March 08, 2004

Woot!

What's better than free anime?

Free widescreen high definition anime!

The show is Misaki Chronicle - Divergence Eve, which I've never heard of before, but what's important is that it's at 1024x576.

(Which doesn't correspond to any known HDTV standard, but at least has the right aspect ratio, 16:9.)

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 02:00 PM | Comments (37) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

March 07, 2004

Poot

Internet access up and down all day. Bah.

(This is still my old ISP - I cut over to the new one this Wednesday. Pity I didn't do it sooner...)

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 11:38 PM | Comments (36) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

March 06, 2004

Powers of 2

Way back in the dawn of time, when I got my first job (writing accounting systems in Microsoft Compiled Basic), my office computer had one of those newfangled* hard disk thingies.

It was a 20 megabyte hard disk thingy, but because of a peculiar design flaw, it was divided into two 10 megabyte partitions. You see, PCs back then couldn't deal with hard disk thingies bigger than 16 megabytes.

After a bit, the engineers realised that it didn't make much sense that the smallest hard disks available were bigger than an standard PC could recognise, so they boosted the size limit up to 512 megabytes. And for a few years, everyone was happy.

Then drives started showing up that were bigger than 512 megabytes! Who could have imagined that this might happen? So people wrote little hacky patches you could load on your system to cope with those huge drives. (I had a 720 meg drive on my Commodore PC, a 486SLC-25.)

And everyone was happy until, one day, someone brought out a drive that was bigger than 2GB. Because, you see, neither DOS nor Windows could cope with a drive that large. A 2 gigabyte drive! Who could have imagined that this might happen? So everyone went out and upgraded their operating systems at great expense to cope with this unprecedented event.

At 8 gigabytes, many systems no longer recognised IDE drives.

At 32 gigabytes, Windows' FAT filesystem hit the wall.

At 128 gigabytes, IDE LBA addressing ran out of room.

I just bought a 200 gigabyte SATA disk drive thingy, so that I could finally set up my Windows box the way I had originally planned. (The original 200 gigabyte SATA disk drive thingy I bought ended up in my Linux server for reasons too complicated and painful to bring up right now.)

And: My motherboard (less than six months old) says it's a 128 gig drive. Windows XP agrees.

After all, who could ever imagine that DISK DRIVES MIGHT CONTINE GROWING THE WAY THEY HAVE EVER SINCE IBM INVENTED THE FLAMING THINGS IN NINETEEN FIFTY-BLOODY-SIX?!

Apparently Service Pack 1 fixes this problem. Which is really helpful when you are trying to install onto the drive.

* For PCs, anyway.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 06:08 PM | Comments (39) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

1 ...who said people learn from their mistakes???

Posted by: Susie at March 07, 2004 04:11 AM (OK1jD)

2 Waaaaaaay back then...

I paid $99 for 1MB ram in 9 modules with pins...
That translates into 1/2 million bucks of memory today...
My first computer was a Tandy 1000HX...
My first computer had 1 720MG 3.5 floppy...
I upgraded it to 2 720MG floppies...
I still have Windows 2.0 on 5.25 floppies...
I had 8MG of memory in a 80386DX and a support guy asked me "Why do you have all that memory - You'll never use that!"...
My first HP LaserJetIIIP cost 1200 plus the additional memory plus add-on paper trays...
My first scanner cost 1200 plus the 400 SCSI card...
I used Aldus Pagemaker 3.0; Lotus 2.0; AmiPro 3.0;

I used to dream of a 80286 with 2 MG memory and a 65 MB HDD...

Damn... that kind of dates me out...

Posted by: The Bartender at March 07, 2004 06:13 AM (nr5xk)

3 Erm, I hate to rain on the WinXP-being-silly parade, but that sounds like a problem in the SATA card/controller. And it's not like windows can argue with the mobo and BIOS info. I'd like to see the result if the OS said "write to this block up where near the start of the 180th GB" and the SATA controller says "err, I don't know where that is."

Posted by: Chris C. at March 09, 2004 06:02 AM (8LBIx)

4 Hrm, on second thought, there were software hacks to get aroung the 2GB and LBA addressing issues, so maybe WinXP should be able to get around it.

The recognition issue still strikes me as being an SATA controller problem, though. I haven't tried larger disks on my current comp, I only have a 120GB SATA drive.

Posted by: Chris C. at March 09, 2004 06:07 AM (8LBIx)

5 I agree... Only I got a copy of WinXP with SP1a built in and it worked.

Bah, I say.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 09, 2004 09:34 AM (jtW2s)

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March 05, 2004

Woopsie!

