Router-less web-browsing question...
A few years ago a friend of mine who works in IT support came to my house and checked out my computer set-up. He shook his head in disappointment at my computer's vulnerability. He immediately had me download and install Zone Alarm's firewall software (showing me how random computers were routinely pinging mine.) And he highly recommended that I get a router even though I only use one computer in my home. The router would act as a physical firewall which is much safer. I did so without any problem.

Recently, I switched to cable high speed internet. Unfortunately when I did this, having the ethernet go through the router does not work. I tried and tried all different things with tech support on the line, hooking/unhooking while the modem/computer was on/off in every and all possible combinations but it still doesn't work via the router. So, my computer is currently plugged directly into the cable modem riding the information superhighway with no physical barrier.

Another friend of mine has said that while the router is better, the ZoneAlarm software should be fine. I would like to solicit your opinion on the matter. Am I safe or should I get the darn router to work one way or another?

Thursdays I have a class called Figure Studio 600. It's my favorite class of this semester. The teacher is very good but that's not the best part. The best part is getting to class.

I take the N Judah train (2 blocks from my house) downtown to Powell. From there I hop on the cablecar. That's right, I take the trolley to class. Fortunately my monthly adult FastPass includes the cablecar routes or else it would be prohibitively expensive.

There's nothing like starting out your day at 8am in the morning riding the cablecar up Powell in the city of San Francisco. It's pretty uplifting. Of course, I have yet to ride it in the rain. That would probably suck.

I frickin love the new Battlestar Galactica series remake now in its 2nd season.

This show rocks. It's a retelling of the classic series from the 70's which is near and dear to my heart but it does it in a completely different way. Very dark, mature, unpredictable and kickass in every way. The writing is superb, the cast is great, the production is excellent. Every detail is thought out and made use of.

Fortunately I'm not the only one watching as it is a very successful and praised show. The producers are technopiles and have astutely created podcasts which can be listened to as audio commentary to the individual episodes of season 2.

When I first moved to SF I got cable for free/spliced from my landlord who lived upstairs (I lived in the basement of a family home, that's another story). When I moved in with my girlfriend we got free/spliced cable from the downstairs neighbors. Then when we bought our house 3 and a half years ago we decided not to order cable and see how long we could go without it.

Well, after 3 and a half blissful years of being cable-free, I've caved in, fallen off the wagon and went all in for the basic + premium cable + cable internet + dvr set up. $68/mo for the 1st 6 months. After that I'm probably going to drop the premium channels. Previously I relied on Netflix to catch up on my favorite TV shows. Now I used DVR (comcast's version of tivo) and needless to say, I love it. The question is whether I can utilize the DVR to limit my watching or whether it will just put my media-head habit over the top.

When I get real tired, my left eyelid gets heavier and doesn't fold all the way under. (See pic above.) This used to be the norm and I thought that's how I looked until I got a lot of sleep one week and it went away. Now I get it when I don't get enough sleep especially when I'm drinking lots of coffee. Those two things usually happen at the same time. I think I need some sleep right now.

Thanks to Kelly for giving me some advice on how to fix my funky 20GB ipod. Unfortunately it didn't work. I downloaded the updater but the problem is the ipod won't even successfully mount on the computer in order for the updater to restore the ipod. Doing the menu/select button restart doesn't help it mount onto the computer either. sigh. Yesterday, I popped into the Apple store to check out the nano. I'm not much of an Apple-phile anymore but that thing is wickedcool.

Still listening to "The Kite Runner" on MUNI commute to animation classes. Must resist breaking down in sobs of remorse and heartbreak in front of other MUNI riders. Instead I make grumpy face. Muy macho.

Latest animation is called Jumper 1 at the bottom of the list of this page...
http://hstrial-fredlandcom.homestead.com/

Enjoy,
Fred