I had fun today fuxxoring up my computer yay! I booted and for some reason my monitor didn't work. Actually it did work, but since I installed a new video card the other day, it now thinks I have two monitors, and defaults the first one to the onboard video. So I'm like k, hmmm ... lemme just type some keys and see what happens. In other words, I was running Windows blind. Fortunately I know the menus well enough I can do that. So I typed in my password, waited till all the meows stopped (meow = program starting up, let's me catch those annoying spyware programs when they try to phone home) and then shutdown the computer using the windows key. Then I rebooted, just outta curiosity. This time it worked. Hmmm ... k. Whatever. Then I went into the hardware manager dealie and looked and voila, it showed 2 monitors. Lame. Then I went into the stupid little program the new video card installed and disabled the second monitor and the auto-detect monitors on boot, which is apparently how the problem occurred, it installed the monitor without asking me grrrr. Then I removed one of the 2 identical monitor entries hoping I got the right one. Rebooted. Seemed to work ok.

Then I decided, hey, since my computer doesn't seem to like me today, why not try to configure my new video card in Linux! That will be fun! So, I boot to Linux and it goes all wacky bonkers flashing the terminal login screen (I had it set to auto-boot to X, bad idea hehe I shoulda removed that before installing new card.) After about 30 seconds it informs me it has spawned 50 billion instances of X and is tired so it will not do it anymore, which gives me the text-based login dealie. So, I, being a GUI kinda person, am totally stupefied on what to do now. I can't even remember how to start X manually, which I'm pretty sure I don't wanna do anyway. So, I dig out my Linux book and look up how to shut down from the console. Yes, I am lame. Hehe. So, I do a shutdown -h now and there it goes. Whee!

Now I'm like huh how can I install this card? I know! I'll reinstall Linux! I get out my trusty CD set and pop the first install CD into the drive, and run it. Everything goes perfectly, except I gotta go thru all the steps again, it won't let me just skip stuff. So, ok whatever. I get to the LILO part and I'm like uhm ... damn I forget how I had it set. So I think, well, windows is on /dev/hda so I don't wanna set LILO there or it'll toast my windows boot sector. Linux is installed on /dev/hdb so I choose that. I shut it down, and reboot to make sure it works.

I start up, get LILO, choose Linux. Nothing happens. Hmmm ... k. Shut down computer, try again. This time I try to boot to Windows instead of Linux. Same thing, only it makes it to the "starting windows" thing but hangs. Put in linux CD, shut down computer, try again to install. This time I set LILO on /dev/hda. Smart choice! Hehe. We all know what that does! Yes, I must be a masochist. This time, of course, not even the little LILO thing appears. Not only that, I have just toasted my Windows boot sector, yay! So, I'm thinkin', well, yannow I have about 20 windows startup disks, let's try one of those. I put one in. Nothin'. (Can't find some file or something, gee, I wonder why?) I put in a Norton Rescue Zip. That works, but gets me to a useless version of Windows with not even internet access. Oh, well, I decide, there's always that last resort rescue: FDISK! Yay! Fortunately, having been a former computer student in college I know that program well. I poke around the windows directory to find FDISK and finally find it. I poke around again tryin' to find the DOS prompt window cuz Norton's rescue menus don't have anything on them. I find it. I go to the proper directory, and type my favorite DOS command: FDISK /mbr

Just then I remember this rescue disk set was made before I installed my new video card. Ooopsie! Oh well. Hehe.

Anyway, after reinstalling the video drivers, this time making sure to have that stupid second monitor disabled, I create a new Norton rescue zip and a new Windows boot disk. I have not yet re-installed Linux again. I am not in the mood. Windows boots fine, for now. I do know that it should work ok, since I've done the fdisk /mbr thing a few times before then re-installed linux. But before I do, I will check where LILO needs to boot from cuz I forget. I'll also probably do a full re-install of Linux just in case. I'm glad I got it workin' though, cuz I can't re-install windows cuz my PC manufacturer doesn't let you, no, they force you to install from some lame restore thingie that pulls the .cabs outta a hidden partition on your hard drive. But if you cannot access your hard drive, it's useless, no? And there is no way in the Kingdom of Microsoft™ I'm gonna go out and buy a copy of "Hackers Wub It!" Windows XP™. I would rather use Lindows. <grin> Speaking of Lindows, I have a sneaky feeling it's really a Microsoft product. But what do I know? It would be hilarious, though ... MS creates a windows-compatible version of linux, markets it to Walmart, tries to convince newbies and seasoned linux users it's the next best thing, sues itself, loses, then ends up controlling both the windows market and the linux market.

[ 3:20:00 PM ]   Posted at the speed of blight by NONOBADKITTY!  



Friday, August 16, 2002

I took a test today to see what kind of D&D character I would be if I were real. Erm ... I mean ... if D&D were real life. It said I was an elf. Wow! I was so shocked! <grin> Actually it said I would be a Lawful Good Elf Ranger Bard. Not sure about the lawful part, but the rest sounded good. Usually I'm neutral cuz I don't really believe in "good" and "evil" because everything is relative to the context in which it occurs. If you wanna take the test, you can right here. I have no clue how accurate it is due to my not having played much D&D but I do play a lotta RPGs, and I have both good and evil characters, both male and female characters, both elves and humans even if the game itself doesn't have elves. But most of my characters like to wander around in the woods and stuff. And a couple of 'em have rituals they do. One of 'em is a bard, too! But my favorite character is the beggar/camper who has a bee circus (sorta like a flea circus only he eats the tasty honey-covered bees when he's done with 'em.) He loves to sew while drunk, start fires in the woods and make burnt offerings to the Onion Goddess, and he talks to his pony just a wee bit too much.

