Not much going on recently other than an attempt to rationalise my computer setup. I had an urge to build a PC so I ended up getting some parts to put into a battered but working case I had. A short shopping spree later and I had an Asus motherboard, an AMD Phenom x3 triple core processor, 4gb RAM and a new hard drive, which I cheerfully put into the battered case. A spanner was thrown in the works by the power supply not having SATA connectors so I was unable to use the new hard drive. So I gave in and bought a new shiny case which had a power supply in it. It's a pretty quick machine, even using the onboard graphics chip. At the moment it's running the RC version of Windows 7 which installed without needing any additional drivers, it got them all by itself.
It then dawned on me that I could replace the Dell Precision 450 that has been running as a VMware ESXi server for the past year or so. Because of the hassle of shutting down the four or five virtual machines that it constantly ran, I tended to leave it on all the time, not ideal as it's quite a big power hungry machine. I ended up getting another case and installing an ASRock Atom motherboard. The Atom is more commonly seen in netbooks but this motherboard has the dual-core Atom 330. Due to funds running low I had to put 2gb of the RAM from the Phenom into it and used a spare 120gb laptop SATA hard drive to get it up and running. At first it didn't look like ESXi was going to like the Atom as it kept dying with the PSoD (Purple Screen of Death) as soon as there was anything running with any load. Uncertain as to the cause, I tried turning off Hyperthreading in the BIOS and it's been stable ever since. It's currently running a single FreeNAS VM with a wodge of disk space as a network store.
The plan now is to get some faster RAM for the Phenom motherboard, and transfer the remaining 2gb to the Atom board. Then get a better power supply and a proper graphics card for the Phenom and a network card for the Atom that will let it run ESXi 4 which is 64-bit, and perhaps a bigger hard drive.
Monday, 31 August 2009
Friday, 21 August 2009
Weekend
It's been a fairly busy week. Yesterday it was the Rhuddlan badminton club meal, which was in a Chinese restaurant this time. The food there is excellent, so that was good. I've pretty much undone the exercise I've done this week in one go as I had sweet and sour crispy chicken followed by a huge piece of chocolate fudge cake. Then today was an epic fail too as it was chips again for lunch, second Friday in a row and once again the fire alarm got stuck on during the midday test so again it was seething hoardes of confusion.
Not sure what I'm doing this weekend, everyone seems to be off doing things so I'll probably take the chance to see my Dad tomorrow and get some more tidying out of the way.
Got the latest Eisbrecher album, Sunde, which is really good. Well, if you like that sort of thing at least. I really liked their first two albums, and this is just as good. It's also quite appropriate for the hulking beast of German engineering that is the Pimpmobile II. Any album that includes a track that starts 'This...is...DEUTSCH' followed by a Speak & Spell croaking 'That is right' is worth a listen in my book.
Otherwise things are much the same. The 6 string bass is really cool, much easier to play than I expected and sounds quite decent. It's very solidly built but I don't like the electronics so I might swap them out at some point, and perhaps the pickups too. Q-tuner pickups are very interesting and look like nothing else with the huge coils visible through the transparent shell, but they are quite pricey.
I found an old ZX81 underneath a load of old cables. It's been around for a while, think I got it at a radio rally for £1. I'm pretty sure it actually worked last time I tried it. It's amazing how minimalist it is, yet it kick-started the computing revolution in the UK, and they sold 1.5 million of them. I find it quite impressive what people managed to get out of it though. It was slightly tempting to dig out a power supply and leads and see if it still works but instead I downloaded an emulator that is pretty much perfect, to the point where you can even emulate the dodgy TV signals.
Spent half an hour or so dismantling BlackBerrys while doing helpdesk calls. One was savaged by a dog and had a cracked case and screen while two others had dodgy trackballs. I got one working by moving the good trackball from the damaged one to the better of the other two and managed to clean out the other trackball, so I ended up with two good ones that might be suitable for reissue.
Not sure what I'm doing this weekend, everyone seems to be off doing things so I'll probably take the chance to see my Dad tomorrow and get some more tidying out of the way.
Got the latest Eisbrecher album, Sunde, which is really good. Well, if you like that sort of thing at least. I really liked their first two albums, and this is just as good. It's also quite appropriate for the hulking beast of German engineering that is the Pimpmobile II. Any album that includes a track that starts 'This...is...DEUTSCH' followed by a Speak & Spell croaking 'That is right' is worth a listen in my book.
