The end of one year and the beginning of another is a time of top ten lists in America. I generally do not pay attention to list that supposedly have the best or worst of something because as I have said many times before judging any art form is pretty subjective and rarely does the so called professionals or experts agree on what’s the best or worst of any art form. It is all pretty subjective stuff. Everyone has his or her own taste. Frankly, in my opinion the list that matters most in t...
Just built a computer for a relative. The project started off as a maintenance call on his Pentium III machine but quickly evolved into a major project once I discovered the drivers needed for this integrated sound, video and modem board were unavailable from the Matsonic motherboard making company (now making motherboards under other brand names). It really bothers me when tech businesses do not support their products with online complete documentation, drivers, and other utilities that...
Saw the movie Alexander this weekend. It is a fairly good film. This Oliver Stone directed film broadly covers the life of Alexander. The story deals to some extent with the society, father, and mother of Alexander. It traces his life from childhood to death. The story follows his grooming and conquest of the ancient Greek known world. The conquest of the Persians is the battle dealt with in most detail (some would argue still not enough detail). A knowledge of ancient Greek history ...
I’ve been working on the computer of an in-law and a woman who had a problem with not being able to view DVDs anymore and a slowdown in the functioning of her computer. The problem of not being able to play DVDs was due to the fact that the software she was using to play DVDs was a trail version and expired after thirty days. I’m surprised she didn’t have any software that came with the DVD drive that would enable her to play DVDs. Then again I haven’t ask her if she has a disc that ca...
Looks like abortion rights will eventually be severely restricted or eliminated because of likely changes on the Supreme Court of the United States. Our present President is against abortion and it is highly likely that he will seek to appoint judges that will most likely restrict or eliminate abortion rights. It seems likely that President Bush will have the opportunity to appoint at least two (and possibly more) Supreme Court justices. Women will be forced back into the dark alli...
I voted the other day. I’m happy that all but one of the people I voted for won. There were no difficulties voting. Unlike that being reported in the news there were not any long lines where I voted. I voted early in the morning though. I like getting it over with so I don’t have to think about it again during the day. If you decide to vote later in the day and it’s not due to work then you run the risk of forgetting to vote or of other matters coming up that may prevent you from voti...
A major find in archeology occurred this week. On an island in Indonesia a new Homo species was reportedly discovered. This species lived during the times that modern man lived (just like Neanderthal Man). An adult female stood approximately three feet tall (stood upright). This species seemed to live in groups, made tools and mastered fire. Archeologists are calling the new find Homo Floresiensis (Flores Man). The find ranged from ninety-five thousand to twelve thousand years old. ...
Ashlee Simpson’s lip-syncing on the “live! It’s Saturday Night!” program brings up an opportune time to discuss the subject. I’m sure most audiences don’t want to see a singer lip-syncing through songs at a so called “live” concert but many are probably attending a concert where there is a mixture of live and taped music playing. I used the phrase “masters of sound” on my last blog entry and that is exactly what many singers and song writers are with the help of sound engineers, produce...
I love living in a part of the United States where one can experience Mother Nature’s four seasons. We are about four weeks into fall and this part of the earth is cooling off because of less sunlight hitting the land (days are getting shorter) due to mother earth leaning back (earth tilting away from the sun). Leaves are turning orange and red and falling from the trees as less sap rises within the trees to nourish the leaves (although colors of leaves are less brilliant this season b...
I saw the movie “TeamAmerica: World Police” yesterday. It is a first for me. It is the first movie I’ve seen at a theater that starred puppets. Even if the movie is unique to me in this regard that does not give it an automatic high grade. The story is about a group called “TeamAmerica: World Police” which is a special force that goes around the world welcomed or unwelcomed killing terrorist or foiling their evil plans. The team foils a terrorist attack in Paris at the beginning of the mov...
The home network I used to get on the Internet is down. I think I mentioned in a past blog that the ISP used by the person I access the web through had connection problems that were resolved. Well, the situation just as quickly (a day or so later) became unresolved. I now have to access the Internet through other means, which is just not convenient at all. In order to try and help out I attempted to find out if a state utilities agency regulated the ISP (in this case the telephone comp...
I’m ‘sweating’ at the purchase of a much faster CPU. I guess it’s because the prices seem so high to me. I had to drop my desire to get a 3000+ Athlon chip because the price was just not right. The quote I got was $199.00. I just can’t do it! The four motherboards I have purchased (which includes the one I intend on using with my faster chip) in my days tinkering with PC’s cost approximately $273.00 dollars (think four computers). One 3000+ xp CPU would cost almost as much as four mothe...
Today the ‘shock jock’ Howard Stern announced he was moving over to satellite radio as of 2006. He is taking his program plus planning on producing or sponsoring other programs on three Sirius satellite radio stations. I’ve been occasionally listening in to some of his program since the recent battle with the FCC after having stopped listening to him regularly a few years back because quite honestly most of his humor or ‘bits’ as they call them are not that funny to me. The best part of...
256MB DDR 2700 memory was purchased. The brand name is Kybyte and it was brought at Staples. It was not really a good deal with a final cost of 39.94 (not counting tax) after a 20.00 mail-in rebate. The only reason I went for it was because it was the best priced 256MB 2700 memory at a ‘brick and mortar’ store in the area I live in. There were better deals at Best Buy where you could purchase 512MB 2700DDR memory (Kingston brand) for about $59.00 with a $30.00 mail-in rebate. The same type...
I feel the need to upgrade my computer. There are several things I am not happy with since I added a DVD +R ,-R, and RW drive to my computer. There are two things I think I definitely need to upgrade. One is my CPU. I now have an AMD 1800 +. I do not think this is enough processing power since the DVD drive was installed. I’m going to have to get an AMD 2600+ or higher processor to satisfy my processing power needs. I think I may have to increase the amount of memory in my system also...