31.August.2004 - Arnold for President! Impressive speech. I'd vote for him right now.

30.August.2004 - My new monitor arrived today: the one mentioned/ordered back on the 21st. Woohoo! I'm diggin' it. Been wanting a flat-panel for a long time. Using it right now. Makes the site look crisper/sharper. Seems like a whole new computer. Seems more high-tech than a lunky CRT.

Had to turn down both the brightness & contrast to 10% in order to get the desired result. Brightness comes defaulted at 100% and contrast at 50%. These default settings are way too high. Nearly toasted my eyeballs when launching Google's all-white page.

The remainder of today's entry is blogged here:> New LCD Monitor Arrives

29.August.2004 - The Dog sent an email last night saying he was going to participate in today's demonstrations for this week's Republican National Convention (RNC) held at Madison Square Garden. "Watch for me on C-span," he said. The remainder of today's post is blogged here:> The Dog Protests the RNC in NYC

27.August.2004 - Went to Humphreys last night: Humphreys-by-the-Bay on Shelter Island in San Diego (San Dayglo). One of the best venues to see a jazz concert: under the stars, right on the water, adjacent to the boats/marina, with the sun setting behind the stage, as the sky turns purple, orange, turquoise, black. See here.

We decided to go at the last minute. Spontaneity can sometimes lead to the best times. The remainder of today's post is blogged here:> Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay

25.August.2004 - Received a pop-up in my system tray today that said: Updates ready for your computer. Click here to download. I clicked the icon and noticed the update was for Windows XP Service Pack 2. The Download button was highlighted, but I chickened out and clicked Cancel instead.

SP2 is big update, both in scope & size (75-266MB). The list of fixes is posted here. This update is mainly about security (which is a good thing). But the update also breaks things, because not all programs conform to Microsoft's guidelines for interacting with Windows (which have been published for a long time now). Programs that interact with your network or the Internet have a greater likelihood of being affected by this service pack.

The remainder of today's post is blogged here:> Windows XP Service Pack 2

21.August.2004 - Ordered a new monitor today. Had been using a CRT forever (19-inch Iiyama Vision Master Pro 450), but my eyes have been really bothering me lately, more then usual. Feels like somebody rubbed them with 400-grit sandpaper, and the burn/fatigue doesn't seem to be going away this time.

Everyone says flat-panels are better (PDF) because they're easier on the eyes. So I broke down and ordered this one, a 17-inch LCD. Hopefully my eyes will find it more soothing.

18.August.2004 - RADIFIED set a new site record yesterday with over 9,000 "uniques" (unique visitors). See here.

I like the sound of ten thousand vistors per day. Has a nice ring to it. Where all those people are coming from or going to, I know not. But I do know that the Ghost guide remains the site's single most requested feature as the site's popularity continues to grow.

Been enjoying the Olympics (despite way too many commercials). My favorite contestant is the Dutch (Netherlands) swimmer Inge. And how 'bout them custom Google logos. A new one every day. I especially like the moving world-record line. Very cool. Too bad the athletes can't see it.

16.August.2004 - Evan sent this photo (40-KB) today of his buddy's truck catching big air at Pismo Dunes yesterday, with a note saying, "Yes, it broke." =) Great shot. Evan majored in Photography at Brooks College.

13.August.2004 - Friday the 13th, for those of you who are superstitious. (I always start my computer while standing on the right side, but never while either the microwave or espresso machine is running.)

Today I decided to change the format of the date you see posted to the left. It now includes two dots: one separating the date & month; the other, the month & year.

Seems that digital.technology prefers dots to spaces. Maybe it's just a fad, but I don't think so. Rather, I think you'll see this format grow more popular in the future. I have long_preferred underscores to spaces when creating file_names, such as windows_xp_install. (Still do, even tho some-claim Google prefers-hyphens.)

I like the way dots look in the date: cleaner, more defined. I first got the dot.idea from reading Wendy Grossman's net.wars. Since then, I've seen the concept copied repeatedly in many other places. The date-first format comes from my days in the military, which cannot afford to confuse one date for another. ("Drop the bomb on 08/06" might be misconstrued.)

Every once in a while, I receive an email from somebody asking if they can use/copy the style of this site .. something I have no problem with. I even offer to send them all my style.sheets. So some folks obviously like it. But maybe I should've waited 'til tomorrow to change the date.format.

09Aug2004 - Returned intact from camping trip (with our new tent) to the (deadly) Kern river, in Sequoia National Forest, located in the southern Sierras (~3 hours north of Los Angeles). Photos posted HERE.

05Aug2004 - Kabir, the fifteenth century (*1398-1518*) mystic-poet from India said (English translation):

I don't think there is such a thing as an intelligent mega-rich person.
For who with a fine mind can look out upon this world and hoard what can nourish a thousand souls.

Food for thought. I caught this last night on HBO's Def Poetry: back for a new season. Nothing else like it on television. Hosted by Mos Def. People from all over the planet take the stage to spit their rhymes.

Yesterday saw poets from both Nigeria and China. Also, they usually sport at least one celebrity and one professor, and even a Pulitzer Prize winner now & then. Black, white; male, female; young and old; all races and religions. The ½-hour show provides a platform with extraordinary creative leeway for all types of talent.

02Aug2004 - RADIFIED set a new site record last month with 1.88-million hits. Perhaps August will be the month we finally break the 2-million-hits-per-month mark.