Windows Media Player and Real Player could be used to transmit viruses. Another good reason why I prefer using Winamp.

And here I thought I didn’t have enough things to drool after….. Adobe’s coming out with Photoshop version 7. I am such a graphics geek. But now I have something obscure to lust after for at least the next month (Adobe *says* they’ll be shipping in March) which is good, since with the weather warming up again, Bill is back into the land of Paintball and lusting after new barrels and better paint. (For someone who doesn’t play, I know a hell of a lot about the sport)

Ahhh…. I have been without a sketchbook for the last week (filled up the last one) and I didn’t realize how much I was missing sketching until I picked a new one up tonight and started playing with those lovely blank sheets of paper. I still can’t over the convenience of living near a large art store. (Pearl) Growing up, I’d have given an arm for something like that.

After more than four years, I figured the site needed a new damm name. The scope of this thing has expanded and changed a lot since I was staying up late in the campus computer lab, plunking away for lack of anything better to do. And the older I get, the more I find that the “DragonChylde” part of my life has shrunk. I don’t think it’ll ever go away entirely, but there’s more to me, and my work these days, then just my renfaire nickname.

On the tech front, here’s a nifty article at Evolt about the continuing problem of search engines and spam.

On the hell has frozen over front, my mom now has a computer. And an email address. Those of you that know the DragonMom will understand the novelty of this. All I have to say is whoohoo! One more person I can get in touch with without running up my phone bill! (I have family in five different states - keeping in touch is not always easy.) And hey, it’s not often I have a chance to question a completly new user about the navigability and useability of this site. If she can find her way around this place, I must be doing something right.

Had to hit an ATM last night. The guy ahead of me not only let me go in front of him, but offered to walk me out to my car ’cause we weren’t in the most savory section of Hackensack. (Actually, I don’t think there *is* a savory section of Hackensack, but that’s another story) Granted, this could have been a set up for a mugging (I might be from the country, but I’m not that silly. Well, not anymore.) However, the escort was unnecessary - Bill was waiting in the parking lot. All 6 foot 4 of him, with the really big Dodge Ram truck. I’m pretty sure the guy’s intentions were pure, but hey, having backup is cool.

Another cute encounter with a random stranger:
I’m in the grocery store grabbing a few things. I hit the spice section looking for one thing - peppercorns. Findig that one little bottle of peppercorns is not easy in the roughly 24 feet of supermarket shelving. So I’m squinting at all the little bottles, and the guy next to me is doing the same thing.

Him: If you see any Rosemary, let me know.
Me: Ok.
Him: What’re you looking for?
Me: Peppercorns

Then at almost the same moment, we both find the item the other was looking for. We exchange bottles, and go our seperate ways. And I had a grin on my face for the next ten minutes. Why? Because this is Northeast New Jersey; land of road rage, home invasions, and grumpy people. But every now and then I find a total stranger who gives me faith that people don’t universally suck, and that is what keeps me going.

Still waiting for my W-2’s. Doing my taxes sucks, but getting that refund sure doesn’t.

Pet peeve of the day - links that open in a new window. This seems to be the trend on many of the sites I enjoy - and it bugs the hell out of me. If you’re coding your own site and you want to do this, give me a choice, like Lemurzone does. If you’re using a blogging script and it defaults to new windows for every link, please learn enough coding or what have you to un-default it. If you don’t want to double every link, but are really into the new window thing, use a script to let me choose if links open a new window or not.

Remember kiddies - target=”_parent” and target=”_top” are good things.

Warning! The following link is very, very, wrong. Follow at your own risk.

Slayage: The Online International Journal for Buffy Studies Wow. This is cooler than IAXS.