This is my diary (not my blog), my safe space... my little dictatorship on the web. You being able to read it is a privilege, not a right. Act accordingly. Read the rules below before commenting. Thank you.

My Policy On Commenting On Political Posts
My Naming & Friending Policy

I know I can't be the only one who had this problem, and asking the (admittedly cute) chick at the Apple store at the Eaton Centre didn't help (her answer was wrong), so here's how to get at YOUR iTunes account when you're visiting a different country.

So I'm an American and I use my AOL account to access the iTunes store. But when I'm on my boyfriend's computer up in Canada, it doesn't give me the option to use my AOL account, namely because it's showing me the Canadian iTunes Store. So I just can't buy, right? No, I also can't DL album covers and do other things like use Genius. Well, here's how I get it to let me use my AOL account to sign it... I force it to use the US iTunes Store.

1.) Click iTunes Store
2.) Click Sign In
3.) Click "Create New Account" or whatever.
4.) When it gives you the iTunes agreement, there's a link that says something like "if your bank account is not Canadian [or whatever country you're in], click here". Click that link.
5.) It then gives you a drop down list where you choose a country. Because my iTunes/AOL account is American, I choose US.
6.) It then loads the US iTunes Store. Click "Sign In" again.
7.) Sign in to your account.

Let me know if this works (or doesn't work) for you for countries different from the US and Canada, ok?

This is one of the coolest things I've heard about in a long time. Not to mention is the embodiment of my life's goal and my philosophies: re. sex and information made manifest. I encourage my sex-positive Open Source/Transparent mindset friends (which covers pretty much all the queer, kinky and hacker friends I have, which is the majority of my friends) to check this out and get hella involved.

You can bet your sweet asses I'll be there. (miscreeds, I'll need to crash with you during this, k?)

In short, for the hackers: It's Barcamp, but with sex.

In short, for the sex positive folk: It's a conference on sexuality, kink, and gender where everyone participates and noone's just an attendee. It's as open as possible: free, all talks can and will be recorded, information from the talks will be spread on the web afterwards. It's to get everyone in on the discussion on sexuality, it's to get everyone sharing and teaching with everyone else, and it's to get sexual information available to all people, regardless of age, socioeconomic station, gender, sexuality, etc.

So... check it out!

( MOAR INFO INSIDE )

My next post is going to be a voicepost, but it's not from my journal. There's a LJ comm called interpretivelj, where you record yourself saying OTHER people's posts. I'm going to be reading from a hilarious blog post about a new mom's attempt at getting her preemie baby to shit.

So, yeah, if you listen to it, I didn't spawn, rather, I'm reading someone else's blog.

Thanks.

OH! And I realized something. If I AM able to go to NYC for this week, I will FINALLY be in town for a NYC2600 meet. Which I've ALWAYS wanted to go to. For YEARS. So, please, please, please, can anyone put me up?

markwhi is giving me an 8 gig iPod Touch tomorrow. I'm naming it Ace.

And then I have a date with WickedWill. And I'll try to actually pay attention to him during it. And not just, you know, geek out hard over my new toy.

I make no promises. I hope he reads this so he has fair warning ahead of time.


...my only concern about getting an iPod is taht they don't play OGGs. What do I need to do to hack it to play OGGs? And is the Touch unlocked or is there all of that crappy locked shit on it?

And I have no idea if he was using it on a PC. If so, do I need to reformat it to work with the Mac? If so, how?

Even with all of those questions, and the fact that I'm not happy about iTunes + iPod's DRM, ZOMG, I'm getting my Ace tomorrow. :-D


Oh, and I went to BR tonight. I was just going to go to the TNG (which was fun in and of itself, and I gave a little impromptu mini-lesson on 'looners and macrophiles, which people seemed to enjoy), but a nice guy who's LJ name I don't know paid my way into the talk. Which seemed like it was about "how to play with monogamous people who are stupidly opening up their relationship and playing with others... and not owning their own shit". It was polyamateury at its finest. That being said, I can't really blame the presenter on that... because that kind of crap DOES happen in the scene. But I believe he scared a lot of single people off of playing with couples. I hope the other singles there realize that poly people won't have nearly the problems he was talking about. That being said, I still think the presenter was good at presenting. I know he was nervous about it ahead of time.

I saw D & M again. Which was awesome. M's looking to maybe have some kind of a girlfriend. And I was on her short list. So we're going to go on a date or 3, see what happens. At very least, it'll be cool to have someone to be girlie with.

RS was there with K. They've got this NRE glowy thing going on, and it's so sweet. Oh, yay for being happy that your friends are in love and happy. Yay for compersion! And yay for your friends dating cool people that you now become friends with.

nzlaur invited me to go with her and a bunch of others out to Freddie's for karaoke. Not being one to pass up an opportunity to sing, I readily agreed. And so she and I had a great talk on the way there. I really love her... she's so sweet and nice. (And DAMN can she sing!) And so I went to Freddie's near Crystal City for the first time. Great gay bar. I sang a number of things, and now a bunch of Crucible-goers are like "damn, we had no idea you had this talent! You need to get back into musical theater, girl!" Which makes me smile and blush.

And there was this cute fat chick there that I totally wanted to hit on, but didn't have the nerve to. I chatted her up a bit, got her name, looked at her photography (which I really DID enjoy) and found out she hangs out there often. I'll go back sometime.

And buz1 and BL took me home, old kinky leatherdyke friends of mine that I haven't seen in years. It was so good to see them again... they were always so nice to me when others wouldn't even talk to me.

I think I'm going to take another shot at being in the leatherdyke scene again. But this time, I'm going with friends.

So that was my night.

Remember the Domain Name Dollar Store commercial from a few days ago? Well, check out their site.

Read my policy for political debate on my LJ before commenting on this post.



