18 posts tagged “computers”

I've been with my web host for over 6 years now. Wow. No wonder I'm getting the itch to switch. Not quite the 7 year itch, but this is computer years, so I'm actually way late! ;)

Interesting that Google chose to go with Paddington Bear's 50th birthday as their Google doodle today, instead of Columbus Day. (Maybe they did it yesterday -- the 'real' Columbus Day -- and I missed it...? Doesn't look like it, though.)

Since I have time on my hands, here's a brief update on life.

• I've been playing tennis with Lizzy almost every evening, now that the weather is so nice and we have 'our own' tennis courts where we live. Last night was the first time anyone else was actually on the courts besides us!
• I've read a tonne over books over the summer. (I always list them in my Vox library, if anyone cares. I do it for my own reference so I can see what I've read, because I read so much and forget so quickly.)  I only have a few more to go and then I'll be 'done' until next summer, most likely.
• The 'Twilight' series (Stephenie Meyer) was really good and definitely sucked me in. 'The Host' did not suck me in, and yet when all was said and done... it might even be better than Twilight. Maybe. :)  I've found out it's going to be a series, too!
• Still no power in many places in Louisville, though they're reporting now that only 108,000 or so are left without power. Only.
• Louisville (UofL) might not be as terrible at football this year as I'd feared. Maybe. I guess it depends which Cantwell shows up, and if Anderson (176 yards, 3 TDs against Kansas State) can keep it up. The Big East is really weak this year, aside from South Florida. There haven't been any conference games yet, though.
• Looking forward to Ubuntu 8.10 on 30 October
• Looking even more forward to (hopefully) my new phone on 19 October
• Which reminds me, I'm now a Sprint Premier customer, a VIP. I get special perks because I've been with Sprint for 10 years now. This VIP thing has only been around since the end of last year.
• Exactly five weeks until my birthday. Wow, I didn't even know it fell on a Friday this year!
• I did know, however, that Christmas falls on a Thursday this year. I've already asked off for that Wednesday and Friday, to give me a five-day weekend.
• Now's a good time to plug the Envail Wishlist.
• And a good time to offer up the services of EnvailMail again.
• The new Weezer album is pretty good. The new Staind album is even better. Neither are great.

After fixing a customer's problem on the phone:

Customer: "You're a genius! YOU ARE A GENIUS! No one else [at your company] knows anything. And you know everything! Oh, you are a GENIUS!"

hahahahahahaha

Anyone have (highly unlikely) or know someone who has (still unlikely) Jamstix 2XL? If so, maybe I could 'borrow' it...?

Anyone doing something geekier than sitting on your computer on a Saturday afternoon, compiling a repair utility to attempt a fix on a 48GB gzip'd tarball?

Anyone? Anyone?

Still here, still alive, all's well, all's fine.

Didn't move last weekend as scheduled due to the house not being finished (due to the weather). We spoke to the builder last night and he said we should definitely be able to move in this weekend. So, that is the plan.

My laptop's internal wireless is broken, so I'm shipping it back to HP Compaq for repairs (it's under warranty). Due to some stupidity on my part, some stupidity on FedEx's part, and some stupidity on HP Compaq's part, I'm awaiting my third set of return shipping materials before I can ship it back. But I've reset the laptop back to factory defaults (read: Vista, so they don't freak out over Linux) and boxed it up (twice now :D) anyway, so I haven't been able to use it.

Since my memory card reader is built into my laptop, this also means I haven't been able to upload any pictures of the house. It's just as well -- I really don't have the time. I'm still taking pictures, though, although I've been slacking a bit. Most of the stuff now is minor, aside from the deck construction, so I'll get a good set of pictures once the house is 'done'.

There's a lot of other stuff going on, too (kid-related), but I'm not going to talk about it here.

What was your major or field of study in college? Did you wind up working in that field or using that degree? If not, what field have you wound up in?

Computer Science. No degree, hehe, since I only stayed, uh, a month or so. But I've worked in the field now for almost ten years now.

Have you ever recycled an old computer or laptop?  Where did you take it, and what steps did you take to protect your personal information?

Nope, never have. I'm a hoarder. ;)  My older ones just got re-used by someone else, or sold. If I ever get rid of something, though, I can do it through work (since I'm in the field) -- we're partnered with a recycling programme. As for my personal data, I know how to wipe it out. :)

I just spent over an hour trying to remember the name of the racing game that came along with my Packard Bell computer back in 1995/1996. I did Google search after Google search, scoured Wikipedia, checked gaming archives... and nothing. I knew that it sold well, if for no other reason than the bundling with computers back then. But I couldn't find it.

In the midst of yet another unfruitful search, the name suddenly popped into my head: MegaRace.

I looked it up on Wikipedia and sure enough, that's the one!

And now that I remember the name of the game, I have no idea why I even cared to begin with. :D  But at least my curiosity has been satisfied.