Vertical Videos Are A Sin

I would agree.

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My Computer Issues

It was almost two weeks ago on a Monday night that we shut down the computer like usual, all was as it had been and should be.  Tuesday after work when we started it again all was definitely not well.  It took forever to start and then it moved slower than molasses, each keystroke would take minutes to register.  There was no getting online, no nothing you could do at that speed.  I spent that night and the next trying everything I could to fix it.  Nothing I tried worked, but I did manage to get the few recent files off that I didn't have backed up.  I even called StepDan for some advice, but even he couldn't think of anything I had not already tried.

So Thursday after work I went out and picked up a new one.  Wow.  First off, Windows 8.1 is waaaay different than 7.  And I noticed it seemed geared toward the all-in-ones with a touchscreen.  This would take some time to learn and get used to it. 

Setup went okay and I was learning to navigate somewhat, and I was able to connect to the internet, but then it would be gone, and then it would be back.  I was able to get a stable, yet slower, connection via wifi, but the Ethernet connection was on/off/on/off literally every few to 20 or so seconds.  It was maddening. We made do with the wifi connection for a while as I sought a solution.  I tried a different Ethernet cable, reset my router/modem and spent a good half hour on the phone with my ISP, but it was not their issue and they could not help.

There was no phone number in the materials that came with the computer but I found a number for the manufacturer easily online.  I called and a guy named Natesh walked me through a number of different things.  I remember him saying at one point that he thinks there may be a glitch - meaning a hardware problem.  Finally he had me do a factory restore.  On a brand new computer.  If I didn't know before, I surely knew then I was returning the computer.  This took quite some time so he scheduled a call back later that evening.  The callback was late and it was probably his supervisor, Natesh got stuck on another call, so by then I had the computer boxed up and ready to return.  When the factory restore failed there was a blue screen and a code and the message that the computer needed repair.  I had a lemon, all right.

But, I must say, they provided very good customer service.  They even called me back the next evening to make sure I was able to return it and get my money back before shutting the case.  That impressed me and I filled out their short email survey favorably a few days later.

So, I'm sitting with a busted computer again and I decided to drop the big one.  Restore to factory settings the computer we had.  Nothing else helped and I had most everything backed up, anyway.  And it worked!  It was acting normal after a successful restore.  The only thing is it was like a brand new computer that had sat around for about 5 years.  A lot has changed and updated in that time.

When this computer was brand new it looked totally different than the computer we were used to using.  Over the last several days it is slowly becoming the computer we had before the crash, but it has taken many hundreds of updates, downloads and service packs to get back up to speed.  I'm thankful because now I have what I had, what I like, and what I'm used to.  But even if we get it back to perfect for us, who's to say it won't crash again?

And that's where it stands.  I have no idea what the odds are or how likely another crash may be.  We may take a look at other computers as a backup plan, but for now I think we're just going to let it ride and see what happens - or hopefully what doesn't happen.

I'm Back For Now

It's a story that I really don't want to take the time to get into right now, but I will surely tell the tale of my computer adventures in a post sometime soon. 

Meanwhile, we have been busy with real life and all it throws at you.  Weather-wise it has been mostly pleasant - we haven't had to use the central air conditioning in quite a while.  The news even spoke of a 'polar vortex' that brought us cooler weather.  Cooler, well, I wore a light jacket to work two days this week, optionally.  Still, it is different than those 90º humid days we usually see often this time of year.

I have to post about the garden soon.  Much has changed since the last post.  I took pictures last night and tomorrow morning I will take pictures again after my wife removes plants that are floundering, for reasons that my wife thinks and maybe I'll try to explain more when I post.  Basically, organic growing is very hard for some plants in our area, from what I understand.

Well, that's it for now.  I don't foresee another abrupt end to my access to the internet again, but I can't rule it out just yet.  More to come, I'd like to tell the whole story at once, and, hopefully, with a very happy ending.

Peace -The F**k- Out!

Spoke Too Soon

I'm having all sorts of trouble getting a stable connection.  Not fun.  Wish me luck, I think I need it.  And I think I will be returning the computer.  We'll see after this factory image restore and what HP's Natesh says when he calls back in an hour.
-Typed with one fat finger on my wife's iPhone.

Back Online!

I'm back!

When we shut down the computer on Monday night all was well.  When we started it up again after work on Tuesday it was slower than molasses.  I tried everything - and I mean everything - that I could think of to try and fix the problem.  I worked on it Tuesday night and Wednesday night to no avail.  Absolutely nothing helped.  I even called computer-savvy StepDan and he couldn't think of anything that I hadn't tried yet.  So I went out after work yesterday and got a new one. 

