This past week or so has been quite weird. As you may or may not know, my website went down as I bought new hosting with DreamHost. I transfered the domain name to them, so the DNS had to change. I also had to unlock the domain so that DreamHost could request a complete transfer, so that my domain would be permanently registered with DreamHost instead of GoDaddy. This process should take around a week, and my website was hosted again in 6 days. I had a few issues getting databases set up, and transfering files, but everything is all good now, as far as I can see.

Finally I am able to use subdomains properly on my server, which means instead of having everything in folders within the public_html root of my website, I can now organise everything nicely in my FTP client and just configure the domain to point at a specific location on my server. There aren’t really many differences when doing this, apart from things looking nicely organised, which is something I really like. The other advantage is that because my blog is now installed in its own subdomain, I will be able to install plugins which depend on root installations. A fine example of this is FlipGallery, which I will be setting up soon.

I’ve felt myself really disconnected from the internet, even though not a lot of activity takes place on my blog. I found that I suddenly wanted to write about lots of things. I eventually made a text document noting things down to write about; all of which I plan to do in this post. I also though about the bigger picture, too: Where I’d like to go with my blog, and what I’d like to do. I still plan for it to remain as simply an online journal where I record my thoughts, which may be interesting to read about, however; it’d be nice to have a bigger reader-base, and have lots of comments to read and reply to. I also acknowledged the fact that I really don’t use enough images in my blog posts, and the majority of it is predominantly blocks of text, which a lot of people don’t appreciate or enjoy. Having thought about this, I’ve decided that I’m going to try and use more graphical representations and references in this blog post, and blog posts from now on, to make things more interesting.

You may have noticed (but probably haven’t) that I have removed the portfolio and haunted by coincidence categories from my blog. This is simply because I’m going to be running the portfolio on my website, or maybe even on XenDream, which is a website I’m starting with a friend. XenDream is still in the stages of being weaved together with strings of arcane excellence, but we hope to develop websites and website applications whilst following the motto “everything must be super sweet”. The haunted by coincidence one wasn’t really happening anymore. Perhaps I was just going through an odd observant stage of life, and now I’m simply oblivious to it. Who knows?

Some of you may have heard me talk about Marieke. You can see a picture of her on the left (which she looks very pretty in). We met online about two years ago now, in the MMORPG World of Warcraft. It was amazing that we met, really, considering the sort of people we both are. She’s quite a shy person, and the fact that she approached me in an online game and asked to join my guild is somewhat surprising, but the fact that I kicked her out of the guild (I didn’t know her at the time, and was annoyed because she wasn’t responding to me) and she then asked to come back is even more surprising. It wasn’t for a little while after that that we actually got to know each other. It was when she posted her picture on the guild discussion forum and I saw it that I just knew I had to get to know her. Now, two years later, we’ve been together, online, for over 11 weeks. We were together before: a few months after meeting each other, but unfortunately things didn’t work out and we became quite distant from each other. We didn’t speak as much at all up until the beginning of this year, when we started to speak a little more. It was a short way in to February when she told me that Placebo were playing in London on the day of her birthday, and completely out of the blue I said “I am so there!”.

I’m not entirely sure why I said that. I obviously always wanted to meet her, but I’m surprised I just said that. However, I didn’t think twice to change my mind, and a few weeks later I had bought two tickets; one for myself, and one for my friend Lenny, and was organising getting the train to London and everything. I think at the time I underestimated what finally meeting her would be like. I guess neither of us could really be sure, but I know that our feelings for each other when we met were so crazy, it was honestly the happiest day of my life. I’m so glad that I went up to London for the few hours we got to spend together, even though it did set me back £200. It was completely worth it, and that day has changed my life. We’re together now, and I wouldn’t even want to dream of spending a day without her. The whole passport kerfuffle, which you can read about in previous entries, occured because I want to go over and see her as soon as possible.

It’s hard to describe my feelings for her, really. I always find myself completely speechless when I attempt to describe what she’s like to anyone. I don’t know if you see what I see when you look into her eyes, if you did, you wouldn’t be able to explain it either. I actually have that picture set as my desktop wallpaper. It’s so nice to minimise everything running on your PC and be presented with a pretty face, although also upsetting when you’re reminded that the damn Irish sea is in the way. I want magic shoes.

