Living the Gluten-Free Way
I'm always impressed when mainstream media picks up stories about wheat allergies and other things that many people aren't aware of. This past week, our Boston Globe had an article: Living with a Gluten-Free Diet. I'd say it's a pretty well-written story, sharing the experiences of people with celiac disease. The only issue I have with it is that the article seems to say that only people with celiac disease can't have wheat or gluten. It is entirely possible to have a wheat or gluten allergy and not have celiac disease (which is the case with me). Other than that slight criticism, it's highly recommended reading.
To Blog Or Not To Blog
Every once in a while I come across a blog where I think, "I can't believe someone would post this online." It's not like these are really scandalous, just that I'm amazed at people's capacity...or maybe need...to share details of their personal life that perhaps are not useful for other people to know.
I've blogged before about people losing their jobs for blogging, usually for revealing what was deemed confidential information. But now, more and more employers are actually surfing the web looking for information about potential candidates. I read an article (sorry, can't find the link) saying that it's not uncommon for companies to take a look at MySpace to see what you say about yourself...better hope you don't have any revealing photos up there. Some companies actually look at Facebook for information about candidates who are coming out of college. Have a blog? Chances are your future employers will find it. But your job isn't all that's at risk.
I've found, more and more, people blogging about somewhat personal aspects of their life. Perhaps the most shocking was a friend showing me the blog of a guy that her friend went out with. He actually blogged about the date, his insecurities on it, how he felt it went...imagine logging on after your next date and getting to see his/her perspective blatantly plastered across the Internet for friends to comment on. Pretty weird huh?
My point is that there are parts of your life that belong amongst your friends and family. Longtime readers know my posts tends to fall into several categories: sports (mostly football), web technology, and random rants. People, the Internet is now your agent, you need to cultivate your online persona to represent yourself appropriately. For this reason, I don't typically blog about politics, my love life (or lack thereof), or my workplace. Blogs are journals/diaries that everyone else can see; your thoughts aren't safe out here, they can hurt people, including yourself, if you're not careful. Keep that in mind the next time you click "Submit" on your latest blog entry, and consider just who your audience really is.
When In Doubt, Tax It
One of my big problems with our wonderful United States government is the way it deals with technology. The problem, as I see it, is not necessarily with a particular party, but rather with the mentality of our fearless leaders in Washington, D.C. The House and Senate are filled with people who remember a time when TVs didn't exist, and can vividly remember buying their first VCR (though they still don't know how to program it). These are the same people who are now trying to pass laws (mostly thanks to well-timed contributions from lobbying groups) regarding how technology should be used when they don't even understand the first thing about the technology they're legislating. Case in point: they now want to tax iTunes downloads.
This may be cliche since I say it so much, but you've got to be kidding me. Why don't the folks in Washington get their act together, balance the budget, and stop spending money we don't have instead of trying to tax every venture that makes money. It seems that whenever something is very profitable, the government pops up and says, "gimme." Why be fiscally responsible when you can just tax the hell out of services that are moving our economy forward?
Stuff like this makes me so frustrated. Everytime the government gets involved in the direction and future of new technology, something bad is bound to happen. We have all the telco's going to court with the cable systems for control of the nation's information infrastructure, both want to create a tiered Internet, separating the country into haves and have nots. When will this madness end?
New Computer
It's been a long time since I got a new computer. Too long, if you ask me. This has mostly been due to my condo sucking up all of my spare cash, so it's really been about three years since I last bought a new computer. Today, I finally broke down and bought a new laptop computer.
This is the Toshiba Satellite A105-S4004 with Intel Centrino Duo, meaning an Intel Core Duo Processor (that's two cores), 1 GB RAM, and a 100 GB hard drive. It also has a 15.4 inch widescreen monitor (very sharp, very nice), and Windows XP Media Center Edition installed. It's all very spiffy, but there's no TV tuner card, so not sure why they even bother putting Media Center on this.
In any event, the keyboard is taking a little bit of getting used to thanks to the extra row of buttons along the left side. Also, can't figure out why my wireless connection keeps dropping out intermittently. Other than that, it's the typical new computer honeymoon period. Ah that new computer smell!
The Google April Fool’s Joke
Google has a history of putting up April Fool's jokes online. With April Fool's Day being on a Saturday this year, this one probably went a bit unnoticed: Google Romance. I have to give the folks at Google props, it's just probable enough (giving Yahoo!'s and AOL's personals), but just goofy enough. I especially like the error message you get when trying to search. Go on, give it a try.
