Gerry's funeral on Monday morning was the first Roman Catholic church service I had ever intended. Those of us not versed in the subtleties and protocols of the mass paid our respects with quiet contemplation. I estimate that there were between 250 and 300 people attending the funeral. Obviously, the respect and affection we held for Gerry at work extended to those that knew him from his church and community.

It was a sad occasion made tragically sadder by the news that the baby son of one of our other colleagues at work had died from meningitis on Christmas Eve. I cannot even begin to imagine the sense of loss both families must be feeling now. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

Then to top it all was the news this evening that the Browns' baby dies in hospital. I always used to think that Gordon Brown lacked warmth but I remember thinking that his obvious delight in the birth of his baby girl - Jennifer Jane - last week showed him to have a genuinely caring and human side - and a wonderful broad smile - and the British public warmed to him as a result. It's a tragic that the complications that set in as a result of the seven weeks premature birth lead ultimately to Jennifer's death.

It's at times like this that I realise how lucky I am and how much I take for granted the health of my family and how much I love them.

On SiT David comments on BlackBoard and Blogs

Adam Curry (among other things, supporter of schoolblogs.com) and Greg Ritter (a Blackboard employee, but not posting in an official capacity) are engaged in an exchange about Blackboard and weblogs....

I've written a lot about Blackboard, not all of it complimentary....

via Scripting News - Wired's Vaporware 2001 awards.

One of my ex-students - Larry - stopped by today. Hi Larry, thanks for signing up!

Larry works for Criterion Software. When I checked out their website I was struck by the similarity between the image on their home page and some of the images on http://duncan.smeed.org/comicrelief ;-)

via Scobleizer Weblog and Windows XP News - the wonderfully weird humanclock.com. And there's a bonus link to a really pointless site (which is part of The Pointless Pages Webring!!!). Perhaps I should register DJ with that webring ;-)

O'Reilly Network: Apache Web-Serving with Mac OS X: Part 3 [Jan. 04, 2002]

Before you know it, it's seven in the morning and time to show off your efforts. You're confident, feigning a yawn of boredom, not sleepiness. As the morning sun glints off the silver of your glorious G4 tower, you smile privately -- as has been typical since time began, doing something amazing on the Mac has been incredibly simple. Your boss is impressed, your coworkers are disbelieving, and you're signing a purchase order for the newest mystery item from MacWorld. Oh, life is good.

MacInTouch: Mac news, information and analysis

Last evening, the Canadian edition of Time Magazine prematurely posted the web version of this week's stories, including the cover feature about Apple's new iMac. An accompanying photo showed Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive, chief of Apple's ID lab, with the new iMac on the cover. The company later changed the site to redirect all queries to the US site.

Also in the same news story possible details of the new PowerMac G4 Series as gleaned from a Paris reseller - Powermac 1.2 Ghz et 1.4 Ghz!

Glad to see that Joel has days like mine ;-) Which he expands on in his Joel on Software - Fire And Motion piece.

TIME.com - Apple's New iMac. What a cool looking machine. Not bad specs either. Heather likes the look of it too. I can see it appealing to her generation.

I'm listening to the MacWorld keynote just now. No video since I'm on a modem connnection at home B-(.

I suppose I'm a little disappointed since the keynote and launch of the new product(s) was so heavily hyped. There's no doubt that it's a beautifully engineered device but it seems an evolution rather than a revolution. Looking forward to the reviews once the dust has settled.

I also like the new 14.1 inch iBook although I'm more than happy with the 12.1 inch vesrion I'm using right now. Nice to know when my eyesights starts to go I'll be able to upgrade ;-)

There's lots of talk about the 'digital hub' in the keynote. I wonder how Apple's strategy/products will hold up against the Microsoft vision of a digital hub.

No doubt I'll be linking to lots of coverage about the MacWorld Expo over the course of the next few days.

Later...

Checkout David Davies' Radio Weblog brought to you by SMS text messaging from a mobile phone!:

I'm standing in a supermarket checkout queue. Well, that's my Saturday night off to a good start!

Blackboard employee Greg Ritter in a recent Ten Reasons Why Rants and Essays is

... trying to encourage the blogging community (and my employer) to take a look at ways blogging might integrate with Blackboard for educational purposes.

But in doing so has upset Adam Curry with his comments in an earlier post.

It was with a heavy heart tonight that I laid out my (best) clothes for work tomorrow. Gerry's funeral is tomorrow morning at 10am. There's sure to be a large turn out from the department as Gerry had worked with many of us for many years. Gerry was just 51 - only 4 years older than me. He died on New Year's Eve. RIP Gerry. I will miss you and your wicked sense of humour. God bless.

via SiT - Usability of Internet discussion forums

To create a really usable forum one have (sic) take into account many small details, which all together will create an impression on a visitor. It is easy to forget some of these details; therefore I will try to explain basic features one by one.

I'll bear some of the points in mind when I redesign my discussion forum on DJ.