[ 11:08:00 PM ]   Posted at the speed of blight by NONOBADKITTY!  



Thursday, August 15, 2002

I got my video card today ... in a HUGE box. I swear, the box was about 2 ½ feet long and 18 inches high and wide ... and full of foam peanuts! I had to dig for the card! Hehe. But it installed flawlessly, total time: (includes turning off computer and installing card, booting, letting windows find card, rebooting, installing drivers, rebooting (do I sense a pattern here?) and running the setup thingie to customize settings) 29 minutes. Not bad. I haven't installed the card in Linux yet, we will see how that goes, I'm not as much of a geek under Linux so I might do the lame way and just re-install Linux. But maybe it auto-detects, who knows, but last time I tried installing stuff under Linux I had to manually set up new hardware under Linux but that was years ago too.

Anyway, I'm a happy camper now, I can set my display to true color with a decent resolution (true color @ 640x480 which I had before is not decent) and it's got decent 3D acceleration so I can play all those games I have or want that I couldn't play before yay!

[ 5:59:00 PM ]   Posted at the speed of blight by NONOBADKITTY!  



Wednesday, August 14, 2002

[ 4:44:00 PM ]   Posted at the speed of blight by NONOBADKITTY!  

I got the results of my WPE (Writing Proficiency Exam) test today and I passed! Yay! Now I can graduate from the university! Well, as soon as I get IN hehe. But I got the test outta the way so I won't have to worry about it and I won't have a block placed on my registration once I transfer. I didn't score that great though, I only got 15 outta 18 points. But I did a kinda lame-ass job, I figured I could re-take it if I didn't pass and really *try*. When I write I write off the top of my head, I don't do outlines and all that junk, unless I am forced to by instructors who cannot think outside the "rules". So, I got 15/18 without doing an outline hehe. I figure I mighta gotten marked down though cuz I didn't re-state the little thingie they cited in the essay topic as in "So and so states yada yada" and I agree/disagree because ... kinda junk. I just left him outta my essay and I thought after I'd written it maybe I shoulda added that in, so maybe that's why I only got 15/18 (they score it by having 3 people read your essay, and each person scores you from 0 to 6 then they add the scores together.)

I also bought a new video card today, I dunno if it'll work, but my computer is a piece of erm ... it's lame and has onboard video and onboard video sucks. And I don't have an AGP slot so I had never bought a new video card cuz it only has a PCI slot and the last time I checked PCI cards sucked but now they have halfway decent PCI cards so I bought one. It's a GeForce 4 MX with 64 megs of RAM but it's really just a GeForce 2 hehe. But I think the GeForce 2 only has 32 megs of RAM so it should be faster. I just hope it works. I should shut off my computer now and try to install it. Before the inside of my computer gets so hot I can't touch it. Hehe. I have a feeling I'm in for an all-day ordeal I better go play UO for awhile first cuz I might not be able to for a day or so. ;)

[ 12:26:00 PM ]   Posted at the speed of blight by NONOBADKITTY!  



Monday, August 12, 2002

Today I am feeling: sad

Today I watched the tv soap Passions and Timmy was on! He was fighting with Tabitha who was gonna nuke Charity and Timmy said no! cuz Timmy loves Charity and that she would have to kill him if she wanted to get to Charity. It was really sad and Tabitha was mean to him. Then he like faded into the light and Tabitha said no! and Timmy said "It's ok, Timmy will always love Tabby," and he turned into a little shooting star thingie and went up to heaven and became not just an angel but a guardian angel! It was so sappy and dopey and cute and sad! Hehee. But I'm glad I got to see Timmy one last time cuz I hadn't been watching before he died. But Tabby is mean, I don't think I like her anymore, unless of course she kills Charity.

It was sad though cuz you could tell the actor who played Timmy was sick, he was kinda gaspy-sounding and weak like ya get when your heart is failing, your lungs get all full of fluid and ya can't breathe and stuff. It looked like he was having a hard time saying his lines and it was very sad.

[ 5:56:00 PM ]   Posted at the speed of blight by NONOBADKITTY!  



Sunday, August 11, 2002

Today I am feeling: peaceful

I watched tv all day today. I am a major slack-o-matic. I watched the second part of Joseph Campbell's Power of Myth thingie on PBS (although I fell asleep during it hehe but I was up till like 5am last night and JC was on tv at 10:30am and I'm still a little sick, well not sick but just kinda that weak feeling ya get after you've been sick.) Then I watched discovery channel. I love discovery channel. They had moles which are really really ugly and they "see" with their noses and it's just downright creepy. And they had snakes and I think snakes are cute, cuz they have underbites, so they look kinda like that look little kids have when ya catch 'em doin' something they know they're not supposed to do. Snakes are cool though, kinda like lizards only with no legs. And no teeth. That I know of, well, they have fangs but that's different, lizards have teeth and they BITE. Or some of 'em do cuz I got bit by one when I was little cuz it was in the pool and I picked it up trying to save it and it took a chomp outta my thumb and left a little tiny bite mark in my finger, you could see the little tooth holes! After that I was more careful when I picked up lizards.

[ 7:41:00 PM ]   Posted at the speed of blight by NONOBADKITTY!