http://technorati.com/tag/Non-game+computer+stuff Posts tagged with "Non-game computer stuff" on Technorati Fri, 16 May 2008 23:02:06 -0700 Technorati v1.0 http://static.technorati.com/pix/logos/logo_sm.gif http://technorati.com/tag/Non-game+computer+stuff support@technorati.com (Technorati Support) http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 Non-game computer stuff http://www.kgadams.net/2008/04/12/a-decade-later-and-wireless-networking-still-sucks http://www.kgadams.net/2008/04/12/a-decade-later-and-wireless-networking-still-sucks Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:50:06 -0700 I would love to have a no-compromise wireless network in my home. In this imaginary scenario, I would be able to put a computer anywhere in the house, even carry one out onto the patio, and get something approaching gigabit Ethernet speeds. Heck, I’d even be happy with half that: 300 Mbps… or even a really reliable true 100 Mbps link- that would be nice. Unfortunately, after about a decade of living with wireless, I can say that surprisingly little actual progress has been made. Using wireless 2008-04-12 23:50:06 PDT http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/04/12/a-decade-later-and-wireless-networking-still-sucks 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/04/04/my-patience-wears-thin-2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/04/04/my-patience-wears-thin-2 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:32:01 -0700 I like experimenting with my computers and network gear. It is even fun sometimes when things don’t work properly at first, so long as I can work out a solution. But even my patience with technology has its limits. Late last year, for example, I more or less “gave up” (at least for the time being) on Vista and Windows, and switched to using a Macintosh as my primary machine. What has me on the warpath now? My network… and specifically my Linksys/Cisco gear, and even more specifically my Linksy 2008-04-04 17:32:01 PDT http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/04/04/my-patience-wears-thin-2 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/03/24/fujitsu-to-make-bigger-fast-laptop-drives http://www.kgadams.net/2008/03/24/fujitsu-to-make-bigger-fast-laptop-drives Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:43:35 -0700 Fujitsu to make bigger “fast” laptop drives Posted by Kelly Adams on March 24th, 2008 I’m pretty happy with my Macbook Pro. But on the day I bought it, I started planning upgrades: I’m a geek, after all. The first thing on my list- upgrade from the default 2 GB to 4 GB of RAM. That was done about a week after I bought the machine. Second on my list: a larger and faster hard drive. 120 GB of storage on a 5400 RPM drive is nice, but 240 GB at 7200 RPM… that would be just the ticket. The bigge 2008-03-24 10:43:35 PDT http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/03/24/fujitsu-to-make-bigger-fast-laptop-drives 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/03/13/the-upgrade-that-wasnt http://www.kgadams.net/2008/03/13/the-upgrade-that-wasnt Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:59:57 -0700 The upgrade that wasn’t… Posted by Kelly Adams on March 13th, 2008 I decided late last year that I was going to take the year off from the computer upgrade process. That doesn’t mean that I planned on absolutely zero upgrades, but that I would defer the “big stuff”. This came after a tremendous amount of hassle and fuss trying to get Vista and my 2006 PC upgrade working to my satisfaction, and after the satisfying experience I had with my MacBook Pro. But things change… and the upgrade that 2008-03-13 20:59:57 PDT http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/03/13/the-upgrade-that-wasnt 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/03/06/why-do-i-do-it http://www.kgadams.net/2008/03/06/why-do-i-do-it Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:23:46 -0800 It started innocently enough… ah, crap, that’s how I began that other post. Okay… here’s the deal. I’m weak. My weakness is gadgets, particularly computers. You know this if you’ve been reading this site for any length of time. It is rare that I make it through a given six month period without doing *something* that involves partly or completely gutting one or more computers. Of course I’m leading up to the fact that I’m ripping the innards from my PCs once again. This time I can hardly make 2008-03-06 13:23:46 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/03/06/why-do-i-do-it 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/02/27/new-video-card-ati-3870-x2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/02/27/new-video-card-ati-3870-x2 Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:40:22 -0800 New video card: ATI 3870 X2 Posted by Kelly Adams on February 27th, 2008 It started innocently enough. I was considering upgrading to a larger format monitor sometime in the next year or so. I like having lots of video “real estate” and, although my ViewSonic VP201 20″ LCD display has served me well, I am starting to feel crowded. The display format I’m considering is a 30″ 2560×1600 size, perhaps something like this Samsung. An important consideration is the number and type of video inputs: 2008-02-27 11:40:22 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/02/27/new-video-card-ati-3870-x2 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/31/you-win-some-you-lose-some/ http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/31/you-win-some-you-lose-some/ Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:20:01 -0800 In my previous post, I mentioned