Otherwise things are much the same. The 6 string bass is really cool, much easier to play than I expected and sounds quite decent. It's very solidly built but I don't like the electronics so I might swap them out at some point, and perhaps the pickups too. Q-tuner pickups are very interesting and look like nothing else with the huge coils visible through the transparent shell, but they are quite pricey.
I found an old ZX81 underneath a load of old cables. It's been around for a while, think I got it at a radio rally for £1. I'm pretty sure it actually worked last time I tried it. It's amazing how minimalist it is, yet it kick-started the computing revolution in the UK, and they sold 1.5 million of them. I find it quite impressive what people managed to get out of it though. It was slightly tempting to dig out a power supply and leads and see if it still works but instead I downloaded an emulator that is pretty much perfect, to the point where you can even emulate the dodgy TV signals.
Spent half an hour or so dismantling BlackBerrys while doing helpdesk calls. One was savaged by a dog and had a cracked case and screen while two others had dodgy trackballs. I got one working by moving the good trackball from the damaged one to the better of the other two and managed to clean out the other trackball, so I ended up with two good ones that might be suitable for reissue.
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
Bleh
Tired and crappy over the last week or so, not sure why.
Car needed new exhaust unexpectedly but now goes OK, needs various bits but nothing too critical.
New Eisbrecher album is good.
D&D works well over Skype.
Nothing else.
Bored.
Tired.
Car needed new exhaust unexpectedly but now goes OK, needs various bits but nothing too critical.
New Eisbrecher album is good.
D&D works well over Skype.
Nothing else.
Bored.
Tired.
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Things and more things and stuff
Well, been lazy and not updated this in a while. It's been nearly a month. Interesting things that have happened include a trip to Berlin, a replacement car and various work related stress.
I like Berlin. It's a really interesting place with a lot of things going on. The atmosphere of the place is still very different from a typical city. It may have been 20 years since the city was reunited, but it still has quite a distinctly split personality. This was my third visit and I went with my cousin, who had never been. It was a fantastic trip. We spent quite a lot of time hanging out with my brother and just wandering around taking in the sights. The hotel was in the east, happily near a station on the U5, so we were able to get around very easily. I like the language too, we picked up a few useful phrases, and at one point I was even able to direct a native Berliner who didn't speak English to a nearby U-bahn station, although admittedly by saying one word and pointing.
Saw the 5-episode Torchwood miniseries on iPlayer and really liked it. The first two series were interesting but it was trying too hard to be Doctor Who for adults. The second series did improve though and they seem to have got it right with the last one.
I had a 6-string bass a few years ago and couldn't play it, and recently I picked up a cheap Shine one. It's absolutely brilliant. The electrics are a bit crappy but the body and neck are great, so I'm planning on rewiring it and possibly replacing the pickups. The neck is very wide but I can play this one. For some reason, a 6-string feels more right than a 5-string which you'd expect to be the natural progression from a 4-string. But I did the 5-string thing and didn't like it, though that might have been the bass itself.
I've been trying to work out what makes my skin so flaky and hideous every now and again. The prime suspect at the moment is dairy, although now I'm not completely sure. I suppose the best thing would to be tested properly but I'm not sure how to go about it. Last time I saw the doctor I mentioned it and they weren't particularly helpful. Also had an eye test yesterday and need new glasses. The optician I've been seeing since I was 8 is retiring, which is a bit gutting as he knows the history of my somewhat peculiar eyesight.
The Vectra, nice as it was, had a lot of issues coming up and despite it being a nice car, when the gearbox started to graunch into gear, enough was enough. I spotted an automatic 1993 Mercedes W124 220E for sale in Cheshire and went to have a look. After a test drive I put a deposit down on it and picked it up yesterday. It's cosmetically a bit shabby but mechanically seems to be fine. There are some issues, the exhaust had a slight blow which has become worse suddenly and the driver's window won't move and a couple of other things. It's a basic model without many toys and cloth seats but the interior looks brand new.
I've always wanted another Merc since my old W123 200. It's much like the old one to drive too, not a quick car but comfortable and relaxing, helped by the old-school autobox. Running costs remain to be seen. However, when I changed the insurance, there was no difference from the Vectra. It cost a little more to fill the tank than the Vectra but it looks like it should get about the same mileage to the a tank. The autobox has Standard and Economy modes and so far I've been quite happy leaving it in the Economy setting. It's actually quite quick if you use the kickdown but it's much more a gentle cruiser than anything else, though they did make a 500E with a 5-litre V8. I'd have liked a diesel one; they came in 5-cylinder 2.5 litre and 6-cylinder 3.0 litre versions but they aren't very common compared to the petrols.
