You know what I really hate? Humidity. I enjoy humidity the way I enjoy performing a hernia operation on myself using a wooden spoon.

Yesterday we had it really bad though. But come on, it’s close to October now, this heat and humidity crap should behind us as we look forward to cooler (and drier) weather. But nooooooo, summer simply HAS to hold on a little bit longer and vomit its digusting, oppressive moisture on us all. Sheesh. I think the bottom of the ocean has been drier than this.

I like temperate weather. I like seasons (minus summer), and I like being able to wear the kind of fashionable clothes that you can’t wear in hotter climates (especially a nice black leather blazer to impress the ladies). I like leaves changing colors, snow covered streets, and an excuse to snuggle down by the fireplace with my lovely during those cold, dark evenings.

If I HAD a lovely that is.

Great, now I’m depressed again. I think I’ll go to Blockbusters and rent a slasher flick. That always makes me feel better.

I’ve been using the Torrify Browser at my job for a few weeks now, and man did I fall completely in love with it. Ever since I got into it with my boss over his refusal to accommodate my disabilities (among other things), and watching him piss all over my efforts to go back to school, I no longer felt safe using my work PC to surf the net and blog when things at work got slow, at least not with him lurking around. So I started exploring my options. When I somehow stumbled onto Torrify, I found something that not only enabled me to keep my browsing contents off the servers, it also enabled me to install the StumbleUpon and ScribeFire plugins as well (something I couldn’t do on my work PC). I now had a completely portable browser on my USB thumbdrive with all the goodies I needed for secure blogging (and *ahem* a little bit of stumbling too). It even bypassed the server filters so I could once again access Pandora and other streaming radio sites, something I USED to enjoy until the party crashing snotballs in ISD (Information Systems Department) decided to block it all.

Only problem was Torrify’s ability to access the Tor network (for anonymous web surfing). Initially it was slow (which was to be expected), but then it suddenly stopped working altogether. I’m not sure why, but I wasn’t too concerned about it since I rarely used it anyway. My main concern was keeping my content, cookies and whatnot off ISD’s servers, and Torrify was able to accomplish that for me quite nicely.

Now it looks like Torrify has become XeroBank, which will eventually offer anonymous email and a completely portable virtual machine (??????). It also offers hi-speed access for anonymous Internet surfing (the cheapest package being ten dollars a month), and I had to admit its touted features looked impressive. Offering a true broadband solution for secure and anonymous surfing had been an elusive quest for many privacy minded users, so if XeroBank is able to deliver here, this could be the start of something big.

I, of course, already signed up for a 3 day demo.

Sign up for your own XeroBank Account

Important Update and Review:

After receiving email instructions on how to download Xerobank, I went to the site to choose the 3 day demo, but then it it forwarded me to a signup page for an account even though I had one already. Oh well, a minor hiccup that didn’t affect my account status, since I was able to download the browser from my Profile page without any further issues.

When I went to extract the files into my thumbdrive though, my antivirus software AVG suddenly started to throw a FIT, insisting that one of the XeroBank files was a trojan (Generic4.XXX). The name of the offending file was called KillProc.dll, and after a quick Google search I learned some antivirus products like to make a false hit on this particular file, even though it did have legitimate uses (which is to kill processes, duh). Still, this is probably gonna freak some people out if their AV also starts going bat crazy because of this particular file. AVG was still trying to grab and quarantine the file in my case, so I couldn’t get it to extract properly when I ran Xerobank the first few times, and sure it enough when I closed the browser, the processes were still running in Task Manager. I finally disabled the AVG shield and extracted it successfully, but then had to flush and recopy the files on to the thumbdrive a few times because the Firefox add-ons seemed to lock up on me for some reason.

When I finally got it running smoothly, I noticed the start page gave some some IPSpy statistics on the network I was currently using to surf anonymously. I was being rerouted through a server in Germany, but there was definitely a clear difference in speed compared to the Tor network. Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!! At long last, anonymous BROADBAND!!

From what I could tell, I wasn’t actually using the Tor network anymore (even though oddly enough, the add-on to access the network still came pre-installed as it did in Torpark). My guess is that it’s being relegated as a backup option now, while your real connection is granted via an assigned static IP address as regulated by XeroBank. I’m assuming if I signed up for a Plus account that I would probably still be maintaining the same static IP, though this could really just be a unique characteristic of the demo version.

The important thing was that my connection was now effectively proxied, AND it was operating at broadband level speeds. If XeroBank can maintain this level of service, then man it’s definitely worth the 10 dollars a month it costs to use the Plus version at least. I can finally entertain my delusions of grandeur of being the faceless superhero who hacks his way through the Internet in an endless pursuit of truth and justice.

