After nine months of me looking at the same page day in and day out, I felt it was time for a bit of a redesign. So, here it is. It’s a bit cleaner than the last, and hopefully a bit more aesthetic. I refrained from doing anything fancy to keep it readable on all platforms (especially my new “internet appliance”), so there’s very little besides text here. A few bits of javascript, most notably my weblogs.com “favorites” list on the right sidebar. The design’s been tested on both MSIE 5.5 and Netscape 4.7 on Windows. If any of you LINUX or Mac folks have problems, [please let me know](mailto:ewagoner@athens.net?subject=Nope. Can’t read it.). Or, if you think it’s a step backwards, let me know that, too.

Umberto Eco wins Spanish literary prize. More praise for one of our finest writers (I’m using the collective “our”, for Eco belongs to the generations, or however that sappy phrase goes). I consider the fact that I’ve yet to read all of his works (actually, any of his works – I’m into The Name of the Rose right now, but just barely) one of my greatest character flaws.

I make my film debut tomorrow in the title role of “Thor (Ode to Thee) “, a video to the rock anthem by Athens’ wondergroup The Dictatortots. Except that it’s being filmed entirely on a digital camera, so there’s no film. Maybe I should say it’s my motion picture debut. But then I’d be really pretentious.

I couldn’t find what I cooked for dinner tonight in my copy of White Trash Cooking, but I should have. I call it “Mushed Tubers and Tuna Cakes,” and, boy howdy! was it good. If you want recipes, you’ll have to email me. Then you can start making your own cookbook. And I’ll buy it.

I was told last night that not everyone knows about the wonderful Mr. Wakeup. So, for posterity (and my 50 readers), I record it here. Mr. Wakeup will call your telephone or pager whenever you want it to with a recorded message, computer-read text, your horoscope, or jokes. For free. Along with Mr. Wakeup, there’s also Ms. Reminder, Mr. Notify, Ms. FollowUp, Mr. Dollar, and Dr. Dose. Wake yourself up! Annoy your friends! All for free!

I can’t vouch for everything on the MP3.com “radio station” Bleeding Edge Spoken Word, but for some inexplicable reason, Das Haus der Steigenden Sonne (scroll down) made me laugh out loud. From the artists’ site (filled to the gills with all sorts of raunchy stuff – beware): “We always wanted to do a vocal duet with Adolph Hitler, and it wasn’t easy due to conflicting schedules. Well, here it be. Our rendition of an old Southern classic… "

Dear visitor from CacheFlow,

If you’re a person reading this, please [drop me a line](mailto:ewagoner@athens.net?subject=Whaddya want). If you’re a cacheing spider or bot of some sort, your behaviour is right odd. Either way, enjoy your stay.

James Gleick, prolific author on technology and sociology, author of the proposal to break up Microsoft I wish the DoJ had used, now writes about Microsoft’s responsibilities for the recent ILoveYou email worm. It’s very anti-Microsoft, yet it was published in Slate, which Microsoft owns. Cheers to Mr. Gleick, jeers to Microsoft, and cheers to, um, Microsoft. Just for the record, I use Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 beta (though I have the latest Netscape on my computer and use it to cross-check my HTML, both personal and business) and Microsoft Outlook Express. My work computer has Windows 98 and MS Office 97. I’m not rabidly anti-Microsoft myself, but I agree that they have a lot to answer for and that their products aren’t the best out there. But, for reasons similar to why I don’t use BetaMAX video, I’m stuck using many Microsoft products.

More Missouri flood coverage. One of the victims, Wilbern Banderman, died just around the corner from my parents’ house. The bridge he was crossing, described in the story as “a low-water bridge” is really just a concrete ford across a small, lazy stream. When we’d have out-of-state visitors in town, they’d always use that bridge as an example of how rural our area was. For those of you wondering, my parents’ property is at the confluence of three creeks, but is on the safe high side. The “flood plain” across the water is a neighbors’ hay field. Ordinarily, the creeks are fun trickles. Minnows, crawdads, lazy pools just right for getting your toes wet. Hopping frogs. Tadpoles. Water skeeters. After a good thunderstorm, though, the water’d kill you in a moment. I can’t imagine what it looks like after 14-18 inches of rain.

Shipped free with my internet appliance was a nifty CD opener that makes quick work of the plastic seals on a CD case. My officemate Paul says that with the sheer number of individually wrapped blank CDs he goes through, that little took alone is worth the $100 I’ll end up paying for this computer.