The zero wing introduction is such an old reference that the abrasive teen-ager who was filling the twitter account with obnoxious alt right meme-speak wouldn't possibly acknowledge or likely even recognize it so I can trust that person is out of the picture for the moment.

I am certain that's a legit message because that'd be a reference someone my age would get heh heh!

There are good mouse and keyboard combos for cheap nowadays, treat yourself to something nice!

The TIMING of the attack and its complex ferocity makes it especially vicious and vile. Bottom feeders will out!

They confirmed they had full control back in the FA discord channel.

It's good to be back.

And yes, wired mice and keyboards are still a thing, USB connected nowadays.

I've been using Logitech wireless Keyboards and meeces for at least 20 years. Illuminated, I dunno.

All their base belongs to them and that is a huge plus. Also, isn’t your mouse powered by a small anthro rodent who is on the last legs and needs a good retirement? :P

The good news is only the domain name was hijacked, so the actual website and database itself was never touched.
The other good news is wired illuminated QWERTY keyboards and wired mice do still exist. I just don't know if your Asus computer has the blue and green ports for keyboard and mouse, or enough USB ports for them.

No idea how old your system is, but so long as you have free USB ports, you should be able to find mice and keyboards.

Personally, I use a SteelSeries mouse and a Corsair keyboard, but shop around and see what is most comfortable for you. Splurge if possible, as they are your primary input devices and should work well and last a long time.

Answers to your questions;
Yes. You can find all kinds of keyboards although I have never tried the illuminated one. I do, however, have a glow in the dark one that no longer works. (I'll be fixing it for sure) And you should switch to a wireless mouse. I did a few years back and now I cannot, for the life of me, think of any reason why I didn't make the switch sooner. Stubborn ol' coyote... that's why.

Illuminated mouse & keyboard: Yes, they still make them; if anything, they're even more common and popular than they were a decade ago. People trick out and customize their PCs now with light-up components the way our generation used to customize our cars with cool paint jobs and graphic designs.

Something like this, perhaps? https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Pro...../dp/B0B9M7LZD1

The only thing you have to watch out for nowadays is that the control/customization software for a lot of the newer models is made for Windows 10, and it can be tricky (or impossible) to get it to install in Windows 7 or 8. (And as for Linux support, forget it; most of the manufacturers can't be bothered.)

I'm sure they could. I use whatever is on hand since I don't need anything fancy.

Also, FA won't let me log in via Firefox anymore! :3

That's odd, I'm logging into FA with Firefox right now...

I found a solution. I'm good now.

ah, that quote coems from a game? the more you know... I gave up on computer gaming after we gave away our C64 in mid-80's...

re: kybd & mouse: is there a Microcenter near you? They have an entire aisle of gaming keyboards & mice / pointing devices. Your choice of keys (clickey, silent, etc). I'm using their "inland" house brand and it's just fine.

Oh! I Really like shopping at Micro Center and Micro World, as those venues remind me a lot of the old Fry's electronics stores, but without the store being "Themed." (I really miss the Fry's in Burbank with its "1950s Science Fiction" theme and my favorite Fry's in The City of Industry with its giant gears and faux factory setting.) The staff at Micro World are really sharp and every one I've dealt with knew the layout of the store to a pin! Unfortunately, both the stores I know of are in Orange County, about an hour's drive from here. Still... If one opens up closer to Burbank or the tri-city area, I will surely "Raid" the place for the peripherals I need.

The theme for the Fry's here in Austin wasn't all that impressive, sadly -- Austin bills itself as "the live music capital of the world", so when they built the Fry's, they went with a "music" theme by having a giant piano as the facade over the front door, an electronic player piano running continuously in the middle of the store, and neon music notes on the walls.

Still miss it, though. It was such a shame how that chain repeatedly shot themselves in the foot in their latter years. (Much like Radio Shack, who also managed to repeatedly mash the self-destruct button with one bad business decision after another...)

Alas, the closest Micro Center to me is three hours away up in Dallas, so you're still better off than I am!

