Smooth and Flat

So I took some pictures this morning. I tried yesterday as well but it was raining (or, rather, pouring) so it didn’t end up well. Maybe if I had a normal photo camera instead…

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So my DSL modem is running at line speed of 5300/768 or something. And it’s Dec 2nd. Who’d have guessed, my internet access plan is still 2Mbps. The speed is still at 250K/sec max.

I’ll postpone it until daytime, though.

In other news: Gundam 00 S2 and Toradora! are getting better and better with each week, however I can’t say the same about Akane-iro or Chaos;Head. Said Akane-iro is diving deeper into plain fanservice, and Chaos;Head would do better if the plot wasn’t that complicated – the series itself is not really pushing me towards analysing the events and trying to find the culprit or the big idea, because… this show is only entertaining, nothing more. To put it harshly, Chaos;Head is quite a dumb series.

Also, watching Freedom (the OVA series about some idiots from a lunar city going to – guess where – Earth, which was said to be completely destroyedby a war or whatever). At ep 4 now; and to be honest, I don’t think I like the series.

Here in StPetersburg there are tons of internet service providers. Some of them are good, some are of “do not want” class, and some are monopolists. When there’s choice, you can always move to some other company – like I did with the internet access at my apartment in the city. I had Russia Online ADSL at first, then moved to WebPlus ADSL for better prices (uh, like, 2 times less money for 2 times higher speed), and finally when a FTTB-class provider appeared, I signed a contract with Nevalink (however, I moved to SkyNet in August or so to save some money – and appears SkyNet is the best choice for now as I don’t need more than 4Mbps there).

However, I don’t live in the city (because I hate people, right)  - and here in our small village there’s only ADSL access available, and to boot – only one company. And it’s not WebPlus. It’s Northwest Telecom – a company with a long history. Basically, it’s about high prices… and service. For example… let’s assume I want to change my access plan. To move from my current 2Mbps plan to the new, cheaper, 4Mbps I needed to visit the ISP’s office (which has huge queues because NWT’s primary service is PSTN and they’re controlling like 90% of the city and the surrounding area) and write a paper stating I need to change the plan – and the paper must be signed by the phone line owner. Moreover, you have to do it 3 days before the next month starts. Because they only change plans on 1st of the next month. This is so convenient!

There’s another ISP here, though. FTTB/FTTH-class. They are really nice and their prices are only 3 times higher than this ADSL I got (note that in the city, FTTB usually costs 1.5-2 times less despite providing better service and a symmetrical channel).

Oh. And more.

I’m getting 4Mbps starting December 1st. But now as I’m using 2Mbps, my line is locked at 2500/664 kbps physical link speed. And… if I don’t call the techsupport, I’ll end up with a 4Mbps plan on a 2.5Mbps line. This is called Customer Service.

Why am I not in the U.S. or Canada? Why?!

The Pink Friday event starts in less than seven hours, and they have so many stuff I’d like to get! While I might be able to get something (like a new CPU and a motherboard for it) via my friends overseas, I’m sure there’s no cheap way to transport a 60″ TV from the US.

Anyway, I’m quite stressed right now. I really wish that they will sell more than one of each to a customer and so I’ll be able to get a set.

My stomach hurts so much…

I’ve watched 5 episodes of Kannagi in a row. Why they do this?.. I was laughing so hard that I almost choked, and my head hurts a bit now. This show is completely awesome even though it lacks originality. The character designs are neat and clean, the animation is quite good, and Nagi and Tsugumi are so lovable and cute… Well, almost all characters are great, even Zange (though I dislike her).

Nagi’s lies and honesty are so touching.

And… that’s why I skipped Kannagi for 5 weeks straight. I’m afraid of watching series I love because when they finish airing I won’t have to look forward to the next episode. Rewatching is not a solution – I like when I don’t know what will happen.

P.S. Nagi’s facial expressions just kick ass.

I’ve been postponing quite a few episodes of some series with a reason “not in the mood for that, I’ll just watch these later” and in the end I keep getting spoilers (mostly from IRC) on episodes which aired a month ago. Some examples include Kannagi, Xam’d, To Aru Majutsu no Index, Akane-iro (to much less extent though), and a few others.

Mostly, though, it means that my interest in the series is not high enough; for example, I never postpone Toradora! or Skip Beat! along with Gundam 00. I do have too much free time, though (even at work) which I spend on IRC, World of Warcraft and Burnout Dominator; it’s not that I need to force myself to watch the series listed above, it’s just that I don’t bother. Sometimes I think, “I should watch this series now”, and load it in my media player – and then I end up watching it until the last (aired) episode.

On the other hand, there are series which make me feel a bit awkward when I think of watching them. For example, Kannagi – somehow there’s that feeling of unrest if I think about getting to watch the next episode (I’m stuck at episode 3 or so, where Nagi came to the school). I don’t know how to explain it, really – it’s usually the same with hentai stuff (which I watch really rarely, but still watch sometimes).

With some series, I’m just afraid of getting pulled into the pace – as it happened with Hayate no Gotoku! when I ended up watching it completely in 3 evenings.

Crossdressing in my Gundam 00?.. No way! (ilifin has something to say on that, too.)

So, who is godmodding in Gundam 00 now – Celestial Being or those Innovators?.. So far it looks like CB has kind of… lost the lead as they keep getting surprised or ambushed suddenly. Their crew also has a lot of problems – motivational, mostly.

I think I really dislike that ‘Billy’ person. By the way, I don’t recall why would he remember Setsuna… Did they meet somewhere already in S1?.. I wonder if I need to rewatch that series. I fail. Setsuna stormed into apartment when Sumeragi and Billy were there and took Sumeragi with him. Thanks to Remo for reminding me.

So, I’m challenging the Tuned Series again, and once again I’m stuck with the event where you have to takedown that Tuned Muscle three times to unlock it – three times in a 2-lap race where it takes almost a whole lap to catch up to that car…

Seriously, what a hassle.

There are ads in StPetersburg underground which promote a local GSM operator, Megafon’s, internet access services – the posters feature an USB modem plugged into a laptop computer. There’s something about that laptop – it’s a Macbook Pro (old one, not the new series). Even though you can only see a small part of the notebook on the photo, the keyboard gives it away – it has no usual Home/End/PgUp/PgDn keys (and the colour is pretty distinctive, too).

Is this a hidden advertisement of Apple’s MacBook Pro series laptops? (It’s a conspiracy, run for your lives!)

P.S. Megafon now advertises Apple’s iPhone, as well.

Can’t decide which entry is cuter – TeiReisen or Yakumo Chen?.. Chen is so silly with her megaphone, but Reisen… Then there’s Ran cosplaying Suika and going “nyahahaha”.

Scarlet Mansion Tsukkomi was nice too (as well as Patchu Mirin), but I didn’t like those two as much.

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