And the word of the year is ...
From Reuters comes this interesting bit of news:

"Merriam-Webster Inc. said on Tuesday that blog, defined as 'a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks,' was one of the most looked-up words on its Internet sites this year.

Eight entries on the publisher's top-10 list related to major news events, from the presidential election -- represented by words such as incumbent and partisan -- to natural phenomena such as hurricane and cicada.

Springfield, Massachusetts-based Merriam-Webster compiles the list each year by taking the most researched words on its Web sites and then excluding perennials such as affect/effect and profanity.

Blog will be a new entry in the 2005 version of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition. The complete list of words of the year is available here."
- posted by Perry @ 10:51 PM 0 comments

 
Patty Hill has created a Flickr site

My cousin, Patty Hill a.k.a. FedGirl55, has created a new Flickr site. This photo of her son Brad, who is one semister away from graduating from college and on his way to grad school, is one of her first posts.

As it turns out tomorrow, December 1, is also Patty's birthday, so Happy Birthday Patty and welcome to the Flickr crew.

- posted by Perry @ 9:41 PM 0 comments

 
SEX!!!
Now that I have your attention, I'm delighted to report that we learned today that we have a deviant in the family! No, not me, as most of you are probably thinking!

I'm talking about the fact that Mike and Cheryl and their three daughters, Madison, Morgan, and Kaitlin, all went to the doctor together today and learned through the ultrasound photographs that the new addition to their family, who is expected to arrive around the end of April, is a BOY! Everyone, but especially Dad, is, as I'm sure you can imagine, thrilled at the news.

So congratulations to Mom and Dad and the three sisters! We all look forward to the arrival of this new member of the family, and we are particularly delighted that we can now abandon the use of indefinite pronouns and begin to anticipate his arrival.
- posted by Perry @ 10:15 PM 0 comments

 
A "Norman Rockwell" moment

Yesterday I shared Thanksgiving dinner at the home of Betty and Eugene Doyle, known to the family as "Mammaw" and "Pappaw," here in Knoxville. The meal was wonderful, as it always is in that home, and I am deeply grateful to them for inviting me to share in this holiday celebration with them.

This picture of the gathered family group captures one of those events that I've heard repeated countless times in my years of attending these celebrations. The picture shows Morgan, the little girl about mid-way down the table on the left, taking a peek during the prayer as the picture was taken. (You may need to click on the picture to display it in a larger view, in order to see it.) However, the exchange afterwards between Morgan's sister Madison, on the left with her head turned away from the camera, and her mother was one that has been conducted at other family gatherings, with different participants of course, many times before. So often, in fact, that it is almost a part of the tradition.

Madison said to Morgan, "you had your eyes open." Her mother, Cheryl, said to Madison, "the only way you could have known that was because you had your eyes open too." Some things just never change, and let's hope they never do.

- posted by Perry @ 10:20 AM 0 comments

 
Thanksgiving 2004
Furman Bisher, a sports columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, use to write a column each Thanksgiving in which he simply listed all kinds of things from the world of sport for which he was thankful. Mr. Bisher still writes for the AJC and for all I know he may still maintain that tradition, but his column is now hidden behind a must-pay-to-view wall at their online site, so I no longer read it. But as I was growing up in Atlanta, I always looked forward to that annual column because he would mention little things, things you wouldn't normally think to recall and give thanks for on Thanksgiving, and those references would always bring a smile to my face.

In recent years since the advent of email, I've patterned some of my Thanksgiving messages to family and friends after Mr. Bisher's format as I distributed those Thanksgiving messages far and wide by email. So on this Thanksgiving, I'm going to provide an extended retrospective here on my blog of some of those things I've written in previous years because they seem as appropriate now as they did then.

From November 28, 1996 comes this first attempt ...

