Apparently I'm missing the whole point of the blog. I'm supposed to provide links to articles and web pages I find interesting. Since when did that become the point of writing on the Internet? If I threw in some links, that would just lead you away from my blog and you'd be off surfing somewhere. So you probably won't find too many links here. Sorry.

Yesterday I noticed a story in the Washington Post's gossip column about Natalie Portman writing a letter to the Harvard Crimson in response to an opinion piece about the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Post made a point of mentioning that the letter was published under her real name, which is well-known on Harvard's campus. However, in order to spare her family the harsh glare of fame and stardom, she has a strict policy of keeping her real name a secret, and the article said that they agreed to her request not to publish the name. But it didn't take me too long to get to the Crimson's web site and read the letter and learn her real name. I'll leave it up to you to find it on your own. It's not like she's a Kennedy or anything that exciting. I'll put it this way: Portman is a much better choice for a stage name than her real name. Why am I even writing about this? She's a good actress, but I'm not that interested in her, aside from the Star Wars aspect of her career. Maybe you should check with me again next month, after I've seen Attack of the Clones.

I'm currently surfing and writing on my laptop, using my fancy new wireless Internet router. I had so much fun using the wireless networks at BrainShare and the office that I just had to have one at home. Liz's office had one that they weren't using anymore, so the other day Liz read me the specs and I looked them up on the Internet. It took me about 5 seconds to think about it and tell her I'd take it. I checked the prices and gave them what I thought was a good deal. The previous administrator hadn't changed any of the default configuration options, so it was incredibly easy to set up for my home network. Of course, being a network administrator myself, I reconfigured the router for high security so that any computer-savvy neighbors can't sign in and surf on my DSL. Take that, guy across the hall with a wireless network card for his own laptop.