XKCD, I <3 you.

I suppose I should update.

( What I did )

( What I'm going to do )

( Costume Ideas? )

( Computer Problems )

So that's what's going on in my life.

WinterRose and I are still broken up. It's probably the best thing that could have happened to us, although things are still far from perfect. (God, he seems to have an uncanny knack for pissing me off. Most of the time, I'm pretty sure he's not even trying.)

Moby the goldfish got stuck in the little barrel thing they had to hide inside (or hide behind now that they're too big to go inside). I had to let 'em out by hand. I hope Moby stays well, although I won't be surprised if the messed up spot where 'e got stuck gets infected and he dies.

LJs WYSIWYG editor needs to suck less (and not try to use div tags for stuff like centering if the CSS of the journal pages and LJ cuts is going to fuck it up. There's none of these problems with the good ol' fashioned formatting tags of center and bold and the like.) (There's a reason that I just use the HTML editor and type it all by hand, but WinterRose will have none of that. [See, an example of pissing me off.])

May be going to Williasmburg with my Mom on Thursday. I'm definitely going to Rose's place on Wednesday to get the rest of Scrubs and to give him a picnic and do things with him. Pray that we don't fight or kill each other.

Moby's floating at the top. Not belly up, but I'm still worried.

Oh, and did I mention the power supply died in Olympia? At least, I think it's the power supply. Have been too lazy to replace it.

You all probably know about this issue, but I really liked the image for it.

I told winterroseasfr that he could borrow my laptop to take with him to DragonCon. Now, the only issue is, right now the HD is completely shot and I've been running it from a live Linux CD and USB drive. But he wants an installed OS.

So... does anyone have an old laptop HD hanging out? It's for a Dell Latitiude that's about, oh, 6 years old, so a 5 or 10 or 20 gig drive would be just fine. I just need enough space for a Linux distro that'll configure itself so it can get on the WiFi and run a browser and IRC well.

I'd like the HD to be free, but I can kick you about $10 or $20 for it if you need it.

I've been working on fixing my Mac. It's been going a little like this.



I have acquired a 2nd Mac that I'm trying to use as a backup. Push comes to shove, I'm going through my 2nd reinstall in 2 days on the old fucker with the tiny primary partition that needs an upgraded chip (it's a G4 but only 356mHz). OTOH, I now have another G4. What should I name it? The partitions are currently named Islamorada. The current computers in my house are named Eden (the Mac I'm working on fixing) and Olympia.

I need to work on my presentation for HOPE. BTW, it's been mentioned on Cnet's news. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13554_3-9982240-33.html I haven't even given the presentation and I'm already getting press for it. Hee! :-D

And I still owe beehive_clover that smutty Eight fic in thanks for the paid account. I should probably watch the movie a couple more times before I do that though... it's been a while.

Not to mention I still need to email back 2 gentlemen that are vying for my attentions. I know the LJ of the one... I wonder if the other has an LJ?

First, the Awesomeness:
( Awesomeness Inside! )

And now, the Suckage:
( Suckage Inside! )

Really, though, I should be in bed. I have a long day tomorrow and the next day. Some kind of ham radio field day thing with RS/AI4UC and prettypammie and happypete and possibly their little boy Quinn, who I'm pretty sure doesn't have an LJ because he's about 8 years old. So hopefully I'll finally find people on the airwaves, because I haven't been able to yet. (And, honestly, I forget the basics. I'm going to have to have RS reteach me, but I know he'll chide me for forgetting. Ya don't use it, ya lose it.) And it would be nice to find Mark there too. I forget his call sign, though. Oh, wait, the call sign registry. KA8I. That's right.

Oh, yes, bed.

...I must admit, it will be lonely w/o winterroseasfr in bed next to me. I've grown rather accustomed to rolling over and seeing his lovely naked body next to mine. Who would have ever thunk I'd get used to sharing a bed with someone?

I'll be there... will you?

It started out with computers. No, no, that's not accurate at all. It started out with books.

Books.

All the books I could get my hands on. I'd pour through them, read them time and again, ask for more. Books on everything... fiction, non-fiction, it didn't matter. I'd read anything I could get my hands on, literally, and if that meant the VCR manual, that's what I'd read. (Which I did. Numerous times.)

I was a bookworm and a facts sponge, absorbing knowledge, all my life.

And then I got a computer.

I dove into that obsessively as well. Spent many many an hour messing around with, tricking out, and otherwise breaking and fixing and maintaining my old old computer that was all my family could afford.

I graduated high school. I built a nice, modern box for my graduation. I went into computers as a career. I got involved in my local hacker scene.

But at some point, I had burnout. I overloaded myself. Not to mention the level I got to, the books were as dry as the Sahara desert. A geek I may be, but pouring over overly-boring and technical manuals is like pulling teeth for me. Just because you're writing advanced information doesn't mean that you can't present it in an easy-and-enjoyable-to-read format. Not only that, my interests can not and have not ever been able to be held down by one field. I'm just too CURIOUS for that.

So my interests wandered, as they always have. A minor interest of mine became major, and I became a human sexuality geek.

But the hacker spirit remains. I am terribly curious how the body works and how the mind works and how it all gets put together in the facinating subject of sexuality. What are fetishes but unique open ports to the libido? How can I use my body, my mind, and other toys to bring about a certain result... arousal? How can we hack ourselves to bring greater pleasure?

My mind is too curious to stay in just computing. Just because technology is no longer my main focus does not mean I'm no longer a hacker, or that I'm a scene whore. Hacking is a state of mind, a way of life, and is not tied down to just one field. Once a hacker, always a hacker, and changing fields can not take away the spirit of exploration and creative problem-solving within. Respect the hackers among you that hack other interests than technology. Give credit to the kitchen hackers, the sex hackers, the science hackers, the psychology hackers. The math hackers and the body hackers. The policy hackers and the religion hackers. We too are the dreamers of dreams, we too have the insatiable curiosity and burning desire to find out how things work, and we too come up with creative and elegant and interesting solutions to the problems in our field.