The past 11 weeks have gone by so weirdly. In a way they have been really quick, but then when I think about it, it’s only 11 mondays ago since we saw each other, which doesn’t seem like a long time at all. We’ve spoken a lot in that time, really, loads. Also, having a girlfriend that enjoys playing video games is so very awesome. We’re currently playing Lord of the Rings Online together, which is great fun.

We have also been making use of the postal service (although the Irish postal service is about as good as the English bus service). She sent me this necklace a little while ago, which I haven’t taken off since I got it. I think it actually looks kind of Lord of the Rings-y. It’s actually the celtic symbol for eternity, which looks nice. It’s such a weird experience, seeing someone holding something on webcam, and then receiving that thing in the post 2 or 3 days later. Looking back on the day we met, it all seems like a dream now, something that only happened in our heads. Time is slowly drawing closer to when we get to meet though, and it’s going to be fantastic. I really can’t describe meeting Marieke as anything less than destiny, even though I find it hard to believe in things like that. Whatever caused us to meet, I am so, so thankful. I love you, Marieke.

Microsoft Surface, probably the world’s expensive yet technologically advanced coffee table has been on the press recently. If you watch the video above, you’ll see the uber amount of swish-awesomeness going on. However, if you think about it, imagine the insane amount of wireless networking that is going on. However, the part where the guy takes a picture, puts the camera on the table and the picture is displayed is pretty awesome. Even more so when he resizes the picture, and then simply throws it onto the mobile phone, which transfers it. If you’re a person fascinated by technology, then it completely gives you that “mmm” feeling.If you think more in-depth about it, it could be a really amusing thing to have, especially in a place with lots of people. Imagine putting it somewhere, and displaying an image of a £10 note on it. People will be scratching away at it for a while before they realise. Or you could get one and not tell your cleaner (because face it, if you can afford an interactive coffee table, there’s no way you know how to wipe a table or use a toilet brush) and display a picture of a coffee stain on it. Record her as she scrubs away at the table for a few panting-instense minutes and then looks comically bewildered by the fact that it hasn’t even faded slightly.

I mentioned earlier that I don’t think I use enough images in my blog posts. One of the reasons because of this, I think, is simply because of the time it takes for me to get my camera out of my pocket, turn it on and make sure the things I want to be in the picture are in focus. I got a camera because I wanted to take lots of pictures, and put lots on my blog, but now I find myself only taking them when pictures would commonly be taken, as opposed to taking them during my every-day life. A lot of the things I’d blog about would require me to be super quick with my picture-taking, so that I could provide an image reference to something I’m writing about, which is a shame really, as I do tend to see a lot of funny things. However, this brings me on to the iPhone.

I have never really been a fan of Apple products. I think the Mac is more a social movement than a PC. It’s a label. To own a Mac you have to be “cool”, and it’s not something I really wish to conform to. Not only that, but I’d hate to re-learn an entire OS where the foundation of attention seems to be directed at doing simple things which are made fun. Which, in honesty, is fair enough for a computer user who is still impressed by what computers can do, but from my perspective, I have never seen a reason for getting one, aside from the aesthetiliciousness of them. I’ve never liked the iPod, either. It seems to be far more trouble than it’s worth, what with having to use iTunes and converting files to a different file type and all of that. I much prefer the Zen, and thankfully own one. However, the iPhone is something different. Apple have touched a technology which other competing companies haven’t yet dived into, and they have made it look beautiful. The interface and lay out of the entire thing is just so nice, for the sake of your wallet, you just shouldn’t look at the buttons.

Apple have recently released that the US export date is set for the 29th of June, however, the European release date as currently unknown. Buying one of these uber gadgets (which will set you back a minimum of $500, in the States) will give you a phone that combines the technology of… Well… Check the website to find out the various features that the iPhone incorperates, because I can’t be bothered to write a list. I just hope Apple don’t screw it up by making you have to use a load of their damn shitty software so that you can own one. I’m looking forwards to the UK release of the iPhone, however, due to global economics it will probably cost £550 over here, and you won’t be able to import one from the US due to network differences, or something.

I was recently emailed a link to “No one belongs here more than you“, which is a website that has had a stupid amount of page hits, and has a genius idea throughout. Having an awesome idea for a website really is what it’s all about. You just have to be inventive and creative, yet simplistic and minimalistic at the same time. Kudos go to that person, for having such an excellent idea.

