I'll check my mother's VIAO the next time she brings it home and report back on my Slashdot Journal.
A 1.5 to 2 year old Sony VIAO laptop does not appear to have the rootkit pre-installed. It might have other Sony junk on it, but I think it's relatively clear of their insane IP-protection black-hat junk.
...
You'll notice a huge number of changes on, as it happens my birthday, the 4th of September by "146.219.19.22". It's all spam. Spend even a couple of days working with Wikinews and you'll learn of "Ass Puss" -- a tedious, repetitious form of vandalism.
There's probably a law, like Murphy's, that says that in any sufficiently large population there are more people interested in destroying the work of others for profit or kicks than there are interested in taking the time needed to create something new. If that isn't an existing law, can someone clean it up and call it the "Krisjohn/Insert your name here" law?
I really thought that people would be interested in the Google Web Accelerator, not have responses between indifference and paranoia. Are we all really so jaded that we assume everything is an attempt at corporate takeover? (Ask yourself, if you produced an innovate product, how would you sell it to people? Would you use a company?) I'm tempted to give The Well a go...
Life's good, don't get me wrong, it's just that some speculative investments aren't paying off and it's time to decide if I cut my losses.
The major disappointment is the West Australian Greens party. From the inside it looks like it's falling apart. That's not to say that elected representatives won't do a good job, but just that the adminstrative structure is ready to implode. Basically it's run like a charity, not a political party.
More generally, I have a bunch of creative things I want to do -- stuff I've always enjoyed -- but I haven't been able to find time for them given the amount of pre-packaged entertainment I consume. World of Warcraft plus a Netflix-like service plus a two-foot pile of books do not leave any time for anything else.
So, the Bigpond Movies trial has been fun, but I won't be buying the service. My World of Warcraft subscription ends a few days into next month and I'll be taking at least a two and a half week break. The Greens can go do their own thing, I'm not interested in giving any more time or money when they're just going to waste it. Add in six strategic annual leave days I'm cashing in over the next six weeks and I might just catch up with all the things I've been neglecting by the end of next month.
Plus two specific things that cover, respectively, Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings.
It was fairly obvious when the book pile started to grow out of hand, but I still found time to just slob about and watch TV. No longer! It's all go-go-go, even when it comes to entertainment. "Bigpond Movies" (the Netflix-like service) was the last straw. I've now got a pile of DVDs to watch like I have my pile of books, on top of everything else trying to consume my time.
The next few months should be fun.
One, two, one, two.
I've got six more Gmail invites. If you're interested and you don't already have a Gmail account find my email address on my homepage and send me a message. I'll post replies as the invites are used up.
"Remember, extremism in the nondefense of moderation is not a virtue." -- Peter Neumann, about usenet