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Okay I'm reluctant to post this, but everybody has to die in some way. What better way is there than getting killed by a mob of infuriated NAOees. :-P
(It's probably not as good as it could be, but hey, I'm just practising.)

Clicky (download DivX if it doesn't work)

This post was edited by null on Aug 26, 2004.

Wee are going on a, summer ho-li-day...

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# 25005

More news about my life which you don't really have to care about. :-)

Yesterday was August 1st, Swiss national holiday. We had a barbeque-like family gathering at my mother's place and blew up lots of fireworks. Some unknown genius in the neighborhood managed to hit my car with not one, but two big-ass rockets. As a result my car is now plus a small dent in the bonnet (not that I'd mind that too terribly much) and minus a roof window. Wonderful. But apart from that, it was fun - we had, like, ten years' worth of exploding stuff and tons of food.

In other news, in 16 1/2 days it's throw-Orchid-into-the-pool time again! Summer finally has us in a tight grip of suffocating heat and merciless sunshine, and I'm really looking forward to spending a bunch of days in the shadow next to a distant hotel's pool.

Current computer-related project: Building an Internet-enabled version of the Cheapass Games classic Kill Dr. Lucky. So far it's going pretty well, altho it's far more complicated than I originally assumed it to be. Nevertheless all the basics are already done - what's left now is converting the game rules into machine-readable code.

Email is dead

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# 23158

It's official. The signal/noise ratio of my mailbox has sunken below the minimum acceptable quality level.

For every piece of real mail I get, I also get an average of 14 pieces of spam and 8 viruses. It's been like this for several weeks, and it's steadily getting worse. Currently more than 95% of all the mails I get are junk.

It's pretty obvious that spammers will soon render email completely useless, exactly like they killed Usenet a few years ago. May their stinking guts burn in hell for all eternity.
Unless the next US government (where most spam comes from nowadays) enacts a law that introduces the death penalty for all spammers, or unless the big ISPs get their fingers out of their ass and introduce effective measures against spamming customers, email will be abandoned completely within a few years. (And I bet the spammers are ready to attack whatever new system of communication is going to replace it.)

Don't tell me that an all-new junk filter, whitelists or domain authentification system will help solve the problem. I'm pretty sure that the next generation of spam will come with your friend's name and email address on it, and the text and subject will contain references to mails you've recently sent them.

If this trend continues I'll build my own messaging system. Everybody who wants to send me a message will have to use that system. It'll include a way for me to crash your computer, take your credit card number and acquire your first born, in case you send me spam.

Noidea

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# 22838

So I've got a new pet since yesterday evening. An ant appeared out of nowhere and now lives in my wash basin. I've named her Keineahnung (Noidea) after Orchid's suggestion. Keineahnung has stayed in the bathroom all night and I can feed her with honey, so I guess she's gonna stay a while.

Oh yeah, Europa-Park was nice! Despite the missed opportunity to ride the Silver Star because everybody besides me chickened out, it was a fun weekend. (I hope the others liked it too!)
Now I should send Jaz the pics I've made so I can get his pictures in exchange. (Note to self: don't forget this again!)

Still no message from Italy tho. By the way, would anybody else be interested in joining us? We'll probably wander around, go to a movie, eat pizza, rent a pedalo and maybe go swimming (not necessarily in that order).

What else to say. I always feel like I'm ranting when writing a journal entry, but they still appear too short when I'm done. Oh, yes. A friend & neighbor has come up with a great lighting idea I might just plagiarize. He wants to cover the ceiling with white styrofoam boards in which he'll install 300 little lamps with different brightness levels. The goal is to simulate a starry sky. I'll wait until he's done and if it looks good I'll ask him if he minds me copying the idea.
Still no progress on my luminescent chemicals project, mainly due to lack of time. But next week I'll have time. Yay! Holidays here I come!

Atchoo!

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# 22371

So we're halfway through May and I've been half-sick for 5 days because it's chill cold outside and the caretaker shut the central heating down at the first sight of spring. Crap. I really gotta have a talk with them when I get hold of 'em.

Luckily we have a drugstore nearby. Let's see what I've got here.

Eases influenzal symptoms such as headache, cough and sore throat.
...
Side effects (occasionally): labored breathing, headache.

Isn't modern chemistry great. Well, as long as they help I suppose it's okay!

Looking on the bright side of life (just like I've been told to) though, there are some cool upcoming events.

Next week we'll visit Europa-Park, the big theme park in southern Germany with Europe's highest & biggest rollercoaster. We'll even meet Jaz and Ettena there.
Half of my living room will be completely re-designed. I want a small round table (as opposed to the current big one) and a small but well-equipped bar in one corner. Plus I'm investigating the possibilities of installing plexiglas tubes filled with high-intensity luminescent fluids (usually used in connection with lasers) for the proper lighting. Should be fun!
On a weekend in Mid-June we might have visitors from Italy and overseas. Let's see if they can make it!