I’m running a little behind today due to yesterday’s Hope-and-Change-a-thon. So while I’m working out something substantial for y’all to read here on GOTR, go check out my latest on New Media and the GOP at Today.com.

John Hawkins from Right Wing News has a beginners guide to Twitter, for all you Luddites out there who haven’t signed up yet for the great conversation.

* Some people use Twitter as sort of a public instant messenger. They talk to their friends and acquaintances that way, but instead of doing it on AIM or ICQ, they do it on Twitter.

* Others use Twitter commercially to promote a product or website. For example, I use my Right Wing News account on Twitter to post links from this site, Conservative Grapevine, and Right Wing Video.

* Another possible usage of Twitter is to treat it like a blog with a 140 character limit per post.

Come on, isn’t it time you joined the rest of us?

Remember the other day, maybe a week or two ago, I was telling you about the troubles with my Dell and the Dells of others, and how Windows Vista is ass? And how I was glad I bought Carbonite?

Yeah.

So, have you bought it yet?

I’ve been on it for nearly two years now, and I no longer have panic attacks when blasts from the past hit me up for a “friend” link.

The first time one of my maternal cousins dropped a note, I logged out of Facebook for a month. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s not an ill-will thing. It’s more of a “please don’t make me remember what our childhood was like because it was insufferable and even thinking your name brings up terrible memories” thing. Kind of like what it must be like for those that go through a battle together. Bound for life, integral to the healing, but just really tough to deal with.

But now… not so much. I have actually been carrying on a conversation with one of my Long Losts for the past few months, and I love it! Of course, we were closest in age (that’s a really big deal in a family where we were 2 of 156 grandchildren and 126 great-grandchildren - as of the count done in 1987), so relating to each other is easier than it has been with some of the others. Yet it isn’t like we had a friendship from childhood as a starting point. He was there, around the house, for sleepovers when I was in footie pajamas and he was in Spidey Underoos. He and/or his mom made the occasional trip to The Cottage with us. And of course there were the dozens of funerals (inevitably in the coldest winters) that would have the clan flocking to our version of Deliverance in Northern New Brunswick. But our lives as cousins or friends seemed to end when Howard (the old Indian) died in 1987. Without its patriarch, there was no family.

And with very much pleasure, my mother’s family cut me off completely when she died - I pretty much did the same to them, too. It was the healthier option. Do you know there is actually a sort of “support” group on the Interwebs for us descendants? Where we regurgitate shit to get it out of our nightmares, and then go back to ignoring each other? Every family ought to have one!

So yeah, the panic attack thing isn’t foolish or overly dramatic. I’d say you “had to be there”, but I wouldn’t wish that on you. I am just so thrilled that I have been able to connect with my Long Lost and get past the hyperventilation phase. He was fun as a kid, and he’s interesting and cool as a grownup. And yeah, I did make it a point to tease him about the Underoos.

You know that Carbonite Backup thingy I ordered a few weeks ago? Thank God (and Rush Limbaugh) that I did. No, I haven’t had a problem yet, but the laptop continues to be finicky, and a friend who has the exact same model just had hers lock up and die two days ago. It may be a Dell flaw - hey at least this flaw doesn’t cause the laptop to burst into flames in your lap like the last time Dell had issues!

Anyway, Carbonite is doing a 15 day free trial if you want to try it. Which, if you have a Dell Inspiron 1520 or 1720 (I have the 1720), you may want to do it. Now. Right now, before your computer crashes in 3…2…1…

I swear, they make these products for people like me, who were to cheap to buy the infallible Mac and stuck with MicroFuckingSoft PC (Piece of Crap).

…it’s probably good enough for me.

I hear ads for this every day on the radio, so I did some browsing to see what it was all about. Now that my computer is my source of income, I really can’t afford to call up a new-ish client and say “Oops, everything got deleted - can I have another two weeks to get that done for you?” I’m figuring $50 a year to recover everything really isn’t so bad, right? I mean, I’m on a PC running Vista - god only knows what could happen!

It’s kinda like insurance - you hope you never need it, but you pay for it because when the day comes, you don’t want to be without it. I’m signing up for my 30 day free trial. I hope I never need to use it!

…Allah.

From Mo’ Toons to Mo’ Tube.

All those videos about death to the Infidel that kept getting taken down at YouTube? They’ve found a new home at MohammedTube.

H/t: Broom

… but that still doesn’t make me any more comfortable with this measure.

Cyber-bullies who plague internet chat rooms with obscene and insulting comments will be banned under the first national scheme to strip them of their anonymity.

People going online will be forced to provide their real names and social security numbers under a new law that makes internet portals responsible for policing message boards and weblogs.

The law has been introduced in South Korea, and is certain to be closely monitored by other countries where there is concern over online abuse.

The move, which is decried by some as an overly fierce infringement of online liberties, aims to curb the most damaging excesses of so-called “keyboard warriors” – people who concoct sex-scandals, fraud allegations and other libels that chiefly target figures in the public eye.

No thanks. As long as I’m not getting spammed, I’m pretty tolerant in my comments section. No death threats, no spam… other than that you can say what you want. I have rarely (very rarely) deleted or banned anyone. If you want to be an anonymous wank-stain, you’re welcome to it.

A segment of animated footage promoting the 2012 Olympic Games in London has been removed from an official website following fears it could trigger epileptic seizures.

The jigsaw-style logo is made up of four jagged pieces that form “2012″ in a series of colours, and was meant to engage people with a dynamic, modern and moving style, organizers said.

While the logo itself does not pose a health hazard, 18 people have reported having epileptic seizures after viewing the animated footage.

A section depicting a diver plunging into a pool that has a multicoloured rippled effect triggered the most complaints.

“I’m really shocked,” said Simon Wigglesworth of Epilepsy Action, a British health charity. “They know flashing lights can cause problems.”

Natural selection, foiled again by the PC Police. What a load of bollocks. If you can’t even watch TV or surf the net without getting hurt, may I suggest offing yourself now and saving us all the trouble of caring for you and your neuroses?

The 10 Real Reasons Why Geeks Make Better Lovers