Movies Rated

Decided to at least give a short rating for the movies I've watched. Netflix is "da bomb".

Golf is pretty funny sometimes

This was sent by a golfing buddy who constantly has to take a leak, because he drinks at least one beer for every two holes we play. It's actually a real item for golfers. Wish I had thought of that, or maybe not. Hmmm .. maybe an invention for the lady golfers. (Would that require a funnel?)

Screaming (not streaming) video

Tried to help my father-in-law with his pc. Video signal went out on his. It's hard to troubleshoot over the phone, so in a way, I empathize with the tech support guys, wherever they are. My general conclusion was his video card went bad. So, he said he would enlist local son-in-law to help hook up the old IBM pc. No word as to the progress there. I suspect that when they do make this attempt, Sam's PC support will be called. It might be something else causing the problem, like a sleeping non-wakening pc or something.

My video started screaming again ... 2 weeks later. So, I assumed that there had to be others experiencing the same issues. I went to HP site and found a link to the customer forum. Searched about 15-20 minutes and found a thread that outlined almost the same ordeals that I had experienced. With the exception, that someone had determined or was informed that the video drivers needed to be updated, because the manufacturer nVidia encountered these issues from many customers. Basically, there was a software fix to control the fan on the video card. Without the fix, the fan would redline to the max, hence the screaming ja-willies (that is a word, albeit, a colloquial term .. hell, it's a country hick term). The software fix would better detect the need for speed, and throttle down accordingly. Everyone else on the forum didn't believe and some wouldn't even try it. I tried it and whattya know, it worked. I guess I didn't need a new video card in the first place. You'd think that HP tech support would know this by now. Now the only thing I can hear is the super-loud hum from the fluorescent light on my fish tank .. ahh, music to my ears .. well something other than the screaming fan.

Computers .. they're just machines with millions and millions of on-off switches.

It's lonely in the trenches of computers and such

It's going on 3 months, wait, 4 months since I last did any work in my profession (for pay). I've done my own troubleshooting for my pc when my video card started whining like a banshee, or helped family out. Luckily, I had a warranty with free everything. The hardest part was dealing with "tech support" out of India. First call resulted in proper action, but the order for the replacement card was never placed. Second call was to remedy this and it was .. stayed on phone for 20 minutes or so followed by the supervisor's survey. Two days later, got the new video card and let the service tech install it for me ... didn't cost anything extra, so why not. Three days later, the video card was "dead" so to speak (or not seeing). I opened up the pc tower, and the video card's fan was hanging off one side, no connection; ergo, no video. The third call didn't take very long, and another video card was sent. In the meantime, I figured I could "fix" the "broken" video card myself, until a new one arrived. I used a plastic tie and rigged the fan to the board and it worked fine. Two days later, I get the new card and install it myself. I turned the pc on and guess what, no video. I double-checked the seating and even re-installed the "broken/fixed" card. It worked fine. Just a DOA video card ... quality control from wherever these were made evidently has some loopholes. Another call to "tech support" in India was required. My fourth call took a while to remedy, as the "tech support" rep had to go through her outlined procedures to troubleshoot, despite the fact that I had told her what the problem was. So, with time on my hands, I pretended to go through all of the troubleshooting procedures she was reading through, to see what the outcome would be. After another 20 minutes on the phone, she concluded that I needed to send my pc to HP for servicing. What the f??k??? So, I calmly told her that all I needed was a video card to replace the broken one. That took another 10 minutes for her to place the order. Two days later the replacement video card comes in and I install it and all is well on my desktop again. Real interesting story, huh? Sorry to put you to sleep.

So, why the hell am I still looking for a freaking computer job, yet dimwits on the other side of the world have one? What is wrong with this picture? God HELP us all!!!