Things I am thankful for ...
My family.
My dogs.
My friends, tangible and electronic
Living at this time
The years I've already had
The quality of my life
My Intelligence
Experiences and Experience
My parents and ancestors
My extended family dispersed though they are
Challenges to experience
Lessons learned
Barriers overcome
Another's gentleness
Something warm to bundle up in when it's cold and a cooling breeze when it's hot
The taste of water
The seasons of the year
Sleep
The peace on earth that begins at the center of me and radiates
Stars in the heavens on a dark night
The smells of flowers
Memories
Computers
Learning to swim
Knowing how to type
My health
Coffee
Pianos
My musical skills
Companionship to snuggle up to and commitment to rely on
People of character
Blond haired little boys and curly haired little girls
Front porches on summer nights after dinner, talking
Laughter
Spirit and its place in the scheme of things
Snow flakes, finger prints, and assholes
A good bowel movement
A restroom when I need it badly
Giving and the joy it brings
Forgetting and the relief it provides
The wisdom of Death
The fortunate accident of my birth, where, colored how, to whom, and when
Winston Baird's time in my life
Having the joy of being a father
Imagination
Soup
The wonderfully satisfying taste of a piece of bread when you are really hungry
Science, mystery, wonder, and discovery
The sunset in Key West
Vacations
Talking directly and personally one on one
Being asked my opinion
Other people's skill with words
Playing with words myself
Having successfully cooked a turkey that wasn't too dry
And the whole idea of Thanksgiving, because it's one of those ideas that if it didn't exist I would have had to think it up myself.

From November 23, 2000, I wrote ...

On this Thanksgiving day, I am thankful ...

For remote controls for the TV;
For being a part of a loving family, even if we are all in different places this year;
For having a job that I like and can be proud of;
That I am still "sucking air" after so many years;
For memories of other Thanksgivings and other people who shared them with me;
That my youngest son has less than a week to go before he comes home;
That my oldest son and his family have less than a month before they move into their new home;
That my computer, purchased at the end of 1994, is still functional and adequate to my needs;
That both of my old dogs are still around and as devoted to me as they ever were;
That Alex Rodrigez is still a potential Atlanta Braves' free agent signee;
For still being in contact and periodically active with my old quartet, the Fun Addicts;

On November 22, 2001, I added this list ...

Now a year later, though there are some modifications to the list because time changes things, I am still exceedingly blessed and quite thankful.

When I was at Citizens Gas and Coke Utility in Indianapolis in 1994, Moses Dunston used to say "Any day above ground is a good day." I agree with him, and on this Thanksgiving day, I am glad to still be "above ground."

I am proud to have reached the venerable age of 60 and grateful that I still feel young, despite the evidence I see in the mirror and the mounting pile of memories that belies the illusion.

I am thankful that when my friends Rocky and Bruno reached the point where their bodies could no longer sustain their magnificent spirits I was able to muster the courage to help them depart this life peacefully and painlessly. And I am unbelievably thankful for the years we shared with each other.

I am grateful that my friend Del Jones' children were thoughtful enough, even in their time of sorrow, to let me know of their Dad's death in October. In those early teenage years, he and I shared almost every experience, and I cherish the memories I have of our deep and abiding friendship.

I am thankful that my son, Mike, has but one more weekend restriction to his freedom and that these past two years have passed as quickly as they have.

I am happy that I was able to obtain a new computer this year as a result of an award program at the place where I work. The old computer and the new one are functioning well together in a network and I am able to use both of them.

I'm thankful to have a hobby like this that I really enjoy.

I am grateful that I am continuing to enjoy my job and that I derive satisfaction and pleasure from performing the chores that are a part of my responsibility. Getting pleasure from performing the job, rather than from the rewards or accolades that come from doing it, is one of the great blessings of any occupation.

I'm thankful for the advances of technology that make bigger and better cheaper and smaller. What an amazing positive cycle technology is in!

I am thankful for friends who are still here and those who no longer are. Though thoughts of those who have departed this world or this part of the world often bring a tear to the eye or a lump in the throat, those same thoughts provoke gratitude for what we shared and the pleasant memories that accompany them.

Every day ought to be Thanksgiving because the beginning of another day in which I have the opportunity to count my blessings is a blessing itself.

I am thankful for my place in the line that traces backward in time through my parents and my grandparents and forward through my children into my grandchildren and beyond.

I am thankful for the control I've been able to exercise over my passions and my addictions and for the pleasure I derive from doing so. It's an honor to set a positive example, and I'm grateful to have the chance.

And this year, 2004, I remain grateful for all those things, but I can add ...

I am grateful for Blogger, for RSS, for FeedDemon, for Podcasts, for The Bat!, for IT Conversations, for TSE Pro, for Google and for CEO Express, to name but a few of the wonderful applications and web sites that are the product of someone's amazing imagination and incredible talent.

And I am grateful for you, dear Reader, for taking the time to read this blog and for all the words of encouragement you have shared with me. I enjoy and appreciate the fact that I can write for my own enjoyment and share it with so many so easily.

