Greetings.

This has not been a good week for technology.

First, my primary laptop died. That is to say, it refuses to turn on now, and the power brick is making clicking noises, but only when the laptop itself is plugged in. Good thing I have a secondary laptop on hand.

But...second, the internal wireless card on my secondary laptop died. Or, at the very least, is no longer recognized by the OS -- the power indicator light still works. Good thing I have an external wireless PCMCIA card.

BUT! Third, the right channel in my external stereo speakers died. The left channel works fine, of course. Good thing I have a TV with audio-in nearby AND I was planning to replace the speakers soon, anyways.

Yikes. The last two I can handle without many problems, but the first...I am thoroughly enraged that my "high-performance" laptop has fried about 80% of it's original equipment in less than 5 years, on top of not working at all now. Let this be a lesson for all -- do not give in to the temptation of Alienware.

On a more positive note, Week VIII of Project Omega's Phase I has been successfully completed. Now we have a better idea of what we want to achieve, as well as a little bit on how to get there. Should this trend continue, Phase II will start around the end of September.

Mr. Bond, signing off.