Someone asked last night during the AC race which ISPs were being affected by the WACS/SAT3 cable breaks. MyBroadbands’ reliable super journalist Staff Writer has some answers:
The WACS cable downtime affects most large ISPs in South Africa, including Webafrica, Afrihost, Axxess, and Mind The Speed
And the intrepid and versatile Staff Writer also managed to test mobile connectivity at the same time, and found Telkom very wanting on the international side of things too.
Telkom is the worst hit by far. The tests show that it provides subscribers with international speeds of only 5% of local speeds.
I can’t afford a dog right now, and needed some other form of life in my house. Seeing as I just moved in, there’s nothing growing behind the couches/counters/etc yet.
Plus hamsters make me smile.
It was actually discovered in a horrible way.
Short version: the homemade wheel I made (using a hard drive spindle to be silent) broke during the move, and I fixed it with hot glue. It didn’t last a day, so I took it out to use epoxy. Let it sit for 24 hours. Put her ball that she runs around on the floor in on a mount so she can use it as a wheel.
She put all her bedding in there. After the epoxy set, I put the homemade wheel back in, and dumped the bedding out of the ball, only to find 5 babies (heh, fertile indeed!). I started freaking out, because this is the kind of thing they kill their babies over.
Ended up getting everything back in the ball (making sure not to touch the babies with my hands). She seems to be ok with it…
Longer details:
While I was freaking out and trying to figure out what to do, the mother took a baby in her mouth and started running around the edge of the cage like a frantic mother. A couple other babies grabbed on for milk, and she was dragging them around the cage underneath her. She kept stepping on one that was lying near the side of the cage, and it kept squeaking.
Considering the sheer girth of those cables, I’m surprised they break as often as they do.
Mylar, braided steel, polyethelene, polycarbonate, aluminium, copper.
Imagine being the guy who has to fix that shit.
Hamsters are weird like that, the mothers will instincly do what they need to do for the greater good of the litter. They will not worry about killing one or a few in order to protect their brood.
Yup, I was careful to use some plastic scoops to pick them up (scooped up the bedding underneath them).
I can’t tell if they’re all ok now though. They’re all in the nest, and I can’t disturb them for at least two weeks, maybe three. I’m just hoping if she does kill one, she tosses it outside the nest.
Take it from someone who’s kids have had chinchillas: they are not cuddly pets. They look it but actually holding one is another story. In addition to that, their sanitary needs are… unique and makes for … interesting cleanup.
