While searching through the internet for information about how to connect my SD Card to my GameCube memory slot, I found something universally wonderful. The floppy connector for an old 5.25" floppy drive has the perfect pin line up for an SD Card. Useful for any project that would require an SD Card slot.
http://uanr.com/sdfloppy/
Friday, December 29, 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
Compaq Presario SR1365CL
Just one more computer in a long line of computers with a bad hard drive. It is interesting to me that they seem to come in clumps. Months will go by and no computer problems are hard drive related, than all of a sudden within a week we replace a half dozen bad hard drives.
We're a really small computer repair shop and only carry two hard drives in stock for replacements, an 80GB IDE and a 250GB SATA. To date the two we carry have always been perfect for replacement drives. Every customer that just wants to be cheep and get their computer back up and running goes with the 80GB, and of course every computer has an IDE interface. Then, every customer that wants to either upgrade, or replace with a similar size hard drive, goes with the 250GB. Fortunately every customer who wants a 250 GB has always had a SATA interface available. I don't know if this is coincidence or we actually came up with probable replacement options for the majority of computers that come through the shop with just two hard drive options.
Then again, now that I've made this blog post, I'm sure we'll be special ordering a hard drive for someone that falls outside of the two categories I've come up with.
We're a really small computer repair shop and only carry two hard drives in stock for replacements, an 80GB IDE and a 250GB SATA. To date the two we carry have always been perfect for replacement drives. Every customer that just wants to be cheep and get their computer back up and running goes with the 80GB, and of course every computer has an IDE interface. Then, every customer that wants to either upgrade, or replace with a similar size hard drive, goes with the 250GB. Fortunately every customer who wants a 250 GB has always had a SATA interface available. I don't know if this is coincidence or we actually came up with probable replacement options for the majority of computers that come through the shop with just two hard drive options.
Then again, now that I've made this blog post, I'm sure we'll be special ordering a hard drive for someone that falls outside of the two categories I've come up with.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Zalman 7700 on a Socket A can be done!
Apparently I missed the nerd announcement about the release of the Zalman CNPS7700-Cu. Silly me thought it was the same thing as the Zalman CNPS7000-Cu. They look the same, they do the same thing, but there is one minor difference that might be hard to catch when purchasing one of these heatsinks. The 7700 doesn't support AMD Socket A, also, it's freakin huge! My girlfriends computer runs great with with her Socket A Athlon 2500+, but the noisy Thermaltake Volcano 11+ had to go. Being a big fan of Zalman, I logged onto Newegg.com and ordered me up a heatsink. The wrong heatsink.
Of course I didn't know it was the wrong one until I was trying to actually put it on my girlfriends Socket A. "Where are the Socket A accessories?" I said to myself. After some on line research, I was sad to see I hadn't done my homework before I purchased the 7700. While doing my post-purchase homework, I discovered that the only big difference between the 7000 and the 7700 was the little aluminum brackets that allowed it to be screwed to a Socket A. Of course it made me wonder if I could make my 7700 fit on a Socket A with the 7000 bracket, unfortunately I had to buy a 7000 from a local retailer to get the bracket. Now having both a 7000 and a 7700 it would be stupid to use the one that's not supposed to go on a Socket A.... but it would be fun.
I did think long and hard before actually going through with this little project. Worse case scenario: have to replace girlfriends motherboard and CPU, probably pay for overnight shipping, and have to spend the evening of her being upset with me. I can live with that because the up side was I'd have a freakin' giant heatsink in a place it's not supposed to go!
Of course I didn't know it was the wrong one until I was trying to actually put it on my girlfriends Socket A. "Where are the Socket A accessories?" I said to myself. After some on line research, I was sad to see I hadn't done my homework before I purchased the 7700. While doing my post-purchase homework, I discovered that the only big difference between the 7000 and the 7700 was the little aluminum brackets that allowed it to be screwed to a Socket A. Of course it made me wonder if I could make my 7700 fit on a Socket A with the 7000 bracket, unfortunately I had to buy a 7000 from a local retailer to get the bracket. Now having both a 7000 and a 7700 it would be stupid to use the one that's not supposed to go on a Socket A.... but it would be fun.I did think long and hard before actually going through with this little project. Worse case scenario: have to replace girlfriends motherboard and CPU, probably pay for overnight shipping, and have to spend the evening of her being upset with me. I can live with that because the up side was I'd have a freakin' giant heatsink in a place it's not supposed to go!
