My web browser homepage has been Yahoo for years. I’ve lost track of how many years – at least 15 years, maybe longer. So maybe it is time for a change?

Google has a homepage that is fully customizable with widgets in three columns. They have a selection of themes and skins, and I was attracted to the new comics themes. I have an edgey sense of humor and was very surprised to see one of my favorite comics was actually included in the collection of themes. So I clicked on it and gave it a go. I really like it.

I saw over the weekend that they’ve announced the NFL schedule for the new season. I might try to go to a few of the games this year.

When I got divorced the ex insisted on taking the season tickets and seat licenses for the Titans, and at the time I was so glad to be rid of him that I didn’t care. But now I kick myself for letting him have them, because he moved away and gave my tickets to his worthless street thug sons.

This year the Titans might have a decent season and since they FINALLY wised up about the thug Pacman and got rid of him, I might be more interested in being a Titans fan again. But I still love the Redskins, too.

Some of us in the office are taking about going in together for some tickets and maybe even doing a fantasy league restricted to just people within our office. I think that would be great fun, but I have to get some help with the newer players and stats if I’m going to compete on a fantasy league.

Bill told me about a sports site that he like called Addict Sports. They have a forum where people can discuss all kinds of things about all the different sports. Bill says he used it last year for his NFL fantasy team on Yahoo and that he came in second place, thanks to all the help he got with his NFL picks from the Addict Sports NFL forum.

Cabby told me about the great progress they’ve made on the manor house renovation. He has done or paid to have done all the wiring and plumbing to get ready for the finish work and installation of fixtures and appliances. He got sheetrock up and spackled, the hardwood floors down and the vinyl in the kitchens, and he’s started on painting the upstairs apartments.

The big stumbling block now is the tile man that was going to do the bathrooms has been hurt and can’t do the work. That puts us in a bind, because Cabby can’t do anything more in the bathrooms without the tile work done first.

Cabby is looking for someone to come do the tile so they don’t lose much more time. He says the Italian tile that I picked out was delivered and nothing was broken. It’s a beautiful pattern and I can’t wait to see it in the bathroom. I hope he finds a good worker to do a great job for me and the other 3 apartments.

I found a website about recycling inkjet cartridges months ago and liked the way they profile several different suppliers so I can check the different ones and find the best deals, so I have bookmarked the web site and I send the link to friends who ask about discount laser printer toner supplies.

I’ve been using an HP 1020 laser printer, and the retail cost of a new toner cartridge is over $60. By using the website to find a refill and a coupon for free shipping, I got a refilled toner cartridge for under $40.

There are comparable savings on the different color cartridges for my Epson photo printer. The Epson requires 6 different cartridges and goes through ink like string through a duck.

At work we use a variety of printers, so I gave our Purchasing Manager the link and I know we are recycling both the inkjet cartridges and the laser toner cartridges, and using refilled cartridges at work, too. No one has complained about the quality or had any issues – knock on wood – so I guess that speaks well for the idea of saving money and saving the environment at the same time with printer cartridges.

In my opinion, design is the most critical aspect of a web site. You can have the most vital, important information to share with your readers, but if the design is crap, most people will move on without reading what you are trying to say. Design is combining art and style with form and function. It takes a talent for composition, a sense of style, an eye for detail and a deliberate learning process that develops skill to be a good designer.

The biggest mistake most beginners make when designing anything, whether is is a flyer that hangs in the convenience store window, a personal scrapbook of family photos and memorabilia, or a web page is to clutter the page with too much “stuff.” Beginners use several different type styles and fonts, making the page look like a ransom note. They use too many “cute” embellishments like clip art, busy borders and doo-dads. And they often lose track of the main thing they are trying to communicate – the original content.

You can’t teach someone everything they need to know about design in just a few minutes. And some people never “get it” no matter how hard to you try to teach them. But if you have an interest in design and any talent for art or composition, there are a lot of books in the library and free web resources to learn the basic principles and then move on to advanced skills.

One of my favorite resources on the web is a blog by a designer who really knows the internet. His posts are short and to the point, and they cover a wide range of talking points. This is not for the beginning designer, but anyone who has successfully completed a dozen or so projects will most certainly appreciate his comments and suggestions. If you are interested in learning some of the intermediate and advanced techniques, you should check in with the web design blogger site once in a while. He talks about more than just design. Recent posts include topics like search engine optimization, determining your Google page rank, and web site templates. So you can see that there is a variety of useful information presented and worth the time to click over there.