Filed under: General Thoughts
Well, it’s been a busy few weeks here, as evinced by… well, nought, as far as you all can tell. I’ve been lazy with regards to all kinds of aspects of communication, and it shows. Sometimes, I am amazed that anyone even pays attention.
So, here’s a summary (I do this more than I should, I think).
I’ve finally got my own computer back again. Although it’s been a frustrating month (All of September) with no personal computer, on Oct 1 I received the aforementioned shiny new Macbook Pro 17”. This thing is a titan among computers, easily being usable as a TV too 
I’m much pleased with it.
In connection with the above-mentioned computer acquisition, I should be looking at updating some plugins I’ve got out in the wild; I’ve been meaning to for ages, but because I’ve been without a computer for what feels like forever, it hasn’t happened.
In what can only be called an embarrassment of riches, on the same day I received the new MBP I also received my work laptop, which is well on its way to being an adequate replacement for my work desktop. Shockingly all of it works, except for the goddamned wireless, rendering it more or less 100% tethered at home. More to come, there.
I finished Neal Stephenson’s “Baroque Cycle”, a 3000-page epic set in the years preceding the enlightenment and telling a very interesting (fictional) story about the lives of Newton, Leibniz, and some fictional people of the time. It took me ages to read, but it was so worth it.
I’m at 37 jumps now, only one injury!
I should get to work.
Bioshock kicks my ass eight ways from Sunday. I am so pleased with it, and am so going to try a replay.
Filed under: General Thoughts
As I write this, I am so ridiculously unmotivated…
I don’t know why, but every time I look at something that isn’t work-related associated with the computer, I get this massive sense of ennui, and a powerful desire to … well, that’s the problem. No powerful desire at all.
I could be working on “cron-o-meter”:http://cronometer.sourceforge.net/, and in fact, I’ve started hacking out the outlines of the changes I want to make, but the scale of the alterations necessary to robustly support the fixes we need daunts me, for some reason, and I can’t bring myself to start.
I could be working on learning Perl, but for some reason the language just bores me.
I could be working on my “Azureus plugins”:http://azureus.sourceforge.net/plugin_details.php?plugin=autocat, but — again — no motivation.
I could be reading a book, but I don’t have a powerful desire to do so at the moment.
I could be playing a game, but … meh. Just don’t care.
This is irritating. A long weekend, and a big, steaming pile of fuck-all accomplished. I’m not happy with that.
Filed under: General Thoughts
begins today.
Well, yesterday.
Okay, actually, the first time I did it with the laptop. No, not that it, the other it.
Heh.
What I’m trying, scatteredly, to convey is that as of today I’ve bid Windows farewell. Barring a need to install it for games (which MAY happen) at some time in the future, it’s history. I am using a nice, clean install of a linux, now, and I like it.
Of course, it has issues, not least of which is the 3D support. Which doesn’t really exist, at least as far as I can see. However, that might change. I’m sure you’re all fascinated by it, so I’ll keep you all posted.
Filed under: General Thoughts
It’s been trickling its way through my consciousness for a while now that I want an Apple computer.
Yes, yes… New toys, etc…
(Warning! Geek talk ahead!)
The fact of the matter is, especially as I use Linux on my laptop more and more, I’m feeling more comfortable with the Unix/Linux OS setup for day to day use. I’ve even been wondering how well it would work on my desktop, which is — for those that don’t know my preferences as well — a revolutionary event. Still, I’m finding fewer and fewer issues with it that I am unable to handle, and those that are concerns are becoming less important.
Still, with regards to my main desktop, due to its ubiquity there’s certainly good reason to keep a Windows box running around the house. Also, I just spent a stupid amount of money on it, so it’d be awfully foolish to just up and toss it.
However, when it comes to mobility, I haven’t been running windows since December, and frankly I don’t miss it. Char does, but I think I may have worked around the last major objection she had to the Linux by getting MS Office working on the box. It’s amazing what some people can code up if they try. The thing is, though, that I’d like to give Char this laptop full time — put Windows back on it, tune it and make it hum, and then just leave it completely. The problem with that is that having a laptop makes school phenomenally easier. The school lab systems are alright, but they’re… dirty, a lot of the time, and they’re often occupied. I’m not a fan. Having a laptop makes it possible, if not always easy, to work at school.
