February 2008 Entries
This list of PCs was requested by a friend of mine that didn't believe I own nine PCs. Even I'll admit the story's quite far fetched, so this may at least dispel some doubt and elaborate as to how I acquired the machines to begin with. Please excuse the quality on some of the photos - I didn't have pictures on file for some of the newer machines, and since my standalone camera is broken I ended up taking pictures via video camera again. I'll update them if and when I decide to buy a new memory card for the...
Just whose idea was it to include all of these viewfinder messages on the Panasonic PV-704:
I can understand a few of them: the time/date and battery meter, for example, are invaluable. On the other hand, why do I need to constantly know that the self-timer is off? The automatic focus motor is dead, so why can't I turn off the "MF" message that signifies I have the camera switched into manual? Why is the second counter labeled with an "M", and why doesn't it reset when I take the tape out so that it doesn't count up to 9999 on...
Here's a list that's been steadily growing in my Documents folder for the past year and a half:
Desktop hard drive > 1.5gb
120gb PATA desktop hard drive
Laptop power supply, 19v 2.93A (~60 watt)
128MB SmartMedia Flash Card
3 PS/2 to SDL cables
ATX case
USB floppy drive
Internal floppy drive or CD drive
Neoya X2VGA2
PS2 component video cable
Gamecube digital component video cable (not...
In physics class yesterday I managed to figure out that our school's PA system emits a 500Hz tone to signify the beginning and end of a class. So...
A bit of fooling around later, I managed to figure out that the tone could be represented by a square wave. I then reduced the sampling rate to compensate for the fidelity of the system until I got a near-exact replica of what we all hear in school.
Better yet, it passed the test of getting me out of History class five minutes early. Now that's quality!
Is it just me, or does everyone use a cellular phone in place of their landline nowadays?
I find it quite interesting that today's generation has been indoctrinated to use the "new" form of so-called quick communication: SMS messaging. In theory, it's great: no need to be in front of a computer to send and receive non-voice conversations, so you can have a few conversations running simultaneously. In practice, the story's completely different: with tiny thumb-keyboards and three-line text displays, not to mention a complete lack of threaded SMS messaging on most phones, the practice is a mess. Best of all,...
Given people's reaction today, I apparently look ridiculous if my hair isn't sticking straight up. Who would've guessed?
Today, the school administration executed the absolutely brilliant plan of holding a fire drill in the middle of a 25°F rainstorm. We weren't allowed to stand by in the parking lot and instead were forced onto the frozen front lawn, which made for a sort of Slip and Slide made of snow and ice. Due to policy instated back in 2006, we're no longer allowed to have jackets or sweatshirts on our person at any time during the school day, so the entire...
UPDATE 2/13/08 - There were seven discs, it turns out, instead of ten. Most of them were kids' games with an ESRB "Early Childhood" rating, which seems to shed some light on what actually happened...
I've had to repair replace a good few CD drive mishaps in the past: a floppy stuck in a CD drive, two CDs stuck in a CD drive, and even piece of salami stuck in a CD drive. But nothing, and I repeat, nothing, has come close to this:
Don't let the look of it deceive you: there aren't just seven discs crammed in there. Quite...
I suppose it's a well-known fact that large communities such as schools and cubicle-departments are disease incubators. It only takes one to spread something to an entire class; that class can easily pass it to another floor, and before long there's a large-scale outbreak. This school year, I managed to escape two outbreaks of strep throat and one of laryngitis, along with a particularly nasty strain of whooping cough (for which I was identified as a possible infectee and carrier, and thus had to take azithromycin for a week anyway).
On Friday, it seemed that my luck had run out, just...
My friend and I just bet each other $50 that one of us will uninstall Windows Vista and revert to Windows XP within six months' time. What do you suppose I should make of this, other than the fact that I'm hard-pressed for cash?
In other news, my GPA for the last semester was 3.769, so I suppose at the very least I haven't gone completely stupid yet.