August 2006

I’m testing this beta version of Microsoft’s “Windows Live Writer” which you can download for free from www.live.com.

It’s set up for Microsoft Spaces but will supposedly work with a number of other Blog platforms, including WordPress (which I use).  So I downloaded it, installed it, pointed it here at my WordPress site, and sure enough it sucked down my blog’s look and feel, and enabled me to write an entry offline.  The main advantage is that it gives advanced control over formatting, including that of images (see the picture of the pretty waitress and notice the drop shadow and watermark). Also included is a full spell checker and a accurate preview of what your blog will look like after uploading.

So far I am very impressed.  VERY.

It’s also supposed to work with Blogger, LiveJoural, TypePad, Movable Type, Radio Userland, and others, but it does not currently seem to support the likes of Xanga and MySpace.

Anyway, yes, by all means grab it and play with it.  It’s awesome.

I opened my mail this morning to find a message from NASA entitled: “Honey, I Shrunk The Solar System.”

Turning to a co-worker, I said, “We lost a planet!”

“What?”

“Oh, yeah, I read about that,” someone else chimed in. “Pluto is gone!”

My co-worker looked panicked. “We lost a planet?!” Of course he was imagining it had exploded, or drifted out of the solar system.

No, I told him. It’s been declassified as a planet. It’s too small.

After all these years, the International Astronomical Union has finally come up with a definition of what makes a planet a planet. And Pluto is not a planet. Instead, Pluto (along with a myriad of other object in the solar system) have been given the brand new designation “Dwarf Planet.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” said my co-worker. “Dwarf planet.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Isn’t the word ‘dwarf’ politically incorrect?”

I suppose so. I guess we should really be calling Pluto a “mass-challenged planet.”

This photo of mine just won a contest, and the prize is a new digital camera. Sweet!