Home Is Where the Heart Is

Just finished my Hugo ballot (and just in time, because today is the deadline).

Yes, I voted Puppy-free.  That was the entire reason I got a voting membership.  If you would have liked to have voted a no-pups slate but did not have the disposable income to frivol on a voting membership, I invite you to join me in my personal No-Pup Vicarious Thrills Members' Circle!  Share in my act of defiance, even if it's only through a proxy.

No, I did not acquire or read anything on the Sad or Rabid Puppies' slates.  No, I don't feel any remorse whatsoever for voting against something I had not read.  That's what the pups do themselves (vote against things they won't read), and I've made the decision to do it back at them.  I'm years past the point of automatically doing the wrong thing for the "right" reason (and not just because of the number of times I have been thoroughly screwed over as a result of other people doing the wrong things, or failing to do the right things, for the "right" reason).  (Although that does counteract the potential for remorse even more thoroughly.)

I actually deviated from the no-pup ballot in one instance:  I really loved Guardians of the Galaxy, which was one of their nominees.  I was, in the end, unable to rank it below works that I genuinely thought were inferior -- and which were not the creative work of the Pupheads.

Now we wait to find out the results.  I'm hoping for a lot of unused rockets.  I had, at one point, been thinking that this might be a good year for me to actually attend -- I have never been to a Worldcon, although I've been to many others, it's in Washington state, I know a lot of the lovely folks running it this year -- and they actually asked me if I would maybe come? -- but once the canine excrement started coming down, I was glad I had not made the commitment.  I feel deeply sorry for my con-running friends and acquaintances, having to preside over this mare's nest.  I hope that everyone who attends, other than the Pups, has a truly wonderful time, stays healthy, gets enough to eat and enough sleep, meets wonderful people and generally rocks out that weekend.

Meanwhile, back here in the No-Pup Vicarious Thrills Members' Circle, the Save button has been pressed, and it's time for us to have a drink, or a cookie, or both.  What'll you have?

So, I cracked the screen on my iPad.

Again.

I didn't actually buy the iPad:  it was issued to me at work, although it's pretty much mine.  I can put anything I want on it, I pay for the apps, and if -- um, when -- it gets damaged, I pay for the repairs.

After the second time I had to get a cracked screen fixed, I swore that if I ever did it again, I would buy a goddamned repair kit and learn to repair iThingummies myself.

Annnnd . . . I got a really good strong nice leather cover for it.  Annnnd after a very long time, the cover got a little worn and the spine softened, and, well.  The crackage wasn't all that bad.  I could still use the tablet.  For the present.  Unless/until the cracking spread.

I did a good-sized heap of research, ordered a toolkit, ordered a replacement screen, and girded my loins to Do the Deed today.

I DID IT.

My iPad works.  It has a fine new uncracked glass screen.  Total cost was $40, and half of that was the toolkit, which I can now use for future repairs.

I salute the lovely website ifixit.com, which did not hedge about the niggling difficulty, and walked me through every step in almost enough detail to make it truly smooth.  (Bumps do happen, but that's survivable.)  I did not rip out the wi-fi antenna, or damage the LCD screen, or snap the diogitizer cable, or otherwise screw up, although I did have to unscrew and rescrew the LCD screen four separate times while I figured out what I was supposed to do with the micro-cables.

\o/

It seems that posting every day is beyond me, although posting positive things is not.  So this will take more than five days, but I figure that's acceptable.

1 - It rained today, with great enthusiasm.  I like rain anyway, especially around here, where it means cooler temperatures.  Instead of the high 80s and low 90s, it stayed in the low 80s during the day.  It's actually plunged all the way down to, gasp, 76 degrees right now!!

2 - With the rain and attendant electrical activity, the power went out at work at about 2 pm.  We get power outages all the freaking time, so every computer is on a battery backup, but the power blips are usually only a few minutes or even a few seconds.  This one just went on and on.  Eventually, I had to shut down the server (since its battery pack is not intended for long sustained support), and we all went home early.  I have to admit, I really loved going home early!  Especially on a Friday.

3 - Partly because I was able to leave early, I also got to the gym, for the first time this week.  (Usually I get there maybe three times, but being sick and tired interfered this week.)  I don't do a major workout -- I use the ellipticals, usually for half an hour to an hour, and read a book as I stride boldly along.  It was really good to get there again.  And it was raining again when I left, and nice and cool(ish)!

