Archive for the ‘Everything Else’ Category
So many bloggers have talked about this, and now that I’ve researched it, so shall I!
Okay so run down just in case you’ve missed all this, which would be bloody amazing because the story is everywhere, but here it is anyway. In mid-December, Google noticed that someone was trying to attack it. No news there, that happens all the time, however this was a very skilled and very targeted attack on their corporate site, and email accounts of many humanitarian workers in China. Google traced the attacks and found that they also targeted companies in the media, finance, and defence areas.
Some news stories have even suggested that the attacks have hit companies that currently hold defence contracts within the US. Google hasn’t come out and said that the Chinese government is behind the attacks, but the the level of sophistication, and Google’s reaction, people have pretty much assumed that the attacks are backed by the government.
These attacks come on the back of Google deciding that they would no longer censor their search results as China demanded they would have to do to be able to operate within the country. This was a very controversial decision on Google’s part, and I think many people are very happy to see it overturned. However there are now fears that, with Google pulling out of the country, the censorship of information for the Chinese people will be even greater… and that’s pretty crap.
Google isn’t the only company to be trying China at the moment, and it’s interesting to see these pushes on China’s demands all occurring at the same time. Companies that sell raw iron ore – used to make steel – usually sell around half their yearly product to China, and last year China used this buying strength to set the iron ore price for the year at a less than great rate to iron ore sellers. This year, iron ore sellers – Vale of Brazil, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton – skipped China and went straight to Japan, completely leaving China out of price negotiations for the year. That’s massive considering the proportion of sales that go to China.
In another aggravating move to ol’ China, the US has just signed a deal to sell over 200 missiles to Taiwan, something China expressly ‘asked’ the US not to do, and now they are rather persnickety over it. I have to say, I really do enjoy seeing countries say no to China. I don’t approve of their censorship, and other practices going on throughout the government, so I like to see the playing field evened out a little.
Oh, by the way, China does have it’s own set of hackers, who are often very patriotic – which leads many to believe that they are in fact sanctioned by the government – and lately these patriotic hackers have set themselves the task of defacing Iranian websites because Iranian hackers attacked one of China’s biggest search engines. If you’ve found this whole thing interesting at all, then please read this news story, because it brings up so many breaches of security perpetrated by China that I can’t mention them all here!
Okay now for a knitting pattern. How about a blanket? This pretty Sutter’s Mill Throw Blanket, to be precise. It’s chilly in my part of the world, and I’d like to have this blanket on my lap right now!
Well, I was, then I got over it because I actually did something about it!
First off, let me just say, I’m back! Yep, I was all sick and stuffed up for the last two weeks, and couldn’t bring myself to do much of anything, but in the last few days I’ve started feeling great! I’m even doing some very belated Spring Cleaning! Well, I figure it’s spring on the other side of the world, so it’s all good. :D
Now, not this weekend just past but the one before that I noticed a rather alarming slow-down in my internet connection. I say alarming because my fiance and I have been playing a new MMORPG, Aion, and we’ve been freaking loving it! More on that story later – yes that was a Dead Ringers reference. It’s been slowing down to the point that we thought we had used up all our allotted downloads, and were in fact now on dial-up speed. We checked, and though we were close to our limit – from downloading Aion in the first week of the month – we weren’t over it, and after an hour or so our connection seemed okay again. During the week I called and upped our download limit so we won’t run out of MB before the end of the month, and I plan to just take it back down to normal the month after that.
The same thing happened this weekend, so I checked online thinking there was no way we would have reached our quota – now at 50 gig per month from 25 gig – and I found that we were dreadfully close to 25 gig, and that the service hadn’t been changed… even though I ordered it on Monday and here it was Saturday afternoon…
So I called the company again! Now, this is my phone, cable TV, and internet all rolled into one. So I was on hold for 20 minutes, and their hold music is incredibly loud and offensive rock type crap that was so loud, I had to turn my phone down to almost the lowest volume setting. When I finally got to talk to someone, they were so friendly and chipper that I felt rather bad for being as hostile as I had been on the phone. They checked our line and found some irregularities, so they were going to send someone out to fix it on the Tuesday, and they sorted out the downloads being upped. It’s enough to make me want a damn SDSL internet connection, but I’ll stick to what I’ve got, because I can’t afford anything else, and heck, cable broadband should be good enough!
