Sunday was good, had another transatlantic D&D session with Steve and Kara, with Will joining in this time. It was pretty good fun, really enjoyable, although annoyingly it was a rather nice day outside.
Today was meh, but then came home to have a go on Left 4 Dead with Rob and Will online. It was absolutely fantastic, a complete hoot. Watching out for each other's backs and sharing the panic as zombies suddenly piled into the area was really good fun, as was watching the hapless computer controlled fourth player get dragged away by the tongue zombie, puked on by the fat one or simply ignited on fire by Rob's carelessly thrown petrol can. It definitely seems to be a game built for multiplayer as I can't see the single player being anywhere near as fun. Can't wait for the next session.
Was going to the gym this evening but didn't make it due to a ridiculous combination of events, basically I lost my Technogym key in town, spent ages looking for it, discovered it had been handed in at the gym, then nearly ran out of petrol as I arrived home having wasted too much time to actually make it to the gym. It's lucky I keep a can of petrol for the strimmer.
Monday, 26 April 2010
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Uneventful week
Not much going on really. Played badminton on Thursday for the first time in ages and enjoyed it, although I had a slightly upset stomach after scoffing aniseed balls all afternoon, and during one match against the Poison Woman, I let rip with a giant fart just as she was about to serve. It was so loud and strident, nobody could possibly have missed it. Em and I then lost the game quite badly due to giggles.
Did some overtime today which was a bit annoying as it was very nice weather, but it wasn't too bad. Had to do quite a lot of patching in the cabinet which is something I rather enjoy, so that was good.
Not done much else except watch a couple of German language DVDs. Recently I watched Herr Lehmann which was recommended by my brother. It's an entertaining film set just as the Berlin Wall comes down. The other one was Downfall which is a monumental film, but not really a very cheerful or uplifting one. Very well made but not really one I want to watch repeatedly to try and pick up German from, to be honest.
The Acer laptop is working out OK. The graphics chip doesn't quite have the poke I'd hoped but it's just about OK for what I run on it. The rest of the machine is fine, and I'm getting used to the slightly odd shaped glossy screen.
Sold five broken Psion Series 3a palmtops on Ebay as a job lot, which went for £35. Not too bad I suppose. Got a load more that can go so will do that.
Been a fat lazy bastard all this week, need to crack down on that and get going to the gym again.
Did some overtime today which was a bit annoying as it was very nice weather, but it wasn't too bad. Had to do quite a lot of patching in the cabinet which is something I rather enjoy, so that was good.
Not done much else except watch a couple of German language DVDs. Recently I watched Herr Lehmann which was recommended by my brother. It's an entertaining film set just as the Berlin Wall comes down. The other one was Downfall which is a monumental film, but not really a very cheerful or uplifting one. Very well made but not really one I want to watch repeatedly to try and pick up German from, to be honest.
The Acer laptop is working out OK. The graphics chip doesn't quite have the poke I'd hoped but it's just about OK for what I run on it. The rest of the machine is fine, and I'm getting used to the slightly odd shaped glossy screen.
Sold five broken Psion Series 3a palmtops on Ebay as a job lot, which went for £35. Not too bad I suppose. Got a load more that can go so will do that.
Been a fat lazy bastard all this week, need to crack down on that and get going to the gym again.
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Fuck you Vista
OK, Windows Vista ranks lower than even Windows ME in my opinion. It is capable of making a machine with a dual-core 2.00ghz CPU and 4gb RAM stutter and lag like a machine from ten years ago. It was horrible even after disabling a load of services and things, trying to work out why it would constantly batter the hard drive with nothing running. Games ran like shit, hesitating and often crashing the machine completely. I was honestly at the point where I thought the machine might have some sort of hardware issue.
I gave it up as a bad job and wiped the machine with 64-bit Windows 7, which did a full install in 15 minutes, updated itself in another 10 minutes and installed all the proper drivers and everything without any intervention. It runs games much better, and well, it just works. Only problem is that I don't have a license for it on that machine, so it'll stop working after 30 days unless I get a proper product code.
Bought October Rust by Type O Negative. What a superb album, has some stunning tracks on it. I've always liked the sound of the band, the chugging guitars and the vocals. Really good.
