Ordered Ophiuchus.  I hope.  Money I need for rent.. newegg/Charter One constantly declining my card.  Newegg claims C1's fault; C1 newegg.

CMC still hasn't approved resume.  Cannot upload files (to monster.com) from Wii.

Dumb.

I miss Sarah.

I have always been of the minimalistic point of view.  This is evident in my no icons on the desktop belief as well as my attempt to use programs that take up the least amount of resources.  Amarok did get a bit heavy at times, but it was really nice so I kept using it.  That is until I just got fed up with its performance (it's really a good piece of software, no one else seems to be having the same problems as me).  Well, I haven't really listened to music much on my computer in the past few months.  Until I found MPD the other day.  Because it's server/client, it's inherently light on resources.  The server end runs as a daemon, it plays your music and manages your collection in the background.  When I want to switch tasks or load a playlist, I can load up one of the quick-launching client programs (I currently switch between a nice command-line one and a Rhythm Boxish GUI one), load a new playlist/song, and close it and everything is great.  This also frees up a spot in the system tray that would have an icon for the program (though I just installed an XFCE panel MPD controller that takes up like quadruple the visual space a system tray icon would).  It really is a neat way to implement a music manager.  There's also a webclient that I am interested in trying that will stream my music to another computer over the internet.  That'll be nice when I'm back at the reg office next semester.

So, basically, with the little bit of python I have done for extending the Mumbles Pidgin plugin, I decided that I should learn more about the language ad use it to develop a client for MPD.  I could then stick in what features I want and make it exactly how I want it; I could even make it send dbus messages and intercept them with Mumbles!  I bet the hardest part will be figuring out GUI stuff.  It'll be interesting getting used to Python's method of Object Oriented programming, I'm sure, but once you've done that stuff once, you've really done it a million times (I'll probably end up eating these words).

So, with the recent discovery that my graphics card no longer displays low resolutions (boot screen, Linux TTYs, etc.), the possibility of my computer failing has suddenly become very real.  While I really do not have the money for a replacement (nor should I spend the money on one in the near future), I should at least ready a list of parts so that I can make a sudden order just incase AndrAIa decides to call it poops.  What?  Yeah, I could just buy a new video card, but I'd essentially be wasting money.  Why should I buy a graphics card for a deprecated interface?  AGP cards are no longer the standard.  It's all about PCI-X.  But to get PCI-X, I'd have to upgrade my motherboard and with a new motherboard comes a new everything else.  I wanna go something midrange, sorta like David's which was a total cost of $450 while reusing as much as possible from his old machine.  Mine'll probably cost maybe $100-$300 more than his due to the fact that I will be reusing VERY little from AndrAIa.  Andy originally cost $850 when I bought her four or five years ago.  I'd say she was fairly high-end at the time.  She's served me well, and I hope she would continue to do so even after I build Ophiuchus (which I hope you'll remember is the thirteenth zodiac, because I'm an asshole like that).  Maybe she could be that media centered machine hooked up to a TV and stereo.  Maybe.  She'll serve some purpose, I just don't know what yet.  Anyway.  Back to Ophiuchus.  I'm thinking he'll (yeah, Ophi is a he) look good in either this case or this one.  Neither seem to have all too powerful power supplies, but I haven't done my research yet.  The problem with whitey there, despite how sexy it is, is that the power supply is of an incredibly ODD shape and quite weak to boot.  The only other similar power supply that newegg sells is... well... the same one.  So, whitey is out of the question.  Blackey seems to be using a regular power supply, but even at 400W, it seems a bit... weak.  But again I must first do my research and confirm that I should actually buy another power supply.  At least blackey is still pretty cool looking.

But wait Tony!  I know computers and that case looks kinda small!

Yeah, it is.  It's a Micro ATX case.  Brian got a Micro ATX machine last summer and, while his case is a normal ATX Mid-Tower case, it's a fair bit smaller than a normal ATX motherboard and...  I could do with a size reduction.  As stated earlier, I am not going for a high end machine here, it's not going to need everything a full ATX motherboard will offer (namely PCI slots).  Plus, you know, size.

