Archives
October 31, 2004
Houses
We've been looking at houses this weekend, with a view to moving to Swansea. I think we saw 7 houses yesterday. Eurgh. Hard work, especially carrying around a little boy who loves exploring & climbing stairs.
We got a good feel for some suitable areas and even saw some suitable houses (gosh). These things take a while, but it all looks promising.
Halloween
It's Halloween. I'm playing Doom III. I'm pretty scared. 'Nuff said.
October 28, 2004
Brain in a Dish Flies Plane
OK, I'm getting a little scared now...
October 27, 2004
Cycle Paths
Hey, here are some photos of my current cycle route to work, and how I might get up to Gowerton if I move!
iPod Photo
We heard the rumours of a colour screen iPod, but why would we want one? Oh, iPod Photo.
It would be more useful if you could connect your digital camera to the iPod Photo to immediately transfer your photos in the field though, when your memory cards fill up. But you still have to buy the Belkin Media Reader to do that, which isn't cheap. Nice toy, but the screen on my PDA is bigger and it carries all the photos I'll need.
Surely it's going to have to compete with the upcoming handheld media players right? And it doesn't do video (yet)?
October 26, 2004
Lockergnome
I have just unsubscribed from Lockergnome. I've been reading the weekly tech emails from this site for probably a decade. Recently the format has changed, and the emails have just become a list of links - not particularly useful to me. I can use Google myself. Thanks Chris, but no more.
So there's a big change. No more Lockergnome emails in my inbox. That'll be strange.
Changes
My blogging is getting weaker and weaker. I don't really understand it, but I seem to have less and less blogworthy comment these days (although some of you probably question the merits of much of my content anyway). Is this a reflection of my life becoming more and more boring? I wouldn't say boring, but mundane maybe.
With the medicine course in full swing (week 7 this week) my weekly work activities have settled into something of a mundane routine. I teach human anatomy on a Monday morning, so much of the remainder of the week is spent preparing for this with Jo: creating and editing substantial handouts, organising teaching and teaching materials, planning future teaching, organising the lecturers themselves (surgeons, physicians, pathologists and radiologists all help us teach), and then of course revising and planning what exactly we will be teaching the next Monday morning. In addition to all this I am managing a *little* research, but not as much as I'd like. These tasks are all becoming repetitive, and subsequently I have less to blog about. The commute between Cardiff and Swansea is taking up a lot of time, and I'm not even thinking about sports stuff any more. Weekends are spent recovering/taking it easy, so again, not much to blog there then. Hmph. Even this post is getting long-winded: I'm blogging about weak blogging. Oh dear.
Am I in a rut? What can I do to get out? Is weak blogging really a reflection of my life becoming more dull? Probably not.
Firstly, we'll move to Swansea. Cut out the commute and I'll have more time with Kim and Jack. We'll also have more cash (it's about £200/month to commute by train).
Secondly, get the research side of my job kick-started. This will give me the interest and enthusiasm needed to kick the mundane. It's something I must commit to and make time for. In fact, I have a PhD student (not mine, a collaborator's) starting in the lab today....
October 25, 2004
Phoenix
After swapping the motherboard for a decent one, my PC is now properly up and running again. After much sweating I even managed to start playing Doom III again. Thank crap for that. Now I just have to resetup all my applications and stuff, which will probably take weeks.
October 24, 2004
October 22, 2004
October 21, 2004
October 19, 2004
Kids these days
Just look at the way the kids are wearing their jeans these days.
Revisiting the Salmon
Wow, what a day. My gaming PC should be back up to full capacity this evening (it was down for 49 days in all), so I get to finish playing Doom 3, AND HalfLife 2's release date was officially released today. And this time it looks like it might actually happen. It's gone Gold. It'll be out in November.
I love this time of year, when it's cold, wet and dark, and you have to spend time inside, huddled round a warm, overclocked computer and a well worn rocket launcher. I've got a bunch of games on the way, and it promises to be a cold winter. I feel a little less salmon-like already. It helps to have something to vent into. Hmm, venting.... I wonder if I could hook up a tube to vent cold air through the radiator of my water-cooling rig...
