任是无情也动人

Watch DDoS attacks across the interwebs in near real time!

*sigh* I wasted so much time staring at this site.

http://map.ipviking.com/?_ga=1.106938115.1477390587.1388686673#

(Obtained from the GW2 reddit. Because NCSofts servers have been steadily targeted by DDoS attacks recently. Leading to lag and general unplayability. The sad thing is, the target is more Wildstar, by the same publisher, and GW is just getting splashed in the collateral.)

Today's been a bad bad day.

Third try on my certification exam. No I didn't pass. Was 20 points short of passing on an effing 1000 point exam.

On the way back to work, I was pulled over for speeding. My first ticket. Ever. Not much I can quibble over it, since I was driving at around 60 on a 45 MPH expressway and no other cars on the road to claim that I was following traffic. Dammit.

And the day's not over yet.

Bah humbug.

EDIT: And just to prove me right, my computer crashes right after I finish this entry. The stupid thing's been acting wonky consistently ever since I caught the sdra64 virus a while ago. (I thought I'd gotten rid of it and none of my security apps have caught anything else recently.)

Little ones, anyway, by the time it reached SJ. Did shake the building a little, but didn't set off the fire alarm or let us all go home for the day or anything. Pity.

( pics from last night )

This morning, finally got the desk all finished and my junk sorted into the drawers/shelves. Am now posting from my desktop PC. ^_^

Furniture stuff still on the list to get/do:
- Have one more bookshelf to put up. Need to make a run to Lowes
- New mattress
- Need a trash can for the room. Also a recycling bin, maybe
- Need more file folders for the cabinet
- Laundry bag holder...thing, since I don't want to keep running downstairs to drop off dirty laundry every time.
- Need to decide what goes in between the shelves at the back wall... CD-rack? Small futon couch? Bean bag? Table? Low cabinet? Suggestions welcome...
- Given the larger desk surface, I'm pondering whether to go for a dual monitor setup. (Yes this is just an excuse to get a larger monitor *cough*)
- Room freshener. Apparently the scent of anything that gets cooked in the kitchen drifts up the stairway and smack dab into the bedrooms. -_-

I've been dragged off for manual labor at the new house for these last two weekends (and any foreseeable non-working weekends). Because of course my parents are too cheap to just hire out. For the most part so far we've been re-painting the various bedrooms, guestrooms, bathrooms, halls, etc.

Upshot is, I come back dead tired and want to do nothing but vegetate. Can't even work up the energy to play GW cuz my right hand/arm/shoulder is cramping like hell and can't grip the mouse well. Oh yeah, and the rest of me aches too.

Plus, how the hell do you get paint primer off of skin? Every time I've had to scrub what seemed like a layer of skin off my hands/arms/face to get it off. Google turns up a bunch of different suggestions - solid shortening, exfoliate, baby wipes/oil, melted butter, lemons (tried this one; stings like hell on the arm)... but there doesn't seem to be a consensus other than don't use paint thinner. -_-

And let's not even get into hair.

The only good thing about this is I finally got a use out of the mp3 player I bought a long time back...

Ok, the choices. The X61 is too big and the X300 is outside of the price range I'm willing to pay. So that leaves...

1. Lenovo ThinkPad X61s:
268x211x20–28mm (10.5x8.3x0.8-1.1")
1.24kg (2.73lb) - 1.58kg (3.48lb)
Overall - Small, light, and cheap.

2. Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet
4cell: 274x244x27.4 – 33.1mm (10.8x9.6x1.1–1.3")
8cell: 274x267x27.4 – 33.1mm (10.8x10.5x1.1–1.3")
1.71kg (3.77lb) - 1.93kg (4.25lb)
Overall - Basically $330 for the built in tablet function...

For reference, my current laptop (T43) is:
12.2" x 10" x 1.2"
5.1 lbs

On reflection, I think I will need to get an external CD drive at least. Otherwise I'm not sure how I'm supposed to install some software that come on CDs like the Office suite and Photoshop. Also, it appears the CD drive is cheaper on Amazon.