Going back to passports. I did a repeat of the uber grin I had on my face when my passport got sent off by the post office today. I got a text message from my Mum whilst I was at work saying “Your passport has arrived”, which made me so happy, because I was simply waiting on my passport to come back before booking to go to Ireland and see Meeka. I got really excited, and told Meeka the good news right away. We were both bouncing with happiness, I think. When I got home, I saw the envelope on the stairs, which was unopened, addressed to me. It was obvious it had come from the passport office. I opened it and out fell my Mum’s passport and the two birth certificates that I sent off with my application. It was such a anti-climax to see my Mum’s passport come out of that envelope. She must have had to sign for it, or felt the passport inside, or something. I completely forgot that I sent those items off with my passport. However, what I did was pay an extra £3 for insurance, or something. So what I’m thinking is either the passport sent them back because they don’t need the documents, or, the postal service they use with the insurance for the additional documents costs more and is faster than the service they use for sending the passport back, and therefore I may recieve my passport in the post in the next couple of days. I think that is quite possibly the case. It was still horrible to see my Mum’s passport come out of the envelope after that build up, though.

Have you ever noticed the gigantification of some objects that we use in day-to-day life? Perhaps you don’t really take any notice, but it is certainly around us. Two of the things which I really enjoy being bigger are the cup that you can see on the left, and my uber bed, which you can see on the right. I have another cup, infact, which holds around a pint of liquid, which is great for hot chocolate, but a little bit stomach-churning for coffee. My bed is awesome. It’s 6′ wide, and you can quite easily sleep four people in it, comfortably. Though in honesty I haven’t yet tried that… It’s pretty much square, actually, so I can like at any angle across it and be able to fit perfectly. Unfortunately it does make it a bit difficult to get into my room, as there is only about 18″ between the edge of the bed and the door, but it is so worth it.

The logo for the Olympic games, 2012, in London has been released. Apparently £400,000 was paid for the design of this. It’s a shame, really, because I work with a guy called Pete who could have done something far better for £50,000. I mean, look at it. It looks like a polygonated representation of a deformed person performing oral sex on another deformed person. Apparently the logo has had a “mixed response” but BBC insist that it is going to lead them forwards for the next 5 years, as if its not just an image, but some sort of alien entity on some purpose to bring the world together, or something.

I didn’t actually see the BBC news article which informed people that the logo had been designed and released. I actually saw a forum post where people were laughing at it. One of the replies to the thread on the forum contained this image on the right, which is highly amusing, and perhaps a little too true for comfort.

Recently I was blogging about setting up some batch files which a scheduled task on a client’s PC run at a specific time, FTP upload two stock-related files which have been exported from Total Control, their stock system, into a directory on the server their website is hosted on. The files are then renamed with a suffix of the current date, and are then processed by the server to update their online shop. It’s an insanely immense process, most of which was written by John. However, the batch files were so awkwardly troublesome. Due to different frameworks, or OS versions, or something, the date the batch files were grabbing (to rename the exported files) were different on the computer I was running them on than their PC, where the batch files would have to run to upload the files at a scheduled time.

After having no success with changing the batch files so that they worked, John and I brain stormed (or whatever the socially acceptable term for that phrase is now) some ideas until we eventually decided to make the batch files FTP upload the files, but not rename them, and instead get the batch files to open a website in the web browser which then renamed the files if they had been uploaded. I actually wrote this, which wasn’t all that difficult, but I have written some excellent small bits of code which have been used here and there recently. It’s fun making little things which have the opportunity and ability to expand into huge functions, especially if you learn along the way.

I was annoyed by people on the bus again recently. Well, I’m actually constantly annoyed by people on the bus, but this occasion annoyed me more than the standard level of annoyance.

The bus was full, and this woman in her early twenties got on the bus with four kids. They were all screaming and were covered in snot, Wotsits and Monster Munch. Why do parents insist on giving their kids the messiest available crisps? So, the kids all stood up; not one of them holding on as the bus travelled. It was quite comical, actually. The fat, chavvy mother was stood, taking no notice of her kids (or whoever’s kids they were), and was in fact talking to somebody on her mobile phone. Every 3rd word was “innit” and every 7th comprised generally of four letters.

