, I'll just post another sonnet. This one was started on December 13, when I drove past a field in Maryland Heights filled with puddles lit by the setting sun.

A field barren, the harvest long complete, Ponds formed, glimmer in the early evening.
So as the soul can feel so hard a defeat,
Half drowned below the cold water pooling.
The growth of summer past still remembered,
Spring sprouts still months under the dark, cold ground.
Though sun does shine on water’s jewels now gathered,
Frost’s war continues ‘gainst the glowing round.
Invoking summers past and yet to come,
Lose all impact amidst the icéd earth.
The path so long, so cold leaves one all numb,
Has the still earth morphed to hostile turf?
    Show me, Almighty Liege, the way to go,
    That I might know before fields again grow.

Not an Ageless Quiz

Found via Michael.

You're A Poet, You Know It!

How many of you have tried Haiku before? Given that I seem to be on a poetry streak at the moment, for some reason, I was thinking, wouldn't it be fun if each of you would contribute one Haiku of whatever strikes you at the moment of composition (Haiku, after all, being about the moment). As a grouping, it could be quite fascinating.

Want to give it a try? It's simple, really. First, it doesn't have to rhyme. Second, it does not have to follow a certain meter. Those two things make Haiku some of the easiest poetry to write, from a technical standpoint. What's hard is fitting a whole moment in its confining size. In particular, a Haiku should be composed of three lines, the first being five syllables long, the second seven, and the third five again. This 5-7-5 pattern can be a bit difficult, but fun to try.

Poesy in Haiku
Can be fun and amusing,
And soon fill comments.

Picture This

Well, I added my “official mug shot” to the right column of this page. I point you back to yesterday's post for the appropriate warnings about it, but it is at least better than the last. This is the head shot I referenced earlier this week.

As I noted previously, I've been on the web for either ten or eleven years now (I can't recall exactly when I first popped open a web browser — I think 1994), and this is a first. I've thought about doing so before, but just never got around to it. But now I have and Ed cannot complain about me should I decide to turn asisaid into an Internet Church now.

In other news, I did some minor adjustments to my Choose Your Own Adventure piece, so that it now specifically says that Riley was trying to contact the police. I'm not sure if it is quite what Christopher was looking for, though, so he is welcome to throw a rotten tomato at me and tell me to fix it in some other fashion, if he'd like.

The Result of the Photo Game

And now the time has come to see the end,
To this small amusement answer I’ll amend.
Tis not the first that will be correct of them,
For that is Shakespeare the rival of Ben.
Tis not the sixth, I do maintain to you,
He’s Jim the church’s custodian, that’s who.
Nor ‘twas it five, though Kevin tried quite hard,
He was from Google unknown to this bard.
(And had he been the hidden face of mine,
Less likely this amusement kept I on Valentine.)
No guesséd number two which is too bad,
A friend of mine is he for which I’m glad.
But two remain, for I am almost done,
Which surely good is for one unlike Donne.
Would that I would be the number four,
For Senator (state) would be on my door.
But last, ‘tis I, it’s number three for me,
A shot so bad – alas! – that’s what you see.
Now when Aurora’s fingers climb the sky,
And day again bids night a clear “good bye,”
A better picture shall I post on here,
Though still best suited for radio careers.
Flip’s the one, the only one who guess’d it,
So she crowned winner has thus won this bit.

Challenge Reminder

There are four questions presently open in the latest challenge (7.4, 7.5, 8.1, 8.3) . If you're looking to size up your position, don't miss this great opportunity. I'm also thinking about reworking the rules so that the threshold for a prize is lower. Sound good or do y'all like it the way it is?

Also, don't forget that you have one day left to guess the right photo over here. Everyone with the right answer will get 30 pts.

Photo Game

As long as I'm having fun giving all of you a hard time about my photo, I might as well make a game out of it… Ok, one of these photos is a picture of yours truly. The others are people I know or have at least met (well, save for two, one of which I feel like I know and one of whom I don't know at all). Which one of these is me? 30 pts.to each right answer within the next 48 hours — one try per person, so choose wisely.

Hmm... Can Napster Last?

Someone with too much time on their hands, decided to figure out exactly how much music they could get off Napster's new Napster to Go service, convert to WAV files and burn to CD's within the free trial period. Their calculations allow for the creation of 250+ CD's during that 14 day period. Of course, Napster To Go isn't suppose to allow burning, but the folks planning this simply did the same thing I did when I wanted to record a live audio stream a few years back — capture the audio stream and save it as WAV files.

Obviously, for those who'll abuse this service, this makes Napster To Go a much better value than iTunes Music Store, since you can't steal 250 CD's worth of music from iTMS. In the long run, however, I suspect that this might spell the end of Napster. If word about this gets around, the service will be abused and the record labels will get quite angry about people downloading thousands of songs and keeping them forever with an investment worth about one CD ($14.95).

I'm actually glad about this in a way, though. This means Microsoft PlayForSure Janus subscriber technology may be defeated before it becomes popular. Anything that keeps RIAA from making it so people don't even have a permanent copy of the music they pay for is a good thing for everyone else.

(Not that I advocate signing up for Napster to steal music off of it, I simply like the idea that maybe this will throw a wrench in a bad idea whose time has not come.)

Shedding the Last Shred of Anonymity?

My face has never appeared on the Internet. Or, actually, it did once when I wrote for an online trade publication, but only in the members area. For an article I wrote awhile back in a print publication, I had to submit a head shot to the editor. I sent it via e-mail and I have the file now sitting on my desktop.

Tonight it dawned on me that maybe it is time I add a face to this text. Or maybe it is more amusing to stay behind the cloak of the asisaid and OfB logos. Decisions, decisions. Maybe I should make something in the photo a Challenge question and “appear” on the Internet for the first time if someone can answer the question. Ah, the possibilities!