2010: Starting The Second Decade

Hello Kiddies. Yeah, I know.  I've been bad in that I haven't made an appearance since last year but I've had some health issues plus the fact that my usual public wireless connection seems to have died.  Right now I'm connecting by piggy-backing on some one else's link up.  I don't like to do this since I really do respect other people's privacy and rights but desperation will make one do strange and sometimes unsavory things.

I try to restrict my access to the evening hours when everyone else has gone beddy-bye and then only to check my emails and to  quickly catch up on the News of the World 'n such.  I keep hoping to see some response to the numerous job adds to which I've submitted my worked-to-death resume but so far, no bites.

Y'know, there I was, comfortably surfing courtesy of my local Public WiFi service when one day, it seemed as if some one threw a dampening blanket over the complete range of Access Points.  I noticed that their broadcasting power diminished by 20 - 25% and it just seemed to affect my side of the building according to the other residents whom I know are using Wireless.  The folks on the other sides of the building are chugging along normally.  I have yet to find out if there is a commercial or industrial cause to this problem, but when I do I shall descend upon them with a Wrath and Vengeance of Biblical proportions.  Nobody screws with my Wireless!

Well, that's about it for now.  I just wanted to drop this notice to let y'all know that I haven't died [at least not yet] and I will attempt to publish my usual brand of outstanding wit, keen observation, tongue-in-cheek humour and technical prowess - what there is of it.

Later kiddies . . .

~A~

From ATI to nVidia

Well, it's been a while since I've dropped something into this Blog.

For one; my Wireless Internet has not been consistent at all. I couldn't commit to something when my connection kept dropping and I had no idea when it would resolve.

Lately though, it's been somewhat semi-reliant so I've taken the chance to make an entry.

If you've been following this Blog then y'all know that I wish to indulge in the Win7 madness that's running rampant.

Sure, although being a great Linux Fan, I also have appreciation for the other OS's.

So, with that in mind, I chose to prepare my humble hardware platform for the eventual replacement of my beloved XP.

Seeing as how I only had a 128 Mb ATI Radeon card which could play videos at a minimal, acceptable level but not allow the magnificient GUI embellishments that Aero would grant, I committed to the acquisition of a 'better' video card. The rest of my hardware is more than enough to handle the Vista/Win7 platform but I definitely lacked in the video dept.

Since I'm on a severely restricted budget, I had to scratch around for a 512 Mb AGP video card that wouldn't break me for the rest of the month. Anything that I checked out regarding AGP was really expensive compared to PCIe – the ongoing tech these days.

I found one at a shop that I hadn't visited in over a year – it cost me $60 instead of the $73 I had resolved myself to. It was the old reliable nVidia GeForce 6200. Sheet man! I thought those suckers went the way of the DoDo Bird. With that saving I ended up getting a 12-pak instead of the fore-planned 6-pak!

Normally, one would think that the outdated hardware items would be released at a "bargoon" price, but such is not so. It seems that although AGP is sooo dinosaurish, there are us poor slobs who have no choice but to adhere to our antiquated hardware due to monetary restrictions.

The Vendors have to maintain a suitable profit margin otherwise we wouldn't have our "Friendly Neighbourhood Computer Stores". Yet, in the interest of promoting a long term clientele, one would think that these shops would hold a "loss" sale – an item sold for 10%- 20% above cost in order to attract customers to their more popular items.

Nope, no such luck. Computer stores don't have to market stuff like that unless they're a Chain Type like 'Future Shop' , ' BestBuy' or one of those other mass merchandiser outfits. Nope again because Computer Shops are just that – so if they buy an item for $30, they in order to maintain viability will have to sell it at least $43 which will keep their head above water, so to speak. Of course, they aim at an average margin of at least %175+ making said item at around $53 and more, if they can get away with it. Then there is the volume discount they receive from their suppliers, an incentive to sell more of said product. If they sell at or above the projected percentile, then they will receive another 2 - 3 or even 5 percent discount – whoopee!

Anyway, that's a subject for marketing and economics. What I'm on about is my transition from a lifelong affiliation to ATI video cards to my first experience with an nVidia unit.

It was amazingly painless! I encountered a brief blip in my XP-SP3 in that my sound didn't work when I rebooted. This was fixed by re-installing my SB Audigy SL software. Tunes sound great as they did before – movies sound even better now.

Now, in Linux. Well, of course there was no X window system since its configured agent no longer existed. Luckily, I had downloaded and copied the file over to my Linux system so I merely booted to 'Single User' mode and installed the latest nVidia binary, rebooted and logged in and things are great. Desktop is functioning OK,; sound is great, as usual; videos are playing even better and the "Gears" test looks fantastic!