I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving and hope that all of us keep this sense of thankfulness throughout every day of the year.

- posted by Perry @ 8:30 AM 5 comments

 
My thanks to Lee Lankford
It's always nice to hear from someone who appreciates your efforts. Yesterday I got an email from Lee Lankford, a second cousin (Sarah Ann Murchison's daughter), who was asking how to reach my "family news" blog. Even though I had to clarify that this site isn't just a family news blog, I sent her the link to this site and the link to my Flickr photo site as well.

Then later in the day I received these kind words in a second email:

"WOW! How cool! I have been moving around and reading the entries, looking at pictures and am so impressed! Thanks so much for sharing this with me."

My thanks to you, Lee, for your comments.

Talk about "cool." I found her comments very cool indeed.

- posted by Perry @ 11:00 AM 0 comments

 
Kevin Sites in his own words
Kevin Sites is a freelance reporter on assignment for NBC and is embedded with the forces in Iraq. He recently witnessed and videotaped the killing of a wounded Iraqi soldier in a Mosque in Iraq.

Since then, he has been the subject of much discussion about the decision to report the event. Here, in his own words, is the description of the event and the subsequent controversy surrounding it.

Kevin Sites Blog:

"It's time you to have the facts from me, in my own words, about what I saw -- without imposing on that Marine -- guilt or innocence or anything in between. I want you to read my account and make up your own minds about whether you think what I did was right or wrong. All the other armchair analysts don't mean a damn to me.

Here it goes. "

- posted by Perry @ 9:45 AM 0 comments

 
Michael Gartenberg: Blogging hits the "West Wing"
Here's an interesting tidbit, I think.

Michael Gartenberg: Blogging hits the "West Wing": "Last night blogging hit this weeks episode of the West Wing. This is the first time I know of where weblogs played part in the storyline of a TV show."

Michael also points out his belief that the storyline illustrates a common misconception about bloggers.

- posted by Perry @ 11:45 AM 0 comments

 
How to get started blogging
While visiting with my cousins, Gerald and Dan Baxter, yesterday at Julia Ann Floyd's funeral, they both asked about how to start a blog. Fortunately, Blogger has an excellent online help system that takes you through all you need to know to set up a blog and customize it to your own specifications. So I thought I'd post this entry to give them the most important links in that help system to help them get started. Then maybe they'll be able to join the others of us in the family who are blogging. Fortunately, this post can serve to guide anyone else who might be interested in starting to blog as well.

The basic concepts and considerations are found in the Blogger Basics part of the help system, but particularly in the Getting Started section.

The first step is to create an account at Blogger. Then you need to set up your blog. You'll have to make a few choices such as what you are going to call your blog. It is important at this point to remember that the name of your blog will be a part of the URL for it, so, in my opinion, it is better to make this name something relatively short rather than something like, "My observations about all the things that are important to me in the world." You wouldn't want to have to type all of that into the address window each time you wanted to visit your site.

How your blog will look is determined by the template you use. Blogger provides a nice variety of these templates, so you can choose a design that suits your tastes. And even after you have created your blog, you can change the template if you see one you like better. I have done that at least 3 times since I began blogging about two and a half years ago.

One other thing I would recommend is that you enable the RSS feed from your blog. Doing this makes it possible for those of us who use an RSS feed reader to follow what you have posted more easily. Though you may not know initially what all that means, just trust me and enable it and in time you'll understand why.

One final word about blogging in general. The value of your blog, unless you are an extremely creative writer whose prose is worth reading independent of what other sources you point to, is determined in large measure by the links you provide in your posts. A blog is a great way of pointing others to the things on the web to which you are referring. Use links liberally in your posts. Sometimes the most interesting part of a blog post isn't so much what is said in it but rather following the paths that it provides to discovery of other things on the 'Net. I believe this particular post illustrates the value of supplying links, because rather than having to explain how to do each of the things I have recommended here, I've provided links to explanations that have already been written. It saves me time and provides you the information you need to follow these directions.

I'd be more than happy to help you, Gerald and Dan, once you have created your blog. There are even ways you can enable me to have access your blog so I can help you tweak some of the settings. We can do this temporarily (while you are setting things up) or more permanently, if you should choose. I won't blog for you, but I am willing to help you get things set up properly in the beginning.

