Saturday, May 31, 2008

I've opened an Etsy shop!

And since this is my blog, I can advertise for free, wheeeeee! ;)

So yes, I've opened an Etsy shop, and to get it out of the way, you can find it here. I had been thinking that I ought to try again to sell some of the items I had made (mostly knit and crochet) and since I had zero luck trying to sell things locally, I hoped that the internet would give me a little more visibility. :) Etsy is a really cool site, it's like eBay in the sense that individuals use the site to sell their items, but unlike eBay it is not in the auction format, and with Etsy, the items are handmade. So if you're interested in buying handmade items, you should check it out. And if you are interested in buying bags of all kinds, you should definitely see my site. :)

Saturday, May 24, 2008

This Makes No Sense!

On Tuesday here it was 107 degrees. Today it is 65 degrees. Where is this global warming I am hearing so much about!?



Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Security, The Eternal Concern

In the May 19th issue of eWeek there is an article on Web 2.0 wherein we find that "Enterprises are embracing Web 2.0, but they're keeping the technology close to home for now as security and liability concerns remain." I think it would be nice to read an article someday that talks about some technology for which security isn't a "concern." Of course security, being what it is, has an intrinsic property of subjectivity and so it will always be a "concern" in any endeavor.



Saturday, May 17, 2008

Microsoft + Competition = "Innovation"

In the May issue of Visual Studio Magazine a letter to the editor bemoaned the fate of VB.NET as being a second-class member of the Visual Studio suite. Of course it is absolutely true that VB.NET is not given the same attention by Microsoft as C#, but why that should surprise anybody is beyond me. Language-wise Visual Basic has no competitors and Microsoft does not make it a practice of spending too much effort on product areas within which they have no competition. C#, of course, was created as a counterpoint to Java and therefore it behooves Microsoft to make certain that it is projected to the fore of the VS.NET languages and that maximum effort is spent on it.


Microsoft's practice of spending minimal effort until prompted by competition is clear enough when looking at the market share of Internet Explorer and placing that against Internet Explorer's release history. Notably, IE6 came out in mid-2001 when IE's market share was just about to reach its peak. IE7 did not even have a beta release until mid-2005 and it did not officially release until late 2006. Prior to IE7 Microsoft had released a version of IE about every other year. So when IE7 came out the market share for Internet Explorer had begun to fall. Now, by any estimation IE's falling market share during the years 2001-2006 was driven almost entirely by the rise of Firefox. It shouldn't be any surprise that one of the primary differentiators of Firefox was tabbed browsing and one of the primary features touted in IE7 is, you guessed it, tabbed browsing.


The fact that competition drives innovation is, of course, a foundation of a market economy. However, Microsoft seems to embody that principle more than most companies do.



Friday, May 9, 2008

My exercise progress

So, the other day, I was absentmindedly stroking my upper arm when I felt kind of a lump. I thought, "Oh, my allergy shot got swollen this time, bummer." Then I realized I had my shot the day before--the lump was actually *gasp* MUSCLE!

I am still pretty scrawny, but considering I've quickly gone from barely being able to do 6 girly pushups to easily being able to do 12 girly pushups in one set, I think it's pretty good. I'm still doing cardio 5 times a week (usually 6, but I aim for 5) and the strength training is three times a week.

So yay me! I am on my way to being the fit skinny girl, not the skinny girl who is just skinny because of genetics. :D

Win a Free Bike!

How totally awesome is that?!? Lipton Tea is partnering up with a couple of blogs to give away a Fuji Crosstown 2.0 bike, along with a check for $75 to pay for professional assembly of said bike. What a great way to start your summer!

Click here to enter the contest at John Is Fit--John's contest requires that you link back to him to enter, and you need to enter by May 11.

Click here to enter the contest at Scale Junkie--you can enter just by leaving a comment but a link back will gain you a second entry! This contest ends May 14th.

Both contests are for US residents only. Happy entering!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Mother's Day Giveaways!



You know I am all about the sweepstakes. :) Well, click on the button to find several Mother's Day sweeps! You don't have to be a mother to enter, either. :) Open to USA and Canada. Contests end May 9 at 9 pm eastern time.