My little icons aren't rotating. I'll attend to that this weekend, along with a couple of other minor tweaks.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 07:24 PM | Comments (37) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

March 04, 2004

Pixy's Third Law of Blogging

The number of idiots your blog attracts is proportional to the square of the number of overall visitors. If your blog becomes sufficiently popular, it will be read exclusively by idiots.

To put it another way: As your total visitor count increases, so does the proportion of those visitors who are trolls or fools or worse. That's why Instapundit doesn't have comments.

To put it yet another way: Success is its own punishment.

Corollary: You don't get hate mail if no-one reads your blog.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 02:52 PM | Comments (38) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Azumanga Daioh

I was reading volume 3 of the Azumanga Daioh manga last night, and I was struck once again by just how wonderful this series is. Warmhearted and insightful and weird and laugh-out-loud funny.

If you haven't watched any anime since Astro Boy or perhaps Speed Racer, keep an eye out for Azumanga Daioh, which should be hitting the stores soon. You won't regret it.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 02:46 PM | Comments (35) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Pixy's Second Law of Blogging

The quickest and surest way to increase your site hits is to post naughty pictures. Just linking to such pictures will double your visitors; actually putting the pictures on your blog will multiply it by ten or more.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 02:40 PM | Comments (38) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

1 Is this a subtle reference to my lego efforts?

Posted by: Susie at March 04, 2004 11:08 PM (W5F4d)

2 But I have no naughty pictures.
Really.
Trust me.
Nothing to see here, move along.
No, that's not a goat.

Posted by: LeeAnn at March 05, 2004 03:28 AM (HxCeX)

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What Generation Gap?

On the train to work this morning, there was a group of little old ladies discussing Mel Gibson's latest flick: the biblical inaccuracies, the excessive violence, the merchandising (tut tut!), the reaction or lack thereof from the Catholic Church, and how Life of Brian was a much better film.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 02:37 PM | Comments (33) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Pixy's First Law of Blogging

No matter what the regular subject of a blog, be it politics or porn, knitting or nature, sooner or later it will be taken over by a string of posts about the blogger's computer problems.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 02:33 PM | Comments (36) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

1 Or else personal problems.

Posted by: triticale at March 05, 2004 09:16 AM (YmQkS)

2 Not mine - I have a MAC.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at March 05, 2004 12:18 PM (CSxVi)

3 That just makes you water-resistant, no bulletproof.

There's an entertaining tale of woe I linked to once, about a Mac G5 system that fatally screwed itself, and how it was brought back to life. I'll see if I can dig it up.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 05, 2004 12:41 PM (jtW2s)

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Who Do? You Do!

I'm a Philosopher/Scientist!



Which Enemy of the Christian Church Are You?

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 02:36 AM | Comments (36) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

March 03, 2004

Ouch!

I once slipped on some dead leaves, fell down a flight of stairs, landed with my right foot tucked underneath me, and got off with a sprained ankle.

Serenity wasn't so lucky.

Go visit her now, because she needs your support (and she's earned it).

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 11:32 PM | Comments (37) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Voodoo Computer Maintenance

The Windows 2000 file server here at work, the only server that we have running anything other than Linux, the server that I know absolutely nothing about and have never touched (which is why it is still running Windows and hasn't been quietly, um, upgraded), just died. Died as dead as a very dead thing.

I poked and prodded it, power cycled, pulled the little BIOS battery, all to no avail. I called the person responsible for the server (who is, of course, not in the office today), also to no avail.

I pulled out the memory, and stuck it back in a different slot.

It works.

The moral of this story is: Us experts don't know what we're doing either. We're just methodical in our ignorance.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 03:04 PM | Comments (39) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Switch!

I just switched ISPs. (Yes, again.) Although my current ISP doesn't suck, they now only passively don't suck, where before they actively didn't suck. That is, they are cheap and reliable, but they used to be cheap and reliable and improving every month.

Also, I only* get 16GB of downloads on my current plan. With my new ISP, I get unlimited downloads. And it costs $5 less per month.

Also, I have switched my phone account to a new phone company. In fact, to the company I work for. And have worked for for two years now.

The only reason I hadn't already switched is that there were - two years ago - problems with transferring lines with ADSL. Those problems were long since resolved, only no-one told me. So I've been with Telstra*** all that time.

Anyway, now that I can download unlimited amounts of stuff each month, I need to go shopping for an unlimited disk drive to store it all. Has anyone seen a good price on such things recently?

