Last night, sometime between 12:00 AM and 4:00 AM, during a routine maintenance window, the server hosting my sites was shut down. When it was turned back on, it reported multiple hard drive failures. This means everything on the servers was lost. Read more

So, tomorrow's the big day: the all new, all better edition of Helvetti is being published. Yay!

We're having a big launch party here at Taneli's—er, I mean the studio. We've invited a lot of people. It's kind of a gamble because we paid no attention to who knows who. So it might turn out to be a real bust. Everyone sitting around looking bored, no one talking to each other. Ugh. Not a pretty sight.

Finns can be like that. Adults, I mean. The party culture used to be very formal. Small gatherings of friends at summer cabins are, of course, an entirely different matter. That results in drunkern debauchery. With the stress on the word drunken. Very drunken.

Mmm. Well, I don't think people will be shy and stand around like wall flowers at a dance. Everyone will have fun, but I'm afraid people won't mix. There'll be groups of people in which everyone already knows each other. Even though that's kind of boring, the groups tend to be sort of cold towards outsiders trying to enter the fray.

But I'm sure it'll all go well. Gotta buy lots of yummy good alcohol. I intend to shake off the dust on my dancing shoes. At least figuratively speaking. Party, here I come!

Haha! The baby really was spitting up the other day... No, I mean Blogger really was acting up. Sorry I moaned Pyra-guys. You're the best.

I should be studying for my psychology test that I have tomorrow morning. I'm half way through the book so far and I've been skimming, which means I haven't read everything and I can't remember anything that I have read.

My sister Elexa is studying with me. She has a Swedish test. You know, "jag kan tala bara lite svenska" and all that. You don't? That's too bad. We Finns know all about it. Finland is officially a bilingual country, so we have to study Swedish in school. All the Finns hate it and they want to kill all the Swedes. Well, not really, but that's how it seems sometimes. I don't hate Sweden. I want to move to Sweden. Swedes are cool. Except my Swedish teacher said that the Danes are even cooler. Even though Danish sounds like Swedish spoken with a hot potato in your mouth. Danes are more open. At least according to Mr. Skytt�.

You know, I do believe I'm rambling. Yes, yes I am. It's all part of my secret plan to imitate Mr. Riothero and eventually kill him and take his place as the ultimate boy wonder. Except that I'm not fifteen or sixteen or whatever Mark is. Or Catholic. Dawn my pagan parents! No, wait! I can still be an Internet rockstar—Ben wasn't a Catholic and he's better than you, daily. I still have hope! Only, don't tell anyone.

After my five hours of fame, I was rated only a three in goth-ness. I absolutely can't figure out why, though. I mean, only a three? Maybe if I added fangs and a pair of horns protruding from my forehead?

So tell me, am I goth or not? Heh heh.

13 Myths About the Results of the 2000 Election. This is very interesting. I don't really care who will win any more. It seems that the next president will have his hands tied by a pitched Congress and so his term will be both ineffective and inconsequential. I believe the only votes that mattered in this election were the ones for Nader and the Green party. Then again, I don't live in the US any more, so I won't have to live with the next president.

I'm writing an essay this morning on Machiavelli's The Prince. There's a lot of stuff on the net, but so far it seems I'll still have to write the paper myself. Damn those sites that offer free essays and college term papers! I wouldn't mind using one, but they're all so damn lousy. And Blogger is messing with my mind.

As I've said before on this site, I really like Dave Winer's Scripting News. I respect Dave. He is thoughtful, pragmatic yet idealistic, and he has real integrity. Because of how feel about Dave, I weird to hear him talk about politics. Dave has been leaning republican throughout the on going elections in the States. What bothered me, was not, however, that I disagree with his politics. It was more about how he has said what he has.

He has defended Bush with inane hypocrisy. He has made silly comments that ridicule Gore. He has belittled important issues. Seeing someone as reflective as Dave, getting pulled down into the mud that is partisan politics, is depressing. I mean, linking to sites like this and making a sarcastic comment to prove one's point is just plain dumb, be you Republican or Democrat. I thought Dave at least, coming from the software industry, would understand how serious a problem something like ballot design can be.

I suppose the partisan divide makes us all say stupid things.

Funny, I was just having this conversation with my brother and sister yesterday. Our discussion sprang from by my brother’s band’s guitarist’s opinion that women can’t sing rock. I agree with what Jack says about disliking female vocals having more to do with negative connotations. The preconception exists that a female vocalist means “chick rock” of something else that’s not just “rock.” I find the notion prejudiced. I mean, not all female bands can be stark raving mad man-haters who want nothing else than to destroy the entire male sex, can they?

I was out on the town yesterday evening. Had some fun, though I have to admit, I don't remember all of it. After experimenting with new and exotic drink mixtures on Eemeli's new blender, Petteri came by and dropped us off at Liekki bar. Liekki is a new bar on Uudenmaankatu near Bar 9. The interior was a definite disappointment. The lighting is dim and the lamps are shaded and hung low on the walls. But because the bar is fairly small and it has a high ceiling, it doesn't have the romantic charm of Santa F�, which is similarly lit, or the spaciousness of Blue Room.

We drank a round of Slash of Finger, which was invented on the spot for us. The drink was named after Markku's short film at the request of Konsta (aka Jimi P��kallo). Konsta had told Markku that the drink would be on the bar for him, but we had no such luck yesterday.

I recognized Miika Saksi of smallprint.net and sueellen.org fame at Liekki. I wanted to say hello but felt a little too wobbly to introduce myself. We toyed with the idea of me asking for his phone number under the pretense of having a little sister who is a fan of his, but I didn't have the nerve to go through with such a implausible ploy. And what would I do with his number, anyway?