As it were...

When I first saw this title, I'll admit, I was skeptical. But no more! It really has everything. Check it out.

The other day I went into my boss' office and resigned from my comfortable, well paying, insurance providing job.

"Why on earth?!?!" I can hear you asking yourself. Allow me to explain. No, it is too much, let me sum up.

I started doing freelance web development on the side while in college 15 years ago, and never really quit. Work has ebbed and flowed over the years, because I've never really sought it. 99% of my work has come to me.

About 2 years ago things started to pick up more. I got a nice ongoing contract with a client and got hooked up with my friend Steve. Since then I've really had more side work than I can handle. Working all evening every evening gets old after a while.

My choice was really to either quit doing freelance work, or quit the day job. I chose to quit the day job. Hopefully my new day job won't continue to creep into my evenings.

We know there are a zillion things to think about when going freelance, and we've been working hard to think about them. Insurance, taxes, slow times, etc. We're praying a lot these days. :)

So, if you know anyone in need of web development services, send them on over to T1KDevelopment.com!

I love optical illusions, and this guy is a master. He has lots of videos on Youtube, here are three favorites.

Nintendo controller

Crazy Nuts

Pac Man

In Firefox, you can bookmark a page by pushing the little star in the right end of your location bar. *poof* it's bookmarked. If you push it again, a little options window comes up, like the one in the image on the right. And there are drop down menus. So... many... menus...

One of them does nothing at all, unless there's a Live Bookmark, which 99% of the time there isn't. Two of them open the exact same menu. One of them opens a larger text area which you cannot write in, or do anything in at all.

I love Firefox, I really do. I think it's magnificent, and I hold it in reverence. But that bookmarks thing is a wreck.

Update: I talked to a Mozilla support guy and he helped me figure out that some of the issues are due to an extension I have. We also realized though that some of them are due to poor UX design when there's zero data in some bookmarks fields. So we all win!

Update2: We figured out that the extra menu is coming from Fotofox (which is an awesome extension) and the extension owner has been made aware. And I'm buying him a beer as soon as he comes here from Slovenia. Thanks Brian! (and David).

In 1965, Robin Lee Graham set out to sail around the world solo at the age of 16 years, 4 and a half months. He eventually accomplished that goal, becoming the youngest person to ever accomplish that feat.

On 1 Jan 2010 (just the other day) 16 year old Abby Sunderland set out to beat his record. I haven't looked to see her exact age, but I'm assuming it's less than 16 years, 4 and a half months.

Robin wrote a book called Dove, named after his boat, and there was a movie made as well. I loved the book when I was a kid, and I always wished I'd been around to kind of follow along. There wasn't any media coverage at the time though, so it probably wouldn't have been noticed. Abby's making a bit of an event out of it however, and I think that's cool. I'm excited to watch her progress.

The world a pretty different place now than it was in 1965. Abby has a cell phone, and periodic internet access. We have GPS now, and food is stored a lot more easily. One of my favorite parts of her site is her google map which shows where she is each day. Right now she's "Just East of Guadalupe Island, Mexico Day 4 - 1/26/2010".

I'll be following along and praying for her, the open ocean is a pretty scary place for a 16 year old girl. She seems to be a very accomplished sailor, but there's a lot more out there than open water and weather.

When House M.D. first came out, one review that I read said that the English Hugh Laurie had a wretched American accent. I watched a few episodes and decided I didn't like the show and put it out of my mind.

A few months ago, a compatriot of mine found the sketch Your name, sir? on youtube, taken from A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and I realized how brilliant Laurie can be, and how brilliant Stephen Fry is as well.

In light of that, when I found Jeeves and Wooster, played by Fry and Laurie, on Netflix I added it to my list. Not only have I not been disappointed, I have become a raving fan of Jeeves and Wooster.

Enough back story. Bertie Wooster (played by Laurie) is a young man with enough money that he can do whatever he wants with his days, and afford a valet named Jeeves (Fry). The depth of Wooster's activities in life rivals the lives of any Jane Austin character, being chiefly concerned with not getting married, and helping his friends with their little problems.

Jeeves is the ultimate perfect butler. He knows what's going on all the time, and always has just the perfect plan. His plan is always the one that goes through, though often he just takes care of it himself, without telling anyone what he's doing. In the end, people look at him and say "Good heavens Jeeves, how on earth did you do this?".

I love this series for several reasons. One is that it's gentle. There's no violence, no sex, no genuine angst. The problems to be solved are humorous in their very simplicity.

Another is that the language is fantastic. The mere fact that it's British English makes it fun, but it's also high dollar language from the 1920's (in which our story is generally set). Here's an excellent quote:

Bertie: [singing Minnie the Moocher] Ho dee ho dee ho dee ho
Jeeves: [speaking] Ho dee ho dee ho, sir.
Bertie: [stumbles a bit at the piano] ...rah di rah di rah
Jeeves: Rah di rah di rah, sir?
Bertie: Tee di hee di hee
Jeeves: Tee di hee di hee, sir.
Bertie: Yes...hm... I don't mean to be overly critical Jeeves, I mean, I know you're doing your best...
Jeeves: Thank you, sir!
Bertie: I just think that perhaps we could dispense with the 'sir' at the end of every line. You know, shows the proper feudal spirit and all that, but I'm afraid if it doesn't play merry hell with the rhythm of the thing.

Jeeves uses the most wonderful words that I've never heard of, it's dashed fun for someone who loves language.

All that to say, it's a marvelous show, and I highly recommend it. It's on Netflix, but there are also a great many DVD's in the KDL library system.