Holiday Well Wishes

I am borrowing this post to share. At the end of this politically charged election year, it seems appropriate.

To all my Democrat friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

To all my Republican friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Testing Picasa Attachments

Okay, so I've been looking for a "better" way to have my wife get pictures on her blog, as she told me putting them on in Blogger is completely lame.



So here's an image of Paul Gilbert, just to see where we go with this.

Music Monday - Foo Fighters

So, it's post-election, and all is well. So some say, anyway. I'm grateful to my wife for posting something she read about how we need to step up and support our president. Whether a supporter of Obama or not, he's our president; that's who we have chosen. Let's all get behind him and give him the support President Bush didn't receive, both from his opposing party and his own, particularly during his second term. I am a supporter of President Bush. Does he speak eloquently, as some presidents have? Not always. Does he have a strong spirit in the face of adversity? Absolutely.

Likewise, I fully support Barack Obama. I don't get as involved as I probably should politically, so I don't know Obama's background, aside from what the jaded media has told me. The media wants me to focus on history being made. Instead, I plan to focus on Barack being our 44th president, deserving of the same respect and admiration that all our presidents deserve. I look to the future with hope for a stronger, smarter, greater America.

So why the political ramble when my post is a musical commentary? Well, I'm quite curious to see what messages are going to come through popular music over the next four to eight years. There seems to be a whole lot of artists who do an awful lot of criticizing, but few providing suggestions. It comes back to the old saying, "Don't judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes." Can any of us honestly say we understand what the president goes through? Only 43 people in history can relate. So let's see where the music of the next decade will take us. I hope it can lift us, not tear down. Vocalize your feelings. That's what makes this country great. But do it respectfully.

Alright, enough. I really want to post about music here, since it is Music Monday. Last time around I spoke of Paul Gilbert. This time it's another of my top three favorites, the Foo Fighters. There are some bands that no matter which direction they go musically, I'm going with them. The Foo Fighters are just such a band for me. They are both feet on the line straight up the middle of what I like. From their hard driving rock anthems to their slow and mellow ballads, it just strikes the right chord with me. I really like stark dynamic shifts, when done properly, and these guys really hit this nail on the head.

Take for example their latest release, "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace". The second track, Let It Die, is a great number that starts with a nice quiet guitar. This builds through the verse and fills out to the bridge, picking up instruments and momentum as it goes. But when the first chorus hits, it's like a shot in the arm. Full on wall of sound; my poor stereo isn't made to handle it. I have to balance everything to suck as much life from my tape-adapter-to-iPod setup as I can, to crank it as loud as possible, without distorting the sound too much. Fantastic.

I think one of the things I love so much about the Foo Fighters is their ability to write richly textured rock with strong melodies and harmonies, thought-provoking lyrics, a dose of class, with a wicked punch. As my "Songs I Wish I Had Written" indicates, Everlong is probably my all time favorite song. Hard to tie it down to a single top song, but boy is that song an emotional one for me. It's an adrenaline rush with a vision. That song more than any other makes me want to perform on stage (a big one), something I'll likely never do, but sure wish I could. No matter how many times I've listened to that song, it never gets old. Some songs are like that.

Other noteworthy works from the Foo Fighters: "One By One", which I believe to be their heaviest album to date; "Skin and Bones", in either DVD or CD form, showcases the Foo Fighters live with several other band members, playing a much more orchestrated sounding set; "In Your Honor", a double-disc offering which has a disc of heavy tunes and a disc of mellow tunes (including a duet with Norah Jones called Virginia Moon); any B-Sides you can find, because they seem to do great covers pretty much every time out.

If you like well-crafted, powerful, melodic hard rock, the Foo Fighters have something for you. But they are mature enough to dish out some mellow tunes to keep it interesting. If you haven't given them a fair chance, it's time you do. My recommendations for first time listeners, start with "The Colour and the Shape". It's dated based on it's release date, but I believe it to be the most listenable Foos album particularly for new listeners. Next, I'd probably go to their latest, "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace", which I'd say is the most well rounded musically of all their albums. From there, if you like what you've heard, pick and choose. "There Is Nothing Left to Lose", their third showcases the band as a three-piece, before they hooked up with Chris Shifflet (guitar) and has moments raw and unbridled such as the opening cut, Stacked Actors, but moves to the commercialism of Learn to Fly, one of their most well-known songs.