Ugh, I wish I were in Windows so I could whip this up really quickly in Fireworks...  I haven't quite gotten used to The Gimp yet..

It's not a whole lot, but is definitely enough.  Considering that, at the moment, I lay Andy on her side so that I can place a fan on her graphics card to account for the fact that the card's fan died almost a year ago.  It actually keeps it pretty cool, I'm surprised.  But yeah, imagine skinny little Ophi taking up no space on my desk.  I would have so much room to.. do things with, maybe.  It'd be nice.

This was probably a pretty boring post to you not-so technically inclined/interested.  I've been writing a lot of stuff down while at work lately.  Maybe I'll post that eventually?

Casey and I built Frank last weekend or so with spare parts from his old machine as well as Din.  I looked at what remained of Din in the trash room and thought it woud be wise to hold on to the Geforce FX 5200 just in case.  I didn't.  Maybe I should have.  This is immensely poopy.  I mean, yeah, I don't need to drop to the TTYs too often (or ever, if I'm not actively breaking something), and the BIOs screen isn't useful to me (I can manipulate GRUB and get to Windows without actually seeing what I'm doing); but it sure would be nice to see everything.

I did a quick test with Quake 3, still runs at ~400fps.  Though that was for only like half a minute or so. 

I dunno if it's just me being weird or anything, but I think I've been noticing performance decreases under Windows as a hole and when booting and logging in under Linux.  Maybe it's just my startup apps causing the slow login, but...  :???: I'm probably crazy.

I wonder if I can still get a decent AGP video card.  Or maybe I should hope that this thing lasts until I have enough spare money to buy a whole new machine (a modest one, of course).  A year from now, if I'm lucky.

The card is at 60C.  Normally it idles at 66C.  It might be because of the AC, though.

I honestly haven't done anything that could cause this, so I bet it's normal hardware failure or something.  Initially I was restarting X to clear up some processes and it dropped me to a black screen.  I could get to the TTYs fine, so I checked my xorg.conf to see if anything was off.  Nothing.  Restart X again, nothing.  Reboot the computer, nothing all around.  Take the card out, inspect it, see nothing wrong, put it back in, boot, no BIOS screen, booting sounds, login screen.  Kind of confused here.

Oh, look.  X is back.  Still don't have GLX, though, despite the apt-get install nvidia-glx-new I just did.  Argh.  Not that OpenGL is much use with a broken graphics card, but I don't like the fact that it just doesn't work for seemingly no reason at all.

Poop!  Good thing I was only playing Oblivion on relatively low settings and wasn't playing the Bioshock demo that I was actually about to quit Oblivion to try... 

I think I am in love.

(Why did "What is Love" start playing when I typed that?  Freaky.)

Anyone know of any sites with good widescreen backgrounds?

First thing I noticed: I can see things again.  Things are crisp.  My eyes no longer hurt.
Second: HOLY CRAP IT'S BEAUTIFUL

I got all my games except Tribes 2 and KOTOR playing fine in widescreen.  Widescreen Doom III is one of the sweetest things ever.  I play KOTOR windowed anyway, so that's no problem.  Tribes 2 I'll probably play under Windows because it refuses to play any sound in Linux.  I hear the widescreen support for Tribes 2 is better under Windows anyway. 

19" Widescreen HANNS-G (who?).  I love it.  5ms response time.  I could have spent like an extra fifty dollars if I wanted a 3ms response time, but ghosting or anything on Mom's 8ms LCD is hardly noticeable, and 5ms seems almost instant.
:grin:

...

Which explains why I installed Windows...  After trying to get Windows to see my network devices, I finally got it all set up and reinstalled grub so I can boot back into Linux.  I cannot get grub to boot me into the Windows partition now.  Must be a sign. 

Also, my FFXI dvd image is bad.  So I cannot install from that..  Great.  I have the original install CDs somewhere, but they are from the October 2003 launch... meaning I would be stuck in patch hell for quite some time.

