Tag Archives: computers

Life without a computer

Posted on by
Reply
Daily writing prompt
Your life without a computer: what does it look like?
View all responses

I actually think about this scenario often. I know a lot of people who talk about being prepared when/if the internet and computers are unavailable. People who still insist on buying physical media for their entertainment, for example (DVD’s, CD’s, etc…). What will you do, they argue, if the internet goes away and you can’t get to your favorite movies and music?

Listen, Chad. If the internet went away suddenly we’d have a lot more to worry about than whether we are going to be able to re-watch Buffy, The Vampire Slayer for the 20th time.

Fact is, my entire career and much of my utility as a member of society is dependent on computers and the internet. If it all went away, I’d be pretty much out of luck. My best hope for survival would be as entertainment for the people who actually knew how to survive without technology.

I’m also very resourceful, though, so if I could survive past the initial panic stage I’d adapt. I just have to convince the folks in the compound to let me in to begin with.

Which, now that I think about it, kind of makes me wonder if it wouldn’t be wise for me to have a physical copy of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare laying around. You know, just in case.

Your Computer Will Kill You!

Posted on by
5

Together In Electric Dreams!It is fairly safe to say that computers are not, inherently, conducive to healthy living.  Sitting in the same position for hours on end staring at a screen that is only a few feet from your face is not really the kind of activity that contributes to a robust and healthy lifestyle .   While there are tools available for your computer that can assist you with your health and fitness goals (like, oh, a certain web site I could name), generally speaking extended daily computer use is considered to be a very bad thing.

What you may not be aware of, though, is that the computer sitting on your desk might actually be dangerous.  I’m not talking about the kind of danger to your long term health that is the result of inactivity, and I’m not even talking about the potential of developing conditions like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome due to the repetitive motion of using a mouse.  No, my friends, I’m talking about the threat of real bodily harm that could send you to the emergency room.

Continue reading →

Bad Morning…

Posted on by
Reply

So this morning there was a brown out at my house. Nothing major, but enough to take both of my computers offline. The server rebooted with no problem, but my computer? Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Tried disconnecting the power, resetting the bios, manually making the power switch connection (which I’ve never done before, so I’m not even sure I did it right). Nothing would make it trip over. I have power to the motherboard (there is an LED indicator), but other than that it’s apparently dead in the water. I’m operating under the assumption that the power supply has taken a shit, which is a real pisser because it was a fairly expensive power supply. I’m going to try to pick one up on the way home from rehearsal today (which is where I’m at right now).

Really, really didn’t fucking need this aggravation, ya know? Or expense. With everything going on in my life right now, additional aggravation is definitely NOT welcome.

Bleargh.

Update O-Rama

Posted on by
Reply

So, this morning I finally broke down and bought a new video card.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the saga, I built a new computer around this time last year. It was, quite literally, on the bleeding edge of technology. Brand new line of motherboard, spiffy fast processor, lots of RAM. A truly fine machine. One of the features this rig had was SLI capability. SLI is, essentially, linking two identical video cards together to divide workload and improve performance. I purchased 2 Leadtek Nvidia Geforce6600GT cards and set to getting them to work.

Truth be told, they’ve never really worked right.

I had a lot of problems putting this machine together to begin with, but once it was running I began having problems with my video. I would get screen tearing, or flashes of screen distortion. Sometimes to the point where the game in question was unplayable. I have tried countless combinations of settings, switching out cards (up to an including sending two cards back for replacement), and I have come to the conclusion that either SLI completely sucks OR the secondary PCI-Express x16 slot on my motherboard is hosed. I actually suspect the latter to be the case, unless Leadtek just sent me back the same card twice.

The only way to really find out would be to install the one card I know is working in that slot, then put it back in the primary.

Not going to happen.

So, last night, my frustration with this finally came to an end when I loaded City of Villians and had half a screen of garbage (the half controlled by the second card). I pulled the other card out, for the final time.

Which leaves me with a 128MB video card.

While this doesn’t necessarily suck, for a right as powerful as mine it’s a bit on the frustrating side. So I decided that since I was being so very good and paying off credit cards left and right, I deserved to spend a relatively small amount on myself and upgrade my video. By the end of next week I should have a refurbished ATI XT1800 video card. Frankly, I never should have gone from ATI to begin with. I used ATI cards for years, and never had a problem with them.

Next time I know better.