waider

Feb 25 22:55:20 <waider> not thinking gets me in trouble
Feb 25 22:55:28 <waider> thinking gets me in different trouble

Going over old chat logs is actually kinda fun, although I'm sure I could be doing something better with the time, like, say, SLEEPING.

(I should stress, this isn't related to any current or recent events, it's just one of those "hey, I said something funny" moments that tend to feed the quotes file.)

In the past 24 hours I have had no less than three DC power supplies die on me. One killed off my 5-CD changer, which hasn't been used much since I ripped everything to MP3 a few years ago, so that's no great loss. The other two were the original PSU for the only decent non-laptop screen in the house - a 15" LCD, uncased -which died at some point since I last fired up said screen (or perhaps as I fired up said screen) and the other I had cannibalised from a 3com hub, but it couldn't handle the load and melted something vital internally after about an hour. So now I've solved the problem by resorting to my Finn-like heap of as-yet undiscarded junk, and rigging up the following gem:
( Read more... )

I got an IM this morning from someone I've not talked to in a long time. It was a url for what appears to be a photo-sharing site. I say "appears to be" as the first thing it wanted me to do was give it my MSN username and password to log in, and it's not a Microsoft site, so I declined and opted to read their T's & C's instead.

Which explains why I got the IM in the first place:

We may temporarily access your MSN account to do a combination of the following:
1. Send Instant Messages to your friends promoting this site.
2. Introduce new entertaining sites to your friends via Instant Messages.

I am very much NOT going to link to the site, I will just point out that it's "myfriendz.info" and leave you explore if you see fit. Don't log in, though.

Apparently there's been a bunch of suicides in Bridgend, Wales. It's hard to tell if it's abnormal without studying statistics on the subject, but the current google results tell me 17 suicides "since the start of last year" (let's pick an arbitrary starting point to compress our data, right?) There seems to be some debate over whether the 17 suicides are actually linked, or whether it's just the media playing join-the-dots on a scatter plot, but tonight's Faux News (actually Sky, but not materially different in attitude or typical content) seemed to be running a loop about how The Intarwebs are to blame, specifically that there are sites telling people how to commit suicide.

Because let's face it, today's youth are so feckless that if you don't tell them how to off themselves, they'll just get distracted and go play football instead.

Now, if these are copycat suicides (as is being suggested by some), how is it that nobody's talking about the blanket TV coverage? While I was doing my 25 minutes on the stairmaster tonight, FauxSky News ran a video clip of a guy showing you how to make a noose at least 4 times, all the while (as best I could tell with no sound) running various voiceovers from "concerned people" about the effect such videos would have on "the youth".

This is the sort of thing that reminds me, in case I've forgotten, why it is I don't watch Sky News any more.

"Enhance Your Experience", it says on the box.

I spent waaaay too long searching for this post just so I could say, "c'mon! not again!"

I have just over three hours from landing in Gatwick to departing from Heathrow. Or, I did have, before the flight to Gatwick was delayed by two hours. Now it looks like I'll be fishing for a standby from Heathrow as I watch my flight depart. Note to self: stop taking flights that require connections when there's a direct alternative available.

update: curiously, I can't find a direct KEF/DUB flight, despite the fact that I definitely saw Reykjavik on the departure boards in Dublin on my way out.

Obviously in light of the previous comment, my work laptop has decided to take the hit for me. To quote my long-ago coworker Louise: "waider: the man that kills laptops"

About that money you donated to the Red Cross funds for Katrina relief...