Considering the circumstances, installation went well. I had to remove a fan grill on my power supply to give the 7700 just enough clearance. I also had to spread some of the fans of the heatsink so they could fit around a capacitor that was a smidgen too tall. Another draw back was that the heatsink's diameter is so large that it I can no longer slide the motherboard tray out of the case without removing the heatsink. I was worried about the heatsink not making good contact with the CPU, but with her Athlon 2500+ barely cracking 30 degrees celsius under a load I've put that worry to rest (to be fair, speedfan shows it at 35 but the bios shows it at 31). In any case, there is no doubt in my mind this heatsink is a total over kill for this CPU, and in all likelihood I'll one day put the 7000 on there and move this monster 7700 to my 64 bit Athlon. Until that day, it's definitely cool, and nice to know it's possible.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Piracy vs Windows Genuine Advantage
I have turned a new leaf in regards to software piracy. When I was younger I really didn't care if it was legal or illegal as long as it worked. A couple of things made me change my views on software piracy, the first of those being OpenOffice.org. With something as good, and legal, and free as OpenOffice.org, why bother pirating the latest version of Microsoft Office? Now that open source software is coming of age, it's actually more of a hassle to try and pirate the corporate counterparts. Open source is not only legal, it's on the verge of trendy, and it's definitely smart. No one will catch me purchasing a copy of Microsoft Office anytime soon, even the cheaper gimped Student and Teacher Edition. Not only is OpenOffice.org free and legal, it saves me a trip to the store.
The second thing that turned me away from piracy was Windows Genuine Advantage, which is a fancy name for "Way Better Copy Protection." I'll be the first to say I think Windows XP, and edition, is overpriced. I'm also one of the few geeks that will give Microsoft credit where it's due. Windows XP is the most user friendly operating system available on the planet for PC's (Mac's OS is a different topic for another day). On that note, users of Windows XP should grudgingly pay for it. Windows Genuine Advantage is actually a good thing. It ensures you paid for your software and that you have access to all the updates and novelty features Microsoft has available. The disadvantage is that it's a pain for unsuspecting users that don't know they have an illegal version of Windows XP, and that happens more often than it should.
This particular home built PC came to the shop, and in this case the customer knew that at one time he has an illegal copy of Windows. Wanting to do the right thing he contacted Microsoft, paid them a discounted rate for a real version (nice of them to make him pay twice huh?), then sent him a Windows Genuine Advantage Kit for Windows XP Professional. I'm not posting this in my blog to complain. In fact I'm actually posting because I had very little trouble and found it interesting.
All of that happened well before the customer came to me. When he came to me he came with a dead hard drive, and his Genuine Advantage Kit. I came to find out the kit is nothing more than a Windows XP Pro CD with a different holographic on it, but the catch was it didn't come with the 25 digit product key needed to reinstall Windows on the customers new hard drive.
The only complaint I had was that I had to wait until Monday to call Microsoft and get the key. It was impressive they were able to issue a key with nothing more than the customers name and phone number. I didn't even have to give her any numbers off the odd ball Certificate of Authority. For the record, pictured is a CoA I found on Google, not the customer.
I guess, all in all, I really don't have a problem with copy protection as long as they keep it simple and don't lock out people willing to pay for software. I would like to see Microsoft keep reasonable prices on software, but from what I've seen of Vista they're headed in the wrong direction. On thing is for sure, with all the open source alternatives out there, I'll only be paying for Windows and games.
The second thing that turned me away from piracy was Windows Genuine Advantage, which is a fancy name for "Way Better Copy Protection." I'll be the first to say I think Windows XP, and edition, is overpriced. I'm also one of the few geeks that will give Microsoft credit where it's due. Windows XP is the most user friendly operating system available on the planet for PC's (Mac's OS is a different topic for another day). On that note, users of Windows XP should grudgingly pay for it. Windows Genuine Advantage is actually a good thing. It ensures you paid for your software and that you have access to all the updates and novelty features Microsoft has available. The disadvantage is that it's a pain for unsuspecting users that don't know they have an illegal version of Windows XP, and that happens more often than it should.