I gave it up as a bad job and wiped the machine with 64-bit Windows 7, which did a full install in 15 minutes, updated itself in another 10 minutes and installed all the proper drivers and everything without any intervention. It runs games much better, and well, it just works. Only problem is that I don't have a license for it on that machine, so it'll stop working after 30 days unless I get a proper product code.
Bought October Rust by Type O Negative. What a superb album, has some stunning tracks on it. I've always liked the sound of the band, the chugging guitars and the vocals. Really good.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Laptops
I posted the pics of the double neck on a bass forum and it got quite a favourable response, which is nice. Several people did comment on the 'buttocks' at the base of the body, which is one of it's more unusual features. It definitely counts a success and I have ideas for the next one, which I will have to build as I already have the necks...
The Inspiron 9400 was posted yesterday to the buyer with some regret, but it's replacement turned up today. It's a used but immaculate Acer 5535 with a dual-core 2.1ghz AMD Turion, 4gb RAM, a 320gb hard drive, ATI Mobility Radeon 3200 HD graphics and a 15.6" 1366x768 screen. The screen is glossy too, something I'll have to get used to. It's interesting to compare the consumer orientated Acer to the remaining Dells I have, which are designed for corporate use and much more restrained in their design.
In my experience, Acer hardware is fine. The real problem I have with Acer is that the sheer amount of crapware that is installed by default. This one came with recovery disks, so I repartitioned the drive into one large partition (Acers always have 2 partitions by default) and reimaged it. Upon booting up Vista, it had at least 30 programs preinstalled, tons of useless games (including Cake Mania and Chicken Invaders 3 - WTF!), trial versions of AV software and Office, and all sorts. Uninstalling it all is such a pain but I found a program called the PCDecrapifier that makes it easier. Not quite as good as a fresh install of Windows but I don't have the right disk to do it, and once it was all off there it actually ran a lot better. I'd much rather have Windows 7 on it but Vista will do for now.
Peter Steele of Type O Negative has died of heart failure at only 48. I really like a lot of their stuff, and he had an amazing voice. Listening to October Rust now which is a really good album.
The Inspiron 9400 was posted yesterday to the buyer with some regret, but it's replacement turned up today. It's a used but immaculate Acer 5535 with a dual-core 2.1ghz AMD Turion, 4gb RAM, a 320gb hard drive, ATI Mobility Radeon 3200 HD graphics and a 15.6" 1366x768 screen. The screen is glossy too, something I'll have to get used to. It's interesting to compare the consumer orientated Acer to the remaining Dells I have, which are designed for corporate use and much more restrained in their design.
In my experience, Acer hardware is fine. The real problem I have with Acer is that the sheer amount of crapware that is installed by default. This one came with recovery disks, so I repartitioned the drive into one large partition (Acers always have 2 partitions by default) and reimaged it. Upon booting up Vista, it had at least 30 programs preinstalled, tons of useless games (including Cake Mania and Chicken Invaders 3 - WTF!), trial versions of AV software and Office, and all sorts. Uninstalling it all is such a pain but I found a program called the PCDecrapifier that makes it easier. Not quite as good as a fresh install of Windows but I don't have the right disk to do it, and once it was all off there it actually ran a lot better. I'd much rather have Windows 7 on it but Vista will do for now.
Peter Steele of Type O Negative has died of heart failure at only 48. I really like a lot of their stuff, and he had an amazing voice. Listening to October Rust now which is a really good album.
Saturday, 17 April 2010
A long but fun day
Rob and I had agreed that this morning would be an Xbox session but the weather was too nice so I headed over to Rhyl and we went into town as we both needed to do some things, and then took a nice stroll down the prom and back.
After that spent the day watching the first disk of The Big Bang Theory season 1, which is really good, very funny, especially if you have geeky tendencies anyway.
The evening was spent in a pub with the Friday badminton gang for the end of season thing, with lots of drink and pizza. Always interesting to see the people you only play badminton with in a casual setting. It was a good night.
The dead Inspiron 9400 went for a decent amount on Ebay so I feel justified in purchasing a replacement, this time a second hand Acer with a dual core AMD and 4gb RAM. It has an ATI integrated graphics chip which should be sufficient for what I need.
