Entropy is Crap
Sadly, this is a true story.

With all of the virus scares that have been going around lately - just the real ones (I don't give a crap about lame hoaxes) - I have become quite cautious and update my Norton AntiVirus files weekly. Shortly after I ran the last update, I experienced extreme problems with my Internet connection: it was difficult to get a stable connection, and if I got one, it would crap out after 5 minutes or so.

Ok, you might think, so call your provider and complain. But due to the nature of my job, which requires 24/7 Internet access, I have two different accounts myself and a third account under which I work for one client exclusively. And they all suffered from the same symptoms (that was the first thing I checked). Rebooting my PC countless times didn't help either.

So I started thinking about what changes I had made to my hardware and software configuration since the problems arose. Couldn't think of any. Just that Norton AntiVirus update. I think deeply about that. Oh fuck, I thought, what if some asshole smuggled a virus into the Norton AntiVirus update routines? Wouldn't that be delicious irony? I wanted to check the Web to see if I could find anything, but I couldn't get a stable connection (ha ha).

Needless to say, I was perplexed. I got nervous and started kicking my feet under my desk because I was so pissed off. And then I accidentally kicked the underside of my desk. Hard. Ouch. And in my pain, I was inspired: check the cables, dumbass. So I did. I wiggled both connections back and forth and then restarted my PC again just to make sure. Then I dialed in to my primary ISP. Connection was perfect.

Ok, now you're thinking I'm a complete dipshit. Cut me some slack, ok? How am I supposed to suspect that a shitty RS-232 cable is capable of loosening itself from the serial port? And then I remembered a concept I learned in high school chemistry, entropy (look it up if you don't remember or never made it past the 3rd grade). Man, entropy is crap.

Update: Your CrapMeister now surfs on a DSL connection - fortunately, Ethernet cables are much less susceptible to entropy...

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