This has nothing to do with PHP or Javascript or any other kind of web technology out there. The last three weeks my family has been waiting to see what the next day brings with much trepidation. My grandfather’s thyroid cancer has returned. He will be seeking radiation treatment and probably chemo soon, but the situation is uncertain. The cancer has spread quite a bit since the last surgery and things don’t look that great.

I am participating in the Relay for Life that helps fund Cancer research. It may not be able to help my grandfather, but it can help the grandfathers, grandmothers, fathers, mothers, and siblings of someone. To me, in a way, it also gives me some semblance of control of his illness. It makes me feel like I can do something in the face of tragedy.

If you would like to help me reach my goal, my fundraising page can be found here. All donations are accepted. It’s the love in which they were given that’s important. You can also join the team if you so desire.

…converted to Facebook. The Web 2.0 interface has won my heart and mind. It certainly makes MySpace look sluggish and inept as a social networking site. Although MySpace offers more of the ability to modify its look and feel, Facebook rocks its world bar-none.

I like the modular aspect of Facebook. It contains several useful applications which are developed by many individuals from around the globe. For instance I added the application, zuPort: Flickr to my Facebook profile and pointed it to my Flickr feed. Now, it displays all my Flickr photos in a nice, manageable box. Another thing thing that I really dig is the ability to subscribe to your blog feeds. This posting itself will appear in my Facebook profile. MySpace, on the other hand, forces you to use their stupid blogging system instead of giving you any choice as to where you want your blog content to come from. A qualm that I have always had with MySpace is that their advertising is somewhat intrusive and very annoying. On my MySpace profile, as a joke, I put up the results of an on-line questionaire where it proclaimed that I was in fact a lesbian. The next thing I know all the advertising on my profile is for gay and lesbian sites. Facebook just has one little ad on the left side that I barely even notice.

I know Facebook has been along for a while, and I may sound like I discovered the wonders of this web site before anyone else, but I’m just that geeked about it. I don’t know why I overlooked it for so long.

Frontline on PBS had a special tonight that focused on events and issues around the world. One of the news items that I found of interest was the Arabic comic book The 99. Each of the characters are based upon the 99 traits of Allah. Currently, in the Muslim world this comic book is outselling the X-Men and other American titles. When interviewed, the creator of the comic book said that Muslim youth need new heroes.

As a comic book lover I think it’s great to see it’s world-wide acceptance as a genre. It’s also really interesting to see what other nations are doing with it. Cool concept. Although, I’m not Muslim, I might just have to find a copy.

That had some other interesting item, like in Africa they are using rats to detect land mines. I love Frontline!