Learn to Fly brings up another point I haven't made. As with Paul Gilbert, the Foo Fighters are not afraid to let humor into their music. However, it's not usually as blatant as it is with Gilbert. Lyrically, there's some humor in some of their songs, but most of the time it comes out in their attitudes. Their videos often show this, and Learn to Fly is a great example (it features Dave Grohl in at least five roles, I'm trying to think if there are more, and Taylor Hawkins and Nate Mendel in at least a three roles each also). If you're a fan of Led Zeppelin, or have ever even heard Stairway to Heaven, search for Foo Fighters Stairway to Heaven on YouTube. They performed as a two-piece (yes, just two, Dave and Taylor) and it's one of the funniest, yet impressive, performances I've seen in a long time.

Well, it's getting late, my wife is telling me I need to hang it up for tonight. Hope this has been useful for someone.

I've Been Tagged

So my wife tagged me, it's taken a bit to post this because it's about six quirks. Well, I consider myself pretty quirky, but for some reason, I'm having trouble figuring out which six things are quirks, instead of which things just make me weird :)

1. I always lock the doors to my car. You might say that's not so weird. Well, it is when it's summer and all your windows are down, but you lock the doors, and ask others to do so as well. It's a habit I'm glad I'm in, though, even if it comes across as odd.
2. I'm a Mac user. In most things in my life, I'm all about low cost mainstream. But for some reason, the feel of a single button on my mouse (yes, I'm an old school Mac user), Quartz on my screen, and BSD under the hood make it worth the "price" of admission. I'm a Windows user too, but only because most of corporate America is blind and seems to think less money up front is better than less money over time. I'm still computing on my 9-year-old G4 AGP ("Sawtooth") tower at home (though I did just upgrade the hard drive and RAM a month ago), and my PowerBook is now four-and-a-half years old.
3. I like nearly all my food au naturel. I don't do salad dressing, butter hardly anything, like my veggies steamed or raw, etc. It's a healthier lifestyle, though my caloric intake negates most, if not all that. Still working on controlling the intake.
4. I'm extremely particular when it comes to color schemes, specifically with websites. I'll see two completely unrelated things together, and think how I like those colors together and want to find a use for that color scheme on a website. It could be a magazine page laying on some packaging on my desk, or a box next to a shirt. Sometimes it just starts with one really cool color, and I have to find the "match" for it. Somehow this obsession doesn't translate to my fashion sense, however.
5. Odd numbers. No evens for me. If I have a choice between two numbers and one's odd, one's even, the odd will win. This one is interesting to me, because it's changed over the course of my life. I used to be nothing but evens, now I'm all about the odds.
6. My music collection. Okay, I have a very large music collection (CDs particularly) and I'm very specific when it comes to my collection. Everything is alphabetized by artist, in the case of artist names, it's last name then first. Within the artist, albums are organized by release date, not title. As a result, my iTunes library is also extremely organized, and EVERYTHING has the proper tags. It drives me crazy to see some people's collection of MP3s where the only way to tell what the song is is by looking at the name of the file. I'm also quite opinionated when it comes to music, as any of my family and friends (or at least they used to be until I hounded them about some musical topic incessantly) will tell you. The positive aspect of that, though, is that I'm quite well-rounded in my musical taste, and know a fair amount of history about many of the artists I follow.

So I started writing this post a long time ago, not sure why I never bothered to finish it, except because I had a hard time coming up with six quirks. I asked people around me and one told me that being a Mac user isn't quirky. However, since it's taken me so long to write this post and I had a tough enough time coming up with these six things, I'm going to leave it alone, and move on with my bloggable life.

9/11

So, this should have been published on September 11, and I have no good excuses for not having done it then. It's been over a month since I posted, and I thought 9/11 should be the next post. I already posted some of my thoughts on 9/11 on my Flag Day post, but I just thought I'd take a minute to explain a little more.

