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So yesterday late at night someone hacked the front page of the site and replaced it with what you see above. None of the other areas of the site were affected, and the database wasn't touched at all. All I had to do was spend one minute reuploading the necessary files, and everything was back to normal. I also Googled the hacker's alias and discovered that he previously hacked the Bangladesh version of Google back in January. Looks like he's targeting low-profile websites now.

Oh well, shit happens. Good thing it was a relatively easy fix and nothing really damaging was done.
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Since I spend so much time working on a computer, I don't exactly get any exercise while I'm developing. The image above looks so ridiculous, but it's actually a legitimate commentary on the state of office jobs and health. takumi29@gmail.com
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So after years of going without a mousepad, I finally decided to get one because tracking over little details in Photoshop or placing the cursor between an "i" and an "l" proved too difficult on a wooden desk. The model I bought is the Razer Sphex, a mousepad that is marketed towards gamers. What I loved about the design was the thinness of it. It's like a thick piece of paper that you stick onto your desk. Looks very seemless and I don't even have to remove it if I'm using my desk for other tasks since it doesn't get in the way.

It's hard to tell how long something like this will last in the long run, but as of Day #1, this is so far so great.
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So true. Internet Explorer is like Ralph Wiggim from the Simpsons. Found it here. BTW, I fully support the use of Firefox, Chrome and Safari. IE9 is much improved over IE8, but there are still some issues that need to be patched before it is truly on par with the other three.
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I can't believe it. Two days ago I get an email notification that my credit card has been compromised. So I call the number on the back of my card and the person on the other ends confirms it. So now I'm waiting for the new one to arrive in the mail. What a hassle. Once I get it, I'll have to enter new credit card information into all the online sites that I use to make transactions.
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Since I spend so much time coding, I think it's important to be able to work in a quiet environment with minimal background noise. So I was looking around for quiet computer parts and came across this thing above. It's the Zalman TNN-500AF, a completely silent case that uses 100% passive cooling. It's a 0dB case, and contains the necessary parts to passively cool the CPU and video card. It also contains a fanless power supply. Combine this with an SSD drive and you'll have the most silent computer possible. The only catch is that the case is priced at over $1,200, and due to its passive nature, you can't build a high-end PC with it. Still, it's a very attractive option for people who demand the quietest work environments.
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In my industry, I really do seem to learn something new everyday, even if it seems that what I'm doing has already been done before by myself.
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I work at Ply Interactive full-time, but I'm taking on a side job to do a website for an architect in Seattle, David Clinkston. I like the more relaxed feel of a intimate contract job where I get to have direct contact with the client, but at the same time I'm wondering if it's worth the additional time to work beyond full time, especially when I don't really need to (I have no debts, and I don't rent or lease anything).

I think after I complete my current side job, I'll have to charge clients a much higher rate for it to be worth my time. Otherwise, I quite enjoy leisure.

Here's the site that I'm developing (but not designing): ClinkstonArchitects
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Well, that was easy. Had to re-create all the email accounts in order to get them working, but all is well.
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