I went with this company because they weren’t one of the mega telecoms companies, thinking I’d get better service, and it was that way for years, but since they were bought by a new company, they haven’t been as good. They’re probably a subsidiary of BT by now, and I really didn’t want any of the BT home phones packages. I’m not saying they’re bad just because they are a big company, just saying I thought the customer service on a smaller one would be better.
I’ve become so anti-social that I have having a telephone system at all, but I suppose it’s necessary so I’ll keep it, but goodness I just want a quiet weekend where everything continues to work!
Okay pattern for today has to be electrical inspired… Captain Capacitor is the right way to go, I reckon!
Tags: internet, knitting, phones
I hate them. I’ve tried fixing them. They still drip… So the question remains, how many times do I have to fix them for them to be properly fixed?
More than I have, that’s the answer. And that sucks, oh yes it does. You see, I went through four of those little tap valve thingies, before I finally went to a hardware store, rather than a supermarket, and they gave me some completely different looking copper ones which seemed much better than their plastic counterparts. So I installed the new copper ones, and guess what, the hot tap is still leaking!!!
So at this point I’m going to hand this crap off to the land lord and have him fix it. I’ve wasted so much of my time trying to fix all this and to be back pretty much to where I started leaves me feeling very frustrated and upset. Everything in my bathroom is so old I’d love to just rip it out and having one of those bathroom suites installed. All new bathroom furniture would be nice, as the huge ugly basin and cabinet in the room take up way too much space!
I’m an eco-concious sort of person, and like to think I have an ethical home, but the downside to that is that when you are looking into new furniture or household electrical equipment or anything like that, you have to put a lot more research into things. All this is really moot, though, as I don’t own my own home, and wouldn’t buy one just to do one of those cash for home mortgage plans where you end up renting your own home, which is about the only way my fiancé and I could afford a home right now.
Today’s pattern has to show that I am in a right snot of a mood. So here’s the Grumpasaurus, a little surly knitted toy.
Tags: dripping taps, home works, knitting, leaking taps, tap valvues
My fiancé and I have two cats, and our boy-cat has recently started some rather stinky habits.
I’ll preface the rest of my post by explaining that I like my anonymity here on the interwebs, and I don’t want to disrespect my kitties by giving their identities on here either. So my fiancé and I remain anonymous, and so does our two little fur-babies.
Okay back on track. The boy-cat has a nervous disposition. When someone knocks on the door, he hides. If we have visitors in the house, he hides under our bed, wedged in between the leg of the bed and the wall the bed is pushed up against. I don’t know how he fits himself in there, but if we don’t let him into our bedroom when we have guests, he meows and pipes and gets very upset. I say pipes because he has underdeveloped vocal chords, causing him to have the voice of a kitten. He’s also very affectionate, and likes to rub his face against mine and my fiancé’s. He’s a lovely cat, but lately he has picked up an extremely undesirable habit…
He’s started spraying, marking, whatever you want to call it, he’s doing it… everywhere. He will walk up to something, point his rear end at it, hold his tail straight up in the air, and then sort of… quiver. Then, depending on the surface, you will hear a few droplets hitting the ground. The first time I head him do this I was so disgusting, I couldn’t believe he just started doing this all of a sudden.
And it gets worse, he’s done it on my favourite enviro shopping bag twice, and a heap of other things too. I’ve been able to wash those things, but the other night, I was sitting on the floor, sitting at the coffee table, and I knew he was around. That’s fine, but then I felt a hot, wet, liquid on my leg. Yep, he’s sprayed on my leg. I was so revolted, I tore into the bathroom, stuck those clothes into the washing machine, and showered. For a long time. With hot, hot water. And lots of soap.