I am a non-tech hacker, a sex hacker, and this is my manifesto.


The Non-Tech Hacker's Manifesto is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Oh my god.

I just realized I'm going to be missing the NYC2600 meeting by a DAY.

And I've always wanted to go.

Ok, that's it, I'm leaving NYC on the 6th or 7th. Change in plans.

/me goes to rebook the tickets.

When it rains it pours indeed.

And NOW the main screen on my phone is screwed up and I can't see anything. So please, for the love of Rassilon, do NOT TXT me. If you want to call me, go ahead.

This also means I've lost everyone's phone number, because I can't see the screen. So, yes, please send me an email with your phone number, kthxbai.

***

In other news, I'm going to my parents' house for a few days. Most likely Sunday afternoon/evening-Thursday. If you know their home phone number, that would be the easiest way to reach me, as they're on dialup.

I've named the gaming computer "Olympia".

I seem to have accidentally gotten myself into a polyamorous relationship with a wonderful fantastic sweet smart geeky hawt BHM of a kinda bi-ish code monkey guy named markwhi who's married to a really fantastic geeky smart nice sexy BBW bi Hawaiian gal. This is their first shot at being poly. This is my first time being in a poly relationship (as opposed to just having my relationships be sexually open). It's new territory for all of us, scary and challenging in different ways.

But when that's put aside, all I know is how much I lust for Mark and crave his embrace. Dear fucking CHRIST I want to do that boy 6 ways from Sunday. He's a switch with a serious submissive side, and somehow he's managed to have me desire topping him. Which is weird, because I don't get dominant with men. But with him, I have. Hell, one night, I even topped him from an energy place of me, and it was even me feeling slightly feminine. Which is like OMGWTFBBQ, because people who know me know that I get my dominance from a masculine place, and that I'm kinda afraid of femdoms. And yet he's quite good at being dominant, at being strong and forceful with me, at whispering in my ear in just the right way and shoving me down on the bed and putting a leash around me. *shudder* *shiver* YEAH. :-D

He's got some interesting and fantastic kinks, some of which are directly compatible with mine and others which are new territory for me (and you know how I love to learn about new kinks). He wants me to try piercing him. I'm going to see about asking him if piercing is a behavior that we can keep something that he won't do with his wife. I want SOMETHING that he doesn't share with her.

And it also seems that somehow he's able to genuinely enjoy doing erotic weight gain fantasy with me. Which is fantastic, because knowing he's getting into it makes me more comfortable doing it with him.

And the most fantastic of all... he won't run. I know he won't run and I genuinely believe it this time and I have only about 1% doubt that he might. And I know he can handle me and he won't run because he's had mentally ill family members in the past and knows how to deal with them.

I CAN'T SCARE HIM AWAY. THIS IS A FUCKING BIG DEAL. YAY.

So... yeah. Mark. Hee! :-D

So I'm reading this interview of a woman video game designer from Cerise, the online magazine for women and gaming, and I get to this Q & A:



AW: How do you feel about “casual” games being sometimes used as a codeword for “women’s” games? How legitimate do you consider casual games in the game industry at large?
HMR: I think that the term “casual” is a word that most women feel comfortable with. If you ask a room full of 100 women if they are gamers or not, most of them won’t raise their hand. However, most of these women have at some point played a casual game, whether it be solitaire or Bejeweled. It is true that most casual games are played by women, but I am hoping to see this as a starting point for women getting into other games as well.

As I'm reading, the term "casual games" isn't ringing a bell, but once they say "solitaire or Bejeweled", it did. And neurons start firing faster than I can keep track of them. And I thought how those games are considered "games lite" or "not real games" or somehow lesser than the more involved and detailed games like WoW or the GTAs or something. And then a quote from Yentl popped up in my head. It's the beginning of the movie and the bookseller is hauling his cart through the schtetle. He's advertising his wares, barking "Picture books for women! Holy books for men!" (Women at the time were forbidden from reading.) And the 2 collided, making me angry and upset. Feeling like they're "keeping" us women back by only "letting" us play "casual" games while the men play the "real" games.

Solitaire for women, Guitar Hero for men! Bejeweled for women, World of Warcraft for men! Card games for women, fighting games for men!

...fuck that shit.

I think I'm going to go play some GTA3. I'm gonna steal some cars, blow up some shit, and fuck some hos. Maybe I'll even put in one of the cheats so I can get the tank and see how long I can hold The Man off while going on a rampage of destruction.

I am woman. Watch me kill shit.

This has been a wonderful week.

I have new romantic/sexual interest. One that's currently forbidden (we're waiting on the confirmation of the ok from his wife), but I'm willing to bide my time. Until then, *sigh* and *swoon*!

I got a new computer from said interest (as we're friends too, of course). Well, it's new to me, old to him, but it's a 2gHz processor and it has a gig of RAM. It's Winblows, but that's good, because I can play all the games on it I couldn't play on the Mac. So I've been playing Team Fortress and Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force and I started playing the trial version of HalfLife 2 and Second Life plays SO much better on it, it's not even funny. WoW... well, it's kinda weird w/o the wide screen. I have problems at the AH working with my bags and the AH interface. However, I can play the game with all of the graphics cranked up. When you get drunk, your view gets fuzzy. It keeps getting fuzzier the more you drink until you're "completely smashed" (which is the highest level of drunkenness available) and you can barely see. So, yes, new gaming computer. (Suggestions for naming it are welcome. Let's keep with the religious/mythological/ancient history theme I have going for naming computers. I'd like the name to reflect that it is a gaming computer.)

