My Net connection was dead all day, starting at about 2 in the morning, and it just came back in the last hour some time.
Of course, I was away from the computer when it came back, so the time-sensitive stuff I needed to do on the Net didn't get done before 5 Eastern.  Grrrr.
If I vanish again for a big block of hours, it went out again. 
I have a Comcast tech coming tomorrow afternoon to troubleshoot the damned thing.  Let's hope he finds it.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

I wonder what Doug's powers would do with the hymn My Life Flows On in Endless Song:

Quote:My life flows on in endless song
Above Earth's lamentation;
I hear the real though far-off hymn
That hails a new Creation!
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing!
It sounds an echo in my soul;
How can I keep from singing?
What though the tempest 'round me roars,
I know the truth, it liveth.
What though the darkness 'round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that rock I'm clinging.
Since love prevails in heav'n and earth,
How can I keep from singing?
When tyrants tremble as they hear
the bells of freedom ringing,
When friends rejoice, both far and near,
How can I keep from singing?
To prison cell and dungeon vile
Our thoughts to them are winging;
When friends by shame are undefiled,
How can I keep from singing?

An actual almost word-for-word transcript of a call I took yesterday at work.
***
Me: Spokane Dispatch, how may I help you?
Caller: Who is this and why were you calling my girl?!
Me: This is Spokane dispatch for Spokane Cab?
Caller: Don't lie to me, asshole. Why were you callin' her?
Me: Sir, this is a business. Did she order a cab, possibly?
Caller: Now tell me the truth, damn it. How long has this been going on between you two?
Me: Sir, we're a dispatch service for a cab company.
Caller: I told you to stop lying to me! Because I am seriously pissed off right now!
Me: Sir, like I said, we're a business. This is not anyone's personal number.
Caller: You think this is funny? Who the hell is this? Why the hell were you calling her?
Me: Sir, this is a dispatch office. We don't call anyone. People call *us*. Good-bye. *hangs up*
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2010/12/1 ... an-passes/
Warning, Sankakua Complex is NSFW! Also, maybe a bit hyperbolic in their predictions and anaylsis.

Quote:Tokyo’s ban on anime, manga and games featuring “virtual crimes” or
which are “likely to interfere with the healthy development of youth”
has passed after the DPJ agreed to support it.

The DPJ’s only addition to the critical portion of the law was a short
rider which requests “prudent application of the law in light of any
artistic, social, scientific or satirical merits the work might express”
– it does not however add any legal obligation to consider these, or
establish any clear or indepdently enforced criteria for judging whether
a work can be declared “harmful” or not.

Even more bizarrely, the final draft actually removed a passage that
imposed “a duty not to possess [photographic] child pornography” on
Tokyo residents, whilst leaving the section banning erotic manga and
anime (and explicitly excluding photographic materials) all but
unchanged – that the bill is intended exclusively as an “anti-otaku” law
seems to be beyond doubt.

It is very difficult to objectively assess the scope of the law – along
with vague and subjective terms like “interfere with the healthy
development of youth,” the law also includes “etc.” on the end of most
of its examples, leaving it quite unclear, for example, whether the
“improper glorification of illegal sexual activity, etc.” applies to
only virtual sex crimes, or all crimes in general – presumably the
interpretation adopted will be whichever is convenient to censors.

Similarly, the ban’s mention of “rape and other sexual acts which
violate societal norms” seems inevitably to point to a ban on depictions
of homosexuality, considering who was behind the law.

The generally expected form the law will take is that of a “amakudari”
(a pervasive system of sinecures for retired bureaucrats) body which
will inspect all anime, manga and games, with only those titles
receiving approval as “healthy” able to be sold regularly in Tokyo shops
– the rest will be relegated to the “adult corner.”

The most immediate and direct effect of the law will almost certainly be
to see ecchi manga such as To Love-Ru, bishoujo titles such as Champion
Red and most BL manga, as well as any seinen manga with especially
mature themes, banned from general sales – presumably most will then be
cancelled due to a lack of suitable magazine or tankobon distribution
channels, with a few perhaps being resurrected as 18+ ero-manga.

As has already been seen, publishers will also likely be purging future
anime, manga and games of any content liable to fall foul of the law,
and removing older titles from distribution.

The law probably also spells the end of most late night anime in Tokyo
(and by extension, everywhere else), which it would appear to ban under
its distribution clause; given the vague wording of the current season
alone it seems Ore no Imouto, Panty & Stocking, Yosuga, Sora no
Otoshimono, Milky Holmes and others would all fall foul of its various
stipulations.

There is also some doubt as to whether Comiket will be able to be held
under the new regulations – if not, its cancellation or removal to
another prefecture seems likely, although a lack of sufficiently large
spaces may severely complicate this.

The law comes into effect in July of 2011, so with magazine, tankobon,
anime and game release schedules being what they are, it seems likely
its effects will be felt much sooner; in a genuinely democratic state
there might be scope to overturn it before then, but from what has been
seen so far it seems unlikely publishers have the guts or savvy to do
anything about it.

