I think I finally have a plan for the big redesign of this site. Since I don’t really want to invest a bunch of time in learning PHP while I’m still working on getting comfortable with Java, I’m working on doing some funky javascript includes to get content over from the other stuff on this site (photos and the geekery – well, the geekery once I turn it into a blog). I got the photos stuff working last night. The design’s all up in my head and just needs to be translated. It’s funny how completely converted to CSS I am. I used to think in tables and spacer gifs. Now, it’s all divs, floating left and right, width, padding, margin, font-family, etc. It’s a lot more fun than building Byzantine table structures, let me tell you.
I’m still not sold on XHTML and all this validation stuff yet. I know it’s a nice ideal, but at least at work, there are things in XHTML that don’t work in older browsers. There are also things that require more code in XHTML than in old HTML 4.01 Transitional. I’m working on size and speed, not validation, which makes me a bit of a pariah, I know. But, in this huge project you’ll be seeing in a week or so, you’ll notice it doesn’t validate – but it is fast, which is my ultimate goal. For this site, I may try to make it validate, but only as an exercise to see if I can do it.
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I borrowed a bunch of PS2 games from my boss yesterday. Max and I were trying them all out. Of course, every PS2 game (and every PS1 game) has some sort of Loading… screen. Max is really into definitions now, and asked me what Loading means. I told him that the game is stored on the CD and the PlayStation has to read all the stuff off the CD so it can show it to us on the screen. I seemed to accept that, so about twenty minutes later as we were watching another Loading… screen, I asked him what Loading means. He tilted his head to the side like he always does when he’s trying to answer a question and then said emphatically, “It means the blue bar goes shwoooomp!” and used his finger to mime the loading bar. Yeah, he’s three… smart as a whip, but he’s still three.
Ok, one more Max story then I really need to get back to work. As I think I’ve told you, Max can read. This isn’t the story, but it helps to illustrate his reading ability… We went to out local Vietnamese restaurant last week, and Max wanted to read everyone’s fortune from their cookie. He sounded each word out, and only needed help on one (possibility, I think it was). After practicing a couple times, he could read each of them without pausing. The scariest part is that he doesn’t read with a monotone like most little kids. He reads it like he actually knows what it means and puts some emotion and inflection into it. But, my favorite part of his reading is the fact that his S’s and L’s are silent and M’s are B’s. Ok, on to the story… Last night, I was headed upstairs after work to change into my comfy sweatpants and sweater. Max wanted to come too, but I told him to play in his room while I changed. He told me, “Daddy, I can’t. It’s ‘pooky in there!” Of course, I turned on the light for him, and he said, “See? No more ‘pooky!” I’ve been saying it at work under my breath this morning… “Man, I don’t want to do that, it’s ‘pooky!”