I've lately started thinking about something I've been noticing for a while. I once loaded up a huge single web page. It was very, very long. Or should I say tall? Anyway, I was using IE, and it took forever. When I tried it in Firefox, it was a lot faster. Scrolling down on that page in IE was torture. It would freeze up, then load like 1/8 of the area you wanted to be on, on top of the 7/8 remaining of the other area that was fading — but fading way too slowly! Scrolling in FF was super fast. And that got me thinking.

I realized that while IE seems to divide its resources over all the content at once, FF uses its resources to focus solely on what it thinks you want. So when you load a big page in IE, it keeps tabs on everything, slowing it down. But when you load the same page in FF, it only pays attention to what is in the viewing area, and all the content above and below just goes into limbo, off into the ether, and doesn't take up any excess processing power. (At least this is my non-technical hippy-speak theory.)

I've learned that this rule extends to embedded YouTube videos. This is where the mouse movement comes in. That DSRL theme song was taking forever to load in FF. Then I moved my mouse, and all of a sudden the gray download progress bar jumped ahead. Yes! I stopped moving the mouse; the bar stopped moving. I moved my mouse a little, the bar moved a little. I moved my mouse a lot, continually, and the bar then went into a stead load.

Huh. Let's try loading the same page in IE. Ok, see the video, good, click to play (since it won't load without first getting that go-ahead), ok, now pause, and BAM! It immediately loads up lightning quick. What do you know? IE seems superior in this regard.

So I must say I do enjoy FF's focus-oriented loading better than IE's, but when it comes to embedded videos, it seems like a hassle to have to wave your mouse in front of the video just to get it to load. Maybe FF already knows about this and is working on it…

You may already know this, but the average block of television programming is 1/3 commercials. One way to verify this is by watching a DVD of a series. One episode runs at about 40 minutes. But wait! Wasn't it on TV taking up a whole hour? That means that 20 of those 60 minutes were commercials!

So, if you are busy, but have some favorite shows, you could build your schedule around them. Or, you could DVR them to watch later. Take that one step further, and fast forward through the ads (like most people do). Then you'll be saving yourself and extra 1/3 of the time.

This is especially useful with movies. DVR the TBS version of "Gone With The Wind" and make it through in record time — only 47 hours!

Omygod, it's 9:32pm! 32 backwards is 23! Nine has a square (2) root of 3 — 23!

Oh no, now it's 9:33! Two three's in a row — 23 again!

Aw criminy! Now it's 9:34! 9×3=27, -4=…23!!

I thought it was weird how Jim Carrey's character, who seemed to be pretty smart, thought there was something to it. I'm not saying I know everything, or even that I know I'm right for sure. But I really do think that it's just pattern recognition, and selective stopping. I mean it's like driving down a road and waiting for a sign that says "Speed Limit." There are lots of signs to choose from, but every time you see a Speed Limit sign you stop your car. Then you think it's amazing how the world revolves around the Speed Limits. Likewise, if you stop your mind at 23 all the time, you can convince yourself of meaning that you yourself are creating. Why stop at 23? Why not continue?

9:41pm! 41-9=32, 23 backwards! 2×3=6, and 2+3=5, 6×5=30, it's all 30! It always was!

[SPOILER ALERT BELOW]

But I guess one could argue that the manufactured truth of the 23 enigma was used by young Jim Carrey to encode his confession, and used by old Jim Carrey to decode it. In that case, the "false meaning" was just a means to an end. So no big deal.

I'd say the best time would be as early as possible, once you've already begun the day. What I've found that seems to be true for me is I write my best stuff earlier in the day. When it gets late, I'm less focused, and a little tired. This is when I like to shift my focus to tweaking things or reading other people's posts.

However, you might find that you are just the opposite. There are people who are more creative at night, and write new material then. The next morning or afternoon, they proofread what they wrote and clean it up.

I enjoy not having to stay on one thing for too long late at night, which is why at that point I prefer surfing and learning new things, rather than outputting more material. I feel better and more productive when I work that way.

And I've learned that if I start to write as soon as I sit down at the computer, the ideas just pour out, vibrant and clear. It's a good feeling.