I have a friend in Fort Worth. The Fry's there was also kind of "Bland." There was also a big "Record" store called "Forever Young" that had thousands of CDs and even cassette tapes. That was where I found out that the 1960s "Psychedelic" group "The 13th floor Elevators" originated in Texas. I feel that the closure of all the Fry's stores was because of the expenses in upkeep. The Burbank store with its "1950's Science Fiction Movies" theme must have had a private squad that dusted, maintained and repaired all their figures. I believe their "Gort" from the Forbidden Planet" set now graces a lawn in Pasadena, CA.

That friend in Ft. Worth being Matt McCullar, of course. That little doodle you left in the decorative birdhouse-looking storage thing (no idea what it's actually called) on the wall in the bathroom the last time you visited is still there, BTW.

Fry's was killed by a number of things, really. They, like a lot of other brick-and-mortar retailers (Sears, anyone?), failed to anticipate the rise of online shopping and get out ahead of it -- somewhat ironic for a tech-centric retailer, but there you have it -- and when they did get around to establishing an online store, they treated it as an entirely separate business. There was no integration between them, so the retail outlets wouldn't honor the prices shown online, the online store couldn't tell you if your local outlet had something in stock or not, and you couldn't place an order online for local pickup. That, right there, cheesed off a number of potential customers. (They did eventually get some kind of integration going, but too late for it to matter.)

Their salespeople were on commission, so if they saw you pick up any item of significant value for any reason, even if just to get a closer look at the specs on the side of the box, they would practically teleport right next to you in their eagerness to "write you a ticket" for the item so they'd get credit for the sale before some other salesperson did. (Circuit City used to do that as well, which is why I never liked going to them for anything, either.) Most of them also weren't particularly knowledgeable about their products, and there were more than a few occasions where I heard some of them just flat-out making stuff up on the spot and lying to the customer they were talking to on the next aisle over.

Getting them to honor their warranties or take returns was like pulling teeth. The local store here replaced my Minolta color laser printer under warranty, and when I got the replacement home, it turned out to be defective -- and when I brought it back, they tried to tell me that the warranty only entitled me to a single exchange, and I had to go full Karen "get me your manager" before they would agree that replacing a defective unit with another defective unit did not consistute a warranty replacement.

(The fact that the replacement was defective out of the box also highlights another thing that killed them: When people did return things, they were known to just seal up the boxes and put them right back out on the shelf. Sometimes they'd put a sticker acknowledging it was a customer return -- and sometimes, they'd re-label it as "refurbished", said refurbishment consisting mainly of the Fry's employee making sure all the accessories were still in the box and then re-sealing it.)

Even in their heydey of fully-stocked stores, when they were known as "geek meccas", they still had something of a reputation for lousy customer service, and it only got worse as they declined.

But I think what really, finally did them in was their attempt, in the late 2010s, to switch to a "consignment" model where they would only pay their suppliers for products when and if they actually sold. Most of their suppliers immediately said "Uh, no, we're not doing that" and promptly stopped shipping any products to them, so once the stores burned through whatever inventory they had on hand, the shelves started emptying out, never to be refilled. Kind of hard to stay in business as an electronics store when you have no computers, no cameras, no motherboards, no phones, no car stereos, no printers, no TVs...

I read that Newegg (the rebirth of Egghead stores) is intentionally shipping returned/faulty things AND WERE CAUGHT BY CLEVER BLOGGERS who made unboxing videos revealing mangled motherboards. One chronicled how returning a NEVER OPENED, still "sealed" motherboard box was denied a refund because it was used and damaged. Sadly, no gov't or "consumer protection" agency is taking up the case.

As to Sear's: they were probably America's FIRST "mail order catalogue for EVERYTHING" but the dopes fell for the big lie that MALLS were the way to go, so they dropped the Sear's Catalogue just in time for QVC, HSN and other home-shopping-TV networks to eat their lunch. And they never bothered to backpedal to recover. SImilarly, US General Tools went clueless trying to sell tools in malls only. They went bust, taking away a good source of useful hand-tools that nobody sells anymore.