Me

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    The phoenix rises

    ByMatera the Mad

    My previous web hosting lacked security, and gradually my site became a party zone for script kiddies. Not only littered with unwelcome files, it was impossible to clean up because file permissions had become unchangeable. Support ticket? Forget it. So, last night I grabbed some recent logfiles and torched the whole thing. Well, scorched it,…

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    CENSORED

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    I followed this link from Twitter, enjoyed it immensely, retweeted it, and tried to post it on Facefuck. I was prevented from doing so. FINE! I will share it even more. If you think it is offensive, don’t share it. 3 Dads I’ve encountered Facecrap’s nannying before, and I will never condone it. Why stop…

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    Thanksgiving 2014

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    Dinner is cooking, and it smells great. No turkey. No great expectations. No plans for the next artificial emotional pump-up. No one screaming and cursing at the TV, no after-dinner battles to sour the food. It’s quiet, peaceful. Enjoyable. Not all families are like that, but I know mine wasn’t unique — there are enough…

  • April Girl

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    This is a song that I wrote during my early-90s burst of warped creativity. Some people have read things into it that annoyed me (one stupid bitch in particular whose name I have forgotten, whose soul is torn by the avenging spirits….). Needless to say, whatever you read into it has more to do with…

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    A Better Mouse Trap

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    How to Build and Use a Mouse Cannon In a moment of desperation, I added what I know to what I have and came up with the simplest — and most effective — mousetrap I’ve ever used. Click the images to view full size. The main tube of mine is about 27 inches long, and…

  • Absurdity of Spam

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    If you really have to follow a link in spam, if you just can’t help it, totally can’t control yourself, must do it, will die of stupidcuriosity if you don’t, SLAP YOUR HAND. Then, carefully move the cursor to the Delete button and annihilate the temptation. Your computer will now have a slightly better chance…

  • Home At Last

    ByMatera the Mad

    …Or, Why I Kicked Windows into the Bitbucket and Started Living. My computing life began with Windows; I “grew up” in it. Sometimes I dual-booted one or another Linux distro, but Windows, whatever version, was my main workspace since early 2001. From 95 to Vista (and 7 at work), I slogged through Microsoft’s increasingly baroque…

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    Empty Or Not?

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    From the Department of Insane Hacks On Halloween, Windows played a dirty Trick on me, so I gave myself a great Treat: I blew Windwoes to hell and installed Debian. Life has been wonderful ever since — but that’s not what this story is about. Because I like playing World of Tanks, I ended up…