Wow, I'm impressed! Here I was anticipating all these horrible configuration problems and instead there was shit to worry about.

I'm disappointed! I was ready for an all out battle within the CLI and had all my stuff ready 'n rarin' to go and instead there was bupkis. Everything works fine – unbelievable!

. . . and the video is way better than it was with ATI. I used to have little 'artifacts' scitter across the screen when viewing videos, but now there's nothing but clarity, crispness and a much better colour display.

I will report on how the compiz window manager behaves within the Gnome and KDE environments tomorrow or later or whenever I get around to installing and configuring it.

Later kiddies . . .

~A~

Bits 'n Pieces - 2

BREIN Disconnects The Pirate Bay, For Now

The anti-piracy  outfit, BREIN, in Europe has succeeded in halting traffic to TPB at its new hideout in the Ukraine.

It seems that traffic is routed through Dutch ISP nForce which uses the carrier outfit Leaseweb.  BREIN has asked Leaseweb to block that traffic to the Ukraine site for now aside from its arguments that neither nForce nor Leaseweb are hosting any torrent site but are merely doing their job in routing Internet traffic to the separate, autonomous system.

Repeated "requests" from BREIN finally caused Leaseweb to cave and cut off all contact to the new TPB site.  This sets a disturbing precedent in that if anti-piracy outfits can bully and threaten ISPs and their carriers to cut off access to the various other torrent sites, then the future of BitTorrent is indeed bleak.

Read the details in the article at:

BREIN Disconnects Pirate Bay

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Rolltop - A Rolled Out Laptop?

Here's an interesting concept that some design outfit from Germany dreamed up.  While it looks pretty snazzy in its 3D rendition, I wonder what the actual logistics would be concerning the implementation of this design?

Catch the YouTube Video at:

RolloTop Laptop

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Throw The Gaunlet . . .

Well, as good friends go, there are times when it's necessary to ruffle feathers. It is the time to replace complacency with resolve.

Complacency is not all that bad in a long term relationship, but it should experience a bit of conflict once in a while to churn the waters of emotion, enthusiasm and invention.

Being a long-time Linux convert and proponent has actually isolated me from my fellow computer/network associates who have decided to devote themselves to the M$ World. Being an 'Old Guy' who knows DOS and UNIX in the old style, my younger compatriots see me as a traitor toward the computing world – Microsoft is the only way to do computing, so they say.

Sorry, it ain't so. Hey, I'm all for the GUI; but GUI isn't all Microsoft. Actually, if you get down to it, GUI is Apple. Those guys were sortta the first that came up with a real ,viable Graphical User Interface system. Of course, at the time, in real early history, IBM and Xerox came up with a lot of those ideas but failed to implement them. Apple did , but Microsoft marketed and enabled it – under their brand names, of course – one guy stole from another and the other guy stole from another and on and on and on . . .

Anyway, I digress. What I'm trying to say is that no matter what system you wish to implement, keep your mind open to other ways to access your hardware. 

There are now so many ways that one can use a piece of hardware that's called a computer, to do and accomplish just about anything.  Basically, that  term, computer, is now so flexible as to define almost any type of interface associated within public life today.

A desktop; a laptop; a cellphone; a PDA; an automotive vehicle; an assembly robot on the line at a factory; a microwave oven; a refrigerator; a DVD player and the list can go on and on. They're all computers!

The point is that whatever the unit is, whatever the underlying OS is, computing is here to stay and it's gonna need people to service them.

Now, Geeks are a weird bunch. We can be as bitchy as a bunch of 'Flame Queens' on Friday the 13^th, but when it comes down to nitty-gritty, you will see that bunch of unrelated characters get together and perform as such a close knitted team as you will have never seen before, ever – perfection personified, personified perfection. I state this as a fact because I was a part of that incredible team which had done an enormous task at the time,  of which you are all experiencing, enjoying and taking for granted today - networking, at least here in Canada in Southeastern Ontario.

It was an invigorating and strange encounter that I wish to do again!  Truly, a most ultimately, satisfying experience in my Life and one I wish to repeat, or at least come close to before I die.

But again, I digress – I do that a lot lately, since I'm an old guy 'n all. My esteemed and learned colleague likes to make fun of me in that way, but that's OK because he's mere kid, of course. 

He's actually pretty good and I sometimes have to defer to him a bit because I really can't see so well anymore nor handle those real small objects .

Now, if you folks want your laptops and other small items fixed, then by all means go to the Kid. If you want the big stuff and networking and all the other important stuff done, then come to the ME . . .  AND da Kid.

We're sortta part of the Main Team from above – the core, if you will – we make things happen!

~A~

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