I was surfing before bedtime and saw this. I’d really love to try this, but I’m not sure I would if Scotchguard contains perfluororoctanoic acid. I’ll have to see if there’s an ingredient list on the can.

Yesterday I was surfing the web for Wordpress plug-ins when I stumbled upon PopShops. Its a Web 2.0 way to add a quick affiliate shop to your site in no time flat.

First, sign up with a few big affiliate companies like LinkShare and Commission Junction, then make a free account with PopShops. A free account will let you build ten shops, which seems like enough to start with. You enter your affiliate ID information with each of the affiliate companies you’re a member of when you sign up. You’ll have to join merchant programs separately, though.

The PopShops builder lets you search for any keyword, like Valentine’s Day, and it will produce a list of products that match. Simply click to add the ones you want to your shop, and fiddle with the style, and you’ve a store. They’ve got a widget for Blogger and TypePad, a WordPress plug-in, or you can just plop in the little blob of javascript to put the shop on your site.

I typed “Magic Tree House” and selected Audible as the merchant, then told David to put the audiobooks in order. Once he was done, I created a new page, added a bit of text, and used the plug-in to add the shop. And viola! Here’s his Magic Tree House Audio page.

The store building was so easy, David only needed help when he misplaced one of the books and wanted to remove it. Once I showed him the remove button, he was able to finish the shop on his own.

Seriously easy, and I think it looks pretty neat!

NASA is inviting members of the general public from around the world to suggest a new name for the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, otherwise known as GLAST, before it launches in mid-2008. GLAST is designed to probe the most violent events and exotic objects in the cosmos from gamma-ray bursts to black holes and beyond.

To submit a suggestion for the mission name, visit: http://glast.sonoma.edu/glastname

Anyone who drops a name into the “Name That Satellite!” suggestion box on the Web page can choose to receive a “Certificate of Participation” via return e-mail. Participants also may choose to receive the NASA press release announcing the new mission name. The announcement is expected approximately 60 days after launch of the telescope.

• Read more here

It has been more than a year and a half since I’ve been alone in the house. It seems weird to go to the kitchen and not find anything that needs to be cleaned up since the last time I was in there. I’m startled that the bathroom sink is still as clean as it was after I wiped it down this morning. I picked up all the toys off the floor  this afternoon, and nothing has returned to fill the empty space.

It’s astonishing. And wonderful. And happily it all ends tomorrow afternoon.

I miss my guys.