I can see why people dislike autos but I've developed a bit of a taste for them. After a while driving it you learn when it's going to change gear and how it's going to behave in different situations.
Work has been busy. Lots of things coming in and going on, and making it hard to keep on top of the jobs. Every time I seem to get my job level down again a load more come in.
After not seeing Watchmen in the cinema, we saw it on DVD last week. It was interesting. I was quite impressed at how well they'd stuck to the book but it felt very long and drawn out, probably because of that. There were some good bits, Rorschach was great, and some bits were a bit less good. OK, excruciating (owl ship shagging). I wasn't sure about Dr Manhattan at all, the look just didn't seem right.
I like Berlin. It's a really interesting place with a lot of things going on. The atmosphere of the place is still very different from a typical city. It may have been 20 years since the city was reunited, but it still has quite a distinctly split personality. This was my third visit and I went with my cousin, who had never been. It was a fantastic trip. We spent quite a lot of time hanging out with my brother and just wandering around taking in the sights. The hotel was in the east, happily near a station on the U5, so we were able to get around very easily. I like the language too, we picked up a few useful phrases, and at one point I was even able to direct a native Berliner who didn't speak English to a nearby U-bahn station, although admittedly by saying one word and pointing.
Saw the 5-episode Torchwood miniseries on iPlayer and really liked it. The first two series were interesting but it was trying too hard to be Doctor Who for adults. The second series did improve though and they seem to have got it right with the last one.
I had a 6-string bass a few years ago and couldn't play it, and recently I picked up a cheap Shine one. It's absolutely brilliant. The electrics are a bit crappy but the body and neck are great, so I'm planning on rewiring it and possibly replacing the pickups. The neck is very wide but I can play this one. For some reason, a 6-string feels more right than a 5-string which you'd expect to be the natural progression from a 4-string. But I did the 5-string thing and didn't like it, though that might have been the bass itself.
I've been trying to work out what makes my skin so flaky and hideous every now and again. The prime suspect at the moment is dairy, although now I'm not completely sure. I suppose the best thing would to be tested properly but I'm not sure how to go about it. Last time I saw the doctor I mentioned it and they weren't particularly helpful. Also had an eye test yesterday and need new glasses. The optician I've been seeing since I was 8 is retiring, which is a bit gutting as he knows the history of my somewhat peculiar eyesight.
The Vectra, nice as it was, had a lot of issues coming up and despite it being a nice car, when the gearbox started to graunch into gear, enough was enough. I spotted an automatic 1993 Mercedes W124 220E for sale in Cheshire and went to have a look. After a test drive I put a deposit down on it and picked it up yesterday. It's cosmetically a bit shabby but mechanically seems to be fine. There are some issues, the exhaust had a slight blow which has become worse suddenly and the driver's window won't move and a couple of other things. It's a basic model without many toys and cloth seats but the interior looks brand new.
I've always wanted another Merc since my old W123 200. It's much like the old one to drive too, not a quick car but comfortable and relaxing, helped by the old-school autobox. Running costs remain to be seen. However, when I changed the insurance, there was no difference from the Vectra. It cost a little more to fill the tank than the Vectra but it looks like it should get about the same mileage to the a tank. The autobox has Standard and Economy modes and so far I've been quite happy leaving it in the Economy setting. It's actually quite quick if you use the kickdown but it's much more a gentle cruiser than anything else, though they did make a 500E with a 5-litre V8. I'd have liked a diesel one; they came in 5-cylinder 2.5 litre and 6-cylinder 3.0 litre versions but they aren't very common compared to the petrols.
I can see why people dislike autos but I've developed a bit of a taste for them. After a while driving it you learn when it's going to change gear and how it's going to behave in different situations.
Work has been busy. Lots of things coming in and going on, and making it hard to keep on top of the jobs. Every time I seem to get my job level down again a load more come in.
After not seeing Watchmen in the cinema, we saw it on DVD last week. It was interesting. I was quite impressed at how well they'd stuck to the book but it felt very long and drawn out, probably because of that. There were some good bits, Rorschach was great, and some bits were a bit less good. OK, excruciating (owl ship shagging). I wasn't sure about Dr Manhattan at all, the look just didn't seem right.
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