My old favorite as reported in Lockergnome. I love Robert Burns’ words, although there is some argument he borrowed some someone else and that the words are never said correctly, but I don’t want to start a debate here. This is the version I like:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

Then someone sent this to me. It’s nice, too.

A Way to a Happy New Year

To leave the old with a burst of song
To recall the right and forgive the wrong;
To forget the thing that binds you fast
To the vain regrets of the year that’s past;
To have the strength to let go your hold
Of the not worthwhile of the days grown old,
To dare to go forth with a purpose true,
To the unknown task of the year that’s new;
To help your brother along the road
To do his work and lift his load;
To add your gift to the world’s good cheer,
Is to have and to give a Happy New Year.

- Robert Brewster Beattie

I didn’t get to venture out to admire the beautiful decorations around the Dallas area this year, but this site more than made up for it since I could enjoy them without doing any driving.

My sweet secret santa got me The Book of Three, a book that my entire family can read. Thank you, Heather!

I hope the one on the receiving end is happy with the two books I sent.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

Lockergnome has a new Web site and newsletter design and I’ve been dealing with the flood of feedback emails, most not happy. Plus, I’ve been working with Chance (the talented designer) and Jason to determine what we need to fix based on reader feedback. After almost three weeks of fire put-outing, readers are happy with the latest iteration.

Somewhere in there, I got a cold and could barely talk. Spent my days and nights coughing while managing The Remediator and InformIT. The Remediator has an enthusiastic and involved audience and I’m still answering their emails from the first issue (September). It’s great communicating with readers even though it’s got me snowed under (no snow here in Texas, otherwise).

On Monday, I had to have an endoscopy, something I must do every two years since I’ve been diagnosed with Barrett’s Esophagus. My cold came in handy! The endoscopy gives me a sore throat, but not this time since the cold already took care of it. The only side effect I have this time is sleepiness.

And how is your November going? I’ll be glad to have the week off from my day job next week and enjoy the American Thanksgiving with my family. I still be here doing work behind the scenes.

Tomorrow is Halloween in the US and Dia de Los Muertos in Mexico. Happy October 31st should cover everyone. For those who see it as pumpkins, witches, and ghosts, there’s plenty of Halloween clipart for the taking.

Download Jack-O-Lantern stencils from Carving Pumpkins and Attack of the Zombie Pumpkins. Don’t fret, there are cute ones like Taz, Sponge Bob, Homer Simpson (betcha thought you’d never hear Homer and cute in the same sentence) and a horse. The site also has step-by-step instructions on how to carve. The carving kits and stencils have made pumpkin carving a breeze. I did a few characters from Peanuts and they actually looked good! Me, the non-artist, did something I liked and I never like my stuff. [Link: Researchbuzz]

It’s odd that I am putting this in my blog, but I like to point out non-techie and non-writer related things on occasion. Dave Lankford is an actor with a blog. This is the first real blog (in other words, regularly and recently updated) I’ve seen of an actor’s… well, except for Wil Wheaton, but he don’t count.

I’ve always been fascinated about what goes behind the scenes in creating movies and television shows. In 1984, I went to L.A. and saw a taping of Benson and Wheel of Fortune. Those shows taught me a lot about how an episode comes to be, but I like to know more.

I majored in radio / TV when I was a freshman in college, but it didn’t work out. Besides, I wanted to live in Texas, not LA or New York. Kind of hard to have such a career when your heart is set on living in a specific city.

It’s a shame. I’m the third cousin of a director and actor (they’re brothers), but have never met them. Talking to them would be a great way to learn about life behind the scenes.

Yesterday, Crystal and Nick Finck were united in marriage. Heartiest congratulations to the lovely couple. I wish them a long and happy marriage.

From an email: “In New York City, the blackout had a significant effect on the public library.

None of the Internet terminals or other computers in the New York Library system were functioning, but the novels and non-fiction books somehow remained operational, according to patrons on the scene.

Older reference librarians were able to switch to print sources in order to maintain services, preventing any disruption. Seekers of pornography crowded the reference desks asking for help and were referred to a list of bawdy novels and assorted men’s magazines.”

There’s something to be said for books you can touch and feel.

Palm has changed its name to separate the hardware from the OS. PalmOne is the hardware part while PalmSource is the operating system. At least Palm has managed to do one smart thing — keep the Palm name in both entities. This ensures customers know what is what.

I give up. I am using PDA instead of handheld even though I advocated against it because PDA also stands for Public Display of Affection. PDA just sounds better than handheld. When I got my first PDA in 1995, I still used my planner. Slowly, I used my planner less and PDA more. Now, I don’t even use a planner anymore and have made it a habit to carry my PDA every where. Still can’t decide if it’s for you? Read PDAs and the Small Business to see what you can do with a PDA, even if you don’t work in a small business.