I got a new fishie. He's tiny and so pink that he's translucent and you can see his organs. I think he's getting named Pinky. I didn't want to add any more fish to the tank, but with a name like Pinky I almost have to get another gray fish and name it "The Brain", ya know?

I got a filter for the water on my tank. It's making a WORLD of difference.

I got my call sign, as you know.

I'm hanging out with xnecrontyrx tomorrow. Haven't hung out with him in ages. (Remind me to bring DVD-Rs with me to get my shots off his comp.)

miscreeds sent me an email today, saying he got hired by Google! Mazel tov, babe! (OTOH, I'll miss visiting Seattle. Maybe I can convince him into flying me out there one last time.)

I'm going to Shabbat services with my congregation at my synagogue tonight. (If that confused you, know that the building my congregation uses is one that's shared with many different Jewish congregations.) I'm excited about going (I didn't have anything else to do tonight and didn't want to spend another night home alone, so this is perfect), and it seems kinda fitting to end my week like this, as it's been such a wonderful week.

I just thought I should let you all know.

So there's this guy...

Well, his name's xnecrontyrx/Justin. He's a coder and a professional photographer. Oh, and he used to be a prep chef, so he can cook like noone's business. (Gotta love a man who can cook and loves to do it!) He's smart and funny and doesn't mind my foibles neurosis foibles. And so far, we're pretty compatible in bed. Oh, and he looks like a chubby Gendo Ikari, which is tres sexy. And he plays tabletop RPGs. (He's going to let me into his new campaign starting in May.)

And I smile and my heart does that woosh of glee thing whenever I think about him. I've seen him, what, 6 times in the last 8 days? Yeah. I know it's probably not healthy, but... but when I'm in his arms, it just feels RIGHT. And the dynamic feels right when I'm in his arms. It feels protecting but I don't feel any of that lesser than you/better than me dynamic that has plagued me in the past with other people that I've gotten that protecting vibe from when they hold me. (It's a great vibe for the bedroom to be able to bring about, but it's not so good [at least for me] when it enters your actual relationship.)

So... yeah. I'm trying not to fall too hard too fast and I'm succeeding to an extent... but only to an extent. And that's ok by me.

If I get his permission, I'll link to his photo website and/or his LJ.

(Oh! I forgot to tell you where I met him! http://www.gk2gk.com/ = Geek2Geek, a geek dating website that has TONS of members from the DC area.)

So if you see me inordinately happy and singing Happiness Writes White by Harvey Danger or Daughters by John Mayer, you'll know why.

...also in the update field, the old goldfish died and I got a new one, named Moby (the singer or the whale, you decide). Bigger bowl + aerator + thingie to hide in/behind = happier goldfish. I still think this one has a case of fin rot, but the store said they were having a fin rot problem, so yeah.

Eden, the new computer, has been serving me well. It definitely needs more RAM, but I already knew that. It's having some wonky problems with the sound that I think is related to the connections on the mobo (I've already determined it's not the speakers) but whatever... I can play WoW and I can almost play Second Life.

And now I must run. I'm going up to VT and MIT with RS this weekend. Hooray for roadtrips! (And hooray for MIT!)

I would have to choose between a nice new Palm to organize my life with or the HPV vaccine.

Fuck them. Fuck them right in the ass.

(Actually, the vaccine is a lot more expensive. The price of Palms have gone down a lot. And look at this beaut of a model for only $99! The Z22. It's got enough memory for my needs. Hell, I used to deal with having a 8 meg one! The only drawbacks are: no memory card slot for greater storage capacity and no scroll wheel (which I'm not sure the other models have either. But, man, I loved that thing for reading fanfic on my Sony Clié).

You know, I might actually go out and buy that one. It's certainly affordable enough.

However, looking through the other options, I should probably get the Tungsten E2. It's got the 4 buttons instead of the 2 and it's got the expansion slot. Added bonuses is a headphone jack and Bluetooth.

Does anyone want to support my "Buy c4bl3fl4m3 a new Palm or the HPV vaccine" account? Please?

So I think I figured out what I'm calling my new Mac when I (finally) get it.

Eden.

As in, "The Garden of...". As in Paradise.

Eden. A sanctuary from the outside world. Paradise. The place I can go to that's perfect, the world inside of it is perfect. The perfect little world of The Internets inside of my Eden, my very own Paradise.

...Eden. Yeah.

Eden.

(I actually got the name from watching this week's episode of Heroes. When Mohinder Suresh, the son of the scientist that's dead, leaves the apartment and takes his ashes back home, he says thanks to the girl who lives down the hall for all her help. I watched it 2x, and both times I thought he said "Thank you, Eden, for everything you've done." or something like that. So I'm pretty sure her name is Eden. Which is an awesome name. It sounds and is spelled like a boy's name [I think I'm thinking of Aiden], but I suppose it's a unisex name. So yeah. Eden.)

Perhaps I could go and buy my new Mac on credit? Pay it back over the months?

So I DLed Firefox 2.0 today. The press release just went out for it yesterday, so it couldn't have been out that long.

Here's a bit of a review of it, my thoughts on using it now for, oh, 15 minutes, and checking out all the preferences and features (and reading the release notes).
( Decent Length Review Inside )
In short, I'm happy with it. However, it has only been 1 hour now. Ask me in a few days, ok?

I'm putting this here because in my searches for how to do this, I couldn't find anyone who told you how to do it specifically when running OS X. Hopefully this will now come up in Google searches.

The way you do it in OS X is the same way you do it if you're running *nix (Unix/Linux). The trickier thing is doing it via the GUI because there's no setting that says "Show hidden folders". (If anyone knows how to hack it to do that, PLEASE let me know.)

I made sure that Gimpshop & X11 were both closed when I did this. I don't know if you need to, but, you know, it can't hurt.

