To Read or Not to Read, is that the question?

The NEA's new report on reading [PDF] paints a bleak picture of reading as a pleasure activity in the US. In a quick look at the document, I didn't see any discussion of the possibility that reading on computer screens accounts for some of the change in reading habits. What is clear though is that reading does compete with other media, and it seems to be losing, particularly among young people:

58% of 7th- to 12thgraders multitask while reading, some ormost of the time. To consider multitasking in other terms: 35% of total weekly reading time for children and teens is shared with other media. “Screen media” alone—video/computer games, e-mail or instant messaging, Web surfing and, of course, TV-watching—account for 20% of reading time, according to the analysis.

Is there any irony in the fact that a 90 page report about people not reading has a 15 page executive summary?

What happened with Vizaweb?

My hosting plan on Vizaweb was up for renewal on Saturday, Jan. 12th. On the 8th, I sent an email to Vizaweb support asking if I could pay more money for a better hosting plan. I got a quick automated response, then waited and got nothing more. I sent another request on the 11th and got the same automated response and nothing more. I tried again on the 12th. Same result. Today my site went offline, so I tried to contact them again. No live support, phone number doesn't go anywhere. I do get quick automated responses when I send them a request, but I still haven't gotten a real response. I went ahead and renewed my account, but my site is still offline and since I don't get a response when I email Vizaweb's support, I don't know when it's coming back online.

I haven't had many problems with the hosting over the past year, so I didn't think about not renewing. I also haven't needed any support, so maybe I was misled by that. I posted a message on their discussion board, but it looked like a ghost town. No activity there for weeks. The whole thing seems very strange. If my site at least gets back online, I can delete some files and keep going without the upgrade in disk space, but I sure hope it's back online soon.

mupromo cracks 10k sold

10,000 people have bought the mupromo. That's pretty impressive. Half a million dollars spent on Mac software, which, if bought at full price, would be more than $6 million.

FAU in a bowl game

Florida Atlantic University is playing Memphis in the New Orleans bowl. I think FAU started playing football about 5 years ago, so that is quite a feat. Actually, it FAU started playing football in 2001, so it's been 6 years, but that is still impressive.

Soccer season ends

The soccer playoffs ended last night. Most of the games ended in ties, went into overtime and then were decided by penalty kicks. It didn't look like many of the teams had done any preparation for penalty kicks though. I think it would have helped because most kids either missed the goal entirely or kicked it right at the goalie. I think the overall make rate on the penalty kicks I saw was around 25% or less. Otherwise, the games were very exciting and well played.

Soccer

In our U-12 game we tied it up in the last quarter on a penalty kick. We got the call when one of our players went down on the ground as he was defended by two players in front of the goal. I thought he was going to get a good shot at the goal and the opposing team had been pushing quite a bit during the game, but I didn't see the foul. I know that the referee in the game is one who rarely calls anything and it usually requires a player on the ground for a call.

Suns - Lakers

I turned on the Suns - Lakers game last night near the end of the third quarter hoping to see the Lakers close enough to make it a game down the stretch. It was a real shock that they were up by more than 20 at that point and then as many as 33 in the fourth quarter. The Lakers looked good and the Suns didn't. I don't know if you can learn anything from that game or not. I don't expect it to happen again the next time they play.

Celtics will be tough to beat in the East

I don't know how good the Wizards are, but they were a playoff team last year and Boston handled them very easily tonight. It's just the first game, but the Celtics look like a real contender in the East. There are not too many teams with three scorers like they've got, so they will be tough to beat.

Halloween pictures

I took pictures of the trick or treaters who came to our house last night. The pictures look good and I hope to get them online tonight. What surprised me was that no one said no to having their picture taken. I don't think I would have gotten the same reaction without the costumes. The other surprise was actually how few kids were out last night and how few houses were participating. There seemed to be fewer of both -- maybe the fires or maybe the foreclosures had something to do with it.

Air is getting close to normal

They said on the radio today that the air quality today was moderate, so that's a step in the right direction. I think it will be another week at least before it doesn't look smoggy, but today we had some fog and a little bit of precipitation and I'm sure that helps clean things up a little. Fires are still burning not far away, so things could change, but it seems safe to resume outdoor activities. I've seen more people walking the past few days and even though the schools have not resumed PE, I think it's time to get back outside. There may even be some good sunsets with all the particulate in the air.

