Probably not sufficient reason to buy a Mac

I just noticed a neat little thing about MacOS X (perhaps just implemented with the new version, 10.2.4, which would explain why I never noticed it before): Not only to the little menu icons cast shadows, but those shadows actually extend off the menubar onto the tops of nearby windows! You ought to be able to see little dark areas under the three leftmost icons in the screenshot to the right. That sort of thing is probably really easy to code under Quartz, the new Mac display technology, which has built-in transparency capabilities. I can remember lusting after a NeXT just for the system-level alpha channel and display PostScript; now Macs have much the same thing.

It’s rainy and cold today, not a good combination. I didn’t head out to Brooklyn as I’d planned, because I was hoping our landlord would get back to us about our clogged bathroom sink. No such luck. I eventually tired of waiting, and went out to get a notarized copy of my photo ID faxed over to the people at Dotster, their work-around for NetSol’s continuing incompetence, so my domain registration transfer woes may soon be ending. I discovered an art supply store and a coffee bar in my neighborhood. I ate chicken, I bought butter, I continued to feel my underwear sliding down my butt.

Is this the tragedy, or the farce?

Yesterday, someone (womzilla?) made a comment about the prime minister of Serbia being assassinated, and I thought he was joking. That’s what I get for not paying enough attention to the news.