Well, no, I'm not dead, but my PC ceased to exist, hence why I haven't been so active in a while.
I'm working on my end to fix the problem, fruitlessly so far.
My motherboard was fried pretty badly and as far as I'm concerned, repairing it would be a waste of time and effort, or so I've been told at least.
Right now I'm looking for a replacement, I would never imagine it would be such a pain in the ass, but it is.
My apologies to all of you who didn't get a reply from me in the last several weeks. I do log on facebook from XBL now and then, when I feel particularly inclined. Sadly, this is only thing I have at the moment. So if you really need to contact me, this would be the only way.
Hope everyone is well and alive!
-Z