The dreaded 169.254.xxx.xxx IP range with a 255.255.0.0 subnet mask is the first indicator that there is something very wrong with your network setup and should you ever find yourself sitting with that IP range, then it is time for some serious cable checking.
Normally most machines get their IP assigned on booting up, where your computer using DHCP requests an IP address and the first available DHCP server responds by assigning one. If you are behind a NAT router then it will be the one handing out IP addresses and you will most commonly get an address in the 192.168.xxx.xxx range. If you are directly connected to the internet your IP address could be almost anything, depending on what address ranges have been assigned to your ISP.
However, if on start up your machine doesn