*blows the dust off this journal*
*waves away the airborne particles*
*coughs*
Excuse me.

Well, what has happened since my last update? How long ago was that? It seems like ages. LJ has been one of the things I've neglected lately.
June 11... Hmm...
I went to North Carolina for the UMVIM Connect rally, where I ran the slide decks for the plenary sessions and presented a workshop during one of the breakout times (the topic was: proper slide deck design). That went well, and it was very nice weather up there.
The next week, I went to Destin for a couple of days with my mom.
Since then, I guess I've been working mostly on driving around to visit the more than 50 churches in my town. So far, I think I've made contact at about 15 of them. But I've made a call list and prepared a call log so that I can call the rest.
Oh, and I've been working on that couch I've mentioned to some of you. Here's a picture:
( Cut because it moves )
So, I've been doing some software development lately. I had two programs that I needed that I couldn't find anywhere, so I ended up having to write my own applications. I don't want to get into Web development, but I wrote them both as CGI programs. I like CGI. I can write the programs like console programs, yet have a GUI interface through the HTML. I have a hard time wrapping my head around GUI programming, because it's all based on events, and I like to set things up in hierarchical menu structures, like the programs we used to use before we knew of such things as windows, icons, menus, and pointers. One of my favorite games in the BBS era was TradeWars2002. It had that kind of text-menu interface: Sector #486 (#) warp to sector, (p)ort (?) Help [20 turns remaining]: or something like that.
Life was simpler in computer programs back then. :)
Anyway, the status of my goals:
WIFE: I haven't found any likely prospects. I'm trying to get out more among people and make some new friends, to expand the number of people who know me and might possibly know someone who could be her.
CAREER: No bites yet. Just nibbles. I've posted a total of two church Web sites, along with my own business page, and one of those two wants to hire me to update the page. The information won't likely change often, so that won't bring a lot of money in, but it'd be something. I'm going to talk to the pastor this week about the page and see whether she hires me or not. I figure most churches I've given my card to will have to have a board/council meeting before they invite me to talk to them about possibly doing their sites, if they want Web work done, so I'm trying to be patient. I need to find more ways to get my name out there.
NOVEL: Still waiting for someone to return a proofread copy so I can post it on LuLu or Wowio.
DEGREE: Completed. Expensive piece of paper.

I'm feeling pretty good. I need to sleep more than I am.
My lips are clear.

Here's a secret: FVYLGFHDSNDROABEVDHEFGRDQPMH.
(Not really a secret)

I just though I should mention that in the past month or two, even though I've been terribly busy with school and the church Web site, I have managed to do a bit of reading. Here are the books I've finished:
Friday, the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Saturday, the Rabbi Went Hungry by Harry Kemelman
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
A Nickel's Worth of Hope by Andre Vandenburg
and read about half of His Mysterious Ways, a Guideposts book.

The rabbi books are neat little mysteries, keep you guessing until near the end. :) Unfortunately, they contain too much foul language. :(

I've been thinking about Web design a lot, lately. This is probably because I'm going into the field as a career. Anyway, I've run across some pages on the Web discussing the relative value of liquid and fixed-width layouts.
Most of them point out that a liquid layout will become unwieldy on a very wide screen, and that for this reason, designers should put limits on the width of the content.
While the logic that it is the Web designer's job to make sure the layout can't be so wide it is unwieldy or difficult to read the long lines thereof makes sense on the surface, it ignores some important things.
First, not everyone likes the centered-50% content column layout. Personally, I find it annoying, just as I find huge buttons on a browser's toolbar or many banners on a Web site I'm visiting annoying. And the reason is the same: They waste valuable screen real estate.
Second, users can resize their browser windows to have a comfortable column-width. While a kiosk browser may be limited to full-screen, a desktop browser doesn't have to be. I can set my browser window to 640px in width and browse sites that way all day long.
Third, users can also adjust their base text size or zoom factor to make a relative-width layout easy to read. But if the column is fixed-width, zooming or changing the text size may break the layout or the text wrap (i.e., make that fixed-width column stretch outside the viewing window).
Fourth, it is insulting to users to dictate what fluid content, like text, should look like. If your layout depends heavily on images, positioning them rigidly makes sense, but there's no reason in the world for a Web designer to dictate to a user how wide a column of text should be. Yes, I know thin columns are easier to read, but if I'm reading something lengthy, it is more important to me that I get as much text on the screen as possible to limit the number of times I'm required to move the page to access further content.
It is insulting in another way: It implies that the Web designer thinks the user is not smart enough to adjust the window to a comfortable view.

So, Web designers, if your aim is accessibility and readability, don't use fixed-width layouts. Liquid layouts are more accessible and more friendly to users. Don't put your users in an unnecessary box.