a couple of gotchas regarding my server upgrade and the Linux install thereon. A day later and things have changed again. One thing I thought I had fixed: the network autonegotiate problem. I found network performance was once again sucking royally today, and I tried to re-create the circumstances that permitted good network performance the other day. Unfortunately, no luck: disabling autonegotiate on the Cisco RV016 hub and on the NIC didn’t seem to solve anyt 2008-01-31 18:20:01 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/01/31/you-win-some-you-lose-some/ 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/30/new-server-mostly-up-and-running/ http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/30/new-server-mostly-up-and-running/ Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:55:02 -0800 New server mostly up and running Posted by Kelly Adams on January 30th, 2008 I seem to have reversed the forces of entropy! The new server is basically operational, and this blog is now being served by fresh, clean hardware. I’ll post something detailing the innards of the new box this upcoming weekend. Interesting gotchas from the install always pay close attention to disk space when migrating / backing up old servers: I spent several hours trying to fix a problem that was nothing more tha 2008-01-30 12:55:02 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/01/30/new-server-mostly-up-and-running/ 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/28/mandriva-linux-2008-and-vncserver/ http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/28/mandriva-linux-2008-and-vncserver/ Mon, 28 Jan 2008 07:50:15 -0800 Mandriva Linux 2008 and vncserver Posted by Kelly Adams on January 28th, 2008 I mentioned a few days ago that I ordered parts for a new webserver. I picked up the pieces on Saturday, and finished the physical assembly in a couple of hours. It is a very compact and, dare I say, “cute” box. I’ll have to take some pictures of it once everything is finished. I was making such good progress on Saturday that I started right in to the OS install and config. Install of Mandriva Linux 2008 went very 2008-01-28 07:50:15 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/01/28/mandriva-linux-2008-and-vncserver/ 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/28/mandriva-linux-2008-and-vncserver/ http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/28/mandriva-linux-2008-and-vncserver/ Mon, 28 Jan 2008 07:50:15 -0800 Mandriva Linux 2008 and vncserver Posted by Kelly Adams on January 28th, 2008 I mentioned a few days ago that I ordered parts for a new webserver. I picked up the pieces on Saturday, and finished the physical assembly in a couple of hours. It is a very compact and, dare I say, “cute” box. I’ll have to take some pictures of it once everything is finished. I was making such good progress on Saturday that I started right in to the OS install and config. Install of Mandriva Linux 2008 went very 2008-01-28 07:50:15 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/01/28/mandriva-linux-2008-and-vncserver/ 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/20/parts-is-parts-new-web-server-coming/ http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/20/parts-is-parts-new-web-server-coming/ Sun, 20 Jan 2008 12:24:09 -0800 I’ve been pondering the replacement of my web server, the machine that runs this website, for about a year now. I finally took the leap today and placed the parts order with my favorite computer component dealer, NCIX. A new chassis, motherboard, processor (Intel!), memory, and flat panel display are now waiting to be added to my credit card. My main objectives with this upgrade: physically “shrink” the size of the server. The machine I have is a big, noisy, dual processor box. I want to put 2008-01-20 12:24:09 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/01/20/parts-is-parts-new-web-server-coming/ 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/15/macworld-stuff-time-capsule-and-apple-tv-v20/ http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/15/macworld-stuff-time-capsule-and-apple-tv-v20/ Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:36:19 -0800 MacWorld stuff: Time Capsule and Apple TV v2.0 Posted by Kelly Adams on January 15th, 2008 Steve Jobs and his reality distortion field apparently put on a relatively quiet show at MacWorld today. Apple stock dropped about $10 on comparatively underwhelming (to the analysts) product announcements- basically, there was no iPhone this year. The big announcement was the MacBook Air. From my perspective, this is a rather boring release: a very thin MacBook with an underpowered processor, low-end 2008-01-15 23:36:19 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/01/15/macworld-stuff-time-capsule-and-apple-tv-v20/ 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/08/bill-gates-last-ces-keynote-address/ http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/08/bill-gates-last-ces-keynote-address/ Tue, 08 Jan 2008 03:06:37 -0800 Bill Gates last CES Keynote address Posted by Kelly Adams on January 8th, 2008 I first encountered Microsoft in terms of buying their products in about 1981. I bought a game for my Apple II- Adventure (aka “Colossal Cave”, the original Crowther and Woods text based adventure) from them. I followed Bill Gates’ career from about that time, and always felt like, in a weird way, he and I were twins separated at birth… even though he’s older than me and I’m far, far sexier. In about 1990, I had 2008-01-08 03:06:37 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/01/08/bill-gates-last-ces-keynote-address/ 