Jmac

Start > Set Program Access and Defaults > Choose a default media player You may also want to uninstall and reinstall Flash (www.adobe.com) and uninstall Quicktime altogether ... I use Quicktime alternative as I freaking hate Quicktime w/ a passion ...

So I had my car inspected today by one of my friends who is a mechanic at a Mercedes-Benz dealership. He said everything checked out fine except my fuel injectors need to be cleaned, my rear differential is leaking slightly, and my clutch needs to be adjusted. He said it's probably the most mechanicallly sound 20-year-old car he's seen that's used as a daily driver. He recommended I pick up some Lucas fuel injector cleaner, so we ran down to Canadian Tire, bought some for $6, and put it in. Man, what a difference. I figured my engine was just dying because I've noticed over the last 6 months or so that I'd been losing power and it had been acting up a little (stuttering when running cold, for example) plus it's 20-years-old and has never been rebuilt or or had any major engine work done. Nope, just dirty injectors I guess because it's performing like it did 5 years ago again ... Best $6 and case of beer I've spent recently I <3 my Nissan

Hmm, I was much happier at my other job. Getting yelled at because company X has had person X's computer for X amount of time sucks ass ...

Shon's a good guy, long time member over at ca.com ... I was on ROE for a while before the immaturity took over (which wasn't long) and I left ...

I see Apple also updated the Mac Mini today, as well. Hmm, if it's not an IPS panel on the iMac, I might just advise my GF to get a Mac Mini w/ 2 GB of RAM, a decent 24" monitor (i.e. Dell 2407WFP-HC), and a 500 GB external hard drive for around $1650 instead of getting the 24" iMac for $2450 ($800 difference + taxes = ~$900 difference total) ... CPU: Mini - 2 GHz Core 2 Duo iMac - 2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo Memory: Mini - 2 GB PC2-5300 SODIMM iMac - 2 GB PC2-5300 SODIMM Hard Drive: Mini - 120 GB SATA + 500 GB External iMac - 500 GB SATA Graphics: Mini - Intel GMA 950 integrated iMac - ATI HD 2600 Pro GDDR3 Obviously the integrated graphics are a huge disadvantage and the CPU is a LOT faster in the iMac, but I can buy a lot of shit for $900 ...

Indeed ... He was nice about it and I personally wasn't really expecting the first person I talked to to know the answer, but I would have expected that at least ONE person there would have known ...

Okay, so he came back and said that he asked everyone in the room and no one knew what type of panel it uses. He suggested that I call back tomorrow ...

Yay, finally got through ... Asked if the panel was available in matte, the answer is no. Asked what type of panel it was, he said LCD, I explained to him that there are several different types of LCD panels (IPS, MVA, PVA, TN+Film) and that I'm working w/ digital photography where an IPS panel is preferred for its uniformity and colour accuracy. He put me back on hold I have a feeling this is going to be a long phone call ...

I'd have hung up a long time ago... What screwed up so bad as to justify having to wait 2hrs on hold? My GF wants one of the new 24" iMacs that just came out today and she doesn't want a glossy screen (the only option available online), so we (I) are trying to get one w/ a matte screen. I also have some questions about the parts in it (i.e. the type of panel it uses, what interface the memory, graphics, and hard drive use, if upgrading the memory and hard drive myself will violate the warranty, etc.). I also want to know if the video output is gay Mini DVI or if it's a real connection (HD15 or DVI-I).I have speakerphone, so it's not a big deal ... She wants this ordered tonight so she can have it for next week ...

I've been on hold w/ Apple for 2 hours ... Sweet ... Why do people love this company again ?

