Back Up! I Need Back Up!

(C-Day minus 1 edits, revisions, defence) An open letter to computer virus designers:

Dear a-holes,

You make me sad.

Unkind regards,
Guy Drinking Milk

So my computer is in the shop because it was shut down by a particularly nasty virus. Don't ask me how I am writing this...it's maa-a-gic. This virus will cost me at least 100$ which I would gladly collect in teeth from these hackers...any hackers really. It is a job and industry of zero moral value. Virus software and other programming companies' hiring of "successful" virus programmers make some feel warm and fuzzy because obviously the "best" are off the "streets" and working for the "good guys" now, but really, what is it other than perpetuating the idea that the most prolific virus = fattest paycheque, ad nauseum. Those fat paycheques should go entirely into dentistry bills while allowing anyone impacted by their virus to knock a few teeth in.

One thing that has come out of getting this virus has been the emphatic reminder to back up anything I wish not to lose (my thesis, my music, my pictures...probably in that order). While I have everything that I have created or added to my computer backed up on an external harddrive (as well as a few friends' music libraries too. Genius move!), I also have a lot stored online. While some may hark at the fact that I ranked my documents and my tunes ahead of pictures of my family, friends, etc, most of those pictures are happily stored either on Facebook or with the emails in which they were sent to me.

Which brings me to my 2nd PSA (the first one was for the mothers of hackers - keep them in the basement if you want to continue to see them smile), which is to keep your email account organized! Folders! Folders! Folders! I would hazard a guess at the number of emails in my account being in the many thousands, but I keep them all neatly filed away in folders. One for emails with pictures, one for anytime I email myself something, one for articles, and a few for individuals who email me frequently. It is through these folders (and my constant emailing to myself copies of minutely altered copies of the thesis) that I am able to safely back up, as well as track the progress of my thesis. Wonderful, aside from clearly seeing how slow this process has been. Ugh. I could write a paper on the trends of my writing, were I not so engrossed in my writing. Interestingly enough, highly productive weeks and highly unproductive weeks look exactly the same - long time between emails.

'Song virus' (ear worm/tune stuck in your head) of the day (for the hackers): It's a Small World After all - the Disney Childrens Chorus
The 'this is what you are, hacker' song of the day: A-Punk - Vampire Weekend

all this virus talk, I may have to get a Mac...

A Mo'vember to Remember

(C-Day minus ch.1 edits, revisions and defence) Today is the day that I feel ready to announce the arrival and residence of my mo'. In honour of the month of Movember, I, along with several thousand other men around the globe, will become a Mo'Bro and grow a moustache in order to raise awareness for men's health, specifically prostate cancer. This is one of the few awareness campaigns I have ever supported and I am happy to see fairly widespread recognition from both men and women who know why half the city population suddenly (-ish) got a little bit (very much) uglier...if not manlier. It is a month of pride and the gentlemanly pursuit of reaching out (from the upper lip) to our brethren struck (and not yet struck) by cancer. Grow on!

The moustache culture is a funny one, in that there is (in the "literature") some animosity towards the beard growers, and definite differentiation from the goatee sporters. I suppose that is fair though, given the vast number of moustache jokes (and seemingly few beard jokes). Though it cannot be denied that it truly is a community, with undoubted claim to a culture. There are the hardships of growing our first, the resilience of the first week past the "studly shadow" through the "teenage lookalike" into the majesty of the "Tom Selleck" or the "King of Diamonds", the "Freddy Mercury" or "Hulk Hogan" and all the unnamed hair-bars in between. These hardships bring these men together in a ridiculous looking yet studly bond. We are, you could say, waxed together into a community of the upper (lip) crust. My advice to people new to or looking to join this illustrious club has always been 'commitment'. If you commit to the 'stache, the 'stache will commit to you.

There are most certainly communities of men that are closely tied with the sporting of the lip warmer (policemen, firemen, lounge singers, upper lip wax 'before' models), and I would say I fall on the fringe of one of these: the academics/jobless. I say fringe because these are traditionally (for the men) bearded populations, and there is that gentle animosity/healthy competition between them. Nonetheless it does put me in a solid position to take part in Movember without being told that I am being disrespectful (to aesthetics), am too unkempt (to work) or merely gross (from the hairless perspective), but rather that I am in a community that supports me in my (upper lip's) endeavour (to shame the rest of my face). So too, I will say to my other Mo'Bros: Grow on!

'An awesomely hirsute singer, singing about handlebars' song of the day: Bicycle - Queen

Me, MySpace and i(Tunes), Web 2.0 and You(Tube)

(C-Day minus 1, 4 edits, revisions and defence) Given that my thesis is on matters technological it requires that I keep up to date on the comings and goings of the web. As I say in my thesis though, the web now moves more and more quickly. Remember back in the (virtual) day when an internet meme (a unit of cultural information) would be funny and prominent for months? Star Wars Kid, Jackass antics, Chuck Norris. Now, a joke on the internet ceases to be funny 3 seconds after you read it. Lolcatz (?), dramatic chipmunk (?) and I am sure there are numerous other anthropomorphic animals with feelings/emotions/sitcoms and somebody to tape them. In fact, I think these memes passed through so quickly they ceased to be funny before they were even viewed. So what, the cats are English preteens? I don't get it.

In any event, I try to stay on top of the Social Web/social networking sites that crop up, as these at least last long enough to sign up (8 seconds). I blog (naturally. I MySpaced for a short time i.e. I listened to music on their site instead of my iTunes. Easy to see why that one didn't last. I Twittered for a short time. I'm followable, but I wouldn't recommend it (that was less than 140 characters). I even have a Del.icio.us account (to share bookmarks), but a) there was no one I knew to share with, and b) what bookmarks am I going to share? Del.icio.us? MySpace? I think people know about these sites, not exactly adding to the community there. Who bookmarks anymore anyways with predictive-text address bars? But I digress...

So my supervisor asked me to help him sketch out the options (and their respective benefits and detriments) for a Web 2.0 presence for his course program. Thankfully (because he is my supervisor and could crush me) I managed to provide a pretty solid answer to his query. While I am thrilled to be able to provide advice to my supervisor I think it was more satisfying to know that I had at last found an outlet for all of the knowledge I have accrued through this whole process that is not the thesis itself. Because, given the ego-fulfilling prophecy (see Glossary), it is unlikely that anyone will even read that. Hello practical application to GWW (see Glossary)! ...But what is 'practical' other than the antonym of 'useless', therefore...well you see where this is going. Told you I was good at rationalizing, though it is a bit of a stretch to claim usefulness for the thesis.

Re-reading this blog post, I think there will be 3 types of readers. 1. Tech savvy young people who think it is funny because they can relate. 2. Tech savvy people who don't think it is funny, because...well because they don't think it is funny. and 3. the non-tech savvy, who don't get it. "What's a Lolcat? Who's a Star Wars Kid? I remember when Chuck Norris was a movie star not an internet meme"

'Could be encouraging, could be prescriptive' song of the day: Use It - The New Pornographers