Just wanted to say happy birthday to my best friend, Molly!

So, today was my first day of classes for the first semester. My morning class (from 9-11:45) is called Human Computer Interaction. It's kind of a boring sounding title, but actually looks to be a pretty interesting class. Of particular interest to me is the section we'll be doing on website usability. Also, we'll be looking at the psychology of how people look at things and figure out how to use them, like how you know to push a door open when it has a flat bar and pull when it has a handle. I find that sort of thing really interesting. The teacher seems nice, and tries to think up interesting assignments instead of making us come up with our own topic or just assigning a blank research paper.

My afternoon class is called Electronic Commerce. The professor is one that I did my GA for last Fall, so I already know him. It's a big class for my program, about 45 people. We'll be studying all kinds of e-commerce, from web retailers to the whole supply chain to business to business commerce. I think it will be interesting.

The cool thing is that a lot of my friends are in both my classes, so we can all have lunch together in between. Today we went to Cosmo's a little deli/pizza place near campus. I had the turkey club, if you're interested. It was pretty good.

One thing that cracked me up today was when we went around the room saying something about ourselves during my second class. One guy was like, "I'm the GA for the men's basketball team" and the way he said it was like we should just bow down and worship him. He'll probably read this and hate me, but I don't care. We were also supposed to say something about a hobby or personal interest and he goes, "And I LOOOOOOVVVE the Dave Matthews Band." He said it with such passion and conviction, and I just burst out laughing. Oh well. Nothing against Dave Matthews, but could that kid be more of a stereotypical frat boy? Loves sports and the DMB. Want to bet he shops at Abercrombie & Fitch?

One thing about yesterday I forgot to mention: after we shook the President's hand, we were milling about trying to figure out how to get out of there, and I saw an older guy with a Cal-Mum (my high school) hat on. I didn't recognize him, but I walked up to him and said, "Excuse me, are you from Caledonia?" and his wife turned around and said, "Oh, you're Larry Reed's daughter!" (which I am). Mary thought that was so funny, that they knew who I was. The benefits of being from such a small town! I didn't know who they were, but I asked them where they live, and I know their house.

That's it for today. Over and out.

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Buywiz looks like an interesting application. Basically, it's a personal shopping cart that transcends various websites. So you can add a few items at Amazon, a few at the Gap and then pay for them all at once, or compare prices offline, or update prices regularly to see when something goes on sale.

Salon has an interesting article on affiliates, where you sell products through your website for a retailer, and get a cut. I've thought about it, but I don't think people would buy stuff just because I say to, you know?

Ugly people. Mean? Yes. Funny? Kind of.

Buy a purse designed by Monica Lewinsky. No, I'm not kidding.

Teachers don't make enough money. I think they should further professionalize the vocation, with annual performance reviews and the like. I think if people felt like bad teachers were being weeded out, they would be willing to pay higher school taxes to pay higher salaries.