Turns out my blog is leading to some thought in others…that’s a plus. Just had a mighty fine debate with B about beauty on the web. He made a very valid correction to what I said earlier: Style sheets did not cause the web to become more beautiful. Rather, added beauty on the web caused the invention of Style Sheets and other tools to allow for more control. The technology does not invent the need, rather, the need invents the technology! Great stuff…

I watched the first two episodes of Dead Like Me in the last two days. Pretty interesting plot line. I won’t ruin it for anyone, you should just try to see an episode or two. It makes some deep theological and philosophical claims about life and death and the afterlife, etc., but leaves just enough ambiguity so that most viewers will *probably* not be offended. And though it deals with death, it is not completely depressing, which is nice.

Bought a little DVD player yesterday. Needed something that would play burnt DVDs. This one seems to work, and was only $41 at Best Buy, so I figured it was worth a shot. I also figure that this one will break just in time for me to get a real job in a few years, so I’ll be able to afford one with nicer features. Guess I shouldn’t count my chickens before they’re hatched, but I will do so anyway.

Still looking for a nice recliner to put in my room. If you see any let me know. I don’t want one that’s big and bulky and old school La-Z-Boyish…but their newer stuff looks pretty hip. If I had real money I would look into outfitting my space with some Herman Miller, but that will have to wait…

I’ll end with an update of what I’m reading now…

For fun:
The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell

For school:
Studying Those Who Study Us: An Anthropologist in the world of Artificial Intelligence, by Diana Forsythe

Design Research: Methods and Perspectives, by Brenda Laurel (layout of this book is fantastic…really made for designers…)

Designing the User Interface…, by Ben Shneiderman et al.

Attractive Things Work Better, by Don Norman

The Cost of Frustration, by Jared Spool

The Computer for the 21st Century, by Mark Weiser

Ambient Wood: Demonstration of a digitally enhanced field trip for school children, by Yvonne Rogers Et al.

Phew…that’s a lot of reading… 😉