Basically, you get your GIMP brush files (no, you can't use Photoshop brush files, at least not w/o converting them). You put them in /{user}/.gimp-2.2/brushes (that is, if you're using 2.2 or the most recent version of GimpShop), just like you would if you were using *nix (which makes sense, because OS X is built upon one of the BSDs, and just uses Cocoa for graphics instead of X11 [which is why you have to install X11 separately to run GIMP or Gimpshop])

Ok, let's say you don't want to have to do this by the command line. So open up Finder, get into your user folder, whatever it may be. In the bar, click Go, Go to Folder..., and then type in .gimp-2.2

It'll then open up .gimp-2.2 in that window. Double click on brushes, drag and drop the files in, and you're good to go. The brushes should be available under the menu when you go back into The GIMP/Gimpshop.

I put away $100 towards my new computer yesterday. I was so excited.

And then I woke up this morning and was having serious router problems while using Ethernet. (My router problems are usually only when I'm using WiFi.) I've been having router issues for years, but this may be the end of the line for my current router.

It's not fair. I *finally* put aside money for something I want... the first time in my LIFE I've ever done that, I've ever thought about it and then followed through on it... and I'm probably going to have to spend it on a new WiFi router.

It's so not fucking fair.

That being said, I haven't kept up with WiFi router technology over the past couple of years. What are the good brands? What should I get? I want it to be 11b compatible, but the main computer we use on the WiFi is a G4 Mac laptop. Do they have 11g? Should I get an 11g compatible router too? Can you even buy routers that *aren't* 11g compatible? And what about 11a? How does that fit in?

And I need it to have port forwarding built into it, and the ability to use DHCP but also always assign certain MAC addresses the same address. (Yes, I could fuck around with static IPs, but I don't feel like it.) How hard will it be to find those features? Or are those standard now-a-days? (You can tell how long it's been since I've gone out and bought a router for my own usage.)

What would be really great is to have it be able to serve up a small webpage that people connect to the first time they connect to the WiFi (like happens to you when you use a pay wireless service somewhere). Except I'm not going to charge... I just want to put a little welcome page on it.

Something like: "Hi! Welcome to The-Network-Currently-Known-As-Penguin! This WiFi is left open INTENTIONALLY because I believe in sharing with my neighbors, not because I'm an idiot. I'd appreciate it if you didn't take advantage of that and hack me or DL kiddy porn or something stupid like that... I already had someone hack my main account on my Mac by using a password cracker and it made me sad and upset that someone would take advantage of my generosity. (BTW, if that person wants to come forward and fix my computer, I'd very much appreciate it. I won't turn you in... but I'd love to find out who else in my building is a hacker. We should hang out sometime.) If people continue to do such activities, I'll have to lock it down with an access key, but I really don't want to do that. As I already said, I believe information should be free, and Internet access should be free... and that especially WiFi should be free. So use feel free to use my WiFi 'till your heart's content, but don't do anything that'll have the cops knocking on my doorstep (I'll just send them to yours), and don't hack me or my network. I'm a techie geek, a technician by trade, and a hacker, and it's not cool to hack your own brothers and sisters. Don't crap where you sleep, you know. Oh, and if you use my WiFi and you'd like to get to know the person who shares it, go to building XXXX, and knock on door number XX. I'd love to meet you. Love, -C4bl3Fl4m3."

So... does anyone have recommendations for me on routers? Obviously, I'd like to spend as little as possible. (I wonder what Best Buy has on sale?) Also, my last router was a Netgear, and there's been numerous issues with the WiFi, so I'm thinking I don't want another Netgear.

So even though I'm quite a few hundred dollars away (read: all the money away) from the new Mac (probably a Mac Mini) I want that I'm saving for, I've already found myself trying to find names for it.

Here's some of the one's I've thought of so far.

1.) Geranium (don't ask me what I was on when I thought that it would be such a pretty name)
2.) Eidolon (sounds enigmatic and cool. If we have to work some appropriateness into it, then we could say that my comp is a representation of an ideal form for a computer, but, honestly? I just love the word. Eidolon.)

Also, does it make more sense to go for the HD upgrade, or does it make more sense to just by a buncha gigs external drive (like 200 gig)? It seems like they make you pay a buttload more for not much more HD space (I mean, if I want to upgrade from 60 GB to 160 GB, I have to pay $250 more. WTF? That sounds like they're ripping you off. I'm pretty sure that HD space is well under $2.50 a Gig.) And does adding $75 for upgrading from 512 MB of RAM to 1 GB of RAM sound right to you? If I don't get the upgrade, could I buy RAM on my own and put it in myself? Are there extra slots for it?

So, yeah, I'd like to get the lower end Mac mini, add RAM up to 1 Gig and get the biggest honkin' HD I can for it. HOW that will be accomplished (whether I'll get it to come with it, or I'll add the RAM myself and a bigger HD or an external HD), that's up in the air.

But I *WILL* get a computer I can play WoW on. I swear it.

So who wants to give me money to go towards said computer?

OMG, OMG, OMG. Now I DEFINATELY have to save the money to go. Apparently they raised the price of admission and it's now $60.

(orcinus_dorka [Everyone else? These aren't the droids you're looking for. Move along.], you need to decide if you're coming or not very soon so you can preregister. If you can't preregister because you're international, we'll see what we can do about me preregistering for you (but you'll pay me back). )

I'm thinking of putting together a GLBT/Queer BoF for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans hackers/phreakers/geeks to get together and socialize and make new friends. Should I submit it on the Wiki?

Also, is there a ride board up on the Wiki or a forum somewhere? I looked briefly on the Wiki and didn't see one. If not, I guess I should start one.