I didn't think it was possible, but a golf course actually managed to make my shitlist (list of stores I will NEVER do business with again and will go out of my way at every opportunity to take business away from them). *WARNING* LONG STORY I went golfing w/ my dad today at Mt. Brenton Golf Course in Chemainus, BC; nice day out, got out early, etc. Things are going a little slow, but that's the norm and I was playing well, so I didn't mind. I was getting really hungry because I hadn't eaten since breakfast (it was about 5 pm at this point), so I was anxiously awaiting some hotdogs at the turn (after 9 holes). Well, we finish 9 and proceed to the 10th, but there's no one at the concession and there's a sign that says to go into the restaurant above the pro shop for service. So we do that but they don't have any quick food there (it's a sit down restaurant), so I decide to get a steak, my dad gets some halibut. Finish eating, pay up, head back out to the 10th, which is open. Just as my dad's about to tee off, this FIVESOME comes up to us and this one guy says, "You can't just start on the 10th hole." I told him that we'd already done 9 and just stopped to eat. He proceeds to tell us that if we stop to eat, we forfeit our position in line and have to go back to the 1st hole. My dad started to get pissed off because he was talking to me like that and he pipes in, "Who the hell are you ?" He informs us that he and his golf buddies are members here and they have higher priority than a couple of "foreigners." My dad and I are both white, so we assume this means non-members. Anyways, we argue for a bit, my dad finally hits his ball and we leave. I guess these pussies went and got the course marshall because he came out in a golf cart about 5 minutes later. He comes up to us saying, "You can't just start on the 10th hole." I told him that we'd already done 9 and stopped to eat. "Well, if you're going to stop to eat, you have to let us know." My dad was really pissed off at this point and he says, "Well your fucking concession stand told us to go to the fucking restaurant where they won't serve you unless you're sitting down to eat, so what the fuck were we supposed to do ?" "Sir, can you please not swear at me ?" "Sorry, but I'm just very frustrated. These guys come up to us and try to intimidate us and basically tell us to get off their golf course." "Well that's not how they told it." "Well they're obviously distorting the facts to make themselves look like the good guys." "Well, they're members." I said, "So, what does that have to do with it ?" "Well why would members lie ?" "Umm, to try to get us kicked off the golf course, perhaps ?" "Don't give me that lip or I'll have to ask you to leave." My dad steps in, "Look buddy, we just came out here to golf. We're only a twosome, so we'll be miles ahead of them in 2 holes and there won't be anymore conflict." "That's not how it works here. They're very upset and I think it's in everyone's best interest that they play through." My dad responds, "Well, they can play through, but I'm going to be driving balls up their asses for the next 8 holes." "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." "Make us." "Dad, come on, let's just go." "No, fuck that, I didn't pay $100 for half a round of golf because some cranky geezers with memberships are having a hissy fit because we stopped for food to give these assholes even more money." "Sir, I'm just trying to make everyone happy." I reply, "No you're not, you're caving into your members because they give you more money than we do. You know that if we finish this hole, there won't be anymore conflict because we'll never run into each other again ?" "What happens next time you play here ?" "Haha, you think we're going to play here again after this ? I'm boycotting this whole golf course and I'm telling everyone I know never to play here." The Marshall finally caves into us, "Fine, you guys can play through. I hope this situation doesn't adversely affect your perception of our fine course." My dad and I both thank him and he leaves. Anyways, I was serious, I'm never going back there again. If any of you guys are ever on Vancouver Island (probably not, but you never know), do me a favour and never give that bullshit establishment any of your money. Thanks. Oh, by the way, I ended up shooting an 80 Yays

Yes ... except the PC133 RAM I have is 64 and 128 MB sticks ... and the spare hard drives I have are like 6 GB or less

1100rpms?! Geez that's slow as crap. I know ... and it's not like it's a 120 or 140 mm fan, either, it's only an 80 mm, so it moves absolutely nothing (~14.5 CFM) ... On the plus side, it's 80plus certified, so at least it should save me some money on my power bill.Fans come in tomorrow. I ordered 3 Antec Tri-cool fans because they're cheap, come w/ 3-pin to 4-pin adapters, and have speed adjustment ... Hopefully I can just leave them on low ...

So the fan in the PSU of my HTPC was starting to tick a little (it's 4 years old), so I decided to replace it w/ a spare PSU, an Antec 350W SmartPower, I'd been meaning to swap into it, but had always been too lazy to do so. So I pop it in, route the wires to keep them out of the way and tie them together, etc., turn it on and holy crap is it ever quiet. However, it would turn out that it was, in fact, a little TOO quiet ... After about an hour, my PC froze. Odd, I thought, considering this had been running for like 4 months straight (as in continuously without being shut off or restarted) before swapping out the PSU. So I restart it and this time it freezes after about 15 minutes. Check the temperature and it's frickin 57 degrees inside the case (CPU temp @ 73 degrees) ! The PSU fan only churns at a snail's pace of 1100 RPM (as opposed to the 3200 RPM the old PSU operated at) and there's no way to increase it ... GRRRR ... I just ordered in 3 case fans ... Apparently there's no way I'm going to get away from noise w/ this thing ...