Well I have no idea what to do about his spraying, so I’m just trying to keep everything that can be damaged by it away from him. Today’s knitting pattern has to be for cats, and in this case, a knitted cat toy from Knitty, though I don’t use catnip because I don’t like drugging my cats unless it’s for their own good.
I spend way too much time on certain things, and they aren’t even important! They are time wasting things, that really don’t accomplish much in the way of actually important things.
For one, I am a user of an internet forum – who isn’t? – and I like to make my own signatures to go in my posts. Most people who’ve used forums will know what I am talking about, but in case you don’t, it’s basically a banner like picture, where you include a bit of text. In my case, it is the name I use on this particular website. On past websites where I’ve held Administration positions, I’ve also included that information.
Anyway, so I use a free photo alteration application called Serif to do my particular sigs, and it is actually alright. I’d prefer to work with Photoshop or Fireworks, but I’ve yet to go out and purchase it so I work with what I’ve got. I download a lot of little pictures or fonts to use when I make these things, depending on what mood I’m in. I’ve gotten a lot better at making these, and all it really took was patience. I’ve even progressed onto altering people’s avatars for special occasions, which takes more than making a sig from scratch. I’m at a point where I can alter quite well, but can’t create from scratch, with regards to avatars and picture creation. I really enjoy doing this, and can waste SO much time downloading fonts from da font to use in my sigs.
Okay today’s knitting pattern is going to be related to something I’ve talked about often. Totoro. There’s some new Totoro patterns up on Ravelry and I’m very impressed with them. I want to make some of these little fellows in the near future, because they are just so cute!
Tags: forums, knitting, signatures, wasting time
I have two cats. A girl-cat who is eight and a half years old, and a boy-cat who is about four years old, though its hard to be certain with him as he was originally my fiancé’s mother’s cat, then his father’s then we adopted him because he didn’t get along well with my fiancé’s father’s other cat who was very old.
In recent months, I have noticed that the boy cat has been getting much, much heavier. There has always been this funny disparity between them were the girl cat is much smaller, but must have been more dense, because even though the boy cat was noticeably larger, he was only a little heavier. That, however, has changed. The boy cat has gotten much wider in the mid-section, and much, much heavier. He now weighs about 7 kilograms.
The funny thing is, I haven’t noticed him eating any more, I haven’t been going through more catfood, but the girl cat does seem a little thinner than she used to be. She goes through stages of being kind of fat, and then other stages of being quite sleek, but I much prefer when she is fatter. :D Picking her up and holding her is so much easier than with the boy cat, because he has gotten to a point where if you pick him up and sit with him for a while, he begins to weigh on your arms much, much quicker, and you have to rest them on something – like the arm of the couch – or pop him back on the ground.
I really love having cats, and my fiancé and I both adore the two we currently have. The girl cat is quite a baby in a way, she loves to be held. No, she demands to be held. If I am working too long at my computer desk, she will get up on the desk and stand on my keyboard in an effort to get me to pick her up, and sometimes when she is meowing to be picked up – something she does a lot! – when I bend down to pick her up, she shoots her arms – or front legs if that’s the way you see things – up at you so it is easier to get under her armpits to pick her up… just like a child. :) She’s very sweet, and she loves to rub on my fiancé’s legs when he’s just gotten out of the shower. :D The boy cat is also very affectionate, he loves to rub on your legs and on your face. He will sit with you, so very happy, to the point where he dribbles from his nose because he breathes too fast. There’s nothing wrong with him, because he doesn’t do this when he’s asleep, but when he’s awake, he breaths really quickly so his purr is kind of like a prfft, prfft, prfft and sure enough, he’ll dribble from his nose. He also has underdeveloped vocal chords, so his meow is more like a high pitched muiii, it is so cute!
Today I have to include a cat-oriented knitting pattern, so how about this groovy toy from Knitty?
