Computer woes

[tahnan]

I spent five hours running anti-virus and anti-malware programs from a clean boot CD, running at least three different programs, none of which found anything much more interesting than some stray browser cookies. (And a virus in a zip file in a temp directory, so I don't know if it was even doing anything.) After all that: the damned thing is still here, intercepting all the links from Google searches. Plus my inverter died again, so I'm hooked up to a somewhat blurry external monitor. This is not my day.

Unrelatedly: I've seen a number of different people, in different LJ posts, post *leaves a pebble* as a comment (with no further text). What the deuce is that? I have to admit it bugs me, not because I don't know what it is, but because the Jewish tradition is to leave a pebble when visiting a gravesite, so unless all these people are saying "I saw your post and recognize that you're now dead", it seems very strange. And a little bit co-opting of one of my traditions, as if I posted *makes the sign of a cross* to mean "the letter t, short for 'thank you'".

Comments

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

"Negative connotations"? It's not about "negative connotations", it's about taking a culture's sign of mourning and solemnity and turning it into "hey, I read your post!". Screw, as they say, that.

How about, I don't know, "leaves a wreath"? "wears black and has people bring over ham"? "sets self on fire"? Take someone else's damned mourning rituals and leave mine out of it. Or how about, say, "I hear you", or, hell, the all-purpose Internetty "*hugs*"? The way my culture (our culture? I forget) pays respect to the dead is not available to mean "I wanted you to know I read your post". Comma damn it.

[tactical-grace.livejournal.com]

Well, the 'negative connotation' I was referring to was considering you to be dead. Which is not really what it seems to be about. (I say 'seems to be' only because I don't do it, so can't actually comment for the motivations of those who do.)

I never really thought of the pebble on the grave as a mourning ritual, though -- more of a 'someone was here and wished to show respect'.

And to the best of my knowledge, those doing the 'pebble leaving' are also Jews, so it's not exactly like someone is coming in from outside and misappropriating a tradition of yours. Doesn't mean you have to like it, though...