i don't understand them 100% but what i THINK is that the upconverting is a fake 1080p, kinda like taking a 128kbps mp3 and upconverting it to 320kbps. It's not nearly as good as a recording that was originally ripped in 320, but possibly better than 128. the HD-DVD and blu-ray are actually a higher quality recording. HD-DVD is 1080i. Blu-ray is 1080P but not all. Most of the 1080P Blu-ray discs are for the PS3 and as I've been trained it's almost impossible to tell a difference between i and P unless it is a video game which of course contains computer aided graphics. Also for note, if you sit more than 7 feet away from your TV, you cannot tell the difference betweem 720 and 1080i/P. HD-DVD and Blu-ray are both 1080p.Video games are obviously all computer generated graphics, but that doesn't have anything to do with it. Movies are recorded at 24 frames per second (fps), which is less than the 60 fps that 1080p is capable of and the 30 fps that 1080i is capable of. Frame rates in video games can vary greatly and are often in excess of 30 fps, which is why you can see a difference. The size of the screen is a huge factor as well as viewing distance when determining the number of pixels required for good picture quality. Let's say you have a 72" screen (62.75" x 35.3") ... at 720p (1280x720) resolution, this gives an effective resolution of 20.4 PPI (Pixels Per Inch), meaning each pixel is 0.05" x 0.05" ... at 1080p (1920x1080) resolution, this gives an effective resolution of 30.6 PPI, meaning each pixel is 0.033" x 0.033" ... Now this may sound miniscule, but the human eye (based on human w/ 20/20 vision viewing black vs. white) can resolve 0.003" pixels per 10" of distance, meaning that you can still resolve pixels up to 9 feet on the 1080p model and up to 14 feet on the 720p model. Now, with a 32" model (27.9" x 15.7"), this is reduced down to 4 feet (1080p) and 6 feet (720p) respectively ...

So I'm coming home from work, stopped at an intersection waiting to turn left. The light for traffic travelling in the perpendicular directions turns red and *CRASH*, some guy gets rear-ended stopping at the intersection. Now normally this would be pretty funny, but this was the ultimate in funny rear-enders. The offending vehicle that rear-ended this guy's truck was an RCMP (police) truck ! And, not only that, but it was a female cop not wearing her seat belt ! So I pull over laughing my ass off and wait for another cop to come so I can give my statement (Leaving the scene of an accident is a crime, AFAIK). So I'm telling this cop what happened with a big smile on my face trying not to laugh, but I eventually let out a small snicker when I was telling him how she wasn't wearing a seat belt. He wasn't too impressed with that immediately pointing out that she had a concussion from hitting the glass, to which I replied, "Well, she should've been wearing her seat belt and paying attention to the road." He then let me go and I left, laughing my ass off all the way home. It was great ... Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any pictures because I didn't have my camera on me. Sorry guys.

Who's your service provider ? I can't believe you don't have Shaw out there yet; Shaw's awesome and their call center is in Nanaimo, so it's all people who actually speak english ...

Pretty good deal ... The CD doesn't matter, you can copy/download the CD; it's the key that matters ...

Come to the island and visit me

Well I'm officially a Computer Technician at Staples starting August 14th. Yays

The latest version of Opera has Dictionary, Encyclopedia, Search, and Text-to-Speech context links

I just woke up, but the wiring looks right. I'd go with a single terminal cup since the terminal cup is usually the weakest point on the enclosure. How much enclosure design experience does your friend have ? The reason I ask is that everyone and their dog seems to be an "expert" enclosure designer lately ... I hate to see people drop thousands of dollars on equipment only to have it sound like crap because they trusted an amateur designer. Oh and this isn't a plug, I don't design enclosures for the general public anymore ...

$12/hour is not a career ... Someone as smart as I am should be making at least double that ... Fortunately, this experience should open up some doors in the future that otherwise would've been unavailable to me ... Hopefully, very lucrative doors ... I already make $30/hour on the side teaching old people to use the basic functions of Windows, fixing your basic problems (viruses/spyware, etc.), and building computers through a newpaper advertisement and word of mouth, but I want to make more than that

The usual ... Got a job interview on Tuesday morning as a computer technician ... A little bit of a paycut from what I do now (Computer sales for $9/hour + commission down to $12/hour to start, which is weaksauce), but it'll give me more experience in the field ...

What's up peoples ?