Intarweb, I heart you so

My email was down at work today. This is a regular occurence in China, apparently. Someone decided to send me a 4mb picture, and my computer spent 6 hours (and 4 failed attempts) trying to download it. I hate Outlook because you can't choose what emails you want to download. If someone decides to forward their work to the whole company (a regular occurence), then I have to download and sift through steaming piles of useless email.

So, no email = no work here at the moment, so I had to kill most of the day looking busy while not getting bored.

The Top 5 Websites I Visit While Bored At Work (while trying to look busy)
1. Wikipedia ("Geek's Paradise")
2. Yellowfever.co.nz
3. About.com
4. Isohunt
5. YahooXtra

Number 5 is to keep up with news at home, fullstop. Number 4 is to *gasp* download shit at work! I know this sounds naughty, but for all the strict rules run at my company, one thing they don't do is monitor net traffic. The connection is far from lightning, both here and at the Osaka office, but I can get most of an ep of 24 at work, to get the rest and watch it that night. Fabulous.
About.com, which I have been neglecting of late, is to learn Spanish (why else?). "But shouldn't you be learning Chinese, Timothy?" I hear you inquire. Firstly, it's Tim, please. Secondly, Spanish is an awesome language, my girlfriend speaks it, and I'd like to add another notch to my language belt, if only to have private conversations with her. I have far more motivation to learn Spanish, but that's the way my whole life has been run: every major decision I've ever made was decided by a girl. It's worked out so far (well, sure there's hiccups, but all in stride).
Number 2 is the fansite of the newly born Wellington professional football team, the Phoenix. I don't really do board posting, but I think I may have finally found a board I am willing to share my opinion with. Sure, there are other boards that share my interests, but techno music boards just aggravate me because everyone is slightly arrogant over how much they love their electro.
Wikipedia, which would be dethroned by YouTube if I had access to sound at work, is the most fabulous invention utilising the net ever. Freedom of information on a mass scale. YouTube is the most entertaining site, but Wikipedia is the most interesting by a long shot. Maybe its just cos I'm a geek. I even use wikipedia regularly as a work reference, and for translation research. So you can imagine it completely busts my balls that you you can't access Wikipedia from China. I mean, that kind of attitude can make a guy hate a country in a heartbeat. Or at least hate the guys who run it.

I thought it was awesome that the last 3 days I've been unable to access my blog from the net here (as in, I could edit it, but I couldn't view it). I thought I'd been censored nationally for my comments on the nation. As it turns out, the net was just screwing up. Sad; here I was thinking I had a fairly impressive impact factor.

I'm a postmodern and popculture whore - sure, not as much as Chris, I can't stand Britney or Good Charlotte and I won't buy a Louis Vuitton wallet, but I love me my movies, gigs and fashion, yay I do's. So here in Anti-diverse-culture Central, where sure there's ads for Coke and make-up, but I'll be damned if I can find a film festival or drumnbass gig, the net is worth its weight* in gold.

*Wikipedia says the net weighs a mere 35.24 metric tons**.


**Of course it doesnt. Or maybe it does. How the hell should I know - I'm NOT ALLOWED TO LOOK IT UP.


~~Oh, you weren't laughing at the question, just the colour of my shirt~~