Update 2:

After being contacted by one of the administrators of XeroBank, I learned that if you wish to downgrade to the free “Torpark” version of the browser after installation, simply delete the two files in Data/XeroBank and you’re good to go. It was also confirmed the the static IP I was initially assigned would eventually be followed up with a broader range of IP addresses as they continue to expand their network and work out the remaining kinks.

Yeah yeah, there’s been some talk about butt faced men getting some serious cuddle time from hot women around the blogosphere, so naturally I had to chime in.

First of all, this is the Sun we’re talking about, you know, the UK tabloid Brits fondly refer to as a shag-rag, and which also sport fascinating headlines such as “Double Decker Bus Found on Moon!” As soon as I found out the source right away I knew this article was going to be a load of crap. I mean seriously, the dudes in the photos didn’t even appear all that ugly. They’re no Ben Afflecks, but they’re certainly don’t look like a bunch of butt balls either (though one of them could use a real haircut).

Was this really supposed to make Elephant men like me feel better? To me it just conveys the message, “Wow, lookie here, even the skanky ones are getting some loving, so there must REALLY be something wrong with you if you can’t match their success!” Thanks guys! Here, come a little bit closer so I can use an ice cream scoop to rip out that part of your throat box giving you that snooty British accent. Trust me, I’ll feel better if you do.

I sound bitter. Am I bitter?

Yes, I know, it’s been a month since I last blogged. I’m aware of that. No need to keep reminding me. Shut up already.

After such a long hiatus, I’ve come to the realization that I’ve lost my blogging mojo. I have some suspicions about why this is so, but I’m pretty much stumped as to how I can get myself going again, if ever. I used to blog up a storm in times past, but now I just don’t have the passion for it that I used to.

I think part of it is that I’m pretty much all talked out (after having vented for so long on just about everything and everyone). I’ve blogged about my personal life and the traumatic experiences I’ve had in the past, about religion, politics, romance, the legal profession, and whatever else tickled my fancy. Then I just grew tired of it. No matter what I did, any blog entry I made felt flat and boring… like the one I’m writing now.

But rather than give up (because I truly enjoy writing), I’m going to turn over another leaf and try again, this time with a more candid emphasis on my personal life, and perhaps a little dabbling in fiction here and there.

I’ve also cleaned up the blogging backend, dropped a bloated plugin that seemed to slow the load times here, and brightened the text a little bit for easier reading.

So, a new year, a new slate. Let us see what 2007 has in store for us.

Ayup, every other week I get to enjoy a short 4 days off due to following a flex-schedule. Poor wil me.

I had a couple of things on my mind this week that I was looking to blog about, but now I’m so tired I pretty much forgot about it all. This constant fatigue is something I really need to address soon. Because of my weird working hours, I usually start my job in the middle of the day, and then come home late at night, resulting a wacky sleeping routine where I could find myself getting up as late as 11 o’ clock in the mornings. I’m just not disciplined enough to go to bed at a more righteous hour so I can start the next day like normal people do.

Yet the two most pressing things I need to do is set a schedule to do my law school prepping and prepare my meals accordingly, and then STICK with it. Instead, I have this tendency to get up at 11AM, fire up the computer, and then surf the Internet for the next 10 hours or so.

Not. Good. If I do go to law school, I simply wouldn’t be able to get away with this kind of crazy routine, and even if I could, it’s a very unhealthy lifestyle to follow. So the time has come that I must exert a little bit of discipline, at least to help prepare me for whatever awaits me in 2007. I’m not optimistic that I’ll succeed, but what the hay, I have to try anyway.

I think I need to change the focus of my blog a little bit. Most of my writing thus far has been utter monkey crap, so it’s obvious I haven’t found my niche just yet. I think the problem is that I’m trying too hard to mimic the style of the more successful blogs, and investing too much effort trying to scheme up ways to boost my traffic levels. I really should just write and be done with it, and let the rest take care of itself.

I’ve been a real mess lately, partly because this should have been the time I’d be starting law school and a brand new life, and instead I’m stuffing my face in with ho-hos while watching Grade-B horror flicks on the Sci-Fi channel. Probably not the best way to be spending the last days of summer, but, whatever.

So, where to go from here? Bottom line: I have a year to pull my self together before I start law school. That’s a year to get healthy again, pay off my debts, finish the rest of my law school prepping, and get myself bulked up so I can impress those impressionable law school chicks.

Problem is, it’s hard to stay motivated when I’m not even sure I’m going to law school. But then I consider the alternative… there IS no alternative. All I have now is a dead end job I’ve been working for 6 years, and 6 years could easily turn into 60 if I don’t start taking chances NOW. So… this is it. The next 12 months will either make me or break me. But I can do it, because I have the discipline and the will to go out there and accomplish great things, right? Right??

Oh hell.