time and relative dimension in space

I JUST ORDERED A NEW LAPTOP AND IT WAS INSANELY EXPENSIVE AND I AM MAYBE HAVING A SMALL ANXIETY ATTACK ABOUT SPENDING THAT MUCH MONEY. I mean I very carefully saved up enough for it before buying it and it was a well-considered purchase and I need a new laptop, poor Shanne is five years old, all five of those years have involved very heavy use, and she's on her last legs, my poor bb. She needs a relief pitcher. (Um, is that the right metaphor? I know nothing about sportsball.) But still, spending that kind of money all at once freaks me out something awful.

(According to Google the average lifespan of a Sony VAIO is closer to two years. I'm so sorry, Shanne, thank you for putting up with me and struggling through.)

I bought the HP Star Wars Special Edition notebook, because it's super cool and I'm a geek. It's going to be my first touch screen computer, and it's got pretty great stats, too; I went for the best available options on almost every feature, which is one of the reasons it's so expensive. But I would like it to last like Shanne has.

HOWEVER. This presents a new dilemma. All of my previous laptops have been named after Pogues songs (Shanne Bradley, Sally MacLennane, Lorelai). Originally I was planning to name my next laptop either Victoria or Aisling (neither of which is technically on a Pogues album, but they're both on the unreleased box set so IT TOTALLY COUNTS), but it feels weird to name a Star Wars themed laptop after a Pogues song. So. Straw poll!

[Poll #2036747]

Does anyone use Chrome? Is it worth trying it out?

I'm attached to my Firefox but it's suddenly started leaking memory for no reason (I went through and checked all my plugins and add-ons and everything and nothing accounts for the memory leak) so it may be time to try out a new browser. Any recommendations?

Changing browsers is scary! :|

Okay, so bb!brother left to go back to school today, which means starting Monday I'll be having the house to myself for chunks of time again, which then means I can start actually working on my List Of Shows I Haven't Watched Yet again. Yay.

So the thing is I have to actually decide which show to tackle next.

(I swear I will eventually get to everything on that list. Plus some other stuff, probably. Current poll options based on what I'm most interested in right now plus what I know I can get hold of reasonably easily.)

Vote pls?

[Poll #1666013]


...man, eventually I should throw together official "Movies I Haven't Seen Yet But Should" and "Books I Haven't Read Yet But Should" and maybe "Musical Artists I Haven't Listened To Yet But Should" lists, shouldn't I?

Would anyone be able to offer some technical support? :|

I got an error message earlier telling me there was a hardware installation problem and "ActivityMonitor" is not verified by Windows and might screw up my computer. (This came at the same time as a popup notice telling me to restart my computer to complete my AdAware update.)

This set off my alarm buttons for many reasons, not least of which that I was not installing any hardware. Or even using my external drives (SOMETIMES THEY LIKE TO REINSTALL THEMSELVES idk idk, but they weren't plugged in so that issue is moot).

I googled it and found a discussion on AdAware's support forums, which resulted in no clear answers but AdAware insisting it had nothing to do with them and was probably just malware piggybacking the program.

Regardless, I turned off AdAware, installed Malwarebytes, and ran a scan. Which turned up nothing. But I uninstalled AdAware anyway, just to be safe. While uninstalling, the hardware installation error message came up again.

A little more googling led me here. However, checking my task manager showed none of the ActivityMonitor-related processes and a search turned up none of the related .dll files, so, again, idk.

So...should I be taking this as "my AdAware was corrupt but now that I've gotten rid of it no problems!" or should I be trying to find a better anti-spyware program to beat it?

Anyone have any experience with USB hubs?

Mine has glitched* three times so far today and I'm afraid this is a sign it's starting to fail for good. Recommendations for good (preferably cheap) replacements?

*In case the problem is not actually irredeemable failure of hardware: by 'glitched' I mean that without warning my computer will act like I just plugged in the hub and will reboot my EHDs (which are what I run off the thing). This doesn't seem to be affecting the drives in a negative way so far but it is still not a positive state of affairs.

...also, it has never done this before today.

Er, help?

Word count: 14133

Query: Would it be entirely too Black Donnellys ripping-off of me if Conor wins the restaurant in a card game? Because I can't seem to come up with another way for him to become the owner of a restaurant. Suggestions welcome.


Today the little brother bought a PS3 and is currently setting it up. I don't entirely understand gaming consoles, but I gather this is a Good Thing for him.

...um. Would anybody be willing to do a quick beta of a Lost fic for me? It's 1200 words, future fic, Aaron-centric, and...a little bizarre. I really suck at judging my own writing, so I'd really love someone to look it over and tell me if it's something I should just keep to myself or if it's suitable for posting.

...please?

...anybody interested in betaing some fic for me? It's ~1500 words, Zanna Don't!, Buck and Candy friendship for smallfandomfest.

I'm nervous about it 'cause a) I've never written in the Zanna Don't! universe before and b) it's been so long since I finished any fanfic at all... and c) it's for a prompt and all that. Any outside opinion at all would be greatly appreciated?



Also, look! *points at icon* Julia Murney as Santa Claus! ...I know, it's not December yet.

I know there's some computer gurus on my flist (yes, ninja_headcrab, I'm looking at you) so I'm appealing to you for help.

My laptop's having the problem described here. I have no clear idea how to fix it, it's incredibly annoying, and I would like it to stop. Any advice? :/