I'm looking for a ride up to HOPE on Thursday night or early Friday morning for 1 or 2 (not sure on the number yet) people from Washington DC or immediate vicinity to NYC and then back again on Sunday. If you can't provide a ride one way or the other, that's ok. We can take the bus 1 way if we have to. We can help with the gas money and I can drive part of the way (I have my driver's license. The other passenger is from Europe and can't legally drive here w/o special tests, etc). If this sounds good, contact me via my info page here on LJ.

So... yeah...

(parts of this X-posted on various hacker communities)

This is the coolest thing evar: http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/8193/?cpg=29T
(yes, I can see the problems with this. Namely, most of the places you want a smaller keyboard (planes, on the go, etc), you wouldn't have enough flat space to project this keyboard. But STILL!!!!!)

Oh, and remind me to sign up for this, ok? (Remind me to ask about the reduced rate.)

Thursday, May 25
Burlesque Workshop with Kitty Victorian
6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
$25, sliding scale available
Spend two tantalizing hours with local burlesque performer Kitty Victorian,
Purrfect Ecdysiast. This workshop reviews the history of burlesque, and
teaches you some tricks of the trade. Included with your fee is your own
pair of tassels and a notebook with history and tips. Bodies of all shapes
and sizes are encouraged to participate! Dress for comfort and movement.

Click here for LSP's spring workshop schedule:
http://www.wwc.org/PDF/LSP_events_MW_web.pdf

Jump-start your spring with LSP
Our workshops will put you on track for the year.

All events are held at LSP: 1810 14th St., NW. Registration required. Space
is limited so register today.
Call 202.797.3580 or e-mail lsp@wwc.org to register and to find out more
information.

You know what pisses me off? When I ask a tech question and I get told to RTFM.

It seems in the hacker world people value self-learning the best, probably because so many hackers spents so many lonely nights doing this stuff that it's now held up as a value.

Here's my rantage. When I ask a question, I want an answer. Yes, I could RTFM, but 1.) many manuals are convoluted and would take 2 hours to get an answer that would take 5 minutes to tell me and 2.) I learn the best (and it's most rewarding for me) when other people teach me.

SO STOP PUTTING ME FUCKING DOWN BECAUSE I LEARN BEST FROM OTHERS! The next time I get an RTFM, I'm giving a GLFYFM (Go Learn From Your Fucking Mentor) in return!

...

You know what ELSE pisses me off? When I'm respected less because I find social sciences more interesting than hard sciences. (see some of the replies to my post about my panel in the lj2600 comm)

Why don't I just give an awesome tech panel? Maybe because I don't want to do another BORING tech panel? Maybe because that's not what floats my boat? Maybe because I don't think there's anything wrong with stepping back and analyzing us as a culture? Maybe because there's already a million and one other tech panels that talk about something so specialized that noone but someone who was REALLY REALLY REALLY specialized and into it would get into it?

God! Why is it that if you're not into something seriously hardcore techie you get no respect and are told to quit your psych whining and get back to coding brainfuck and the making of mobos?

asciilifeform, you know what I'm talking about... we were just talking about this tonight. And now it comes up again.

Perhaps I should just go ahead and do it again anyway and the people who aren't interested in social sciences and how they intersect with the tech community should just not come. You don't see me dissing their panels on "hyperproperties of 802.11g in a SQL environment"! (yes, I know, that's utter hogwash. I made it up. Buzzwords are fun.)

3 more things on that while I'm ranting: 1.) didn't PLA give a panel where they just BSed around? I didn't see anyone else dissing THEM! and 2.) for gods sake, I threw together that panel in 3 days! give me some credit! so it wasn't the most polished thing. I went crazy trying to make it all work. and somehow... IT DID. and 3.) Yeah, the "live hacker girls girls girls" thing? It was tongue in cheek. I didn't mean any disrespect by it. It was supposed to catch people's eye and get a chuckle out of people. Give me a break!

...

And now back to your regularly scheduled meme blog. (BTW, I'll probably put a less angry and ranty version of the above as a reply. I think I'm starting to realize that you can't please everyone, so ignore the naysayers and please yourself.)

So my new Apple is up and running, thanks to RS's bailing me out. I've named it Vetis, after the demon that specializes in tempting and corrupting the holy. I thought that a demon or Dark Angel's name would be fitting with my track record with Macs. I picked this particular name because I found it quite fitting. OS X has a way of making Born Again Apple Believers out of the staunchest proponents of Free/Open Source software.

I simply can not believe the elegance and ease of use of this operating system. It works easily, no hassles. The interface is standard throughout all programs... something that's actually foreign to Windows and Linux users. It's so amazing when you realize, after learning iTunes, that you can use a Mac, because everything else works the same way. Widgets are amazing (if not a bit slow). F9 - F12 showing all your windows, showing the ones on top, showing the desktop and bringing up the widgets (respectively) is incredible. It's all so FLUID and NATURAL and ORGANIC. It makes me think like a human when using it, not like a computer (which is a bit sad, actually. I like thinking like a computer).

I'm simply completely blown away by the interface. Its ease of use and simplicity make me feel like I know it inside and out already in the course of an evening. I know that I'm able to do stuff that it took me months to learn how to do in other OSen.

Ok, enough Apple ranting.

While looking for a name for Vetis, I stumbled upon a name that I'd like to name my PC. It's actually very similar to the name that I had given my old PC, the one that asciilifeform gave me. I had named it Persephone. Well, the new one is being named Proserpine. Why? I like it. :)

So I now own 3 computers. Proserpine (the GNU/Linux, hopefully soon to be dualbooted with the beta of Vista that I was lucky enough to get in on the "Friends and Family" plan via miscreeds @ Microsoft), Lattitude (my laptop, sans working HD, which I run a Live!Linux CD on), and Vetis (my G3 running OS X Tiger).

BTW, I'm currently inputting this via a Desktop Widget. Unfortunately, it doesn't let me pick the icon I want. I'm also trying a program called XJournal. We'll have to see which one wins.

