David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more
So I’ve been running Windows 7 for about a day on an Intel motherboard. And I don’t know for certain if it’s the shoddy Intel hardware, or Windows 7, but I don’t think I’ve been this un-impressed since the first time I laid eyes on Windows ME.
Yeah, it’s that bad. I’m sure the Microsoft fanboys will jump in and chew me up, but let’s see if they can explain this away.
I’ve been messing all weekend with this stupid Intel motherboard, trying to get the video working in Windows 7. All I can see is that I have some kind of conflict. Code 43, whatever that means. Thanks loads, Microsoft.
Except this is an integrated board, with nothing plugged into it. Can’t Intel manage to make a motherboard (using its own chips, no less) where the integrated peripherals don’t conflict with each other?
I’ve upgraded the drivers, upgraded the BIOS to the newest version, everything.
Since Intel can’t get the simplest of things right, it’s Asus or nothing for me, from now on.
I found this papier mâché enclosure project on the always excellent Hackaday.
I’ve gotten a bit… creative before with enclosures for my projects, but this takes things to a couple of different levels. It’s cheap, and infinitely customizable, and stronger than it looks. The only downsides I see are the amount of time required to make it, and the enclosure won’t be very water resistant at all.
If you can live within those two limitations, it’s a very clever solution.
Last night the computer worked fine. This morning, it greeted me with a black screen claiming that one of the system files required for booting (one of the registry files) was missing or corrupt.
Not how I wanted to spend Saturday after spending a week on the road, especially given last week’s travel conditions.
One of my clients has a problem. We’ll call him Melvin, because I like changing names when I tell stories.
Melvin doesn’t like network guys, and takes every possible opportunity to tell anyone within earshot. “You network guys don’t understand what’s going on over that wire, and you don’t want to.”
We do understand, but not the way he thinks network guys should. Melvin is wrong.
So what would you rather have: a steady, full-time job with benefits, or a year-to-year contract with minimal benefits?
Yeah, I thought so. But sometimes in IT, the first option isn’t immediately available. I’ve settled for the latter a couple of times and lived to tell about it. So I might as well tell.
When I was a young kid, my dad’s favorite baseball player was George Brett. Anyone who saw Brett play knows why. Dad’s second-favorite player was debatable, but it was probably Willie Aikens.
Well, until the scandal.
Pro-Mubarek protesters: Beating up foreign journalists who are trying to get both sides of the story doesn’t advance your cause at all.
CNN anchors: When you put extremist imams on the air to give their point of view, why not just let them say their peace, then get them off the air, rather than argue with them? I want to know who they think will get power and why they think that. I’m not all that interested in listening to the two of you argue. In fact, it made me change the channel to PBS. You and I agree, and we both disagree with him, and I’m pretty sure you’re not going to change his mind.
That is all.
If there was ever a cult following in Lionel-dom, Lionel Super O track has it. Super O was Lionel’s answer to American Flyer 2-rail track. Invented in 1951, patented in 1954 and finally introduced in 1957, it featured numerous plastic ties with a molded-in woodgrain, a 36″ diameter, and a thin copper center rail.
Lionel introduced Super O track in 1957 as a more realistic track system to replace its traditional toy-like 3-rail track. The thinner center rail and additional ties didn’t look exactly like real track, but it was closer.
I have to confess I’m paying minimal attention to technology these last few days. I’ve been watching the goings-on in the Middle East. I saw the headlines that Intel’s newest chipset is buggy, but that won’t go down as the biggest news of 2011. A revolution in Egypt stands a chance. And it could have a domino effect.