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/03/why-i-dont-like-social-network-sites-like-facebookor-free-email-services-like-gmail/ http://www.kgadams.net/2008/01/03/why-i-dont-like-social-network-sites-like-facebookor-free-email-services-like-gmail/ Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:33:58 -0800 Why I don’t like social network sites like Facebook…or “free” email services like GMail Posted by Kelly Adams on January 3rd, 2008 I have l a problem with social networking sites. Services like Facebook, Twitter, and so on all encourage me to trust them with all of the data regarding myself and my friends/associates. In return, they provide a service to me for “free”. I don’t like letting *my* data out of my hands. Some of the most important pieces of information in my life are my emails, m 2008-01-03 15:33:58 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2008/01/03/why-i-dont-like-social-network-sites-like-facebookor-free-email-services-like-gmail/ 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2007/12/24/i-like-boxenso-why-are-hard-drive-enclosures-so-bad/ http://www.kgadams.net/2007/12/24/i-like-boxenso-why-are-hard-drive-enclosures-so-bad/ Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:43:23 -0800 I like boxen…so why are hard drive enclosures so bad? Posted by Kelly Adams on December 24th, 2007 If there is one thing that can make me giddy when I’m working on a computer upgrade project, it is a well-designed case or chassis. Well-designed means: the pieces slot together with minimal effort I can open the box without special tools or fiddly screws the edges and corners are nicely turned with no sharp edges the paint/finish is clean, smooth, and elegant there is more than adequate room f 2007-12-24 13:43:23 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2007/12/24/i-like-boxenso-why-are-hard-drive-enclosures-so-bad/ 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2007/12/15/next-years-pc/ http://www.kgadams.net/2007/12/15/next-years-pc/ Sat, 15 Dec 2007 23:02:34 -0800 Next year’s PC… Posted by Kelly Adams on December 15th, 2007 I was starting to think that the tide might be turning away from ATI + AMD: my favoured platform for the last four years or so. Both Intel and NVidia have been ahead of ATI/AMD now for about a year in terms of top-end video card and CPU performance. But ATI, at least, seems poised to introduce some interesting technology during 2008. It appears that my long-held hope that “two GPUs on one card” would finally become a reality is abo 2007-12-15 23:02:34 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2007/12/15/next-years-pc/ 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2007/12/09/send-your-email-as-html-just-a-suggestion-on-the-mac/ http://www.kgadams.net/2007/12/09/send-your-email-as-html-just-a-suggestion-on-the-mac/ Sun, 09 Dec 2007 20:05:36 -0800 “Send your email as HTML” just a *suggestion* on the Mac Posted by Kelly Adams on December 9th, 2007 I have a deep, dark secret to admit: I often send email using HTML/rich text features. I know, it is shocking: but I fear the seductive features of things like fonts, bold facing, and colour have turned me from the true path of pure text. When I started using the Macintosh, I set my email options to use rich text format for composing messages: You’d think that, with this setting, any email 2007-12-09 20:05:36 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2007/12/09/send-your-email-as-html-just-a-suggestion-on-the-mac/ 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2007/11/25/my-typical-upgrade-project/ http://www.kgadams.net/2007/11/25/my-typical-upgrade-project/ Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:26:49 -0800 My typical upgrade project… Posted by Kelly Adams on November 25th, 2007 I came across this comic on xkcd today…and it seemed so true to what happens during my upgrades that I felt compelled to share it Tags: comic , computer upgrade , funny , Non-game computer stuff Posted in Non-game computer stuff 2007-11-25 22:26:49 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2007/11/25/my-typical-upgrade-project/ 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2007/11/23/need-a-1000-program-to-draw-hardly/ http://www.kgadams.net/2007/11/23/need-a-1000-program-to-draw-hardly/ Fri, 23 Nov 2007 06:33:16 -0800 Need a $1,000 program to draw? Hardly… Posted by Kelly Adams on November 23rd, 2007 I stumbled across this video which gives a stop-action view of someone using the least impressive of computer tools to perform some rather impressive illustrating magic… Being able to do something amazing with a very basic tool may seem like a rather limited skill. But I have to wonder- what could this artist do with a “real” drawing program? Tags: artistic , mspaint god , Non-game computer stuff Posted 2007-11-23 06:33:16 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2007/11/23/need-a-1000-program-to-draw-hardly/ 2 2 http://www.kgadams.net/2007/11/19/stupid-mac-tricks/ http://www.kgadams.net/2007/11/19/stupid-mac-tricks/ Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:37:13 -0800 Stupid Mac tricks… Posted by Kelly Adams on November 19th, 2007 In computers, bugs are a fact of life. No matter how much someone might claim that an application or operating system is “perfect”, the truth is always quite different. Take the Macintosh, for example. I’ve been using my MacBook Pro for a while, and am pretty impressed with its behavior. But “bug free? Heck no. Here are a few recent examples of “unexplained” behavior: 2007-11-19 17:37:13 PST http://technorati.com/search/www.kgadams.net/2007/11/19/stupid-mac-tricks/ 2 2