Tomorrow I get to clean my room before my mom comes on Sat and brings my bed and we go and get the bed frame. I also have to make a few job calls and maybe I'll go to 2600 (I have to not spend money there if I do go).

Stayed over with RS last night.

I am now the owner of an Apple G3 with a 1 Gig upgrade chip and 512Mb of RAM. It would help if I remembered my password to log into it. Sadly, I can't figure it out. Which is very odd and rare for me. So now I have to figure out how to hack my Mac.

It's currently named Big Blue. With my current track record with Macs, I want to name it something like Devil's Advocate or perhaps the name of one of Satan's angels. Does anyone know any of the names of the Angels of Hell?

I also have to wait until the roomie wakes up for me to get it online. The router is in his bedroom.

I didn't get much sleep last night so I'm going to take a nap now.

Oh, and T-17 days until orcinus_dorka comes over here.

Oh, and 2600 is tomorrow. (Which just made me realize that to take Groupie to The Crucible on the night before she leaves, we're probably going to have to miss the 2600 meet. Or perhaps we'll just catch some of it. That would be fun. I think she'd enjoy it. She likes the magazine.) So be there or... well... be unsquare!

So I'm off to Shmoocon today. From there I'm going to be heading straight to the Women's Play Party at The Crucible tonight, then home (need to remember to find a ride home from there).

Tomorrow and Sunday are both Shmoocon as well. I'm expecting a call sometime this weekend from a friend to go and check out the Dealer's Room at Mid Atlantic Leather (which is also this weekend). I hope I get that call. I have no idea where MAL is (especially because their ENTIRE FRIKIN WEBSITE is in FLASH! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRARWWWW! There's NO REASON for that!) or what the hours are.

Gotta remember to not eat dinner (there's gonna be food at the play party, and I need to save money). Gotta remember to pick something yummy up for the play party.

Lots of stuff to do and remember. Only now i need to take a shower and figure out what the fuck I'm wearing and put clothes to change into in my play bag.

Oh, and boil my dildos. (this requires FINDING Buzz, my peacock blue one that sparkles)

(BTW, just made the icon the other day. Feel free to steal it... no credit needed. I'm using it because it's accurate for all of what I'm talking about in my post. :D)

So tired. No, actually. Rather, so exhausted.

Stayed up till 5:15 RPing. Again. For the 2nd night in a row. Damn my RP partner who intentionally manipulates people into staying up later to keep RPing with her. Honestly? I think it's karma biting me in the ass. Seriously. I used to do that exact same shit to others. And I did it well. Well, it seems I've met my match.

The thing is, I know she's doing it, but I still give into it. Gah. Willpower, c4bl3fl4m3, willpower!

(/me tries to stop herself from singing "Lady Willpower" in her head
/me fails)

Oh, and when iTunes bombs (in Windows), you can't kill it. Seriously. It just won't die. You have to reboot.

Well... at least that's how it works on *my* system.


Oh, and does anyone out there have the original software CD (or a copy of it) for the Sony Clié PEG-S300? It has to be the Palm for Sony CD... it can't just be any Palm CD. And I can't just DL it from the internet. I can DL updates, but not the base software. Trust me... I looked all over for it, and I ran into the same thing for my old Palm Vx.

Oh, and is it just me or does it happen to anyone else that when you're running on lack of sleep, you eat more (esp. more often)/you require more food?

This dude asked this question in washingtondc and I KNEW you peeps would be able to help him out. So, yeah, go tell him where to get hardcore computer stuff.

http://www.livejournal.com/community/washingtondc/766787.html

How do you make animated GIFs in The GIMP 2.0? How do you make them in Photoshop 6 in Windows?

Anyone know?

(x-posted to a bunch of tech communities)

Well, I turned off XMMS before I went to work.

I came home over lunch, and the computer's working just fine.

Coincidence? Perhaps not...

miscreeds?

Hey geeks (and chix0rz!)

My coworker Matt posed this question at me, and I didn't know what to say, but I told him I'd post it on my LJ to see if anyone can help. What's behind the LJ-cut is copied directly from an email I told him to send to me. If you wish to cross-post it or put it in communities, feel free to, as long as the answers get back to me so I can get them to him.

Thanks!

( Herein lies the problem... )

Saw this on lj2600, found it to be interesting. Boycotts usually don't work unless they can be done seriously en masse (think MLK,J and the bus strike), but I thought I'd at least post it.

http://www.p2punite.net/

I forgot to turn XMMS off again last night.

It locked up again.

I spent 15 minutes fsck-ing, telling it "yes, fix it" to errors I could only dream of what it meant, until I could actually get it to boot all the way successfully.

Now my theme and extensions don't work in Firefox.

Now I'm sure there's multiple other problems with my system that I'll only figure out through use.

I feel... betrayed. Betrayed by my computer. The one environment *I* could control. And it betrayed me.


Why is it everything I love is broken? Why is it everything that means so much to me is falling down around my ankles in shambles? First the Greer thing, now my computer? (or, rather, it's vice versa, but still.)

Will my music up and leave my harddrive? Will my music run away?

Will Dan/Daddy never speak to me again? Will something happen to Matt, my mentor?


Please, Source, Energy, That which people refer to by many Names, that which may or may not Exist, if You do Exist, grant me Strength.

I really like Drivel's picture interface, and the music interface.

I *DON'T* like how there's only 3 levels of security for posts... custom groups (with a separate box that allows you to choose which groups) isn't one of them.

This pisses me off. LogJam had it.

Drivel? When will you get custom friends group support?

My hard drive is clicking AGAIN. So I'm up in Knoppix AGAIN.

My HD doesn't work again and I'm sick. Gah. This == not so much fun.

