I've been using Konfabulator for three days now and of course curiosity has gotten the best of me. How does this thing work? What's the big deal with widgets? The long and short of it is it that there is a growing trend to end the "Browser Wars" before they even start by eliminating (or the very least reducing) the need for a large application when you can gain a lot of the same functionality through dynamic content wrappers (XML based) that just look a lot cleaner and more inviting.
Apple's latest installment of the iTunes application for Windows has prompted me to make the switch. I had been using Ipodder faithfully to download a handful of podcasts, but it never made much sense for Windows Media Player to be launched in order to play the files. That, and while jamming along to a bit of DMB, I would be interrupted by Gov. Phil Bredesen giving a statement on TennCare. Not good. Visions of Phil toking it up with the band, however, hillarious.
Samantha re-arranged the living room today while I slept (in mid-morning). It's amazing what I sleep through when I can't seem to sleep at all at night. So we've determined that I'm not a light sleeper, so cross that off the list of reasons I'm not getting to bed at normal hours. Tomorrow I plan to head up to the newspaper office to finally get a little work done. Work on the house in Greenfield is slowing, but mostly because the temperature is ridiculously hot. I'm not for sensational journalism (quit laughing), but the headlines these days just scream the fact that we've pushed Mother Nature around for far, far too long.
The Nashville Predators will again take to the ice, ending the CBA Nightmare of 2004-05. I would have commented on it earlier, but its hard to put into words both my joy and extreme frustration that it took killing the sport to save it. The NHL shield logo change is the most ho-hum news of the whole deal, and quite frankly I would punch anyone involved if so much as a second was given to arguing about the change. I still agree with my mom on the point that the first game of the year should be be played to empty arenas across the country.
I was finally assessed for tuition for the semester, a whopping $2246.50. Student loans have rode into the rescue, but God how I dread paying those things off. Vanderbilt isn't going to cover all of that, and I won't see a dime of that payout until six weeks into the semester. I should really, really go talk to business affairs about correctly classifying that aide (it's a tuition payment not a reimbursement), but it will likely be a losing battle. No word yet on that whole direct deposit thing, so midnight trips to Waverly may still be part of the schedule.
The development phase for The Pacer Online Edition kicks off this week, although with that extended break in between, it might sputter fairly quickly. My current plan is to use WordPress to generate the static content (staff lists, meeting times, advertising information), and then simply wrap in my database calls in a plug-in (which is what I did witht the fraternity's site). WordPress is still lacking as a good platform for managing date-driven publications (for one, managing 2800+ posts would be a nightmare) or breaking it down so that editors would get a separate view, as well as writers, etc. Samantha says I probably use the blogging software for more than it was intended. I haven't found its limits yet.
After reading back through the "no transitions" style, I realized that I never had used them in the first place. My apologies to the English majors.