Many people don't want to remember 9/11. I am of the opinion that remembering that day is the best way to keep us from ever seeing a day like it again. Every year on or around 9/11 I watch a documentary film made by two French brothers simply titled "9|11". It was aired on TV and carried a warning about strong content. While some find it disturbing to have such a close view of the tragedy (specifically at the World Trade Center), I find it invigorating to see the actions of true heroes, and the miracle that these brothers were filming this historic event as it happened. To my knowledge, they still have the only known footage of the first plane hitting the tower. While not the kind of footage you ever want to shoot, the response of these firemen, and other emergency crews to dive right in to a "towering inferno" is an experience that I am grateful to have seen. It shows me: the worth of human souls; the goodness of simple people like you and me; the overpowering emotion of bravery in spite of doubt and fear.

A sidebar on the right of my blog here has songs I wish I'd written. Yellowcard has a song called Believe which is basically the story of a man who was saved by one of these heroic firefighters. It's truly an eye-opening song, lyrically, and it speaks right to me every time I hear it. How often do you cry when you listen to an emo-punk song? Me, only every time I listen to that one. It's that powerful. To close this post, I'm going to quote my favorite part of the song, which is the final bridge:

Wanna hold my wife when I get home
Wanna tell the kids they'll never know
How much I love to see them smile
Wanna make a change right here, right now
Wanna live a life like you somehow
Wanna make your sacrifice worthwhile

To all those who have played a part in the freedom I enjoy today, I thank you. I thank you for this priceless gift I enjoy, living in this amazing country.

Music Monday - Paul Gilbert

So it's Music Monday, not likely to become a weekly installment, but I like alliteration and it seems to be a hit in the blogosphere. Recently I wrote about "both sides" albums, and I came across another I failed to mention, thought I'd give the shout out it deserves. Most people aren't of the listening ear I am, so I don't expect a lot to find interest in this. But to those who appreciate great guitar and entertaining lyrics, while being wrapped around melody-rich power pop-style rock, Paul Gilbert is a must listen.

Paul has been part of various acts, the biggest of which has probably been Mr. Big. They did that song "To Be With You" in the 90s, though I almost hate to mention that, as it's not really representative of their work in general. The song does, however, showcase Paul's writing, as he wrote that song and still performs it now, with artful adaptations and refreshed rhythms.

His first album, King of Clubs, is such a joy to listen to. After playing with Mr. Big for a few years, he had some solo work that needed a venue, and this is definitely it. My favorites on the album are Vinyl (love the drums at the beginning, which Paul laid down himself, from what I remember reading), I'm Just in Love (a great display of power pop rock with a fantastic classically-inspired guitar solo), Bumblebee (straight-forward power pop with a serious punch), and Streetlights (has one of the best solos I've ever heard). Paul's now gone on to do many other solo albums, all of which have their merits.

And I have to make mention of one of the funniest things he's recorded. I love humor in music. Both lyrical, as well as musical. Some artists take things way too seriously; not Paul. He's pretty much the antithesis of taking himself too seriously. Well, I'm the church-going type, so I'm certainly not promoting Beelzebub here, but from his album Burning Organ, the song "I Am Satan" starts with a classic that I can't believe I never heard before.  He starts the song by counting off, 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 6 - 6. The song is very tongue-in-cheek, but makes me laugh.

So, if you're looking for some fun new music, and don't want to take it too seriously, check Paul out. He even maintains his own website, which, if he wasn't, would be a wreck of an online presence. But considering that he's not a web designer, we'll let him off the hook :)

Tag, Bueller's It

Well, since I don't seem to have people reading my blog, but I read a handful out there, my wife's being the most important, I will take the role of Bueller from her "tag" post a few days ago.

Have you ever...

• Gone on a blind date?
  No.
  
• Skipped school?
  Oh sure, but hated the backlash of not knowing what was going on later.
  
• Watched someone die?
  No.
  
• Been to Canada?
  No, but really want to see a few places, namely Victoria, Toronto, Nova Scotia, and someday plan to take my wife on a "surprise" trip to Prince Edward Island (big fans of Anne of Green Gables).
  