However, it was worth getting sick to kiss her. Seriously. :-D

mmm... she's got such soft, soft lips... and the smoothest skin of anyone I know.

And I love making her laugh and smile... /me blushes and grins that "I'm so in LOOOOVE" grin.

BTW, since I took off work because I was sick, I'll type up that LJ entry I did last night on the plane later.

But now it's back to bed for me.

So my brand new hard drive is making clicking noises. Bad clicking noises. And I don't think I can boot from it.

You have NO IDEA how upset and pissed off this makes me.

This has been the worst data month EVAR.

I should just get a new PC. But I spent my money on the trip to see overlord_mordax (who is working an 8 hour shift today and I won't be able to talk to until late tonight. Coordination on our chatting has been lacking lately, as I've spent more time out and about living my life.) I don't have the cash (and I don't want to put it on my card) to buy a new PC right now. Nor would I have a name for it.

So I'm up on a Knoppix CD (that apparently hasn't been burned quite right, because I'm having to use Konqueror as my browser... I can't get Mozilla to load).

And I have to wash clothes. And I have to head downtown to pick up my Palm from herodotusjr. And I should clean up my room some.

At least tonight is Sunday School. At least tonight I'll get to see grlsctgnbad.


...

I am one pissed off person right now. And I'm talking fucking PISSED OFF.

So God damned tired. God, I feel so old.

I just want to watch an AVI file. I don't want to have to go out and DL the player and then chase down the dependencies (isn't that the whole point of package management? so that YOU won't have to chase down dependencies) and then have to compile them from source.

Gah.

Fedora really DIDN'T do a good job at including things that you might want to run. There's more than one thing missing on here that is obvious to me. Like a graphical FTP client (that's right, I can't find gFTP) or XINE/mplayer.

The_One?
"Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it alright but not right now
I know you're wondering when.
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it alright but not right now
I know you wondering when."

I guess that applies to overlord_mordax as well. Heh... the same message for both my computer and my Love.

BTW, can anyone tell me the EASY way to get TTF files working in Linux? I just want more fonts than the defaults. I feel an icon making spree coming on and I'll need some REALLY good fonts.

I'm looking for a good, easy to use and install, with lots of hits, P2P file sharing client for GNU/Linux. Something that could reliably hit the OpenNap servers would rock my world. However, I'll settle for something that hits up the DirectConnect networks (reliably). I tried installing DC++, and when I install the RPM, it says it's installed, but I can't figure out where it's put the program for me to run it. RPMs have been doing this the last 2 days...

Great, I just installed the damn computer, and I already have RPM management problems.

No, this is NOT an invitation to do distro prosletizing. If you do, I will KILL YOU! (as herodotusjr says)

***

Oh, I remember what #2 was in the last post. I miss my files. Esp. my music. I want them back. :-(

This has NOT been a good week for me and my data. Not. At. All.

So last night my Palm wouldn't sync. And then it got stuck in that endless soft reset boot that I can only fix w/ a hard reset. So byebye data. Luckily ALL of it was backed up on the HD.

Here's where the "fun" comes in. I can NOT get it to sync. I have literally done EVERYTHING I can. It will NOT sync. I've tried completely removing (and I mean, completely, complete with deleting directories, and running a registry cleaner) and reinstalling the software in a variety of different ways. I've replaced the cradle. I've replaced the Palm itself. I've replaced the Palm AND the cradle. I've completely removed the software, put the new Palm and the new cradle in, and it STILL won't work. That's the same as making it think it's installing one from scratch for the first time. Which I've done... numerous times... successfully.

I'm at the point where the only logical thing that I could say is wrong is the serial port. And for a serial port to up and go bad (especially w/o warning, especially on a new computer, and especially w/o looking like it's bad in the Device Manager)... well, I just don't think that's it.

So I am COMPLETELY PISSED OFF here. I've gone through Palm's website and tried everything I could on there. Nothing.

ANY advice? /me looks slog403's way.

So this means no data for me this weekend... at my PARENTS house. Gah. No phone numbers, no Adobe Acrobat w/ fan fics, no tip calculator. Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada.

Gah.

At least I'll get to talk to Her tomorrow. That is, if I remember to write down her number. You see, it was in my Palm...

Party was good. miscreeds spent the night (he needed hugs and physical affection), and hung out all day and into the night today. We decided to install Fedora Core 2 on my comp. Copied over data, went to install... it crapped out 2x. Put the new HD in, partitioned it, installed Fedora Core 2 on it. So I'm up in GNU/Linux (and only GNU/Linux) right now. The old HD is acting up more, but it will come around and I'll get my data off of it.

So, as per my lazyness of not wanting to get dependencies right now, I installed Drivel instead of LogJam. So far, I like it. The abilities of the icon selector to actually SHOW the picture makes me freaking drool. I love it.

Let's see, what else. So I don't have my MP3s right now. This does not exactly make me happy. I also don't have any of my sorting categories or groups for my e-mail. This will be a bitch to put back together, but that's ok. I guess, that is... I don't think I have much choice.

I'm still thinking of her. I wish she'd freaking sign on AIM, because GAIM on GNU/Linux STILL doesn't like Yahoo! (it says the password is incorrect even when I know it's correct.

Also, it's having problems updating the packages. It keeps freaking locking up. This does NOT make me feel ok about the system. This happened last time. G-fucking-rrr.

I'm going to try to run this tonight and just let it go...

Ok... beddybyes for the C4bl3Fl4m3.

Come on, Linux Geeks, stop coding/gaming/FREEing for a minute, and come out and meet your fellow Geeks and Chix0rs!


Linux Geek Meetup

Slashdotters, come out!


Slashdotter Meetup

31337 H4X0Rs... come on out to the 2600 Meetup!

2600 (Hackers/Phreakers/others) Meetup!

I'll cya there!