BBC & DOW
Even the BBC reckon Warhammer 40,000's Dawn of War to be a top game. They have a history of the HalfLife 2 release date saga up today too. A mid-November release for sure now?
October 18, 2004
HL2 Gold
HalfLife 2 has gone gold. That means it'll probably be in the shops next month. That may be good timing, as my PC may be fixed by then.... It's running XP from an old hard disk, and all seems OK. New disk arrives tomorrow.
Let's hope HL2 turns out to be a slice of fried gold.
October 16, 2004
IE
Does this website still suck in Internet Explorer? Maybe I'll fix it when my PC is revived. Otherwise, go and use Firefox - it's safer for you all.
Costs Spiralling
The death toll inside my PC case has risen. The new motherboard (which at least boots - woohoo!) tells me that my hard drive also got fried. *Almost* everything important was backed up. Aaargh! When did I last backup my Grand Theft Auto save games?
My CPU and RAM seem to be OK, at least.
October 15, 2004
October 14, 2004
Steam Me HalfLife 2
Buy HalfLife 2 & download it with Valve's Steam. But you can't play it yet because it's not ready for release. What's up with that? This makes no sense! There's not even a date yet for which you'll be allowed to play your web download. Sux.
Brainiac
Now that's science. I want to give up serious science and work in the Brainiac lab.
October 12, 2004
Shittilink
Kim says I'm jinxed, never to rebuild my PC. It has been a month and a half now since I last fragged a fire-lobbing imp with my chainsaw. Hmph.
My new motherboard was due to arrive the day after I got home from Cornwall (in case the pictures didn't clue you in - yes I was taking a break). The excellent Ebuyer had managed to post it off early though, at no extra cost even though I'd picked the "super saver" delivery cost because I was away for a few days. This was nice work on their part, but when Citilink came to deliver it, they just left it on the doorstep. This was on Thursday, and I got back on Sunday. The neighbours did remember seeing a package and a catalogue on the doorstep, but all we saw was the catalogue. So my shiny new mobo got nicked before I even saw it. Ebuyer are sorting it out now, so I should get a replacement soon. No doubt the CPU will be dead though...
Aside from the fact that Citilink didn't deliver it properly, didn't get a signature, and didn't hold on to it for me until I got back, I hate the fact that someone decided to steal something from me. It always pisses me off and depresses me. If you're thinking, "well, if you leave something on the doorstep for a few days then it's going to get pinched" I have to disagree with your stance. I may be a pessimist about most things, but I'm generally optimistic about people. I feel I should be able to leave something in clear view and not have it stolen. Someone had to see the package, walk up my drive, pick up the box and decide to steal it, not knowing what was inside. They'll probably have no use for it.
I hate it when people steal from me. I'm not sure why. It's just narks me.
October 10, 2004
October 09, 2004
October 07, 2004
October 04, 2004
Colours
Getting there... Needs a new mobo yet though.
October 03, 2004
Spinning A Jag
Tee hee! I also spent my Sunday spinning a Jag on a track (download movie).
October 02, 2004
Spy Games
I'm off to Northampton this afternoon for a night in the Hilton and this tomorrow.
Will this remove some of the "salmon" feeling? Or will I go postal on Monday?
October 01, 2004
Grumpy
I can be a right grumpy bugger sometimes.
Anyway, to continue the saga of my gaming PC, the parts finally arrived to finish rebuilding it yesterday (after a brief excursion to Chester - thanks Amtrak!) But I seem to have made a mis-diagnosis. The new graphics card exhibits the same symptoms as the old.
I was so sure it was the graphics card at fault. My logic was:
- it was the component under most stress at the time of failure
- it was the source of "dead silicon" smell
- it's fan wouldn't spin
- a dead video card gives similar non-boot signs as I had
- I saw a molten drop fall underneath it
Oh crap. Further research suggests the motherboard may have blown - the capacitors get dodgy with age. But it could be something else. The CPU should be OK - I was monitoring it's temps. RAM & other components should give different errors.
I guess today's lesson is about your diagnosis. Never be too sure, retain your scepticism, and always remember that you don't know it all, so do more research!