As if you can’t already tell, I have changed the layout of the web site to reflect more of the blogging aspect. I like this format. A lot. I’ll be playing with it for a while to see what new and interesting things I can do with it. One thing is for sure – it has made me want to update the content more frequently. That could be a good or a bad thing.

I eliminated the frame to the left that maintained the address links to help you navigate the site and moved them to the top frame, where I expect they will stay for a while. This opened up the main page significantly and allows me to use some of iBlog’s features, like the Calendar on the right.

In time, I will make the same changes to the family web site as well, and may password protect it. I need to think about that one. I have started hosting the pictures on my .Mac site since Apple has made it ridiculously easy to just plug in the digital camera, select import, and then create a web site that is a photo slideshow of your work – all in a few minutes. I will either incorporate .Mac in to my web environment, or figure out the webdav pieces so that I can force iPhoto to save to my own server instead of .Mac. It is doable, I just need to find the time and desire.

I’d also like to add a Comments section to this as well, so that anyone can leave a comment on anything that has been posted. This would also let me know if anyone is actually reading this stuff.

OK, I think I now have the Comments section working.

I guess not, since I brought it home 2/7/03 and have been too lazy to update BlindSquirrel since New Year’s Day!

So I ended up liking the iMac and OS X so much that I took my Dell notebook and set it up so that it now belongs to my wife. I went and picked up the 12″ PowerBook for myself, and I have been very happy. This thing is on and working approximately 21 hours a day now. I take it to work and use it for everything I need to get done there (I use Citrix for any apps that aren’t available for the Mac) and then I bring it home, where it stays on all night until I get up and do it all over again.

Like many others that picked one of these up, I really do feel it gets too hot for heavy ” lap top” use, but since I use it on a hard surface most of the time, it has not been too much of an issue.

If you are thinking about getting one, I would definitely recommend doing it. I had a quick spell with a 14″ iBook and was worried that the 12″ screen would be too small, but you get used to it quickly and the portability is just excellent. I gave up on the iBook because of the numerous video issues I had with it.

I guess I forgot to mention the name of the application I am trying out for creating the blog…

It’s called iBlog. You can check it out here. Right now, there is only a version for Macs. They do mention that there is a Windows based one in the works.

I hope to be able to provide daily updates to this new blog…

The thing of it is, I have been using FrontPage to keep the BlindSquirrel.org site up and running, but I need to find something else. I tried the eval version of DreamWeaver MX, Adobe GoLive, and Free something-or-other and none of them had the same feel as FrontPage. So the search continues to find a replacement web site editor with WYSIWYG support. Once I find this elusive app, my “switch” to the Mac is complete.

So as I was researching what goes in to “blogging”, I noticed that what I had been doing for the last few years was pretty close to being the same thing; I had always left a diary-like environment that just followed whatever random thought I had at the time. Blogging will allow me to continue to do this, but in a much easier way – I really don’t have to deal with web site editing much anymore. I’ll just stick with this for a while. Enjoy.