Now the real work begins.  I have things set up and stable enough to use, but we will be fine tuning and learning how to use the new PC for weeks.  A major pain, but I'm sure we'll adapt.  I'm okay with the new mouse, but I think I'm going to go back to the old keyboard.  This one is too flat.

But for now, I got some catching up to do!  PTFO

Offline

I'm roughing it with a broken Internet machine. Back ASAP. Typing this on my wife's phone is a pain in the rump!

Power Naps

I saw this video recently and it made sense to me.  I've actually been doing this for a couple years now, I get a 35 minute lunch and I go straight to the car, set a timer for 30 minutes, turn the radio on really low and lay back with my hat over my eyes.  All year round, too, so there are some accommodations for weather.  It started when my back was aching as a chance to rest it during the day, now I needs me nap!


Not a whole lot going on right now.  There are some things I should take the time to write about so there may be a 'This and Thats' post soon.  The helicopters are done falling so I need to clean the gutters, and the squirrels have been leaving the new strawberry plants alone.  Oh, and after enjoying several weeks of temperatures moderate enough to leave the windows open we may have to start the air conditioner soon.  Maybe even tonight.  This week is to be warm and humid all week.  Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

Space Stream Follow-up

That last post is out of this world, isn't it?  Granted, the feed may be black when it is on the other side of the Earth than the sun, but wait just a little bit and it will be back to daylight - and some fascinating views!  This site, the ISS Tracker, can actually show you where the International Space Station is in real time, including it's path and the sun's horizons.  You can also sign up for email alerts for when you can actually view it where you live and with your naked eye over at NASA's Spot the Station website, which I also list in the right column.  I, myself, try to see it every reasonable hour it happens comes our way.

Space Stream

Live, from the ISS...

More info here.

In Like A-Lyin'...

It is only a few days from the beginning of March and we are much below the 'average' temperatures for this time of year.  Tonight's low is -11ºF with wind chills of up to -30ºF tomorrow morning.  I guess I'll have to warm up the car tomorrow - wait - I've been warming up the car every morning for months on end now, this is supposed to stop happening, right?

In fact, 11º is the highest we'll see until Sunday, they say.  And why not throw in some snow?  Not a big storm, just a little here and a little there for days on end.  After all, a fresh layer of snow covers all that dirty melting stuff and makes everything beautiful.  Right?

Okay, I'm starting to lose my patience with winter.  That's all I got.


If you want more, watch this short video about the water on our planet. It's worth the while!

Wind Map

I found this site a while ago and this time of year it is interesting to look at on those blustery days.


Go to this Wind Map here.

The Scale of the Universe 2

Way back whenever I posted an interesting find called The Scale of the Universe.  Today I came across The Scale of the Universe 2.  Click the Pic... and gain some perspective.

 

Thanks Jonco

1. Sit 2. Type

I know that I have neglected this space for too long now, posting other things to put off writing.  This is just one of those times that I'm not inspired to write anything. So, usually what I do to get the ball rolling is to explain my lack of posting - check - then just start typing and see what comes out.  Yee-haw!


On Saturday evening we went to a surprise birthday party for our friend Zubin down at the Malt House.  Bridget organized everything, rounded up all his friends, got one of his friends to get him down there after a set time, and surprised the hell out of him!  That's the kind of thing you see on TV.  He had no clue it was coming.

Weatherwise it has been about as it should be this year.  Spring was a bit late and the rain is not lacking, very unlike last year and the drought.  We gave in and ran the air conditioner yesterday for the first time.  We could probably handle the temperatures, it's the humidity that kills you.  Okay, that's enough of that, then.

I got a couple more tattoos last week.  I got what I wanted but I was a little disappointed in the artist - I thought he could have done better.  Not him next time.  Eventually my upper left arm will end up in a half-sleeve when it is done.  I envision probably two more sessions like the last two I've had and it may be done.  Who knows when - or even if, this is a luxury item for me.

I made a note to post about the changes I've seen going from LPs, 8-Track tapes, cassette tapes, to CDs and finally digital downloads.  I remember a lot of 8-tracks, but they were on the way out even when I was discovering music.  LPs are the bulk of my physical collection.  There is the fun of the full size artwork, album sleeves, lyrics, posters, etc.  Now they are all boxed away in the closet and haven't been played in years.  Cassettes were a good way to get my favorite songs off the radio when I was real young.  Later they became a good way to get a copy of your buddy's LP, and I even bought several cassette releases, mostly after I learned to drive so we could play them in the car.  For the longest time I held out on buying a CD player.  Looking back, the way digital downloads have progressed, I am happy I waited so long back then.  Think of the money I saved on all those CDs!  Now, I still buy CDs here and there because I'm a fan and still like having the physical copy of some things, but the CD gets burned into iTunes and then may never get played again.  Unless it gets picked for a long car trip.  But now I have an adaptor for my ipod, so never mind that then.  It's a digital world now, yet fallible.  Back up your stuff!