* "Only."
** "Unlimited."
*** "Ugh!"

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 02:00 PM | Comments (51) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

March 02, 2004

Trying to Grok

Sarah of Trying to Grok is here on MuNu and blogging up a storm.

Tell her Pixy sent you.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 03:17 AM | Comments (36) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Bestofme 'R' Us

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 13th Annual Best of Me Symphony! Unfortunately, due to a conflicting engagement Billy Crystal could not be here to present the Symphony, so we're just going to have to make do without him.

We lead off with TPB, Esq. of Unbillable Hours and a fascinating peek into the the life of the family lawyer. I must say that it sounds a lot more Rumpole than Perry Mason.

Next in is Gary Cruse of The Owner's Manual, home of last week's Symphony, wondering if we in the West have become too stupid to survive. The answer is that some people indeed have; however, they are still protected by law.

The lovely and talented Susie of Practical Penumbra sings a paen of praise to Glenn Reynolds. No, really!

Simon of Simonworld rants about inaccurate views of his generation held by the previous generation, until he is distracted by something shiny.

Ted of Rocket Jones remembers his Uncle Art and reflects on the real value of things.

Northstar of The People's Republic of Seabrook takes an insightful look into how men deal with babysitting duties.

More song from Feste of A Foolsblog, who tells us of the UN Security Council's regrets.

Kiril of the wonderfully named Sneakeasy's Joint tells us that slowpokes have all the fun. Cycling. He's talking about cycling.

Bill of Idler Yet poses a trivia question that stumped me good. And I'm a member of the notorious Team L, boasting 28 consecutive victories against the evil Team H.

Jim, noble and wise creator of the Symphony, lurker at the bottom of your Snoozebutton Dreams, tells of his way of caring for sick children.

Rob of XSet (which stands for "Little Brown Furry Thing", only in Welsh) discusses the complexities of air fresheners.

Abnu of Wordlab had a bad feeling about that Timberlake dude long before the event. (Justin who? No, never mind.)

Mike the Marine explains why it's all your fault. You stole his ideas before he had them!

Bigwig of Silflay Hraka is assisting the Saudi Religious Police with their enquiries. Ever thoughtful, our Bigwig.

Bad Boy Harvey of Bad Money has some thoughts on pizza, hookers, and tipjars on blogs.

And to wrap things up on a suitably symphonic note, Pixy Misa of Ambient Irony has a little light music for you. (No, really!)

Next week's edition of the Symphony will be appearing at Irritable Blog Syndrome. Be there or be a regular quadrilateral!

Oh, and also check out the Carnival of the Capitalists, now appearing at D. F. Moore. One week only, tickets 10/6.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 02:07 AM | Comments (41) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

March 01, 2004

Busy Day

Long day at work and my brain is fried.

Nonetheless, the special February 30 edition of the Bestofme Symphony will be appearing here soon.

Soon-ish.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 11:51 PM | Comments (34) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

February 29, 2004

Slow Day

I put all the little bits in my printer. Now I can print!

Yay!

Except when it gets to the bottom of an A4 sheet of photo paper, the print head scrapes against the paper and messes everything up.

No yay.

There's a "don't do that then" setting. I'll have to try that out.

Um, and that's it, really. I cleaned a little, slept a lot. Set my printer up. Scored 52,740 on Bubbels (thanks a lot, Ghost of a flea).

They should have Sunday twice a week, that's what I say.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 10:55 PM | Comments (38) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

1 I give stuff like Bubbels one play, so I don't get addicted.

Posted by: Ted at March 01, 2004 09:14 AM (2sKfR)

2 The sick thing is that after 100,000 points the game starts a five-minute count-down and kicks you off system.

Posted by: Ghost of a flea at March 02, 2004 09:58 AM (iMnhL)

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February 28, 2004

The Unbearable Ersatzness of Ritzing

Iowahawk really nails it this time. Read read!

(Roger L Simon < The Creator of Worlds.)

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 02:18 PM | Comments (35) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sweet Sixteen Two And Never Been 'Lanched

Matt Drachenberg has been blogging for two whole years and has never had an Instalanche.

Glenn! Hey, Glenn! If you ever want to get turned back into a human, give Matt a 'lanche, 'k?

A little one will do.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 02:17 AM | Comments (36) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Oh Dear

That is not very nice. Not nice at all.

[Funny though. — Ed]

Update: 938.9

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 01:22 AM | Comments (42) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

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