Shoot, I'm so disappointed 

I thought this keyboard would be so fun, but the musical part isn't working with my sound card. :-(

I think it's time for a new desktop. Saturday I couldn't do something I wanted to do because the video card was too old.

It looks like some Santa Cruz sound cards will emulate Sound Blaster. I'll check it out more. Maybe it's just a driver or something. I'm not buying a new sound card for the old computer (Dell Dimension 8100 bought in 2002). At some point you have to listen to the signs telling your computer is history. I'll see if the keyboard works on the kids' computers, and I'll probably hang on to it in hopes I'll be able to use it someday soon. I really like the touch of the letter keyboard. That's important to me.

Part of a grand longstanding tradition in Illinois 

Former governor George Ryan's jury came in yesterday with a guilty verdict on all 18 counts in the corruption trial.

Funny thing is the way some people here talk. They're a little embarrassed about all the corruption but they kid around about it with something like pride. It's not uncommon to hear things like "We'll do this association election the Chicago way" or "Whaddya want? It's Chicago."

It's also not all that rare to know somebody who knows somebody who served time in prison for political crimes. I used to work with the daughter of another Illinois governor who did 18 months.

There is something kind of endearing about a Leo McGarry-style toughness. I mean, if they only act tough without actually doing things like registering dead people to vote or taking skim. It's realistic that pols here have to be somewhat hardboiled to be effective in this climate.

Leo was supposed to have been from Chicago but thank goodness he didn't really try to pull off the accent. I think John Spencer was a New Yorker. His generic urban street-smart way of speaking worked just fine for the West Wing character.