Tags: cats, knititng, weight
Glad I got out before it started… that’s how I’m feeling about that whole internet business thing that I was thinking about. I was looking over some research stuff I had done for that entry, and it all seems like way, way too much work to bother with!
I was looking at this diagram this 2mb leased line provider website has, and it looks so complicated. I mean I get the basics, but is that really necessary? I suppose businesses that have to secure their data or have heaps of net usage going on need that sort of thing, but wow, that is complicated!
I am so glad that now I don’t have to worry about all that business broadband stuff, thank you very much, but I’ll stick with the normal broadband providers! I am just so glad I didn’t go ahead with anything business wise before I had a chance to sit on the idea for a while! Life is often like that, before you run headlong into something you really need to sit down and think for a while… often it can be just what you need to take on a task properly, or it can be a way to avert getting half way into something and then deciding you don’t want to do it.
I was just about to go have a look for which pattern to link to today, I was wondering around Ravelry, perusing vests, scrutinising cardigans, and looking over cushions. Then I happened upon something so cute, I knew it had to be today’s pattern. Hamsterbeans… Yes, a cross between a hamster and a jelly bean… knitted. Oh my, they are so damn cute! As a lover of Hamtaro, I especially like this pattern. I think a larger one, knitted and then felted, to look like Hamtaro would be great!
Tags: business, Hamsterbeans, Hamtaro
I’m still home sick. I’m completely disgusting. I have spent way too much time in the bathroom the last few days, praying to the porcelain gods. That stomach virus thing has really hit me hard. I am a dishevelled schlep on the couch. Because I’m not eating enough, due to the whole vomiting thing, I feel beyond lethargic, even sitting up is a bit too much to ask for longer than fifteen minutes in one go. I am sure, as I write this, I will have to go and lie down every now and then. :D It’s sort of funny, and sort of really damn annoying. :(
Anyway, whilst I am sick, I am having all sort of crazy nap dreams. Now, a nap dream is different from a sleep dream, because they seem to last about five seconds, and are completely lacking in story line. For example, here’s a dream I once had…
The scene, a beautiful valley, verdant and lush, high altitude, it leads to a waterfall. Smooth grass meets the bank of a stately river flowing through the centre of the valley. There is a small water mill on the river, and beautiful fish in the water, they aren’t overly large. Two men, clothed roughly, as labourers, stand by the mill. They have just found out that a special function is to take place in the valley. A fishing contest. They know special and important people will be coming. One of them takes the lead in deciding what will have to be done in preparation for this event. The man complacently tucks his thumbs in his belt-loops and says, in regard to the fish, “From now on, they’re Pike”. His satisfaction at this deceleration evident in the smug smile he beams down on the other man. “Right, Bill” says Tom. Bill issues “The next man to talk goes over”. “Right” Tom replies, ducking a nod in acquiescence. “Right. Over you go” says Bill, jerking his head at the waterfall. “Oh” Tom replies…
See, that is a real dream. And a funny one too, I woke up giggling. :lol: My fiance and I still joke ‘From now on, they’re Pike. A nap dream, now that is just totally absurd, and far too rapid. For example, yesterday afternoon I dreamt…
My fiance and I had decided to buy a house in the Philippines…
That’s it. That’s it? Yep. Well that sucks. I even went and looked up whether you can even do that form overseas, apparently you can, I found a site about Philippines real estate, but I wouldn’t want to buy a house there. :lol:
Ugh, too much for now, I’m going to go back to bed. But first, today’s knitting pattern! It has to be sleep oriented, so a pillow with a picture of a cat sleeping on it! :D That’s awesome!
Tags: dreams, funny, naps, sickness
When you are a young woman, and you are in a steady relationship, if you express the fact that you are nauseous to anyone, they immediately ask ‘You aren’t pregnant, are you?’ I always feel rather frustrated by this, as if it is expected of me to have unplanned pregnancies. I don’t know, I just find it irritating that everyone’s first assumption is that you are with child, rather than just have the flu.