Tired now, it's been a long day.
After that spent the day watching the first disk of The Big Bang Theory season 1, which is really good, very funny, especially if you have geeky tendencies anyway.
The evening was spent in a pub with the Friday badminton gang for the end of season thing, with lots of drink and pizza. Always interesting to see the people you only play badminton with in a casual setting. It was a good night.
The dead Inspiron 9400 went for a decent amount on Ebay so I feel justified in purchasing a replacement, this time a second hand Acer with a dual core AMD and 4gb RAM. It has an ATI integrated graphics chip which should be sufficient for what I need.
Tired now, it's been a long day.
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Flim
All the data from the Inspiron 9400 has now been backed up and the Precision M65 has taken it's place. It's a nice machine but while it does have a half-decent graphics chip, it's a Quadro meant more for CAD and struggles with games. Also it's notorious for failing if pushed too hard so I'm not going to use it for that. Fucking Nvidia and their shitty graphics chips.
Due to finances I'll just flog the 9400 for whatever I can get and just live without it for now. Might be able to sell some computer parts to someone in work and perhaps more stuff on Ebay to sort it out. Also got a shedload of DVDs I never watch so I'll sort those out and try and sell some of them too. The Risc PC was relisted on Ebay and went for £50 in the end, which was a nice profit (I paid £5 for the machine and £1 for the StrongARM CPU), so that will help.
Just watched a rather weird but interesting film called Herr Lehmann, set in West Berlin just before the wall came down. It's in German with subtitles which is fun and a good way to learn stuff. Found out someone in work today is fluent in Spanish, which was interesting. When we all went to Madrid in 2007 I picked up a few useful things but it's all gone. I can however remember how to ask for three beers and a sangria, and what else do you really need? Madrid was a fun place, would like to go back sometime.
Work is being frustrating at the moment for many and varied reasons but I'm trying not to let it get to me.
Started the application process for a new passport. September 2010 seemed so far off when I got it, which is really kind of worrying. At least I got a fair bit of use out of it. Hope the new one arrives before June, hoping to visit Amogharatna in Berlin again.
Decided it's my shit work shoes making my foot hurt as I wore my trainers to work today and my foot is much better, so I've decided I'm going to get some new ones at the weekend. Also perhaps some new trainers.
Due to finances I'll just flog the 9400 for whatever I can get and just live without it for now. Might be able to sell some computer parts to someone in work and perhaps more stuff on Ebay to sort it out. Also got a shedload of DVDs I never watch so I'll sort those out and try and sell some of them too. The Risc PC was relisted on Ebay and went for £50 in the end, which was a nice profit (I paid £5 for the machine and £1 for the StrongARM CPU), so that will help.
Just watched a rather weird but interesting film called Herr Lehmann, set in West Berlin just before the wall came down. It's in German with subtitles which is fun and a good way to learn stuff. Found out someone in work today is fluent in Spanish, which was interesting. When we all went to Madrid in 2007 I picked up a few useful things but it's all gone. I can however remember how to ask for three beers and a sangria, and what else do you really need? Madrid was a fun place, would like to go back sometime.
Work is being frustrating at the moment for many and varied reasons but I'm trying not to let it get to me.
Started the application process for a new passport. September 2010 seemed so far off when I got it, which is really kind of worrying. At least I got a fair bit of use out of it. Hope the new one arrives before June, hoping to visit Amogharatna in Berlin again.
Decided it's my shit work shoes making my foot hurt as I wore my trainers to work today and my foot is much better, so I've decided I'm going to get some new ones at the weekend. Also perhaps some new trainers.
Monday, 12 April 2010
Laptop shuffling
The graphics card in the Inspiron 9400 has gone again in the same way as it did previously. I guess I could get it repaired again but I just can't be arsed. It's a bit annoying that it's gone again as I was using software to run the fans more than the default BIOS settings but unfortunately at the same time that meant it's picked up more dust and so the heat killed it again. I've reluctantly decided to sell it on Ebay for spares with the least decent of the various components of all the machines in use. Gutted as I really liked that machine. Need something to replace it as it was the only machine currently in use with a half-decent graphics card.
