Wow. Kerry went for the crowd-pleaser and picked Edwards. I’m actually a bit shocked. I thought we might get Gephardt, and apparently so did the New York Post. Oops. I think this choice could really help spread the fight to states that might not otherwise be in play. I’m not expecting the Dems to pick up Virginia or South Carolina, but it might force the Bush campaign to expend resources in places that would typically be safely in the red column. I’m sure the GOP will attack his lack of experience and his work as a trial attorney, but I don’t see either argument sticking. Bush had only a couple years of political experience when he assumed the presidency. And Edwards’s trial work was mostly on behalf of injured plaintiffs, not representing big *cough* Haliburton *cough* industry. I’m looking forward to the VP debates.
Here’s an article written by a recent college graduate describing her experiences as a student with a disability. Sounds like we both dealt with some clueless professors. I had an advisor tell me to consider not taking French because it was in an inaccessible building. I had a logic professor who didn’t believe that students with disabilities should receive time extensions on exams. But I don’t think I ever encountered the discrimination and cruelty mentioned in this article. Makes me second-guess my own characterizations of my alma mater as conservative and provincial.

Somebody needs to invent an umbrella that can be easily attached to a wheelchair. I was walking home from meeting a friend for coffee last night and I got caught in a downpour. By the time I got home, I was one soggy cripple. The motors on my wheelchair also temporarily crapped out, but fortunately I was already home by then. Everything was back in working order once it had the chance to dry out. Could have been worse, I suppose. Could have been like that one time when I was walking around Lake Calhoun and got caught in a storm and my chair crapped out before I could get back to the car.
Leaving shortly to see Spiderman. After all the good things I’ve read about it, I hope I’m not disappointed.

The Department of Homeland Security wants you to know that if you use Internet Explorer, you’re letting the terrorists win. I made the switch yesterday and I have no real complaints so far. It seems that images take a bit longer to load, but the difference is minimal. This whole incident may be just what the open-source movement needs to seep into the consciousness of the general public. Browser technology may not be the sexist thing in the computer industry, but Microsoft deserves a wake-up call. How many other products allow five years to pass without any major upgrades?
Assuming I can find a good vantage point on Sunday night, I want to take some pictures of the fireworks with the digital camera. Can any photo geeks out there give me some pointers on the best settings on the camera for this purpose? I know squat about photography, so keep it simple. I have a Canon Powershot A70, if that matters.
Hope all of you are planning on enjoying yourselves over this long weekend. This will be a working holiday for me as I have a grant deadline coming at me like a freight train. Think of me as you’re snarfing down your frankfurters and potato salad.

Here’s your “Awww, that’s nice” moment for the day: a story about a baseball league for kids with disabilities. somebody should have told the writer to ease up on the word “handicapped,” but otherwise it’s a cute story. I remember doing something similar when I was at an MDA-sponsored summer camp near Milwaukee many years ago. Of course, the best part of the experience for me was having an attractive woman stand behind me to help me hold the bat. Guess I haven’t changed much since then.
After reading about yet another security flaw in Internet Explorer, I’ve been asking myself whether I should switch to another browser like Firefox. My geek street cred is probably compromised by the fact that I still use IE. But part of me doesn’t want to go through the hassle of converting my bookmarks. I know, I’m pathetically lazy. Maybe I’ll make that one of my projects for the upcoming long weekend.
Matt Drudge, that paragon of journalistic integrity, is reporting that Kerry may offer the veep spot to Hillary Clinton. I’d be okay with that, but I think the story is bullshit. First, Hillary would mobilize the Democratic base, but her selection would also stoke the fires of the far-right wingnuts who would do their damnedest to turn out even more votes. Furthermore, I don’t think Hillary wants to be put in the position of possibly waiting eight years before she can make her own run. Nope, it’ll be Edwards or Gephardt, preferably Edwards.
I’m giving myself the day off from working on the book, so I think I’ll indulge in some gaming. At the rate I’ve been progressing through Knights of the Old Republic, I’ll finish it sometime before the end of the decade. I like to get my money’s worth from my games.

This is kind of interesting. In October, the Millennium Hotel in Minneapolis will be host to the Fiddler’s Green Convention. From the website:
Fiddler’s Green will be a Sandman-focused convention at the Millennium Hotel, Minneapolis, 12-14 November 2004. Membership is limited to 500 paid attending members, plus convention guests and staff.
All proceeds, after the con is over and the bills are paid, will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

It’s a $100 to register, which for me means $200 to cover myself and a nurse, so I’m not sure I’ll go. I’ve only been to one con in my whole life, a Star Trek con back in Green Bay in ’88 or ’89. My reaction then to the whole experience was to get a bit freaked out. I liked Trek, but I wasn’t about to put on a uniform and become fluent in Klingon. I was a fan, but these people were freaks. Or at least that’s how my insecure 16-year-old mind perceived it back then. But I do remember buying a white baseball cap with the United Federation of Planets logo on the front, so I can’t completely deny my own geek tendencies. I think it’d be a blast to go to a con now. I hope I would be a little less judgmental and simply enjoy the spectacle. Imagine all the great pictures I could get for the blog.