Dave Mancuso dot Com

N+I: Intel unveils 10-Gigabit Ethernet, dual wireless LAN [IDG InfoWorld] We haven’t even moved to 1 gigabit yet, and 10 gigabit is here. So does the signal get to the destination before you even send it? It will be a long time coming, though, if it only runs over optical fiber–copper seems to be left out in the cold.

EU Plans to Tax Internet Sales (From Slashdot:) I wonder what the odds are now that the US will tax our own Internet sales when this term is up? I think it was last year that they extended the moratorium on Internet taxes for another three years, so we have until 2004 before they vote on it again.

I’ve been trying to get through to the cardiologist who worked with my dad in Philly, but I’ve been bounced around from department to department and left messages for a week. I know the guy is an amazing surgeon, but by the time I get together with him I could be dead from old age.

I’m just going with my own hospital–they have a great rep, and they’re in my PPO plan. It’s frustrating–by now I might have already found out that this is a minor thing I don’t even need to worry about.

Went to the Scots-Irish Festival in Etown today–lots of bagpipes, booths, music, fun, and huge oxen drawing carts (like, six feet tall. No kidding). Pretty cool. I think the kids really liked it.

As usual, today I made it only partway through an event before I saw someone I knew and they asked me a technology question. While I’m with my kids trying to be away from work. Now, it was a quick question and this person is a friend, but this stuff does start to wear on you as the years go on. Please, folks, try not to bug your technology friends with tech support questions while they’re not working. It’s like asking a doctor friend at a dinner party to lance your boil.

Today is my last gasp for entering the district technology plan into the eTechPlanner website. I still have a few pieces left to input. What a pain.

Yep–it’s Denise’s birthday today! The kids were flipping over themselves to help make Mommy’s cake and get presents for her. Of course, sometimes they think this is time to get them presents, too. Drew’s birthday follows on May 9. Hard to believe he’s three already–I’ll have to post a picture of him up here.

Funny cake thing–I automatically stared to make a double layer round cake, but Denise said to make a flat rectangular one layer cake. I’m just used to the double layer from my family–that’s what we always had. Denise said “Your mother worked very hard for that–just make one layer like my family.” Actually, I think she’s just dreading my icing job from past experiences (two cans of icing last time–that wasn’t too much, was it?). 😉

Hmmmmmm–interesting. Even if John Dean says the 70 percent of D.T.’s information was inaccurate, I’d still be curious to know who he/she was. Dean announces the identity on June 17.

Well, my tests have come back (the echocardiogram I took on March 29), and it looks as if I may have an interatrial (or intra-arterial) septal aneurysm. I don’t know yet if this is serious or not. I’ve contacted a cardiologist at Jefferson in Philly, the same guy who put the stent in my dad in ’91 when it was still experimental. I need to get a “contrast study” done, which I think is the test with the dye injection.

You’d better believe I checked my life insurance out ASAP. I don’t plan on popping off today or tomorrow, but I can’t afford to have Denise and the kids tank financially if I’m suddenly gone.

Otherwise, I’m pretty Zen about the whole thing. But I did start my diet again to lose this last 50 pounds……

Well, it looks like it’s really happening. I had heard of in-fighting in the Maine legislature over this, and I guess the purchase can still be stopped, but it’s interesting to see the demo school laptops being rolled out.

We’ve considered this in our own schools, but the cost is staggering. In a PA school budget year with severe setbacks in retirement funding, investment reductions, charter school payments, and more, it doesn’t seem likely.

It would be interesting to see this at the 12th grade level, or somewhere in the HS, but it’s possible these efforts could be better spent setting up a foundation to help get families computers and Internet access. Most districts have families who have no computers at home–this would help even out the haves and the have-nots.