And watch, after all this trouble I am going to find out that the Return Home to Vana'diel campaign is not running...  I fear that Eikre will be lost to the gods of "null" forever.  And the urge to pick up my scythe and slash little crabs has never been stronger.

And I cannot install on the PS2 because the install discs that came with the system did not include the Rise of the Zilart expansion disc, which has become so engrained into the main game that it refuses to install without.  And even with all of these problems, I am willing to find a way to make it work.

I had another dream last night.  I was explaining to Jason and Andrew's parents how they could get to Chicago with the Uhaul as the three of us were getting ready to go in my car. 

One of the muggiest mornings I have experienced in quite some time (oh, about nine month's time) was spent getting rid of wood chips in front of the theatre in preparation for the new batch that is arriving tomorrow.  I am really hoping those thunderstorms tonight cool things off for tomorrow morning.  There should be more people tomorrow, too.  It was just Dan Kelly, Brian the maintanence dude (not my brother or the manager), and me.  Apparently Elisa is working tomorrow.  It has been too long since I have made fun of her!

I am upset that Nicole got promoted to OC and transferred to the Great Lakes Crossing Star theatre...  No longer can I play with the things at Guest Services and make her mad!  Stupid changes at the stupid theatre.  Time to pick up the kiddies from school in two hour's time.

Having my computer hooked up to the stereo instead of my speakers is neat.  My speakers are cool and all, but the sound they project is very directed.  If that makes sense.  The stereo in the family room sounds good from anywhere.  My speakers only really sound good if they are aimed right at your head.  Then again, I could use my subwoofer with the speakers out here instead of the stereo amp..  ::evil grin::

It could have just been that MSV rooms have shitty acoustics.

So the three FPS Tourney game choices (for the LAN) are Jedi Academy, Doom 2, and Tribes 2.  I was torn between Doom and Tribes, I do not appreciate the hard decision Andrew!  It is cruel to make one choose between such loves! 

--My mind just blanked, wtf?  Um.. this is awkward...--

Oh.  I eventually picked Doom 2 because I figured it would be a lot more fun than Tribes (well, Hunters or Team Hunters would be fun.  We should also try (Team) Rabbit).  But at the end of the day, nothing beats the BFG9000.

I really do need to find AndrAIa a permanent home.  I dislike having to constantly zoom in on text in order to read it.
Stupid low-resolution TV.  It is great for watching movies and playing games, like Doctor Who and Nexuiz specifically and respectively.

Meh, I sitll need to unpack everything as it is.  I will probably live out of my duffel bag until it runs out of clothes and they are all circulated into the normal wash cycle.  All of my other crap currently resides in the family room.  About half of it (the family room).

Next on the agenda: Install Unreal Tournament 2006, see if I can patch Tribes 2 Linux (Tribes 2 Windows via WINE does not agree much with my mouse acceleration), install Quake 3 Linux using, but without breaking, Quake 3 Windows installation, and possibly see if I can get Kevin's Star Trek game to work via WINE.

Apparently when I grabbed my broken PS2 from Pete's room, his PS2 harddrive was in it. 

...

I have a 160GB harddrive sitting in a box on my dining room table.  Game time, anyone?  This is kind of ridiculous: I have Casey's Wii Play game, his Wiimote and nunchuk, and even his Wavebird and receiver.  I have Corey's boxed Prey game.  And I have Pete's PS2 harddrive.  I really hope I do not have anything else that belongs to anyone else.  That would be almost silly.  How did this happen?

ATI needs to hurry up and release drivers for the newest version of X.  It is kind of hard to get David to switch to Ubuntu if the drivers are not there.  Or I could just have him run an older version of X...  Hm.  We shall see.  He says all he really needs it for is Warcraft III, which works fine for me.  He somehow even got it to run WITH the CD (I had to use a CD crack), when playing via WINE.  Problem is, it renders everything so horribly slow with the current drivers.

Time to shower, sweat seems caked to skin.