Today someone pointed out that Microsoft just announced 19 new vulnerabilities. Essentially everyone I know, who has a PC, has had their machine trashed at least once in the past year. It's bizarre to imagine why anyone would still trust a Windows box with any important work or data when this happens over and over and over again.

Phil pointed out that someone is posting Thoreau's diary as a series of blog postings. He forwarded a snippet about the cold weather on Feb 7, 1855

My pail of water was frozen in the morning so that I could not break it. Must leave many buttons unbuttoned, owing to numb fingers. Iron was like fire in the hands. Thermometer at about 7:30 A.M. gone into the bulb, -19 degrees at least. The cold has stopped the clock. Every bearded man in the street is a graybeard. Bread, meat, milk, cheese, etc., etc., all frozen. See the inside of your cellar door all covered and sparkling with frost like Golconda. Pity the poor who have not a large wood-pile. The latches are white with frost, and every nail-head in entries, etc., has a white cap. The chopper hesitates to go to the woods. Yet I see S.W.--stumping past, three quarters of a mile for his morning dram.

I don't usually talk about my journal writing in my journal, but lately I've been struggling with what to say: everything I think to write about seems banal. It's amazing how someone can write about something as commonplace as a cold snap and have it not seem in the slightest banal. I may go back and check on it from time to time.

There is a blizzard on the way here. There is a gray oppressiveness in the atmosphere and everyone has been checking the forecast, trying to anticipate whether the University will close tomorrow. I'm glad my class was today -- when you're class meets only once a week, losing a class meeting is really hard to make up. (Although I had two students who added my class today and came for the first time -- by missing 2/14 classes, they've already missed about 15% of the class. I try to discourage students from doing it because its really hard to catch up.)

Class was good -- it is one of the more boring topics: using a word processor and "styles" to apply the formatting guidelines. We finished up with the presentation early enough that people still had plenty of time to work in groups on their projects due next week. I'm getting good vibes from the class: it feels like things are going well. I love that.

StevenBrewer