Please leave me a comment (below), or email me if you prefer, if you have questions about this explanation. One final thing I suppose I should mention. Blogger is free.

- posted by Perry @ 10:15 AM 0 comments

 
Julia Ann's Funeral

Funerals are those times when families get together for a very sad event, but they are also often one of the few times we all come together, so they are still occasions when we can enjoy visiting with each other. Saturday was such a time at the cemetery in Stone Mountain, GA, as we assembled to support Pat and Brad as we laid to rest our dearly beloved family member, Julia Ann Floyd.

Other pictures are available at my Flickr photo page.

- posted by Perry @ 1:02 AM 0 comments

 
David Weinberger presents on C-SPAN
If you've got a fast connection and about 30 minutes, you will enjoy spending that time watching this Quicktime video of David Weinberger's presentation on the Digital Future that was broadcast recently on C-SPAN. The file is about 90 Mb so it will take a bit of time before the streaming video begins, but in his presentation Dave does a great job of explaining a third way of looking at knowledge in the digital age. During the course of his presentation, he also explains why blogs, with all of their imperfections, are an important new way of knowing about and understanding the world at large.

- posted by Perry @ 7:30 AM 0 comments

 
My cousin Julia Ann has left us

When the sun comes up this morning, my world will be a bit poorer than it was when it rose yesterday because a wonderful relative of mine and a friend has left us. Julia Ann Floyd passed away yesterday morning at around 8:30 AM in the presence of her grandson, Brad, who was holding her hand at the time, and her daughter, Pat, who was by her side. So an era in my life has now passed into history.

- posted by Perry @ 7:30 AM 0 comments

 
A possible blogger conference in Myrtle Beach
Dave Slusher of EvilGeniusChronicles is soliciting opinions about whether there is interest in a blogger conference in Myrtle Beach some time in the spring. Since these things usually happen on the west coast, it would be a great opportunity to meet some well-known (and maybe not so well-known) bloggers on the east coast and to learn some things about blogging. I told him I'd gladly attend if it were held on a weekend, which is what he has in mind.

- posted by Perry @ 9:15 AM 0 comments

 
Describing trauma with flare
From Rory Blyth at Neopoleon.com:

"While halfway through the current MSDN Events ASP.NET optimization talk, I noticed that there was a word on my monitor which was missing a letter.

Seemed a little odd, eh? I looked away and then checked it again: Yup - still missing.

Shifting my eyes over the paragraph I was looking at, I saw that I had a blind spot, and that the blind spot was covering up letters, one after the other, as my gaze swept them.

'Lame,' thought I to myself.

I decided to ignore it, though, hoping that it was just a momentary anomaly and that it would go away in a minute or two.

A minute or two later, I decided to give the audience an impromptu twenty minute break. It's weird starting a break with the words, 'We're going to have to take a break because I seem to be going blind right now,' but these things happen. The spot, you see, was growing."

Do yourself a favor and click on the link to read the rest of the story. You'll be rewarded with a few grins, a chuckle, and maybe even a belly laugh or two as the author turns what was obviously a traumatic event into something for the rest of us to enjoy. Excellent!

- posted by Perry @ 8:00 AM 0 comments

 
My birthday celebration on Sunday night

A group of my friends and I got together on Sunday night at Puleo's Grille, here in Knoxville, for dinner to celebrate my birthday which was actually on November 7th. This picture is almost the entire group, except for Jimmy and Tom Wright, who arrived a bit later after this picture was taken.

All the pictures of the event are available here.

- posted by Perry @ 10:15 PM 0 comments

 
Dealing with spyware

Using Spyware detection, removal and immunization is as important as using Anti-Virus software, and increasingly spyware is becoming more of a problem than viruses.

This is one of those cases where "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." I hope you'll take this precaution and arm yourself with the tools needed to maintain your connection to the Internet, because despite the irritations like spyware and viruses, the Internet provides an important link to vast amounts of information as well as to each other.

Happy and safe computing!

- posted by Perry @ 11:25 AM 0 comments

 
Correction
In response to yesterday's post, I have heard from both Bowen Baxter and Alfred Baxter that our grandfather's name was in fact Alfred Jesse, not Alfred Justice as I had indicated yesterday. So this post it to make that correction. Bowen said in his message this morning:

Also, in Alfred's research materials and in verbal reference to our grandfather his name has always come up as Alfred Jesse. My father was Justice Harold and I am Justice Bowen along with one of my sons and a grandson. I understand that Justice was the sir name of a friend and associate of A. J. Sr.

