She was stopped in her Porsche at a traffic light in L.A. Someone in the same model, but 4 years older than her 2006 version, hit a Buick Le Sabre and propelled that car into her. That Porsche that hit her must have really been moving. Picture a little Porsche going really slowly tapping a big old sedan - and making it hit the car in front of it. Nope, ain't gonna do it. Sounds like she is generally okay but she and her passenger did complain of slightly sore backs and necks. Hope she is okay. She is a really funny lady. Funny is cool.

Worked really hard yesterday and I am still recovering. Mildly exhausted. I kind of hate clothes shopping. Got dragged off to store for couple hours at a time every now and then to "buy clothes" when I was a kid. That was one hour and 45 minutes too long, in my book. Did my annual clothes buying pilgrimage tonight. I think I did the whole thing in half an hour. Shirts, socks, briefs, slacks - even a couple ties that matched the shirts really well. Half an hour is not too bad.

If you want to see a really cool search control on a web page, check this one out: TV Guide search

I used 8 languages last month. Actually, more like 9 or 10 if you count using pieces of some of them all by themselves, in different environments for different purposes. It is weird but I didn't think about it much until tonight, when I was almost home. When I was a kid, I learned things. Things I learn quickly, I quickly switch to self-learning mode to continue to learn. When I was in my mid-teens, I was sort of a language freak. I followed up learning French with 4 or more languages that were not natural, not very old, and not directly European either. I learned more each year for several years. Years turned to decades. I learned so many because I wanted to use. them. I figured it would be cool to use them to solve different problems. Each one, I knew instinctively as I learned it - was a different kind of tool. Each one had its own short-comings, or at least drawbacks - as well as strengths, and something I don't really know a good word for. Something like le mot juste, fits like a glove, fitting. A sense that flits through your mind when you first see/know/understand it - a realization - that "this is a good tool for...". Anyway, while I was learning all theses languages, it never really occurred to me that quite so many would be brought to bear on the same problem. I mean, a couple - sure. I was trained to know that, expect it, set it up, and exploit it. I use even more computer languages at home. This blog, for instance, has its own language. I taught it to myself last year. I was working on solving the same problem for over a month now. This evening, I reached the point where I bad bested most all of the challenges. The point where it is mostly a question of tidying up. All the big battles are over. Just the little skirmishes remain. And when I am finishing them, I do just one thing. I converse. I describe what is, what must be done, where to go to find the parts that are needed by the thing that must be done, and how they should look when another human or a computer looks at them. Sometimes, well often, nowadays, I use one language to describe how to create or alter another program in another language. It is kind of cool. It is very silly. It is one of the most existential things I know. And, no. That does not mean it is real.

Yeah, I made Level 9. I am almost embarrassed at how long it took me.

This week Apple gives away not one but two songs at the iTunes music store. As always, you have until Monday night to get them. iTunes Store

I really like this one website called Topix.net. They seem to have a methodical, comprehensive approach to collecting and reporting the big news stories. Not only do they do it for the country's overall news, but they also have pages for individual towns, cities, and even parts of cities. Anyway, if you get tired of same people telling you same sort of news stories with the same perspective, this one has a slightly different collection. They also do a good job of tracking local crime stories. Something the locals seem to do less of a good job at, or if they do report them well, often make them really hard to find.

I worked long and hard yesterday. And in a couple minutes I am going to go and do it again. Hopefully, not for as long but hopefully just as hard or harder. I am trying to finish something up to a certain point where I am satisfied with it. It is at that stage where any problems or unfinished things practically take care of themselves or point out their own solution as something very obvious. I still have to learn one new little thing or perhaps just find an elegant shortcut. Or do something not so elegant but that works and is solid and gets it done quickly. Hopefully, Friday will be an easy day. I would really like to wind down Friday evening and relax. I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to get done last Saturday and am hoping this Saturday will be my chance.

Looks like I will reach Level 9 this weekend. I am right on the cusp of reaching 100% at Level 8 and I just wrote a couple more reviews. I have been pretty busy of late and have not had much time to watch TV, there have not been many new episodes of the shows I like to watch airing since it is still summer, and I have not had much time to do reviews. I thought I would grab a few minutes to put a couple in before breakfast. Now, I am starving!

Yahoo has a new news show this month called THE 9 and it is kind of cool. They have a pretty attractive young woman quickly go through 9 fairly interesting but seriously non-serious news stories. You can go back and replay any one of them simply by clicking its number. The numbers, naturally, range from 1 to 9. Actually, they start at 9 and drop down to 1 - so maybe I should have said them in that order. It kind of reminds me of the semi-defunct Rocket Boom vlogcast show. However, this show has Yahoo backing it and they have loads of cash. The star is considerably more animated - though they are both beautiful - and format is a little different. I thought all 9 of the segments in the latest show, which aired Friday, were decent and a couple of them were really excellent. A couple more were pretty good. Not saying which were which because everyone will probably have a different opinion anyway. The way we get information/news these days keeps changing. This might become one of the biggies.