So, in that vein, I intend to save up for an Apple Powerbook. Not the ultra-high-end one, because I just don’t need that in a laptop. But the 15” powerbook is reasonably-powered and, if not cheap, plausibly attainable with some scrimping. In a year or so, anyway. I don’t expect this to happen overnight. And I have commitments to honour with regards to saving up a down payment on a house. But I’m putting this on the table as a savings goal so that I can prod myself with it every once in a while.
Filed under: General Thoughts
Well, since my foolishness caused our laptop keyboard to acheive b0rkedness (spill dole juice on your keyboard. Observe follies) I’ve been immobile.
Til now.
A guy in UACS was kind enough to loan me a roll-up keyboard. I shit you not, this thing looks like it could take immersion in acid. The tactile element is a bit out, but I’m getting used to it — it’s a bit springy, and takes a bit of force to press keys, but other than that it works a lot better than the one that doesn’t work that is attached to the laptop.
It’s slated for replacement, though.
This will be weird.
Filed under: General Thoughts
Purring underneath the sleek black exterior of my new toy is 3GHz of intellerific goodness, doing double dancer duty as a development device.
Yes, that was nonsense.
Still, since I had to get a new PC (Not too happy about that, still) I might as well enjoy it!
Filed under: General Thoughts
Well, there’s a couple of less-than-pleasant “things-falling-apart” issues in my life at the moment. Nothing too serious, they’re all material goods as opposed to the more valuable social and emotional connections.
First, it seems that some dumb yokel wandering through our back alley sometime in the last week saw fit to smash the back window of my truck. It’s held together mainly by virtue of the tint film that was on it. Simon and Mel noticed it and brought it to my attention yesterday. Bunch of savages in this town, I kid you not.
Second, the beast is misbehaving. My computer is beginning to experience hard crashes (lockups bad enough that I have to reboot the old-fashioned way and my registry is getting corrupted. If that’s greek (geek?) to you, don’t worry. Translate it as “BAD” and you’ll do okay) and that annoying hard drive failure issue… I fear that I’m going to have to accelerate my replacement plans, but I’m going to hold off in the hopes that it won’t be necessary. /me is crossing his fingers with great hope.
Filed under: General Thoughts
Woke up this morning having recovered nearly 100% from the partying last night. Sure, it was out of character for me, but every once in a while it pays to be a bit less moderate. Missed some people that should have been there, but all told a good time was had.
The time was not so good this morning, however. I woke up to a clicking noise coming from my new hard drive (the one that Char bought me for my music) and essentially a dead drive with little to no hope of recovery.
Except…
I take the damnable piece of cack back to BCom and they check it out and it works fine there. So I bring it home, and lo and behold, it works like a damned charm!
I’m not too trusting of it at this point, though, which tells me that maybe — dud or no — I need to investigate a newer drive. I’m starting to think that it’s gonna end up being a problem elsewhere in the PC — it’s plausible that the hard drive controller itself is b0rked. Not a happy thought, that.
Filed under: General Thoughts
I gots a laptop! 
Okay, colour me fourteen shades of enthused about this. It’s not quite the godbox i drool over, but it’s mobile, it’s powerful, it’s colourful, and it’s ours!
If i needed another sign that Char’s the gal for me, the fact that she was as enthusiastic about this as i am was more than enough confirmation for me… Can’t go wrong - geek chick and cute, to boot!
Filed under: General Thoughts
As some of you probably know, for the last couple of years my right wrist has been getting more and more sore and strained. This isn’t really a surprise to me, since carpal tunnel syndrome is basically a known side effect of spending as much time as i do at the computer.
The thing is, now that i’m actually taking steps down a path towards a career in computing, i have to do something about it, because the condition is only getting worse as time goes by, not better.
So, at the recommendation of one of the premier tech sites on the net, and at ridiculous personal expense, i purchased a pair of “smart gloves” to see if they could help. The gloves arrived just yesterday, so it’s too early to tell how well they’re gonna work, but here’s hoping i see a difference.
I’d like to be able to use my hands in the future… Ya know, they’re kind of useful
Posted on October 9th, 2007 by Chris
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