• Been to Mexico?
  No.
  
• Been to Florida?
  Yes, on a family vacation to Disney World. Worked at Holiday Inn at the time and got some great rooms for a reasonable price.
  
• Been on a plane?
  Several times, yes.
  
• Been lost?
  I really can't remember specific times, I'm sure I've been lost, but never in a scary kind of way.
  
• Been on the opposite side of the country?
  Well, Florida, but in the east only on layovers in La Guardia.
  
• Gone to Washington, D.C.?
  No, but I'd love to get there some day.
  
• Swam in the ocean?
  Definitely. Grew up in southern Cal, love the ocean.
  
• Cried yourself to sleep?
  Not ashamed to say I have.
  
• Played cops and robbers?
  Yep.
  
• Recently colored with crayons?
  Yes, kids keep me young.
  
• Sang Karaoke?
  No, and I'm quite surprised, because that's really quite my thing, singing and spontaneity.
  
• Paid for a meal with coins only?
  I'm sure I have.
  
• Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?
  Probably.
  
• Made prank phone calls?
  Yes.
  
• Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose?
  Oh yes.
  
• Caught a snowflake on your tongue?
  Yes, many times.
  
• Danced in the rain?
  Absolutely.
  
• Written a letter to Santa Claus?
  Don't specifically remember, but I'm sure I must have.
  
• Been kissed under the mistletoe?
  Yes.
  
• Watched the sunrise with someone you care about?
  Yes.
  
• Blown bubbles?
  Yes, but oddly enough, getting the soapy stuff on me is something I really don't enjoy, despite knowing it just washes right off.
  
• Gone ice-skating?
  Yes, but it's been a very long time (last time I can remember was on my mission, in Crans-Montana&mdashbeautiful), and would love to go again.
  
• Been skinny dipping outdoors?
  Yes.

1. Any nicknames?
   Trev, Bloop.
   
2. Mother's name?
   Marilyn.
   
3. Father's name?
   Terry.
   
4. Favorite Drink?
   Water. No, that's not boring, it's what I choose almost any time I have the choice. Oh, just remembered I do love the Brazilian lemonade at Rodizio Grill.
   
5. Tattoo?
   No, with no desire.
   
6. Body Piercing?
   No, see above.
   
7. How much do you love your job?
   Very enjoyable, gets stressful at times, but is definitely "up my alley", and I work with good people for a good company. It's my opinion that if you don't like what you do, you're going to burn out quick and should probably be looking elsewhere.
   
8. Birthplace?
   Fort Ord, CA.
   
9. Favorite vacation spot?
   I like vacations of many kinds, but Disneyland is one I've always enjoyed, now even better with kids. Tahoe is definitely a family favorite that I've gotten to experience thanks to my wife and her family. It combines two of my favorite things about vacationing: water activities and camping (though we've never actually camped there, just being in the mountains surrounded by trees and such makes it feel like camping).
   
10. Ever been to Africa?
    No, maybe some day.
    
11. Ever eaten cookies for dinner?
    Don't know about cookies, though I've definitely eaten more than my share of gingerbread cookies at inappropriate times.
    
12. Ever been on TV?
    Not that I can remember.
    
13. Ever steal any traffic signs?
    Tried, but was unsuccessful.
    
14. Ever been in a car accident?
    Sadly, two. In the same car, which is still my car today, 290,000 miles.
    
15. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle?
    4-door all the way.
    
16. Favorite salad dressing?
    Don't really care for the stuff.
    
17. Favorite pie?
    Hmm, I think pumpkin followed by a close coconut cream and strawberry.
    
18. Favorite number?
    3 because it appears to regularly in nature, along with 5.
    
19. Favorite movie?
    Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show.
    
20. Favorite holiday?
    Christmas and Independence Day
    
21. Favorite dessert?
    Not sure of a real favorite, but definitely not cheesecake or fruit pizza.
    
22. Favorite food?
    Sushi.
    
23. Favorite day of the week?
    Hmm, probably Sunday. I like going to church and having a quieter day.
    
24. Favorite brand of body wash?
    Yeah, don't do the body wash thing.
    
25. Favorite toothpaste?
    Baking soda, from Arm and Hammer.
    
26. Favorite smell?
    Probably being in the mountains surrounded by pines.
    
27. What do you do to relax?
    Listen to music of many kinds, and believe it or not, computer programming—I'm definitely an admitted computer geek.
    
