New bike path
The university has added a new section of bike path along Crowell Road -- meaning that I don't have to hug the parked cars when riding there. It looks like they're going to start landscaping that area, too. Every year they add a little bit more to various spots on campus. And it's paying off. Cal State Stanislaus has done an incredible job of turning a barren plot of land into a beautiful and functional campus.


No more AIM
I'm not a big instant messenger kind'a guy. And now that AOL has added an advertising bot to their system I'll use it even less -- like pretty much never. Fortunately there are other options.


Google Base
Google has gone into the online hosting business -- although it's a little different than other webhosting services. Their focus is on developing searchable content. It's going to take me a while to figure out all of the implications of this. But my sense is that I will be able to post a lot of files that I currently have on a paid server. Could be helpful. Looks versatile.


Ouch!
The cost of a University of California education is going up 8% next year -- the fifth straight year of increases -- the increases have totaled 93% since 2001-2002. Two of our children are UC students. We can do the math. Education is still a great value. But at some point it will become cheaper to send our children to private schools.

If I were a paranoid conspiracy theorizer I might wonder if there weren't political forces conspiring to price the State completely out of the education business. Privatization on the horizon?