Looking into alternatives to Dell, and given that there's a big question mark over Nvidia chip failures (which the 9400 is a victim of) I'd prefer something with ATI graphics. Currently possibilities are the Thinkpad T61 which are very solidly built, or possibly a relatively recent Acer. A bit of a problem is that a lot of new laptops, especially for the consumer market, come with glossy screens, which I absolutely detest.
Walked the dog today and went to the gym but my foot started twinging again so didn't do a full workout at the gym, but the exercise combined with reasonably sensible eating has left me feeling a lot better. Perhaps strangely I go to the gym quite late in the evening but I like it as I come home feeling pleasantly tired and ready for a good sleep. Works for me anyway.
I wish I could overcome my fear of the treadmill.
Looking into alternatives to Dell, and given that there's a big question mark over Nvidia chip failures (which the 9400 is a victim of) I'd prefer something with ATI graphics. Currently possibilities are the Thinkpad T61 which are very solidly built, or possibly a relatively recent Acer. A bit of a problem is that a lot of new laptops, especially for the consumer market, come with glossy screens, which I absolutely detest.
Walked the dog today and went to the gym but my foot started twinging again so didn't do a full workout at the gym, but the exercise combined with reasonably sensible eating has left me feeling a lot better. Perhaps strangely I go to the gym quite late in the evening but I like it as I come home feeling pleasantly tired and ready for a good sleep. Works for me anyway.
I wish I could overcome my fear of the treadmill.
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
Gym
So back to the gym tonight. It went OK, a bit tough as I haven't been for a little while but I feel a lot better for not going. Also today I enforced my 'Stay the fuck away from the damned vending machine' rule so that was a good thing.
Work is meh. Just when I think I've seen it all, something else comes out of the woodwork that leaves me gobsmacked as to what goes on. Oh well.
Bah, I put an Acorn Risc PC up on Ebay with a StrongARM CPU upgrade which I thought was certain to sell as it had 20 watchers, but it didn't! Ebay can be very tricky sometimes.
Work is meh. Just when I think I've seen it all, something else comes out of the woodwork that leaves me gobsmacked as to what goes on. Oh well.
Bah, I put an Acorn Risc PC up on Ebay with a StrongARM CPU upgrade which I thought was certain to sell as it had 20 watchers, but it didn't! Ebay can be very tricky sometimes.
Monday, 5 April 2010
Gaming fun
Classic gaming moment #1 in Left 4 Dead 2 demo
A witch approaches, weeping.
Rob: 'Stay back, I think I've got some sort of biological deterrent!'
*smash*
The witch attacks violently.
Classic gaming moment #2 in Left 4 Dead 2 demo
Rob: How do you switch guns?
Will and I: Y!
Rob: Because I want to change my weapon!
Will and I: No, Y!
Rob BECAUSE I WANT TO...oh.
Will and I: The BUTTON Y!!
Cue hysterics from all involved.
Classic gaming moment #3 in Left 4 Dead 2 demo
Will: Don't shoot the cars!
I promptly accidentally shoot one of the cars, setting off the alarm and causing zombie riot. This happened twice.
A witch approaches, weeping.
Rob: 'Stay back, I think I've got some sort of biological deterrent!'
*smash*
The witch attacks violently.
Classic gaming moment #2 in Left 4 Dead 2 demo
Rob: How do you switch guns?
Will and I: Y!
Rob: Because I want to change my weapon!
Will and I: No, Y!
Rob BECAUSE I WANT TO...oh.
Will and I: The BUTTON Y!!
Cue hysterics from all involved.
Classic gaming moment #3 in Left 4 Dead 2 demo
Will: Don't shoot the cars!
I promptly accidentally shoot one of the cars, setting off the alarm and causing zombie riot. This happened twice.
Saturday, 3 April 2010
Berlin
So it was off back to Berlin last weekend, with Rob in tow instead of my cousin who obviously can't travel due to chemotherapy.
Friday
The flight was late on in the day but we still set off quite early and took a stroll around Rob's old haunts in Liverpool, which was fun. The weather wasn't great though but we had a look around some book places and Forbidden Planet which is always nice.
