So easy 

I made my comment chat box into a Google Gadget. It's really really easy, if all you're doing is putting a wrapper around some already existing online content. All it is, is an XML file. Here, let me show it to you in a text file, too, so you can see everything.

To put it on your Google start page, first you have to have a Gmail or Google account and have the personalized home page feature activated. Then, once on the page that looks like my screenshot:

- Take the "Add more to this page" link in the upper left corner of the window

- On the "Add stuff to your homepage" page, take the "Add by URL" link to the right of the search box.

- Paste this

http://amyloo.com/gadgets/ziplessblurts.xml

I'm not going to add it to the public library. I can't afford a bunch of chat traffic.

Safety mode 

Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker in the wings, will be profiled on 60 Minutes tonight. I hope she "does well," whatever that means. I think features like this can make a difference -- especially the way news program clips get passed around. Probably she'll try to be somewhat safe, since it's the Dem's game to lose at this point. I think women politicians think they have to be extra safe, though I always get the impression that Pelosi does less word measuring than Hillary Clinton.