Why is it that all good things must come to an end? Just when the saga was really getting interesting (a bloodless but very sudden and intriguing change in power, reshaping of the landscape, and vivid characters), it has now rather suddenly ended. The plot had even gone under a radical shift, which did somewhat signal the end was near, but the protagonist was interesting enough in her views to keep readers coming back. I shall miss this latest web-opera...

I'm glad that the long musical drought in which we were subjected to years of horrid bubblegum pop with not one, but THREE crappy boy-bands (does no one remember the last intense flameout that was NKOTB?), and one half-dressed, no talent, blonde teeny-bopper for each of the big 5 music companies, is starting to see the first good rain. Artists like Avril Lavigne (who is quite impressive for being so young, thank god she didn't let them bleach her hair and make her do porn-esque "dance" moves with 15 boys behind her mimicing ever move on a 15 foot tall plastic/metal monstrosity on some soundstage), Gorillaz, Thicke, etc. Now all we have to do is find a way to ship Britney Spears on an expedition to the core fo the sun, and life will be tolerable with the radio on.

Tumult in the Mozilla world. Mozilla 1.2 has a nasty flaw, not discovered until after it went gold, necessitating a 1.2.1 milestone. Phoenix Technologies asked The Phoenix Project to rename Phoenix to something else, To Be Announced. And the trunk is kinda wonky right now... Well, over at MozillaNews.org, we opened the ever expanding Mods section. New Mozilla splashes, games, resources and links, and soon themes and icon sets, and whatever else makes it in there. Stop by if you run The Lizard...

I admit it. I like Camchicks. Especially Nay. She's hot. Sure she's 17, but she's clothed, so it's cool. Now you have to admit it: You like the eye candy they all provide too. Put down the pretensions for a minute. Stop being 'hip' and 'cool' long enough to admit that at one time or another, we all like stuff that's not what all the 'cool' kids like. But then, we're not kids are we? So it's ok to not be cool 100% of the time. It's growing up.

And speaking of growing up, we need to talk about this whole "first post" thing...

These days, it seems that as technology companies evolve their product lines in the march towards ubiquitousness (and yet not commoditized), and greater accessability for the masses, they are leaving behind a very important group. Those of us who can be described as technophiles, geeks, hackers, (even enthusiasts to some) are being left behind with the oversimplificaion of products. Yes, most products don't need to be as complex as they are for the majority of users. But those of us who prefer to see the gears turn, tinker with the innards, and get our hands dirty are being locked out and spoon fed the pablum that is modern computer related technologies.

Often times, many of us would (and do) pay a bit more for the next level of product. Let Joe Sixpack buy Widget Standard. We want Widget Pro. We want to be able to get at the core. 99% of car buyers and users do not care about the spark gap, engine timing, cylinder offset angle, etc. But for those who DO, auto manufacturers cater with high end parts, technical manuals, and loads of other goods for the engineer in all of us.

To manufacturers: Don't weld the hood shut, just bolt it, and let those of us who want to peek underneath do so.