The flight was delayed by about 40 minutes which was a bit annoying as the flight was so late in the first place but was otherwise uneventful. Once we got out of the airport we got a bit confuzzled with the S-bahn but eventually got to the right stop after changing trains three times in as many stops. Possibly a side effect of the ongoing troubles with the S-bahn.
Saturday
We had a stroll around Alexanderplatz first thing in the morning where we found several interesting shops in a small shopping centre. One was an alcohol shop where Rob saw many rare and interesting items, a shop specialising in old DDR stuff, and a pound shop type affair which had some odd things.
After that it was off to meet up with Amogharatna to head off to the trade fair for the half marathon where he would register and get his number. This was well worth doing as it took place in the old Tempelhof airport. It closed in late 2008 and this kind of thing is the only way to get a look inside these days. It was pretty cool to see the old building which is very impressive.
Lunch consisted of currywurst from Curry 36 on the Mehringdamm, which is reputedly the best in Berlin. It was pretty damn good, that's for sure. After that we wandered around a bit until Amogharatna had to leaves. Rob and I had a good long walk including the length of the Tiergarten before deciding to head off and find supper after a break in the hotel. We started out at the House of 100 Beers, where we had a couple of drinks and then found a nice Italian place on Oranienburger Strasse, which was good. After that we had some more drinks in an Irish bar in the Hackesher Markt station, before finding a much quieter and nice little pub by Alexanderplatz.
Sunday
I woke up and didn't feel well at all due to a cold. Rob wasn't well after a late night session with some Germans playing Dopplekopf and so neither of us made a huge breakfast.
Amogharatna met up with me at 9 and we headed off to Alexanderplatz to meet his friend Harald who was also running the half marathon. Having found him, we headed off to where everyone else was getting ready and putting their clothes and things into bags for safe keeping. Nothing like hanging out with 22,000 runners to make you feel fat and inadequate, that's for sure. I saw Amogharatna and Harald off to the start which was a bit of a mistake as I had then had to fight my way back through the heaving crowds.
After having a look at the route for the marathon, I got on the train and headed off to a few places to watch it, first was the Tiergarten S-bahn station, and then the Ku'damm U-bahn station. That one was pretty good as I saw most of the field go through. Annoyingly I didn't see Amogharatna go past, but I did see Harald. I found out later that Amogharatna was in front of Harald so I must have missed him.
Once the marathon was done I met up with Amogharatna, Claudia and another friend of his for lunch at an Italian place. It was somewhere I hadn't been before so I had a little trouble finding it but it was a good place and it was a good meal. We headed back to the vicinity of the hotel where Amogharatna and Claudia dropped me off at the hotel, and then Rob and I went out for some supper and a stroll. Food was from the Flying Table which was typically excellent.
Monday
I was still suffering rather but Rob was better so we headed off to the Reichstag to try and get up the dome. There were some people there already but as we headed across the lawn a bus full of tourists pulled up so we legged it to get in front of them. This worked and the roof and dome were quite empty when we got there. It was a fairly clear day so we had a good view from the top of the dome and roof. It doesn't look too high from outside but it's pretty good.
After that we had a wander round the government quarter and then headed off to Treptower Park to have a look at the Soviet memorial there, which is really huge and impressive. This was followed by a visit to the rather underwhelming currywurst museum. I then returned back to the hotel for break, only stopping off at Alexanderplatz to find a geocache there. I had a pretty good idea where it was when a German family turned up looking for it and one of the kids grabbed it and ran off, so I had to politely ask if I could sign the logbook.
That evening we went to a restaurant not far from the hotel which was pretty good. This was followed by a stroll around the Ku'damm in the dark which was good although it took some lengthy train rides to get to and from it.
Tuesday
We met up again with Amogharatna in the morning and had a walk around Unter den Linden before walking down to the awesome Fassbender & Rausch chocolate shop for lunch, which was excellent. After this we walked around a bit more but I was really starting to feel tired and rough so we took an earlier train to the airport and got ourselves through security. The flight was uneventful again other than the weather being lovely when we left Germany and then horrible in Liverpool.
Friday
The flight was late on in the day but we still set off quite early and took a stroll around Rob's old haunts in Liverpool, which was fun. The weather wasn't great though but we had a look around some book places and Forbidden Planet which is always nice.
