It... is... too... fricking... HOT!

"Program complexity grows until it exceeds the capability of the programmer who must maintain it." - Utz's Seventh Law of Computer Programming Here's progress for you: FFDB is about 5% written, and it already has.

I keep surprising myself every time I learn a new word in English, not because I thought I knew all of them, but because I know I've read enough sentences with this word in them to know it by now, but I didn't. Or maybe I just forgot it. In any case, condescending is a word so close to me, I shouldn't have needed to look it up.

I just threw away roughly 350 floppy disks, including win3.11, word6, sb16isa drivers and many other things I have never used for years. It was painful, but it must've been done.

My mother doesn't like Metallica. I don't mind most of the things our 34 years difference cause, but that is a real generation gap. Considering the band was founded in 1980, it shouldn't be, but it is. I wonder what my kids would think about the music I grew up with (it being recorded half a century before their time and all).

Looking at FHM pics of Jolene Blalock I realized what's wrong with T'Pol - the hair. I like long hair. Also, Hoshi is cute. She has this adorable facial expression. Jadzia or Hoshi - now that's a real challenge.

Just watched part II of Shockwave. Was that really necessary? I mean, I like Hoshi and her cute inferiority complex, but did they really have to undress Linda Park to get higher ratings? And if the answer is "yes" (and I know it is) - was it worth it? For me, sci-fi, although sometimes full of subtext, must always remain in subtext. Am I a hypocrite or are Archer/T'Pol bondage scenes really just a bit over the top? Troi, Dax, Sato, Dax, Crusher (the hair). Tough choice.

Arabic notebooks from 7th grade make no sense whatsoever, threw them away. Cyrix 486DX-40 collection still waits being transformed into key chains. Same thing with the 40+ coasters - I just don't have the heart to leave it behind. Fly-Boy, if you're reading this: I need a wallet for my birthday.

(Packing == Fun) ? Wolf550e.Masochist() : Wail;

I've just had a very meaningful conversation with one of my friends in which we have tried to imagine ourselves living in a world without computers. We failed. It's all about the Pentiums, baby.

In other cheerful news, Israeli doctors and nurses are being vaccinated against smallpox. *ER flashback*

Average waiting time on phone with cable TV company - 20 minutes. At least they have a nice radio station playing Depeche Mode while you wait. The pressure on from satellite TV company really shows on them too. There's even a joke: *phone rings* Tevel (acronym for Cable TV) lady: do you want to disconnect your service and have us collect the receivers? Customer: Yes. Tevel lady: *reads date/time* will this be convenient? Customer: Yes. Tevel lady: Will you remember to be at home at the scheduled time? Customer: Yes. Tevel lady: Do you understand that if you will not be at home at the scheduled time, you will be charged 50NIS? Customer: Yes. Tevel lady: May I ask why have you decided to disconnect your service? Customer: Yes. Tevel lady: Thank you sir. *Hangs up* The pun is that the name of the sat. TV company is "Yes" and the dialogue reminds their ads that always over-emphasize the brand name.

Looks like I'm not losing my DSL, just my mind. Next - 30 something address updates.

FUCK.

This has fallen on me just like on you, so don't blame me. On October 1st, I'm moving to Petah-Tiqva, (it's a town east of Tel-Aviv, almost a suburb). I will be offline for about a week I guess, and I may lose my DSL. The next few weeks are going to be difficult, and I will probably have very little time for anything even remotely related to my life online. The new place is a dump compared to my parents' apartment, but they both work there and it's too long to drive everyday, so I understand the necessity, even if I don?t like it. I hate moving.

Thank you Emily for the inteview link. I hope I'll have time to read it as soon as it's out, but I guess I'll be too busy (I'll have to read it all together because I will not be able to stop and I'm afraid I won't have a full day to dedicate to it for a long time).

Elizabeth just scared me. Jedi Boadicea should get her act together. In all fairness, H/G has very little basis in canon and resides mostly in the minds of GT.net dwellers (sometimes it seems to me like I am the only one on this ship sane enough to admit it).

