I was wondering how to plug my latest Web project to the Actionscript-oriented audience of this Web site, when suddenly Macromedia itself provided the perfect excuse: In one beautiful demonstration of Flash technology, the company has merged my two favorite things into one great site: cutting-edge Flash technology and the 1960s-era Volvo 1800 sports coupe.

Eh? Weren't expecting the car thing, were you?

It's true, though. These days, I have two things that take the majority of my time: By day (and often by night), I work with Macromedia Flash MX to build applications and e-learning activities for my employer. By night (and sometimes by day), I work on my dream car, a 1971 Volvo 1800E, a car for which I recently began publishing www.classic1800.com, a Web site devoted to the cars' restoration, preservation and promotion as a classic. (Yes, my favorite car is a Volvo — As if the

ActionScript Jabberwocky didn't already reveal my own idea of cool…)

Regardless, when I visited the Macromedia Flash Web site today, my two worlds collided: Front and center on the company's Web site is a feature story on how Volvo, now a Ford company, is using Flash video technology to sell their message to the public. Better yet, the Flash piece features a museum-quality P1800 in its "Volvo Museum" section.

Life is good for a classic Volvo-loving Web geek today. And surprisingly, there's quite a few of us out here.

Want to know more about the Volvo 1800? Check out my new Web site, www.classic1800.com. There's more information coming, and plenty of great links. There's even a first-of-its-kind Volvo 1800 calendar in the works!

There's nothing like announcing a new project in the works to guarantee that you won't get a chance to work on it anymore. Li'l Johnny's been stuck in the aquarium for more than four months now, and still we have yet to present the sequel to this game. Truth is, for the past month, I haven't even THOUGHT about finishing the new adventure.

My own whining aside, this brings me to the point of this post (something had to eventually):

Is it just me, or have tech workers,

formerly the rock stars of the dot-com era, finally become slaves to the machine? It seems everybody I know these days is either unemployed (with nothing to do) or "overly employed," working longer hours for bigger dollars. They're "professionals" after all, and they either get paid very well for working constantly… or not at all for not working. The middle ground doesn't seem to exist anymore, and rather than risk unemployment, many techies seem to be doubling up whether they want to or not.

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