Finally, an Author!
Well, it's official. I hold in my hand the contract to write Professional JavaScript for Web Developers (working title) for Wiley Publishing. It's taken over a year to get to this point. I was turned down by two smaller publishers initially before landing with Wiley. I'm very excited about this opportunity, and though I know it's going to be a lot of work, it will be well worth it.
Why I Hate Baseball
Just read an article this morning in the Globe about a woman who was struck with a foul ball at Fenway park and required multiple surgeries to reconstruct her face because of it. Naturally, she sued the Red Sox for it. Anyone who knows me even a little bit knows that I hate lawsuits, I think they're ruining the country, and I think this one is stupid, too. The woman claims that she had no idea that a ball could possibly be hit in her direction... hello? It's baseball. The court didn't buy it and didn't even let her get to trial. Finally, a victory for common sense (but where was that common sense with the McDonald's lawsuit?).
While I think the lawsuit was stupid, I'm also disgusted that not one person on the Red Sox would cough up some money to help this poor woman. She is a fan, perhaps a dumb one, but a fan nonetheless. Fans pay those multi-million dollar contracts that the players get. You're telling me that not one of those millionaires could've spared some money to help this woman pay her medical expenses? We're not talking lawsuit here, people, we're talking human decency and compassion. And as far as baseball is concerned, we're talking about showing support for the fans who pay your salary. This woman's medical expenses were around $500,000, which is really expensive for most of us, but is like a few pennies to guys who are making $10 million a year. Just another reason why baseball disgusts me.
Big Things Going On
A few big things going on. My condo will officially be mine on Saturday, I'm getting the keys and everything. Also, I'm closing in on a book deal with Wiley Publishing to write the next edition of Wrox Professional JavaScript, which I'm very excited about. More details on that as they become available.
I've decided with all this going on, that it's a good time to start thinking about cleaning up the site's code. I know, it's pretty clean, but I really want to make the site XHTML Strict compliant, CSS Level 1 compliant, and Section 508 compliant. I'll probably make it look pretty much the same, just with stricter code.
To Hell With You!
Just got this in an e-mail, and did a doubletake because I thought it was a joke. However, this is real...really real...scary real. I guess I never thought that one needed religious guidance for such a thing, but I suppose some people do. I mean, it's written in a polite "you're going to hell" sort of way... http://www.ldolphin.org/mormon.html.
Wireless Networking’s Latest Hero
It's official, I'm living in a bizarro world. In this world, my dad argues for wireless networking at home even though he has no idea what it is or how it works, he only knows that he thinks my brother won't be happy if he has to sit in the family room to get on the Internet. Gasp! A fate worse than death, being once again tethered to the wall by a network cable.
Of course, this is all my fault for setting up a wireless network at home and allowed everyone else to use it. Now that I'm moving out, it's like a civil war trying to figure out how the family will continue to use the Internet while I'm gone. On this side we have those in favor of wireless networking, on the other we have those in favor of the simplest setup possible.
