Well… not really, but at times they frustrate the hell out of me.

Today is the day that the pixelthugs.com (and all of its sub-domains) get moved off of my box (woody) and onto the servers over at dreamhost.

I had made a backup of each sub-domain, dumped all the mySQL databases, and was in the process of transfering them off of my server so they could be uploaded to the new host.

That’s when the internal NIC on the firewall decided to be a complete bitch and give up the ghost.

So… I’ve spent the last hour trying to get it up again (I’ve messed with the settings, replaced the NIC with an identical one, etc), but it was to no avail. I still can’t get to the webserver from the outside world.

Fuck!

So… I’ve called in the big guns (aka: my friend Jess). He can still get to the firewall and will hopefully be able to figure out WTF is going on.

I’ve already transfered the DNS, so at least mail will start going the right direction (the accounts are all set up). Hopefully… we can get this thing working soon.

UPDATE: we got it working.  Stupid thing!

Now, if I the power company could supply me with electricity that didn’t suddenly cut out in the middle of a huge upload to the new server, I’d be happy (I have a UPS on my server, but not on my workstations).

<soapbox>

So… you’ve gone and done somthing stupid online. Let me make a pre-emptive strike here and say it on the record:

I don’t care what you did to it, how spyware infested it may be, how many porn dialers you have installed (and your phone bill is crushing you), or how slow it’s gotten. It can erupt in a green ball of unholy fire with demons dancing on your monitor for all I care.

Remember when I helped set your machine up way back when? Remember that little chat we had about NOT TRUSTING attachments to email. Do you recall how I stressed how important this was?

I’m pretty sure we went over downloading and running files from websites too. While I’m sure that free porn viewer looked pretty damn spiffy on the web, it’s not my fault that the phone company wants several thousand dollars from you for all those charges to a Nigerian 1-900 number that your PC made.

Let us not forget when I attempted (in vain, apparently) to inform you that you’d need to maintain the computer, updating drivers, anti-virus, and most importantly, the damn OS itself! I told you that its not like a friggin’ coffee maker! You can’t just turn in on when you want to use it and forget about it the rest of the time.

You did this to yourself.

I’ve decided that I’m not your computer 911. Sure, I know a few things about them, but that’s because I sat down and read a book, did some research, figured it out. I certainly wasn’t born with this knowledge. It’s time that you did the same.

The way I see it, you have two choices: take some responsibility and do a little research to figure it out, or put the computer away and never EVER touch one again.

I’d prefer the later of the two.

</soapbox>

* Oh… and Tom… this isn’t directed at you (I will help you fix your router!).

My eldest son attends Rogers high school here in Spokane. Yesterday, they had an issue.

Apparently, the Principle, Carole Meyer, had told the students and faculty they could no longer use the word “Hillyard” when taunting other teams because she clams it had a derogatory meaning.

Several hundred students started their day yesterday by standing outside the school in protest, waving signs that read “Hillyard Pride” and chanting the same.

The event was quite organized. The student council had even gotten a permit from the city to allow the protest. While there was a police presence, it was a very peaceful, if not loud, demonstration.

My thoughts: WHAT THE FUCK! Telling students that they can’t mention the part of town that they live in because the name is derogatory?!? Why not just tell them they live in a steaming cesspool and because of that they themselves aren’t worth shit.

Sure, Hillyard isn’t exactly the best part of town, but the majority of families that live there take pride in their neighborhood. What kind of message is Carole Meyer trying to send to the students and families who live and work here?

My son said that he overheard several members of the faculty state that they’d like to join the protest, but were afraid it would end their careers.

When the majority of the student body and the faculty agree that there’s a problem, you better believe there is.

Of course, this isn’t my only complaint against Principle Meyer. She’s done several other things since coming to the school that are questionable. She has changed student schedules, overriding the electives they are allowed to take, in order to place them in other classes to increase the schools funding (basically vetoing the decisions of the students, counselors, and parents). She’s also placed the school in lock-down after the bell rings, leaving only two doors open.

I believe that Principal Meyers owes an apology to the students and the community.

The whole concept of spoofing an email address to deliver spam is pissing me off.

Currently, I get several messages per day saying that email can’t be delivered because my email address is blocked by the recipient.  I’m not sending any mail and the only reason I can think that I’d be getting thus said messages is some piece of shit spammer is using my address in the “from” field.

One address in particular seems to get a lot of mail (as I get a lot of bounces stating that they’ve blocked my address).

So… I’m dropping my current email account and creating another (being the admin has it’s privelages).  Since I don’t publish my address anywhere (you’ll not find it on this site or any other I host), hopefully this one won’t be harvested.

For those who need my email address: I’ll let you know what it is.  For those who would like it for spamming purposes: suck my left nut.

The domain transfers from my server (woody) to Dreamhost are moving along somewhat smoothly.

Today, I was able to restore one of the sites using an e-commerce package (even though the database got fubar’d after those Brazialian fuckwads toasted the server).  This gives me hope that I’ll have the other ones resored shortly.

Oh… and if I host you and your site is a sub-domain on the pixelthugs.com domain, get ready to rumble!

I am transfering the pixelthugs.com domain on Saturday, February 18th.  All sub-domains will move at the same time.  If you have email on my server, you best think about moving it off before then (I’ll provide instructions for how to set up pop… it’s not exactly standard).