Here's a couple pictures of the newborn kittens a friend and I rescued after its stray mother abandoned them (click "Read More" to see more). Of the five original kittens, only the black has survived (the white one below really was trying but still had to be put down because of necrotic tissue).

Baby kittens are born blind and deaf and are entirely dependent on their mother for all aspects of survival - they can not even urinate on their own. That means it has needed to be fed and stimulated every 2-3 hours, a process that feels like has taken months. Fortunately, now that it's in its third week, it's at least able to be left alone for 6 hours at night. It is now twice its original weight and continuing to grow. I'll post more pictures later.

UPDATE 3/23/2011: "Ninja", the black kitten, is still alive and doing very well. She will play with everything that moves (or that she makes move, if she can not find anything).. and is anything from a purring tribble-like ball of cuteness who crawls on my bed next to me for a nap to a hissing monster rebellious demon-possessed.. well.. you can probably imagine. She's definitely worth the trouble though. :)

I recently heard a comment from someone that said what's the worst that could happen if their computer got infected. After all, so what?

While I won't explain the context further, here's the reality. You can't even pretend to have a secure computer when a criminal has control of it. You might as well leave for work with your front door unlocked or store your keys on the hood of your car. What's the worst that could happen?

It costs you and others money. It can even put people in danger.

Someone who would see nothing wrong with leaving their keys on their car could reasonably be said to have no concept of physical security. Sadly, with computers it seems most people assume their anti-virus software will protect them. When's the last time you updated Adobe Flash/Reader/Java? Did you know that's all you have to do to protect yourself from a lot of attacks? Is Windows Update even turned on? I've helped enough friends with their computers to know that a lot of people haven't installed a single update the entire time they've had their computer. It's fun watching 80 download all at once. Take some simple steps to protect yourself and it might spare you a lot of frustration later.

You shouldn't say things about someone behind their back that you aren't willing to say to them in person. Talking bad about someone behind their back is cowardly.

I know my picture isn't hard to find.

I kinda like the picture.

So.. what's your point?

You know who you are.

Sorry for the lack of personal updates lately, especially with some people. Last week was a bit hectic with a tropical storm and my car needing work, and this week I haven't been able to sleep more than a few hours at a time. I think it could be that I've been fighting something, so hopefully this will get better, but it's left me in a state of grogginess where my mind is foggy and in no mood to sit down to compose anything. Even my last post here was pre-written. Anyway I'm not sure who's actually reading this, but I just wanted to say I'm working on it.

Today I did something I swore I'd never do. I added a real friend as a MySpace friend. David Martin with a myspace account? What is the world coming to. Don't expect me to make a habit of it though. There's a lot about their website that annoys me. Zodiac signs for example. Who cares if mine is Cancer? I sure don't. Useless clutter with demonic undertones. It has no place on my profile.

Then there's the safety aspects. Why should their name be bigger than mine? I have enough ego problems! Why should I force people to see ad banners that could give them seizures? And have you seen the themes people use? Those could give some serious eye strain.

Then there's the social aspects. What would you feel if I added you and didn't list you as a "top friend"? Would you like me to list everyone I consider more valuable than you publicly? Or perhaps you'd like me to prove that we weren't as close as you thought we were. Everything about that is stupid and offensive. I don't want to do it, and you know what? I don't have to. You all deserve better, and you certainly don't need the validation of being on a list. Some people add junk entries just so they don't offend anyone, which to me means even more clutter.

And then there's scalability problems. Maybe I should create a livejournal account to communicate with friends who use that, and maybe I should create a xanda account to do the same, and don't forget youtube, webshots, private forums, online rpg's (ack! don't ask about that) and who knows what else. No! Sites should use trackbacks and rss feeds to communicate so you don't have to. It should be as elegant as replying on your own blog.

oh.. did I mention it was my idea to join and I added this person as a Top Friend?

Alt title: "Little Me"
a poem about how I feel and my disgust at others apathy.

This poem is an attempt to convey how I feel about everything and has been inspired by my life so far. Everything in this is true, though edited for style. I got the idea about a year ago by writing a few lines, and the rest just kind of came together. It's been a work in progress since then. It could still use minor work, but I'm pretty proud of it. Enjoy!

I lost my 64 MB Micro SD card (with SD adapter) somewhere in San Francisco. I don't think there was anything on it, but if you found it (and the text file leading you here), please contact me. I'll be happy to mail you a self addressed stamped envelope, or I could just send you my address. Thanks, it would be appreciated.

Update (1/17/2008): I was hoping that an honest person would find it, but I'm starting to accept the fact that I'll probably never see it again. I know I would have made an effort to return it, but I guess the world isn't full of people like me. Fortunately, none of my trip pictures were on it. I don't have an album up yet because I'm still waiting on others to send me pictures, but expect some progress in the next few weeks.

I had forgotten how enjoyable walking is, especially when it's accompanied by four paws, a tail, and a leash. That's fun, but I wanted to go further. Unfortunately, my dog has a tendency to walk in front of my bike in such a way that it's not very safe for either of us, so I just got some inline skates. I think they're going to be a lot of fun for us both, especially once my balance improves. Apparently they're also good for ski training.

This is an audio clip I came across the other day. This kid is wiser than many of my university professors. He's even wiser because, "sometimes I don't think I'm wise. Trust me, I've done a lot of stupid stuff, but I've learned from it." The host laughs because we've all been there. Listen to the attachment because we should all follow this kid's advice.