and some of this:

and, of course, some of this as well:

See you in August!

Call up your ISP’s help line and (unless it’s a really good one) watch the total chaos and confusion ensue. I did this today and got a plethora of (sometimes conflicting) answers, such as:

“We will not support IPv6 for the foreseeable future.”
“We already support it, just not for your type of connection.”
“If you’re not seeing it your own equipment must not support it.”
“IPvWhat?”

Actually the answers do not really matter, just the total confusion and bewilderment in the voices of the people you’re transferred to, coupled with the game of hot potato as people try to pass you through to another victim to get rid of you is quite possibly the reason I’ll be making this my new hobby. Forget drunk dialing or prank calls, this is fun!

Maybe one day they’ll even give me a real answer. But how could I tell?

In fact, you know what: I think we should sue every damn star and starlet that slides into booze, drugs and basically anything that the average WASP would not approve of, simply for the emotional turmoil they cast us in by falling off their fucking high horse and being fallible human beings. You do not get to look down upon the “common man” and our normal lives as one of the “beautiful people” and then reveal that you are in fact human. We get disappointed, and now you’ve shown us what to do in such cases: we sue.

So Lindsay, Britney, Paris and Whitney: buckle up and lawyer up. It’s going be a rough ride.

An overwhelming majority of MEPs (663 in favour and 13 against) today voted a resolution criticising the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), arguing that it flouts agreed EU laws on piracy online.

The Parliament’s resolution states that MEPs will go to the EU Court of Justice if the European Commission, which is leading the negotiation on behalf of the European Union, does not reject ACTA rules that would allow cutting off users from the Internet if caught downloading copyrighted content.

Though MEPs cannot participate in the ACTA talks, the European Parliament’s consent is necessary for the European Commission to conclude the treaty on behalf of the EU.

I personally believe the ACTA is a major tool for power abuse by rigid copyright holders who have their respective governments’ balls tightly in their hands. Two things that make me absolutely shudder:

• A document leaked to the public in 2008 includes a provision to force Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to provide information about suspected copyright infringers without a warrant. A March 2010 leak included the proposed text for this provision.
• The negotiations for the ACTA treaty are conducted behind closed doors and are not part of any international organisation.

The ACTA reaks of an amazing amount of behind-closed-doors, “I have a lot of money and lawyers”, “I own the property and do not understand the changed digital and social landscape” and “waah waah waah somebody might touch my lovely money!”

So, for the first time in my life: Hurray, Members of the European Parliament!

Dave and Brian via Geekologie.

However much I do like to hear myself talk sometimes the real inspiration for teaching comes from that one moment where you see someone’s eyes light up when they suddenly truly understand. That flicker of sudden light is why I love teaching. If I can do that forever, I’ll be completely happy.

“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important.”

Here’s the current status:

- Tired most of the time
- Always working or thinking about work
- Nearly complete absence of a social life
- Overly touchy some of the time for no apparent reason

I think I might be overdoing it (insert “Well duh”-type exclamation here), but luckily I can see some light at the end of the tunnel. Projects that have run forever are getting close to finishing, and my vacation is only four weeks away…and maybe after that life will get back to something approaching normality.