Brandon's Blog

1/12/2008 #

Computer Repair

I now know how to fix a misbehaving PC. This seems to only work for hardware problems. Most of the time.

First, avoid getting stressed out. You might react stupidly and actually do something that will hurt the computer, or you might just get mad and hit the computer. Either way, the computer will be damaged. If you stay calm, conditions will not deteriorate.

The important thing to realize is that the computer is probably faking it. It wants attention. You might have had your only shot to try KDE 4.0 this week on a different machine, and it wants to grab your attention — keep you focused on #1 — and it is taking a bit of a theatrical swoon strategy.

Go to sleep without solving the problem. Make a few verbal gestures toward perhaps replacing the machine. It’s about time anyway, you think, and there’s a lot of cheaper-better-faster hardware out there these days! It might be fun!

Really go to sleep.

Don’t go back and try to work on the computer again after you can’t sleep. If the computer can fake it, so can you.

Wake up the next morning, and try to fix the problem. Don’t try too hard. If the computer is doing something non-threateningly noisy, allow it to do its thing for a while.

Grab a laptop (if it’s not your one laptop that’s acting up), sit in the room with the computer, and shop for new equipment. Start getting sold on stuff. Add some things to your cart, maybe. Perhaps check your available debit/credit balances. It’s a good time to buy, isn’t it?

Pretty much decide that it’s time to pull the trigger, ditch the clunker, and make things right. The next computer obviously won’t have these problems right after its warranty expires.

Get up, switch off the computer (if you’re still allowing it to act up).

Wait a second.

Say, “This isn’t going to work.”

Switch on the computer.

Presto.

1/11/2008 #

So... That's Fair

I don’t watch tons of news on TV anymore, but I’ve been trying CNN since New Hampshire.

I never knew that Lou Dobbs was so annoying. I mean, talk about opinion journalism right during the news hour! Why does Fox get such a bad rap? Lou is basically executing Shakespearean asides after the stories, mocking various groups and opinions.

I don’t care what opinion he takes… he needs to take that business to 9:00 EST as far as I’m concerned.

1/11/2008 #

Cameras

Isn’t it strange to use the phrase “no negatives” in a digital camera review?

1/10/2008 #

Music

I’m a total nutjob. But with music selection, I’m a complete nutjob. Suffice it to say that I’ve rarely ever activated the “Shuffle” feature on my Nano.

Turned it on today for some strange reason, and it did something magical. It played “Goodbye Stranger” from Supertramp, which somehow just matched a rainy day’s mood very well. Then, it followed up with “Testing 1, 2, 3” by the Barenaked Ladies, which is in some ways the same song under a different genre’s label.

Then it all fell apart, leaving me to skip forward through the shuffle queue to find more serendipity hiding behind ten nutty choices.

If I had an iPod Shuffle, it would be liquid disaster.

1/9/2008 #

Day 3

Day 1 was the Day of the Splitting Headache and Fever.
Day 2 was the Day of the Chills and Hacking Cough.
Day 3 is the Day of Snot and Disproportionate Sense of Well-Being.

Part II of Day 3 is, perhaps, a medication issue.

1/8/2008 #

The Illmatic

I think I am picking up all the viruses and bacteria I missed out on living a relatively clean life as an only child. I get the feeling that Kristin’s school and the gym are the major two sources.

I had one of those dull, top-of-the-head headaches that came with the side effect of being incredibly unproductive. Slipped out of work early and slept it off, augmented by some knockoff NyQuil.

It may have actually worked, as I am only dully effected by the symptoms today, sans medication so far (probably not much longer).

In other news, Dixville Notch is a pretty hilarious little sideline story in New Hampshire.

1/7/2008 #

Talk

There’s a lot of discussion right now about Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, and the “features deltas” between each sequential pair. One thing I never hear about XP is that is brought in Compressed Folder support to explorer.exe. Everyone says XP is just a fresh kernel and flashy UI for W2k.

I rarely condone a fresh install of Windows 2000 because it requires installing a “trial” Winzip just to open up ZIP files. Did this slip peoples’ memories, or do folks generally just install the shareware anyway?

1/7/2008 #

F-Bomb at the End

David Lynch discusses people who watch video on their iPhone.

Potty mouth at the end.

1/4/2008 #

Pet Ant

The North Admin ant infestation is slowly making its way toward my office, but statistics at this point have determined that I only perceive one ant at a time. This leads me to work on the assumption that there is only one ant in my office, named Fred, who is my pet.

I let him crawl around on my monitor screen. I haven’t had the chance to try chasing him with the cursor or anything. He may be capable of tricks.

Right now he seems to be hiding behind my antiquated little power strip. He stuck his little ant rump up in the air every time he walked across the LEDs on the front. Maybe that is his only trick.