28. How do you see yourself in 10 years?
    Same house, older kids, hopefully more money put away for kids college and retirement.
    
29. Who are you tagging?
    Being that I don't believe anyone reads this blog, if you're out there, have at it!
    

Flag Day

Today's a good day. It's Flag Day. I love our American flag. Old Glory has been very important to me for a long time.

I think it started when I was quite young. My father served in the Army Reserves when I was growing up. He was on active duty when I was born at Fort Ord, CA (now closed). I don't remember a lot of specific things my parents did to show patriotism, though I remember doing patriotic things (parades, flag raisings, musical productions (particularly the bicentennial), etc.). But I know I felt our country was very important to them, and thus became very important to me.

Our National Anthem—what a fantastic song. Michael Ballam has spoken of how difficult a song it is to sing; it has a very broad range of notes and takes a lot of energy to sing. It's very representative of our country, built on stamina, hard work, and enduring faith. There's other patriotic music that I enjoy. I even enjoy other countries' national anthems, and seeing natives of those countries being moved the same way I am when I hear my own National Anthem.

I remember 9/11. The actual day of September 11th, 2001 isn't one I look back on with fond memories. However, what I DO look back on fondly is the national response in the weeks following the tragedy. American flags were everywhere. People hung them in their cars, on their garage doors, in windows, offices, on buildings. A beautiful sight nearly everywhere you went. And one very specific memory I have is seeing people of all walks of life, coming together in a way I don't think people have done in my lifetime, working towards common goals that we share, but for sometimes vastly different reasons. Some are grateful for religious freedom. Some, the right to bear arms. Others find a safe harbor from the oppression of their homeland within the borders of our country. To each person freedom means different things. But to all, that freedom is guaranteed by The Constitution of The United States of America. There truly isn't a better place to live in the world. I honestly believe that, and thank God for his hand in my life, and in the formation and continuation of this great country.

"Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand

Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!

Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land

Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

Francis Scott Key

Slight Change in Direction

So, I've decided that I don't like the "negative" sound of my posts here, so I'm going to try and branch out a bit more and do more than just Apple-speak. I particularly like music, so that will likely make a heavy showing, starting with this post.

I listen to a lot of music; some would argue too much. But there are very few things that can affect me the same way music does. It makes me laugh, cry, happy, sad (but in a good way–I'll explain later), gets me pumped up, calms me down, and generally speaking has a major emotional impact on my life.

Genres I particularly enjoy include:

Hard Rock - Foo Fighters, Van Halen

Power Pop - Jellyfish, Fountains of Wayne

Punk Pop - Houston Calls, All-American Rejects

Progressive Rock - Liquid Tension Experiment, Rush

Jazz - Miles Davis, Diana Krall

Musicals - Wicked, Into the Woods, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Alternative Rock - Dishwalla, Switchfoot

... just to name a few, and some of my favorites in the genre.

There's not a whole lot of music I won't listen to, but I will admit that R&B isn't my favorite. I'm pretty specific when it comes to that. Same with country.

So this week I was "reunited" with an old favorite album. You know the kind of album you listen to and you just can't put it away. It might be in the CD player for 2-3 weeks straight. There's not too many like that, but there are some. This one was a relatively unknown band (sometimes they can be the best) Ednaswap. They've long since broken up, but Wonderland Park was their last effort, and I'm ashamed to say I don't know their other albums. Need to pick those up one of these days. But this album is truly a great example of the creative music of the 90s. My favorite tracks on the album are Without Within, 74 Willow, and Liquid Soul. Anne's voice is so strong; love the gut-wrenching vocals, and the combination of the great guitars with the keys is one of my favorites sounds.

