One of the more innnovative activist groups to spring up on the internet is MoveOn.org

They've been keeping a constant watch on the Bush administration and organizing opposition to many of his more outrageous tactics.

Recently MoveOn sponsored an open competition for a political ad that explains what the President's policies are really about.

My favorite, and the winner of the competition is Child's Pay, a sobering look at where we may be headed if George Bush is reelected. Take a look at it, and 25 other finalists.

The $700 chair:

So far, so good. My Herman Miller Aeron chair is solid and comfortable. I still fuss with the adjustments from time to time, but that's probably a good thing... some days you feel different than others.

I've been only too aware of how long it's been since I updated this site, but it took two emails in two days from former students to push me to action. Nothing like guilt to motivate a guy. Thanks, Steve; thanks, Sandy (I guess).

I've noticed a definite connection between the frequency of updates and the number of visitors to the site. It's gotten bad enough that I've given up on my daily check of site stats— too depressing. In fact, several of the more popular URLs aren't mine, but are the work of students posted on the class websites we created. Month in and month out, Joanna's Guide to Great Chair Design and John's Golden Age of Sci-Fi Cinema draw visitors galore.

Bye bye inkject, hello laser
My new HP LaserJet 1012: small, fast, quiet, way better for 95% of the printing I do than the succession of cheap inkjet printers with their expensive cartridges that it's replaced. $149 from Computers4Sure.com, free shipping. What's not to like?

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One man show
After years of envying performers who move audiences to laughter or tears, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not very musically inclined. The closest I've gotten is being able to sort of play the harmonica. Sort of. So I'm trying something different: I signed up for a class called "Writing for Solo Performance" at Cleveland Public Theater. I'll let you know how it goes.

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Director still alive & kicking
One of my favorite classes to teach is Interactive Media, using Macromedia Director as our software tool of choice. I've been worried recently that Macromedia was phasing out Director, making Flash the software I'd need to learn to use. Now learning Flash is a very good thing, something I should do no matter what. But the reality is that I'm pretty good with Director, I enjoy using it, and I really don't have time to learn yet another software package.

So I'm pleased to see that MM has announced Director MX 2004, replacing Director MX (really just 8.5 made to work on Macintosh OSX). From what I've read on the MM website, MX 2004 adds new features and improvements that may make it worth upgrading. If only MM would get smart and lower the price to a level that students can afford, they might find that Director would start to gain market share. But I'm not holding my breath on that.

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-Al Wasco, Jan. 20, 2004