Mostly putting this up as a compare/contrast between my Operative Weyland planned build and X's Arachnos X. Target numbers here are higher def(he's almost soft-capped to most everything) and recharge (the faster the pets are out, the more DPS he's bringing to the table). I'd like to keep the resistances if possible, mostly because they're useful in ensuring he can take a hit if it gets past his def. Beyond that, most of it's malleable.
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.90

http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Operative Weyland: Level 50 Natural Arachnos Soldier

Primary Power Set: Crab Spider Soldier

Secondary Power Set: Crab Spider Training

Power Pool: Leaping

Power Pool: Speed

Power Pool: Fighting

Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:

Level 1: Channelgun

• (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
  
• (15) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  
• (17) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
  
• (17) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
  

• (A) Resist Damage IO
  
• (3) Resist Damage IO
  

• (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
  
• (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
  
• (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
  
• (13) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
  

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
  
• (5) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge
  
• (5) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
  

• (A) Resist Damage IO
  
• (7) Resist Damage IO
  

• (A) Detonation - Accuracy/Damage
  
• (9) Detonation - Damage/Endurance
  
• (9) Detonation - Damage/Recharge
  
• (11) Detonation - Damage/Range
  
• (11) Detonation - Damage/Endurance/Range
  

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
  
• (13) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
  
• (21) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
  
• (23) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
  

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
  

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
  
• (19) Recharge Reduction IO
  

• (A) Detonation - Accuracy/Damage
  
• (19) Detonation - Damage/Endurance/Range
  
• (29) Detonation - Damage/Endurance
  
• (29) Detonation - Damage/Recharge
  
• (31) Detonation - Damage/Range
  

• (A) Obliteration - Damage
  
• (21) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
  
• (31) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
  
• (33) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
  
• (33) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
  
• (33) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
  
• (23) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
  
• (37) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
  
• (37) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
  
• (40) Reactive Armor - Resistance
  
• (40) Reactive Armor - Endurance
  

• (A) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance
  
• (25) Red Fortune - Defense
  
• (25) Red Fortune - Endurance
  
• (27) Red Fortune - Defense/Recharge
  
• (27) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
  
• (31) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
  

• (A) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Damage
  
• (37) Multi Strike - Damage/Endurance
  
• (42) Multi Strike - Damage/Recharge
  
• (42) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Endurance
  
• (43) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
  
• (43) Multi Strike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  

• (A) Detonation - Accuracy/Damage
  
• (34) Detonation - Damage/Recharge
  
• (36) Detonation - Damage/Range
  
• (36) Detonation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
  
• (36) Detonation - Damage/Endurance/Range
  

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
  
• (39) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
  
• (39) Reactive Armor - Resistance
  
• (39) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Protection
  
• (40) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
  

• (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal
  
• (34) Doctored Wounds - Recharge
  
• (34) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge
  

• (A) Call to Arms - Accuracy/Recharge
  
• (43) Call to Arms - Accuracy/Damage
  
• (45) Call to Arms - Damage/Endurance
  
• (46) Call to Arms - Defense Bonus Aura for Pets
  
• (46) Call to Arms - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
  
• (48) Call to Arms - Endurance/Damage/Recharge
  

• (A) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Recharge
  
• (45) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage
  
• (45) Expedient Reinforcement - Endurance/Damage/Recharge
  
• (46) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
  

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
  

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
  

• (A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage
  
• (48) Blood Mandate - Damage
  
• (48) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
  
• (50) Blood Mandate - Accuracy
  
• (50) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Endurance
  
• (50) Blood Mandate - Damage/Endurance
  

• (A) Run Speed IO
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Endurance
  
• (15) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy
  
• (42) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod
  

  I should have said something sooner so I don't have any excuses besides cowardice. Anyways I owe some of you folks an apology for my uncalled for words last week during...err after the failed Apex TF.
 
 It was rude and frankly insulting when I had said some folks were not really contributing as much because they didn't have their alpha slot filled, I was angry and frustrated at our lack of success but it deffinatly wasn't right to say that when ya all were doing the best you could so I am sorry and I'll do my best to keep my foot out of my mouth.

with my little i... an update to the status of the next chapter! hopefully it'll hit the "shelves" before the new year!
-Z, Post-reader at Medium
----
If architects built buildings the way programmers write programs, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization.

Megajoule, the player that wrote Faces of the City, one of the best CoH stories out there, has a little snippet based around the Apex Task Force.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=246654

The Girl Genius writers have a novel, evidently.
Its on webscriptions:
http://www.webscription.net/p-1344-agat ... -city.aspx

...that all Nanoha DVDs appear to have vanished completely from the marketplace?  I've been trying to get a box set of A's for a little girl of our acquaintance but no one has it (or the first season) any more.  Everywhere I go, brick-and-mortar or online, it's out of stock and no one knows when they'll get any more in.  And Funimation has taken it off the list of their shows on their website.  Was the licensing yanked or something?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.