The first album I remember ever being so good I couldn't "put it away" was Van Halen's 5150; a true classic. I have a special designation for those kinds of albums. It doesn't apply so well these days, but I grew up in the 80s and cassette tapes were very important. Well, these special albums would make it on both sides of a tape, so I didn't have to rewind, just flip it over and start again. Other albums I classify in this distinguished category are The Colour and the Shape - Foo Fighters, American Idiot - Green Day, Redhead - Bleu, Bellybutton - Jellyfish, Superunknown - Soundgarden. There are others that probably deserve the designation, but those are the ones that really "lived" in my car stereo for weeks on end.

Well, enough's enough. Better close this post and get going on my day. I'm sure it will be filled with some wonderful musical creation. One of these days I need to create some music of my own...

Web Development Platform

Yes, it's been three years since I posted. No, I'm not going to hash out the details why, 'cause who cares ;)

Recently a friend at work got his first Mac. It's been fun to bask in some of the "digital light" with a friend, sharing favorite things about the hardware, software, etc. But one of the things that I've loved so much about having my Macs is how easy it is to use as a Web development platform.

I started out early on coding HTML, but quickly grew tired of the staticicity (yes, I made that word up) of it and decided to get deeper into "smarter" code. I chose PHP because it was open source and from what I could tell, somewhat resembled the syntax of the C programming language, which was the only real programming exposure I'd had up to then. There was also the aspect of it not being ASP, which was a must for me, as a Mac fanatic. This was pre-OS X days, so the Mac was very different than it is today. But OS X was close behind my delving into web development. And it couldn't have come at a better time.

I got a hosting account at echoecho dot com and started playing with stuff there. But I was regularly not connected to the Web, as I took public transportation to and from work most days. It began to be a pain to have to push content to my website to test it, and being new to web development, I didn't really know my options. Well, somehow I stumbled across Server Logistics and their web hosting installers (Apache, MySQL, PHP) for the Mac. I believe at this point OS X was at version 10.2, which was, in my opinion, the first real commercially ready version of OS X. Well, I installed the packages, got things set up, and suddenly, I was able to test all my PHP code locally, on my laptop. Landmark? No. But for me it was just the breakthrough I needed.

I started doing all kinds of things with web-based code. And, to this day, I still prefer to type my documents in HTML, rather than Word or the like. No, my tool of choice is the mother lode of text editors, BBEdit. If you're looking for a powerful text editor and you are Mac-based, I'm not aware of a better tool. There are some cool tools out there that support collaboration really well, but I code alone most of the time, so that's never been an issue for me. I prefer the likes of Subversion these days, anyway.

So, back to the original point of this post. In Web development, there are three primary things to be concerned with: 1) design; 2) code; 3) hosting. That's maybe over-simplified, but those are the major components. Well, I think most people would agree that the majority of artistic types use Macs, rather than PCs. Despite the tools for design being nearly identical in function on both platforms, the Mac remains the artists' choice. So that aspect is covered. Next is the coding. I've heard that BBEdit has been touted as a reason for moving to the Mac. It's really that good (though I don't remember where I first heard that stated). Even if you're not a "hand coder", there are a plethora of tools out there to do the job on the Mac as well as Windows.

That brings us to the hosting. At this point I'm reminded of a shirt I saw years ago on a college campus. It said something to the effect of, "God made Linux to host Web servers". Mac OS X isn't Linux, but with it's BSD underpinnings, it's definitely a lot closer than Windows. Close enough that running Apache, MySQL, and PHP is fairly trivial, and the experience is much the same as it is on a Linux box.

Just yesterday I was trying to get a quick test website up and going at work. I had a virtual Windows machine up and going, decided to use that since it was already available. I installed a package called EasyPHP, which I've used in the past for doing local testing on a Windows machine. Well, local testing was great, but I couldn't "see" the website on any other computer on the network. the machine was pingable, so connection to it wasn't the problem. I don't know what you'd want to do with a web server except make it available to other machines on the network. It eventually baffled me, and I'm looking for another solution. I just wish Windows wasn't so darn hard to work with. We live in a Windows world, but I can't, for the life of me, figure out why.

Well, that's enough for today. This post turned into a novel. I hope to be back sooner than 2011.