Archive for December, 2008
And Still Grading…
Posted by Michael Livingston in Uncategorized on December 12th, 2008
The finish line is in sight, though. Just a few more days until their all in and we’re jetting off to Colorado for a week or so with family. I can’t wait, though it’ll be strange to need a coat to go outside. It’s currently 57 here.
Last Class Done
Posted by Michael Livingston in Uncategorized on December 9th, 2008
Yesterday was my last actual set of class meetings. We’ve still got finals yet to go — so the grading is far from over — but at least the class-time is down. As usual, I really enjoyed the teaching and the students especially, but I’m glad for the break. Just wish it was longer!
The new computer is up and running, and I’m quite pleased with it so far. Fast and silent and small. That’s a good combination right there.
Vista has some interesting quirks, but I’m liking it overall. I installed Word 2003 so as not to fiddle with the horrid redesign of 2007. Most “old” programs are working like champs. In fact, the only really bad issues were with the installation of Vista itself, which locked-up in mid-install and wouldn’t let anything happen when it rebooted, instead giving me a blank, black screen of death. Quite strange. Via the internet, though, I came across some terrific guidelines on how to fix the problem by some kind geeks. I was able to solve the problems, therefore, but I must say that I’m disappointed that a clean install on a brand-new machine forced me to go into the BIOS to temporarily whack things to get into a DOS device manager to temporarily whack all the video drivers so that Windows could finish its install. Luckily I still know how to do these sorts of things given some rudimentary guidelines, but how many people can say the same? Not enough to warrant the existence of the errors, I suspect.
Microsoft’s help, naturally, was of no real help in solving what seems to be a common problem.
Anyway, the computer is working. I’m pleased. Now if I could just finish all the grading…
Computers and Meetings and Novels Oh My!
Posted by Michael Livingston in Homelife on December 5th, 2008
Interesting day today.
Since the Hobbit’s facial accident yesterday pushed me so far off my schedule, I was up until 2 in the morning grading and …
Oh. Okay. Let me backtrack.
New Computer Coming
Posted by Michael Livingston in Homelife on December 2nd, 2008
We’ve been wanting to get a new desktop for quite some time, as our ol’ Dell has been increasingly slowing down and showing its 8-year age. Add in our new love of the digital homelife — photos, music, videos, etc — and the urgency was getting high. So, on Sunday eve, we broke down and took the plunge on a new desktop, justifying it as a stimulus package for the economy. ‘Tis a small thing, but if the markets start recovering this week you’ll know who to thank.
Once we made the decision to upgrade, the question naturally became what computer to get. And, in my case, that question boiled down to whether I should get one pre-built or buy all the various computer bits and build it myself. While pre-built is a lot easier, a build-it-yourself job tends to result in more bang for the buck — and better quality components overall — plus it ought to be a lot of fun. So that was my first impulse.
I’ve built a couple computers from scratch in my years, but I confess the last time was as an undergraduate. I was shocked at how much easier a build is these days. Things are much more plug and go than they once were. Not nearly so much jumper judging and what-not, which was a pleasant surprise. It took me a couple days, but eventually I settled on the components and price I was looking for, piecing a little beast together via NewEgg.com. It was awfully tempting.
In the end, though, I opted for a pre-built machine. It’s a bit disappointing — I really love playing with electronics — but in the end the self-built rig wasn’t going to be a lot cheaper, and the time I’d need to devote to the build cannot be spared. Our new computer, therefore, will be an Acer Aspire AX3200-EF9100A (why can’t electronics be more simply named?).
It will be here soon.
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