I have a lot to journal about. But first I'm going to whine about my tweaks to my interface with the computer.

Maybe this is a technological get-off-my-lawn rant?

I've been spending more time helping Miriam or doing my own stuff at the computer lately, and the more I do that the more I want to tweak the computer to function the way I want it to.

The ( Read more... )

I replaced the vacuum with another one from Kijiji. $30, and came with the hand attachments the other one was missing, so that's nice ( Read more... )

I love elegant technical solutions that exploit existing properties of systems in ways that were not planned by the system designers. I'm thinking about this because I'm playing an LP on a turntable with stroboscopic timing marks intended to work with AC mains frequency to allow you to precisely set the speed to 33 1/3 RPMs based on the number of ( Read more... )

Seeing a game for sale advertised as being able to run at 240hz video makes me wonder. Even if people start getting cybernetic replacement eyes, would our brains be able to recognize a difference between 60hz and up? 'Cause I really think we're entering the realm of ridiculousness here.

The person I'm seeing for electrolysis had an extra TV that stopped working. I was telling her about how I love fixing electronics and she offered to give it to me! I thought it would be nice to have an LCD TV as well as a plasma because the plasma does have some issues with burn in playing certain video games.

After I got it home I looked at it and ( Read more... )

Our plasma TV supports 3D video. It would be kind of fun to be able to see things in 3D, but it also seems like the technology is dead (kind of like plasma TVs!), so it would just be a toy with use limited to whatever media is already out there filmed in 3D.

It's first generation 3D technology, using IR-synched active shutter glasses. Since a pair ( Read more... )

Now that masks are required in Saskatchewan indoors again, I'm feeling much better about thrifting.

I found a 2002-made IBM 9494 monitor at the thrift store yesterday. When I picked it up and found that it was far heavier than I expected, I was intrigued. Often that indicates higher quality components. It was only $5 CAD! Other, lower quality, ( Read more... )

Last night, I'd planned to make a working computer out of the one that Wendy gave me and parts from my brother's old computer. Instead, I spent half an hour or so, on and off, looking for my binder full of utility discs, including my Windows install media. No luck. Eventually, as I was about to give up, it occurred to me that maybe I should just ( Read more... )

I spent Christmas Day with my partner, family, and family friends in Kenosha. I've been feeling a bit isolated in general, and that's made the fact that we (Danae and I) don't really do anything for Christmas feel more like a disconnection from something familiar. (She doesn't celebrate Christmas because she is Jewish, and me because who would I do ( Read more... )

We have a sick kitty in our house. King is an elderly cat, and has long-term kidney disease, so he's fairly sedate most of the time already. Yesterday though, he was threw up his breakfast and hasn't eaten much since. Nathen is giving him chicken broth which he laps at occasionally. He disappeared for a while yesterday, and I spent twenty minutes ( Read more... )