I'm working from the Bump Clubhouse today. I love doing it, and wish I could do it two days a week. It gives me a chance to get things done without the distractions of my office environment. I've already done as much as I usually get done in a day and it's not even 1 pm.

I really like Proteron's GoMac . It is a utility that gives my Macintosh the standard Windows Start menu and application switcher bar. I'm surprised how much I like this feature of Windows. They released version 1.6 today which adds Mac OS 8.5 compatibility. It has a great pop up calendar feature that I use all the time.

On the subject of Windows, I got to play with a Fire Ant prototype at a trade show this week. It seemed really fast. I especially look forward to being able to watch DVD movies on it. I am working on my level of knowledge of Windows 98 to ready myself for its arrival. I really wish that Windows NT had USB and DVD support, because I would much rather have had it on the laptop.

Mac OS 8.5 has been rock solid here at home. I still am having some nagging issues at work, but I'm sure I will figure them out in the coming days. Claris Emailer seems to work fine, and that was my biggest concern. The Sherlock search engine is an invaluable tool. Sherlock Internet Search Archives is a great collection of plug ins.

Word on the street(and in a MacWEEK article ) has Palm Computing releasing their revised MacPac software as a public beta. I can't wait for this added flexibility. I am now using the Palm device all the time.

SETI's SETI@Home program , scheduled to start in April 1999, will allow home users to commit their extra processing cycles towards the search for extra terrestrial life. Cool. There is a Salon Magazine article on the topic here .