Every now and then, I get edged out of a computer and have to go looking for a new one. Last time, my kids got interested in computer games, and rather than fight them over Dora Explorer, I gave them my PC and bought this laptop. This time, I'm vying with football season. Apparently sports radio, 24/7 ESPN and the sports page don't cut it anymore. To be a true self-respecting fanatical sportsaholic you have to be able to sneak onto your wife's computer when she tucks the kids in bed and hang tough while she sighs, clicks her tongue, taps her fingers and repeats for the tenth time, "Are you done yet? I have to get back to work."

I promised an update on Basecamp and how it's working for me. I've used it now for two clients for about a month and a half. At first I was very enthusiastic about it. I really liked the idea of keeping all communications in one place, and I particularly liked the to-do lists. I set up two for each project--a designer's to-do and a client's list--so it was clear what each of us still needed to do.

I'm in New York for, of all things, an auction at Sotheby's (it's a long story involving my husband and a Babe Ruth contract, but I'm sure you, too, have had it up to the eyeballs with sports, so I'll just breeze by all that). For the out-of-towner, NYC is like a jolt from a giant defibrillator. Everything perks up and picks up the pace. You find yourself moving more quickly and even talking faster. They should re-nickname it The Big Java.

Just got this week's Web Design Update in my morning's inbox, and once again had to stop everything, make a cup of tea and read it through. Laura Carlson, who puts out the newsletter, does a marvelous job week after week. For my money Web Design Update is the best webdev newsletter out there. So here'

Sorry, Bill. It was fun while it lasted, but I've fallen in love with another browser, and I'm never coming back. You can blame Christian Watson. He introduced me to Firefox.

I have to admit, I was skeptical at first. But I've found Watson's Smiley Cat Blog to be an invaluable resource, and he'd never steered me wrong before. So I downloaded Firefox and gave it a whirl, intending only to use it to check pages. The relationship got off to a rocky beginning. I couldn't get Firefox to work with HomeSite, which was terrifically frustrating. But once I figured out what I (yes, me) was doing wrong, I couldn't resist trying out some of the extensions for designer/developers and, well, one thing led to another and... You know, you never intend for these things to happen.