As I've been reading a lot more lately (what with my computer still not replaced) and have been entertaining the idea of fiction writing for some time, I've started considering whether I should take part in this year's NaNoWriMo or not. It would certainly be an interesting way to unwind after the madness of TIGC.

Because of my general lack of cash, and the expenses I accrue in life and for my development, I've finally gone and added Google AdSense to the site. For now the ad links will likely be detached from the site content, but things should be improving, with ads closer to the site context soon. I'm actually a bit surprised that they aren't to begin with, as Google has been indexing coldacid.net since I bought the domain. I might stick the old PayPal donation button on here like I used to have on this site's predecessor. Of course, donations of up-to-date hardware and software (legitimate, postage and customs paid) is always appreciated more than cash itself. Sorry for attempting to cash in.

So I attended Energize IT today, and did I have a good time! While I didn't really pay attention to the security keynote, and skipped the virtualization one, the rest of the day was great. I got to hang out with other game developers in the GameCamp track, as well as spread the word farther about TIGC.

Why is it harder to get an IT related job in Canada than it is in the USA? From what I've gathered, skilled programmers and other IT types can get a decent job even out of high school. Meanwhile, here it's difficult even if one has a college diploma or Bachelor's degree. So someone in my situation is pretty much screwed. But why is this so?

Although I am still without a working computer to call my own, my dad's own Pentium II system has been more or less loaned to me so that I can continue to do some work (such as for the conference or working on my portfolio). This means that I can do some meagre software development, as it has Ubuntu 5.10 on it (and soon to have 6.10 -- the thing's not good enough for 7.04). While I won't be able to work on any of my current projects (for lack of access to their repositories, snug in the dead computer thanks to overtightened screws for holding the HDD) I might still toss together a few things to keep me from getting too rusty.

I still need to get a new computer, though.

I've gone and redesigned the look of the site. I was getting tired of the cramped and stuffy feeling of the previous design, especially with the overflowing sidebars. Now, the site's slimmer, less cluttered, and much sleeker in appearance. There's still a couple things to work out (such as the header image) but it's still pretty sweet like this!

Faster than you can say CMS, I've put together an article demonstrating how to add a simple yet elegant hierarchical links page to any Drupal site. All it takes are a few good modules, a bit of elbow grease, and some sites you want as links!

I don't update my blog nearly as often as I should. Which is a shame, because interesting things do happen to me most days. I really wish I had a computer that worked well enough to continue doing serious development, though, because I'm much better writing about code issues than real life.

My friend Rob just recently checked out a website that calculates one's contributions to the open source development scene. Apparently it's also got some social networking stuff in it, although I never saw anything of the sort. Anyway, the site is called Ohloh.net, and it gave Rob this nice little badge (below the fold):

Today marks the 140th anniversary of the formation of the independent nation we know as Canada (although we didn't gain real independence before 11 December 1931, or total independence before 17 April 1982).

In this the 140th anniversary of Canada's founding, in the 56th year of Her Majesty's reign, let us celebrate!