AntiRSI

I have had lots of time with sore fingers, wrists and shoulders in the past few months due to my excessive use of a Macbook Pro. The laptop keyboard isn't so great when you are using it 8 hours a day. I get worn out by the end of the week and would like to take a break to save my body.

I came across the freeware applicaton AntiRSI which is a little program that reminds you to take breaks while you are at the computer. It is set up with a short - 15 second break -- every few minutes and then a longer break (3 minutes) every 50 minutes or so. Those might not be the exact numbers because I changed the settings and don't remember the defaults, but it seems like a good idea and it does seem to help. I don't know if there is any science behind the timing or duration of the breaks, but I like stopping every so often and I think it has helped. I've still got some soreness, but it's not as intense.

More bad air in Temecula

I hear people mowing lawns this morning, but I don't think the air is any better. The sky is still very gray and there's not much sun coming through. It looks like another day to stay inside. The forecast is for cooler weather starting today, but not by very much. What we really need is rain and that is not in the cards right now.

Leopard coming soon

I'm not planning on buying Leopard for my iMac tomorrow, but I am getting more interested in some of the new features. I think the Time Machine backup deal is going to be good, but there are a few others I'd like to have too. Usually these updates are no problem, but every once in a while there's a problem and you end up wasting a few hours fixing things. Better to wait and see what happens to others who are more eager.

Bad Air leads to school and soccer cancellations

No school tomorrow. No soccer on Saturday. Those make sense to me with the terrible air quality here. I just wonder how long they can keep the schools closed. It seems like even after the smoke goes away and the fires are out, whenever that may be, the air is going to be bad for days and days unless it rains. It's not likely to rain though, so the air quality should be bad for some time. I'd like to know how that decision is made by the school district because I suspect that students may end up back outside too early.

Red Sox - Rockies

Tonight's game is much better than last night's but I think the Rockies are going to come up a little short. Boston isn't going to score only 2 runs, but the Rockies don't look like they can do anything against Curt Schilling. I don't think Colorado can take 3 in a row at home, but I bet they win 2 and then Boston closes it out in the 6th game at home.

TemeculaWeather.com

TemeculaWeather.com says the index is 139 today. I'm not sure how that number differs from the 180 particulate number, but both are not good. They say conditions may continue to be bad through Saturday.

Particulates in the air -- how much is too much?

If the most polluted city in the world has an average particulate matter measurement of 169 micrograms per cubic meter (Cairo, Egypt), we are in bad shape here in Temecula. We have a reading of 180 today and some of the nearby cities are even as high as 220 or more. I wrote to the City of Temecula to ask what standard is used to determine whether people should stay inside -- is there one? What standard is used to close schools or cancel outdoor activities? I know the air is bad -- I can feel the burning in my throat even though I've been inside all day. I wonder what the long term effects of extended exposure to this are going to be? I wrote more about the measurements on my other blog. I'd like more information but I don't know where to get it.

Soccer season may have to be extended

I can't actually find out what kind of measurements are being used to determine how bad the air is here in Temecula, but since school is closed for 2 days and there hasn't been any soccer practice the entire week, it's got to be bad. I can smell the fire in my yard and I am many miles away, but I'd like some sense of just how bad it is. Particulate counts or whatever measurement is used would be helpful. I'd also like to know how long it takes for that stuff to go away. We have been getting headaches and irritated sinuses and throats, and we can't see too far. I wonder if there is some kind of home kit to measure air quality.

So if it's bad enough that you can't practice on Friday evening, how likely is it that you can play a game on Saturday morning? Not very likely, in my mind, but I'd like to have a way to quantify that. Considering that the main fields for the U-8 and U-10 games are being used as an evacuation center right now, it might be hard to play soccer unless everyone has cleared out by Friday.

Two weeks left, lots of photos to go

I usually create a DVD for each soccer team using the photos I've taken during the season. The past couple of years I also put together a poster which I've given to the coach. I've done the slideshow on DVD for several years now and they are starting to look very similar. I need some new ideas to make them look better, but I'm not sure what's out there short of moving up to Final Cut Express and customizing everything. I think there are better options on Windows, but my Windows PC probably won't run the software.

Kobe trade options

Marty Burns discusses five trade possibilities for the Lakers to dump Kobe Bryant. None of them are going to happen. Jerry Buss made this mistake with Shaq and that's why the team has been what they've been the past 2 years. He won't do that again.