Probably should focus on tagging old entries before making new ones but it's just too tedious, even when I'm skipping a lot of the entries.

Anyway, some good stuff happened recently so I'm in the mood to share. Firstly, my elementalist and the necro both had their first birthday on GW, which means - presents! Unlike the fugly troll my ranger got (ironic considering that's the character most like me -_-), I got good mini's this time. My ele got a seige turtle, which was one of the mini's I'd actually considered buying when I first got the game. The necro got a hydra, which was one of the other first bday mini's I preferred over the others. The only nicer option would have been a bone dragon, both for the looks and for the rarity (ie. sell for $$).

( turtle screenies! )

Second nice thing is I pass my certification exam yesterday, which means I can spare some time off to relax before I start getting badgered by the management again. Oh yes, the bonu$ I get for it is nice too. XD

Thirdly, still on the topic of $$$, I got a raise today! 'Nuff said, I think. ^_^


(Side note: Hrm... interesting. IJ seems to have the same "quirk" GJ does in that I don't have the option to set my post icon when I create a new post, only when I edit it. Is that just me?)

So Fry's had a line that stretched for miles. Literally... I was watching the odometer of my car as I was waiting in line at the stoplight (and I wasn't even trying to go into Fry's). I hear that the checkout line on the *inside* stretched around the building once or twice too. There were police cars and officers all over the street leading to the entrance/exits, directing traffic.

So much for that. -_-

Now amazon.com, on the other hand... No lines for online shopping. They've got some super low deals on flash drives (compared to the last prices I've seen at Fry's) so I grabbed a 1 GB drive just cuz it was on sale.

They also had GW:Prophecies for 9.99 and EOTN for 19.99... which is like 1/3 of the normal price. So I grabbed those too. I guess that second account will be fully equipped soon. :p

They also had the Star Trek TNG complete seasons set for half off. So... yeah.

My credit card had quite the workout today. XD

So we were looking at new cars today. I kinda like the Toyota Prius. It's a hybrid car - and seems to be the only convertible sized hybrid around these parts (well, there's also the Camry Hybrid but that's Toyota's too anyway). Mom and I both liked it; Dad... well, let's not get into his tastes.

Pros:
- can file for carpool lane privilege w/o any passengers
- environmentally friendly from all accounts
- kawaii... first thought that popped into mind was the Hello-Kitty of autos XD
- incredible mileage (ie. the gas light won't be annoying me every other time I turn around)
- lots and lots of features (voice-control GPS, rear-view camera, 6-CD changer, i-Pod/MP3 jack, *drool*)

Cons:
- more expensive (anywhere from 22k - 29k depending on features included) than non-hybrids
- no holiday discounts
- unknown battery replacement costs
- limited range of color/feature package choice left (the good ones are sold out -_-)

Iono... from some cursory googling on the battery issue, it seems that no one has a real solid answer on how much it would take to replace the batteries (most common citing is $3k for complete replacement)... mostly because they come with a 8 year warranty, the first Prius was sold in 2000, and apparently no one has tried to replace their batteries yet. When we were at the car dealers, the Toyota dealer was claiming that the battery had a lifetime warranty (even tho the brochure and online source said 8 year), while another car dealer on hearing that my mom and I were more interested in the Prius said that the replacement cost is $8000 and it's more common to just scrap the car after 5-6 years (then again, I'm not sure I trust the competitor's words on this.)

Note that since my dad isn't particularly impressed by it, if my mom and I push for this, then I'm most likely going to be paying for half or all of the cost, which is why I want to be sure I know what I'm getting myself into. If they end up buying any other car, then I wouldn't care since it would go to my dad first anyhow.

Any thoughts? My impression overall is that anyone going to buy this car wouldn't be buying just expecting some kind of overall savings (on fuel, etc.), but more likely for other reasons ranging from environmental concerns to the l33t features...

Fuck.

Just...fuck.

Lightning never strikes twice? Fuck.

I want to kill someone now. Preferably the guy who stole my wallet today. Again.

Justfiable homicide.

Fuck.

I don't even want to think about the midterm I just had.


Edit: And the worst irony is... it's not even a year since the last nightmare...