work on nostalgic memos quite frequently when I travel. I look back at my life, my childhood in particular. Certain memories are simply eroded as time goes by and the only way to preserve these memories is by writing permanent, detailed notes (or taking photos, videos and and the like).

The other possibility is to carry on living in the ‘adult world’, completely forgetting what cannot possibly contribute to the future, yet still represents an age of freedom and carelessness. Some memories are better left behind and forgotten, but without memory of one’s family and age of innocence, this riddance from invaluable memories is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Take a moment to remember; every now and then…

A pager which contains 8 virtual desktops

SSOCIATION of numbers with tasks can make life somewhat easier. Logical subdivision of processes can be reached in this way. Depending on the task at hand, a certain mnemonic can serve as a bridge to quick access. In this particular case, I am thinking about virtual desktops, which I have introduced and described before.

Let us consider a variety of activities which are undertaken in the daily routine of a computer user and assign each to a particular virtual desktop — a particular number, that is. This way, one can immediately jump from one process to another rather than ever launch and re-launch applications, or even minimise and restore any. Here are the mnemonic that I found to be most useful over time.

1. In my main workstation (University, dual-head as shown above):

• Desktop 1: Web browsing (occasionally feeds)
• Desktop 2: Right-hand-side: E-mail, left-hand-side: music
• Desktop 3: Reading (usually GhostView and file managers)
• Desktop 4: Programming
• Desktop 5: Writing/authoring
• Desktop 6: Remote connections (permanent link to two other workstations)
• Desktop 7: Photography, usually vacant or neglected
• Desktop 8: Communication, e.g. newsgroups

2+3. At work and at home:

Desktops 1 and 2 are consistent with the above. As the machines are not dual-head and only 4 virtual desktops are used (anything beyond 4 is often an excess), desktop 3 centralises many of the remote connection and file browsing aspects. Desktop 4 usually involves both reading and programming.

Either way, regardless of which numbers you assign to your favourite tasks, a quick tap on CTRL+number becomes natural and, given a certain task, the number makes transition to it more natural, almost innate. Diversion of attention can be made trivial and speed is then comparable with that of will. All programs are either in the visible (active) or virtual frame buffer.

Consider reading this intersting article on the role and impact of Firefox extensions. Below is the foreword.

If you have any doubts about the source of innovation in information technology, you should look at the Mozilla web site. I just counted 1,028 extensions contributed by the community. Then take a look at the themes section. Even the colossus of Redmond with its billions of dollars hasn’t mustered that kind of development effort for IE from its community over the years. Now, let’s get familiar with underlying reasons.

Related items on Firefox extensions:

• Firefox Essentials
• Firefox FTP Client
• Firefox for Web Design
• Favourite Firefox Extensions

friend has just sent me the following mock-up image. He occasionally has a play with graphical software and other people’s photos are used in the process.

So apparently I am responsible for one terrible disaster. I had never realised it until he told me.

Never post to your blog while drunk because you will regret it the following day. Being inebriated at the moment, I can barely even remember how to use the spellchecker, let alone add the image above. Fingers go astray on the keyboard. I will not say anything more.

Season of the playful penguins from Oyonale

HE staged demise of commercial software can be attributed to a variety of factors. The major factor: Large-scale Open Source software with great involvement from talented volunteers. This brought about many wonderful products like Firefox, which managed to surpass, in terms of the quality, their commercial equivalent/s. This provided a well-founded precedence to those wishing to explore non-commercial projects.

Although the basis of these open projects was about freedom to change and extend, these were often free too. The only issue to have remains in the air is budgets and liability, particularly among wealthy organisations.

UE to an important paper deadline I stayed awake for 30 hours straight yesterday. Ultimately, and oddly enough, 3 hours of sleep were enough after that. They compensated for the long procrastination of bedtime and rejuvenated the body fully. This cannot be healthy, can it?

The many issues that pertain to sleep and rest have always intrigued me. I even participated in sleep disorder newsgroup where I could engage in conversations with experts in the field. I am usually able to catch up with sleep entirely while travelling. I could never quite identify a pattern which would indicate how much sleep is truly necessary on a given day. ‘Luxury sleep’ or excessive sleep is also worth investigating. It seems as though many individuals tend to oversleep and still remain tired. One’s daytime occupation definitely plays a role too.

I once wrote about my own personal way of falling asleep immediately. This seems to have become a fairly popular Web page. It is amazing how little we think about an occupation that makes up about one third of our lives.