Every time the bus driver accelerated or braked, the kids would all end up in a pile, the bottom one suffering from a thick, orange pastey trail of crisps and snot down their blinding-white t-shirts. Some people just shouldn’t be allowed kids. I mean, why would anyone honestly sleep, unprotected, with this woman. In fact, thinking about it, unless she stole those kids, I’d say it’s fairly likely she raped the father.

I work for a company called Cosmic, and a lot of the things we own, offer or do generally relate to the name, in some way or another. For example, our local file server is called Space. Our CMS is called Rocket, etc. There is a course we offer called ReTracking, which, in concept, is quite insulting. However, the people that go on this course are too thick to understand that. It’s generally a course which schools put students who are “challenged” on. Recently a new group of three students have started, each from a different school. I don’t think I have ever seen as much homoerotic banter occur in one place between a group of 16 year-old idiots. Seriously.

Two of them managed to get themselves banned from Cosmic today, though. They’re just the average kind of trouble-causing boys who try to show off to each other, and cause as much trouble as necessary. I think Cosmic were very forgiving with them, but the psychopathic taxi driver that freaked out when two of the kids squired the third, who was in the taxi, with water pistols. She put her foot down on the accelerator, causing her back wheels to spin, spraying gravel everywhere. The two kids who performed the gun-squirting ran. And I mean ran. The car bolted forwards about 10 feet in our car park, where she stopped suddenly. The kid sat in the passenger seat turned a dull shade of pale, whilst this dumpy, fat, old taxi driver got out of the car and started shrieking magnificently. Myself and Lee were just leaving for lunch, and therefore witnessed this vibrant display, which was awesome.

Prior to this happening, I went into the room where Lee was teaching him, and they attempted to interact with me. They have been nothing but trouble for the past few weeks, and I’ve had nothing and wanted nothing to do with the, however, I couldn’t ignore it when they were right there infront of me.

I was wearing my long coat, and was about to head out to get lunch when one of them said “Is your coat meant to be big like that”?. That is honestly one of the first questions from an intellectual minority which has baffled the fuck out of me. I couldn’t come up with a witty or sarcastic response, and I was in fact impressed with the amount of stupidity that was flowing through that question, preventing me from making a relatively sharp come back.

Seriously, though. Those kids are fucking stupid. They were caught throwing their lunch over the garden wall at some pensioners, and after the police had a little talk with them, they complained that they were hungry. They were also caught trying to set fire to a cigarette bin. A cigarette bin, for fuck’s sake. I mean, they’re using a shitty 20p lighter to try and set fire to a metal bin, of which the contents are supposed to burn anyway. Oh yeah, really clever there guys.

I was walking back to Cosmic after getting my lunch the other day, and I saw one of the ReTrackers walking towards me, his water pistol held out in front of him in attempt to look something like James Bond. We locked eye-contact, and I was just wishing that he’d aim the water pistol at me and squirt me with water, because I would have honestly round-house kicked him into the road, and it would have been awwwweeeesome. Unfortunately though, he didn’t have his friends to be gay around, so he just acted normally. As I got closer to work, I saw another one of them squatting down by the wall, where there are a lot of bushes. It was obvious he was trying to start a fire, and he didn’t see me at first. This was the point where I wished that I had quick-access to a camera, because in a few seconds I could have zoomed and taken a picture, and used it as evidence of attempted arson. As soon as he saw me get closer, and noticed my Cosmic t-shirt, he got up, immediately, attempting to look as if he wasn’t doing anything wrong, and walked casually closer to the wall. I looked at him…

“Are you going to stop trying to start fires, then?”
“I wasn’t doing anything.”
“Oh, so you were just squatting, facing the bushes because it was comfortable?”
“What?”

Seriously. Like some people shouldn’t be allowed to have kids, some kids shouldn’t be allowed to be part of society. In 10-15 years they’re not going to have gotten anywhere. They’ll just be the Dad to many different kids with many different mothers, walking around in their tracksuits, swearing, beating people up and generally being complete and utter twats. It was entertaining to see them run away when the taxi driver went a little insane, and it was also funny to see them come back, apologising with wide eyes when they knew how much trouble they were in, just to have one of the other people who works at Cosmic to quietly use a lot of expletives to explain what he thinks of them.

Anyway, it has been awesome to type this crazily long entry on my super-sweet keyboard. Blogging will resume soon, hopefully with more graphics in the posts, and more funny things to read.

P.S. Word count: 4091 (excluding this part).