The flight was delayed by about 40 minutes which was a bit annoying as the flight was so late in the first place but was otherwise uneventful. Once we got out of the airport we got a bit confuzzled with the S-bahn but eventually got to the right stop after changing trains three times in as many stops. Possibly a side effect of the ongoing troubles with the S-bahn.
Saturday
We had a stroll around Alexanderplatz first thing in the morning where we found several interesting shops in a small shopping centre. One was an alcohol shop where Rob saw many rare and interesting items, a shop specialising in old DDR stuff, and a pound shop type affair which had some odd things.
After that it was off to meet up with Amogharatna to head off to the trade fair for the half marathon where he would register and get his number. This was well worth doing as it took place in the old Tempelhof airport. It closed in late 2008 and this kind of thing is the only way to get a look inside these days. It was pretty cool to see the old building which is very impressive.
Lunch consisted of currywurst from Curry 36 on the Mehringdamm, which is reputedly the best in Berlin. It was pretty damn good, that's for sure. After that we wandered around a bit until Amogharatna had to leaves. Rob and I had a good long walk including the length of the Tiergarten before deciding to head off and find supper after a break in the hotel. We started out at the House of 100 Beers, where we had a couple of drinks and then found a nice Italian place on Oranienburger Strasse, which was good. After that we had some more drinks in an Irish bar in the Hackesher Markt station, before finding a much quieter and nice little pub by Alexanderplatz.
Sunday
I woke up and didn't feel well at all due to a cold. Rob wasn't well after a late night session with some Germans playing Dopplekopf and so neither of us made a huge breakfast.
Amogharatna met up with me at 9 and we headed off to Alexanderplatz to meet his friend Harald who was also running the half marathon. Having found him, we headed off to where everyone else was getting ready and putting their clothes and things into bags for safe keeping. Nothing like hanging out with 22,000 runners to make you feel fat and inadequate, that's for sure. I saw Amogharatna and Harald off to the start which was a bit of a mistake as I had then had to fight my way back through the heaving crowds.
After having a look at the route for the marathon, I got on the train and headed off to a few places to watch it, first was the Tiergarten S-bahn station, and then the Ku'damm U-bahn station. That one was pretty good as I saw most of the field go through. Annoyingly I didn't see Amogharatna go past, but I did see Harald. I found out later that Amogharatna was in front of Harald so I must have missed him.
Once the marathon was done I met up with Amogharatna, Claudia and another friend of his for lunch at an Italian place. It was somewhere I hadn't been before so I had a little trouble finding it but it was a good place and it was a good meal. We headed back to the vicinity of the hotel where Amogharatna and Claudia dropped me off at the hotel, and then Rob and I went out for some supper and a stroll. Food was from the Flying Table which was typically excellent.
Monday
I was still suffering rather but Rob was better so we headed off to the Reichstag to try and get up the dome. There were some people there already but as we headed across the lawn a bus full of tourists pulled up so we legged it to get in front of them. This worked and the roof and dome were quite empty when we got there. It was a fairly clear day so we had a good view from the top of the dome and roof. It doesn't look too high from outside but it's pretty good.
After that we had a wander round the government quarter and then headed off to Treptower Park to have a look at the Soviet memorial there, which is really huge and impressive. This was followed by a visit to the rather underwhelming currywurst museum. I then returned back to the hotel for break, only stopping off at Alexanderplatz to find a geocache there. I had a pretty good idea where it was when a German family turned up looking for it and one of the kids grabbed it and ran off, so I had to politely ask if I could sign the logbook.
That evening we went to a restaurant not far from the hotel which was pretty good. This was followed by a stroll around the Ku'damm in the dark which was good although it took some lengthy train rides to get to and from it.
Tuesday
We met up again with Amogharatna in the morning and had a walk around Unter den Linden before walking down to the awesome Fassbender & Rausch chocolate shop for lunch, which was excellent. After this we walked around a bit more but I was really starting to feel tired and rough so we took an earlier train to the airport and got ourselves through security. The flight was uneventful again other than the weather being lovely when we left Germany and then horrible in Liverpool.
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