Okay, that's enough time spent on brain spillage.  Remember, if you want to laugh more at what I write then click on the Gizoogled link on the right (nsfw).  Until next time, PTFO!

Time Lapse: Earth

A short video of the views from the ISS.  Best watched in full screen, of course.

Thanks Joanne!

The End Is Near

Eff Christmas.  Why didn't anyone remind me that the world is going to end in 9 days?  Here I've been stressing about gifts and dreading the holiday travel, all for naught.  Instead I should be taking off work and doing anything and everything I want to do before judgment day, or the apocalypse, or whatever you want to call the end of the world...  But there are just a few things wrong with that thought.

Work is too busy to take off, I don't believe in a 'judgment day' and I don't think the Mayans ever meant to imply the end of the world.  They carved a calendar into a rock, probably the biggest they felt they needed to use.  They probably figured that by the time their calendar was up that someone else should have figured out how to do the same thing to continue tracking the years.  Do we really think that an old calendar coming to an end is the end of the world?  Pshaw.  These days you can just run to the shops and get a new one.  I would like to think that they would have figured we'd come up with something like that by now.  This is my impression.  If I got some 'facts' wrong it is only because it is not worth my time to research it further.

Some people are just idiots, some just people are idiots, some idiot people are just, and all idiots are just people.

PTFO

A Tour Of The International Space Station

In her final days as Commander of the International Space Station, Sunita Williams of NASA recorded an extensive tour of the orbital laboratory and downlinked the video on Nov. 18, just hours before she, cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency departed in their Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft for a landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan.

It's 25 minutes long but doesn't seem like it.  Worth a go, I'd say.  Sure beats trying to come up with a real post when I just don't feel like it.


Reposted from Bits & Pieces and YouTube.

Highest Resolution Machu Picchu Picture

See the pic here.

A Guided Tour Of The View From The ISS At Night

Reposted from Bits & Pieces.  Thanks, Jonco!

Computer Roulette

Okay, this is it until probably early next week.  We're going out tonight, then tomorrow morning I will be moving files to the external hard drive.  The Wisconsin-Michigan game starts at 11:00 am, so when that's over I'll be unplugging everything and hooking up our really old computer to grab what I want that's still there.  Then I will be hooking up the new computer.  I plan on getting AVG Internet Security (free version) and Spybot Search & Destroy as protection.  If you have any better ideas now is the time to tell me!   Then iTunes will have to be downloaded again and I will start from scratch re-adding files, resubscribing to podcasts, etc.  This is how I will probably spend most of the rest of the weekend (except the Packers-Vikings game on Sunday, of course).  I'm sure there's an easier way somehow, but I actually look forward to a fresh start and hopefully, given time, getting everything into iTunes like I never have before.

Have a great weekend!
Wish me luck!

Old-Computer Don't-Know-What-I'm-Doing Blues

Well, where the hell have I been?  I haven't posted this little since I started this thing.  I'll try to do better in the future.  Lately though, being on the computer has been a bit of a pain ever since a windows 'update' last week.  I had to try to get a handle on things on this machine that I know so little about.

About 2 months ago, before I broke my leg, our computer was almost plum full so I bought a 1 Terabyte external hard drive (for less than 100 bucks - not a bad deal).  Since then I have been moving over video and music files.  Since this latest episode I am now finding some bad music files here and there.   Sometimes a whole cd, sometimes just a song or two.  A developing bad spot on my hard drive perhaps?  So I have been trying to finish my transfer of music with more urgency.  I will have to address missing tracks and missing albums later.  I have about 50 more bands to transfer before I'm finally done.  I have a lot of music.

Itunes is a whole other animal.  Those bad files have led to many (!)'s that need to be fixed.  I only have about half of my audio files in itunes, about nine thousand tracks.  I may just start over, reset my ipod, and just add as needed and not be so anal/perfectionist/OCD about it like I usually am.  Itunes is secondary, though, I need to see to my computers health.  I don't think I'm that bad off but our computer is quite old and we're admittedly overdue for an upgrade.

My mom's boyfriend, Dan, knows alot about computers and has offered to help.  I think I will take him up on that soon.  First I want to transfer as much as I can over to the new hard drive.  A very tedious task.  I just don't want him here to help and we spend too much time doing stuff I could or should have done first.  But soon, mom, soon I will call and we can make some plans for a Saturday and get this done.

Keep your fingers crossed - I'd be lost without a computer.  Take my TV but I need my computer!