Bonus #4 - Fic Rush this weekend!  I'm too bleary to attempt to write this evening, but I have hopes for the rest of the weekend.  *crosses fingers*

Type "same-sex marriage" or "gay marriage" into Google, and see what you get.  *G*

(ETA:  Okay, apparently it's a new version of the one they've been doing every June for the last three years.  But hey, I wasn't expecting it!)

I'm a computer wizard
And late at night, when you are all in bed
I practice cybernetic necromancy
I resurrect computers from the dead!

Things I did last week:

( egregious back-patting behind the cut )

After I read up on the details of LJ's most recent clusterFubar, I wondered which cluster my own journal and comms were on.  (If you haven't read the gory details, or don't want to, the short version is:  LJ server cluster fall down go boom.  All journals connected to cluster fall over.  All journals connected to comms connected to cluster fall over.  Splat.)

Anyway.  Back to wondering which cluster I'm on.  It turns out that there's a lookup for that:  http://www.livejournal.com/misc/whereami.bml

So, Today I Learned:

lolmac and fic_rush are both on cluster 4, NewYorkStrip.

fic_rush_48 is on cluster 1, Steaksauce.

bethinexile is on cluster 8, Shishkabob.

rda_daily is on cluster 6, Filetmignon.

macgyverdeleted is on cluster 9, ChickenTikka.  This is one of the compromised clusters; the other one, where the problems started, is cluster 7, Bratwurst.

I have another comm on cluster 12, PorkRibs.  Older cluster names, which might not still be in use, are TBone, Roastbeef, Tofu, Porkchop, Madcow, and Porterhouse; and Soybean, which definitely is.  I detect a naming convention.

Much older names included Indigo, Santa, Cartman, and Chef, but these are probably no longer in use.  The post I found discussing this was originally started in 2002, so that was another epoch in LJ geological time.  I find myself wondering if the "Chef" cluster name got the current convention started.

So which cluster are you on?  Are we neighbours?  Can you dig up the names of any others?

ETA:  added to the menu:  cluster 3, Soybean, cluster 5, Hambone, cluster 10, EggRoll, cluster 11, Fajitas, and cluster 13, HotWings.  Still unknown:  2, (probably Porterhouse) and anything higher than 13, if indeed there are more than 13 clusters.

Special thanks to miss_peg for filling out the list!

At this point, it seems likely that TBone, Roastbeef, Tofu, Porkchop and Madcow no longer exist as cluster names, so I needn't bother lamenting that lolmac isn't on the Tofu cluster.

Along with starting the Tumblr account for icanhastofu, I also set up a Google Analytics account, so I can track my traffic spy on fandom boost my ego with gratuitous details.  A few days ago, I enabled it on the LOLMac journal here on LJ as well, which is giving me a lovely lesson in international geography, a few giggles (someone ended up on LOLMac after Googling 'lolita', which must have been a disappointment) and a lot of squees.  I mean, wow!  There's someone in Romania who likes RDA and (presumably) enjoys the jokes!  Is that cool or what?

At the same time, the main section of my brain immediately starts fretting at the privacy implications.  Yeah, yeah, Google Analytics and web traffic tracking are ubiquitous.  You're tracked everywhere you go.  I opted into the Guest Tracking on LJ when it was first enabled -- but that's a two-way option:  if you want to see, you must allow yourself to be seen, and you know it's happening because you accepted it.  But still.  LOLMac is a great joy in my life, and it's a place where a lot of my friends hang out, and I don't want to squick anyone out by spying on them, as it were.

( An offer you can't refuse, unless you want to )

I don't seem to be able to actually embed this image, so you'll have to follow the link.  Trust me.  It's worth it.  Especially if you like any or all of the following:  1) yarn crafts, 2) math, 3) girls with brains, 4) erudite puns.

http://www.gocomics.com/frazz/2012/02/25

This just in:  if you haven't already, go to Google and search on "let it snow".  I'm told it doesn't work in IE, but not inclined to test it.

If you wait long enough, you also get a 'Defrost' button.

The only member of my own birth family with whom I still interact is my über-geeky sister, who beats me hands down on all the tech questions.  (Seriously:  when we're together, she configures my wireless.)  So all I can do with truly fantastic articles like these is pass them on:

How to Keep Thanksgiving from Being a Family Tech Trainwreck

And even better:

Friday is Update Your Parents' Browser Day

I'll even overlook the assumption in the Atlantic article that the family alpha-geek is male by default.  This year.  Next year, Atlantic, get it right.  That should be "Be a good geek", not "Be a good boy".  Got it?  Because I am the IT Guy, and I Can Kill You With My Brain.