All of this just goes to prove, once again, that "none of us is as smart as all of us."

- posted by Perry @ 9:23 AM 0 comments

 
Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Baxter (circa 1900)

Mary Googer recently gave me a copy of this photograph of A. J. (Alfred Justice) and Julia Baxter (my maternal grandparents) from some time around the turn of the previous century. I used Photoshop to remove some stains and blemishes and to touch it up a bit. Because my mother was born after her father's death, she never knew him and this is the only picture I have ever seen of my grandmother as a young woman.

This photo, too, is available in electronic form if any of you members of the Baxter family would like a copy. Again, just let me know by email (see the previous post for my email address).

- posted by Perry @ 11:53 AM 0 comments

 
Two Mama's Birthday photo from 1949

During our recent Baxter family reunion in Snellville, Ga., on November 6th, I brought this scan of an old photograph to share with the rest of the family. Some of those in attendance wanted a copy, so I thought I'd post it here to remind everyone that it is available and that I'd be happy to email it directly to any and all who want a copy.

If you want me to email it to you please send me an email at p underscore nelson at vic dot com and I'll get it right out to you.

This photo is the first I've posted at my Flickr photo site. Here's some of their propaganda about their site that might interest you.

Flickr is a revolution in photo storage, sharing and organization, making photo management an easy, natural and collaborative process. Get comments, notes, and tags on your photos, post to any blog, share and chat live and more!

If you have photos you want to post to the web and share with friends, you might want to check out the Flickr site.

- posted by Perry @ 6:35 AM 0 comments

 
Today would have been Mama Lena's 114th birthday
While I was in Georgia for the reunion on Saturday, I went by the cemetary where my ancestors are buried and took this picture of the headstone at my grandparents' grave. Today would have been my paternal grandmother's 114th birthday. She was known as Mama Lena, and her husband, for whom I am named, was known as Daddy Perry. In honor of him, I have chosen to have my grandchildren refer to me as Daddy Perry.

- posted by Perry @ 9:00 AM 0 comments

 
Another blogger in the family
While at the reunion on Saturday, I learned from Bowen that we have another blogger in the family. His name is Mike Baxter, and his blog is called Baxwrtr Blogs. Check it out when you have time. It is a light-hearted and well-written account of life out there in Texas.

- posted by Perry @ 8:10 AM 0 comments

 
One of the pictures from our reunion

Here's a picture of Jane Baxter, mentioned in Saturday's post about the Baxter family reunion. She was capturing the event on video for inclusion in one of her productions for Roots and Branches Archives. Looks like she enjoys her work, doesn't it?

Jane Baxter with one of the tools of her new trade. Click on the picture for an enlarged version.

As time permits, I'll be posting some of the other pictures I took on Saturday at my Photo Gallery.

- posted by Perry @ 7:45 AM 0 comments

 
Visiting in Atlanta
Today I had the pleasure of visiting with members of my family (the Baxter side) at a park in Snellville, which is just outside of Atlanta, for a rare family reunion. I have to confess that I'm not much for family reunions in general. I used to view them as a kind of pop test in which I was expected to remember people's name or understand how each member of the group was related to one another, but I always felt I wasn't up to the challenge. Therefore, more often than not, I would attend them out of obligation but usually with little joy. However, and perhaps this is due to my advancing age, I felt this one was different. I enjoyed it much more than I had expected to.

It was a real pleasure to see some folks I hadn't seen in a long time (Bowen, Sheridan, Sarah Ann, Ralph, Zeke and others), but it was equally joyful to get to know some others (Frank, Tom, Dan, Lynn, and Lee, for instance) who are members of my family but members that I haven't had the chance to interact with much before.

For instance, I got a chance to talk with Jane Baxter (Zeke's daughter), who honchoed this event, and who was the prime mover behind scheduling it. She has a company, called "Roots and Branches Archives," that creates DVDs that capture the photos and memories of a family's history. Her company is located in Nashville where she puts together DVDs of the sights and sounds of a family's heritage that preserves them for a lifetime but also uses them to introduce the younger members of the family to the community into which they have been born. I consider her company not just a valuable service but also a blessing to the families she serves. We need more ties to our ancestors and more links to the generations that have gone before us.

