If you don't like profanity, go somewhere else.

I've done everything I can to free myself from the evil clutches of Microsoft. I use a different operating system. I use a different office suite. I use a different web browser. Even at work, where we're forced to use Windows, I still use Firefox and OpenOffice. And I'm going to start bringing in my Linux laptop to get a breath of fresh air.

Even my company's website avoids Windows as much as possible. The site is hosted on Linux and I got my IT guy to install Dreamweaver so we could avoid Windows and Frontpage. Meanwhile 65% of our visitors use Internet Explorer, but that's ok because the web guy and I found CSS code that looks roughly the same whether you're using Firefox or IE.

And then IE 7 came along. And broke our website.

People online are saying that this is the biggest thing since the original graphical web browser came out in 1994--a year before Windows 95!  (The original graphical web browser was Mosaic and was created by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.  Interestingly, this is the same place HAL 9000 was supposedly created in the movie 2001.)  

The idea is to bring the power of Web 2.0 to your browser.  Sounds mushy, but after five minutes of futzing it looks like it has a lot of promise.  It's called "Flock."

Linux and Windows have fought two battles on my desktop in the past few days. One Windows won one, and the other was a tie.

That's right, Hanukah.  Yelena & I have updated our wish lists for the new holiday season.  So, buy us lots of stuff.

(The truth is it was hard to think of anything to put on our lists because we've already got everything we need.  I guess we're pretty lucky.)

Yes, Jews celebrate Thanksgiving. It's an American holiday, not a Christian holiday. There weren't Jews at the "first Thanksgiving" because the Pilgrims were all super-Christian, but there have been Jews in the New World since almost the very beginning. In fact, there's a rumor that Christopher Columbus' navigator was Jewish.

Anyway yes, Jews celebrate Thanksgiving. We also celebrate another holiday, Passover. You've probably heard of it; it commemorates the Exodus from Egypt. Incidentally, Catholics celebrate something called "Pascha" at around the same time; Pascha is from the Hebrew word for Passover.  It's your Testament too.
How does this relate to failing the bar? Keep reading.

Coolest cell phones you can't get in the US - Forbes.com

I've been aware of this for some time.  So has anyone who's done regular business traveling to Asia or Europe.  I like that the article gave another nod to my own super cool smartphone, the Motorola Ming.  It's like two years old now and still getting attention.  And still not available in the US.

I didn't pass.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.

The California Bar will release the exam results on Friday at 5 pm.  I will log on to check my results at exactly 5:00, and so will 6,999 other applicants.  Which means the server will crawl miserably like a Republican candidate in 2008.  Last year it took my buddy Aaron about an hour and a half to get his results.

Just received this from the State Bar:

"The Committee of Bar Examiners is pleased to advise you that you have been found to possess the good moral character required for certification to practice law in California."

Motorola Ming A1200 (Unlocked) Smartphone reviews - CNET Reviews
"The Motorola Ming A1200 is a functional smartphone with a stylish, compact design and satisfying call quality. The feature set offers a decent range of options, including stereo Bluetooth, world phone support, a business card reader, and a media player."