This particular home built PC came to the shop, and in this case the customer knew that at one time he has an illegal copy of Windows. Wanting to do the right thing he contacted Microsoft, paid them a discounted rate for a real version (nice of them to make him pay twice huh?), then sent him a Windows Genuine Advantage Kit for Windows XP Professional. I'm not posting this in my blog to complain. In fact I'm actually posting because I had very little trouble and found it interesting.
All of that happened well before the customer came to me. When he came to me he came with a dead hard drive, and his Genuine Advantage Kit. I came to find out the kit is nothing more than a Windows XP Pro CD with a different holographic on it, but the catch was it didn't come with the 25 digit product key needed to reinstall Windows on the customers new hard drive.
The only complaint I had was that I had to wait until Monday to call Microsoft and get the key. It was impressive they were able to issue a key with nothing more than the customers name and phone number. I didn't even have to give her any numbers off the odd ball Certificate of Authority. For the record, pictured is a CoA I found on Google, not the customer.I guess, all in all, I really don't have a problem with copy protection as long as they keep it simple and don't lock out people willing to pay for software. I would like to see Microsoft keep reasonable prices on software, but from what I've seen of Vista they're headed in the wrong direction. On thing is for sure, with all the open source alternatives out there, I'll only be paying for Windows and games.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Goal and Direction
Yesterday two unrelated things happened that made me want to come back to my neglected blog. The first of these was an idea I had. My new idea was to basically take notes about computers that come into the shop. Not every computer, that would get monotonous, but some of the more interesting ones. I hope that by writing about my own experience with unique computer problems, other will be able to learn from my experiences. Personally I find reading about others experiences with computer problems, and what they did, more useful that reading some technical paper.
The second thing that made me come back to my blog was the editors note about blogging in the latest issue of Maximum PC. Will Smith (the Maximum PC editor not the rapper) is a writer I've come to really respect. What he said in his editor's note was exactly what I felt about blogging.
Will Smith goes on to read my mind even furthar by talking about the reason he quits writing in his blogs. He's limited himself to write about the blogs topic, and eventually looses interest. This coming from a real writer makes me feel better about my own lack of interest to write in my blog.
I thought about wiping everything in my blog and starting from scratch with my new goals in mind, but going back through some of the older posts I'm glad I haven't deleted anything just yet. I've decided to keep my bloggin history, as embarrising as it may be, in hopes that I will be able to see my progress (whatever the direction of the progress may be).
All in all one thing is for sure, my writing skills lack. I don't understand why some people can write a paragraph and eliquently elaborate their thoughts and feelings to everyone that reads it, but I can't put a sentance together that articulates a simple idea.
For the curious, Will Smiths new "write about anything" experiment blog is cleverly named notthatwillsmith.com.
The second thing that made me come back to my blog was the editors note about blogging in the latest issue of Maximum PC. Will Smith (the Maximum PC editor not the rapper) is a writer I've come to really respect. What he said in his editor's note was exactly what I felt about blogging.
Since the dawn of the blogging era, I've been of the opinion that blogs should be highly targeted affairs, honing in on specific, well-defined topics to maximize the hard benefits for readers.When I read that it was like Mr. Smith was reading my mind. The first thing I thought of was my own blog and, "what readers?" My girlfriend is probably the only solid reader I have, and she reads it to get an insight to my life. My personal life is the last thing I want to write about because not even I find it that interesting. True, those that go back through my blog will find some personal posts, but over all I try to keep it on a geek related topic.
- Will Smith
Will Smith goes on to read my mind even furthar by talking about the reason he quits writing in his blogs. He's limited himself to write about the blogs topic, and eventually looses interest. This coming from a real writer makes me feel better about my own lack of interest to write in my blog.
I thought about wiping everything in my blog and starting from scratch with my new goals in mind, but going back through some of the older posts I'm glad I haven't deleted anything just yet. I've decided to keep my bloggin history, as embarrising as it may be, in hopes that I will be able to see my progress (whatever the direction of the progress may be).
All in all one thing is for sure, my writing skills lack. I don't understand why some people can write a paragraph and eliquently elaborate their thoughts and feelings to everyone that reads it, but I can't put a sentance together that articulates a simple idea.
For the curious, Will Smiths new "write about anything" experiment blog is cleverly named notthatwillsmith.com.
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