While I was at the event today I took some pictures that I'll eventually post here or elsewhere. I can only conclude this brief observation about today's family reunion by saying that I can't remember when I have enjoyed reconnecting with my family more. Thank you, Jane, for being the prime mover in making it happen.

- posted by Perry @ 11:20 PM 0 comments

 
Scoble on "fear of blogging"
Robert Scoble, who is a prolific blogger and an interesting and informed Microsoft employee, posted some comments, titled Fear of Blogging, on his blog some time back in which he laid out his rationale for why companies should encourage its employees to blog. The ideas in that post became a part of a on-going discussion that I've carried on with David Steele for a while now, a discussion that I've mentioned before here.

I've been hesitant to link to Scoble because he is so diligent about tracking down links to his site and some bloggers so covet getting a mention at his site that they link to him gratuitously. Although I wouldn't mind that kind of exposure, I haven't wanted to "suck up" to him just to get a mention on his blog or his blog links site. But it's getting harder and harder not to link to him because I am increasingly finding things there that I want to link to, so I've decided to just "get over it" and go ahead and post a link.

Scoble's point that having a real give-and-take conversation with your constituency is the best way to establish and maintain a relationship with your customers strikes me as patently true. Yes, it entails risk, but as one activist organization says, "Silence=death."

- posted by Perry @ 12:50 PM 0 comments

 
Here are 20 reasons not to publish your picture on the Internet
Thanks to Metafilter for this link. It's amazing what folks can do with Photoshop!

- posted by Perry @ 10:15 AM 0 comments

 
BloggerCon begins at Stanford on Saturday
Dave Winer posted a draft of the message he plans to send to the participants in the upcoming BloggerCon this morning. As you will note, the conference is not just permitting people to record the proceedings but it is encouraging them to do so. When the links to the audio (or maybe even video) are posted after the fact, I'll make sure they show up here. If it weren't all the way out there on the left coast, I'd love to attend. Guess I'll just have to settle for being there virtually.

- posted by Perry @ 9:00 AM 0 comments

 
Voting was painless. Just do it!
I left my home at 9:15 AM, voted, and I was back at home by 10:10 AM. All-in-all, casting my vote was a painless procedure. The only real slowdown in the process occurs when the registrars (or whatever they are called) must check your registration against their "big book" of those who are registered. In an effort to speed up that part of the process, the officials divided the alphabet into groups, A-E, F-K, L-R, and S-Z. But in what has to be a statistical quirk, the line for L-R (my line, naturally) was much, much longer than any other line there. Once I got my authorization to vote, the process of casting my ballot took less than a minute.

- posted by Perry @ 11:10 AM 0 comments

 
FeedDemon adding support for enclosures
In what may be a too-technical development to report to my few regular readers, Nick Bradbury has indicated that soon he'll be adding support for enclosures in FeedDemon, my RSS reader. What that means, Dear Reader, is that I'll soon be able to collect Podcasts via FeedDemon. This is a really welcomed development for me.

If you haven't yet gotten on the bandwagon of listening to Podcasts or reading blogs and news sites via an RSS reader, what are you waiting for? It's what's happening!

Now it's off to Vote. I'm doing my part; now you do yours too.

- posted by Perry @ 8:30 AM 0 comments

 
A few thoughts from this past weekend
Halloween just isn't what it used to be around here. I suppose it may be due to the fact that Halloween occurred on Sunday, a day when we Southerners don't (apparently) wish to celebrate pagan rituals, but I had only two visitors on Saturday night (two little girls dressed in their costumes) and only two 8-10 year old boys on Sunday night at around 8:50 PM. I was surprised by the lack of trick-or-treaters who showed up. The two boys who came by on Sunday weren't even dressed in costumes -- just out for some candy, I suppose.

Tomorrow is election day. Since this is an important moment in deciding the course our country will take in coming years, I urge everyone to get out and vote. If you don't know where you are supposed to vote, you can click this link and enter your street address and zip code and then be presented with your polling place. I hope that cynicism that may have resulted from the experience of the 2000 election will not prevent you from doing your duty and exercising your right to cast your vote this time around.

This coming weekend BloggerCon is scheduled to take place in Seattle. It begins on Saturday. It is my understanding that some or all of it will be broadcast as either audio or video presentations in real time. Also I would expect that these broadcasts will be available for download or to play on demand after the fact. I think it is likely to be one of those seminal events in which the various issues related to blogging are explored, so I plan to check it out.

- posted by Perry @ 9:27 AM 0 comments