y.st./source/pages/en/weblog/2015/05-May/11.xhtml

<?php
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$xhtml = array(
	'title' => 'My laptop takes it&apos;s last breath',
	'body' => <<<END
<p>
	Evolution is being a pain about encryption.
	It refuses to encrypt letters to people unless I have either signed their key to verify that I trust it or I tell Evolution to trust all keys.
	The fact that I want to encrypt a letter to someone does not necessarily mean that I truly trust that the key belongs to someone in particular.
	I send letters to people I don&apos;t know and do not trust.
	I still want the $a[NSA] to keep out, so I still need these letters encrypted.
	I&apos;ve told Evolution to trust all keys for now, but that means I cannot distinguish between keys that I honestly trust and keys that I do not trust.
	This is suboptimal.
	I much prefer the way Claws Mail handles it.
	It warns you that the key is untrusted when you try to send the letter, but allows you to use the key anyway if you like.
</p>
<p>
	I decided to plug in an external mouse to deal with my built-in one locking up continually on me.
	This solution, while far from ideal, has either comejustin time orhasmadethings worse.
	The built-in mouse no longer functions at all, even right after waking the machine.
</p>
<p>
	It seems that Cricket finished cutting off my service a full month ahead of when I thought they would.
	I&apos;m not really prepaired for this.
	It will be about a month before the $a[SIM] cutter arives, and the $a[SIM] card for the new plan is too large.
	This is what I get for counting on a plan that I wasn&apos;t paying for any more.
	It was a gamble from the start, and it did not pay off.
	Then again though, it did buy me time to find the cheap MetroPCS plan, so in the end, I think it will have worked out for the better.
</p>
<p>
	Maybe tomorrow I will start a three-month experiment, and actually use the MetroPCS tablet.
	Last time I tried such an experiment, it made me appreciate my Replicant device all the more.
	While Replicant lacks certain useful features such as wifi connectivity, it more than makes up for it in simple features that Android has no excuse not to have.
	Android really should have basic ext4 support on $a[SD] cards,for one.
	The internal storage used by the system is formatted as ext4, so the ext4-handling code is all in there, yet for some idiotic reason, Android can&apos;t mount an ext4 $a[SD] card, claiming the $a[SD] card is corrupted or blank.
	To transfer my music files to the $a[SD] card, I need the character set support ext4 has.
	$a[FAT] simply won&apos;t cut it.
	Not to mention that $a[FAT] file systems are so easy to break ...
</p>
<p>
	The other option is to go running to T-Mobile proper.
	I could cancel my plans to attempt to get the MetroPCS \$15 $a[USD] per month on my Replicant device and just get the T-Mobile \$20 $a[USD] per month plan.
	The T-Mobile plan is better in a couple ways anyway.
	First of all, it doesn&apos;t require buying a specific device to get the plan.
	Second, they plan is entirely $a[SMS]-free!
</p>
<p>
	On second though, both of those options are bad ideas.
	I should at least try to get the MetroPCS plan working, as the $a[SMS] feature would keep my mother happy.
	But at the same time, I can&apos;t function well on Android, I&apos;ve already proven that.
	The proper choices would be to ether wait the month or so until my $a[SIM] cutter arrives or to attempt to cut the $a[SIM] card by hand.
	Either way, the $a[SIM] card <strong>*must*</strong> be cut soon after getting the device.
	I have seven days from the time that I get the MetroPCS tablet to say &quot;This device does not satisfy me.&quot; and get my money back.
	If the $a[SIM] card cannot be cut, fitted into my Replicant device, and the bring working service to it, there is no point in me buying this \$150 $a[USD] device that I won&apos;t even use anyway.
</p>
<p>
	The first of Yst Dawson&apos;s two packages arrived today, ahead of schedule.
</p>
<p>
	<strong>*(At this point in my writing, my laptop gave out on me and I began writing my weblog entries on my mobile.)*</strong>
</p>
<blockquote>
	<p>
		Day 0:
	</p>
	<p>
		My computer has just given up the ghost.
		With both my computer out of commission and my mobile out of service, I now have no connection to the network.
		I will attempt to keep a personal record of what is going on while I&apos;m disconnected, but without an actual keyboard I may not be as verbose as usual.
	</p>
	<p>
		As I had been saying before my computer died, my new mobile protective case came in today, ahead of schedule.
		Unlike my old case the new one seems to be built to be opened and closed repeatedly.
		For that reason I decided to try it out early because the only reason I have been wanting to wait was to avoid extra damage to the case from opening the case more times than necessary.
		The new case does seem more durable, but at the same time, it is harder to push the hardware buttons and the main on-screen buttons.
	</p>
	<p>
		I&apos;m not sure what to do with this.
		I feel trapped.
		I need to get ahold of another laptop as soon as possible.
		Luckily, my most recent backup is from yesterday, so even if I can&apos;t recover my hard drive, I shouldn&apos;t lose much.
		I do hope to recover the data from my laptop hard drive though, as it contains the rest of today&apos;s web blog entry, which I had been writing when the computer started messing up.
		At first, the control keys on the laptop quit working.
		It is when I went to restart the machine in an effort to get the keys to function again, that the computer quit working altogether.
		It won&apos;t even show signs of even starting to boot.
		The power button simply does nothing.
		I hope to be back online before my canary expires, but I have no guarantee that this is going to happen.
		I will probably try to get down to the second-hand computer store on Wednesday, as I have the day off.
		I would not be able to buy one right away, but I will be able to explain what I need from them and see if they are willing to help.
	</p>
	<p>
		I tried putting the battery pack in my laptop, and for some reason, the laptop booted once more.
		I took the opportunity to backup the one file that I did not have backed up from yesterday, which was a partial weblog entry from today.
		I also updated the copy of my KeePassX database on my mobile as well as copied my $a[PGP] key over.
		It&apos;s not like the files will do me any good on mobile though, as I have no network connection.
		I should have taken the opportunity to update my canary to state that a could be away for an extended period of time and let a few certain people know via email that I&apos;m fine.
		However, I got cocky and decided to experiment.
		I shut down my laptop and tried to boot it back up.
		It would not boot.
		I had one opportunity to get some last minute things done, and that was all.
	</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
	I couldn&apos;t update my <a href="/a/canary.txt">canary</a> today, as I was cut off from my Web/ssh server.
</p>
END
);