I'm blogging on Yom Kippur. What's worse - I think I'm hungry. I hear Hell is really nice this time of the year...

This SUX.

I just performed a series of mental calculations and reached the conclusion that out of all my female friends, there is not a single one who is not romantically attached.
Now you're probably thinking I'm going to pine over tragically lost opportunities for happiness and undeclared first love. Or, the more traditional, rejected first love and a year spent in black near-suicidal depression.
Well, you're wrong. I didn't have to read GoF to know about asking a girl out on time. I'm almost 18 for crying out loud and it's not like I was raised in a segregated environment.

No, the reason I took that to heart is because out of seven guys and five... young women who are my "social circle", only one guy has a girlfriend. So, you're going to say all my friends are losers and nerds who are incapable of interacting with females. Which is kind of true, but beside the point.
Everyone except me is 18 years old. We're smart (objectively speaking), educated (better than the average, that is), non-ugly guys from good homes with no bad habits. We're mostly kind and loyal and have a great sense of humor with an appreciation of good non-wild fun. Specific personal shortcomings notwithstanding, we look pretty good on paper. So we're geeks, and we're not (yet ;) ) rich. We're what can be tentatively called "future yuppies". In our age-slice of the population - not a bad catch at all. So what's the problem?

The most common answer you'll get from a female if you ask her why she dates (or aspires to date) an older guy is: "guys my age are immature children". Well, yes, we are, but the specific group I'm talking about is much more mature than what you usually see. We can keep conversation about much more than mammary glands and toy train sets (generic C₁₉H₂₈O₂-induced topics), we show more respect to the fair sex than what's fashionable today and we do plan more than 5 minutes ahead. We have realistic plans (personal and career-wise) and the means to see them through. Even the least experienced ones know the difference between pr0n and RL. And yet, with the exception of a single very lucky dude, we're all (painfully) single. It's true we'll be more lucrative upon success than a few years prior, but then, in a few year we'll probably have even higher standards ourselves.

You know who is to blame when good products are not selling well? Faulty marketing. I think I'm going to sack the entire PR department and try again.
Or not.

I don't want to write anything about 9/11 because I have nothing to say that hasn?t already been said more than a few times. But maybe something about my POV should be written. I live in a reality where getting blown up on your way to work or school is not that unusual. Here, almost everyone personally knows(n) a victim of terror. Here, everyone serves in the army because war on our soil is a strong possibility. Here, the question of the anti-democratic nature of racial profiling and its implications on national security is in the center of public debate for over 50 years, because 20% of the country's citizens belong to the "security liability" group although full integration is law. And you know what? We keep on living, and dealing with our aggressive neighbors, our even more aggressive closer neighbors, our own militant brothers driven by blind revenge and hatred, our orthodox brothers who believe the country has no right to exist before the coming of the messiah, Scandinavians who are so out of touch with the world below the polar circle they honestly think "just kiss and make up" is good advice, and even our misguided humanists who, in the name of humanity, human rights and starving children, raise funds used to build training camps and pay "freedom fighters'" and "mortars'" families' pensions. Yes, some leave to enjoy a safer life in beautiful Canada, but most stay and raise their children in a place where they will be taught to recognize a bomb in kindergarten. And pray they will never have to test those skills. Even the non-religious kind. Emily asked on her Blog what we, the current generation, are going to do with our turn to win our freedom, since on this day, a year ago, we have learned for ourselves that freedom is not free. Some of us are devoting the (arguably) best years of our lives to protect the country we live in. Others may just be ready to reach the conclusion that love is not always the answer and sometimes, controlled violence is a viable way to fight uncontrolled violence, so while turning the other cheek they will not interfere with me getting those bastards' eyes out. What have you done to make sure your children's letters home will not start with: "Bismi Allahi alrrahmani alrraheemi"?

A year. Is it time to discuss the not-so-obvious consequences?