The URL of this blog has changed, from http://spaces.msn.com/auburnmarshes to http://auburnmarshes.spaces.msn.com.  This is apparently to enable better scalability and responsiveness of MSN Spaces as it passes the 100 million user mark!  I appreciate the fact that, while this change has technical benefits, it also puts the user's name right up front, which is a nice user-centric feature.  A win-win!

Apparently the IE7 picture uploading bug has been fixed too, which is nice (believe it or not, I resorted to Firefox - which I only use for cross-browser compatibility checking! Really! -  to upload my most recent blog image).

While I'm at it, I have another feature request too.  I recently had somebody unknown to me make some short and insipid comments (like "I like it!").  These show up as recent comments when I "Edit My Space".  Usually I can tell from this display whether somebody has spammed my blog, and delete the comments quickly.

However, the list only shows the most recent five comments.  Those five comments could mask other comments, which may represent spam.  I went through all my comments, at significant time expense, to see whether these comments were masking spam.  In this case I concluded not, but it alerted me to a new spamming strategy.  Comment-spammers please stop reading now.  Spam with a bunch of comments, then make 5 insipid but un-delete-worthy comments to mask the bad stuff from delete-conscious blog owners.

The most recent 5 blog entries show in the "Edit My Space" view, and one can switch to the "Blog" tab to page through a complete list and delete blog entries.  A reasonable counter-measure against masked comment spam would be to offer a corresponding "Comments" tab to page through a complete list of comments (most recent first).  Failing that, a "next 5" link would help.

You'd think the world was expanding, instead of shrinking.  Lately I have gotten the worst possible service on overnight deliveries in the past week.  I'm mad and I'm going to name names!

First was the USPS Express Mail package that was needed for the opening of Deanna's show.  Despite being clearly maked as "Signature Waiver Requested" on the form, the postal worker stuck notices in our mailbox for two days in a row asking us for a signature.  Now, our mailbox is about a mile and a half from our house, and securely locked with a key, so you wouldn't think signature requirements were common in our neighborhood.  In the end we had to hoof it down to the Post Office to pick up the package ourselves.  And when you ask for a refund, they give you a bunch of forms that have to be filed by the sender (who has no incentive to file them since he already collected the overnight charges from you for the service.)  Shame USPS!

Then I had a financial company send me two important documents.  For some reason, the two documents, issued minutes apart from the same location in New Jersey, were split between DHL and FedEx.  I had issued written instructions to waive the signature requirement, but apparently our neck of the woods is the only one where there still is some trust that packages left by the side of the road will find their intended destination without mishap.  According to the FedEx agent, the FedEx package was marked as requiring a signature.  The first delivery attempt failed because FedEx had lost our gate code and couldn't reach the house.  But no failure notice was left behind so I didn't even know about the problem!  The next day also failed but at least they left a notice.  I updated our gate code on file and expect delivery tomorrow (I'll also leave notes, signatures, alternate recipients, and maybe a banner across the road as backups).  Shame on the sender, and on FedEx!

The DHL package made it safely without requiring a signature, but still took an extra overnight for no apparent reason.  Shame DHL!

I'd like to say use UPS, as I've had much better serivce from them, but I still recall a few years ago when the UPS driver encouraged my neighbor to pass at night in a tight spot and the neighbor rolled off the road, a couple of hundred feet down a ravine, and had to be flown to the emergency room in a helicopter.  A bit of blame to share there, but still - Shame UPS!

I guess that leaves Airborne Express with the cleanest record, yet I haven't had a delivery sent by them in months.  There clearly is room for improvement in this industry!

Or am I just getting completely spoiled by netflix?

It's over.  I owe Paul a sushi dinner. 

Futo-maki crawled the 6009 miles from Yokohama to Berkhamsted at an average pace of about 1.16 miles per hour.  Come to think of it, that seems a reasonable speed for a sushi boat...

Ebi by contrast has been racing along at 1.38 miles per hour, but like the proverbial hare decided to nap in South Korea for a while.

Congratulations Paul!  Fortunately we will cross paths in Ottowa next week, maybe I'll get a chance to pay up then.  Or - double or nothing on another race? ;-)

The last month has been absolutely packed.  Between the creation and launch of Deanna's web site, preparation for the successful opening of her June show at the Artisan Gallery, the end of school activities for the kids, and of course squeezing in as much work as possible, there really hasn't been much time for blogging or photography.

But at last we had a day of rest, marked by the short hike along the North Fork American River to the strangely named Codfish Falls.  The trail was lined with wildflowers of all types, and I took advantage of that to work on my macro technique a bit.

Results are in the Flickrset Codfish Falls, along with sets representing Springtime Landscapes in the canyon, and the Easter Rodeo, even a short trip to Boston, all of which had languished in the camera for the last two months.