I put together all the components and the new server is in place. The computer itself seems very responsive, I am thinking that is due to the dual core. I didn’t go crazy with overclocking and just put it at 2.8ghz. Overall, no problems so far and hope that continues.
Category Archives: General
General items that fit either no category or more than one category.
New Server Ordered
Last night I ordered up a new server. I went with:
Overall I think this will be a fine replacement machine for what I’m currently using. With a little bit of an overclock it will be the fastest machine in my house. The funny part of the whole thing is, that the mobo doesn’t come with any onboard video card. I am going to have to take the PCI card out of the Pentium 166 and put it into this new machine. Good thing I don’t plan on playing games on it!
3 Down – 2 to go
I have finished Chinese 100, CS340, and CS290AF. Now all I have left to do is CS306, and Econ202. Those two shouldn’t be too difficult and I’ll have plenty of time to study. I still haven’t gotten back any marks yet, but that is to be expected. In other news, I am thinking about upgrading my apache/mysql server. I have been looking at the Intel Pentium D 805, it seems like a really cheap dual core processor with good overclocking capabilities. If I order that I’ll probably get a decent mobo with 1gb of ram. I think that this would stabilize this webpage because as of late things just seemed to be getting flaky. For some reason the Pentium 166 keeps losing its IP address and disconnecting itself from the network. This isn’t that hard to fix but it requires rebooting. With the Pentium 3 – 500mhz machine, it will occassionally blue screen. I could probably fix this by reinstalling windows or installing linux but it is also used by my parents to check emails. They won’t let me touch their emails or let me switch them from outlook :( Time to get the credit card ready because I’m ordering a new computer!
Finals Moving Along
I have only finished my Chinese 100 final so far. I think I did really well in that class and I am looking forward to doing Chinese 101 in the fall. Next up, CS340 tonight and CS290 tomorrow night. These two finals will be terrible and I am not looking forward to doing them. I am hoping that I will somehow get a surge of knowledge and somehow answer all the questions correctly. After these finals are done, I’m going to make sure I buy a new game like Oblivion. I haven’t had much time at all to play any games recently so I suppose I could go back and play some of the games I already own. Summer is almost here and I am highly anticipating it.
Freeware Heaven
If you have ever spent more than five minutes searching for some good freeware, than have I got a site for you. eConsultant has a giant list of more freeware programs than you can shake a stick at, and did I mention they are all free?
I am often asked to recommend certain software and I found that this list includes many of the same programs that I would tell others to use. This list is handy for any person who likes to use freeware, wants something that is easily readable and wants direct links to the programs mainpages.
Direct Link to the list
Trailer Park Boys Season 6
Trailer Park Boys Season 6 will be starting on Sunday, April 16. The first episode is titled “The Way of the Road”. Even though I have already seen the first couple episodes (re: leaked episodes) I am still anticipating the new season. Season 5 will be coming out to DVD on May 9, so it isn’t really that far off. I will be making sure to pick that one up. I had to watch the entire fifth season by downloading the episodes over the internet since I was in China. I wonder what kind of special features they will throw in there. Additionally, the Trailer Park Boys Movie, “The Big Dirty” is going to be coming out in 142 days, so that should be in September or so. It might seem like a long way ahead but I’m sure it will be here in no time at all. The waiting will be worth it.
Happy Birthday
Today is my 21st birthday. Last night I had a birthday party and invited over Arthur, Nick, Chris, and Derek to play games, drink, and celebrate my birthday. It was a really great time. I supplied some of the alcohol (Smirnoff Vodka, Jagermeister, and the oh so favorite Chinese Baijiu). For games, we played Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, and then some Top Spin 2. Then, I made some pizzas and some mini bagel bites. I think it would be safe to assume that everyone in attendance had a good time.
Computer Science Grad Banquet
I was at the Computer Science Grad Banquet, Thursday March 23, 2006. I had a really great time at the event. Many of the guests were from the IT industry in Regina. Larry Symes was the guest of honour for the event. I first met Larry when I was working at CVIC in China. During Larry’s address to the guests he got me to stand up and he mentioned how he got to know me from the visit to China. Again, almost 6 months after I finished working in China, I am still being reminded of what a great opportunity it was for me to work their.
The food at the Queensbury Center was really good. My favourite was all the deserts. I had a piece of lemon marange pie, and a piece of cherry pie. The main course was turkey, which was cooked just right.
Pictures:Larry Symes – Matthew Demyen, far
Larry Symes – Matthew Demyen, near
Trailer Park Boys
I am a really big Trailer Park Boys fan. Last week I went to the Mr Lahey and Randy show. It was a great time with lots of jokes of great interaction with the crowd. They really act superbly and in character. Definetly well worth the $10 admission. Today, I noticed that episodes 1 and 2 from Season 6 are being spread around the on the internet. This is amazing. . . the show doesn’t premiere till later in April so this is a major leak. The episodes are really good and have plenty of laughs. The quality of the show seems to be higher for some reason, possibly larger budget or maybe they all got better since they are doing that movie. That’ll be the next thing up, this summer is going to be awesome with the Trailer Park Boys movie. I can’t wait.
Latest Creation
I am starting up a new side project for myself. This web project will be in wiki style. I have wanted to do a homework/exercise site for a while now so this is going to be my vision of that. The main idea of the site will be a place where the users can work together to solve and discuss exercises in textbooks. Since it is a wiki, the textbooks are not going to be limited and the users have the power to add to their own desires. I am also a fan of this idea since it will allow other users to add their own changes, possibly providing alternative methods to accomplish the same ideas. I forsee a couple of problems in my head. I want this to be a tool to assist in learning and not some kind of answer key. That’s why I am trying to limit it to textbooks exercises. Also, I don’t want to infringe upon any copyrights so I am going to have to try to enforce that the solutions are user created. I have high hopes for the site and think I should have the opportunity to see them come to fruition.
In other news, Congradulations goes out again to the Selzer rink for their fine work in representing the country on their way to winning the Silver in the World Junior Curling Championship. I watched the live results on the internet and their final game looked very close. I also investigated a little, it looks like Team Russia is skipped by the same person who was just in the Olympics. So in a way, Team Selzer lost to Olympic caliber athletes, and I’m sure if they played them again they would come away with the win. Go Canada!