Yesterday or the day before, I can’t remember now, I came down with something. I was so nauseous, I eventually lost my lunch, and have been going through the sneezing, coughing, asthma, and strangely enough, ringing ears. That’s a new one for me, well, in regards to having the flu, anyway. So I feel terrible, just awful. I got up in the morning today, and it seemed okay. I had breakfast, and about 20 minutes after I knew it was a very bad mistake. I have spent the larger portion of today, curled up on the couch in my dressing gown, holding my poor stomach, fighting to keep down lemonade and dry crackers. Yep, that’s what is has come to.
I am also dreadfully tired all the time, too lethargic to even sit up for long periods of time. I have to lay down regularly lest I feel utterly exhausted. As if that wasn’t enough, last night as I sat there on the couch, my girl cat ran across my lap. Nothing unusual there, but because I moved, she totally freaked out, and clawed my legs. Nothing really unusual there, either, but this time, she managed to slice one of her claws into a vein in my leg, and puncture the other side of the vein. So not only was my leg bleeding, but it was also bleeding into the tissue around it. Now I have red areas where she punctured my skin, and dark blue-black bruise like marks around the red ones. It truly looks horrible, and I am such a baby about that sort of thing. I had a similar incident happen when I had a blood test, once, and the resulting bleed out into the tissue nearly sent my into a panic. Of course, at that time, I didn’t know what it was.
Okay so before I fall asleep again, here’s today’s pattern. It had to be something soft and cozy to snuggle up in, so of course it is going to be a shawl or wrap of some kind. I am going with this one because it would be good for sitting around in, and because of the button you don’t have to keep it on you, it will just stay. Like a bed cape.
Off for naps now.
Tags: nausea, Pregnancy, sickness
The trip to the grocery store this morning said it all. The bill for this one visit was the same that I was spending for the entire month just a few years back. Granted, there are three growing boys in the home, but something still has to give.
The best way to beat the rising costs at the grocery store is to use what you buy. It may seem silly, but most of us have freezers and pantries packed with items that will go bad before they get used. Here are a few tips to make sure that doesn’t happen and to help you stretch that grocery budget a little farther.
1. Make a list of everything you have in your panty. It is best to break it down by categories (fruits, vegetables, condiments).
2. Do the same for other areas in your home (frig or freezer).
3. Now look over the lists and make a menu for the next week or month with the items you currently have.
4. Use the menu to create a grocery list for those items that have to be bought on a regular basis (or might be needed for a particular dish).
Just this quick little project will help you cut back on your groceries and save a bundle along the way. Plus you will find that knowing what you are going to cook makes it easier to actually cook the meals as well.
A few years back, I cooked a Christmas feast for a couple’s party. As they were driving out of our drive way, I ran to the bathroom sick as could be. My first thought was “I’ve undercooked the turkey and poisoned all of the guests.” Fortunately, it was just me. Still, if you do any cooking, you can’t help but worry about keeping your food safe for consumption.
I think part of my fear stems from the fact that I have suffered from food poisoning and it is NOT something I would wish on my worst enemy. The details are not something I’ll share, but let’s just say it’s unpleasant.
Seafood is something that my family (even the younger ones) loves, but that I just refuse to cook. We don’t live any where near the ocean or sea and I was always concerned about how “fresh” the frozen alternatives really would be. Alton Brown did a special on his show, “Good Eats” about seafood, and it relieved me enough to buy some frozen shrimp. I still haven’t cooked it though.
Chicken breasts are my favorite meat item to cook. Even if you over cook them, you can still find ways to make them edible. I’m slowly venturing out to other meats and new cuts, but I still worry about getting them to a safe temperature – especially when there is a grill involved.
Trial and error just won’t cut it when it comes to safety issues. I will continue to look for probes and electronics that will help me keep my family safe. And I’ll probably leave the seafood to the professionals.
